SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

After checking the remaining shields, he found that they all had the same description. Since there was no difference between them, he picked them up and carried them over to the others.

"You three can take these. Petra won’t be able to carry one because of the weight, so I only made three," Alex said as he set the shields down.

Sarah accepted hers immediately and tested its weight with one hand before switching to both. When she focused on it and read the status screen, her eyes widened in surprise.

"This shield is counted as an item? You know how to create items?" she asked.

"I don’t. I think these ones only counted because the material was good," Alex replied.

Sarah’s eyes still carried admiration. Frank and Emma were the same.

Emma copied the way Sarah tested her shield, raising it carefully before adjusting her grip, while Frank gave his several experimental swings. After a few moments, he nodded in approval.

"It feels solid. I don’t think it’ll break anytime soon," Frank said.

Alex nodded. Whatever the system wanted to call his work, the shields were sturdy enough to be useful. The thick shell should be able to block a powerful attack, even if it was rather heavy.

Alex didn’t make one for himself. A shield would certainly make him safer, but safety wasn’t always the fastest route to improvement.

He wanted to keep developing his ability to switch mana boost between offense and defense quickly, and carrying shield that would allow him room for mistakes would interfere with that.

There was also the matter of mobility. The shield was large and awkward, and Alex doubted he could move efficiently while carrying it. He preferred relying on body reinforcement and positioning rather than adding more weight to himself.

"You know a lot of survival stuff. This must be something they teach all marines, right?" Emma asked while adjusting her grip on the shield.

Alex stared at her for a moment.

They were still talking about that?

Before he could answer, Frank spoke from the side. "He is a marine? Honestly, he doesn’t really look like one. But it would explain how he’s able to fight monsters that strong. He must have a lot of combat training."

Frank glanced at Alex’s thin arms before frowning thoughtfully. The expression made the corner of Alex’s lips twitch. Apparently, even if they believed he was a marine, they still couldn’t accept that a marine could be skinny.

"I’m not a marine," Alex said firmly.

Emma tilted her head. "Why do you keep denying it? It’s not like being a marine is something embarrassing."

Alex looked at her for several seconds before giving up. For some reason, Emma had completely convinced herself that he had military training. Nothing he said seemed capable of changing her mind.

Choosing to ignore the topic, Alex opened his Silver Reward Box.

The silver chest materialized in front of him before its lid slowly swung open.

[Energy Bar (Trash Rank) gained.]

[It tastes like sand. If it was me, I would rather go hungry than eat this.]

[Effect: Allows you to quickly refill your stamina.]

A small wrapped bar, barely one and a half fingers long, appeared beside his foot. Alex picked it up, peeled back part of the wrapper, and took a small bite.

The description had not been exaggerating. The texture was dry and rough, rubbing against his tongue like sand, but the effect was immediate.

The fatigue lingering in his body eased almost instantly, making him feel noticeably more refreshed.

This was useful enough to overlook the taste. Alex wrapped the remaining Energy Bar, slipped it into his pocket for later, and drank some water to clear his palate.

The others naturally noticed the item appearing out of nowhere, but nobody asked where it had come from.

They all understood by now that everyone would want to keep their items’ effect secret, and asking too many questions could easily create unnecessary tension.

Only Petra spoke.

"Did you open a Reward Box?" she asked, looking up at him with her big eyes. It was the first time she had spoken to him directly.

"Yes," Alex replied with a nod.

"Was the Reward Box from the Tutorial Quest?" she asked.

"No. It was from a Hidden Quest for being the first person to create an item," Alex answered.

He did not think the information was important enough to hide. The quest had already been completed, so knowing about it would not change anything.

Petra’s eyes widened with amazement. For a brief moment, she reminded Alex of his younger sister. They did not look alike, but they shared the same curious expression whenever something impressed them.

Alex’s heart squeezed. He became worried about his sister once again. He suppressed those thoughts, and spoke, "Do you want to taste it?"

He took the Energy Bar back out and unwrapping one end. The girl hesitated. He spoke, "Just take a small bite."

Petra nodded and accepted it with both hands. She carefully bit off a tiny piece, as if being aware that she should not take too much.

Her face scrunched up almost immediately.

"Yuck! It tastes bad!"

She quickly handed it back to him, making Alex chuckle. Sarah and Emma laughed as well, while even Frank smiled and shook his head.

"You should’ve warned me," Petra complained, puffing out her cheeks.

"I figured the description already did," Alex replied.

The group laughed again, and the mood lightened considerably despite their grim situation. It only lasted a short while, but it was enough to ease some of the tension they had been carrying.

After everyone had finished resting, Alex stood up and looked toward the passage leading into the dungeon.

The others quickly followed, understanding that their short break was over. They still had people to rescue.

They moved in a simple arrangement. Alex and Frank took the front position, while Emma and Petra remained in the middle. Sarah watched the rear, ensuring nothing could sneak up behind them.

It wasn’t a complicated formation, but it was good enough for their current situation.

Together, they approached the dungeon entrance and stepped inside. The interior resembled a long cave stretching deeper underground, with a ceiling roughly four meters high.

The passage was wide enough for two Titan Reef Crabs to walk side by side, and patches of glowing moss and coral covered portions of the walls.

The ground was damp beneath their feet, leaving clear footprints in the mud. Some belonged to humans, while others clearly belonged to giant crabs. The sight reminded everyone why they were there.

Joseph and Yulia were still somewhere inside.

A notification appeared the moment the entire group crossed the entrance.

[You have entered the Titan Reef Crab Colony Dungeon.]

The glowing message faded after a few seconds.

The group moved forward cautiously. Alex quickly noticed the main tunnel branching into several smaller ones.

It would be easy for monsters to appear from an unexpected direction.

"Sarah, Emma, keep an eye on our back at all times. We don’t want to get ambushed from behind," Alex said.

"Got it," Sarah replied with a nervous nod as she tightened her grip on her spear. Emma also nodded, looking more excited than worried.

Frank carried himself remarkably well despite the dangerous situation. Maybe the calmness came with age, or maybe he believed he needed to set an example since he was the oldest among them.

Whatever the reason, his steady expression helped ease some of the Petra and Sarah’s tension.

Petra quietly guided everyone through the twisting tunnels to the last location of Yulia and Joseph. She pointed left or right whenever they reached another split, speaking only when necessary.

A few minutes later, Sarah suddenly called them out. Everyone stopped immediately and followed the direction she was pointing. They saw—

..

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