Sam left the orchard and continued a bit deeper into the woods with a wooden sword slid through his belt. The sword was a gift from his father after he began teaching him. It put Sam somewhat at ease to be armed, since he still felt uneasy around him, and often felt a mixture of fear and anger while they were sparring.

After a little bit he arrived at the lumber mill, and walked up to an old log with some notches cut in it. Even though all the lumber for the village went through here, because there wasn’t any construction happening there wasn’t anyone around. Looking at the log he took a deep breath as he drew his wooden sword and held it out in front of himself in the ready position. He then began channeling aura into it, giving it a faint blue glow with matching wisps that looked like blue smoke rising from it, before he began swinging it at the log. 

Thwack thwack

He struck the log again and again, occasionally knocking chips off the log free. After nearly ten minutes of this Sam fell backward onto his back side before laying down with his arms stretched out.

‘Curse this weak body. I still have aura to spare, but my body just can’t keep up.’ Sam sighed as he stared up at the blue sky. ‘I need help. Aura and Mana might both be similar to the internal energy from my past life, but they are still different. I’m confident that’s the key. If I can learn aura better then maybe my body will be able to hold out longer.’ He then lifted his head from the ground and glared at the log. “Then I’d be able to cut you in half.”

In his past life one of his close-quarters combat instructors in basic training had demonstrated how effective internal energy could be used in combat. She somehow used it on a pipe and cut a roll of straw in half. It was a one time demonstration, but it always left a lasting impression with the trainees. Even though he was a child again, he was still a man at heart, and what man wouldn’t want to recreate something like that that they thought was so cool.

He then let out a grunt of frustration. Now that he was in a position to actually use and need that knowledge, he couldn’t for the life of himself remember how she said she did it. He remembered there was supposed to be a special was the use internal energy. But even after her explanation none of his fellow trainees could do it. Then even after he joined the special forces, they never taught it to them. They learned more advanced close quarters combat and were given extensive weapons training. Since there were other races in the galaxy that still used swords, they learned the basics of swordsmanship, but he never used it in actual combat.

‘The real problem is getting help. I’m confident my father could at least explain it properly. Despite being a commoner he seems to be rather intelligent, especially with combat. He’s been able to teach swordsmanship in an easy to understand manner so far, so I can’t imagine he would have much trouble teaching me how to use aura as well. But if this world is anything like my previous one, if it gets out that I can use both energies or even that I can use either at this age, it will definitely lead to problems.’

After catching his breath he repeated this cycle of striking then resting for a few more times before calling it quits for the day, and walked back home.

It took almost an hour to walk back to his house. As he approached from the back he saw the laundry Miss Kathy had washed and hung out to dry near the side of the house. At this point, due to Sam leaving the house to train, Miss Kathy essentially was more of a housekeeper than the nanny she was hired as. 

He walked past the oak tree in the backyard with a target with several holes in it attached. John didn’t only teach Sam swordsmanship, he believed even if a man specialized in one weapon, he should also be competent in many others. To this end he had also taught Sam archery, hand to hand combat, and how to handle several other weapons. Even though John could use multiple weapons, he was humble enough to turn to those more competent than himself from time to time. 

Aside from John who wielded a sword and shield, their party included two mages, an archer, a spearman, and a heavy swordsman. Since the archer and spearman were more proficient than him, John had asked them to help teach Sam from time to time. For Sam this logic actually held a comfortable familiarity for him, as in his past life he was also trained in the operation of a multitude of weapons.

As he got closer to the house he could hear talking coming from inside. He couldn’t make out the words, but it sounded like his parents were home. Sam looked up to the sky.

‘Hmm, it seems to be way too early for them to be home yet. What’s going on?’ He asked himself.

Aside from the clock tower on the village government building, there was really no way for commoners to tell the time aside from roughly gaging the position of the sun. There were things similar to grandfather clocks, but they were an expensive item primarily only nobles could afford. Large pocket watches also existed, however they cost even more than the grandfather clocks, so they were only owned by the more high ranking of nobles.

Slowly he opened the back door, hoping to get a chance to hear what they were saying. Entering the kitchen he quietly moved closer.

“Of course, that won’t be a problem at all,” Kathy replied.

‘What wouldn’t be a problem?’ Sam wondered. ‘And why the hell am I sneaking into my own home? I could just ask and I’m sure they would tell me. I doubt it’s some state secret.’

“Sam?” John, looking into the kitchen from the main part of the house.

“Oh hey,” he said with an awkward smile as he casually walked closer. “What are you doing home so early?”

John tousled his son’s hair when he got close enough. It still made Sam uncomfortable, but he managed to not flinch this time.

