[Detecting Imparting of first circle]
[Beginning Ten thousand times increase!]
With these two prompts, Ethan began to change from the inside out.
His circle, which was beginning to flicker out, rapidly became thicker and brighter.
In just a few seconds its intensity and density had more than doubled.
Next was his body.
With the sudden influx of mana, his body began a second wave of strengthening; he felt just like when he used the body-strengthening spell.
’Amazing! Is this the true potential of ten thousand times increase?’
’Not only does it work on knowledge but it can work on something like this?’
’Incredible!’
Feeling his changes, Ethan found it hard to remain calm, just by helping Elena form her circle, his strength had more than doubled.
Not only that, but from this, he understood that his ten thousand-fold increase was not a quantity multiplier but a quality multiplier.
’I don’t know if that’s better or worse, instead of getting ten thousand times more mana.’
’I got an overall increase in mana density, strength, and amount.’
With a hand on his chin, Ethan realized he had to study this increase more, however before that, he had to do one more thing.
Check his strength!
[Name: Ethan Smith]
[Title: The First Mage]
[Age: 23
Race: Human
Evolution Rank: F
Mage Rank: 1st-circle apprentice Mage
Strength: 100 Agility: 100 Vitality: 100 Spirit: 105
Evolution Energy: 0/100
Abilities: Max Level Comprehension, 10,000X Feedback
Skills: basic gun handling and control (grand master level), low-level body strengthening spell
Items: Map of Safety (x1)]
’This is!’
Looking at his property panel, Ethan was shocked.
Although he was still an F-rank awakener, these attributes!
They were on par with an E or possibly a D-class awakener.
’Twenty times the average human’s strength! And I’m still in the first circle!’
’In that case, what would happen by the time I add more?’
Thinking about this, Ethan couldn’t wait to add another circle.
However, he wasn’t there yet. His max-level comprehension seemed to be telling him he needed to understand a bit more before trying to build the next circle.
A situation that perhaps could only be fixed when the apocalypse came.
"Brother! This is amazing!"
"I feel like I could beat three of my former selves!"
"Is this the mana you talked about?"
Just as Ethan was thinking about his next circle, Elena who felt the mana circle going around in her heart was ecstatic.
Not only was she passively strengthened by the mana circle causing her attributes to leap.
But she felt that by gathering this energy in her hands and feet, she could achieve something.
And if she combined them with her martial arts and skills!
’Haha, this lady is invincible!’
Smiling from ear to ear Elena was in bliss.
For a while, it seemed like all her earlier sadness was a lie as her body filled with fighting intent.
So much so that she looked at Ethan and suddenly remembered him dodging her hand in the car.
"That’s it, brother! Fight me!"
"Today this big sister will let you know she is your big sister!" said Elena, her hands in a fighting pose.
As for Christian and Alfred although shocked by Elena’s change didn’t say anything as they both looked at Ethan curiously, wondering what he would do next.
However contrary to everyone’s thoughts, Ethan didn’t back down, rather he even seemed eager to fight.
’That’s good, although I have to be careful not to hurt her with this newfound strength.’
’However, this fight should give me a good insight into what is different between someone with my circle and someone else’s.’
Yes, in the process of creating Elena’s circle, Ethan had noticed a slight issue.
Was it by reason of aptitude? Or was he inherently different?
He sensed that the initial mana her circle could hold when creating the circle was much less than his.
With this fight, he would be able to analyze her body and compare her stats to his when he first created the circle.
This was why he didn’t allow her to consume the awakening crystal first so as not to affect her initial attributes.
"Alright then sister, come at me!"
With one hand behind his back, Ethan used his other hand to beckon her closer.
In the process of this analysis, he might as well play with her for a bit.
...
[Smith Mansion]
[Eastwing Annex, Recovery room]
Five minutes after the fight had begun, it had already ended.
Elena was currently faceplanted on the ground unable to move, while Christian and Ethan were in shock.
You must know they thought that even if Elena had only just gotten a hold of this strange power, considering her skill and prior strength.
They were expecting her to easily defeat him.
However, what was this?
Even Christian who had never worn glasses throughout his life suddenly wondered if his age had started catching up to him.
’So that’s it, according to what I just felt, her attributes are somewhere around the 13-15 mark, much less than my earlier twenty.’
’Not only that but I sense her stats aren’t equal like mine are, like her strength was definitely higher than her agility causing her to sometimes lean into her attacks.’
’In that case, my own attributes and mana cannot be used as a reference when classifying others.’
Muttering inwardly, Ethan felt that perhaps this was a benefit of being the creator of the mage system, as he couldn’t think of any other reason.
Pausing a bit, he looked at Elena who was currently unconscious on the floor.
Although he didn’t want to, she left him no choice as she wouldn’t surrender no matter what, he had no choice but to knock her out.
"Sigh..."
"Alright Grandpa, Alfred, next just like Elena I will awaken mana for you and teach you some basic applications."
"Afterwards I’ll need to go somewhere to pick up someone."
"You all continue with the plans we discussed and as for Elena, tell her not to feel too down when she wakes up, that the road to getting stronger has no end!"
Clenching his fists and feeling his newfound strength those last words came from the depth of his heart.
The road to getting stronger has no end!
"Olivia! Leon and Isabelle! Just you wait! When the apocalypse starts, none of you will escape."