Flipping through another page, I read through the chant for the spell, completely ignoring the complex magic circle that I, frankly, had no interest in learning.
Fireball, the most basic spell for fire magic.
This spell was what my mother told me to learn next, as it was the second most useful spell for survival after Waterball.
It made sense.
When you were away from a town, a source of clean water was the most important thing, while having a fire for cooking and heat was next.
I went over the words once again in my mind.
'Let the great protection of fire be on the place thou seekest. I call the bold heat of a torch here and now. Fireball.'
Yeah… I think it would be best to write it down so I could practice it at home.
No need to risk torching this library.
And indeed, I had actually found myself in a library, the only one in the entire Sword Sanctum… which was actually just a small room connected to the Adventurer Guild.
With most of the people of this town being illiterate, it was mostly used by passing merchants and adventurers to spend their free time.
With the Sword Sanctum not having a lot of readers, it was a surprise that there was something resembling a library at all, so I wasn't too disappointed when my mother brought me here for the first time today, even though it was basically a small shelf of books and a couple of chairs.
But at the same time, without many readers, it practically meant that I had the place to myself, and while some books were more interesting than others, I planned to use my free time to go through all of these eventually.
Having finished scribbling down the chant on my small notebook, which contained all the knowledge from my previous life, I looked outside only to notice that the sun was about to set behind the ridge.
Well, time to go home.
With me learning Beginner healing magic, my mother had allowed me to start walking around town alone, as long as I stuck to the main road, didn't do anything stupid, and was back home as soon as the sun wasn't in the sky.
During this time, I had also learned quite a bit more about the Sword Sanctum.
First, there was the general geography of the place.
As I already knew from looking outside, the town was surrounded by mountains on two sides, with a forest stretching across the land to the east, where the only road connected to the Sword Sanctum led down.
But more surprisingly, was that we were right next to the coast.
With the scent of salt in the air, I knew that we were close to the ocean, but I didn't expect to be close enough for me to see it.
I had thought that with such a location, there would be more of a nautical culture here, but according to a book I had skimmed through, the ocean was much too harsh to actually use any boats, although there were some that fished off the coast.
Quite an interesting location.
Secondly, the large building that rested on the hill, as I expected, was where the Sword God resided.
In fact, it was the main dojo for the entire Sword God Style, and only those who were Sword Saint rank and above could go in there.
Seems that I would need to get a bit stronger before meeting the famous Gal Farion.
I had also learned about how magic was seen in this place.
I was initially worried that it would be hated, or some sort of rivalry would be there, but thankfully, it wasn't anything that bad.
Magic was simply seen as useless, at least compared to swordsmanship.
And honestly… they were right.
In combat, without chantless casting, magic was essentially useless in a fight due to the time required to voice the chant.
And that was even more obvious since it was the home of the Sword God Style, the style that relied on speed to end a fight as quickly as possible.
So no worries about being looked as 'weak' or a 'failure' just for knowing magic.
In fact, judging by how much people thanked her when we walked past, my mother was looked upon quite highly as the main healer of the Sword Sanctum.
Though, she did sometimes complain that many were too prideful to use her when needed, as even some of the women giving birth rejected her aid as a show of strength.
Yeah… this town really was full of brutes.
—
Another six months had passed, and thus, another year as well, marking the year K409, and my fourth year in the world of Mushoku Tensei.
With not much to do during the days other than reading and exercise, I had been diligently training both my swordsmanship and my magic.
Sparring with my father, physical exercise, and personal sword swings made up my swordsmanship, and my magic practice focused on training each of the six elements I knew, with a particular focus on healing and detoxification.
My swordsmanship had been going great, and every day I felt stronger and more comfortable with the blade.
My magic, on the other hand… it was odd.
My healing magic was continuously getting better, and my mother had started to teach me more about anatomy, and had me join her for some… practical examples.
I didn't think I would see a baby get born this early in my life, but such was the life of a healer. At least the operation went well.
I had also learned how to control all elemental magic, from fire, water, earth, and wind, as well as some other effects on said elements, such as creating ice, and warming wind and water.
Basically, I was growing steadily in healing magic, could actually control all the elements now, which was all good.
Everything else about magic, however… wasn't going great.
My mana reserves were growing extremely slowly now, and while I had a lot of mana, it wasn't a near-infinite amount like Rudeus.
