“What do you mean?”

“Haha don’t misunderstand; you certainly surpassed my expectations by completing the training 5 days prior to my estimated timing.” Richard stroked his chin: “I just made something up to motivate you.”

Ryan couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed, yet before he could process his thoughts Richard continued speaking: “However, now that your body is strong enough we can start the process of training you to become a Sage.”

“…” Ryan didn’t whether to laugh or cry, this man had nothing better to do than get a small amount of amusement for himself.

He helplessly sighed: “So what does the training comprise of?”

“You’ve been training to become a Sage since the moment we met,” Richard said as if it was obvious.

“Huh?” A clueless expression appeared on his face.

“Like I said, from the moment we met I’ve been slowly creating a foundation for you, so that when this day came you could easily power your way through to the first stage of the Sage realm: The Sage warrior.”

“Those pills that were given to you were not really given just to test your pain limitations and record them. Rather raise them and transform your body into a 1st class physique.” Richard explained with an animated expression.

“From all my studies and understanding of anatomy and muscles I devised a method to increase your physique and make it so that when you do become a Sage, your power will be exceptionally high.”

“…” Ryan understood all of what Richard mentioned, however, the moment he said: ‘it was not just to test your pain limitation’ a suspicion that was in his heart for a long time appeared: “Why me?”

The bubble Richard was in popped: “Huh?”

“It’s not that I’m ungrateful or anything but why did you pick me, a random beggar out of thousands of others?” When Richard mentioned the experiments, an inkling of doubt arose in his heart. The two had no previous encounters before Richard picked him up from the streets, yet that man saved him from the bottom of the human hierarchy, ‘human trash’.

Since the age of 6, he knew nothing of the world but the slums, but he was picked out from countless other beggars, he couldn’t acknowledge that it was only coincidence that brought them together.

All of a sudden the atmosphere changed, the warm spring breeze felt as if it came from the middle of winter. Richard’s previous proud demeanour disappeared replaced by a bearing of fragility.

Silence filled the air, he smiled helplessly unsure of what exactly to say in reply, it took a few moments before he could utter any words.

“Don’t over think my boy, although, I’m a whimsical person in nature, that is not why I picked you up from the streets. The truth is…” Richard suddenly stopped speaking and suddenly turned to the left.

“What?” For some unknown reason, Ryan’s heart was thumping yet the reason was unexplainable.

Richard turned back to him, a serious expression was on his face but his eyes were blank: “I saved you because you look like a close friend of mine that died many years ago, he was like a brother, we were raised together as youths but he was killed trying to protect me.”

“Seeing you that day made me think of him and I felt the urge to save you from the slums.” Richards serious voice changed, resonating with sincerity: “Even though that was my initial reason, but over the months my reasons have changed.”

Ryan suddenly felt everything click into place and he could understand the reasoning, however, he felt a tad bit sad because there was no other reason besides him being lucky.

“What are the reasons now?” he asked despondently.

“Your will to change caught my attention, it made me want to see what kind of person you’ll become in the future. The reason seems simple, but isn’t the most simple reason the most sincere?” Richard placed his palm on Ryan’s hair and rubbed it with a gentle smile.

Richard did not realise that his small action, besides making Ryan smile had created a feeling that the boy had never experienced in his life, a familial love that filled the hole in his heart that he didn’t even know existed.

“Now we should really move from this area, I can hear a commotion being caused in that direction,” Richard explained facing the direction he previously turned to.

“I had a plan for your training, but since when does everything go according to plan, let’s go see what the cause of this uproar is.” He subtly changed the subject without showing any signs of the discomfort and heartache within him

“Lead the way,” Ryan replied with a satisfied expression on his face.

Richard dashed into the forest followed by Ryan, what he didn’t notice was the man's gentle smile disappearing as it was replaced by a mixed expression that was gazing into the distance, not the path in front of him but to a place far away.

This expression was something Ryan could recognise if he was able to see it since he’d seen it occasionally before: ‘An appearance that was searching for something or lost in a nostalgic memory’ is what Ryan would have thought.

I’m not ready to tell you the truth Ryan, I’m far from ready to tell you… One day, one day I promise I’ll reveal everything. Richard sighed before turning back, his bearing returning to normal as if the change had not even happened at all, he then smirked at Ryan: “Come on, run faster you’re still awfully slow.”