The Sword God… he was currently standing before me, having decided to join Nina and me during our practice session, only one day after saying he would be training us.
"So, kid… do you know what you need to perform to reach the next level?" he asked.
"Yeah… the Longsword of Silence, right?" I answered.
"That's right. So let's see what you got. Go through your normal training drills," he instructed, nodding towards me.
Thankfully, Nina seemed content just watching along as she did her own training.
I drew my sword and prepared to strike, glancing at him as his eyes sharpened in analytical focus.
Well… let's hope I don't disappoint.
I went through the usual motions, ensuring my stance and swing were perfect, though with how many times I had performed them, it was harder to be imperfect at this point.
But I was still focused.
Not on my body, or my technique, but rather on the energy inside of me.
This probably wasn't what the Sword God wanted, but this was my usual routine.
I performed a few swings before I moved onto more complex movements.
A twisting slash, a reverse feint, a rising diagonal cut.
All were sharp and intense movements, meant to quickly overwhelm the opponent with speed and precision.
My footwork was fluid, with my form blurring as soon as my foot touched the ground, and my sword was unrelenting, every movement sharp enough to nearly cut the sound barrier.
But… not quite.
"Alright, stop," the Sword God said, and I instantly paused my training. "Honestly, your movements are nearly perfect. Very impressive for someone your age."
I felt a slightly jealous stare from a certain blue-haired girl.
"Ah… thank you, Sir… Sword God?" I said, unsure of how to address him.
"None of that formal shit, just call me Gal," he said, waving his hand before he tilted his head. "Anyway, while your movements are good, your battle aura is even better… just how are you able to grasp it so well at your level?"
"Well… I found that it's similar to mana, which I'm quite good at," I said, forming a ball of water over my hand as a frown formed on my face. "But still… there's something different about battle aura, and I just can't grasp it."
Gal raised his eyebrow in slight surprise.
"No shit? Well, I guess you are Leah's kid, but that's still something," he said before he shook his head. "Anyway, at least that lets me know exactly what's holding you back."
I straightened my back as I prepared for the incoming advice.
"To put it simply, your control is quite good… but that's what is holding you back," he said.
Wait… what?
Apparently, my confusion was easy to notice.
"What I mean is that you're approaching it wrong, kid. I myself briefly dabbled with magic in my quest to get stronger, but I failed because mana… is something completely different from battle aura," he said, unsheathing his sword as he went through a slow slash, an indescribable pressure emanating from his blade as he did so. "Magicians scribble circles in notebooks, fuss over every word in their chants, and live with their noses shoved in books trying to understand how the world ticks… does that sound like a swordsman to you?"
Well, maybe some swordsmen would, but I think I understood what he meant.
"No… so I shouldn't be looking at it so… analytically?" I asked.
"Exactly," he said, stopping his swing to shoot me a grin. "You don't force battle aura. You let it flow naturally, and guide it with your movements."
So guiding rather than forcing…
"Does that mean that you can't control battle aura, then?" I asked Gal.
He shook his head.
"Nah, you definitely can. That's what makes a true Sword King, after all. But you don't have to worry about that just yet. Baby steps, kid," he chuckled. "Still… I can definitely say you remind me of someone, aiming to control your battle aura like that."
"Someone? Who would that be?" I asked, confused.
"Ah, just an old friend. But speaking of her…yeah, I honestly think you're more suited to the Water God Style… but I can still make a Sword Saint out of you," he mumbled before cracking his neck. "Honestly, you could use some North God techniques as well. Thankfully, I know the basics of both of them, so I can give you a head start."
"The… North God style? Why?" I asked.
The Water God Style, I understood.
After all, I felt more comfortable defending and countering rather than going straight for the attack.
But the style that had you learn to run on all fours with a sword in your mouth?
Where the hell was the value in that?
"Eh, you'll understand when you find yourself in a real battle. Do you do night training?" he asked.
"Yeah… though I do magic training then as well," I said.
"Well, I won't tell you to stop that, but make some time for swordsmanship at night," he said. "Train as you normally do for it, but instead… use your other hand for it. Consider that your first technique for the North God Style."
