I woke up to the singing of birds; my internal clock is fully programmed to wake up before six in the morning. Through the window, I could see the rays of light illuminating the day. Today marks the beginning of my new life.

  I can't lie, I'm quite excited. I try to hide it with a poker face, but it's impossible. Ever since I woke up in this world and was able to move, I’ve been longing for this. Training every day used to be my routine in my past life, and in this one, many people's lives are quite similar. Without enough power, you can’t maintain your status in life.

  Children start working very young in jobs that require physical strength, and nobles start physical training, usually between the ages of five and six. I'm currently just over seven years old. While my body is nowhere near its previous condition, it’s still better than any seven-year-old’s body from my previous world.

  My father uses a sword in his fighting style and has been teaching me. His style is the opposite of my ideal. He uses a large sword with powerful, heavy strikes. In my previous world, I always practiced a style with two short swords, each sixty centimeters in length—perfect for my grip and focused on quick, precise cuts.

  I've been practicing with a longsword like my father's, but today I’ve decided to surprise him—I’ll be using two short swords.

  Due to the difference in skill and rank, it's impossible to land a hit on my father. I want to continue my training, so I'm obliged to only use half of my sword skills. Showing all my knowledge could lead to too many questions.

  I went straight to the place we had agreed to use for our training duel. It wasn’t hard to find two twin swords that suited me. About 15 minutes later, my parents showed up, along with my grandmother and a maid.

  “Good morning, Maki. You must be excited; you got here before us,” my grandmother was the first to speak, her smile as clear as ever and those wise eyes shining.

  “Good morning, everyone. Yes, I was quite excited and decided to come a bit earlier.” I tried to respond calmly, though I was very nervous. I needed to calm myself—I'm almost as nervous as I was during my world title fight in my previous life.

  My parents and the maid greeted me just as warmly.

  “Dual swords? You’ve been practicing with a longsword like your father. What made you change styles?” My father looked at me with curious, suspicious eyes.

  “A new style? Why so suddenly?” My mother added more questions.

  I had thought of answers last night and again this morning to avoid suspicion. “I’ve been reading some books about different weapon styles, and the dual swords caught my attention. I did some research and have a good feeling about them,” I finished with a slightly embarrassed smile to make it more believable. Their gazes still carried doubt, but they accepted my answer.

  “Son, before we begin, let me explain the rules. I’ll be standing here—try to attack me in every way possible.” His eyes grew more serious with every word. “You don’t have to win—it's impossible,” he said that last part with a confident smile. “Just show your capabilities. If you're capable enough, you’ll be allowed to continue with your training.”

  My mother interrupted, “We’ve been talking, and although it’s a bit early, it’s time to teach you how this world works—ranks, skills, magic, fuv, and all the necessary knowledge.”

  That news left me stunned. Finally. They must’ve had their reasons for hiding all this information. Now that I’m the right age, this duel will decide how much I can learn.

  “Thank you for the opportunity. I won’t let you down. You’ll be surprised, and I’ll earn that chance.” Their eyes softened—they still saw me as a child trying to discover everything. I’ll change that opinion bit by bit. Today is the beginning.

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  Rita’s POV:

  That boy Maki is very different from his two brothers—much more energetic, eager to prove his worth to the world. Kids like that either go very far or die young. We must protect him and make him strong enough to overcome all the adversity ahead.

  I’ve never seen him face anyone in combat. He’s never had a sparring partner; he always used to swing his sword at dummies or practice cutting the air. I don’t have high expectations, but those words linger in my mind: “You’ll be surprised, and I’ll earn that chance.” We’ll see what happens.

  Jarrid was standing in the middle of the arena waiting, while Maki looked at his swords and took calm breaths. I can’t deny that for his age, he has exceptional focus. He took one last breath and then dashed toward his father.

  The first strike came from his right hand and was easily blocked. As soon as the sword was stopped, he pulled it back and his other sword swung from below toward Jarrid’s face, which was also instantly blocked. He continued with body strikes, mixed with feints, attacks on the limbs, and even tried to exploit blind spots due to the large sword.

  What is this sense of combat? Since when can Maki move like this and use such well-calculated feints? Though his blows were clearly visible to all of us due to the difference in skill, he showed two things—he has exceptional talent with dual swords and an incredible combat instinct. In all my years, I’ve never seen a child under twelve with such sharp instincts.

  Jarrid still saw him as a joke, though his eyes showed surprise and pride as a father. Celes, his wife, was stunned. She isn’t a weapon expert, but she’s been in thousands of battles. She can easily recognize her son’s skill.

  Maki kept attacking for almost five straight minutes until he ran out of stamina. During all that time, he couldn’t land a single hit on Jarrid for one simple reason—the difference in rank was enormous.

  “You were perfect, son. You surprised me from the third strike onward. You weren’t just showing off. It seems you do have talent with dual swords.” My son’s words to my grandson sounded very sincere, and I’m sure we all agree—this child has surprised us. If his grandfather were here, he would already be making thousands of plans to develop his talents.

  I didn’t want to let this opportunity pass without some praise. “Maki, where have you been hiding that talent? I almost mistook you for a seasoned fighter.” It might sound like exaggeration, but it’s not—I’m genuinely impressed.

  “Son, if you continue developing your talents, you’ll surpass your father and uncle in the near future.” Though my daughter-in-law laughed at her comment, to me it’s very serious. If he really has that talent, he could outclass both in combat not so far from now.

  “Thank you all for your words. I don’t think I’m that strong or that talented. I just tried to do my best.” I saw him smile shyly and try to change the subject. Come to think of it, this child has been acting a bit differently lately—he watches his words and manners, often speaking very respectfully, and sometimes sounds like an adult. It’s time to start paying much closer attention to my grandson.

  “Don’t sell yourself short, son. We’re being completely honest. You have exceptional talent with dual swords. If there hadn’t been such a difference in skill and rank, you might have forced me to use a skill.”

  Maki’s POV:

  My father started laughing after that last comment. My mother and grandmother also chuckled a bit to lighten the mood.

  Based on everything they said, I must have passed the test, right? At the start of the training, he was holding back a lot. In the middle, he switched to holding back only a little. Even so, I couldn’t land a single blow—I could feel how easily he could read and differentiate my strikes and feints.

  As they mentioned, the skills and ranks must’ve made a huge difference.

  “Father, I don’t want to sound impatient, but I’m genuinely curious—did I pass?” I couldn’t hold it in any longer and decided to ask.

  “Isn’t the answer obvious?” My father looked at me, puzzled. “Of course you passed, son. All those compliments were genuine. It’s time to show you more about this world.”

  “Your father’s right, son. Your grandmother doesn’t hand out praise often. Even though she loves all her grandchildren, her philosophy is: ‘Only those who deserve it are rewarded.’” I saw my grandmother look at my mother with tired eyes—clearly, this wasn’t the first time this was brought up.

  “Son, let’s have breakfast together. It’s time to make a schedule for your new lifestyle.” He put away his greatsword and took my mother’s hand. My grandmother had already walked ahead by the time I reacted, and the maid had disappeared at some point after the training.

  It feels wonderful to share a meal with loved ones—it reminds me of past meals with my uncle and coach.

  In the middle of the meal, my father finally spoke about my future. “Son, it’s time to teach you the basics of how to grow stronger. Physical training is important, but not as much as magic, willpower, and the laws.”