Chapter 1- Exceed.

Ha!

I said, Striking the tree with a wooden sword, Sweat dripped down my body from the continuous exercise.

Haa!

I held my wooden sword back and charged for a heavy attack like those in the videogames.

*Crack*

The wooden sword cracked under the strength of my swing halfway before reacting the tree. It was expected to break at some point because of the strain I had put on the sword because of my intense training.

Well this was a world of magic and swordsmanship afterall. If I wanted to be stronger in this world I should focus on those two things.

I am Exceed, well in my previous life I was Jacob but it seemed that I have reincarnated in this world after my parachute didn't open while skydiving.

I was an adrenaline junkie, someone who would climb rocks with no harness just for fun and drive cars at 120 in a 40.

Well, it is exactly the reason why I died, for a mere rush of adrenaline.

But it has already been 4 years since that happened, I am now a healthy boy living in what would be the dream of many people, including me as well.

I was abused and beat on regularly by my own parents, that's why I seeked to fill in the sadness by excitement and fear.

"Exceed, Help me clean the house!" I hear someone calling for me from inside. It was my mother, my only family in this world. She was a beautiful woman in her 20's with pale blonde hair and similar pale skin and brown eyes.

Hearing the calls of my mother I rushed to her aid leaving my broken sword behind.

"Okay mother!"

I helped her clean the house, Our house was perfect for two people and had a beautiful garden, Courtesy of my mother as well.

There was a well nearby and the house was far away from any other house, the only ones in sight were only a little farther in a small village named buena village.

I used to visit it sometimes to help the hunters, mainly a hunter named Laws to clear out magical and wild beasts in the forest behind our house.

There was also this other guy named Paul, He tried to flirt with my mother but I put him back in his place after a quick wooden sword to the balls, thankfully for him the sword was dull.

By these(and the title) you have probably concluded that I have reincarnated in the world of mushoku Tensei:Jobless reincarnation. And you couldn't be more correct than that my friend.

After I helped my mother out I picked my sword up and held it.

*Sigh*

"I guess I need to make a new one." I said to myself, grabbing a sturdy branch and checking the quality of the wood. After that I used a small hunting knife to shape the sword into a replica of the previous sword but with a more sturdy handle and left the hit out since it was no use to me unless I was parrying or blocking strikes from an opponent.

I finished crafting the sword and started swinging it around to get a feel for it.

It was a little heavier than the last one but it was okay since it would increase the power of my swings.

Just as I started swinging I heard a crashing sound and a large shiny orb? A ball of clear liquid passing above me at a very fast speed, creating a swoosh sound as it's volume gradually lessened, it showered as it passed from above.

"What the hell!?" I exclaimed, surprised at the strange occourance. As I looked at the direction it came from, it suddenly became clear to me.

The ball of water was the spell casted by Rudeus from the attic of his house and the crash sound before that was the sound of the wall of the attic getting broken by the sheer power of the spell.

I went back to training my swordsmanship with a lingering thought about learning magic.

-Line break-

I breathed heavily while swinging my sword, I had trained hard all day and I was sweating profusely. Well this was the reality of swordsmanship and martial arts in general. Only try new things when you are comfortable with a single attack or motion.

I was mainly swinging the sword downwards and it reminded me of how Issac netero only practiced a single move for a single decade, it was that sheer determination which led him to being the strongest hunter of his time.

I wanted to be like that, Standing above all others, maybe even reaching the God tier in swordsmanship or being one of the seven great world powers.

I could only swing a couple of more times before my arms gave out, I fell in to the ground exhausted and sweating heavily.

I was laying down on the grass, heavily breathing while I heard a few footsteps approaching me, knowing who it was I was at ease.

"Here clean yourself Exceed." My mother said with a gentle voice as she gave me a cloth to wipe my sweat.

"Thanks mother." I said, wiping the sweat off my face.

"Ahh, I could do anything for you sweetie. Especially since you are working so hard." She said to me with a hint of proudness. I stayed silent while she praised me, listening to her and too tired to speak.

"You remind me too much of your father, he left us too soon." She said with sadness present in her voice.

My dad was a swordman, he was an advanced ranked swordsman in the sword god style apparently, well I was just a year old when he passed so I couldn't remember much about him.

He was bitten by a poisonous spider and died because he neglected it, there were healers capable of detoxification of such a poison but he ignored it, We learnt much later that he had been poisoned, By that time it was too late.

It was soon time for dinner, I ate my food. A single loaf of bread and soup. I thanked my mother and went to my small room to sleep.

For some reason I couldn't sleep so easily that night. Maybe because the display of magic I saw that day or because of something else.

I faintly remembered in the anime that mana came from blood or at least a similar route to flood, when rudeus channeled the spell for the first time.

I put my hand up and concentrated, while still laying down. Concentrating on channeling mana through my hands and imagining a ball of water.

*sigh*

It didn't work, then I tried thinking of calm things, the grass, the flowing river, the rain. They all brought a sense of calmness to me.

I stayed like this for five minutes, I clicked my tongue as this failed as well.

As a final attempt I tried to sense my mana, after concentrating on sensing my mana I finally found a faint stream flowing throughout my body, equally and undiminished.

It took about another few monutes before I finally managed make a stream of mana buldge inside my hand. It was not really difficult on feeling and making my mana move inside my body once I get the idea.

Imagine attaching a string to a needle, it's hard but once you find the eye of the needle to put the string in, it gets easier once you've done it once.

After a while of manipulating the mana inside my body, I felt as if I was ready to manifest it outside.

I poured a little mana outside from my palm and focused on creating a ball of water, keeping my mind calm and imagining a ball magically forming in my palms.

Only a mist of water formed, I theorised that it was because of my small mana density but before I could form any more conclusions I felt myself losing consciousness.