The Author's POV

Six days had passed since the meeting with Amanda, and just like she had promised, my new sword manual arrived the next day.

When I first opened the package and saw the manual, I was once again reminded of how much influence Amanda had in the Demon hunter guild.

The manual looked like it had just been freshly copied, with no creases or stains on it.

It had to be noted that it was not that easy to make a copy of a manual.

Because for obvious reasons guilds were trying to minimize the circulation of manuals, a lot of procedures had to be taken before being allowed to make a copy of a manual.

It had to be approved by a vast majority of the board members and the guild master, and this was especially hard since a lot of the members were conservative people that hated sharing things with outsiders.

Simply put, the fact that Amanda was able to give me a copy the next day meant that she had just as much influence as her father. The guild master.

That aside, during these past six days, since I had nothing to do, as soon as the manual arrived I decided to train it.

Surprisingly, because my swordsmanship had improved to level 2, I was able to grasp the contents of my new manual fairly quickly.

Though I was nowhere near reaching the minor realm of mastery, the time it would take me to reach that level would be a lot faster compared to what it took me to reach that level with my main sword art.

Though I said that, it would still take me quite a while before I could reach that level of mastery.

Unlike the [Keiki style] which had five stances, [Ring of vindication] had three levels which were, Ring of Aegis, Gravitational ring, and Elemental alternation.

The first level, Ring of Aegis, created a ring in the air that acted as a shield. How strong its defense was depended on the degree of mastery of the sword art.

The second level was a more advanced version of the first level, Ring of Aegis, and added a gravitational pull on the ring that redirected all the attacks towards the ring. This was extremely useful, as only one ring needed to be created to defend rather than multiple rings to deflect multiple attacks coming from different directions. This way, I didn't have to split my focus on defending different areas.

Lastly, the third level, elemental alternation. This level consisted of manipulating psyons in a way that the ring attained elemental attributes. This was extremely useful in countering elemental attacks, as fire attacks could be countered with a water attributed ring.

However, in order for one to be able to pull this move, they had to have a high degree of mana control. They had to be able to harness the precise psyon they wanted to use and create a ring with it.

That alone was incredibly hard to do, and if someone did not reach a certain level of mastery towards mana control it would impossible.

These were the three levels of [Ring of vindication], and the first time I learned about their effect I couldn't close my jaw for a whole hour.

After the shock died down, what replaced it was pure excitement as I couldn't wait to start practicing it.

...and here I was now, six days later standing in the middle of the training ground practicing the first level, Ring of Aegis.

"Fuuuu..."

Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and slowly drew a ring in front of me with my sword. In the process of doing so, I focused entirely on channeling my mana to the tip of my sword.

Slowly as I drew the circle in the air, if one looked closely, a dimly lit line followed the tip of my sword. After one full circulation, it formed a yellow ring in the air.

However, exactly two seconds after I drew the circle, it broke down and scattered in the air.

Opening my eyes and looking at the scattering circle, I let out a satisfied smile.

"Two seconds..."

Though it didn't seem like much, in the first three days I could barely even draw a full circle. That's how much I progressed these past few days.

However, I was still far cry from reaching the point where I could actively use this sword art.

Although I could create a ring that lasted for two seconds, it could barely be used to defend. It still had no substance to it, meaning that right now it was nothing but a beautiful decoration.

One thing I noticed these past few days, as I was practicing the sword art, was how flawed the grading system for manuals was.

Despite the fact that [Ring of vindication] had no offensive properties, if one practiced this art to the fullest, I would doubt anyone could penetrate its defenses.

It may have not been a five-star manual, but it could definitely have been a four-star manual with its defense alone.

This was especially so if one considers the fact that the greater the mastery of the sword art one had, the stronger it would become.

If one day I were to reach the perfected realm of mastery, no, even the essence realm of mastery, I would without a doubt not have to worry about my defense.

That said, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I was still very far from reaching that level.

Let's not delude ourselves.

-Click!

Placing my sword back into the scabbard, I looked at my watch

It was precisely 8:00 p.m., and because tomorrow was the day of the trip I decided to head back and rest.

If things were going to progress just like I thought they would, I needed all the rest I could get...

Looking at the darkening sky, I murmured

"This is going to be one hell of a trip..."

...

Parker Tower, Ashton city.

-Knock

Sitting at his desk looking through some papers, Micheal Parker, the current head of the Parker family, heard a knock coming from the other side of the door.

"Come in"

Putting the papers down, Micheal looked in the direction of the door.

Opening the door, an elegant elderly individual with a butler outfit entered the room. He had long white hair accompanied by a finely trimmed mustache that rested below his nose. Despite his age, his face barely had any wrinkles and aside from the pigmentation of his mustache and hair, someone could've easily mistaken him for a forty year old man.

