The Author's POV

A day prior to my meeting with Ryan...

Sitting inside of a cafe', frowning, I looked through the files that Smallsnake had sent me.

Honestly, although I teased and abused Smallsnake quite a bit, I couldn't deny how capable of an individual he was.

Within a day I had every little detail regarding Luxious I could ever hope to have. From the top members to the lowest members. I had information on basically everyone.

If that wasn't all, Smallsnake also sent me a long list of information regarding the guilds that they were currently not on good terms with.

...and as I looked through their enemy guild, one of them caught my attention

[Sword of light]

Another gold-graded guild that was located not far off from Luxious.

However, compared to the other guilds that Luxious had conflicts with, their enmity against Luxious wasn't actually between the guild masters. In fact, they didn't really have any significant problems with each other...

However, one piece of info caught my attention

—Conflict between the sons of both guilds guild masters. Jacob Reid and Nolan Valdev.

This was a very interesting piece of news...

A very interesting one.

The conflict wasn't between the two guild masters but in fact between their sons...or more like the guild heirs...

Moreover, as I looked through the information regarding their conflicts, a smile appeared on my face.

A plan had already started formulating inside of my mind.

Without pause, I discarded every other file other than that of Luxious and Sword of light.

I had decided that they were now going to be my main focus...

Taking out a piece of paper, I drew two circles. One signaling Luxious and the other signaling Sword of light.

Like a mindmap, I drew little branches coming out from each circle. With each branch, I would write small notes.

Like that, for the next two hours, I continuously drew different branches coming out from each circle.

...Soon the paper was filled to the brim with branches, and a massive web of information was detailed on it.

"fuuuu..."

Putting my pen down, I took a deep breath.

I was done.

I had written everything important regarding both guilds and branched out the information in hopes to find as many links as possible between the two...and midway through, I found what I wanted.

The one link that would allow me to flawlessly execute my plan.

"hehe..."

Chuckling, I bit the tip of my pen.

If everything went as I predicted, Luxious will completely forget everything regarding Ryan and his potential, allowing me to recruit him peacefully.

Once again looking at the mind map, a smile appeared on my face.

Everything was starting to come together.

My goal wasn't to destroy a gold graded guild.

...no, that would bring too much unnecessary attention.

My goal right now was to change their current focus. Redirected it away from Ryan but towards somewhere else...

Putting the mind map away, I texted Smallsnake and asked him to purchase a few things. I then proceeded to send him four photos with instructions on them.

-Send

Sending the photos to Smallsnake, I took Ryan's profile out and checked his current situation. Soon, my eyes landed on an important piece of information

[Target has made an appointment to meet with Luxious at target house on November 25, 2055 early morning]

"November 25? Isn't that tomorrow?"

Checking the date, I realized that tomorrow Ryan would be meeting with Luxious.

"Hmmm, that works"

Pausing and checking my phone, I realized that tomorrow was the perfect time for me to start the plan that I had come up with.

Scrolling through my phone, I quickly booked an air train for tomorrow.

Cleaning up my desk, I stood up and left the cafe'

"I guess I won't be sleeping tonight..."

...

Back to the present...

"My friends, how about you try to recruit me instead? I am very good with the sword..."

Hooking my arms around the two individuals wearing black suits, I winked at them.

"Who are you-khh"

Flabbergasted, the two individuals' tried to turn their heads to get a better look at me, however...Smiling, I increased the grip on their necks.

Like hell was I gonna let them see my face filled with charm...

"khhh..."

Feeling the grip on their necks tighten, the two individuals struggled to breathe. Desperate, using both arms, they tried to pull my arm away from their necks.

As they pulled, veins appeared on top of their foreheads. Yet, despite how much they struggled, my arms wouldn't budge.

As time passed, the weaker their struggle became...just as they were about to give up, one of the two individuals caught sight of something hidden beneath one of the sleeves of my arms.

An emblem of a bull with a cross.

...and as soon as he saw the emblem, the air around him intensified and he fully released his <G> ranked pressure. Almost as if he had regained all of his energy...

"Futile effort."

Noticing the change, I shook my head.

Now that I was <F+> ranked, such low pressure didn't even tickle me.

Lowering my head, I looked at the two men in between my arms.

"Fellas, let me be honest with you...I'm dirt poor at the moment, please put in a good word to your boss. I really can't afford to be unemployed at the moment"

Struggling to speak, one of the two individuals looked at me and said

"kh-I kn-o w-ho sen- y-ou..."

"...hm? what?"

Lowering my head to better understand what they were saying, I innocently looked at the two individuals in between my arms. Their faces were now incomparably red.

"..st-khh"

As my frown deepened, I lowered my head even further.

"hmm?...hey say something, I can't hear you...ah"

Hearing nothing, glancing at them, I soon notice that their eyes had become white.

They passed out.

Releasing my grip on the two individuals, their bodies fell on the ground with a large thud.

-Thud!

-Thud!

Scratching my head, looking at the two individuals on the floor, I couldn't help but say

"I guess I held onto them a little bit too tightly..."

With me being a rank higher than them, they were totally helpless.

I guess ranks do make that much of a difference...I mean, they couldn't even put up a fight against my grip.

With that, a smile appeared on my face as I glanced at Ryan who was hiding behind his mom.

"Are you guys okay?"

Seeing me look at them, the mother and son due flinched slightly. Smiling apologetically I extended my hand to help them up

"I'm sorry you had to see that"

Warily glancing at my hand, the mother moved forward and hid Ryan behind her.

"Y-you, what do you want from us?"

Not minding their apprehension towards me, I looked at Ryan who was hiding behind his mother and awkwardly said

"Well...how should I say this..ehm, I'm also here to recruit Ryan"

"Y-ou! you're the same as them!"

Glaring and pointing at me, Ryan's mom desperately hugged Ryan. Trying to protect him.

"Ah, please don't misunderstand. Please hear my offer out first"

Noticing the situation turning out for the worst, I raised my hands and backed off. It was better if I didn't push it.

Whilst still holding Ryan in between her arms, the mother spoke

"W-e won't accept any offer. Please leave"

"...okay"

Seeing how hostile they were towards me, I made my way out of the house. I knew that negotiating with them at the moment would end up being fruitless.

"I'll leave this here. Check it out if you have time"

...but of course, just because I was leaving didn't mean I was giving up. Taking out a file from my dimensional space I placed it on the ground.

Glancing at Ryan and his mother, I pointed towards the file

"In case you're bored, I left the contract that I was planning on offering Ryan. If you choose to accept my offer, please call the number that I left inside of the papers. If you wish to refuse just ignore everything that happened...though I do have to say that working with me would be much better than working with Luxious"

Finished with what I wanted to say, grabbing the two individuals on the floor, I opened the door with my foot and headed out

"Alright, I've wasted enough of your time. Goodbye now."

-Clank!

Closing the door behind me, a faint smile appeared on my lips.

Glancing at the two individuals in my arms, I shook my head and brought them with me.

....I still had a use for them.