22 Huge Strides

Freddy was extremely nervous as he wiped his sweat with his old white handkerchief. Placing his hands on his lap, his eyes never left the three officials in front of him, who were evaluating his skills and certifications.

When he heard that he had gotten an interview from Golden Enterprises, he was ecstatic. Initially confused however, he realized that one man was responsible for all of this.

With his dream almost fulfilled, he gripped his hands tightly and waited for the officials to decide upon his acceptance.

"Mr. Paine, your credentials look excellent. Still, it seems that you were fired in your previous company. Is that true?" One of the officials said, as he noticed Freddy panic for an entire second, before calming himself down.

"Yes sir, and I have no regrets in my actions." He blurted, earning a surprised expression from the officials.

"Hmm, very well Mr. Paine. We would like to hire you as our IT developer. Congratulations. We will provide you with the starting date of your work, your salary package and other paper work."

One of the officials said, as he reached out his hand to Freddy. Almost screaming in excitement, Freddy immediately stood up and shook his hand in return, thanking them multiple times. Loosening his tie, Freddy made his way out and reached the lobby as he noticed Indra waiting for him.

"I can tell from that huge smile that you got it. Congrats." Indra said.

"Yeah, I finally did. Thank you Indra, for doing all this. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Not at all, consider this as returning the favor for taking care of me for the past two weeks." Freddy's eyes lit up in happiness and gratitude. Having taken a huge nose dive in his accomplishments in life, things were now starting to turn out for the better.

"Well why don't you head home first, once I take care of somethings here, we'll have a little celebration at your house."

"Of course, I can't wait to beat you in Mortal Kombat again." Freddy grinned, imagining all the possible combos.

"Well, we'll see about that 'Noobie'." Indra smirked, getting a scoff from Freddy in return as he left the office. Soon enough, Indra returned to Richard's office.

Opening the door, he noticed Richard taking a smoke and talking to one of his trusted subordinates. By being enemies with another successful company with equal footing, it was natural there were spies from both sides.

However, though DW-Industries was successful in gathering information, the same could not be said for the latter. Ending his call in disappointment, Richard turned his chair around and noticed Indra walk in.

"So did he get it"? Richard asked in curiosity.

"Yeah he did. I swear, that kid was so excited, he literally ran home screaming along the way." Indra sighed as he shook his head in embarrassment.

Hearing this Richard, along with Indra, started to laugh. When Richard had heard from Indra about his credentials and his abilities, Richard was shocked.

A Harvard graduate, who finished his Computer Science and Software Engineering degree was nothing but impressive. Moreover, by being a skilled hacker, there was no way other companies wouldn't hire an individual like him.

"By the way, was it one of your spies?" Indra asked. If there was any useful information, then they would be able to plan and act accordingly.

"There wasn't much as usual. My spy only said that they were planning something big in the Annual Business Summit, we just do not know what it is. Seriously, that company is very cautious and careful in not leaking any of their information. Though our spy has been there for a few years, he wasn't able to gather any important information." Richard said as he took another puff from his cigar and stared blankly at the ceiling above him. Understanding that look on Richard, Indra smiled as he took Richard's cigar from him.

"Wimpy, do you know why I asked you to hire Fred?" Considering such an obvious question, Richard turned around and looked at him confusingly. Wasn't it because Indra owed him, or because he was doing him a favor? Like a lightning which struck his head, Richard immediately stood up in astonishment.

"You mean..."

"Yeah, it is as you think. True, I owe him a favor, but that was only half of it. The other half was to rely on him for information. With his skills, we no longer need to rely on a spy." He replied as took another smoke from Richard's cigar.

Falling back on his chair, Richard became elated and excited. He had thought about such an idea previously, only to dismiss it however, when he could not find someone talented enough to be able to hack a billion dollar company.

"Amazing Indra! With this we can access so much information and finally find a way to destroy them." He said as clenched his fists in determination.

"But, there's one thing I don't understand. Why are there very few cultivators or people with power? What happened to our former kingdoms and organizations? If we had our former assassins, we would've been able to easily infiltrate DW-Industries and collect much information!" Indra felt it very odd.

No matter how many years passed, these were powerhouses which stood among the top of the food chain, constantly tempering themselves to become stronger, and pass down the knowledge to future descendants.

"Indeed, it would've been easier, but all the kingdoms and other powerful organizations have been wiped out." The usually calm Indra stood up furiously.

How on earth was it possible? He gritted his teeth. He felt disappointed in himself. Was Daemon alive? No. That was impossible. After reading many historical books and encyclopedias, Indra never heard of Daemon since the imperial era.

Just like the fading past, his identity and his origins were all swept under the dust, never to be revealed again. Was it Aaron and the remaining members of the Dark Wolf Faction? That was not plausible either, as they have been wiped out immediately, with only two members surviving.