Other hand?
Oh… so the first task was to become ambidextrous.
That was going to be difficult…
"Anyway, moving on from that, it's time to focus on the Sword God Style," he then said, pointing at me with his sword. "The Longsword of Silence. I want you to perform it in two years, got it?"
So I had until I was eight… that would be preposterous for a normal kid.
"Why two years specifically?" I asked.
"Huh? Because that's how long it took me," he said, smirking.
Wait… he wanted me to reach the Advanced rank as fast as he did?
But he was the Sword God! And one said to be the fastest since the first Sword God!
Needless to say, I was not very confident in the proposed timeline.
"Nina! Stop training and focus here. This is your next goal too," Gal shouted to his daughter.
"Understood, Father," she replied, wiping off her sweat as she went to stand beside me.
With both of us ready, Gal began his explanation.
"Right then. The Longsword of Silence, in essence, is a downgraded Longsword of Light, the ultimate technique of the Sword God Style," he said, taking an oddly teacher-like tone. "This is where the Sword God Style truly starts. Before, it's just regular swordsmanship with a focus on attacking and speed."
He lowered himself into a crouch as he drew his sword, grip tightening on the handle.
"All the force of the sword is gathered, amplified, and put into a single slash… and you need your body to keep up. The speed itself is all you need, and the strength will follow from it," he said, his muscles beginning to flex. "Once you are fast enough to cut a boulder. To go faster than sound itself… that's when you know you've got it. So watch closely."
I focused all I could on his sword, his form, and every single part of his body as he eventually unleashed his strike.
It was intense.
In a single instant, he crossed the clearing, only to appear at the base of a stray boulder, his sword already halfway through its motion as my eyes caught up with his strike.
The speed was overwhelming, as was the sonic boom that exploded as he cut the boulder clean in half.
His form… for such a powerful technique, it was so… casual.
I could only imagine that his battle aura was the same.
Guide it, don't force it…
"Alright, you watched that, kids?" he asked, turning to us.
"Y-Yes, Father… though I doubt I can do it right now," Nina said, looking down with a slight frown.
"No matter. Just use it as something to aim for," he said as he looked at me. "And you, brat? You wanna take a try?"
"I… sure," I replied, readying my sword as I repositioned myself, aiming towards what was left of the boulder.
Okay… let's try this.
Ultimately, the Longsword of Silence was just a simple sword slash.
It was just… really fast, with every part of the technique focusing on maximizing the speed of the blade.
As he said, don't worry about power or defensive positioning.
Just pour everything into speed.
I crouched down, following what Gal had just done, as I held my sword close to my side with both hands, feeling my battle aura bubble beneath my chest.
Don't force it out… just let it happen naturally.
Guide it… let it flow…
It began to spread through my body, uncontrolled, as it reached to the tip of my sword and spread across my body.
It felt wrong, to leave the battle aura to its own devices… but after seeing Gal so easily cut the boulder, I think his advice warranted being followed.
And with my sword ready, and my leg muscles straining under the tension… I released.
Like an unleashed bowstring, I shot forward, cutting through the air as I appeared right in front of the boulder.
I nearly fell at the sudden change in momentum, but thankfully, due to my training, I had gotten accustomed to abrupt bursts of speed.
I swung my sword outward, transferring all the speed of my leap into my blade as I cut into the boulder.
But just as the edge sank into the rock… it abruptly came to a halt, and I felt the vibration ring through my body as I nearly let go of my sword.
I had failed… but I wasn't that upset.
After all, this was better than anything I had done so far.
"Damn… that was pretty good. I see that you took my advice to heart," Gal said, walking up as he easily pulled my sword out of the boulder. "So, what'd you notice?"
I narrowed my eyes as I thought over his question, healing my wrists with healing magic as I did so.
The technique was so powerful that I ended up fracturing them.
Or… that might be due to not cutting through the boulder.
"My sword… it couldn't cut it," I said, frowning.
I received back my blade as Gal handed it to me, and I noticed that the edge hadn't been chipped or dulled.