I guess the Laplace factor was quite the cheat.
But I had somewhat expected that.
No, the big issue was how bad I was with attack magic.
When the spell was close to me, I'd say about arm's length, I could easily control it.
In fact, I would say I was near Rudeus' level of control, as I had the skill to create figures out of earth magic.
Of course, they were pretty small, as my mana capacity was much too little to do anything so grand that even Rudeus could feel the drain on his mana.
Anyway, while I had great control of my magic up close, as soon as it left that area… my spell completely fell apart. My control practically disappeared.
Hell, even my mother's Waterball was more dangerous than mine, which simply dropped to the ground with a splash.
I didn't know if it was just something I didn't have the talent for, or if it was an actual issue with my mana or body, but either way… I was nearing my wits' end with it.
At this point, considering my mana reserves, I would probably leave elemental magic for utility, such as creating water and fire on the road, and focus on healing magic.
And speaking of healing magic… I had recently found a new use for it.
That is, to hasten my physical training.
Building muscle was just tearing them and having them heal up stronger, and it was that healing process that limited how fast you could get stronger.
So… I decided to help it out with healing magic.
Other than increasing my need for food and sleep, it didn't seem to have any negative side effects, but I decided to not use it too much.
I didn't want to get cancer or any growth issues, after all.
But still… life was good.
And I hadn't even really started yet.
—
Yet another year had passed.
But this time, the occasion was marked with something different from the previous years.
"Happy birthday, Vincent," my mother said with a smile.
"Mhm. Happy birthday, kid," my father added with a nod.
With a large feast of vegetables and meat spread out on the table, I felt a smile bloom on my face, as it was obvious that the two had put quite a bit of time and effort into this day.
So this was why my mother had pressured me into going to the library this afternoon…
"Now, this day is a big one, since it's when you're meant to start training in the sword. But since you've already started on that… well, I guess it'll just be the hot springs," my father said, shaking his head.
Right.
As I had learned, the birthday tradition of the Sword Sanctum was similar to the Kingdom of Asura, where they had a birthday at the ages of five, ten, and fifteen, but there were no gifts exchanged.
Instead, it was mostly just to celebrate getting older with a feast.
It made sense.
Paul had gifted Rudeus a sword for his fifth birthday, but that seemed like a ridiculous thing to do here.
A sword?
A man should have a sword set aside for him as soon as he's born.
That's how it worked here.
The closest thing to gift-giving that they practiced was celebrating someone reaching a new rank in swordsmanship, or completing an impressive feat.
But still… the second part was a gift in and of itself.
Hot springs…
Near the edge of the town, at the base of the ridge, there was an impressive set of them, with steam constantly billowing into the air above.
As soon as I realized what it was, I had asked my mother if I could go… but unfortunately, I was quickly refused.
Apparently, only those who had become a Beginner swordsman could use them, and while I had technically been one for the past year, my parents still wouldn't allow me to go until I turned five.
I suppose it made sense. Hot springs were likely not the healthiest for a young toddler's body, with the heat and all, and I wouldn't trust the cleanliness of such a young child for what was meant to be a relaxing area.
But now, I could use them at my leisure.
Honestly, that was better than any gift I could have asked for.
The feast went by quickly after that, as I savoured the dinner that was much tastier than usual.
They really had gone all out for today…
The dinner quickly passed, and with my mother kissing my forehead for the night, I headed back into my room to sleep, the food having made me feel quite tired.
Resting on my bed, with my hands crossed under my head, I looked up at the familiar wooden ceiling as I thought over what to do next.
For magic… I could feel that I was already nearing my limit.
I still intended to practice every day, of course, but still… my progress as of recent had been middling.
Healing magic was going well, yes. And I had recently learned Intermediate healing magic, as well as Intermediate detoxification magic, thanks to my mother's lessons.
But all the other elements… I had tried the Intermediate rank spells found in the library, but I was unable to properly cast them.
My control over the mana was amazing, and I could easily change the effects, but every time the spell went out of a certain range, it just… disappeared.
I guess I had no choice but to be a swordsman that could also heal.
Meanwhile, Rudeus was already a Saint-ranked mage at my age…
Yeah, I needed to get stronger.
Thankfully, I was getting much better at sparring, and my father said I was nearing the Intermediate rank in the Sword God Style… so I was getting there.
