While starting on his journey south, Ackster thought about the two possible manuals that might work. If he wanted to become as strong as he needed to fight The Hero on a somewhat even footing, which he would most likely have to do, no matter what, he would have to devise a perfect way for him to grow that strong.
And the quicker he got his hands on as good a mana training manual as possible, the better.
The Hero already had an almost twenty-year lead on Ackster. But Ackster had the advantage of the knowledge that came from having read the original story. It wasn't impossible for him to close that gap.
However, even with all his knowledge as a transmigrator, Ackster still didn't want to face The Hero unless he was prepared to the utmost limits. The Hero was such a monstrous bastard that it wouldn't be possible to face him unless everything aligned in Ackster's favor, which, if Ackster played his cards right, he could make happen.
But all that hinged on him evading The Hero's detection until the moment of his choosing.
And if The Hero even so much as got a whiff of the fact that Ackster Phileam, someone who he was supposed to have killed, was still alive, Ackster wouldn't get a chance to control the circumstances.
The Hero would look for Ackster and make preparations in case Ackster did something.
With the original Ackster's reputation, The Hero might not make any serious preparations. But the fact that Ackster had faked his death without The Hero noticing would be enough for The Hero to be wary and take him seriously.
To prevent The Hero from ever finding out that he had survived and was plotting something, Ackster would have to make sure The Hero didn't even find out he existed or that someone like him existed.
Ackster would have to fly so low below the radar that not even insects would register his actions.
If The Hero realized that someone, not necessarily Ackster, was gaining strength, amassing resources, and recruiting powerful people, he would track them down and make sure they wouldn't be a threat, either by having them prove it or by making sure they wouldn't ever be a threat.
Fortunately, it wasn't an impossible endeavor. It was close to impossible. But it would still be doable.
The evidence was in the original story. Even at the end, there were mysteries that The Hero hadn't gotten to the bottom of. Of course, with the destruction of the world, those mysteries ceased to exist, so it didn't matter in the end.
But if others could evade The Hero and remain undiscovered long enough, Ackster could too. His knowledge would hopefully make up for the difference in time to amass power and resources.
However, to guarantee his success with that strategy, Ackster would either need a foolproof alias and cover that not even The Hero could doubt or never catch The Hero's attention.
And since Ackster wouldn't be able to get such an identity easily, at least not quickly enough for it to make a difference, he would have to evade The Hero's notice from the beginning.
It would take a lot of work since he wouldn't be able to use legitimate means to gain money and strength since those ways also came with some kind of credit or renown. He wouldn't have to trick only The Hero. Ackster would have to fool the entire world.
Fortunately, he had a decent starting point.
His identity as Ackster Phileam would be gone in a couple of hours. Hopefully.
He had left Degrest with a Nominus Card that didn't have his name on it, which meant he could influence it and use his profession as confirmation of his identity. And with how many adventurers there were in the world, no one would suspect anything.
And if Mas, the adventurer, never showed up again, it would be easy to assume he had died futilely trying to chase his dreams of a new life and a fresh start.
But doing things in an illegitimate manner meant he would break the law, which wouldn't be a problem as long as he wasn't discovered. But he would have to do things morally questionable to achieve his goals.
If he were to go through with this plan, Ackster would have to do things he had never considered doing on Earth. He would have to throw his ethics and moral high ground in the trash.
Ackster had felt guilty at making the kitchen worker, who brought him food, exercise. He wasn't sure he could do it.
However, he couldn't see any other way that he could possibly save the world, to live longer than ten years. He didn't have a choice.
Regardless of what happened, of what situations he would go through, Ackster would have to do whatever it took to succeed.
Ackster subconsciously gritted his teeth hard as he firmed his resolve.
For now, he could focus on taking the first step toward gaining the strength he needed to make the choices he had to make.
As a bottomfeeder adventurer, Ackster would go unnoticed as long as he didn't cause too much of a commotion. And even if he did, he could quickly lose any attention he caught by faking his death and changing his identity again. He just had to get a little better at disguising himself.
Ackster was fortunate that he hadn't encountered any higher-leveled knights or adventures in Degrest since they would have been able to see through the dirt he used to hide his blue hair at once.
But he could think of ways to solve that as he continued south toward the sea.
Since he decided to go unnoticed throughout the entire world on his journey to save it, Ackster couldn't aim for the Ocean Unison Manual. To begin with, getting it would be a hassle, and the consequences would distract him from his goals far too much.
And, most importantly, getting married to the Mermaid Princess would bring way too much attention to him. There were bound to be concerns regarding his identity, and if The Hero showed up at the ceremony… Death.
That meant he had to go for the Sea God's Temple, which no one in the current world knew about.