With the coming of the year K407, I was now two years old, and with it being over a year since I learned that I had been reincarnated into the fictional world of Mushoku Tensei, I had been given a lot of time to think about… well, I suppose it was the future.
Assuming that Rudeus lived in this world and that things would go as planned, just how did I want to use my gifted knowledge?
Well… after quite a bit of thought, in short, I didn't.
I didn't plan on forming a connection with him or Eris in Roa, and I certainly didn't plan on getting caught up in the teleportation incident.
No, none of that. I didn't want to risk being teleported into the sky or something.
Things would eventually work out, and it wasn't as if the story had the world coming to an end, so I was fine with walking my own path.
I just wanted to have a nice life, fall in love with a beautiful wife, start a family, and get strong enough so that I didn't have to worry about any potential enemies or danger.
Ah, but I might join Nanahoshi in Ranoa, and join forces to add more modern technologies to the world, like plumbing and sanitation.
I would be damned if my family home didn't have a working toilet and bath, as going to an outhouse and using a washcloth to clean myself had quickly gotten tiring. Especially during the colder days.
At least I had my water magic to act as a sort of bidet, but still… no.
On the topic of the future, I had also done something I should have done as soon as I had enough dexterity to write.
That is, writing down all the knowledge I could remember about this world and its future, before I began to forget.
Thankfully, while I had been in a dazed state during my time as a baby, it didn't end up affecting my memory too much.
And so, I had written down everything I knew… in English, of course, as I didn't want to worry about anyone else reading it and causing problems.
And thankfully, my mother simply thought of it as childish doodles, so no problems there.
But that aside, just as my father had agreed, he had started to take me along for his morning physical training, allowed me to continue training during the day, and let me watch his afternoon sword training as well.
At first, it was only pushups and running, where I quickly learned that the physical limits of a two-year-old were… quite pathetic.
Just a few seconds of a light jog tired me out, and I needed to use my knees to even get close to lifting my body… but that was just in the beginning.
After a few months of constant improvement, I could now run for a few minutes without collapsing from fatigue, perform nearly ten push-ups in a row, and had begun to add sit-ups and squats into my routine to build my core and leg muscles.
And it wasn't purely my strength and stamina that had improved.
My balance, coordination, flexibility, agility… essentially everything had gotten better as I exercised more.
Sure, that was what you would expect from a growing child, but even still, my progress was a bit… terrifying.
And unlike my mental abilities, my parents had noted my physical development… though it was mostly just my father being happy I would become a great swordsman.
I still wasn't sure about that yet, but I suppose I would find it out pretty soon, as with the coming of spring… my father had said I was ready.
Ready to actually train in the sword.
"Now, Vince, this is just a practice sword. It holds no edge, and is lighter than a real one. But regardless, I want you to act like this is a real sword whenever you hold it in your hand, understood?" he said, handing me the wooden sword.
His tone made it clear that this was not a joke, and he didn't expect me to take this lightly.
Quite a big ask for a toddler, but that just showed how much he trusted me.
"Got it," I nodded as I grasped the handle.
As he let go, the sword instantly tilted to the ground, causing me to use my other hand to reaffirm my grip.
Heavy… even with my training, it was heavy… and it wasn't like it was oversized either.
"Good… your grip strength needs work, but that will come with practice," my father said, unsheathing his own real sword. "Listen, Vince. A sword swing is the most fundamental skill of a swordsman. That means it must be diligently practiced, every day. And those practice swings must be perfect, or said training will be useless, and build up bad habits instead. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father… that's why you still do practice swings in the morning, right?" I said.
"Exactly… and it all starts with your grip. Watch my example, and follow it," he said, holding his sword forward.
I stared at his large hands, which were covered in callouses, as I focused on how his fingers were positioned, how tightly he squeezed his hands, and how they were positioned one over the other on the handle, keeping only a finger width between them.
I followed his lead, keeping my sword held straight like him as I moved my hands to their correct position.
While my father's blade was held completely still, not wavering in the slightest, the tip of my sword was trembling under the strain.
Well, it seemed that I wasn't going to be stopping my physical training anytime soon.
"Move your left hand down. If your hands are too close together, your stability, power, and control will waver," he said, prompting me to adjust my grip.
Right, I needed leverage and torque, especially when I didn't have the grip strength to compensate.
My father critiqued me on a few more things as I continued holding the sword, and just as the strain became too much to handle, my father gave me a break for some water.
