SSS Awakening: I am the First Legendary Mage

Something slammed into his back before he could move.

His vision instantly went black.

The next moment, he crashed into the cavern wall with tremendous force. White-hot pain exploded through his body, and warm blood ran down the side of his head.

For a brief second, he couldn’t understand what had happened.

Then he saw the third Titan Reef Crab. Although Alex had blinded it moments earlier, the monster had continued wildly swinging its pincer until one desperate attack connected with his back.

Alex forced Battle Instinct Spell to suppress the pain enough for him to think. It dulled the agony, but it couldn’t erase it completely. He tightened his grip around his sword and confirmed he hadn’t dropped it.

Several Titan Reef Crabs were already charging toward him. At the same time, shouting echoed from the tunnel behind him.

A few monsters turned toward the noise while others continued rushing at Alex.

The group had started fighting. Emma and the others were carrying out the plan exactly as he had asked.

’Did they see me get launched into the wall?’ Alex thought.

The idea made him grimace despite everything. ’That’s a pretty embarrassing start after confidently saying I’d rescue someone.’

He planted his sword against the ground and tried to stand. The instant he put weight on his body, unbearable pain shot through his back and ribs. Even Battle Instinct Spell could not reduce it to background noise.

Alex compressed even more mana and forced it toward his head. Body Instinct Spell surged into overdrive, allowing him to focus despite the agony tearing through his body. Mana churned violently through his muscles, and the world narrowed until only the monsters in front of him remained.

He moved.

His sword shot forward with terrifying force toward the nearest Titan Reef Crab. At almost the same moment, one of its enormous pincers crashed into his shoulder.

Alex didn’t stop.

Just before the impact landed, he compressed an enormous amount of mana into his shoulder to brace for it. The collision shook his entire body. He poured even more mana into his legs, and a roar escaped his lips as he continued pushing forward instead of being knocked back.

The pincer slowly gave way. His sword slipped past it like a needle through water, pierced the monster’s head, and reached its brain.

The Titan Reef Crab instantly stopped moving before collapsing onto the stone floor.

There was no time to recover. The seventh and eighth Titan Reef Crabs rushed in from opposite sides while the ninth climbed over the corpse of its fallen companion to reach him. They attacked together, trying to overwhelm him before he could regain his footing.

Alex charged forward instead.

He slammed his reinforced shoulder into the ninth Titan Reef Crab, knocking it off the corpse. The monster rolled onto its back, its legs flailing helplessly as it struggled to flip itself over.

Alex immediately jumped onto its underside. He drove his sword deep into its body, and although the monster continued screeching and thrashing, he refused to let go.

He dragged the blade through its flesh until the resistance suddenly disappeared.

Whatever he had struck was vital. The Titan Reef Crab abruptly stopped moving.

The tenth and eleventh Titan Reef Crabs were already rushing toward him. Alex also knew the seventh and eighth were closing in from behind, even though he couldn’t see them.

Taking a deep breath, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The person trapped in the middle! We’re here to rescue you! Come this way!"

For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then a woman’s voice echoed from somewhere beyond the swarm.

"On it!"

Almost immediately, another deafening boom erupted from deeper within the chamber. It sounded even stronger than before, and several Titan Reef Crabs staggered before regaining their footing.

While waiting for the response, Alex had been trying something new. Instead of keeping mana inside his body, he continuously released it in every direction.

He didn’t compress it like Mana Thread, and kept it spread out. Controlling it was difficult, and most of it dispersed before traveling very far.

Even so, a thin layer remained around him.

It extended only about ten inches from his body, but that was enough.

The eighth Titan Reef Crab attacked from behind, and the instant its pincer entered that layer of mana, Alex sensed it.

Alex could sense everything his mana touched. That’s why he knew there was a geometric circle inside the wand, and knew how his muscles moved when he reinforced them.

He was using the same trick now, just outside his body.

He stepped sideways before the attack could reach him. The pincer missed by inches, and his sword flashed across the opening, severing it cleanly.

A notification appeared before his eyes.

[Mana Sense Spell detected.]

[Would you like to learn Mana Sense Spell?]

[Yes / No.]

’Yes.’

The mana surrounding his body immediately expanded. Ten inches became twelve, giving him noticeably more time to react whenever an attack entered its range.

Two pincers struck almost simultaneously. One came from the front while another swept in from behind, but Mana Sense detected both before they reached him.

Alex twisted his waist between them, and his sword carved through both pincers in a single swing.

His head throbbed from the strain.

Battle Instinct Spell, Mana Thread Spell, Mana Sense Spell, and Body Reinforcement Spell were all operating near their limits. Alex compressed even more mana and forced it into his brain, pushing his concentration even further.

He immediately leaped forward.

Instead of landing on the ground, he landed atop the shell of the twelfth Titan Reef Crab. Before the monster could react, Alex slashed through both eyestalks and one of its massive pincers.

The remaining pincer swung toward him, but Alex had already rolled away. Several other pincers crashed into the spot where he had been standing only a heartbeat earlier.

One attack still caught his raised forearm.

Alex compressed an enormous amount of mana beneath his skin to absorb the impact. A loud crack echoed through his arm as the blow landed, but he ignored the pain and swung low, slicing through the armored legs of the thirteenth Titan Reef Crab.

..

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