Sword arts

Three years have passed and I am now five years old. I spent these years learning about the history and geography of this world through books.

We currently live in the Ardonian Empire ruled by the Golden Empress. It was a relatively small kingdom a a century ago, but after the Empress ascended the throne she made massive expansionist policies that helped her conquer the surrounding kingdom and make an empire. The Empire also mysteriously became very rich during the Empress's reign which is why she is called, The Golden Empress as gold is the highest unit of currency followed by silver and copper.

Now the northern part of the Empire is covered by mountains while the western part is covered by The Greater West Ocean. Towards the east The Empire shares border with its greatest enemy The Corinthian Kingdom as both these nations vie for control over the continent. Which is why Ardonia is unable to capture the smaller kingdoms towards the south since they are supported by its rival Corinth. So these two countries are kind of stuck in a cold war situation.

My father has recently started training me in swordsmanship but I find him to be peculiar. He is strong not because he is an adult but just super-humanely strong. He can uproot trees with a kick and break steel armour with a punch. I asked him how he did this many times but he always said that he will tell me later.

I stood in our backyard holding a wooden sword trying to defend against my father's attacks but I failed as always.

"Haha! Damian you are improving a lot.",my father said with a smile.

"But I got hit."

"Yes, but your reflexes have improved."

"You are too strong and aggressive."

"Hmm... do you know about the two styles of fighting?"

"No.", I replied with curiosity.

"Well no matter what weapon you use whether it be a sword, spear or even your hands there are two stances or styles you can use. They are the art of red and the art of blue. The art of red is a very aggressive, brash and fast technique used to pressurise the opponent to defeat. While the art of blue is a defensive style used to hold your ground and parry your opponent's attack until you find his weak spot in order to defeat them."

"Which one are you teaching me?"

"Well, I know both styles but I am better at red. I am teaching you blue as you are weaker than me but you are smart."

He thinks I am smart but its probably because I am an adult in a child's body.

"If you know both can you not combine both the techniques to create a new one and call it art of purple or something."

"Huh! I am not too sure about that. The two techniques are polar opposites, mixing them is almost impossible, its like mixing fire and water. But I like the name though.

"Fiiiine, can I eat breakfast now."

"Haha. Sure Damian, I think your mother has prepared some delicious food for you.

After breakfast father had began training by himself outside. I went out to him.

"Father, can I ask you something?"

"Huh, yeah Damian."

"How are you so strong?", I asked with gleaming eyes.

"You really want to know?", he asked with a sigh.

I nodded aggressively.

"Fine. So unlike your mother, who was born as a noble, I was born as a commoner. I didn't even have a surname as only nobility were allowed to keep surnames. But when I turned thirteen there was a search for young boys who would like to volunteer for a bio-alchemical experiment. The first one to survive this experiment would receive noble status. Being the naive young boy I was, I volunteered for this experiment."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, most of the people that participated in the experiment died at the hands of the bio-alchemists. But I survived and got supernatural abilities like super strength, speed, hearing etc. Turns out the whole experiment was done in order to create a super soldier who could fight for the nation and I was the first super soldier. The bio-alchemists took my blood and after conducting research on it they were able to create super-human soldiers way more easily with much less casualty."

"Then how did you become a noble?"

"The Empress was very happy that the super soldier experiment had succeeded so in return, as promised, she anointed me as a noble and gave me the surname Armstrong probably because I had strong arms. It seems the Empress was not as humourless as people considered her to be."

"Wait a minute. The bio-alchemists used alchemy to give you your powers right?"

"Yeah."

"Then what was the price. Since anything can be created only through something in alchemy. Something had to be sacrificed right?"

"You indeed are very smart for your age Damian. Yes, I had to sacrifice a decade of my life to gain these powers. I was thirteen when I underwent the experiment and by the time the experiment was over my body instantly aged ten years. So I was a thirteen year old with the body of a twenty three year old."

So he was the opposite of me.

"Wait, so how old are you now?"

"In my mind I am twenty five but my body is thirty five years old."

Later that night while in bed I was still thinking about what my father said. It was still shocking to me that he was mentally the same age as me and has achieved so much. He is a great warrior and a noble, he also has a beautiful wife and two children while twenty year old me had nothing when I died in my previous life. I should not end up like that this time.

Since I am a noble I will use that money and status to have a comfortable life. Maybe I will even make a harem. Many nobles in this world practise polygamy so it should not be an ethical problem. I also seem to have a cute face that I inherited from my mother, it even feels a bit feminine. I hope when I grow up I develop my fathers rugged, masculine physique. The other thing I need to work on is my charm since I was a loser in my previous life I barely talked to any girls so I guess that is going to be the toughest part.