A book with pictures of men;

Few minutes later Kerren was finally able to move again. His mana was almost funny drained, and if he got hit a few more time he would've died.

He, however, believed that the patriarch wouldn't do such a thing. Even if he did, so what?

- Let's move.

Kerren said as he looked a the "maid". She stood beside him all this time, not disturbing him.

As she heard it she simply nodded and started walking, Kerren soon followed.

It wasn't a long way to go so as soon as Kerren started thinking about his priorities inside of that library he was already standing next to the entrance...

He didn't have time to prepare! He knew that he could take three books and he already decided three most important topics, but now that he could take whatever?..

What if he didn't have time? What if the system didn't allow him to do so? Which books should he take first?

He wasn't ready for such an outcome!

However, he still entered the place after the "maid" opened it using a spell he couldn't even see.

He got used to it since none of the spells the maid used could be seen by him, but this time it was different, she used a spell on an object, it should've shown some of the mana, but... it didn't?..

If he could learn how she did that... it would greatly improve his abilities!

How, you ask? Well, that was just a special method of mana-manipulation, in its case knowing more about it meant that you'll be able to understand more, thus creating unusual and new things would be way easier.

Kerren's biggest wish, as of now, was to make his magic unique!

Of course, that was impossible. Whatever he did he wouldn't be unique as many mages existed. Chances of him inventing something nobody has ever seen before are... well, saying that his chances of doing so were "Less than zero" would be considered cheering him up.

As he entered the library, Kerren saw what he feared the most... the system message window!

[Congratulations! You found a secret room! Due to your achievements you may freely choose 3 (Three) books, after which you will be transported away!]

And right below it...

[ATTENTION: Doing so will be considered as completing the dungeon's mission.]

-* F*kk you.

That's all he had to say.

He didn't even need to fight the patriarch! This f*kking system didn't allow him to take more than 3 anyway!

What f*kking scam that was!?

It was actually the first time Kerren got so angry in many years, he was betrayed, cheated!

...

After ten or so minutes of cursing the system and whoever made it Kerren decided to redeem his reward anyway. It's not like he could do anything, right?

He didn't know which books to choose, but since he had a limit he decided to start with something he needed the most... theory of magic!

Even though his knowledge was enough to shock some morons back in the university... it was all basic knowledge, it's just that it was from the future.

In reality, he could barely be considered a proper mage, he didn't even know how to cast spells properly, what mage couldn't do even that?

Of course, he didn't know that what he did was the right way all along, it's just that it was hard to guess due to it's... it was weak, i'll just say it bluntly.

Obviously, it wasn't weak to the extent of being unusable, it's just that it had a nice... bonus to it.

Normal spells had a limit to their usability, meaning that if a mage put too much mana in it... it wouldn't work and could even harm him!

Kerren's spells weren't like that, he made them without using those fancy schemes other mages used, they were "correct" and "right", but were much weaker than normal ones.

That weakness, however, was there only because Kerren didn't have enough knowledge on some aspects. His choice to amass knowledge was the correct one, as the more one could imagine, faster he did it - stronger it would be. Of course, there more aspects to that, but that's a story for another time.

As of how normal mages casted spells? They used special diagrams to learn the patterns of mana-paths that led mana in correct position. Basically, it just followed the that path mana would go through if a "correct" mage casted it.

It was crude, but more efficient as one didn't need to imagine was he needed to cast, while the "correct" way was weaker as it consumed more mental power.

Of course, it didn't consume any if a mage was used to doing it, just as Kerren who didn't even need to imagine anything when he casted his own spells. He had enough practice and did that not only without thinking, it was as simple as waving his hands for him!

Well, some spells were like that, others, that he didn't bother practicing when he was in purgatory, did consume his mental powers.

Anyway, what Kerren needed was knowledge about the world, mana, and spellcasting in general - magic theory!

Thus, he choose such a book. It wasn't anything fancy as it's name was literally "Magic theory for dummies", as the name implied - it was for dummies.

