True Potential

Chapter 1: The Worst

                                                                                           To Be More (1)

T/W: Profanity, Violence, Bullying, and Strong Language.

"You're bugging, man. Marshall is way cooler." Ralph casually says.

"Yeah, right, Eli no-diffs him." Markus responds.

"I'm not talking about in a fight, dumbass"

Ralph and Markus were a couple of 17-year olds relaxing on their break. They were interning for a position in a guild. If they couldnt be Striders, this was the next best thing they thought.

They've had four cups of coffee and they're still in the break room, the way they're lazying about they might go for a fifth. Despite their lack of an affinity for work, no one could deny their passion for the Strider business.

"Dude, how long have we been here?" Markus questions.

"I don't know, like 15 minutes? We should get another cup of coffee." Ralph says. He gets up to get another one for himself and Markus. A bad feeling rears up inside Markus, and the longer he ignores it the more it grows. He checks his watch. "DUDE. IT'S 10:15. WE'VE BEEN ON BREAK FOR 50 MINUTES!" Markus shouts.

"WAIT HUH, I COULD'VE SWORN WE HAD 15 MINUTES LEFT."

"UGH THIS IS THE LAST TIME I LET YOU HANDLE THE TIME." Markus complained. They trashed their cups and blitzed for the door. Before they could come with an excuse, a man enters.

He was one of the Striders for the guild, but something was off. Strider's usually give off a certain aura. Confidence. Sureness. Arrogance. It was usually one of those three if not all three, but this man did not give off anything like that. In fact, he was the opposite.

You could walk past this man and never tell he fights monsters and collect treasures for a living. He didnt even have the things conventional needs either. He wasnt tall, not attractive, or had that charisma that attracts others. He was just there. A sad excuse for a Strider is what everyone would say.

There was nothing to fear about this man. Realizing this, Ralph acted fast.

"O-oh hey, Dante–I mean Mr. Grayson. Can we ask a favor?"

What was he thinking? Markus thought. Asking a favor from your superior? This is a Strider we're talking about. A member of this guild. He could report them and get them fired. The best option was to beg and plead, but this was too risky.

"If you run into Mr. Johnson, can you just tell him we were helping you? We'll totally owe you."

Dante didn't think much of it. He didn't really care, but he saw them in himself and his brother, so he would let them off the hook.

"Sure thing, just don't do it again, ok? I can't cover for you again."

"T-thank you so much Mr. Grayson. We'll get going now." Ralph said. The two bolted off and got back to their desks, acting as if nothing happened. "I can't believe we got away with it... but dude who was that? I didn't know he had clout like that." Ralph snickers almost blowing their cover. "Clout? Yeah, right. Don't you know who that is? That's Dante Grayson. "The Worst"

"Woah... really? He looks smaller in real life."

"Yeah, I heard about it from Aaron and the others when I was on break yesterday. They talked about other stuff too but I dont think I should mention it."

"Instead of doing work?" "Hey, man. There's more to life than just working. You gotta network too." Ralph replies. Despite talking just to talk, he didn't lie there.