《Immortal sword》


 00 - Prologue

    Two people in half-plate armor with bloodstains rusting the armor standing in a field of dead bodies. They stood there observing the devastation of the battle that only they survived, one of them cried and the other removed their mask for the first time to reveal that were in fact, a girl.


    The girl''s hair was cut short to hide the fact she was a girl, she spent a long time serving the empire, she managed to survive to now. never made it high in the military but she knew now how pointless it was now she vowed she would never again raise her blade for anyone other than herself anymore. she undid the clasps on the bloodstained armor letting it clatter to the floor her face showing how hopeless her world had become no one was left for her to go to just the man standing in front of her


    The man was standing there tears in his eyes looking around and looked at the now maskless woman, the man he thought was the most capable warrior, was, in fact,a woman. with a dry chuckle that ended with a wheeze, he asked her "what now? you know as well as I do that there is no meaning to any of this anymore" he stated while gesturing to the field. he was in more of a mess then she was, most of his armor was destroyed with a gash on his torso and a crossbow bolt was stuck in his shoulderblade he would probably have trouble lifting it again.


    She looked at him noticing how the blood was still fresh on him. she responded to him "Yes nothing has meaning anymore, I just wish I could see the end of it all." she had a slightly regretfulface on.


    He struggled at his clasps before finally just cutting his armor off with his saber, he took a breath and looked at her with a strange glint "There''s a way to see the end but you might not like it"


    She knew what he meant. they were in the academy together they had read a book once on how to turn a piece of steel into soul-steel it made for a great laugh back than but right now it was... hope "I see but my sword isn''t steel and I can''t do it to myself"Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    He coughed and blood flowed out the corner of his mouth "that''sok I don''t got long left" he presented his chipped and notched saber with a simple bronze hilt, it was blade for battle and war much like his friend was despite being a girl he chuckled to himself "Never thought my saber was girl though I always thought it was friend I guess that fits as well"


    She nodded to him with a resolute expression "It''s nice to actually see you show some weakness" a slight pause before she added with her head down "-teacher" another pause "Make sure to find a place to hide me before you kneel over please?" she looked up again with that glint back in her eyes before she stated to the skies, while hoping that this would work "I give my soul to the steel to see what will become of theworld in the years to come"


    As she finished her oath to the skies the battle-worn saber pierced her heart and the saber''s blade glowed before exploding rejecting the excess metal from that made the saber it was now a broken blade on the floor next to two sets of rusted armor


    the old man now that he did his last apprentice her will he took the explosion on his hand the bits of metal mangled his hand. he shed more tears and looked down at the blade "You make a great blade, I hope you live out your purpose and your that you don''t swing for anyone but your wielder" he picked up the blade and sauntered off the field to find a place to lay her down and sleep because he was ever so tired.


    He had time to write a journal telling their story and placed it next to the blade in an old cave. Just when he got outside the cave he fell over and slept a well-deserved rest.


    Little did she know that someone listening when she made her oath, a god almost unheard of, a god of steel, he had a stubby body and a long beard, he had been forgotten by the surface dwellers it was a moment of suprise when he heard the oath ring in his relm "I give my soul to the steel to see what will become of the world in the years to come" he almost denied the request but decided to accept it because he saw that she would accept someone who wielded not for a crown of war but for protection of friends then the sword pierced her heart and the soul was transfered


    he had forgotten how long it had been since someone used that particular technique, he realised that fate was moving on the world, so he decided to see the other gods first the first time a few millennium, his first place would be to decide what the old war saber would become once found, off to see the god of blacksmithing

 01 - heart of the world

    After her soul was transferred to the steel, she noticed she couldn''t see unless she had a wielder, but she could sense the area around her. she saw the soul of a living being near her, her teacher, she saw the souls of the dead leaving the battlefield with similar emotions as hers were, Hopelessness.


    The old man picked up the blade and her vision expanded to see the weilder, but its was not the same as before, her vision was more of the shape, less of the color and less of the blood and grime, she saw the ground, the bodies, armor, swords, no clothes, but most of all she saw the wounds on her teacher, she also saw herself there was not much left of her just a blade all worn, she didn''t know how to talk yet but she could tell she wouldn''t be able to learn it fast enough to talk to his teacher for he would be dead soon


    time went by, a few weeks, and suddenly she was placed down on the ground next to a book. she could read this book, for in it was a story about an apprentice and her teacher. if she could cry she would be but she could sleep so she slept, dreaming of what was to come.