So my cutting power wasn't enough, but my battle aura was able to maintain its durability…
"No shit," he replied. "Why?"
"I… don't know. Everything felt right, even though I was letting the battle aura flow…" I muttered, running my finger along the edge of my blade. "But it wasn't enough."
"Well… I guess there's only one way to find out how to make it work," Gal said, causing me to look up at him as a devilish grin appeared on his face. "The proper technique… I'll just have to beat it into you."
Uh… that was quite ominous.
I had a feeling I was going to end up dreading the training sessions that the Sword God decided to join.
And I ended up being very, very right.
—
"No, that's not the right letter. It's supposed to go like this, with three lines across," I said, writing on the paper between us. "There. That's your name. Nina Farion."
We were currently both at my home, as after our training session, we were too tired to do anything active.
And so, I decided that it was about time that Nina learned to read and write.
Even though I knew not many people in the Sword Sanctum were literate, I thought that the daughter of the Sword God, at least, would be.
Turned out I had been wrong.
Very wrong.
"Vince," she said, staring at the paper.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Why… are we doing this!" she shouted, slamming her fist against the table. "I don't need to write and read! I'm a swordsman!"
"And learning how to read and write will make you a better swordsman," I said, sighing as I leaned on my hand.
"No way it will! This does nothing for swordsmanship!" she said.
"Yeah, I guess, but does food?" I asked, having anticipated her reluctance.
"Y-Yeah…" she said, calming down a bit. "You need energy to swing a sword…"
"And how do you get food?" I asked.
"You… buy it. Or hunt and cook it," she answered.
"Right, and to buy it, you need to know what you're buying, and if you can't see the food, and the seller can't speak the Human tongue, you're out of luck," I said, rubbing my head.
You would also need to know math… maybe I should teach her some basic arithmetic too.
"That… that won't happen here! And it sounds dumb anyway!" she said, about to get up. "Come on, let's go do something else."
God, she was stubborn.
As I was about to argue with her again, I was interrupted by the front door suddenly opening.
"Now now, Nina. He's right, you know," a familiar voice suddenly said, causing the two of us to turn towards the entrance, where Gal Farion stood. "A stupid swordsman is a dead swordsman. There's a reason I learned how to write, even when I was a foolish kid focused on nothing but getting stronger."
Huh… so he was one of the few literate ones.
Interesting.
"Father… what are you doing here?" Nina asked.
"Dodging the question? When did I raise such a clever brat?" Gal questioned with a chuckle before moving away from the door. "Anyway, I was going to tell you two to come observe a spar, but looking at this… this is much more interesting. I guess you two are closer than I thought, huh?"
He flashed a teasing grin, and after a few moments, Nina shot up to her feet, her face flushed a deep shade of red as I reached out to catch her falling chair.
And I didn't think her reddened cheeks were due to the cold.
"F-Father! That's not… not what's happening here!" she said, pointing back at me. "Vince just wanted to teach me this dumb stuff, so he brought me to his house!"
"Right… so you've never come here before, then?" Gal pressed, his smile growing.
"T-That… that's not… whatever! Just take us to the spar!" Nina said, shaking her head as she stood up.
While it was funny seeing Nina get all flustered over a small joke, Gal's words did make me start to think.
Mainly, about my concerns with romance in this life.
I hadn't really put much thought into it before, and that was due to two reasons.
First, I had my training to focus on, and it did quite a good job at keeping me busy.
Secondly, there was the fact that I felt quite… odd about the prospect of romance.
I had girlfriends in my past life, and I wasn't a virgin, so it wasn't about the prospect of romance itself… no, it was my age that was the issue.
Knowing the story, I could confidently say that I was attracted to Eris, Sylphy, and many other girls in the story… but that's when they were older.
Since they were my age now, with a nearly 20-year age gap if I would ever end up with them, it felt… odd to think about.
It didn't feel right to go for the older women either, like Ghislaine, since the physical age gap would be too much, and by the time I was in my 'prime' so to speak, it wasn't even a sure thing that they could have children.
Of course, there were exceptions to this conundrum, namely in the form of those who were in my strike zone both mentally and physically… and they were women who had longer lifespans.
