Pret! ALLEZ!
A world champion fencer is transported to a world where fencing matches have strong influence over many things - social status, wars, income - but it is not the world he dreamed of. In this world, your [Swordsmanship] is a number assigned to you at birth and your fencing skill isn't something you have to work hard for.
His journey to this world wasn't an easy one. Dying once left him without much regard for his own life and he tries to prove a point to distract himself from his real concerns. But every day reminds him of the things he tried to forget.
His best friend, who he killed himself.
A web serial originally published by user DropShotEpee on the SpaceBattles.com forums (here
) and Royal Road (here), the first 32 chapters have since been published on Kindle Unlimited under the title Duelist's Road : No Shortcuts.
This series provides examples of:
- Attack Its Weak Point: While everyone with [Stats] has [HP] that shields them from damage, hitting more vital targets does more damage to one's [HP]. Carr swiftly learns that putting a sword through someone's eye or chest is a lot more effective than a toe or hand touch.
- Bad Boss: Johan. Even if we leave out what he's done to re-create his friends in this new world. His interludes show him performing subtle and casual cruelties upon his servants time and time again.
- Big Bad Friend: Johan, formerly one of Carr's best friends.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Johan's 'friends', A collection of people who are physically similar to his friends back on earth whose minds are altered to make them fit those moulds.
- Duartes!Carr
- Determinator: Most of the main characters have shades of this.
- Carr in particular walked through the non-space between worlds just to chase Johan after the latter paid the Steel Price.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Fedal's special skill is this. In a world where most people cannot increase their [Swordsmanship] stat, he can slowly raise it by simply training at swinging a sword. Upon meeting him, Carr reveals to him that this has actually screwed him over a fair bit, since while he has monstrous levels of strength and speed, he has very little actual skill with a sword.
- Game Master: The Referee of each fencing match, a sort of magical automaton that oversees duels in the World of Swords and has a limited form of omniscience regarding the participants of said duels. Much of Book 2's Tournament Arc is narrated from its perspective.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Carr starts out this way, though he gets better as the series goes on. Some things remain Berserk Buttons however...Carr: [within minutes of first meeting Fedal] "FUCK YOU FENCE ME!"
- Implausible Fencing Powers: While the series is about more realistic fencing skills a lot of the time, the superpowers granted by [Stats] get their chances to shine as well.
- Fedal shows early on that a Sword Beam (implied to be of the Razor Wind variety) can be performed with high enough [Stats].
- Valle performs a Blade Run at the climax of his fight against the executioner.
- Kill the God: The Gambler's original goal in bringing people from Earth over to the World of Swords. He starts having second thoughts upon realizing that Johan would likely be worse.
- Large Ham: Everyone gets a few shades of this, though some characters lean into it more than others. Valle of Cresna in particular casually chews the scenery at every opportunity.Valle: [badly wounded and facing off against The Executioner] "Cresnian theatre has three acts. In the first act, the hero is overpowered by a power beyond his comprehension! In the second act, he puts forth a brave fight, trading blows with destiny! And in the third act, destiny itself bows to the champion before it! Now, prepare yourself! IT IS TIME FOR THE THIRD ACT!"
- Mentor Archetype: Carr begins to take on some aspects of this after taking Fedal under his wing to start teaching him real swordsmanship.
- Serious Business: In the World of Swords, fencing and swordfighting in general are very serious indeed.
- Tomato in the Mirror: 'Katherine' upon realizing what Johan did to her former self.
- Tournament Arc: Basically the entire second book.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Fedal (see Charles Atlas Superpower above.)
- Weak, but Skilled: Carr's entire schtick. He has no [HP] to cushion against blows and no [Swordsmanship] to grant him superhuman strength or speed. All he has going for him are the skills that won him the title of World Champion in fencing back on Earth.
- Wilfully Weak: Several characters turn out to be able to raise and lower their [Swordsmanship] stat to let them recover more quickly, reducing the weaknesses of the stat's inherent weaknesses.
