Armored Dragon Year 410, the Holy Land of Swords.
Located in the northwestern reaches of the Central Continent, this land was buried in snow all year round.
Most people capable of surviving its brutal climate possessed powerful physiques.
Those who gathered here were either young swordsmen who had already revealed exceptional talent, or accomplished warriors seeking to break through the limits of their swordsmanship.
A boy stood before the gates of the Sword God Style’s main dojo, staring at a facade similar to the smaller dojos outside, only broader and far more imposing.
His name was Noah.
A textbook transmigrator.
In his previous life, he’d been a newly employed mechanical construction worker fresh out of school.
He’d barely spent a few days at the company before an urgent project had him shipped off thousands of kilometers away with Senior Engineer Wang to deal with a client on-site.
Engineer Wang had tried to comfort him.
Business trips sucked, sure, but there were plenty of chances to slack off and milk the expense account.
There were even a few gray-area tricks Noah would understand once he’d been shown the ropes.
Unfortunately, Noah had only just stepped into society’s great dye vat.
Before he’d even had the chance to get properly stained from head to toe, the plane carrying him and Engineer Wang pulled a Kobe.
It crashed.
The night before the flight, Noah had just finished the newest episode of Mushoku Tensei.
He’d stayed up arguing online about questions like, “Could all the Great Powers below the Dragon God beat him if they teamed up?” “Where exactly does Jino rank among the Great Powers?” “Jino looks way too sexually repressed to me.
He’s barely above the likes of Alek.
How is that impressive?” and, “Serious question: if Jino relieved himself once in the morning to wake up and once before bed to de-stress, would he still have become Sword God?”
What annoyed him most was one particular keyboard warrior who insisted, “The Man-God can’t even fight the Dragon God.
Stop putting him anywhere near Orsted’s feet.”
Noah replied several times, genuinely intending to debate the point, only for the other guy to hit him with the classic:
“Have you personally fought the Dragon God and the Man-God?
No?
Then stop pretending you know.”
That one nearly made Noah choke.
So on the plane, he’d planned to skim the original novels again and come back with receipts to slap the guy in the face.
He never finished rereading them.
Nor did he ever get the chance to continue the argument.
He died with the question unresolved.
‘Damn it!’
‘Who was actually stronger, the Man-God or the Dragon God?’
That had been Noah’s final thought.
And then, somehow, he really was reincarnated into the world of Mushoku Tensei.
Eight years had passed since he’d entered this world as a squalling infant.
Thinking back on it now, Noah couldn’t help feeling emotional.
“What a waste.
I was only five when the protagonist was born.
Time, distance, and basic child-labor laws all conspired against me.
I had no way to pull off anything clever and witness the first major event in Mushoku Tensei firsthand.”
At a thought, lines of smoky white text appeared before his eyes.
[Otherworld Transmigration Survival Guide]
[The Host must participate in major events within the world of Mushoku Tensei.
By forming bonds with protagonists and supporting characters who represent the world’s will, the Host may earn the favor of the World Will and accumulate more Fate Power.]
[Warning: Insufficient Fate Power will cause the worldline to deviate in unpredictable ways.
System projection: 99.99999…% probability of Host death.]
Noah’s mouth twitched.
“You know that ellipsis isn’t helping, right?”
Sure, he’d restarted his life through the same general method as Kobe.
The death itself hadn’t exactly been dignified, and he’d arrived in this world carrying plenty of resentment.
Still, if Life Online let you respec your character and start a fresh account, you counted your blessings.
As for the system, every transmigrator’s standard-issue cheat, it had shown up right on schedule the moment Noah developed consciousness.
In fact, it arrived before most of his body’s own systems had finished booting.
His digestive system and immune system hadn’t even come fully online, let alone his vision, yet the soul-bound system had already finished loading.
And unlike those grimdark systems that threatened to erase their hosts every five minutes, his was almost absurdly friendly.
After eight years together, Noah felt less like it was a ruthless cheat and more like an anxious mother hen.
‘Baby, whatever you do, please don’t freaking die!’
Its one flaw was how painfully NPC-like it could be.
Noah lowered his gaze to the information displayed farther down, formatted almost like a game’s world-channel announcements.
[K407: Reincarnator has been born.]
[System Notice: Host, please proceed to Buena Village as soon as possible and participate in the first event!]
‘Are you serious?
You want a five-year-old, decidedly non-buff minor to cross an entire continent?’
…
Still, the cheats it had given him over the years were excellent.
Back when he’d still been in the womb, without eyes and with nothing but consciousness available to study the system, notifications had already begun appearing.
[System Notice: Sword Emperor Marcus Emiya has high expectations for you!]
[Affection: 65.
Two Shared Talent draws available.]
