Certain Arrangement

"Perfect" Lila clapped her hands with a joyous smile

An ominous feeling washed over Messor and it looked as if Odin had an idea of what was about to be said.

[Haha, this should be interesting, I've given you plenty of knowledge but this is something you need to learn on your own]

Messor had no time to ponder what Odin meant as he was about to find out.

"Before you were even conceived our Torvus family made a certain arrangement with a family that neighbors our territory"

"They're nowhere near as powerful as our family however their merchant background makes them a force to be reconned with"

"They have connections all over the continent and even our family would have trouble to take them out by the root"

"Other than that they have hunting grounds in their territory filled with rare and unique beasts among other things…"

"What does that have to do with me becoming stronger? I thought I wouldn't be able to go and hunt beasts outside our land" Messor interrupted irritated at the tangent his mother seemed to go on.

Why couldn't anyone get straight to the point he wondered only to get reminded by Odin [Everything is being explained as you effectively know nothing, fool…]

'Just you wait, one day ill make you eat those words…'

[HA, I wonder how when I can't eat hahaha]

'...'

"...ehm" Lila cleared her throat

"Alright let me get to the important piece of information I guess" Lila smiled but to Messor it looked like she wanted to smack his head so he decided to stop talking.

"As I was saying, before you were born our families agreed on an engagement, however when you were conceived and the news came out that…" She trailed off not wanting to finish her thought but powered through it eventually.

"...that you were going to be a bit special, they forced us to alter the agreement."

"They made it so that your engagement wouldn't be officially announced, it was tied to the other clause which stated if you don't recover your mental state before you turn 16 then they will betroth your would-be fiancee to another"

"W-wait, what do you mean would be fiancee? How does me being engaged or potentially engaged help me become stronger?" Messor looked down deep in thought after voicing his inner thoughts out loud.

Smack

Messor felt a smack on his head only to look up and see his mother's eyes hidden behind a fan

'Did she have a fan before?' he wondered

"Sometimes you surprise me with your intelligence and some other times you act like a fool…" Lila never liked to mince her words and it seemed like she was finally starting to act like her true self.

"The family you were meant to be engaged to have been making moves for a while, everyone knows while their young miss isn't officially engaged to anyone that behind the scenes she is."

"They're disrespecting us, they have received news of your recovery but instead of coming here to celebrate with us and make the engagement official, they seem to be hastening their plans"

"Ah" Messor smacked his fist on the palm of his hand as if something finally clicked

"So you want me to go there and teach that family a lesson for disrespecting us"

"Close, but not exactly. You will most likely get into some conflict with their family but I do not want you killing any of them"

"While they may be disrespecting us it doesn't change the fact that being connected to them would only strengthen us so causing their clan members damage, would only help fuel a potential betrayal in the future"

"You're free to try and teach them a lesson however you're not to kill them"

"But if I can't kill them, then how am I meant to cultivate?"

Lila intensified the speed of her fan as a cold evil grin appeared on her face behind it. Oblivious to the change within his mother's mood Messor waited for a response.

"You can't kill them, however, I didn't say anything about the potential Fiance and his family"

She spoke in a soft and kind tone that somehow made the words she spoke sound gentle and heartwarming.

"What are the two families called out of curiosity?" Messor asked realizing that not once were the actual names of the families told to him.

"Clan Rose is the name of the clan you were to be married off to. They are known not only for their ruthless business tactics but also the natural beauty of the clan members"

"The other clan is called clan Rega, they are quite a powerful clan due to their geographic location"

"They control the only part of the river that leads towards the path north, 6 different rivers connect within their territory into a singular path that leads north and splits all over the continent"

"Essentially they can increase or decrease your profits as traveling on the river would surely be faster and easier."

"I guess it makes sense why a merchant clan would want to tie themselves to them"

Messor thought out loud causing his mother to chuckle lightly only to awaken him to something she had said previously.

"Huh? Wait… Married off to?" Messor's eyes risked popping out at that revelation

"You are our 3rd son so unfortunately, you have no chance of succeeding your father unless something tragic befalls our clan and both of your elder brothers fall."

"So you were going to marry into the Rose family and become their new patriarch eventually with the young Rose accompanying you by your side"

Messor nodded along in agreement 'Yes that does make sense'

Shaking his head clear he asks an important question that he didn't fully comprehend the answer to

"But why do I need to get married to her? Or anyone for that matter?"

Chuckling lightly at how Messor was finally acting like a kid his age Lila replied "To help your family, everyone has their role and due to fate this is yours. If you want to change your fate then become powerful, so powerful that no one can dictate how you live"

"Isn't that contradicting what you want me to do now?"

"It might be, but as of now, you don't have the power to do anything about it" Lila chuckled once again at Messor's upset expression.

Messor's expression quickly returned to normal as he looked at his mother with a smile that looked innocent yet bone-chilling simultaneously.

"So I just need to bring back proof of engagement and crush some ants that don't know their place?"

Returning a similar smile as if it were a genetic trait that ran in the family Lila replied "Precisely"

"If that's the case I better leave and prepare myself"

"Good, good, it should take you roughly 1 month to reach there and another to return, sect entrance examinations are in 7 months, giving you plenty of time to go there, return for your birthday and then finally prepare and leave for the examination" Lila explained before gesturing for a maid to let Messor out.

Messor bid his mother goodbye and left for the training grounds to spar with some of the family guards, having realized he can only get so far with brute strength he had decided to learn the basics of the sword and experience more combat situations without using his cheat like ability.

—-----

As the grand door loudly closed behind Messor Lila's smile disappeared

"Blanc" She called out and out of nowhere a person covered from head to toe in a white outfit, it was so clean and pristine that it was almost unbelievable that someone was using it as an outfit.

No clear features were visible to indicate anything about the person such as age or gender.

Blanc knelt in front of Lila, lowering their head and waiting for the next words to leave Lila's mouth.

"I want you to follow Messor once he leaves and report absolutely everything he does."

"Ah, but you're not to interact with him no matter what. Even if he is to die you are not to interfere…"

"Understood" an ambiguous voice left Blanc.

With a snap, Lila closed her fan and muttered to herself as Blanc disappeared in the same way she appeared

"I hope you won't disappoint me, my dear child…"

—------

Outside in the middle of the training grounds, Messor could be seen swinging a blade repeatedly over and over again however something just didn't sit right with him.

'It feels wrong as if this isn't the weapon made for me'

[Maybe that's because it is not?]

'Why does that stupid system never just give me the answer' Messor thought to himself briefly forgetting his connection with Odin.

[Pot calling Kettle black…] Odin barked back

[Anyway, the reason the sword feels off is simply because it's not the weapon right for you]

[While the sword you've gained from your brother is one of a kind, there is only one weapon that suits a reaper]

[pause for effect]

Messor face palmed in disbelief at Odin's last line but waited despite it for it to finish.

[A reaper needs a scythe, didn't you notice how none of the techniques available currently to you specified a weapon other than some specifying a scythe?]

Messor opened the store as he couldn't believe he didn't notice this fact before and scrolled past tens of hundreds of various techniques only to see that Odin was indeed telling the truth.

-------------------

Originally I hoped to post this 4-5 hours earlier but I was a bit preoccupied. 2 more bonus chapters are coming today (hopefully, worst-case scenario another comes today and the last bonus will come tomorrow!) as a thank you for reaching the goal of 25 collections and over 10+ power stones!

Next goals for bonus chapters are at 50 collections and 25 power stones, we are at 16 currently so very close!

The follow-up chapter should come within the next 2-3 hours, hopefully, sooner but if later then I apologize in advance.