Shu Ru

Shu Ru is another story I’ve been developing over the years. The series is named after the martial/ magical art used in the story also called Shu Ru that plays a large role throughout.

Shu Ru is a coming of age story about a martial arts and comic fanatic farm boy and a magic wielding girl raised in the wilderness traveling the world and joining forces with like-minded people as they face various outside threats.

The Story
The story revolves around Marco Rizzo, a young boy raised by his grandparents on a Sicilian farm. Most of his days involved attending a local school, working on the farm with his grandmother and being trained in martial arts by his grandfather. Things change when he encounters a young feral girl he meets named Diana in the woods nearby. She resists he and his family’s attempts to reach out to her and attacks him until she discovers his talent for martial arts. As such she agrees to stay with his family if they agree to teach her martial art skills and techniques for she was told by her ”forest mother” that they were the key to perfecting her magical magical abilities. Once summer starts, Marco suggests they all spend time traveling across Italy, from Sicily to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. During their travels, they encounter a street magician sidelining as a private detective and his body guard who are combating the growing influence of the Mafia. Eventually they get involved with the Italian Mafia movement to reclaim their former glory and hold on Italian government and officials.

Genre/Elements

• Action/Adventure
• Slice of Life (Beginning)
• Wuxia/Martial Arts
• Comedic Fantasy
• Urban Fantasy
• Affectionate Parody
• Coming of Age story

Characters

Marco
Feels isolated from the local children due to him being a “goody-two-shoes” and finds stress release through farm labor/martial arts & qigong practice;
Genuinely sorry that Diana’s home burned down but is eager to prove wrong her assumptions about humans and civilized culture.

Diana
Feral girl raised in the forest by her mysterious foster “mother” and following the example of various animals. In addition to having extraordinary strength, agility, heightened reflexes and survival skills, she also wields “raw sorcery”: where she can produce glowing energy waves, mist, and gel seemingly from the air.

However, she is frustrated with not being as good at magic as her adoptive mother, and will do almost anything to get better. After being separated from her mother after a human caused forest fire, she begins to harbor a grudge against humanity. After meeting Marco’s family, she decides to swallow her contempt and stay with them in order to learn martial arts, which is what her mother wanted to teach her to improve her magic.