    In the god realm, the old man of steel moved to talk to the goddess of craftsmen and the god of blacksmithing, fate wouldn''t allow this future blade to be anything mediocre he could tell. he found them together this would make things easier. The god of blacksmithing was not as short or as long of beard as the god of steel for he had followers all over the world as well as under the world but he had less magical races as followers so he was still rough looking. the goddess of crafting had more magical followers than either of them but she didn''t have the races below the world as followers so she was tall with more angular features and blonde hair. as the god of steel walked up, they looked at him and surprise was on their faces, he forgot how long had it been before anything happened that required him to meet with them. he put a sly grin on his face and raised his hand in greeting and with the sound of ore falling on the soft ground he spoke "Well Hello there I just had something interesting happen..." he paused "I had fate send me one that wanted to become steel from the surface"


    Their surprised faces changed to disbelief than the goddess of crafting spoke: "I''m surprised, there hasn''t been anyone that wanted to become steel for a long time Since your followers banned the technique."


    "Yeah I was surprised too but her wish might be a problem ''to see what will become of the world'' it sounds like fate had a big hand in this one and we need to decide what will become of her, fate will not like anything mediocre"


    The god of blacksmithing spoke up now "Something tells me something must have happened on the surface I have had a lot more requests for blessings on swords not that I can actually bless them only the process" he looks off into the distance scratching his short beard brooding on what could be going on


    the goddess spoke this time "Probably I have had more requests for crafts of war than for culture and art lately as well"Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    This time steel spoke up "I have had the ones below ask for higher quality steel lately they seem to be doing something as well. but those races are slow to actually do much and they don''t seem to be using the steel for war" he started stroking his beard then spoke again "Well not much we can do about that now, we need to decide what to do for the girl!"


    Craftsmen spoke in a lighter tone this time "her wish is to remain on the world we just leave it at that and have the mortals make what they want out of it right? we can just make sure she is not used for anything stupid like nails for a house or something"


    The three nodded to each other but, little did they know the time it would take for mortals to find the broken blade.


    after about 10 years of sleeping she woke up and noticed the book next to her was really worn, she tried to keep track of time but she couldn''t know how long she slept. she tried experimenting with her body trying to interact with the world she tried moving herself, no luck, she tried pulling things to her but never worked either.


    But she was pulling something towards her it was the very essence of metals all around the metal deposits started turning to stone again, she was becoming something more than a piece of soul-steel.


    after trying to move the world around her exhaustion swept over her


    about 250 years later there was a massive earthquake and a cave collapsed and new caves formed and a worn out blade fell deep down


    When she woke she found the book was gone but she noticed her position was different than before the tip of the blade was stuck in the ground she could see the room she was in there was a crack in the roof must have been an earthquake and she had fallen, she once again tried to moving the rocks around her, this time there was some result but not what she expected. the stone she tried to move suddenly became a pile of dust and she got really tired again before drifting off the sleep again


    1000 years later a group of short people with long beards and rough voices with pickaxes and hammers were exploring ruins of their old civilization that was crushed by the collapsing earth when they used their drills to make elevators to the surface saw a room that was unexplored and broke the jammed door down and saw dust covering the entire room piles of it some went up to their chests and in the middle of the room was a long forgotten blade of a saber one of the men picked up the blade and then a gust of wind came from the blade blowing the dust and the short men out the door while he stood there looking at the blade


    she awoke, there was life nearby and they are holding her she saw what looked liked a child with a pickaxe holding her with eyes of wonder she decided to stay awake to observer and try to learn to speak to them


    the men started rushing back into the room to see what was going on and saw the last guy still standing there looking at the blade in his hands, "well if I''m not wrong this should be soul-steel but this bit has been laying here for a long time and has absorbed more essence than should be possible and the soul is much more differant than the rest of them, judging by the essence this has collected its been here for over 1000 years just after we started the drills to the surface, but normal soul-steel would have been reclaimed by the gods by then, so it''s become something more than just simple soul-steel. it''s a one of a kind metal that will never again appear on the world" he sent a quiet prayer to the god of steel thanking him for the unique steel.