"Now that you've held a sword for the first time, how do you feel?" he asked as I finished drinking from the cup.
Thankfully, he either hadn't noticed me fill it with my magic, or didn't care.
I wiped off the thin veil of sweat that had formed on my brow before answering.
"It's… hard. Just holding a sword is easy, but holding it correctly is complicated. And remembering everything all at once is… difficult," I said.
"Good. If you understand that, then you're doing it properly," he said, nodding happily. "If you continue training diligently, everything will eventually seem natural, so do not worry. If I had started as young as you… I would probably be a Sword King by now, though I doubt I had the maturity to do so."
He shook his head before taking a few swings of his sword, the air screeching despite being a set of casual swings.
I could only hope to eventually reach his level… no, actually, I wanted to surpass it.
But one step at a time… or, one swing, that is.
"Then, if you have your grip sorted, let's move onto the next part. Your stance and swing," my father said, causing me to stand back up. "Again, this is an action you will perform every day for the rest of your life. It is not something to take lightly."
"Got it," I answered.
"Good. Now, get into your stance," he said.
I did as he asked, attempting to copy what little I knew of swordsmanship from my past life, and what I had seen my father do during his training.
Right foot forward, left foot back, knees bent, feet pointed slightly away from the centre.
And as for my sword, with my grip copying what I had just learned, I kept my arms straight, with my left elbow pressed against my abdomen for extra stability.
"Oh? Not bad… you're a natural," my father praised. "But still, not perfect. You should be on the balls of your feet, ready for any movement at any time. And your back should be straight, with your head held high."
He continued to correct me, circling around me as he used his sword to point out any issues with my stance, moving my body to the correct position as I attempted to remember the feeling of it.
It was honestly a bit uncomfortable, like forcing yourself to sit up straight… but hopefully that feeling would leave with time.
Eventually, my father decided that my current stance was good enough, as he then told me to perform a swing.
And so, raising my arms, I… did my best.
I didn't need to be an experienced swordsman to know that it was bad, but I blamed my weak body for it.
"Make sure your arms move together during the swing, and keep your wrists straight," he advised, performing a two-handed swing slowly, giving me an example. "When you raise your arms, shuffle your front foot slightly backwards. And on the swing, take a step forward with it. A sword swing isn't done only by the arms. It's done by the whole body moving together."
And much like my introduction to a proper grip and proper stance, I continued doing the motion as my father watched on, correcting any mistakes and giving me the wisdom behind them.
Honestly, it hadn't occurred to me until the end of my training that my father was actually… quite an amazing teacher.
I suppose that's one advantage I had over Rudeus.
But with me performing so many swings, even if I was given time to rest between each of them to correct my mistakes, I quickly got too tired to continue, as my father called an end to today's training.
"Good. That was a much better first day than I thought," he said, patting my head.
"It's thanks to you, father. You're a good teacher," I replied with a smile.
"Thanks kid… but that should be expected. I am the teacher for the Intermediate-rank swordsmen here," he said.
Ah… so that was his job.
I was about to pass him the wooden practice sword for him to put away, but to my surprise, he pushed it back to me.
"No. From now on, you'll be carrying that sword around all day, whenever possible. Whenever you run, walk, or read, that sword should be in your hands," he said, narrowing his eyes. "A swordsman should feel natural with a sword. It should feel like a part of their body in every aspect of life."
Right… familiarity.
That made sense, and it explained why my father always had the habit of resting his hand on his sword hilt, even when we were sitting down to eat.
"And it also means I can practice when I want, right?" I replied, taking the sword in my hand.
"No, absolutely not," he quickly replied, surprising me. "In fact, I forbid you to train, whether it be setting your stance or taking a swing, without me present."
Well, there goes my plans for the rest of the day.
"Okay… but why?" I asked.
He simply shook his head with a sigh.
"Training with a bad stance is worse than not training at all. In fact, among my students, the first year is usually spent just removing any bad habits they gained over time. I will not allow my son to make the same mistake," he said, reaching out to rustle my hair. "But do not worry. Once I feel that you can set your stance and perform your swing naturally, I will tell you, and you can practice as much you wish. But do not neglect your physical training. Practice swings do not build all the muscles that are required to make a fine swordsman."
That… actually made sense.
I knew that if I tried to set my stance and swing right now, my father would have to correct some things that I had already forgotten.
So it would still be physical training for most of the day… that was fine.
