Virtual Sword God!

The sun was high in the sky without a cloud in sight. It was a rare sight to see a day as beautiful as this one and while most kids would be outside playing in the park or hanging out with their friends, one in particular had been set a task.

Novis had been asked to clear his Grandfather's dojo. It was a sword dojo that hadn't had customers for a long time now and his grandfather was far too old to teach.

No one had any interest in learning real sword skills these days. They were far too busy playing games. Who could blame them? With today's technology, VRgames were more realistic than ever. Practising with a wooden sword in a dojo felt unreal now to many.

Novis was currently in the dojo sorting various items into boxes. Novis was an ordinary boy with no outstanding features about him. He had short black hair and was the average size for a fifteen-year-old boy his age.

Like every fifteen-year-old boy, he struggled with money. Too young to get a day job and his parents weren't the rich type to spoil him. So when his grandfather offered him some pocket money in exchange for some help, he couldn't refuse.

The dojo was currently overfilled with junk leaving hardly any space to move. His grandfather took this as a chance to clear the house as well and had placed everything he didn't want in the dojo.

Novis' good friend Scarlett had just entered the dojo carrying another box from the main house.

"Phew, I think that's the last box. Your grampa said if there's anything you want you can keep it." She said while wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Scarlett had long curly red hair. She was a kind girl who had known Novis since they were kids, so she had always found it hard to say no to him.

Novis was currently going through all the boxes his grandfather had left in the dojo to see if there was anything valuable.

Digging through one of the larger boxes, he started to pull out dirty old vases, magazine papers and all sorts of other rubbish.

"Is there really nothing good here?" Novis thought while inspecting a dirty old cup in his hand.

Scarlett was currently walking around the dojo looking at the pictures up on the wall of Novis' grandfather. There were many captured moments of his grandpa at prestigious competitions and amidst intense fights.

"Did your grampa ever teach you how to fight with a sword?" Scarlett inquired.

"No, I never found it interesting. What's the point if we don't use them in wars anyway and no one uses a real sword nowadays. I kinda always saw it as a useless skill to have."

Scarlett continued to wander around the room until she spotted a meter-long sword on a stand at the back that piqued her interest. She walked over towards the sword to get a closer look wondering if it was real.

"Is this real?" Scarlett asked.

Novis stood up from where he was and walked over to where Scarlett was at the back of the dojo.

"Oh you mean this thing? My grandfather said it's meant to be some legendary sword with the spirit of a dragon inside that's supposedly protected our family from dangers for generations."

"That's kinda cool you know."

"And obviously a lie. Hey, do you think we can sell it?"

"I don't think your grampa would sell something that important."

"Didn't he say to you anything in this dojo? Well the sword is in this dojo, right?"

Novis went to pick up the sword. His arm gave in a bit as it was heavier than he'd expected. He then peered down the edges of the sword with one eye. The edges still looked razor-sharp. He wanted to run his finger down along the edge to see if it would cut him but decided it was best not to.

"It seems to still be in good condition. I think I can sell this for some good money," Novis said.

"Are you sure you should really do that?"

"It will be fine. Besides, I need the money now that my allowance got cut. It was just a little prank can people not take a joke anymore?" Novis grumbled.

"The teacher ran out of the room crying. I think maybe you went a little too far" Scarlett pointed out.

Novis flipped over the sword and noticed an engraving of a dragon. Suddenly, the dragon mark started to glow a bright blue colour.

"What's with this sword? It's glowing" Novis said in bewilderment.

Scarlett went to have a closer look at what Novis was talking about.

"What do you mean? I can't see anything glowing."

Novis pointed on a section of the sword near the hilt.

"Can't you see? Here the dragon mark...it's glowing."

No matter how hard Scarlett tried to look, she still couldn't see what Novis was pointing at.

"I don't even see the dragon mark you're talking about."

"Here!"

"I don't see anything."

"Are you blind! Right here!"

"You can see the mark?" A mysterious voice said. The voice sounded as if it came from a middle-aged man who was sitting on a toilet.

"That's what I've been saying the whole..." Novis stopped himself mid-sentence, realising that the voice hadn't come from Scarlett.

Novis heard the voice again.

"Can you hear me young boy?"

Novis turned his head around to see where the voice was coming from thinking that someone might have entered the room.

"I knew it. You can hear me!" The voice confirmed.

"Scarlett, do you know where that voice is coming from?" Novis said while looking behind a pile of boxes hoping to find someone hiding.

"First the sword is glowing and now you can hear someone. You haven't got heatstroke, have you?"

"No Scarlett seriously I could hear a voice."

"Oh I know, it's one of your pranks again. Well I'm not buying it this time" Scarlett huffed as she stormed out of the dojo.

Novis was known for pulling pranks and Scarlett was a favourite target of his, only this time Novis wasn't joking. He felt like the boy who cried wolf.

"The world has given me a second chance. I must thank the heavens above."

As the voice said these words, Novis realised that the source of the voice seemed to be coming from the sword he was holding.

As he brought the sword towards his face, Novis expected he might see someone inside it. Then it started to shine brightly. The light emanating from the sword was so strong, it had temporarily blinded Novis causing him to drop the sword on the floor.

Briefly, all Novis could see was white but within a few moments his eyesight had returned to normal.

What Novis saw in front of him left him speechless. Directly above the sword was a transparent smokey figure floating in thin air. The figure was the most handsome man Novis had laid his eyes on. Shiny blonde hair, chiselled face, all while wearing knightly silver armour. He looked like a prince from a fairy tale.

"Please don't kill me!" Novis pleaded as he fell to his knees begging the mysterious floating figure.

The spirit started to slowly walk towards Novis.

"My time has come and you shall help me on my journey."

As the spirit spoke these words, a white mist began to envelop Novis. His heart began to pound harder and sweat trickled down his face.

The white mist started to enter through Novis' body through his nose, mouth, ears, wherever there was a hole. Novis could do nothing to prevent its infiltration of his body. When the mist had completely entered Novis' body, his eyesight began to blur and vision went black.

Scarlett was patiently waiting outside the dojo for Novis to come out and apologise but when hearing the commotion coming from inside, she resigned herself to check and see if Novis was okay.

"Novis is everything okay..." She said as she peeked her head into the dojo.

As she made her way into the dojo, she spotted Novis collapsed on the floor. He wasn't moving a muscle.

She frantically ran over to Novis' side and began to shake him.

"Novis wake up! Are you okay?"

Novis managed to slightly regain consciousness but his mind felt muddled.

"Who are you? Where did that spirit go?"

"You and I are now one." The spirit responded.