Blade West: Book 1

Chapter 21: The Tournament Pt. 1

The sound of explosions and yelling filled my ears. The ground vibrated every half second under the pressure of everyone fighting. Lighting arced the sky, streams of fierce water cut through the air, rocks flew overhead, it was some of everything you could imagine. But of course my focus was on the guy in front of me.

The guy's cocky attitude was amusing. Hazel's attitude was more so blunt and borderline rude, but this guy seemed like he knew how to have fun. His clothing didn't necessarily scream tournament ready, but then again, neither did mine. He had on a red tank that matched his hair and some khaki shorts. He had tanned skin that glistened in the light of the magical tussle all around us.

His weapon was a scythe. The pole of the weapon was slender and silver, while the blade at the top was more on the thicker side and red; the same red that matched his hair...and his tank for that matter. Guess this guy's favorite color was red. After we contended for a few seconds, he jumped back and finally said something.

"It's an honor to fight you Blade! My family was hoping I'd get to fight you. I just never thought I'd fight you in the beginning of the battle!" His voice was on the younger spunky side. And suddenly my perception of him being a teenager/adult altered to show me who he really was. He had to be no more than 13 years old, but his skills were those of a 30 year old. And hearing his voice and realizing that he was so young also made me realize something. Though this was a tournament to test skills and rise to the top, it was also a fun tournament. I was fighting with people who looked up to me and that I could see at a cafe or library or something the next day. This was a grand opportunity to meet people, but also to encourage them and show some leadership. I'd have to keep that in mind the rest of the competition.

"Well I'm honored to face you. You're the real deal!" I told him.

"Even though you're a hot shot, I won't lose to you!" He said charging at me. "Hot shot?" I questioned as I accelerated towards him. I clashed with him again with my sword against his weapon and his weapon against my sword. But then, he did a movement with his hands that caused his weapon to almost flip upside down with the scythe part coming straight at me. I took my sword and placed it horizontally in front of me and blocked his attack. However, there was such a force behind his attack that I felt myself actually get pushed back a little bit.

"Dude you're not too bad with that scythe. How long have you been training?" I asked him.

"As long as I can remember. My family owns a noodle shop in the outskirts of town. It's just my dad, my little sister and me. My mom died when my sister was born. Dad owns the shop and my sister is great at it. She's always singing and dancing around the building when she's cleaning or helping dad cook, but I've never had the patience for that. I like to do things with my hands and challenge my limit. And when my Limitor awakened and my scythe appeared, I finally felt like I fit in somewhere. I practiced day and night. Chopping down trees, bushes, and anything that got in my way as a way of practicing. And now I'm finally old enough to participate in the tournament and you're my first opponent! Today is the best day EVER! But I can't lose to you. I have to win. For my family. If i win, my dad won't have to work so hard and I can finally do a good thing for them. Losing isn't an option here!" He said charging at me.

"Don't let your guard down kid!" I said as I ran towards him. "You better watch out Mr. Blade because I'm coming at you with my full force!" He screamed. "BRING IT!" I yelled. "AHHHHH!" He roared and immediately his scythe ignited in flames.

I'd like to honor the kid by giving him a run for his money and using my powers too. The issue is that I don't really have full control of my wind powers yet, and come to think of it, it was amazing that my sword even appeared today. But that lead to another series of questions. What made my sword appear today? What did I do differently? The past few times I wanted to summon it I couldn't, so why did it appear now? I felt like I was close to the answer but couldn't tell what it was. You know how you could be walking and just know that someone is there wherever there is? That's the kind of sensing I had going on. Like the answer was there but I just didn't know who or what it was.