Unable to stay calm, Indra paced back and forth in the office, deducing all possibilities. Much to his dismay, he wasn't able to figure it out, until he heard Richard enlightening him.

"I know what you're thinking. It is not the Dark Wolf Faction, well not entirely. Indra, have you heard of the term otherworlders?" Indra stopped on his tracks and turned towards Richard in shock. Thinking back to when Freddy had called him an otherwolder, it all made sense now. The puzzle pieces were all connecting.

"I see.... So they were wiped out by otherworlders." Indra replied, as he closed his eyes sorrowfully.

"Exactly. We don't know when and why they arrived, but when they did, only a few of us survived. We did not even have the time to mourn." Richard stood up and walked over to Indra, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Wimpy." Richard shook his head and said,

"Don't worry about it. It was all in the past. Though we cannot expect them to come back alive, all we can hope, is for them to rest in peace." Indra nodded and remained silent.

"Have they ever appeared again?" He asked. If they did, this time, he would be ready to destroy them.

"Only once, and that was ten years ago. When I went with my men to find out what happened, a huge barrier prevented us from entering in. Strangely enough, they did not attack anyone and left the same day itself. To this day, we still do not know why they were here." Richard explained.

Just as Indra thought had had found his way out through the maze of mysteries, he was once again thrown into the very depths.

"Don't worry, this time we will wipe them out for good. No matter if they are otherworlders or not, we will be ready." Indra said.

"For sure. Speaking of which, I have created all the necessary documents for you to live in this world. With that out of the way, I will start training you in the necessary stuff in business. Hopefully, in a month you should be ready." Richard smiled, envisioning a bright future. With his dwindling life force, he was glad his best friend had returned just in time.

"Really? Well hope you guide me well 'teacherrrr'." Indra mocked him.

"Don't give that smirk you idiot! I will prove it to you that I am a great teacher. I have taught a lot of people my boy, and you are not the first." Richard scoffed in pride, earning a chuckle from Indra. As they continued chatting, they suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"I'll be going then, Wimpy. Oh and by the way, I've decided to stay stay at Fred's house from now on. Just call his phone, if it's urgent." With that, Indra teleported from Richard's office as soon as the door opened, revealing it to be Ricardo.

"Come on in Ricardo." Richard gestured, as he closed the door, and sat across his table.

"How are your missions going so far?"

"Not too bad. Boss I'm here because I have two requests, which I hope you can agree on. " Noticing Ricardo's hesitation, Richard was aware of where Ricardo was getting at.

"It depends on your requests. If it's within my ability, then I shall do so."

"For my first request, I hope you can reinstate Ema back as your PA. Though she might've been angry, you are aware of how much she has done for this company." Ricardo pleaded, as he looked at Richard straight in the eye.

"Ricardo, please remember this. I am very well aware of Ema's contribution to this company and should she desire her job again, she herself must request it not you. Even then, I cannot agree to that request. I'm sorry but this decision is final." Richard reprimanded him, who was seething in anger, but remained quiet.

"Why? She just made one mistake and you fired her for that? Boss, you of all people are kind and forgiving, why can't you let it go this once?" Ricardo shouted in confusion. Was Indra so much more important than him and all the other people in this company? Though he was aware of Richard's health deteriorating, hurting Ema like this was something unacceptable for him.

"Don't misunderstand me. I did not fire her for just insulting Indra, I did that because though I see so much potential in her, she is still raw and unrefined. She has many things to learn before she can get back on this job. An example such as this. As a former PA, is it not her responsibility, to not divulge such important and classified information? What if others overheard you?" Ricardo remained quiet unable to refute his words. It was indeed true. Had any of this been overheard by members from the rivaling companies, the circumstances would've turned for the worst.

"Look Ricardo, I appreciate your concern towards Ema. My only wish is for her to be become a PA, responsible and stronger, once I step down from CEO. Is that clear?"

"Yes boss." Unlike last time, Ricardo, leaned back on his chair and thought about the facts Richard had told him.

Not only had he misunderstood him, he admired the man in front of him even more. Thinking for the betterment of the company's future was how Richard Starling paved his way throughout the world.

"Now then, what's your second request? I hope it's a little more simpler than the first." He chuckled.

"Well, it's just that, Ema and I thought that Indra must be tested in many areas, before he becomes the CEO. We do not know much about him and his abilities, and should he fail, he must not be the CEO, even if he turned out to be your friend." Ricardo sat straight this time, and requested confidently.

Knowing his boss, he was bound to at least think through this. Even if not for Ema, for the sake of this company, hopefully.

"Of course, I was planning on doing that anyways." Ricardo was astonished, upon hearing the sudden reply from Richard.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. In the next upcoming board meeting, Indra will be attending it as well. As a member of this company, you, Alice and the others will see it for yourselves soon enough." Richard responded as he felt a huge adrenaline rush, course through his body. Soon, the whole world would witness Indra's true might.