Maybe writing this out will make it make more sense
Okay first off why is the mc trash at swordsmanship? Athletics isn’t rocket science. You don’t need to be born a genius to learn how to wield a sword. I mean it would certainly helps and lessens the effort one needs to put in to learn but that’s it. The mc should be fairly capable just by practice and hard work. If he’s been diligently doing this for 10+ years and is STILL trash then a curse or something has to be involved. At the very least he should be physically adept at this point, competent in wielding a sword, and able to move fairly easily easily with a big piece of metal in his hands (which in of itself is fine for a kid in training). Most knights can get by with just brute strength; you don’t need talent to know how to exercise. Even learning techniques and basic fighting strategies shouldn’t be that hard if you’ve already been putting in a shit ton of effort since you were 5. I read a story similar to this and it got away with the MC not having “talent” because all swordsman also used magic which he had no access to, but after working his butt off since he was a kid, he still had the most physical skill. If something like that is the cause then it would make more sense, but needs to be explained in the first chapter. If the MC has honestly been training this hard his whole life and still has NO results, then a thousand years isn’t going to help.
Also can we talk about the bully for a second. Really tired of that generic asshole character whose character just exists to be a dick. If he really thinks the mc is “worth nothing” and “trash”, then why go out of your way to talk to him? By the time that guy got there he wasn’t even in the open anymore. He was in a closed off alley between two school buildings, so the guy specifically had to see and go to him. What type of problems do you have to have to be that deliberately mean (Other than just be on the internet)? Reminds of the key and peele skit about bullies. Going off of that, I would totally be for a series where the MC is just discriminated against for being a commoner in a school of nobles and proves their insults wrong with the efforts of hard work and dedication? No? Nope? Just gonna go with some silly “he’s still trash after 10 years of earnest effort, and needs a magic button to be competent”. Okay. Whatever
Really the only remotely realistic part of the chapter was the old man. Ngl, I would totally press that button if told it would solve all my problems, and from what the media says about my generation, so would everyone else.