    Up in the god realm old man steel woke up again this time in wonder what is this unique steel that was found that his followers were talking about?

 02 - The history of the world

    The dwarves lived under the world since they were created, they were a slow moving race it took them a long time to ever decide when to fight or where the next mine will be placed. over time they grew they lit their tunnels and made grand halls and, waged wars with the abundant resources found deep in the earth


    the elves were deep in the forests since they were created, over time they found they could manipulate the essence of the forest to make their buildings and tools, they had no need to sow fields for they used the essence of the forest to grow fruits. they had no use for metal when wood stabbed into people did just the same as steel


    The humans were spread across the plains and mountains. they learned to far how to change the land for there was no essence for them to use, over time they had great fields on the plains for food, they took the iron out of the mounains for weapons to wage war


    out of these three races the humans were most prone to war they couldn''t make food appear whenever they couldn''t just break a wall and have metals to use they had to pull from the earth and spend time making them, if the humans had one thing it would be that they were fierce warriors where as the rest of the world did not have a need to goto war very often


    one of these wars is where a peice of soul-steel was born after a fierce battle between human cuntries, the war continued for a long time after that, until the destruction of humanity there were no humans left in the world anymore. the beasts overtime took over the villages and cities.


    the last haven of humanity was a mountain that was carved out over the course of their existence, but they had no fields to grow their food anymore they had to resort to foraging but the beasts become too numerous and humanity fell without ever meeting their neighbors.


    in this mountain fortress was the only magical piece that humanity had ever created it was not made with magic it was more of a technology that happened to absorb the heart of the mountain for it was deep in the mountain where it was created a single memory crystal that humanity stored all their findings of the world,


    in the last entry was listed everything they created and how they destroyed it and that this crystal proved that magic did exist they found out too late that just like they could change the land and the metals to be usefull to them they could also give direction to the forces of magic. this crystal would be known by all and the gods as ''the codex'', it contained everything about the laws of nature, atoms, materials, elements, everything known about the world if it was untouched by magicalIf you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    After the piece of soul-steel was made and left on the world, 250 years later the dwarves started drilling upwards they wanted to explore, and this caused a certain cave to collapse on a small country underground delaying their drilling operations by another 300 years.


    at that time the elves started to venture out of their forests with the desire to learn more about the world, but they found they could not go far for the fields that were once farmland were now battlegrounds for the beasts and the caves their nest, the mountain city was still empty for no beast could scale its walls and no forest was close enough


    The elves started making weapons to combat the population their most common weapon of choice was to use spears with tips like a one-sided knife at the end that could also slash as well as pierce, their weapons were sharp but they were not durable they broke often, causing them to start crafting more they use essence to create better materials then sharpened them by hand. with new weapons they set out of their forests again and slaughtered their way through the fields and cleared out caves finding new forests they could live in, eventualy they found a mountain that was carved out to be a city, surrounding it was a great field where there used to be farmland, they could see it now the feilds were farmlands the caves were old castles and here where the beasts and the elves could not enter


    After the cave-in of the small country 300 years past and the elves were crafting new weapons the dwarves finally pushed to start drilling again this time there was no cave-in but when they got to the top they saw the beasts that were there they tried to fight with their armor and swords. they may have been able to create grand structures and machines but they were not fighters by heart they had to build a gate at the entrance to the underground, and they stayed underground to learn how to fight for they had never had to fight anything other than themselves but there was rarely a need for that. after a while of training, they went back to the gate and opened them wide, much like the elves they made their way around exploring freely until they found a mountain that was carved out to be a city, who could have made such a thing?


    after a while the elves and the dwarves finally met they made alliances and trade the high-quality wooden materials for the steel of the dwarves, the weapons improved, but still, no one had seen what was inside of the city-mountain

 03 - The wielder

    After the elves and dwarves met and started making better and better weapons. eventually, the dwarves brought the machines they built to drill from down under to drill into the walls of the mountain. the elves and the dwarves got their best warriors together and broke into the mountain.


    inside it was still as grand as it was previously but there were no more lights as they went further inside they could feel an essence inside but it was unlike any other essence ever before.


    they made their way inside and found a crystal they could feel how dense the essence was from this crystal the elves and dwarves praised their gods for such a glorious creation. after a while, the elves figured out how to access the information and named it the codex. they sent the codex to the dwarves for they had better knowledge about the world than them, the information surprised both races.


    a whole history and knowledge of an entire race that caused their own downfall the warriors must have been fierce for they could use no magic and they did not have the abundant resources of the deep dwarves or the magic of the elves.


