Free Web NovelChapter 27: Finding A Method To Fully Master Body Reinforcement Spell
The thought had barely crossed his mind before the second pincer arrived. Alex raised both arms and reinforced his forearms with mana. The impact struck like a speeding vehicle, launching him backward until he crashed into a tree several meters away.
At the last second, he compressed mana beneath the skin of his back. The collision still hurt, but the reinforcement prevented a much worse injury. As bark cracked behind him, Alex thought he heard someone shouting his name.
It might have been Sarah. It might have been Frank. He wasn’t sure because his attention was already on the monster.
Mana surged into his brain, sharpening his focus until the outside world faded into the background. The only thing that mattered now was the monster standing in front of him. Everything else became irrelevant.
’Leveling Body Reinforcement at this stage is difficult.’
The spell had already reached Level 9, and most of its obvious inefficiencies had disappeared. If he trained normally, it would taken too long to master it. Still, Alex had two ideas to master it quickly.
The first method was improving the speed of his mana transfers. Every time he switched reinforcement from one body part to another, there was a slight delay.
The delay was tiny, but it existed, and Alex believed eliminating it might help him reach the next level.
The Titan Reef Crab charged again while Alex was still thinking. His fist and back continued aching, but his heightened focus pushed the pain into the background.
It remained present, but it no longer distracted him.
One of the pincers shot forward. Alex instantly flooded one arm with mana and slapped the attack aside.
The claw missed him by inches, grazing his shirt and tearing the fabric before he redirected mana into his other arm and launched a counterattack.
His fist slammed into the pincer with another loud boom. There wasn’t even a dent. The Titan Reef Crab immediately responded by swinging its pincer sideways with enough force to launch Alex through several trees if it connected properly.
Rather than resisting directly, Alex compressed mana into his fingers and grabbed the pincer tightly. The move worked.
He wasn’t sent flying, but the violent jerk that followed shook his entire body and made his organs feel as though they had been stirred inside his chest.
Before he could recover, the second pincer came crashing toward him. The monster was trying to crush him between both claws. Alex released his grip and boosted his legs, shooting backward just before the attack connected.
The pincers slammed together with tremendous force. Dirt and loose stones exploded outward from the impact while Alex landed several meters away.
’This isn’t working.’
As he rapidly shifted mana between different body parts, he could feel this was not the correct method.
The method was increasing the spell’s proficiency, and would allow it to level up, but something still felt fundamentally wrong with the method. Alex couldn’t explain why.
’If the spell’s level can be increased with this, then why does it feel incorrect?’
The question lingered in his mind. He couldn’t find an answer, but his instincts continued warning him that he was missing something important. Rather than dwelling on it, Alex moved on to his second idea.
The first method involved mastering rapid transitions between different body parts. The second method was much more ambitious. It was a full-body reinforcement.
Body Reinforcement was designed to strengthen individual areas. Reinforcing an arm, a leg, or a section of the torso was straightforward. Naturally, the next step should be reinforcing everything at once.
Until recently, Alex simply didn’t have enough mana. Now he did.
The Titan Reef Crab charged once more. As it approached, Alex flooded his entire body with mana and immediately felt the difficulty of what he was attempting.
Every muscle demanded attention. Every movement required adjustments to mana flow. The amount of information he needed to process increased dramatically in an instant.
Alex gritted his teeth as his mind began to burn. He started fine-tuning the mana distribution, adjusting the flow between muscles, tendons, skin, and bones. The process demanded an overwhelming amount of concentration, far more than anything he had attempted before.
The problem wasn’t supplying mana. The problem was control. There were simply too many parts of the body to manage simultaneously, and every adjustment required focus.
Every moment spent concentrating on mana was a moment not spent concentrating on the battle. The Titan Reef Crab continued closing the distance, yet Alex barely paid attention to it.
Almost all of his concentration was devoted to balancing the mana flowing through his body, making it hard for him to focus on moving his body.
The Titan Reef Crab attacked first, sweeping one of its massive pincers toward him. Alex responded with a punch. His movements were slow.
With his mana flowing through his entire body, he could sense how the force moved through his muscles.
From his leg to his hips, then through his back and shoulder before reaching his fist.
The chain of movement connected perfectly.
His fist slammed into the pincer, and a loud boom echoed through the area. The enormous limb was thrown backward, and countless cracks spread across its armored surface.
The monster froze for a moment as if unable to understand what had happened. Alex didn’t give it time to recover.
He had already stepped forward to close the distance and was swinging his fist again.
His second punch landed directly beneath the creature’s eyes.
A loud boom echoed. This time, the force didn’t stop at the surface. Alex felt the impact travel deep inside the monster’s body and shake its brain.
The Titan Reef Crab died instantly.
Its massive body swayed before collapsing onto the ground with a heavy crash.
Alex remained standing for a few seconds, staring at the corpse to make sure it wasn’t moving.
Only then did he stop using mana.
The heightened focus vanished immediately, and the world returned to normal. Alex bent over slightly as he breathed heavily, exhaustion crashing into him all at once.
His muscles felt as though they were burning from the inside. Although mana had been flowing throughout his body, most of it had been reserved for maintaining his enhanced mental state. As a result, his body didn’t have enough mana, forcing it to endure the tremendous strain produced by his last two punches.
Then came the pain.
His right hand throbbed violently, and he was fairly certain several finger bones had been broken. During the battle, he had barely noticed because of his intense focus, and it hadn’t helped that he had continued using the injured hand to throw another punch. Pain also spread through his back, making him wince.
Before he could examine his injuries further, several notifications appeared before him.
[Level 9 Titan Reef Crab killed.]
[You have leveled up. Level 5 → Level 6.]
[2 stat points gained.]
[Body Reinforcement Spell has leveled up. Level 9 → Level 10.]
[Body Reinforcement Spell has reached Max Level.]
[Body Reinforcement Spell can now be evolved. Choose an evolution...]
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