The Red Sword by Kevin Diep (black female authors .txt) 📕

Prologue

The sword dropped to the ground, making a metallic ring when it did. He sighed. It has been awhile since he had lost in the last Glorious Blade Tournament. His eyes were closed for a moment, then opened, revealing amber eyes with specs of green and gold in them, shining. For the hundredth time, he took out his notebook, where he always kept it, in-his sheath. He flipped through the notebook, looking carefully at each page, trying to flip to the page to where he had last left off. Finding his page, he began to write in it.

Jan 15, 2004

Won the Glorious Blade Tournament, got the Striker, a legendary blade that strikes lighting at your opponent.

Even though he had collected hundreds...maybe even thousands of the Legendary blades, he had never used them. He had always used a normal, steel sword to fight against his opponents, and he had always won with it. Some said he was an immortal, An unbeatable sword fighter, but he knew that was not true. Though he never talked about it or never wanted to think about it, he remembered his harsh times when he was a beginner in the art of sword fighting...

He shook his head, trying to shake off the memories of his youth, though he knew those memories would always be there. He knew, no matter how hard he tried to forget about them, they were always there in the back of his head. Somewhere hidden, and ready to take over his mind, ready to inject sorrow all over his body. He sighed, and continued to write in his notebook.

Jan 17, 2005

My steel sword got damaged badly in a fight. I had to go to repair it. I have only 14 tokens left so I have to go earn some more.

There was a quest on the Quest log. 'Defeat the Blade Master in the Red Dojo to earn 50 tokens.' It had said, and he thought it was a great deal, since he had defeated the Blade Master several times, just for fun. Right now, he needed to take a rest.

He looked at the cybersuit that he was wearing. A suit that has a special technological power which gives immunity to pain in the middle of sword fights. Every sword fighter has to wear one in battles. His stomach growled. He realized he had not eaten in two days. He spotted a fast-food restaurant nearby. He eagerly walked towards the restaurant, but soon, his eagerness melted into miserable sadness.

"Not now," He muttered to himself. "I have to get my damn tokens first." Holding his notebook in his hands, he began jogging towards the other direction, back in the search for the Red Dojo. As he ran, he opened up his notebook, shakingly , trying to hold the notebook in place, he signed his name.

Ryan Hezulf

DEM CHARACTERS

Irelia: The main character. Long red hair, blue eyes.A 16 year old girl that has dreamed of becoming the Glorious Blade champion. She had just started her journey of becoming a sword fighter, but wields extraordinary skill and strategy in sword fighting.

Runt: Irelia's twin brother. Blonde hair, green eyes.He and his sister journeyed together. Though he had never wanted to take part in the Glorious Blade Tournament, he still agreed with his sister that he would participate in it.

Hilton: A skilled sword fighter that journeyes with Irelia. Brown hair, gray eyes, 17 years old. He is one of the best sword fighters in town and won all the Glorious Blade Tournaments, until...he came...

Katrina(Kat): Irelia's childhood friend. Jet-black hair, blue eyes, 16 years old. She is left-handed, so she uses her left hand to sword fight. She fails constantly, but has the dream to become the best sword fighter ever.

Dor: Started doing blacksmith jobs at an early age, Dor has always dreamed of becoming the best Blacksmith ever. Tall, with curt black hair that spikes up, green eyes, and 16 years old.

Anna: Dor’s best and only friend. Pretty and with long, blonde hair. She is constantly spotted doing blacksmith work with Dor. 16 years old.

 

1

"Aaaahhhh...the City of Alys!" Irelia sighed, as if it was her first time to see the magnificent beauty of Alys. She stood at the edge of her window, sticking her head out. Her brother, Runt, rolled his eyes.

"When will you ever stop doing this?" He snorted. "Will you ever get used to this place?" Irelia and her family had moved here last month, and Irelia would never forget the beauty of this City. The gigantic mountains...the small streams....the tall, ancient trees...

But it was not just the view that had fascinated her. She had recently came upon a flyer that was planted flat in her front yard. She had picked it up, and there were words in large, bolded print on the top of the flyer.

GLORIOUS BLADE TOURNAMENT

At first she thought it was just some kind of scam, but as she read through it, she became more interested in it.