    100 years after the knowledge that was uncovered from the codex. a blacksmith and his apprentices were exploring ancient ruins and found a piece of forgotten soul-steel.


    The gods watched as the humans perished but could do nothing about them, the other races were progressing slowly compared to them, who would have thought that without the gifts of the other races they would become so advanced that they even ended up creating a new god the god of knowledge born after enough knowledge was crammed into a single point that the essence was changed into the essence of knowledge creating a new god to govern that essence, the god of war was weakened when his race perished but there were still warriors of the other races so he did not fade away.


    after the praise from the blacksmith holding an ancient and worn blade, old man steel went to go talk to the god of crafting because, she had been found after 1260 years she was finally found, now they had to manipulate the thoughts of the mortals to make the best weapon they can for her using the best materials they could get by mortal hands


    The dwarves spent 10 years studying the sword blade no one had seen a saber before, curved blades were for fighting in fields and open areas only the elves made curved blades with their wood but this was soul-steel a forbidden technique long that was never to be used. a curved blade made of metal, no one had made one before they sent the old blade to the grand blacksmith he studied it and then started making saber blades but they would snap and break easily where he attached the hilt. he could swear that the blade was emitting an aura of disappointment.


    the blade watched as these childlike people studied her and finally going to a single workshop with a single person inside and sword blades everywhere, she still could not get her intentions across so she thought for a while a long long while. then the essence of knowledge started to condense in the blade finally she reached out with her mind and pushed her thoughts to the childlike figured that didn''t grow in the 20 years she had been in the shop


    the old dwarf was about to give up making a curved blade of metal. when an image popped into his head it was an image of the saber the old man wielded his whole life, he started hammering right away and then finnaly after many many repeats of the curved blade he reached for the old blade on the wall and put it in the forge


    the blade was then forged into a bar and then reforged into a new saber blade but then before he finished the saber with the materials laying around the shop he put the blade down then went out to find the elves to make handle of the blade


    While left alone in the ship she reached for the fire and tried to move the fire in the forge but instead, It went out and she felt tired again so she slept


    after the 30 years spent forging the sword that he suddenly felt compelled to send to the elves to complete he came back into the room the forge was out and the blade seemed to be asleep he noticed there was no essence of the fire left in the forge but instead in the blade now, he realised that the steel was alive


    while she was sleeping she was sent to the elves, she awoke in the hands of a new man that was tall and slender, with pointed ears, she realised then that they weren''t humans, who were they? the man with pointed ears took her into the workshop she saw as the man started making handles for the other sabers but she wanted hers to be different when he put the handle on it felt wrong so she rejected it and it exploded outwards leaving splinters of wood in the hands of the tall man.


    the elf in charge of crafting the handles for the sabers noticed the blade was different than the rest. this one was special so he sent it to the best craftsman the elves had. this time the elf was a girl she took the blade and felt the many essences inside the blade she decided to make the blade the best handle that had ever been created for a sword just before she was about to shape the handle an image of the completed blade appeared in her mind the same image the dwarf had the old mans saber so she created with the best wood a handle that matched the image but with the best materials possible she left the sword by the tree to and went to take a rest. when she returned the essence of nature in the area was gone and now inside the sword, it would be some time before she could use this place as a crafting spot againThis story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    the blade now completed sought a wielder one worthy to wield her but not anyone would do only the best warrior that would fight to protect friends and not just to gain fame and position in their governments


