Ch. 40 what does it take?

Looking at Sarah, the bigger man did not seem impressed by her act of courage. He continued to walk away.

"Don't ignore me!" yelled Sarah, who then began to walk toward the man. The man stopped and turned around. His stature was intimidating and even made Sarah back off for a second.

"W-we are more than capable of helping you out!" stuttering. She felt a little nervous now. Her confidence was starting to wane, but she kept eye contact with him. Peter looked back and forth between the two, shy as usual and unsure what the outcome would be.

"Listen here, girl. I don't have space for someone who looks like they care barely handle a blade. I have valuables that need guarding, and I don't plan to feed any homeless person flashing an adventurers badge in my face."

Stepping back and putting her hand on her blade, she felt a little better knowing it was there. "I am more than capable with my blade, and my friend here is great with magic. We would not slow you down at all."

Looking over at Peter, the man smirks and raises his hand. The hawk-eyed man from before walks up and looks at his boss. "What do you need boss?"

"Quin, This girl says she is a capable fighter. I want you to test her and see if she is telling the truth." Looking over Sarah with the same expression he had on the entire time. Quin drew his sword; it was slimmer than most blades and more pointed. Sarah knew this was called a rapier. Drawing her sword, she got into a fighting stance as everyone nearby backed away from the fight while staying close enough to watch.

Taking an unusual stance, Quin held one arm behind his back and extended the other towards Sarah. She did not back down, though. Perish taught her that second-guessing yourself would lead to a fatal outcome. Charging headfirst towards Quin, she used all the skills she had been taught and attacked with ferocity. Quin blocked or sidestepped all of the attacks without breaking a sweat.

"What the heck is going on?" Sarah huffed as she continued to attack. Quin did not attack once only continued to block and sidestep. He smiled a little, which only irritated her even more. She had thought to herself, why had she been doing all this time? Wasn't she stronger now? How could someone so easily handle her like she were some child?

Out of breath and not any closer to stopping Quin, Sarah quit her assault and looked angrily at the leader of the Caravan. He grinned back at her and called out to Quin. "You can stop now, Quin."

"Yes, sir." Sheathing his blade, he returned to the leader's side, who looked Sarah up and down and nodded. "You aren't amazing, but you will do for now. Very well, you and your friend can join us."

Sarah looked over at Peter and smiled. "We made it!" Peter looked relieved that she did not have to fight anymore. He could tell she was hurt by that encounter but happy to see her not take it so hard.

"What about the others?" Peter mentioned quietly.

The leader looked over to them and squinted. "Others?"

Peter squeaked a little surprised he heard them. "Oh, uh, we have friends that are with us, but they aren't here at the moment."

"I'm not looking to hire any more people, son, so don't expect me to pay them or feed them if they come along."

Looking to the side nervously, Peter smiled and nodded. "There is just one problem, sir."

"What is it, boy?" The leader looked a little irritated now. Peter looked back at the ground and kind of stuttered a little, but it was not something that was understandable. "Speak up, boy, I don't like games."

"There monsters..." Peter said quietly as his heart started to beat fast. If This guy did not like it, then that could mean serious trouble for these two. Monsters were, of course, hated by the human civilizations as barbaric creatures that only lived to kill people. Peter glanced at the leader for a moment to see how he took that answer.

He had to take a second glance because he was not sure what he was seeing. "Har har har, well, why didn't you say sooner? I didn't know you guys were monster tamers no wonder your skills were so weak."

Peter started laughing a little to himself while holding up a false smile. He had heard of monster tamers before and knew them as just people who enslaved monsters to do their bidding. If that is what it would take to get his friends on board, then that would have to do. "Yea, we work better with the monsters than with people. If we could have our own room, that would be great. I would hate to disrupt your friend's time during this journey."

Patting on his back hard, the leader laughed again and nodded. "Alright, it won't be the best room. I know how messy those monsters can get, but it should be enough to hold you. How many monsters are we talking to?"

"Three in total and all are humanoid in nature," Peter responded quickly.

"Wow, you managed to have three under your control that is very impressive pipsqueak. Use the back most carriage for the trip." Walking away from them, he continued to laugh and shake his head. He seemed like a much friendlier guy once they got to talk to him. Quin looked at them and walked up. "You're in way over your heads." He also walks away, but his words left the two feeling a bit less excited for this mission. Peter looked at Sarah, who was sticking her tongue out at Quin and giving him faces. She turned back to Peter and smiled. "We should let the others know. This is perfect, Peter now we can all get to the border together!"