And I could think of two right away, but… even those two had their issues.
Roxy was definitely attractive, but even if I had the chance to get with her… did I want to?
That would mess up quite a bit of the future timeline, especially since she is meant to birth Rudeus' child, the one who would end up ending the Man-God.
Besides, fate was a powerful thing in this world. Would she ever be attracted to anyone but Rudeus, as she was destined to?
I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to get my heart broken trying to find out.
Then there was Elinalise, and that was an instant no.
She was a very nice woman, from what I remembered.
But the prospect of marrying a woman with such a complicated and… extensive history with men, and would happily continue sating her curse even after getting with me… that was not very appealing.
I was no puritan, but those actions should be left special, or else… what's the point of having a special someone?
Well… I've already adapted to my current age, so I don't need to worry about it until I start naturally thinking about this stuff.
Once I do start feeling some lust or similar feelings… I guess it will depend on who I feel that for, what I felt about them, and how mature they were.
"Haha! Right… come on, then."
I was quickly broken out of my thoughts as Gal began to walk away, with Nina following after him, her gaze turning back to me for a moment before she snapped her head forward.
Yeah… and there was Nina too.
She was a nice girl, but thinking about how her romantically when she was still a kid was… gross.
So yeah… I guess I'll have to wait until these feelings naturally start to form.
Let's just hope I didn't end up embarrassing myself when they did, like in my first go around at life.
—
The year was K412, and I was now seven years old.
But that wasn't very important.
No… instead, it was my swordsmanship that was the focus of today.
"Ready yourself, Vincent," Gal said, narrowing his eyes as he held his sword forward.
This was probably the first time he had addressed me as something other than 'kid' or 'brat'.
But the situation demanded exactly such seriousness.
With Nina as the sole person in attendance, I was about to test just how far my progress had come over the past year of training under the Sword God.
"Understood," I said, lowering myself into a crouch as I felt that familiar energy pulse throughout my body.
Battle aura… I had gotten much better at it over the year, and it was mostly thanks to the man standing before me.
He was right. It wasn't something I could control… at least not yet.
It felt a lot like water, which was ironic considering how I was learning the Sword God Style… but it really was.
You can't control water, if we're not talking about magic, that is.
You can try, such as using a cup to move it around, or a stick to churn it, but you weren't really controlling the water… you were just trying to push it to the right direction.
Instead, you simply needed to let it flow throughout the body, and gently guide it towards what you wanted to do, without being too rigid.
When I explained all this to Gal, he simply chuckled and noted that I was definitely a good fit for the Water God style, but he said I was on the right track regardless.
And now it was time to see if all my training with this new approach to battle aura had truly paid off.
With no words left to exchange between us, I narrowed my eyes as a gentle breeze brushed through the clearing, rustling my dark brown hair.
I slowly released my held breath, the air whistling through my teeth as my battle aura slowly wrapped around my body, and flowing down to cover the sword held at my side.
I felt good.
This state of focus… it felt better than I ever had before.
Yeah… I could do this.
My body tensed, like a coiled spring reaching its limit, before I suddenly stepped forward.
The world blurred around me, even though my battle aura had enhanced my senses to an inhuman degree.
I was simply going that fast.
I crossed the distance between me and Gal in an instant, my body turning on instinct as my sword lashed out in a horizontal slash.
It was simple, but that was the main tenet of the Sword God Style.
Even if it was an easy strike to read, if you went faster than one was able to react, that didn't matter.
The sweep of my arms combined with my rotational motion made my sword flash towards him faster than I ever had before, the area around the blade distorting from the speed.
Was that due to my battle aura, or was it the pure pressure of my strike?
I didn't know, but as I landed on the ground, my stance kept low as I came to a stop… I immediately heard it bursting through the air.
A sonic boom.
The unmistakeable sign that I had cut through the sound barrier, having surpassed the speed of sound.
But thinking about it now, it was kind of ironic that the technique named Longsword of Silence caused such a loud noise.
I rose to a stand as I turned back to Gal, watching as half of the sword in his hand fell to the ground, having been bisected from my attack.
