Several days have passed since Kerren started his meticulous planning.
It was, however, completely fruitless. He didn't have a single thing planned.
Yes, he did think a lot, but he failed to make connections and plan something further than just getting the thing and running away.
Doing so was the easiest part. He already knew what that "secret boss" was. Killing it wasn't a problem.
His spells were already improved by a lot. He was on a whole another level compared to his previous self.
If he had to fight the patriarch from the dungeon where he got his books from he might be able to injure him!
In his eyes that was an achievement, since this guy was a monster. Even if he was just a normal human he achieved something that barely any people could!
All in all, he had nothing but respect for this guy. He, however, still wondered why he said that he's the second strongest person in his world.
How strong was the number one, then? That mystery might never be revealed to him, after all dungeons took place in random parts of time and space, which made them almost impossible to track down, unless you knew where to look. He didn't.
Planning and thinking aside, he frequently met with Yusaya, as he's going around the university far more frequently now.
It's not like he wanted to, it's her who followed him everywhere. Kerren was sure that he was "shining" in her eyes, thus he reason behind her stalking.
Sadly, he couldn't do anything about it. Even after completing the "Magic theory for dummies" book he couldn't find a suitable method to hide himself from her skill.
More than that, would she just stop going after him even if he stopped glowing? She would surely try to find a reason why he stopped glowing!
Other than that he didn't achieve much. He didn't get a chance to "show-off" his powers yet, without doing so it would be hard to get inside of the dungeon without making a fuss.
He could, of course, just barge in, but that would alert people and they might follow his inside, that would make things harder for him.
However, time for a "Dungeon Simulation" was getting closer. It was some sort of a test.
Kerren didn't know much about it, and neither did Yusaya or any other students as it's the first time it will be held.
With the help of new technologies and some advanced artefacts the university got from somewhere they improved the simulation room that acted like a meeting hall most of the time.
As they said, it will make students experience a real dungeon without any risks to their health or life. That, however, was questionable.
Kerren knew more than anyone else about artefacts and magical theory, such a thing, even if possible, would damage one's mental state if a person experienced something horrible.
Unless, of course, they simply erased their memory, so it would look like nothing happened. But if that was the case, what's the point of such training?
If one didn't experience horrors of dungeons how could they raid them? They would think that they're as easy as those simulated one's, that will make them careless and arrogant, leading to their de*ths.
Whatever their plan was, Kerren was ready to show off when he got a chance. He already prepared some spells that would help him tank damage.
Of course, such a thing wasted lots and lots of mana, but... At least he'll play his role right.
His plan relied on a skill he got from Yusaya almost completely, as it would allow him to sustain himself for longer periods of time, making it look like really was a great tank, while in reality he... well, technically, he was immortal as long as he had mana, so... he is a great tank!
Sadly, his mana wasn't as big as his desires, thus, continuing to tank for a long period of time was out of the question.
Even if "Great Absorbtion Shield" was mastered by Kerren, it was just a skill given by a system. He couldn't improve it, thus it would soon become absolete.
He would need to make his own version of it. As he was now, it would be really hard to do so.
First problem was absorption part, Kerren knew too little about it.
Second was the shield part, he didn't like using them at all, he preffered dodging.
Shield were useful, that's obvious, but if you never got hit, why bother using them?
All in all he relied on things he excelled at and completely abandoned those he didn't use or know much.
As such, becoming a tank was his only choice in the end. He didn't have any skill in swords or any other weapons.
Becoming a mage would immediately raise suspicion as every mage was special in some way. Even if he copied the person perfectly, how could he copy his magical prowess?
He was easily one of the strongest mage on the planet, but... this planet was awful at magic! If a great mage suddenly appeared right after one, who was a terr*rist of sorts, disappeared, what would people think?
So, in the end, it was destined. Yusaya that gave him a shield that was useful for tanking, his half-immortal body and all that...
It seemed scripted if one looked at it from a different pespective, but it reality... it wasn't. Who could predict what Kerren did? Some sort of a god?
Of course, predicting one or two things was easy, but predicting one's every move in the span of 8 or so months? I call bullcrap.
...
It was finally the time for the "Dungeon Simulation". It's been 4 days since i've last explained what Kerren was doing.
He did exactly that throught those 4 days... He's not very proactive in changing how things are going, okay?
Anyway, Kerren was now standing among the other students in the meeting hall, which was also a place that was used to "host" this ""great"" simulation.
Why is it ""great"" and not great? Because Kerren could already see how f*kking bad it really was.
Not only it barely worked and required simply absurd amounts of mana to sustain itself, in one died inside of it mental trauma wasn't a possibility, it was a certainty!
As such, he deemed whoever made this a complete and utter nutjob who dreamed big and had no actual abilities.
This whole thing was so bad, in fact, that he wondered if it would be wiser not to participate in this whole thing.
He was genuinely afraid for his own mental health! Of course, it's laughable to think about it, since Kerren was even worse than the guy who made it.
He was completely insane at this point, he didn't value anything and didn't even have a proper goal, he just wanted to be strong to do whatever he wanted, but...
What exactly will he do when he's all powerful? Build a harem? That's just... boring and primitive. Look for more power? For what purpose?.. He already was the strongest!
Well, immortality? He already was immortal, technically. He couldn't die of old age but could still be killed prety easily, still, if he was the strongest...
So, in the end, what did Kerren really want? It's a question that he asked himself from time to time, always struggling to find at least something that resembled an answer.
However, even after feeling that deep void inside of him he didn't change. He still wanted to advance further, he would think about it later, when he doesn't need to bother his mind with anything but ways to cure his boredom.
As i was saying all that the "show" finally started. It was the bulky lady again, the principle. Once again she was standing on the podium, saying some stuff like...
- I am glad you're all here, thanks to this guy, thanks to that guy, we're going to start our experi... oh, i mean our simulation!..
Eh... She put it differently, but it was too long of a speech, so i decided to shorten it a little... The meaning is still the same, okay!?
As such, Kerren was submerged into this simulation. It didn't require him or any other student to do anything, as it took their conciousness and put it directly... well, somewhere.
Imagine that it's just a realistic dream you are having. It's not like you would die, but if something bad happened you'll be afraid and all that, it worked with such a principle... with one little exception.
If something bad happened... you would feel it all. It's not like it couldn't be fixed, but why would they do that?
It was the whole purpose of that simulation, to show students how terrible dungeons actually were.
Of course, they could have put them inside an easy dungeon, that wouldn't really be a problem if they faced goblins or some random wolfes, but...
They were put inside at least a "B" rank dungeon, which was a forest filled monsters!
Sadly, Kerren couldn't use any of his spells currently, as it would attract attention from the teachers and people that maintained the "simulation"
Using system skills, however, wasn't a problem. Even Kerren couldn't understand how to hide from them, how could they have a chance>
As such, Kerren's only weapon was his skill, his body and a finite amount of mana.
His enemies? Well, i will spoil it for you... Orcs. Good luck, Kerren...