Mr. Reyas finally after what seemed to be an eternity, regained some of his composure. He looked at the intimidating man and answered, "That is correct, we are a moving caravan under the servitude of the Great Ranker Recondos, for what reason would sir inquire about this?"

The man laughed, with a face full of ecstasy and nefarious motives, once he stopped he glanced at the group with a look of amusement and pity, he finally answered. "Good, Good it seems my trip was not in vain, well alright since Recondos keeps on hiding from me i’ll just have to bait the weasel out, tell Recondos from this moment on I, Great War Sage Kinis, shall lay claim to his possessions, and that if he wishes to ever get them back he will come to this same exact spot and have a Rankers Duel with me. If he wishes to maintain his B Ranking he's going to have to prove he's worthy of it. But its too sad for him, in this world or in any other, theres no way a wash out like him will ever hold a higher status than me. He shall be the stepping stone to my rise to the top."

Mr. Reyas flinched, you could see the panic start to settle in his face. But surprisingly what followed immediately after was a stern face of resoluteness. When I saw that a million thoughts per second started flying through my head, I had a bad feeling about the situation.

I knew what kind of man Mr. Reyas was, he was stubborn and unyielding, specially when it came to his reputation. In all his years of buiseness hes never failed to deliver any goods. That was because of Mr Reyas’ careful planning, and resoluteness to hire the best of protection, even if at times he would take a loss. In the long run it was that sort of mentality that payed its dividends, it earned him the trust of many and gave his company an outstanding reputation, simultaneously giving him an edge over other competition.

Because of this, those character traits of his have only increased the older he got and have cemented themselves deep into the furthest enclaves of his psyche. I knew exactly the person he was, I admired the man, even if it pained me to recognize it, I too for most of my life have swam against the tide, yearning for the day I can prove everyone's doubts wrong, except in Mr. Reyas case he was actually successful.

I knew he was a proud man, because I would be too if I lived his life. That in turn made me panic. I had a feeling of what the old man was about to do.

That stupid old man what the hell was he thinking! I really didn’t want to die today! I hadn’t even gotten a whiff of my lifelong dream. Not today, not now, I didn’t want to be another worthless life, a side character without no meaning, fodder for those on the path to greatness.

' Old man please don't do something stupid!'

Those where the words I wished to scream to him, but I knew my prayers where in vain as soon as I heard his next words...

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"Sir I do not know what problems you have with Mr. Recondos, but in the end it doesn't matter, this caravan and its cargo are my responsibility, and if anything were to happen to it all consequences completely fall on to me, so i'm sorry to inform sir that I cannot comply with your request."

As soon as Mr. Reyas finished, the veteran guards looked at each other and understood what this meant and immediately formed a defensive line. They had been with him since the beginning, always willing to serve as his guards, not only did he pay good Mr Reyas had earned their respect.

I was slow to react but soon followed suit, as unwilling as I was this was still my job and my only source of income, I also had my pride I wasn’t a complete coward, I just knew my limits. But Mr Reyas was the only one who gave me a chance when everyone else turned me down, he might be an annoyance but unfortunately he’s one of the few people in this world whom I can't turn my back on. I might cherish my life, and still have many unfufilled dreams but how can I become a ranker without being able to face some danger, I mean Mr. Reyas is doing it right now and hes not even that strong; thats probably why his buiseness was so successful.

!

Thats it!

Why am I so stupid, it finaly hit me, now I know what i’ve been missing, why i’ve stagnated where I was for the last quarter of my life, why I hadn’t grown or even seen a glimmer of what’s behind the door I want to go through.

Even if I had more willpower, and determination, even if I prepared, and did all those worthless little things, strengthening excercises, mental workouts, I've been wasting my life until now.

Why?

Because I’m not putting my life on the line i’ve been playing it too safe, I han’t risked it all like Mr. Reyas, I haven’t done a mad rush to ascension like the caterpillars in the fields.

It’s been in front of me all this time yet the truth has escaped me from the begining. I've even known about it, mentioned it, but i’ve failed to grasp it.

Now is my moment!

Kinis laughs, as do the man with him, "Are you insane, did you not hear who I was, oh that’s right, I forgot where I was in. I'm surrounded by country bumpkins, I’m Great War Sage Kinis, B Ranked Ranker, the fastest one to have reached that realm in the last 100 years, but that’s not even the main reason why you should get on your knees and kiss my feet and beg for mercy."

The axed man next to him started to scoff and glare, the man with the sword interjected, "Boss Kinis is an existence the likes you worms could never compare to, feast your eyes and thank the universe for the honor of being in the presence of Volunterras future, know your worthlessness in front of an Otherworlder!"

Everyone in the surrounding gasped. A tought immediately entered my head.

"We're screwed!"