SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Then there was Piercing Punch Spell.

Alex glanced toward the corpse of the Titan Reef Crab and immediately understood what the Spell probably did. The final punch that had killed the monster hadn’t simply damaged its armor.

The force had traveled through its defenses and struck something vital inside.

He had managed to perform a crude version of that attack by accident.

Alex still remembered how his body had moved during the strike. If he practiced enough, he was confident he could eventually reproduce the technique through training alone. However, he had a theory that a Spell on the Status was different.

A Spell on Status was optimized.

The System wouldn’t simply copy what he could already do. It would refine the ability and push it beyond what normal practice could achieve.

That meant Piercing Punch Spell would likely be much stronger than anything he could develop on his own in short term.

If he had possessed such a Spell during his battle against the Iron Claw Badger, the fight might have ended much sooner. Instead of trying to break through its hide, he could have attacked its heart or brain directly.

Alex slowly reviewed all six options again.

Every single one had value. For the first time since receiving his Talent, he found himself genuinely satisfied with the choices it offered. The problem wasn’t finding a good option. The problem was that he wanted several of them.

Unfortunately, he could only choose one.

After thinking for several minutes, Alex decided to use the process of elimination.

The first choices to be removed were Power Punch Spell and Dash Spell. They were useful abilities, but neither matched his long-term plans. Alex had no intention of fighting with his fists forever.

As for Dash Spell, speed alone wasn’t a reliable solution.

A stronger monster could simply be faster than him. The Titan Reef Crabs had been slow, but that didn’t mean all powerful creatures would share the same weakness.

Betting his survival entirely on being able to run away felt risky.

Next, he eliminated Iron Body Spell and Piercing Punch Spell.

Iron Body Spell offered excellent defense, but it didn’t fit the way Alex wanted to fight. Up until now, he had often exchanged blows with monsters because his options were limited. Given a choice, however, he would rather choose a stronger attack.

A stronger attack would usually end battles faster than stronger defense.

Piercing Punch Spell was more difficult to reject. In fact, Alex was genuinely tempted by it. The ability was powerful, practical, and capable of bypassing the defenses of heavily armored enemies.

In the end, though, a simple fact decided the matter.

He wasn’t planning to keep fighting with his fists.

Alex already possessed a wand, and its offensive power far exceeded anything his punches could currently achieve. In the future, he expected to use a wand for long-range combat and a sword whenever enemies got close.

Trying to combine that fighting style with a fist-focused Spell seemed inefficient. A wand occupied one hand, and punching while holding it would make his stance awkward. Investing in an ability tied specifically to fists didn’t make much sense.

That left only two options.

Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell.

Battle Instinct Spell.

Alex studied both names silently.

Advanced Body Reinforcement Spell was the safer choice. It would likely improve every aspect of his body and provide balanced growth.

Although the enhancement to his senses and brain probably wouldn’t match Battle Instinct Spell, it would strengthen everything else as well.

Battle Instinct Spell was the opposite.

Its focus appeared much narrower, but the specialization would likely result in a much larger boost. If his assumptions were correct, it would greatly enhance his brain, and senses.

Of course, all of this was speculation.

The Status provided no detailed explanations, leaving him to make educated guesses. Still, Alex felt reasonably confident in his conclusions.

Eventually, he reached a decision.

Battle Instinct suited him better.

Most of his future stat points would probably be invested into Mana. If Battle Instinct enhanced his mental abilities, it would allow him to fully utilize that growing mana pool without spending precious stat points on Mind.

There was also the matter of casting speed.

A mage who could think faster and control mana more efficiently would naturally cast faster in combat. That advantage alone was enough to make the Spell worthwhile.

Alex selected the option.

[Battle Instinct Spell learned.]

[Battle Instinct Spell, E Rank, Level 1.]

[Spell Evolution works! It’s awesome! Let’s gooooooooo!]

[Effect: Boosts your brain, spinal cord, and five senses.]

A faint smile appeared on Alex’s face.

Without wasting any time, he activated the Spell.

The sensation was immediately different from the Body Reinforcement Spell. The qualitative different was huge.

Whenever he enhanced his brain previously, he simply compressed as much mana into it as possible while maintaining control.

Battle Instinct worked differently.

Instead of flooding the brain with mana, the Spell distributed fine-tuned streams throughout individual parts of his nervous system.

The process reminded him of how he reinforced muscles and bones, except the targets were the individual parts of his brain, spinal cord, eyes, ears, and every other sensory organ.

His spinal cord being boosted was an important fact. The spinal cord connected the brain to the rest of the body. Strengthening it would naturally improve the performance of his muscles and reflexes.

The mana didn’t stop there. It flowed into his eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, while a thin layer spread across the surface of his body. At first, Alex thought it was functioning as a defensive layer similar to the shield he created by compressing mana into his skin.

After observing it more carefully, however, he noticed a difference.

When he created a shield manually, the mana became dense and rigid, almost like a wall. The mana used by Battle Instinct Spell was still compressed, but it was distributed throughout his skin in tiny particles.

It resembled fine grains scattered across a floor rather than a solid barrier.

..

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