Whoever wrote this book must have been a great Archmage, it contained knowledge that would allow one to become a well-known mage even in the Old Empires!

It was an easy pick for Kerren, he read enough novels to understand that whoever dared to name a book that way was great enough to teach him about magic... or it was simply a children's book... One wouldn't be here, right?..

After some more thinking he decided to take a second book, this time it was "Practical application of mana in everyday life".

As the name implied it was about mana-application, which was tied to mana-control. Those two were two sides of the same coin, without knowing how to use mana you wont be a mage and without knowing how to work with mana you wont be a mage, thus, knowing both one was a mage! Simple!

Since Kerren's mana-control was insanely good even compared to Archmages it was another easy pick for him, as him mana-application was... uh... rocks were better at applying mana.

How is that so? Well, remember when he used a mana wave that consumed 40% of his total mana in the duel he just had?... He could've achieved the same result with ~13% of it... More than that, when the spell dissipated he could've gained all of his mana back!

That was, of course, not the peaking, this would've happened if he mastered whatever was in that book and then same things happened again, in reality even this book was far... really far from allowing him to become the strongest mage.

But, compared to his current knowledge it would be the same as survival guide to a man lost on an island, insanely useful if he didn't know that already.

Then, it was time to choose the third and the last book...

He was angry and sad about the fact that the system cheated him, but so what? Could he strike back? Could he change it? No.

Even if he left the dungeon right now the reward would probably be claimed anyway and a random book will just appear in his hands.

The system was unfair and hated by many, but it's not like they could do anything to it... Or maybe it was fair? If Kerren got all of those books, given time, he would've became an Archmage at the very least...

Too bad it didn't happen. Poor Kerren has to work with what he has.

...

Kerren spent half an hour more thinking about the last book he should take.

It was difficult since he already has whatever he needs the most. Other books here were, of course, useful... but not to him.

There were some mana-control books, some about sword aura and some even had instruction about proper physical training!

He, however, didn't need those as he deemed that knowledge useless.

What physical training? He didn't even have a body! What aura, what mana-control? Why would he need that?

Taking more books about the topics he already chose? For what purpose? At best they would tell him about 3 to 10 new things, while the first book told him around a 100!

As such, he was in a dillema. He, however, soon got a great idea!

...

- Hello again, so... the system scammed me and i can't take more than three books. I would like to ask what i should choose as the last one.

Kerren once again stood in the patriarch's cabinet or whatever that was. Why was he here? Well, u've already read about that, he couldn't choose on his own!

- Hm, so it is like that... What books did you take already?

The patriarch asked with a somewhat concerned voice, he was slightly surprised by Kerren's sudden arrival as he thought he would never see him again and would have to carry out the body of his son out of the House Library...

- I took "Magic theory for dummies" and "Practical application of mana in everyday life", those i need the most, the last book, however... What do i lack? You are above me in terms of power, so you should know better.

Kerren didn't like to lie but at the same he did lie a lot. How to understand when he did and when he did not? Well, simple, you dont. Just think that whatever he's telling you is a lie and not a lie at the same time.

- You dont know how to fight properly. Even if you are a mage your decisions are questionable, you could've injured me with that spell that i've interrupted, if you had more experience you would've prevented me from doing so.

The patriarch didn't answer his question directly, but chose to just point at a loss he made.

- Thank you.

Kerren bowed slightly before he left. This time... for good.

...

The last book that he chose was "My life" made by an unknown "mercenary", as he called himself, it had a lot of drawings and looked more like a comic book than a normal one, Kerren didn't care if it was a fanfic of some sorts or something even worse since any other books he seen weren't what he needed.

There were some fighting styles and all, but those were styles, they were all different. Even if he learned them all in 100 years even more new ones will appear, and even old ones would be changed by the new generations.

Thus, "My life" was his choice, he didn't know what exactly it was since all he saw was some pictures of men doing strange things, he assumed that those were depictions of some arts?... Anyway, he chose it since he had nothing better to choose.

Immediately after his vision blackened as he was transported from the dungeon...