“Your mother wasn’t feeling well so we decided to call it a day early,” he said, gesturing to his wife sitting in a chair beside Kathy.

“Well I’ll be going now,” Kathy announced as she stood up. “Bye Sam, I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Why a few days?” Sam asked.

“We stopped by the temple and it was suggested that I take some time off to rest. So we decided to give Miss Kathy tomorrow off too,” Sarah replied.

“And to help take it easy, I’ll be taking tomorrow off as well,” John added.

“You two are a third of this village’s main defense. How can you just take a day off so arbitrarily like that?” Sam wondered.

“And since we’re having a day all to ourselves,” Sarah paused for effect with a big smile on her face. “Why don’t we go on a picnic.”

——————————————————————-

Morning came and Sam woke up to a larger than usual breakfast consisting of ham steak from a large boar his parents killed the other day, and a bowl of porridge topped with honey and diced apples. 

Ham was the most common meat provided, as herds of boars the size of minivans often grazed in the area, and used the nearby river as their water source. One would be killed nearly every other day as they tended to wander into the orchards from time to time to eat the fallen fruit. The problem with that was as they moved deeper through the trees they would also damage them, and sometimes knock one or two down. 

Since there was no adventurer guild lodge in the village the governor would buy the bodies of any beast killed with village funds, then take the bodies to the butcher. The usable parts would then be sold to merchants or offered back to the party if they stated they wanted something in particular. As for the meat, the party would get a portion, and the rest would be sold to the villagers. After the butcher made their profits, the remaining money would go back to the village to pay for expenses the village would normally not be able to afford.

‘I feel like I could kill for some eggs and bacon right now,’ Sam thought to himself.

Unfortunately eggs, like sugar and most spices, were considered a luxury item and were hard to come by for commoners. As for bacon, no one had come up with the idea to cure meat so he was out of luck there as well since he didn’t know the process. Drying meat to form jerky was the closest one could get to bacon. Honey was the most common sweetener commoners could afford, and some people even raised bees like they did on earth so it would be available for their village.

“Since I’m not working today, how about we get some training in after breakfast?” John suggested as they ate.

“Ok,” Sam replied flatly without looking at him. ‘I guess I’ll be skipping aura and mana training for today. It’ll be near impossible to get away since they just want us to have a day together.’

Sam and his father spared for a little bit with wooden swords before he switched to archery, then knife throwing. Afterwards they concluded with hand to hand combat as Sarah worked on preparing the lunch for their picnic.

‘Damn this small ass body! I was pretty damn good at grappling and submission moves in my previous life, but this dinky ass body doesn’t even have the reach for it, let alone the weight or muscles,’ Sam cursed in his head.

John of course mostly kept to defense, only giving him a light tap every once in a while to keep him on his toes. 

‘Being so small my field of vision is also limited, I can’t even keep both hands in view. I need to keep my head on a swivel, don’t stop moving my eyes so he can’t even see where I’m targeting.’

Using this method Sam tried to land a kick at John’s left knee. John reached down to block with his left hand, as he moved his right hand for an attack. Keeping his eyes moving Sam caught a glimps of this and moved to intercept. Right before he could hit, Sam reached up and grabbed his father’s hand before jumping up and wrapping his legs around his arm, then started beating on his arm with his right fist.

John was taken aback by his son’s tenacity and tactics, then started to laugh as he was beating on his arm. Initially Sam started to pull his arm down because of his weight, but then John used aura to strengthen his arm.

“Nice move Sam,” John praised as he lifted him to eye level.

Sam then realized his position as he looked at his, then looked down.

“Do you want to get down?”

“No, I’m good,” Sam replied innocently. ‘This is the first time he’s used his aura around me. I can’t miss this opportunity.’

Sam had worked hard to hide his mana and aura, using a method he learned in his past life for working on stealth missions. Despite not being able to use either energy right now, he was able to sense them, and at this distance he could sense it very clearly. As John decided to walk back towards the house Sam studied his fathers aura usage.

‘I see. Instead of just sending the aura through to his arm he’s circulating it like blood would. With this method he doesn’t need to use up nearly as much aura to achieve the same results. I wonder, can I apply this method to my sword as well?’

“Sarah,” John called out from outside a kitchen window. “Is everything ready? I don’t know how long until Sam will be bored just, hanging around.”

‘Seriously? Dad jokes seem to transcend worlds.’

“Haha,” Sarah laughed as she looked out at them.

Sam let his head hang down so he could see her. “Mother,” he greeted with a wave.

Sarah returned the wave with an amused smile. “Why don’t you boys clean up, I’m almost done.”