I'm back! Finally from my long hiatus, I'm back to writing stories. To be honest, I've just been waiting for the inspiration to hit me. Not a lot of story ideas are piled up in the back of my mind but this one has been there for a while.
Note: This is an original story. Any relations to other properties may have been a base of inspiration or a coincidence.
This one is more of a reader based story. I don't mind not uploading the full thing, but if anyone desires me to upload another chapter, leave a review saying you want more. I'm actually hoping this one is going to be published as a book one day or get transformed into an anime or something along those lines.
In the end, I'm just glad to be uploading once again. Please write constructive feedback rather than "Kill yourself" like the Youtube comments. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Ashes to Legends
Tales told by older people usually fell into the same pattern. A legendary hero or group of heroes out there, saving lives. One tale has been told for many generations. The Fall of the Guardians.
A group of six heroes, masters of their blades, bound by a skill only they processed, fought for the freedom of the planet against the threat of the Horrors.
Horrors were creatures born by the collective fear of everyone in the world. Many had theorized that the only way they could be destroyed was if there was no fear. However, the Guardians had found a way to kill them all. They went to end the Horrors and that was the last anyone had seen or heard from them. No one else had tried to go and stop the Horrors because if the greatest warriors couldn't beat them, who could?
A seemingly normal boy strolled out of class, stuffing his books into his bag as he checked for his keychain which hung around his neck. He smiled as he felt the sharp blade that sat against his chest and continued outside.
Everyone knew his name. He was the third best fighter in the school. Coming from nowhere, he decimated many of the challengers that duelled him with a weapon unheard of: a double ended sword that could detach into two blades or be used as one.
The owner of that blade was Light Ragnarok.
Light sighed as he sat down on a bench. Lunch break was certainly needed today. He looked up at the old building that was Radiant Academy.
This school for warriors was basically a large mansion, it's different wings being different class types ranging from basics like Maths and English to the more obscure ones like Weapon Enchanting and Magic Casting.
Light stretched his arms as he relaxed after a tedious History lesson. He rolled up his sleeves due to the heat and smiled.
Another, larger kid came up to Light and had a mace out. "Hey pipsqueak, you gonna do this or what?" Light looked up and his grin widened. He cast a spell onto the keychain and it enlarged into the double ended sword. "I've been waiting all day for this so you better give me a good fight."
"Oh don't worry about that Junior." Light twirled his sword around his finger. "I'll give you a good fight. Can't promise it will be long."
"I was never expecting it to be long either." Junior grinned as he got into his stance.
The blade was set to non-lethal. The crowd was gathered. Let's do this.
Light dashed forward, spinning his blade around. The mace and sword collided, sparks flying from both. Light used the momentum to roll over Junior's back and hit him from the other side, earning him the first blow.
The crowd cheered as Light gained the advantage. Even then he did not stop, continuing the onslaught of blows. He gained three more hits on Junior before the larger guy could even understand what was going on. Light then leaped into the air and pressed a button on his sword, separating the blade into two. He spun around in mid-air, creating a lethal tornado of sword blades. Junior knew it was all over at that point and forfeited.
Light landed on the ground lightly before returning the blade to its original form. "Better luck next time Junior. Maybe work on that defence a little more and then you'll be able to get a blow or two in."
Junior walked off, annoyed. Light knew why. Every week, he would come over and ask for a rematch. Light usually gave him one and gave him advice on how to improve, which he had done considerably. Before Light could get around him without any effort and gain the ten hits needed to win no problem. At least Junior was facing him most of the time now.
The crowd dispersed as Light sat back down on the bench. He saw a group of people coming out of the building. Is it that time of the year already? Light immediately looked at the sky to see a hovercraft known simply as a Transporter hovering near the school, slowly lowering itself into the forest to the left.
The school itself was far away from any sort of city so every year, the new students had to apply and then they came in for a week trial. After that, they chose to stay or get back on the Transporter to go home. Of course, the teachers also decided based on the student's behaviour and during this trial period, anyone could be sent home.
Light had been at the school for three years and last year he had watched the other students walk in. At a normal school, this would be considered creepy and weird. But here, knowing a new students weapon is critical for a duel against them. It was amazing how many older students were beaten because they have a ranged build and they duel a first year with close quarters build, which is nearly impossible to beat.
There were three builds you could go for which each had different strengths and weaknesses. The close quarters build relies on getting close to the other person and is what most people went for. However, this is a bad choice against a long reach build. They rely on creating space with a long reaching weapon such as a battle-axe. This usually made the user slower and useless against the nimble ranged build. Ranged builds usually favoured magic rather than weapons and were more supportive than offensive. And being ranged, they stay in the back, making it hard to combat a close quarters build. Defeating an opponent mainly came down to the archetype you built around yourself or extreme skill.
This is where Light had a major advantage. His weapon was extremely unique, being a close quarters weapon by default but also having enough reach to keep the same build away from him if he needed breathing room. He was also an apprentice level swiftness spell caster, allowing him to increase his agility further. Unfortunately, he was rubbish at every other spell which is why he fell into third place.