"Greetings master"

Elegantly bowing in front of Micheal Parker, the butler looked at his master and waited for him to speak.

"Are the preparations ready?"

Looking at the butler before him, Micheal's authoritative voice rang across the room.

"Yes master, everything has been prepared"

Hearing the butler's response, Micheal nodded slightly. Pausing for a moment and looking at Ashton city from the window he said

"...has the Trivot squad been dispatched?"

Hearing the word 'Trivot' being mention, the butler's demeanor faltered for a split second before recovering.

"Yes...everything is as you have ordered."

"Good"

Letting out a satisfied smile, Micheal slumped on his chair and lightly murmured

"With the Trivot squad in charge of this case, I don't have to worry about anything"

Looking at Micheal Parker with a complicated look, the old butler couldn't hold it anymore and said

"...Sir, though it may be rude of me, are you sure you want to send the Trivot squad for this mission?"

As soon as those words escaped the butler's mouth, the temperature of the room dropped to freezing points.

A strong oppressive force started emanating from Micheal, as he looked at his butler.

"Richard, it seems that I had been too lenient with you...despite having served me for over fifteen years, you still doubt my decisions?"

Subjected to such immense pressure, cold sweat dripped from Richard's back as he immediately lowered his head.

"n-no, I jus-t thought that after raising them for so long, it would be a waste to let them go just like this"

Smirking, Micheal shook his head

"Naive, this is the best time for the Trivot squad to come into play. This mission requires the assassination of several high-profiled individuals whose backing is just as strong as our family if not even more...a single failure could cause everything that my father and grandfather had built to go down the drain"

Looking back at the butler, Micheal coldly said

"If anyone catches wind of what we are planning, the fate of the Parker family would be on the line. A single mistake and we could very well be wiped out from the face of this planet. Only if we utilize the Trivot squad will we be able to complete our plan without worrying about it implicating us."

Squinting his eyes, the pressure around Micheal intensified many folds.

"ukhh"

"...do you understand why I am employing the Trivot squad?"

"Understood"

Struggling to adjust himself to the pressure, Richard forced himself to nod.

The pressure was too much for him.

"Good"

Letting out a satisfied smile, the pressure around the room dissipated.

Feeling the massive pressure lift from him, Richard finally managed to catch his breath.

After a while, a complicated look appeared on his face.

There was only one reason for his sense of discomfort.

The Trivot squad.

An elite squad that was secretly raised by the Parker family and created for the sole purpose of killing high-profile targets.

Each member, who were raised from a very young age, had no other purpose to their life aside from serving the Parkers.

They were essentially discardable elite soldiers. Once used, they would be killed. They were a one-time use squad.

Regardless of whether they succeeded or not, they were fated to die after completing the mission.

The reason for such a procedure was because the Parkers didn't want to leave behind any loopholes in case any of their missions failed. Even if they succeeded or failed, no other person apart from a few trusted individuals could know what they had done.

The fewer people that knew the better.

"...you may go"

After seeing that his butler had somewhat understood his intentions, Micheal waved his hand and dismissed him

"As you wish"

Standing up, the butler bowed once again before leaving and closing the door on the way out.

Soon, Micheal was left alone in his office. Looking at the papers in his hands, Micheal's eyes paused on a few profiles.

'Kevin Voss'

'Emma Roshfield'

'Amanda stern'

'Jin Horton'

'Han yu fei'

'Melissa hall'

Those were just a few of the names of the people he was planning to have assassinated during the academy start of year trip.

He was planning on killing them all.

He planned to kill all of the individuals who were either too talented or were direct competitors of the Parker family.

Twenty years.

That's how long he had been training the Trivot squad. It was all for this moment.

He wanted to deal a fatal blow to all of his competitors. One that would cause them to lose what was most precious to them.

He wanted them to dispair.

He wanted them to suffer a pain that was worse than death. Just like what he had been through all those years ago...

Reaching for the corner of his desk, Micheal flipped over an old wooden picture frame.

Staring at the photo behind the picture frame, Micheal's indifferent face slightly softened as he lightly caressed the glass on the frame.

After a couple of seconds, his fingers started trembling and his voice shook.

"Soon my dear...I'll see you soon"

-Tak!

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Micheal flipped the picture frame down. It took a couple of seconds before he was able to revert back to his previous indifferent demeanor.

Standing up, Micheal walked to the edge of his office, where thick reinforced glass replaced the walls, allowing him to overlook the whole of Ashton city.

Interlocking his hands behind his back, he coldly murmured

"Hollberg will be the first step to my revenge"