In a mansion in Soran,
Alyssa was sitting in the meditation pose, absorbing mana from a C Rank Mana Gem. There were three of them available in front of her. This was the gift Asher had given her for ranking up to D Rank.
Unlike weapon users, mages ranked up purely based on the amount and quality of their mana. It was easy for a mage to rank up and become an S Rank hunter but difficult for a sword user to become an S Rank hunter purely by using mana gems.
People who chose the path of a mage needed strong mana meridians and a good flow of mana inside their bodies. But those who chose the weapon path needed a stronger body to withstand their mana.
This was why, despite having so much mana, Asher still needed to expend that mana to increase the power of his physical body as well. Mana circulation techniques helped with that. Due to this long and hard process, ranking up was a difficult task for most people.
Ranking up without proper resources was almost impossible.
A bit far from her room, Emmy was pacing back and forth, nervous due to the emergency call that had happened earlier.
Although she had received the message that it was nothing, she was more confused about Asher going to Maxzil suddenly when he told her he was going for a meeting with Tom.
Although she didn't want to report Asher's activities, if Arthur insisted, she would have to tell them about all the activities that had happened so far.
She looked back at one particular room in the mansion.
'How should I explain that?' Emmy didn't know what to do, but she decided to wait until she was called for.
She noticed a sound as she went outside to see, and she saw Tom with Garreth and a few others carrying two unknown men who had their hands cuffed with mana-restricting bracelets.
"Who are they?" Emmy asked Garreth with a frown on her face.
"Ah, I-" Garreth didn't know about them, so he looked at Tom.
"You guys can go back now, and Boss has said to take them to that room," Tom looked at Emmy and replied.
Emmy frowned, but she nodded back at him.
"You can go back," Emmy told Garreth, and Dane and Kai looked at all the security team leave.
"What is this place?" Dane asked Tom with a smile on his face.
"Hehe," Tom just gave Dane a small laugh.
"Hey, why did he laugh at me?" Dane whispered to Kai, who shook his head.
They didn't know why they were sent here and what kind of room they were being sent to.
Emmy walked behind their back.
"We can walk ourselves-" Dane was saying something when he felt a chop near his neck.
He wanted to say they would go themselves, but Emmy had already made them unconscious with a single strike before he could.
"Better now," Emmy grabbed both of their bodies and took them to that special room.
"They are the future members of the new team that Boss is making," Tom said as Emmy restrained them while putting them in the special room.
"And where are they from?" Emmy asked.
"I can't really say; maybe you can ask Boss about this," Tom replied while being polite.
Emmy might look like a harmless woman, but he had searched her records in his free time, and he didn't want to annoy an A+ Rank hunter who could kill him within a second.
Emmy stared at him for a second before leaving the room. Asher had told Emmy not to harm Tom unless he tried to flee or do something fishy. Although Asher was sure Tom was smart enough not to do something like that, he didn't want to take any chances.
Unlike Asher, none of the previous members of his organization had the same hatred as they did in his previous life. But knowing that they were among the best for the work he wanted them to do, he decided to recruit them anyway.
1 Hour later,
A car arrived outside the mansion, and Asher stepped out of it as he looked at Emmy, who was standing at the entrance.
He walked up to the entrance.
"I have handled everything, so make sure everything stays hidden," Asher said, and Emmy nodded back at him.
He was sure Arthur and Sylvie would not pressure Emmy to speak about his activities for now.
"Where are those two guys?" Asher asked.
"In that room," Emmy led Asher to Dane and Kai, who had opened their eyes and were talking with each other.
Asher entered the room, and both Dane and Kai looked at him.
'Weird,' Dane was still getting the same vibes he did earlier.
And looking at Dane's eyes, even Kai was sure that the heir of the Greville family was not as normal as people thought.
"You can leave now and tell Tom to come here," Asher told Emmy.
"As you wish, Young Master," Emmy replied as she left the room.
She was sure that Dane and Kai could not harm or even touch Asher, so she could leave comfortably.
"Before we start talking, I have a few rules," Asher walked up near Dane and Kai, who was restrained to the chairs they were sitting on.
"Don't lie," Asher said, looking at Kai.
"Don't try to act smart," He turned to look at Dane.
"And no unnecessary questions," He said as both of them nodded.
Dane and Kai were smart enough not to judge Asher by his age. In their whole life killing people and doing shady stuff, they had developed an instinct for when not to mess with someone. Unlike the leaders of those groups, people like Dane and Kai had to fight and survive every single day.
"Tell me your names," Asher knew already, but he still asked them.
"I am Dane,"
"Kai,"
Both of them answered quickly.
"Ah, I heard you called for me, Boss?" Tom asked as he entered the room.
"You have the items, right?" Asher asked, and Tom nodded as he walked to him.
"So both of you are wondering why you are here, right?" Asher asked, and both of them nodded back at him.
"I have an offer for you," Asher said.
"Work for me, and you will get paid for it," Asher said, but Dane was confused.
'Why would he need people like us?' Dane could not understand why the heir of one of the most powerful Elite families was recruiting them.
"What kind of work?" Kai understood what Asher was trying to say.
There was only one type of work that people like them were used for.
"You will work for me on a few plans, and I will pay you 20 Million AUR for each successful mission, plus your salary," Asher said as Tom brought out a paper-like thing.
Dane's eyes widened as he heard what amount of money Asher offered them. It was way above what they had earned in Spyder.
"Sign this mana oath with your mana imprints if you want to work for me," Asher said, but Dane looked at Kai.
"What if we reject it?" Dane asked.
"Then both of you will die here," Asher replied, and he was serious about it.
People like Dane and Kai were dangerous, but not right now. If they couldn't work with Asher, then he didn't want people like them to interrupt his plans in the future.
"What choice do we have anyway," Dane said, and Kai nodded back.
'We can still escape,' Dane thought in his mind.
Mana oath was just a method to know when the oath was broken. There was no significant damage for it, and if both of them escaped out of Somaria successfully, Dane was sure they could hide from the Greville family's reach.
Asher looked at the two men in front of him.
"Take out the artifact," Asher said as Tom brought out a stamp-like artifact with a weird compass on its handle.
"This is a tracking artifact, and both of you will know about it," Asher said as they understood their position.
"This mana oath prohibits you from talking about my plans, actions, or words to anybody," Asher said, looking at them.
His face was indifferent, and his crimson-red eyes had no emotions in them.
"The moment one of you breaks this oath, both of you will die," He said.
"So what do we have to do?" Kai had accepted his fate, and working with someone like Asher was better.
"He will be your team leader, and I assume you understand what that means," Asher said as Kai and Dane nodded.
"So just follow whatever he tells you to do," Asher said as Tom smiled.
Tom was just happy that he was not the only one to suffer here now.
