"My confidence?" Richard asked, unsure where this had come from.

What about his confidence?

Grant looked at him mysteriously.

"I've watched you for a good while child. You're cautious. And caution is a good thing." He paused.

"But you can only be so cautious before it becomes cowardice." Before Richard could speak up, Grant held up his hand.

"What have you done up to now?" He leaned in, and though he could not see them, Richard could feel the eyes boring into him.

"What?" Richard responded unsurely, but Grant continued, ignoring this confusion.

"With the chance you've been given, the powers you've been given, hell, the golden finger if you will, what have you done with it? "

He shook his head. "Nothing. Such wonderful gifts, and you waste them.

Do you know what other players have been doing?" he demanded, and Richard could only shake his head.

This was a lecture. He knew better than to interrupt a lecture, otherwise it would only get worse. Everyone who's ever received one knows as much.

Grant continued, as if oblivious to the resigned look on the young man's face.

"Player 565 has managed to foil an assassination,

player 73 is currently escorting a high elf,

player 1313 is in a turf war with a wyvern,"

The man droned on and on, listing player after player, and with each label, came great feats.

The man had labeled dozens at the very least, and with every word, Richard understood the man's point more.

Indeed, when comparisons were made, Richard had fallen behind.

Still, he argued. "You've pointed these people out, but what of the ones you didn't? I'm sure not everyone's rushing out to do something. Some of them must've been cautious."

Grant sighed. "They're either further than you, or dead."

Sister Alexandria intervened. "Dead. And how many are there out there who've died to a lack of carefulness and preparation? Dozens? Hundreds?"

Grant responded casually. "Thousands."

"THOUSANDS!? AND YOU'RE TELLING RICHARD TO TAKE MORE RISKS?! IF ANYTHING WITH THOSE KIND OF NUMBERS, HE SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL!" Panda also jumped in.

Grant snorted. "Because those players were in worse situations. They weren't coddled. Most of them didn't have the luck of being born in a low level area as a high level monster, free of all responsibilities, blessed with the help of a wyrm, or being accompanied by three powerful familiars.

And yes, thousands have died, wyrm. But thousands more have survived. When we discuss the lives of tens of thousands of people, a mere few thousand become nothing." He sighed, before focusing on Richard again.

"Do you know what the most dangerous form of carelessness is?"

" Charging in without thinking." Richard responded.

"... well that's a close contender yes. No, what's really dangerous is assuming the world will give you time to be careful. You are under the impression that you have all the time in the world for "prep time." He paused. "And maybe you do. You're a dragon. You have a good 10,000 years of life, base line, as long as you don't cultivate, find a magical longevity resource, etc. But that's theoretical. It presumes that the world will wait for you. That trouble won't arrive at your doorstep. That's not how the world works.

Take your friend for instance. You want to save her, correct?" Richard nodded. "With what power, exactly. Yours?" Grant said scornfully.

"A mere B-rank beast and pals wants to oppose a marquis? An adult wyvern would have better odds. At least some of them are S-rank.

The wyrm? Oh sure, she's strong. Maybe she can help you. And maybe she can wipe away the whole problem for you right now."

Pause

"But what about next time? Or the time after that? Will she always be there to help you?"

"I will always be there to help him." Sister Alexandria said firmly as she slithered next to Richard.

Grant ignored her, continuing to talk to Richard.

"And what if she's not strong enough? She's strong, but what happens when the day comes, and she's not enough? What will you do then?"

He paused, as if hesitating, contemplating what to do, before finally making his decision.

Bringing his hands to his head, he removed the mask.

Underneath the mask was the face of a middle-aged man, blond hair, blue eyes

He had a scraggly and thick beard, with a plethora of scars across the face.

His eyes showed age and wisdom, but the most important part was the sense of tiredness that shone through.

Sister Alexandria scrutinized the face,, swearing he felt familiar, and yet could not figure it out for the life of her.

Why did this face feel oddly familiar...

"I was like you once. Cautious. I preferred to take things slow and steady, assured that my elders would be able to hold the sky until I was strong enough to take their place."

He chuckled dryly, as the pervading sense of exhaustion increased.

"Until the day they couldn't. Until their strength, wasn't enough. And I hadn't grown fast enough.

I lost everything. I had grown too slowly, taken my time, and when fate finally came knocking, I was unprepared. "

His blue eyes seemed to see through Richard, seeing his very essence. "I had people I cared about as well. A special someone.

She was a firecracker; the light of my life." He laughed happily for a moment and smiled as he relived past memories, and yet pain could be heard. Pain and regret.

"I wasn't strong enough, so I lost the light that day. By then, all pretenses were gone, and I took all sorts of risks, made all kinds of deals. But by the time I was able to find her, she had changed. That firecracker had been doused. I was too late." He looked at Richard meaningfully.

"You have a chance now; standing at a similar crossroads as I. I do not tell you this merely to diminish you, but to warn you. Ultimately, the only thing you can rely on to protect you and all that you love is you. Your elders may do their best to hold up the sky for you, but they cannot do so forever, for all things must face fate one day.

