Strongest Mage with the Lust system

After sitting cross-legged, he tapped on the 'enhancement' and agreed to enhance 800 units of his Mana.

Weng!

Immediately after he clicked on it, a strange energy appeared out of nowhere, entered his Mana core, and started merging into his Mana.

"Argh…!"

Although he already knew that there would be a lot of pain when the enhancement process started and had prepared himself to endure it, he still found it hard to bear and cried out in pain.

Fortunately, most of the buildings in this world had soundproofing formations established, or everyone in the city lord's mansion might have been alerted by his shrill screams.

After around six minutes, the enhancement of 800 units was done, and the pain slowly lessened. However, unlike last time, it didn't vanish in its entirety. He was still feeling a searing pain in his core which was caused by the pressure exuded by 2300 units of three-star Mana.

Huff… Huff… Huff…

Max was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.

Plop!

He didn't have the energy to move his body at all. Therefore, he directly flopped on the bed.

After resting for a while, he recovered a bit.

"System, is there any solution for this pain that I'm feeling in my core right now?" He asked,

[As the host already knows, this is because, after the enhancement, your Mana level is higher than the Mana core. Therefore, the only solution is strengthening the core to a level where it can handle pressure.] System replied.

"Fuck. I have already used the last foundation strengthening liquid I took from the trio. It'd take a lot of time if I were to do it without any assistance." He muttered in a gloomy tone.

[Host can buy the foundation strengthening pill from the shop.] The system suggested, which caused Max's expression to darken.

After this second evolution, the system was more human-like. Although it was good since he could converse with it and no longer had to hear that robotic voice, now it was mocking him for his 'poverty.'

"Can't you see I don't have any LPs left to buy it? Even if I had, I wouldn't have bought it since it is too expensive." Max coldly said. He truly wanted to curse at it, but that wouldn't make any difference.

[If that's the case, the host can use the currently enhanced Mana to strengthen the core. It will effectively raise the level of the Mana core, and the pain will vanish.] System said.

"Huh? That can be done?" Max asked in surprise. He knew that one could only start reconstructing their core when all the Mana in it had turned faint orange. This was because the core reconstruction had to be done in one go.

However, now the system was suggesting that he could use it to strengthen his so that it would be able to endure the pressure of enhanced Mana.

[Yes, host. This is the most convenient method if the host wants to ensure that Mana core doesn't give you any more trouble in the future. However, if you do this, the used Mana won't be able to regenerate naturally again.] The system replied in affirmation.

"Oh?" Max finally understood why he had never heard of this method before. It wasn't because others didn't know of this but because it wasn't used.

After all, if they used it, the amount of enhanced Mana used would vanish forever. This meant that they would have to purify and condense it from the beginning, prolonging the already lengthy process of Mana enhancement.

Max fell in contemplation. If he used this method, his core would undoubtedly become sturdier, and he wouldn't have to endure this pain or worry about his core crumbling due to pressure. However, he would have to spend more LPs to replenish the used Mana.

"Well, LPs are meant to be spent." He shrugged, sat down in meditation pose again, and started using some of the already enhanced Mana to strengthen the core. However, even after an hour, he wasn't able to merge a single unit in it.

'Fuck. It's too difficult.' He cursed inwardly and focused all of his attention on the Mana core. He didn't even hear that someone was knocking on his door.

…

"Is he not inside?" The petite woman in a skin-fit cream dress stood outside Max's room with a frown. She had been knocking on the door for a while now, but there was no response.

Swoosh!

'So, what if he isn't here? I will wait until he returns.' She thought and took out a token from her spatial bag and inserted it in the groove of the door.

Weng!

The formation blinked, and the door opened.

As she stepped inside the room, she saw Max sitting on the bed, immersed in cultivation.

'So, he was here all along, but since he is so focused on cultivation, he didn't hear anything.' She thought, and then a somewhat reverent expression appeared on her face as he thought, 'It's no wonder he is so strong at such a young age.'

After that, she took out a chair from her spatial bag and sat down, waiting for him to finish his cultivation session as she admired his handsome features.

Phew!

After half an hour, Max exhaled and opened his eyes.

He was finally able to merge one unit of enhanced Mana into his core. After doing so, he realized that merging merely one unit of three-star Mana had provided the same effect as a mid-tier grade two foundation strengthening liquid.

'One and half hours to merge a single unit! At this rate, when the time comes, I would need one and half years to reconstruct my Mana core.' Seeing this speed, his eyebrows furrowed. This speed was too low.

'However, if I were to use a high-tier grade two 'foundation establishment liquid,' I should be able to cut this time by half. However, that would still be too slow since only half a year is left until the inter-academy competition.' His head hurt thinking this, and he realized that no matter if one had some advantage or not, it wasn't easy to become strong. (A/N: See author's note.)

He then shook his head and murmured, 'I'll worry about it when all the Mana has been enhanced.'

Just then, he saw a slender woman sitting a few meters away from him. She smiled at him and asked, "You are done cultivating, right?"