Chapter 2 (Cleaned) – It was Said He Had No Talent
Ex Strongest Swordsman Chapter 2 is out!
TLN:
h.e.l.lo everyone!
This chapter has been edited by Dogboy90, thank you very much!
Please consider to support this project through Patreon. Thank you very much, really appreciate it!
I have question about the t.i.tle, should I use Ex Strongest or Former Strongest? Please let me know in the comment section
I probably wasn’t clear in the last post why I am translating this series. I decided to do it for two reasons.
First, I found that my translation rate (words per day) wasn’t really improving at all (5000 words per every time I am on my computer atm), so I was thinking maybe if I alternate series, it can improve my translation speed. I am judging my capability in this week while doing that.
Second, this is a short novel per chapter. It has 3000 j.a.panese characters on average (equals to 1500 English words), while World Teacher has 15000 words per chapter (7500 English Words). What I am doing right now is translating 5000 characters of WT, and then, 3000 characters of Former Strongest. Hence, this will not effect the release of WT (one chapter per week). However, while judging my own capability, I still plan to release faster WT if possible.
Anyway, I still appreciate any kind of feedback.
Do enjoy!
—I had a terrible, long dream.
It was a man’s dream.
Holding a sword, dreaming to be at the top, aiming to be an expert in swordsmanship, becoming a Sword Saint before long, and in the end, he was called a Sword G.o.d… And then, when he reached the place he was aiming for, he died in satisfaction.
That was the man’s dream.
“…Hmmm.” (??)
Looking at the familiar ceiling, he saw nothing but that dream— no, while recalling [The memories of his past life], Soma made a nod. (TLN: The name in raw is ソーマ)
In addition to suddenly recalling that, he was occasionally overwhelmed with uncomfortable feelings from before and was comprehending such a situation.
Being reborn, or possibly a reincarnation.
Well, both had the same meaning, but it appeared that that was what happened to Soma’s body.
If someone asked about it, they would say it’s nonsense, but it couldn’t be helped since that was the case.
It was neither a delusion nor a misunderstanding.
Soma truly was a reincarnated existence.
“…Well, there is nothing I can do.” (Soma)
But, when Soma thought until that point, he abandoned the thought.
The reason was like this.
He didn’t care about such a thing.
In the first place, when he recalled those words, rather than understanding something that he didn’t, it kind of felt like trying to recall something that he wasn’t aware of.
It was just about his awareness, but Soma’s behavior and thoughts until now were certainly based on what he was in his previous life.
In other words, nothing had changed when he recalled it, and that was why it didn’t matter.
And, more than anything, today was Soma’s sixth birthday.
Since he was aware about today’s event, how long has he waited for this day to arrive?
When he thought about it, it was alright for him, no matter how he felt in the previous live.
“Well…” (Soma)
Taking his eyes away from the ceiling, when he looked outside the window, the morning sun had already risen.
The people in the mansion were already moving about, and same goes for his mother.
Then, he didn’t have to wait any longer.
“…Alright.” (Soma)
Raising his upper body in order to kip-up, Soma left the comforter and got off the bed.
Lightly stretching his arms… his mouth naturally loosened when he thought about the future.
“Hmm… well, I have the skills, as I expected, and I can do the things I remembered…” (Soma)
As he appraised his skills, while waiting for what was going to happen after this, his pace was light, and he left the pointlessly-big room.
Viewing from Soma’s previous life, this world corresponded to what was known as a ‘different world’.
There were several reasons why he could do that… In this regard, it was his skills, after all.
A skill could be simply said to be a visualization of talent.
He wasn’t sure if that was truly correct, but he was certain that it should be like that… well, in short, knowing the skill of that person, he would instantly understand what he could do or what he was good at.
Nevertheless, if this was a normal household, there wouldn’t be a way to know your own skill, let alone others.
Basically, to know it, it was necessary for a person with the appraisal skill to see the skills.
Instead of using a specific magic tool, he could know the skills he had on his own, but it wasn’t really recommended.