The only two people to have beaten him in a duel were a bow user that used her arrows as a close quarters weapon. She was well acquainted to using offensive cloak spells which negated his close quarters build and forced him to use his long reach which was bad against ranged builds despite Light's increase speed. He had put up a good fight, their battle lasting over half an hour, but eventually he lost by one hit point.
But even the bow user was nothing compared to the Mute. Known for being completely silent, she was the one known best for taunting her opponent during battle due to her superiority. Light had fought her once and he hated how she mocked him. She used a rapier, a longer reaching weapon than a sword, but preferred to use acrobatics to completely disorientate her foe. Spinning them around to get a backstab, jumping onto their blade to kick them in the face. It was the small things that led to her being to best and most annoying fighter in the school. The thing that annoyed Light the most about her was the fact she did it without uttering a single word. At least with the bow user, whom which he didn't even know her name, told him that he was a good fighter. The Mute would just smirk as she walked away. Apparently that was her congratulations for losing.
Light shook his head as he went back to spying on the new students. He saw a few axe users, one or two mages, a couple of sword wielders. There was nothing really new, a modified weapon here and there, but it was nothing special. He stretched as the bell rang for next lesson. "Great, it's time for silent but violent to show off again." He headed towards the P.E wing of the school.
Light never looked forward to P.E. Mainly because it was the only class he shared with the Mute. The beginning of the academic year would always be acrobatics which is what she excelled at. The same smirk she would put on when someone fell from the small platforms that some people couldn't even jump to added to the insult which was that she could complete it easily.
The acrobatics course was basically platforming. A bunch of small stepping stones hovered above a large net. As you got further along, the distance between these stones would get bigger and the stones got smaller, making it more challenging.
It eventually came to Light's turn. He saw the net that was down below designed to catch anyone who fell. Is it me, or is that a bit slacker this year? He shook it off and began to transverse over the small circles that were the only things hovering over the net below.
Light took it slower than he usually did. In the previous years, he had gone as fast as he could as that was the way most people did it but he'd prefer to make it to the end slower than normal rather than fall and see the Mute's stupid smirk.
His feet found each of the stepping stones in front of him. Light smiled as he got to the halfway point. Don't lose concentration now. Light continued on at the pace he was now accustomed to.
An arrow came from the trees to his right, aimed at his stomach.
Light ducked as he sensed where the arrow was, bringing his arm up to protect his head. The arrowhead stuck in his arm, almost making him fall off. He looked at the source and heard someone running away. "Light Ragnarok, what the hell are you doing?" The teacher yelled at him, obviously oblivious to the fact he was attacked. Light frowned as he made his way to the end, not really caring now that he had made it, just that his insides weren't falling out.
He walked over to the teacher who saw the arrowhead in his arm. He was immediately sent to the medical wing. He held the wound as he walked away from the P.E lesson, trying to minimise the blood loss.
Who the hell was that in the bush? And why attack me?
"Arrows being shot at students during P.E of all things." The school nurse sighed as she stitched the wound shut. "What's next, a demon descending from the sky saying he's only here for popcorn?"
Light smiled as he looked at the arrow. For some reason, it looked very familiar to him but couldn't place it.
"I mean honestly, who would take the time to sneak out of a lesson to shoot an arrow at another student who, as far as I know, hasn't offended anyone?" The school nurse took out a pair of scissors and cut the stitch thread. "Even that Junior kid seems to like you despite beating him in duels every week."
Light moved his shoulder around, making sure it was still functioning fine. "Thank you."
"Next time, bring someone who is dying from food poisoning or something." The doctor sighed. "It would be a lot more exciting than that."
Light headed back to the changing rooms where everyone was back inside. He took off the bloodstained P.E uniform and slipped on the shirt as one of his friends in the third year called Garrett came up to him.
"So, what happened?" Garrett passed Light the keychain. "Someone tried stealing this while you were gone by the way."
"Thanks." Light put it on before explaining what happened to him during the acrobatics course.
"Damn, someone has you in their sights." Garrett patted Light's left shoulder. "But why didn't you dodge it outright?"
"If the teacher didn't see the arrow when it was lodged into my arm, do you think the Mute or anyone would believe me if I said I failed the course because an arrow nearly torn my stomach open?" Light pulled up his trousers and did up the belt. "Besides, I'm getting a scar out of it."
Garrett sighed. "Well, I'm going to head back to our dormitories. I'll see you there. In the meantime, try not to get shot again." He walked away leaving Light alone.
Light put on the vest jumper that really didn't make sense to him and began making his way to the dorms. As he walked past the supply cupboard, he happened to see a basket of arrows.
They had the exact same design as the one he was shot with.
Meaning my shooter is a student here.
So if you liked that and want to see the next chapter, tell me in a review. Also any questions will be answered if a second chapter is wanted unless it is in a PM in which case I'll definitely get back to you.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this story. It's good to be back and I'll see you in the next one.