Enter the Glorious Blade Tournament! The Tournament held for the most skilled sword fighters in the whole City of Alys! The winner gets to keep a legendary blade! A blade ten times stronger, more durable, and more swift than a normal sword! The Glorious blade Tournament held this year will in July!

The thought of getting to hold a blade ten times stronger than a normal sword tingled her body. It was January, and plus she had never used a sword before. But she knew that if she trained hard enough, she would have a chance of winning a legendary blade.

So here she is, at the start of a new day, and ready to start her own adventure as a sword fighter. She turned around, looking at the brother straight in the eye, though his vision was focused on the comic book he was reading in his room.

"Runt!" She bellowed into his ears. Her brother flinched harshly towards his sister's loud cry in his ears. Dropping his book, he frowned.

"Chill, sis." Runt muttered. "I know today is the day you start your journey, but can you at least stop acting so excited and agitative?" Irelia sighed.

Irelia's parents had named her brother "Riley", but everybody now-except for his parents-called him "Runt" because of his size and attitude. Even though Runt was small, he was pretty handsome alone. He had spiky blonde hair and magnificent green eyes that shone brightly against the sun.

Runt tossed his comic book aside, then got up from where he laid.

"Alright, let's get ready to go." He said, yawning drowsily. "You still have to get your Sword Fighter Card."

Each and every Sword fighter had their own specific Sword Fighter Card. They represented your identity. Beginner Sword Fighters got their cards at the Sword Corporation. The Sword Corporation was a building that was located in Irelia and Runt's city. It wasn't a too-long drive there, but it sure will cost some time if they'd walked there. But it was worth it for the legendary sword Irelia was can win.

Outside was snowing and cold. Just like how Irelia wanted it to be. For some mysterious reason, Irelia loved the cold. She loved how the cold smelt and how the snow felt on her face. Irelia wore a leather jacket her mother bought her on her sixteenth birthday. It was shiny and smooth, just like how leather would feel, but now, it was rough and destroyed.

Irelia's mother was a blacksmith. She always did manly jobs, smoked, and heck, people used to joke and say: "Replace her body with a male's and she's man through and through." Irelia's mother hardly ever came home, so she and her brother had to take care of themselves. Though Irelia hardly knew her mother, she knew one thing. She loved black. Irelia would see her mother come back home from work late at night with dozens and dozens of charcoal in her hands, wearing black jeans and a black coat. The next day, Irelia would see her mother,door open, in the bathroom dying her usual blonde hair black. Irelia found it hard to believe that her mother loved that unique color so much, as she hated it.

Runt was following the lead when he stopped. He stared curiously up to what looked like a foggy, black cloud. But this cloud was strange. It wasn't in the sky. It started from what looked like the grou-

"That's the Sword Corporations Building." Runt answered Irelia's puzzled thought. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise.

That was the Sword Corporations? Irelia knew that the Sword Corporations was an enormous building. But she never thought it would be this big. The Sword Corporations stretched up into the sky until it hit the clouds, looking as if the clouds had sucked up the big building. Her eyes were glued on it the entire walk towards it. As Irelia and Runt entered the building, Irelia spotted an old man, sitting at a counter with big words printed on it saying "Welcome". Runt padded towards him without any hesitation to look around.

"We need a new registration for two, please." Runt told the old man with a booming voice, peculiar coming out from a short kid. The old man rose an eyebrow, then nodded. The old man trotted towards a awkward-looking machine.

"Names?" He asked, with a slight hoarse in his voice, as he pressed buttons on the machine.

"I'm Irelia Eden." Irelia said, then nudged her brother gently on the shoulder. "This is Riley-we call him Runt." The old man slowly shifted his hand from the buttons to a keyboard-like object. He began typing on it, lip-syncing as he typed, as if trying to remember Irelia and her brother's names. Then, after clicking a gigantic black button, two shiny,black cards came out from what looked like a scanner. The old man handed Runt the two cards. As he handed them out, Irelia thought she saw a glimmer of amusement in the old man's eyes.

It's as if the old man was once a sword fighter, looking out like a wise owl for the newbies. Irelia thought as Runt handed her ID card.  Irelia gazed at her card. The card was made out of a hard but smooth material. It shone against the giant chandelier that hung high above the endless ceiling. On the card, printed in large, bold letters, wrote: Irelia Eden Sword Fighter