It didn’t mean that there were some side effects, but… rather the opposite.
By asking those with an appraisal skill, a secondary effect would happen.
It was because the effect of the skill appraisal wasn’t only affecting the present, but it also affected the future.
To speak clearly, one didn’t only learn the skills they knew now, they could also see the skills that could be learned in the future.
This was one of the reasons why skills were recognized as visualizing talent.
In other words, by receiving a skill appraisal, he could know what he could do now and in the future.
That was how he understood it.
Well, although he said that he understood it that way, in reality, there were many people who negatively perceived it.
It wasn’t entirely like that, but it was the common sense in this world, so by knowing more than anything, they knew what they were aiming for.
In most cases, it was welcomed that way, since people could go forward without wasting their efforts, and choose the best future for themselves.
As a matter of course, it was considered good to know it as soon as possible.
Well, that would be so.
For example, if one aimed to be a swordsman, if there was no possibility of having the necessary swordsmanship skills, it would be a waste of time.
It was never too early to consider what one shouldn’t aim for if they knew it.
Nevertheless, to actually receive a skill appraisal, it would be as early as six years old or older than that.
Of course, there was also a reason for this, since the future wouldn’t be decided yet.
There was actually some research done about this. It seemed that there was proof that the appraisal immediately after being born and around four years old were totally different.
The appraisal was generally decided at about four years old, five years old at the latest, but just to be sure, it was best to do it around six years old.
That was why Soma was to receive a skill appraisal on his sixth birthday.
And to receive a skill appraisal was also like having one’s own future being decided at the same time.
It was rare for skills to be substantial enough to select multiple paths.
There were many who couldn’t acquire more than one or two skills. If one had five, they were excellent, and if they had two figures, they were a genius.
It was normal to say not to worry.
Although it was said like that, they were many who worried about getting a skill appraisal, but… in regards to Soma, it went without saying that he was looking forward to it.
Since this was a reincarnation, he didn’t really think that it was necessary to have an abundant amount of talent.
It’s simple to say that for Soma, he was fine to learn any kind of skills.
To be exact, should he say that it didn’t matter what kind of skill he could learn?
That was why, no matter what it was, it could be considered to be somebody else’s problem.
It wasn’t about giving up on the future, in fact, it was the reverse.
Whatever skill he could learn, he decided to aim for the future based on what he intended in the beginning.
It was true that one might not know what skills they could learn until they got a skill appraisal, but there were some exceptions.
They called it basic skills.
There are six kinds of martial art skills, such as swordsmanship and spearmanship, and there were indispensable magic skills that used mana.
The thing was, they were limited to a lower grade among those with the same skills, but even if that was the case, most of them could be learned.
In fact, if they had one martial art skill or magic skill, there were still a lot who couldn’t learn it. Even if it didn’t include people who had a number of skills that called them excellent or a genius, it was well-understood to consider it as a requirement to learn as a matter of course.
Well, there was no point to think whether he might not able to learn it, but Soma was aiming to be a magician.
To say it further, he wanted to use magic.
For that reason, he was fine with whatever he could use.
What Soma was looking forward to was when the day came, he could finally start moving to learn magic.
It was impossible to imagine that it wouldn’t come true.
“…Ha?” (Soma)
A stunned voice resonated within the surroundings.
The one who leaked it was Soma, and the same went to his face.
Dumbfounded, puzzled, and surprised.
Similar to being unable to mix all of them, while embracing the indescribable emotions… Soma asked his mother in front of him again.
“…Now, what did it say, Mother?” (Soma)
He knew that his mother was someone who didn’t really make a joke during such a time, but he still wanted her to say that it was a joke.
After his mother averted her eyes once, she took a deep breath and looked straight at Soma.
And…
“…Yes, then, let me say it one more time. As a result of the skill appraisal, even if we include martial art skills and magic skills, you can never learn a skill… you have been discovered to have no talent.” (Mother)
And he was informed with a resolute expression.