The Author's POV

Inside of a large skyscraper made out of glass, multiple large portals that emanated strong magical power shone brightly.

-Vuam! -Vuam!

Soon after, as the light died down, a group of people emerged from the portal. They each wore different styled combat suits ranging from thin clothes to large bulky metallic ones. Each of them carried different weapons, with some holding onto massive swords whilst others holding onto long magic staff.

"Goodbye squad captain"

"Thank you very much for today"

"Hope you guide us again squad captain"

Waving goodbye towards the last person that came out, all of the individuals inside the group smiled brightly.

...it looked like they were all in a good mood.

"Heee...don't mention it, just doing my job"

Waving goodbye to multiple people wearing different-colored combat suits, a middle-aged man with a lazy smile on his face and a large cigar in his mouth stood within the lobby of the building.

He had Black hair, an unkempt beard, and a wild yet commanding aura around him that made everyone near him look at him in respect.

Leopold Ray.

That was the name of the middle-aged man standing in the lobby.

He was a ranked hero, and a squad captain working for the Moonlight mercenary group, a [IV] graded mercenary group.

His job was fairly easy.

All he had to do from day in and day out was train the new recruits that the mercenary group was seeking to recruit.

...In terms of ranking within the group, he was at the bottom of the mercenary corporation. However, despite being at the bottom of the hierarchy, he was a highly respected individual by all of the new recruits.

...and that's because he was extremely capable.

During dungeon raids, he was meticulous, efficient, and safe.

As long as he was in command, the raids would always be successful with the rookies barely sustaining any injury. Moreover, each recruit managed to learn a lot from Leopold as he would always calmly instruct them when the situation called for it.

...However, despite such accomplishments, the higher-ups of his mercenary group didn't bother to promote him nor give him a raise. To them, a ranked hero in his late thirties was not worth their notice.

Waiting for Leopold at the reception of the establishment, a young girl with custard brown hair and a neat grey uniform greeted Leopold with a professional smile on her face. Taking a stack of bills from the register, with both hands, the young girl handed it to Leopold

"Welcome back Leopold, here's your payment"

"Ah, thank you, Natasha"

Thanking the receptionist named Natasha, Leopold took the stack of bills and slowly counted each and every one of them. Not missing a single bill

"100U...500U...2800U...5000U...this should do for now"

Nodding his head, Leopold put the stack of money in his pocket and waved goodbye towards Natasha.

"Aight, cya around Natasha"

"Have a safe day Leopold"

With her usually business-like smile, Natasha waved goodbye to Leopold.

Not so far from Leopold, arriving at the lobby of the building, wearing a neat black suit and sunglasses, a young man spotted Leopold in the distance and headed in his direction.

Arriving a few meters away from Leopold, the young man said

"Excuse me?"

Having just received his payment, hearing someone calling out from him, Leopold glanced at the young man before him and asked

"Yes?"

Smiling brightly, the young man extended his hand towards Leopold

"Hello, Mr. Leopold, let me introduce myself, I'm Smallsnake"

...

On the same day, not so far from where Smallsnake was, Epsilon cafe

Sitting in the corner of the establishment, in a more secluded area of the cafe', I merrily sipped on my latte'.

sorted out the stuff with regards to the company, it was time for me to finish my

looking through the files Smallsnake sent me, I realized that recruiting her wasn't actually going to be

skip that directly and decided to

into bringing me to

of a way to convince

why I was currently sitting inside of a cafe

me a while to find

Kevin's figure. Currently, he was wearing a black hoodie that hid

off his hoodie, Kevin's deep-red eyes were revealed. Holding onto a cup of

why did you call me

before I had

"A deal?"

deal was, he was curious as to why he

"Yeah..."

"Alright let's hear it"

in an open-palm position. Noticing my action,

"High five?"

my head, I

"No, Five"

"...Five?"

in the eyes, I slowly

"Five-star sword manual"

my mouth, the atmosphere

Yeah.

more precise, I was giving him something

Five-star manual [Levisha style]

three five-star swords art

timeline he should've gotten the sword

presented itself, why not just use it as bait for enticing

I wasn't sure that he would accept, I at least

"Huuuuuu..."

Kevin tried his

five-star manual... its value was immeasurable. Even with the system, he doubted he

the world could he possibly have a five-star

but find him more and more mysterious the more he got to know

the offer like that. He knew that he wouldn't have proposed such a deal unless he wanted something from him. Therefore, taking a couple of seconds to regain his composure, glancing at Ren,

"The catch?"

my head, I

that

"Huh?"

Kevin looked at me with a

to have the ability to foresee the

how sought-after

even

would he reveal to me such important

Kevin's internal conflict, I

"You don't believe me?

slightly...I glanced at Kevin

my ability allowed me to

glancing at

"...what?"

you have the ability to travel through

"..."

soon as my words reached Kevin's ears, almost as if time had frozen, he stared

I couldn't help but be impressed by the level of

the future. After all, I did have a book that allowed

it to Kevin...but still,

his head and in a low voice

how much

I shook

much, just

was no need for him

I didn't need for him

time to think

Kevin slumped back on the chair

'...A five-star manual"

admit,

Problem was...

who was leisurely drinking his

'Should I trust him?'

they never actually talked for long. At most 10 minutes. To him, Ren

thicker the veil of

a being that wasn't supposed

*Sigh*