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.

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

but it could definitely have been

if one considers the fact that the greater the mastery of the sword art one had, the

the essence realm of mastery, I would without

said, I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I was

Let's not delude ourselves.

-Click!

the

p.m., and because tomorrow was the day of the

like I thought they would, I needed all the rest I

the darkening

is going to be one hell

...

Parker Tower, Ashton city.

-Knock

Micheal Parker, the current head of the Parker family, heard a knock coming

"Come in"

papers down, Micheal looked in the direction

that rested below his nose. Despite his age, his

"Greetings master"

of Micheal Parker, the butler looked at his master and waited for him to

"Are the preparations ready?"

the butler before him, Micheal's authoritative voice

everything has

moment and looking at Ashton city from

the Trivot

the butler's demeanor faltered

is as you

"Good"

Micheal slumped on his chair

the Trivot squad in charge of this

a complicated look, the

it may be rude of me, are you sure you want to

those words escaped the butler's mouth, the temperature of

emanating from Micheal, as

had been too lenient with you...despite having served me for over fifteen years,

cold sweat dripped from

I jus-t thought that after raising them for so long, it would be a waste to let them

shook his

play. This mission requires the assassination of several high-profiled individuals whose backing is just as

the

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

the pressure around

"ukhh"

why I am employing

"Understood"

himself to the pressure,

was too much for

"Good"

out a satisfied smile, the pressure around

pressure lift from him, Richard finally managed to catch his

a complicated look appeared on

was only one reason for

The Trivot squad.