[Note: Affection 0-30 = Neutral; 31-60 = Friendly; 61-90 = Trust; 91-100 = Willing to Die for You.
Bonds at Friendly or above permit Shared Talent draws.
The more stars a talent possesses, the rarer it is.]
‘Draw!’
Baby Noah had been ecstatic.
[Acquired: Heart Toward the Sword ★★★★]
[Effect: Greatly increases swordsmanship talent.
Once activated, this talent will subtly improve the Host’s comprehension of swordsmanship.
Swordsmanship may be improved through daily training, practical combat, meditation, and other methods.]
[Warning: Illiteracy Rate +10%.
Swordsmanship talent will subtly influence Host personality, reducing reading efficiency and interest in acquiring knowledge.]
[Acquired: Savage Physique ★★★]
[Effect: Stamina recovery +10%.
Growth speed +10%.
Bone density increased.
Muscle growth efficiency increased.]
[Warning: Activating this talent requires large quantities of nutrition and energy.]
At the time, he’d completely ignored the fine print.
Oh, praise the System!
Thus, Noah resolved to become a staunch champion of peace, harmony, and talent-sharing between all people.
Putting aside the memory of his first talent draw, Noah opened his status panel.
[Host Stage: Childhood (8 years old)]
[Fate Power Rating: 2]
[Profession: Swordsman (Magician talent not unlocked)]
[Sword God Style: Advanced (External Rating: Intermediate)]
[Water God Style: Uninitiated]
[North God Style: Beginner]
[Rank Progression: Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced → Sword Saint → Sword King → Sword Emperor → Sword God.
Ratings are based on the average strength of all swordsmen of the same rank in this world.
If the Host’s swordsmanship reaches at least 80% of the average strength for a given rank, the System will automatically update the rating.]
There had been a time when Noah thought, ‘No matter how stupid a person is, surely anyone can learn chantless Fireball, right?’
Not chantless water magic.
Fireball.
Later, he discovered that yes, apparently you genuinely couldn’t use magic without the talent for it.
He wasn’t particularly upset.
He had cheats, after all.
First, in the Mushoku world, swordsmen were generally stronger than magicians at the same rank and possessed far superior one-on-one combat ability.
From a practical standpoint, swordsmanship was the safer path.
Second, he’d been reborn in the Holy Land of Swords itself, with a Sword Emperor for a father.
The quality of instruction and speed of advancement available to him here far surpassed anything he could have received as a magician.
Third—and most importantly—the Holy Land of Swords was practically heaven for someone whose entire business model revolved around harvesting swordsmanship talents from other people.
As for magic, once he eventually left the Holy Land of Swords, magicians with magical talent were everywhere.
Worst case, he could make a trip to the University of Magic and harvest a whole batch of talents there.
More importantly, the protagonist, Rudeus, ought to drop a very high-star magical talent.
It was already the year 410.
According to the original story, Roxy should arrive in Buena Village this year to teach Rudeus magic.
Two years later, once Rudeus became a Water Saint-ranked magician and Roxy felt she had nothing more to teach him, she would leave Buena Village and return to adventuring.
Noah was currently far away in the Holy Land of Swords, but he’d decided that in two years—in the year 412—he would reach Buena Village before Roxy left.
He’d already missed the first event.
Given the system’s constant nagging, he couldn’t afford to miss this convenient point in time when both Roxy and Rudeus had predictable locations.
And after that, he’d need to participate in as many major Mushoku events as possible.
He had to prepare thoroughly.
Of course, if he wanted to travel alone at age ten, his strength needed to improve considerably first.
In the original story, Jino spent some time wandering as a swordsman.
Noah guessed he hadn’t gone out until after reaching Sword Saint.
Jino Britts: Sword Saint at twelve.
Rudeus Greyrat: Water Saint-ranked magician at five.
So Noah, a guy who was blatantly cheating, becoming a Sword Saint at ten should be perfectly reasonable, right?
He’d spent years training in the smaller dojo and befriending plenty of swordsmen along the way, harvesting a respectable collection of talents.
Never underestimate the power of friendship!
[Acquired Talent Traits:]
[Heart Toward the Sword ★★★★ (Active)]
[Savage Physique ★★★ (Active)]
[Flash of Insight ★★★ (Active)]
[Hunting ★★★ (Active)]
[Mind’s Eye ★★★ (Active)]
[Arm Strength ★★ (Active)]
[…]
[Filthy Fingers ★★ (Inactive)]
[Released Arm Strength ★ (Inactive)]
[Tool Training ★ (Inactive)]
[Iron Crotch Art ★ (Inactive)]
Noah stared at the final few entries one more time and finally couldn’t hold it in.
Guys.
Some of you are way too repressed.