I had to set a goal.
Sword Saint… that much was obvious.
But how fast did I want to get there…
Eris was able to become one as soon as she arrived at the Sword Sanctum, but realistically, she had been on that level ever since she was fifteen, or maybe even earlier.
While she had insane talent, I had the benefit of my increased mental capabilities, starting my training earlier, and being born in the home of the Sword God Style, so I should be able to catch up to her.
So yeah… Sword Saint by fifteen, and Advanced rank by ten.
That… that was my goal.
And with a new motivation burning within, I closed my eyes, ready to tackle tomorrow's day of training.
—
Another month had passed, and after setting my goals for swordsmanship, I attacked my training with renewed vigour.
Being able to use the hot spring also helped.
It was honestly better than I expected, being both relaxing and good for cleanliness, and I went there practically every day after training, as it acted as quite the motivator.
The only bad thing about the baths was that they were separated by gender, and while I understood why, it was a shame that I only saw naked muscular men there.
Eventually… eventually I'd find romance in this world, but that was long into the future.
Instead, for now, I just needed to focus on getting stronger.
Hence, why I was currently locking swords with my father.
"You've gotten stronger, Vincent. And you can read my moves too," my father said as we broke away.
"Yeah, but that's just because you're limiting yourself," I replied, readying my sword. "Can we continue? I feel like I'm… close to something."
Indeed.
It was hard to describe, but recently, whenever I focused on a strike with good form, I felt mana bubble up beneath my chest.
It almost felt like how chanting a spell felt, where the mana flowed towards my arms without me even trying.
But while it felt similar to mana… it didn't exactly feel the same.
"Oh? Then keep attacking," my father said, narrowing his eyes.
It seems that he understood what was happening, even though I was still confused.
I repositioned my grip before closing in, keeping my body low to the ground as I swept my sword to the side, cutting upwards as my father easily deflected the blow.
I continued my assault, chaining together attacks with an unnatural efficiency, as everything just seemed… right.
Was this some sort of 'flow state'?
Either way, I didn't want it to stop.
I dashed to the side, digging my toes into the dirt as I pushed forward, my sword slicing up through the air as I approached him, his blade easily manoeuvring mine to the side.
Using the rotational motion, I twisted my hips, letting the momentum turn my body as I lashed out with another strike towards his midsection.
His blade was already there to meet mine.
But instead of getting easily blocked, I felt the world slow as my sword approached his.
A surge of mana erupted from my chest.
No… it definitely wasn't mana.
Now that I could feel it… I was sure that it was something else entirely.
An energy that was similar, but clearly a different nature.
It flowed through my chest and my arm, like a current of electricity, causing heat to course through my body and the strain of fatigue in my arms to disappear.
Normal mana didn't do that… so what was this?
The energy then spread across my hand, my arm, and even into my sword as it struck my father's, and then… the world returned to a normal speed.
A bang echoed from between us as I felt my wooden sword explode into a shower of splinters, the same thing happening to my father's blade as he looked down with wide eyes.
The spar instantly came to an end as I took a step back in surprise and confusion.
"Son… it seems you're already at this level, huh?" my father said, throwing what was left of his sword to the side as he knelt down in front of me. "Congratulations, Vincent. You are now an Intermediate rank swordsman."
Oh… wow.
"Is that… because of what I just did?" I asked.
"Indeed… That was battle aura. It is what allows us swordsmen to cut boulders and strike at the speed of light," he said proudly.
Right… the Longsword of Light.
I had my doubts it was actually the speed of light, but from seeing my father perform it once, it was still inhumanly fast.
But that energy… that was battle aura.
It felt a lot like mana, but it definitely wasn't the same.
And while I had just brought it out, I couldn't feel any of that energy now, even though I tried to bring it forth like I could easily do with my magic.
I guess I had something new to discover during my training.
"I'll be taking your training more seriously now, Vincent," he said, his eyes narrowing. "Before, I had trained you purely as your father, but at your level, that would just be a hindrance. I will be harsh, and I will be demanding. Can you handle that, or should I ask for another to train you?"
Harsh and demanding?
That was just what I needed.
"No… I can handle it, Father," I replied, smiling up at him.
"Good… now let's get you some new boots to celebrate," he replied, standing up straight.