TBATE: The god of swordsmanship

Grey - the sword king

One, two, three, four...

I was practicing my swordsmanship, as always. My old bones were creaking and my old muscles were aching, but I still continued. My grey hair was half covering my face, along with a constant sheet of sweat.

Fifty-five, fifty-six... *pop*

I heard a sound of something popping, and I fell to the ground. Strength was quickly leaving my body, and it seems my knee shattered from the excessive movements of my swings. I rolled around, and felt a bout of chest pain which nearly brought me to fainting. I took one last look at the surrounding forest, knowing my old body had failed me. 

I looked at the waterfall, the serene and peaceful fog encroaching me. Then, I took one last look at the small hut I had built myself.

'I have plenty of regrets, but I guess this is it. It is more peaceful than I imagined, death, that is. I never even had a proper name, always just going by Grey. I had almost forgotten it, having not spoken to another human being in years. Hahahah! Truly amusing.'

I was the self proclaimed sword king. I had been isolated for almost thirty years, training, training, and more training. There was nobody on this planet capable of beating me down, yet I had nothing. Friends? No. Family? No.

Did my overwhelming power matter in the face of emptiness? No. I had overcome my small Ki supply, yet here I was, dying in vain.

I closed my eyes, expecting darkness, yet I was met with a bright flash of light. Muffled voices could be heard, reverberating as if I was in a tunnel. Reaching towards the light, I could finally make out what they were saying. 

"Congratulations Sir and Madam, he's a healthy boy."

'Hahaha! What is this folly? Have I just been reborn?'

I was in disbelief, as my long life had led me to be untrusting and cautious in any circumstances. It would be a while before I could accept this was real.

...

It seemed to be time I accepted this wasn't some sick prank by scientists of my former world. Everything was.. too real? I guess that's how I'd interpret it. No matter how much I searched for imperfections, anything, a clue as to what this could be, my mind could not reach another conclusion other than the fact I had indeed been reborn. My mother had been taking me to routine trips to the markets, where I had seen adventurers carrying swords twice their weight as if they were toys, food I had never seen, a culture I had never experienced.

No, this wasn't a sick prank of my own madness-driven mind, nor a twisted experiment by scientists on a sick old man. No, this was reality.

...

I had snuck into my parents library, where I noticed an interesting book. "Beginner's Guide for the Privileged Mage" was the title, and I quickly got interested.

The Ki system in my old world was inflexible, rigid per se, at least comparing it to this. I honed my skills to the maximum, and beyond, to the point where such frivolities weren't needed to subdue any opponent. Me and my sword in unison, we were capable of anything.

It would not be the case in this world. The ceiling of power had risen, like a massive tsunami, crashing right into my world-view. I had deemed this power necessary, as this world was also more dangerous, with beasts and bandits roaming around.

This time, I will protect what is mine. If anything tries to get in between, I will mercilessly cut it down, and I will fix my regrets. This is my promise, the first promise I will make with my name, Arthur Leywin, on the line. Crap, I soiled my diaper again!

...

I had started collecting mana, bright white particles of power, into my solar plexus about a few months ago, around the time of my first birthday. It went slowly, but surely, and now I had a bright glowing mass of mana, close to bursting, in my solar plexus. This felt very similar to the daily meditation I had done daily as part of my training routine, and my concentration was at its peak, with a newly rejuvenated brain. No longer did I have an old, beaten up brain that continuously failed me more and more with age.

My parents were outside, preparing wood for the fireplace, and I was meditating in my room. A completely normal day, except...

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The whole house, nay, even my garden, was blown away with a huge explosion of force. My small body levitated in the air with a force shield around.

I had done it, I had formed a core. A black, slightly reddish mass of mana was now sitting firmly in my solar plexus, its perfectly round silhouette quickly absorbing ambient mana in the air. I could feel it, the steps of my father as he rushed into the dust cloud, the outside wind, the rain hitting my body. I could feel mana in all of it. The mana inside my body bent under my iron will, moving exactly as I told it.

It didn't feel too different to Ki, yet had unique properties of its own. For one, it was absorbed from the air, and wasn't created within the individual like Ki, but I definitely felt that once I got used to it, my old Ki techniques from my world would work wonders.

My father was brought to his knees from the shock, staring at me, wide eyed. My mother ran into the smoke, her reaction mimicking my father's one to one. I calmly cut off the flow of mana, and floated down to the ground.

"Uh.. Sorry, am I in trouble?"