Sol's hands trembled as the book fell, producing a loud thump. His breathing became rough as memories of the past flooded back to him. Memories that he thought he had already come to terms with resurfaced as he was forced to remember and relive the past once more.
The [Mind Shaper] talent was considered a unique talent, but even in terms of unique talents, it was almost never seen. They were so rare, in fact, that there were only around 50 [Mind Shaper] talents in the entire world at any given moment. They had the rare ability to directly affect the minds of people unlike any other mind-related talent. Most mind-related talents would vary widely from telepathy, telekinesis, mind reading, clairvoyance, and so much more. [Mind Shaper] was a branch of telepathic abilities which could permanently change the mind of their targets.
Normally this type of talent was classified as one of the more dangerous ones that the kingdom of Crestelia would keep an eye on as they could enslave people to their whims. But based on the diary entries, the subordinate lucked upon the [Mind Shaper] as his second talent. Since it was hard to track all gained talents after the first initial talent, people like him sometimes slipped under the eye of the kingdom. The rarity of the talent meant nothing to Sol, as whenever he thought of someone with that talent he thought of the man who killed his parents.
Sol was reminded of the past when he was 10 years old. His house was broken into one night, and his mother and father, who were both blessed with combat talents, fought the invader. What neither expected was the man to be a [Mind Shaper] and he used his abilities on Sol's dad, tricking him into believing the invader was his mother. As the fighting continued, Sol came out of his room because he heard the loud noises and saw his father kill his mother.
Still under the influence of the invader's control, Sol's father was about to kill Sol as well, but just as his father's blade shallowly cut into his neck, he managed to break free from the control. Furious at being made to kill his wife, Sol's father went crazy with the single goal to kill the invader. In the end, he managed to do so but suffered grievous mental damage that he was unable to recover from and passed away shortly after.
After that traumatic experience, Sol was taken to an orphanage where he spent the next four years until his leveling ceremony. Once he completed the leveling ceremony, the orphanage could no longer take care of him, and he had to find a way to live on his own. Normally when people unlocked their talents it wouldn't be too hard to find a job, but Sol never unlocked his. This was when Sol started doing the basic gathering quests every day to leave the town and level up. He refused to believe he had no talent and worked towards a single goal since that day.
Done reliving the past, Sol only wanted two things: the end of this kidnapping ring and the death of Cane and the man with the [Mind Shaper] talent. He never wished for the death of another person, but in his eyes, these two men who treated others like products and took away all agency in their lives didn't deserve mercy. Sol had the evidence they needed, the noble complicit in this business would also face their punishment. With all pieces in place, he made the call.
The communication gem gently glowed as it connected to its twin. Trevor's voice soon came from the gem.
"Yo Sol, Any news?"
Skipping the pleasantries, Sol responded, "I have a diary with all the proof we need, how soon can you start the raid?"
"The guildmaster arrived an hour ago so let me check."
After a short minute of silence, another voice came from the gem, it was the Guildmaster.
"Does the diary have all the names?"
"Yes, a total of four noble houses were involved. Two families made the decision together and the other two were actions of just one person from the family."
A laugh came from the gem, "Hahaha! Finally! I can't wait to put those bastards in their place! Good work, speaking of which I finally found a good reward that would fit perfectly for you."
Sol tried to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand, "Can you start the raid then?"
"Yes, keep the diary in the spatial ring. I have to inform my allies to gather so we can begin."
"How long will it take?"
"Hmm, they already know the situation so they should be ready to mobilize in a moment's notice. At most half an hour."
"Perfect, thank you."
"No, thank you. I'll see you soon." With that final message, the communication gem stopped vibrating as its light faded.
'Is she personally coming as well? Good.'
Sol felt reassured that the Guildmaster is participating in the raid as well. The reason for which was because one cannot become a Guildmaster without being strong. This is not only to handle the rowdy adventurers but also to be the last line of defense of the guild. A guildmaster needed to be at the peak of power which was A-Rank. Though since A-Rankers were very rare not every branch had the luxury to have one. In those cases what is put in place is a temporary Guildmaster, they have all the administrative power as a real one but can be ordered by any true Guildmaster. The requirements to be a temporary Guildmaster are much easier only having to be B-Rank.
With the call done and the raid soon to take place, Sol managed to calm down a bit. His thoughts were still all over the place, but he was finally past the initial shock of being so close to another [Mind Shaper].
'It will soon be over…'
…
Cane arrived back in his underground base. The Street Wyverns were easily taught their place thanks to him and his conditioned subordinates killing half of their gang. Cane could have easily commanded the death of the entire gang, but he used them sometimes to keep an eye on the streets or harass his opponents. It seemed that Cane had let them grow too confident as he hadn't been keeping a tight leash on them, but that wouldn't happen again.
Arriving back in his study, he wanted to write his thoughts in his diary like usual. He was going to take it out of his spatial ring, but he realized it wasn't inside it.
'Hmm, must've left it in the rush.'
He looked around his desk but couldn't find the book. He knew for sure that it couldn't be anywhere else, and none of his subordinates dared to enter his study when he wasn't inside. Cane quickly realized it was stolen and called for a subordinate.
"What's up boss?"
"Gather everyone. Pack everything up, we need to leave as soon as possible."
"Huh? S-sure, what about the prisoners?"
"Get Weaver, Red Sands to protect Gus while he conditions the products. Make it so they act obedient and follow our every command, it doesn't have to be thorough just long enough to last until we get to the safe house."
"On it boss!"
The subordinate ran off as his yelling could be heard from outside the door. Calling everyone to get off their asses and pack everything up.