Persuasion

Rey wandered around the town taking in the beautiful evening sight of Rosewood. Having lived in Rosewood for quite some time, he considered it a pretty town during the day and even prettier at night.

He met with the locals until the sun set and the street lamps were lit.

He bought some grilled meat skewers for himself and his parents and made his way back home.

By the tobe he reached home his mother was already setting the dishes on the dining table where his father was also seated.

He quickly changed his clothes and then sat opposite his parents.

'This feels oddly familiar.'

[Sure does]

"So what did you want to talk about?" Amanda broke the silence and got the conversation going.

"Umm...." Rey was thinking how to put forward his request and in the end came to the conclusion that he should just be honest and straightforward, "I kinda wanted to go to the Agar Kingdom."

His father paused for a moment, suspending his spoon mid-air and looked at him, "Agar Kingdom?"

"Y-yes" Rey replied nervously as he didn't expect for his father to stop eating.

"For what reason? As far I know we don't have any relative who lives there." he glanced at his wife song for her confirmation.

"Nope!" Amanda supported her husband's statement. Though she was prepared for some weird stuff even she didn't expect for Rey to come out with such an absurd request our of nowhere.

Rey realised that he would have to make things clear and started explaining why he wanted to go to the Kingdom suddenly.

During the course of his explanation, his parents' facial expressions changed quite a lot. It came to them as a huge shock when they learnt that Rey had got an Epic class and three A rank skills and a memory fragment too.

Of the two, Amanda was less surprised compared to her husband who didn't believe what Rey said until he saw the skills himself. As for her, she had already seen Rey use one of skills earlier and was suspicious about it but didn't get a chance to ask him directly.

After he stopped talking, he looked at his parents with hopeful eyes. He could see from their faces that they were confused, shocked and happy all at the same time.

"Give us some time to think about it. This is not a small matter and we need to consider a lot of things."

Rey expected such an outcome to an extent bit was disheartened nonetheless on not getting the permission of the spot. He knew that every moment that passed, the chances of his request getting rejected, increased.

Not having anything else to do, he decided to read some books about the Agar Kingdom. From his schooling, he only had some basic knowledge about the place and wanted to know about it as much as possible to be better prepared.

For him, learning about new places was a fun and interesting thing to do, and spent a considerable amount of time doing it.

If he wanted, he could have asked Sophie to do what he did earlier at the Library- scan the books and then ask her to transfer the content of them to him later.

This way would have been more efficient and less time consuming. But having no time restrictions, he chose to read them the the traditional way.

If left to him, he would've preferred this method earlier when he was in the Library, only if he wasn't short on time.

He believed that reading a book was like a journey in itself, and the experience could not be traded for anything else.

After more than half a dozen books and Sophie's constant nagging to rest, Rey finally went to sleep at around 2:00 in the morning.

The next day started off like any other normal day. With Rey waking up at 11a.m., which was an improvement of about 3 hours from his previous schedule. Even he was surprised as he has been waking up earlier than usual for the past couple of days. He didn't suspect it, but it was also due to the effect of his 'The one who achieves the impossible' title and because his body was slowly adjusting to the new routine.

Rey went by his daily routine and when he was getting ready for his breakfast, he noticed that his dad hadn't left for the clinic.

Not used to this sight, he subconsciously asked his father.

Nathan shifted his attention towards Rey who was dressed loosely and holding a plate of bread and butter.

"I suppose we have something important to discuss." that sentence was all that Rey needed to know as to why his dad was at home. After getting the answer, he went to sit with his dad who gestured him to come, but not before grabbing a glass of juice from the kitchen.

"Do you really want to go the Agar Kingdom?"

"Yes" Rey replied with a simple yes filled with his determination and desire.

"To be honest, I would have myself pushed you to go on a journey to gain experience, but the Agar Kingdom is way too far. Your mother especially is worried about the journey's long duration."

"But dad I really need to go there. The entrance exam is also coming up and I need to get those level ups if I want to not get pushed around."

"I know how important this is for you, that's why we are suggesting that you go with Ed. His father told me about his plans and even asked, if you would like to go too. I'll say you take his offer, this way you'll have both company and protection while levelling up."

"Dad I have already thought about it and I don't think that it will be as good an option for me as it is for Ed. The place he is going to is beneficial for those with lightning attribute. If I go there and waste my time, he is going to pull ahead of me even if we were to be in the same level."

Rey was adamant on going to the Kingdom, mostly because of all the things that he read about it. If earlier he only wanted to go, after reading more and more, he now needed to go.

"Why not somewhere within the Empire? It will be a much safer and shorter journey."

"Dad... when mon told me about her pregnancy, I was really excited at first and I still am but after some time I realised how foolish I was. I thought that being an older brother was all about pampering your younger sibling. But now I know that this is not true.

Yesterday when I was out in the market, I noticed things that I hadn't before. I saw how the older sister held her brother's hand among the crowd or how two brothers were quarrelling over a juice, which the older one let go for his little brother in the end.

That's when I realised that maybe I was too immature regarding the whole matter. And this journey is also a way for me to become a more responsible person and hopefully a better brother."

Rey ended his long speech to see his dad all emotional.

Nathan was touched by Rey's thoughtfulness and how much he had grown in just a span of few days. He didn't want to hinder his son's growth so even if he was still a bit reluctant, he agreed to Rey's request.

"I'll talk to your mother about it."

Rey was happy the he managed to persuade his dad, and after giving him a light hug went to his room, taking his plate with him.

Unknown to him, his mother overheard their conversation when she was getting out of the bathroom. As much as she wanted to run at him and embrace him in a hug, she decided to not spoil the father-son moment.

"Why don't you come out now?" Nathan called out to his hiding wife as if he knew that she was there the whole time.

"Can I ever hide from you?"

"Nope. Not until you give me back my heart that you stole." Nathan slightly winked at his wife.

"Stop that. I thought that you were over these cheesy lines. Did you forget what I said if you do this ever again?" Amanda was feeling cringed at he husband's actions.

"Pardon my mistake. So what do you say about Rey's journey?"

"After hearing that, even I want to agree but I still can't let him travel alone the whole way."

"Hmm..." Nathan thought as he also didn't want to let Rey travel alone for the entirety of this trip, "How about we make him travel till the capital with Ed and his party and from there he can go on his own. This way he won't have to travel solo for long and his trip may also be cut short by a few days."

"That is a nice idea. I also have some friends in the capital who can help him from there."

"So it's decided then. I'll talk with Brax to let him know and prepare accordingly."

"Say hi to him for me."

"Sure!"

Afterwards, Amanda went to her room and Nathan called the Mayor before leaving for his clinic.

.....

Rey was sweating nervously, facing his parents. He was anxious about whether his mother will allow him or not.

This question kept bugging him and he couldn't focus on any other task.

He looked at his mother who was smiling while his father was sporting a serious expression.

'What's up with the both of them? I thought dad was with me but now he is all serious and why is mom smiling like that?'

He again looked at them and noticed that his mother slightly nodded at him, giving him hope. He thought that maybe his dad was just trying to create a tense atmosphere and tease him but he can never be too complacent.

He was still looking at his mother when he realised that his dad was taking out a bunch of things from his inventory.

His dad first took out some weapons, then a lot of different potions and some other stuff also which he didn't know.

"Dad what are you doing?"

He wanted to know but his dad didn't reply and spread out all the stuff on the table, giving a clear view of each.

"What are these for?" Rey was still confused as to why his dad was emptying his inventory.

"These? I thought that might give you a gift for your very first solo trip."

"????"