It's good to be careful. But if you allow carefulness to become a stumbling block instead of a building block, I can assure you that you will regret it.

... Trust me."

Richard couldn't help but remain silent at that.

What had started as merely a lecture had become a hard knock on the head, a good shaking to help him see the reality.

Yes, there was a carelessness here. He'd been careless. Assuming that he'd have enough time to slowly grow and develop himself, in the security of his own den.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

But that was wrong. Fate waited for no one, as even now fate called him to move.

Perhaps the man had been right. He'd been too slow. Indecisive.

But still, he was only B rank...

"You're still hesitating?" Grant asked. He did not sound particularly surprised over it.

"I know the reality of it, but knowing and acting upon it are two different things." Richard admitted.

"If I told you that you didn't have to worry about it, would it help?"

"A little." Richard admitted before realizing that Grant was implying something, and the old man promptly sighed. "Still too cautious, after that whole talk we had. Fine. Well then, don't worry about it, you're incredibly lucky."

"It's going to take more than a little luck to convince him to really let loose." Commented Panda, and Grant rolled his eyes.

"Not merely lucky. Karmically so. Do you remember that little talk we just had? About your 20 lives?"

Sister Alexandria's eyes widened as she seemingly grasped something, and though Richard suspected, it required confirmation.

"Yes? Is this about my last life in particular?" Richard hesitantly asked and Grant smiled approvingly.

"Already grasping it. I knew it, a smart cookie. Yes, think about it. Life 19 was meant to be a repayment for the suffering of the previous 17 lives of suffering. Great blessings and wealth were to be your gift, and the favor of three Gods.

But that was denied, and on to the 20th life you went.

What do you think happened to all that luck? Did it simply just vanish? Whoosh!?" Grant looked at him expectantly, and Richard believed he had come to the implication, so he answered hesitantly.

"Did it increase?" It made sense. If this was about luck, about rewards that transcended lifetimes, if there truly was such justice then surely he, who had suffered so many lifetimes, should be compensated, especially when the compensation was denied two lifetimes in a row.

"Exactly!" Grant said as he snapped his fingers.

"The result of 18 lives of punishment has resulted in such an insane amount of luck focused in one lifetime, that as long as you're not outrageously stupid and make suicidal decisions, you are likely to live the rest of your life out in blessings.I mean, case and point," Grant pointed at Panda, "Do you think just anyone can have a demigod as a familiar? The system only has 10 other demigod eggs lying around in its inventory, and only 1 other has been won.

And the other 4! I mean, a creature with a mythical bloodline, a creature with the secret potential to be a powerful symbiotic armor, a kaiju, and a beast so rare that likely almost no one even realizes it exists. That's not normal luck.

How about the fact that you're being protected by Alexandria, god slayer?"

The wyrm interrupted at the mention of that title, looking very much embarrassed. "That wasn't really a kill, for it was only a temporary death!" She denied, but Grant denied this.

"Even so, you've killed a god. The number of beings who can do that are near 100 in this empire, a small number comparatively.

And so far, you're the only player to really achieve this, except for the butler, who's protection happens to be a past acquittance, so that doesn't really count."

He paused before beckoning his hand. "Look, you bought something from the korvold right? Mind handing me that for a second?"

Richard had a premonition, as he handed the mysterious stone to the man, and upon seeing it, he clicked his tongue.

"Imperial jade. One of the most rare forms of jade, and it already has the location of a secret realm with the inheritance of a powerful dragon in it. How... lucky." He said, shooting Richard a look, one that screamed at him to recognize the reality.

"And the stone I used on Achil?" He asked, mildly anxiously, given that the way this conversation was going, he had a strong suspicion that the stone from then affirms this point. And he'd been long curious about that stone as well, given the incredible feat of reviving the dead across eos.

"A lazarus stone." Grant narrows his eyes. "You have no idea how lucky you were in that case. They're most commonly used to revive the dead and thus the name Lazarus was attributed to it, but that is not the best use of such a stone. Lazarus stones are the fossilized forms of a God's authority, often left behind in the wake of such a beings death. It takes countless eons for such a stone to form.

With 5 pieces of similar size to what you dug up, one could ascend to Godhood. Not a good one mind you, as you'd be using a chaotic and decayed one and would have to refine it thoroughly, but given how hard it is for most to do so, I assure you, anyone who knew the value of such a stone would've killed you." He looked at the boy meaningfully. "Good thing you kept it in your inventory until you used it. Not even the Gods can pry into your inventory. Had you taken it out in public, Isis may not have come after you, but plenty of other Gods might have been tempted to personally come and take it from you. I assure you, not even your luck could save you then."

Richard shivered as he realized the implication and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He could've been killed for that?!

Perhaps for others, such a thing would be useful, but if this man were to be believed, it could be the death of him.

Grant sighed. "Innocent men and jade, you know. Frankly speaking, you made the best choice you possibly could have." He looked at the boy Achil with surprise and envy.

"He's retained some of that authority, though it is dormant right now. But given time, it can be a powerful weapon for him." He added before turning back to face Richard.

"So are you convinced now? That your safety is assured? Are you now willing to take more risks?"

Richard could not argue against it, but instead ask. "Then where do I start?"