I simply nodded at him as we headed back inside, the pleasant scent of lunch permeating the air as my mother turned towards us with a smile.
Yeah… I had gotten pretty lucky to be born here.
—
Another year had passed, meaning I was now three years old.
The past year had been quite good, although nothing particularly interesting happened.
With my sword training with my father, I had eventually been able to train on my own around halfway through the year.
It was pretty hard to completely master the proper position and form when my body was constantly growing, but I eventually got there.
I was also able to easily hold my sword thanks to my father's instruction to constantly carry it around, and it felt natural even when I was running or working out.
No wonder he was the teacher for the Intermediate Sword God practitioners. His advice was extremely helpful.
And so, after a year of training, I was finally ready to move onto the next phase.
"Vince… you're now a Beginner swordsman, which means you properly know the basics, and can begin sparring," he said as we stood in our front yard. "From now on, your time with me will be spent sparring, and your personal training will be for your fundamentals. Don't think you can neglect them just because we're sparring now."
"Understood, Father," I replied, nodding seriously.
"Good. Feints, blocks, positioning, reading opponents… these are things that can only be trained from sparring. Learning these skills is what will take you to the next rank, and are things you will be constantly perfecting over your life," he said as he readied his wooden sword. "Now, attack first. Get used to moving in combat with your sword, and focus on how I position myself to block your strikes. Defence is mainly for the Water God Style, but you need to know how to do it."
I nodded my head as I raised my sword, circling him as the snow crunched beneath my shoes.
I knew there was no way I would be able to win, or even touch him for that matter… but I was going to try my best.
My feet kicked off the ground as I raised my sword, taking a long step forward as I brought my sword down, not wanting to do anything fancy yet.
As soon as my sword reached him, he twisted his wrist, knocking my blade to the side as I ended up following through, stumbling a bit before I recovered.
"Don't forget your stance. Balance is the key to your form, so don't neglect it," he said as I went for another strike. "Notice how my body turns when I deflect your attack. This makes it so that I'm always centred on you, and can attack from all angles. Just because you're attacking at the moment doesn't mean you can forget your defences."
Right… imagine this was a real battle.
Keep my sword forward, attack fast, use my movement efficiently. Got it.
I continued attacking, slowly getting more comfortable with the movements as I began to try different things to get past his defences, such as linking multiple attacks and doing my attempt at a feint.
It seemed that my father was quite happy about my performance, as a grin had slowly begun to form on his face.
Or maybe he was just having fun, easily blocking every one of my attacks.
I stepped to his right, immediately shooting to the side as I twisted my body, striking upwards with my sword as I was stopped once again.
"Using your rotation is good, but make sure you're fast enough that the opponent can't take advantage of your open back," he said before he suddenly changed his stance. "Now that you've learned from my example… let's see you put it into practice."
Before I could ask what he meant by that, he moved in, his sword lashing out in a blur.
Thankfully, he wasn't testing my reactions, but rather my defence, as he had aimed right for my sword.
But instead of deftly deflecting his blow to the side, as soon as our swords clashed, I felt a jolt run down my arms, nearly causing me to drop my sword as I stumbled backwards.
"Looks like your parrying and blocking could use some work," my father said with a smirk.
I simply reset my stance, preparing for another round.
"Then please continue teaching me," I replied.
"Naturally."
—
I had gotten conceited.
With my mana growing too much to completely drain it during the night, and my mother leaving me at home while she went on errands or to heal someone in the village, I had moved some of my magic practice to during the day.
I was getting quite skilled in manipulating the balls of water that I generated, though my control faltered as soon as my spell moved beyond an arm's length… but that was not the issue right now.
"Vincent. How long has this been going on?" my mother said, her arms crossed as she stared down at me.
She really was a pretty woman, but she looked terrifying when she was angry.
As one could guess, I had been caught during my magic training… the very thing she had forbid me from doing until I turned five.
Well… no use in lying now.
Let's just hope my natural cuteness saved me from too many consequences.
"I… since you taught me," I said, my head hanging. "I did it at night before bed… but now do it during the day too. I'm sorry."
She responded with a sigh, shaking her head as her finger tapped against her arm in annoyance.
A few moments passed in silence as she continued staring at me, before she eventually relented, kneeling down to my level.
"I'm not very happy that you lied to me, but the only reason I restricted you is that I was worried. Seeing that you can cast a spell and are still fine… it seems that you've grown since then," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Although… I've never seen someone control a spell like that without a chant… did you learn how to do that?"