The ability to cut through iron so easily… yeah, the Longsword of Silence wasn't a technique to joke about.
"Damn… you really did it… and so fast too," he said, smirking as he lowered what was left of his blade. "Well, nothing else to say. Congrats. You are now officially an Advanced swordsman of the Sword God Style, and the youngest ever by nearly a year."
Nina immediately ran up, stopping before me as her face went through a flurry of complicated emotions.
Yeah… I could understand why.
While I trained just as diligently, she loved the sword more than I did and had dedicated herself solely to the Sword God Style, rejecting her father's offer to train in the other styles with me.
So it was obvious that she would feel a bit of envy and anger that someone a year younger than her had already shot past her to the Advanced rank, right after she had trained herself to reach the same level of me.
But, other than the slight rivalry, we were also each other's best and only friends, and I could see the pride and happiness flash in her eyes.
And there was also something else… a bit of admiration, I would guess.
I mean, it was pretty cool to slash at the speed of sound.
"Good job… Vince," she eventually said.
"Thank you, Nina," I replied. "But I expect you to reach this level pretty soon."
"Damn right, I will!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. "And I'll be even better than you!"
"Sure… sure you will," I replied.
The two of us smiled at each other, with me finally feeling a wave of accomplishment after reaching my goal, and Nina's eyes burning with competitiveness from her one-sided rivalry.
"So… what's your next step now?" Gal asked, crossing his arms.
Right… now that I had reached the Advanced rank, I needed to set a new goal.
The answer was obvious, to become a Sword Saint.
But… I didn't feel like that was quite right.
"I want to get better at controlling my battle aura, and of course I want to reach the rank of Sword Saint… but I also want to get a bit better in the other styles to round out my abilities," I said, clenching my open fist. "Your North God exercise of having me train with my opposite hand… it made me a lot stronger, even in the Sword God Style, so I want to see what else there is to learn."
I could now use my sword with both hands, though obviously, I was nowhere near as good with my left.
As a result, I reached the Beginner rank in the North God style, but more importantly… it had helped my overall swordsmanship too, including the Sword God Style.
Originally, the ability to be ambidextrous in the North God Style was meant as a survival mechanism, where you could still use the sword even if your main arm is cut off, or act as an element of surprise where you could suddenly switch your sword hand.
But for me, the increased power and precision that came with training my other hand simply allowed my two-handed swing to be more powerful.
And as for the Water God… well, it was always good to know how to properly counter, and if I ever faced a Sword God Style practitioner in a serious fight who was better than me, it would be the way to tip the scales in my favour.
"So you wanna use all three styles, eh? Well, I would usually tell people to focus on one thing and perfect it, but for you… yeah, I think that's the right path as well," he said, nodding his head. "Well, I'm at the Advanced rank in the North God style, and I'm at the level of a Water Emperor, so I can teach you both. But still… I think I'll stop training you at the Advanced rank for the Water God style."
"Why the Advanced rank?" I asked, confused.
"Because after that, I think there's someone better to teach you… and thankfully, I think she'd be willing if I asked for a favour," he replied.
He must have been talking about the Water God… I forgot her name, but I knew that she came over to the Sword Sanctum to teach Eris the basics of the Water God style in the novels.
Or rather, she just brought over her protégé Isolde to spar with Eris.
But to think he was already planning on doing the same for me… he must think I have a lot of potential.
"Anyway, ignoring that, I think you should go celebrate your new rank, kid," he said, walking away as he waved his hand towards us. "I'll give your father a nice boar from one of the hunting groups, so be grateful. We'll move onto the next part of your training tomorrow."
"Ah… thank you, Gal!" I replied.
"No need. A good master rewards his students… or something like that," he said as he walked into the woods.
And like that, Nina and I were left alone.
"So… you want to stay over for dinner tonight?" I asked her, already knowing the answer to the question.
She had stayed over quite a few times already.
"Obviously! Now show me that technique again!" she shouted.
"Alright, alright," I sighed, pulling out my sword once again.
And thus, that was how I became the youngest Advanced rank swordsman in the history of the Sword God Style.