He was curious. This man had a clear desire to motivate him, to push him to be more confident and to take initiative.

So where did this man want him to start?

Hearing this, Grant did not hesitate. "Change your form. Its a small step, but a large one at the same time."

Richard frowned. "I'm not going to take my dragon form. That's not confident, that's stupid."

Grant raised an eyebrow. "How much have you looked at the spell you bought? True transformation?"

"Only what the spell initially showed me." Richard responded and Grant couldn't help but tut.

"Tut tut tut. Bad move. Always experiment with and study the spell without the system. Otherwise you'll miss things like this. The shapeshifting spell has the ability to add attributes from all your "skins" to create your ideal form." He pointed at Richard.

"You've been having issues walking haven't you? Use the wings and tail from your dragon form and bring them into human form. It'll give you a dragonewt like form, especially if you grow horns as well. Although they're rare, they do exist as a populace here in the empire."

"But I'll stand out..."

"Good! You'll stand out, and be forced to be more confident. You're a dragon for God's sake! Be more confident. If you can't even swallow the idea of taking a dragonewt form, then it'll be hard to maintain your own confidence.

Be proud! You are a dragon, a great lord of the land, part of a heritage spanning millions of years." He paused, before casually throwing out.

"And you know, if you use the dragonewt form, you'll match more with your dear sister Lyssandra..."

Richard inadvertently perked up at that, causing sister Alexandria to quietly giggle and Panda to roll his eyes.

Neither commented, not wanting to interfere in his choice.

And Richard?

He had to make a choice.

This was a step forwards, to becoming more confident. He'd already stepped off the mountain, ready to take on the world.

This was merely announcing his presence.

And with such good luck, if he backed down now, he really would be a coward...

Having finally made up his mind, Richard initiated the transformation once again, barely wincing at the now familiar transformation.

His human form now had familiar features.

Wings just like his dragon form now emerged from his back, and a tail trailing out from behind him.

The webbing from his head had appeared on this form as well, embracing the sides of his head, though were hidden a little by his longer hair.

"Do I look fine?" He asked a bit anxiously, turning to his teammates.

"You look wonderful!" Sister Alexandria said happily.

"Good." Achil nodded approvingly.

"I mean, you look fine." Panda said indifferently, before adding, "I'm sure you look good by human standards.

Richard seemed reassured with this, and Grant butted in. "Alright, you seem a hint more comfortable now, right?"

Richard had to admit, now that the wings and tail were popped out, he did feel more comfortable.

His body was more balanced, as the three new and now familiar appendages allowed him to readjust his body at whim.

The comfort was so good, he was even willing to ignore the spotlight this would bring.

Well, mostly.

"Good, so now that you're willing to take a few more risks, let's talk about your friend Lyssandra." He said, quickly sliding into the next subject.

More risks? Was her situation that bad?

Noticing his expression, Grant responded. "Yes, her situation is that bad, though she likely doesn't realize it. She's chasing your corpse currently."

Richard's face changed rapidly at that as he looked confused and worried in equal measures.

"My body? Shouldn't it be in the churches graveyard currently?"

"Well here's the thing: it was. Until Daddy dearest came by, laid claim to your body and promptly took it away. He was denied the first time around so he just dug up your body. And now Lyssandra is chasing that corpse." Grant sighed exasperated. "You see what I mean by good luck right? Where do you find such good friends willing to fight a Marquis over a corpse? Well, your luck and her misfortune I suppose."

Richard's heart beat frantically as he understood how bad this situation was.

"She thinks that she's the hunter, but has yet to realize that behind her is another group pursuing her. She has about, 2 weeks maybe? Before the group catches up. She may be a dragonewt, but unlike her father, I doubt she has the proper skill to deal with such a group."

"Where is she!?" Richard asked urgently, and Grant responded calmly. "WIthin 2 weeks, she'll arrive at mountain city. You know, the one in the joke, mountain out of a molehill? That one. " Checking his nonexistent wristwatch, the man leisurely continued. "Take Diggers Road to a Hop town, use the teleportation circle there to head to the nearest Skip village to Mountain city." Seeing Richard already turning to leave.

"Wait wait wait! It's dangerous to go, take this!" He said, before throwing three adventurer's cards to the three of them.

"I took the liberty of preparing adventurer identities for you guys, to avoid the trouble at the gates some guards like to make. And you know, a life saving measure I guess." He said, before casually throwing a card to each of them, and to Richard, a bottle filled with... lightning?

Seeing the boy's curious look, Grant chuckled.

"A test and a lifesaving measure. If you consume this within the evolution after your next one, it will significantly amplify the results of your next evolution. But it will also be an item that can save your life one time. But remember"

He said, wagging his finger. "It's lightning in a bottle. You only get the one use.

Richard nodded solemnly before turning to leave quickly, and the rest of the group quickly followed, though sister Alexandria glanced at him carefully, as if trying to figure out why he looked so familiar, before leaving the bar.

Grant sighed as he sipped the beer once more.

"Kids these days. They're always in a rush." He paused before smiling quietly.

"Let's hope this generation of players has the guts to rise up."