"Y-Yeah… I wanted to cast magic without waking you, so I tried doing it silently, and it worked," I lied.
I would rather not lie to her, but explaining the truth of 'I read about this world in my past life, so I know that casting without a chant is possible' was… not something I wanted to do.
Regardless, that seemed to satisfy her, as she simply mumbled something under her breath, something about how a smart kid can be extremely troublesome.
Sorry, Mom.
"Anyway, it seems you've been doing fine without help… but I still would rather you practice while I'm here and watching you. Is that understood?" she asked.
"Y-Yeah…" I said. "So… do you think you can teach me more magic? Like… healing magic?"
Especially healing magic.
While getting stronger was fun, the main purpose of that was to make sure me and my loved ones could stay alive in this dangerous world.
And what better way to ensure that than to know how to heal any injury?
Besides, I was curious whether my knowledge in biology and cell theory could help in my skills.
I just hoped that I would be able to cast it chantlessly like Sylphy, and that Rudeus just wasn't cut out for it.
A small smile appeared on my mother's face at my question.
"You want to learn healing magic? I thought you were focused on swordsmanship," she said.
"I… want to do both! Being able to use a sword and heal… isn't that good?" I said innocently.
"I suppose so. Normally, one would be advised to dedicate themselves to one path, but with how smart you are… I think you can do it, Vince," she said, rubbing my head. "Do you want to start right now?"
I was a bit surprised she was so open to it, as I thought that I would be banned from any magic for at least a week as punishment.
But wait… that happy smile… was she glad I still liked magic, and hadn't completely changed to swordsmanship like my father?
That was… surprisingly cute.
She immediately jumped into a lecture as we began our lesson.
"Now, for healing magic, it is both a system and type. The healing magic type contains the systems of healing, detoxification, divine strike, and protection. I only happen to know healing and detoxification," she said, sitting down in the chair next to me. "Healing magic works on the physical injuries of the body, while detoxification magic cures poisons and sicknesses. Understood?"
Right, because divine strike and protection were practically limited to the Millis Church, she only knew the two systems that were widely available.
Speaking of… while I didn't want to cause too many problems in this world, I really didn't like those guys. The Millis Church.
They seemed like they could easily be an annoyance with their religious fanaticism and hypocritical beliefs.
"Yes, Mother," I said, before I thought of something I had been curious about. "But… what rank are you in them?"
"Intermediate in Detoxification, and Advanced in Healing," she easily replied.
Wow… that was even better than Zenith, a former S-rank adventurer.
I was extremely happy to know I seemed to have quite a good magic teacher as well.
"For healing magic, it's important to know about the body to use your magic effectively as well, but we'll stay with the spell right now," she said, smiling down at me. "Are you ready?"
"Yes!" I eagerly replied.
"Good! Now, you know how to cast spells, so just remember these words," she said, closing her eyes. "Divine power is rich and nourishing. It offers the strength to rise again to those who have lost their strength. Healing."
Her hands then began to glow with a pale green light, the small spot of dirt on her palm slowly melting away.
So healing magic also cleared pollutants… that made sense, as I don't remember anyone using disinfectant or detoxification magic on an open wound before casting a healing spell.
Okay… let's do this.
I closed my eyes, raising my palm as I went over the words, visualizing and understanding their proper meaning as I did so.
"Divine power is rich and nourishing."
Divine power was mana.
"It offers the strength to rise again to those who have lost their strength."
It would convert its energy into spurring on the cells of the cell, allowing them to grow and replicate faster than what should be possible.
"Healing."
And in the end, whatever wound touches this hand, and whatever pain that was present, would all disappear.
My mana bubbled and swam towards my palm, but I could move it along easily, as the process of mana manipulation now came naturally to me.
Instead, I focused my mind on how the mana itself changed due to the chant.
The feeling of the energy, that was linked directly with me.
It was warm… heavy and warm…
I opened my eyes as I finished the chant, and as I had hoped, a subtle green glow pulsed from my hand.
"And to think it took me a month to learn this… you are quite amazing, Vince," my mother said approvingly, a proud smile on her face. "Now… that isn't all for this spell."
As it turned out, my mother was actually quite the nerd for magic.
Healing magic specifically, as our lesson continued long into the afternoon as she went over the specifics of how the spell worked and was used.
So long, in fact, that she completely forgot to make dinner.