    The saber was presented to the scion of the elves, the saber noticed the codex it sent its intentions to the scion who took her there and the blade reached out towards the codex when she touched it instead of turning to dust like the rest of it only the information was transferred and she cried and the thoughts she projected were enough for the scion to understand that she was once of the human race and that her race was gone. the scion didn''t know what to do with the blade it had just spoken to her and the blade had a multitude of essences inside of it, so she prayed to the gods


    in the realm of the gods old man steel was walking around and found the old man of war and was talking about a certain saber that was being constructed on the world when a prayer came for the old man of war ''what do I do with this blade of no name that has gained the abillity to speak and has the all of the essences it can hold?'' the old man of war looked where the prayer came from and the saber made of the only the best materials with the soul so old that even the gods wouldn''t be able to send it back into the cycle. He looked back at Old man steel and said "I have seen the saber that fate has brought about" he looked back at the elf woman holding the blade and made the first decree in his entire existence


    the woman just sent her prayer and almost thought it would go unanswered when the presence of an old god obviously weakened but still strong with the aura of war "I name the blade ''Immortal sword'' and its weilder will be immortal the protector of friends and the slayer of tyrants." there was a pause here "the protector of the realm" he stated solemnly


    Old man steel looked at the weakened old man of war and said: "was that a statement to start a war to gain your strength back and recover from being an ''old man'' back to being a god again?"


    the old man of war chuckled "maybe"


    the blade that was laying in the hands of the scion suddenly said to the woman ''sheath, cannot rest without a sheath'' the scion almost jumped out of her skin and hurried back to the craftsman who gave her the sword. quickly passing the completed blade to the craftsmen and telling her the name of the sword before rushing back inside to tell the world of the gods decree.


    a plain sheath was quickly made for the saber and as she was put inside of it the agitated air in the presence of the blade was calmed down and words came clearer to the craftsman now that the presence of the sword was calm ''the next one that will draw me will become immortal, but if they do not qualify they will die'' the swords presence then faded back into being undetectable the craftsman knew she was not the one to draw the sword so she took it back to the scion relaying what the sword told her


    in the years to come the sword spent a long time in the elves possession with no wielder as the elves and dwarves fought becomming better and better warriors as they did so. eventually the first one to try and wield the sword appeared he reached out for the sword holding the sheath in one hand he tried to pull the sword out and a question from the sword came at him ''what will you do if you use the blade'' the man responded out loud "I will serve the ruler of the elves and dwarves to make the world peaceful and slay that which harms the world" right after that he exploded and the sword in the sheath fell to the ground sorrounded by blood and a thought came from the sword to all watching ''do not send the ones that follow blindly for they are fools'' and everyone gulped no one wanted to go against a sword who just exploded someone


    few more years past and new potential wielders came by, all exploded the people started to fear the sword a little.


    the first dwarf came to try the sword when he tried to draw the sword it asked him the same question and he stated out loud "To protect that which is important to us all" he didn''t explode the people watching were about to cheer for the first wielder of the immortal sword when the sword in question spoke to all ''You are not suited to wield a sword like me, stick with your straight swords'' and blew the dwarf back without killing him, it was not his fault that he qualified but had no training with curved swords


    many attempts later no one watched people try to draw the sword anymore, and no one could draw it so anyone from children of dwarfs to the oldest of elves were allowed to try to draw the sword most died but those that lived all said the same thing ''you must be able to wield a saber to be her wielder''. Far away in the city-mountain was a pair they had heard the legend surrounding the sword, only the best warrior who fights not for country but for friends could become the wielder. one was a dwarf she trained all her life with the saber she was now old enough to be considered an adult, and the other was an elf he like her trained all her life with the saber. but only the best could become the wielder so they had to battle. In this battle the dwarf was slain she was there with a broken saber and her elven friend holding her head as she died, she said to him "become the wielder of the immortal sword and protect us I will return first may you have adventures far greater than anyone before you" she paused for some shallow breaths "Don''t worry yourself over me for long I wouldn''t want that" and the elf cried for his friend, there can only be one on the path to becoming the best.


    this new elf looked sad to the sword as it watched him approach when he grabbed the sword she knew she could feel the friendship this man held dear and allowed herself to be wielded and sent her essence into him making him immortal and changing his body to that of a better warrior


    The town the Immortal sword was held in, was not a busy town but today it was, there was the screaming of a man as his body became hard, his bones condensed and the essence changed his soul, then the awe from the pressure of the first immortal being born in the world.