Where does the story take place?  

In a fictional world heavily inspired in the early 1900s Europe but mixed with modern elements.

There is electricity, but life is rather austere.

People entertain themselves mainly by going to the theater, listening to the radio, going to concerts and watching sword tournaments.

The main towns are Scarlet and Silver: 

Both towns are rather small, so information/gossip flows easily.

Emerald and Gold are other bigger and more advanced cities in the country.

People tend to use transportation such as trains, bicycles and carts.

The art of sword fighting.

While Sword fighting is mainly used for self-defense and young boys usually learn the basics in school, in recent years it has grown in popularity as an art form and a way of entertainment, people love to watch their favorite swordsman fight and win.

Duels/Tournaments

These swordsmen become celebrities and are adored(and hated) by many.

Tournaments of all levels are organized all over the country, but of course the ones people love the most are the ones that involve the most skilled fighters, these swordsmen generally fight in different parts of the world representing their hometown.

The Swordsmen who compete also get to choose a nickname/alias to go by, they are not obligated to do so, but most of them have one.

Learning Sword fighting as self-defense

As it was mentioned above, sword fighting is taught in school for self-defense, after learning the basics men can choose if they want to compete or not.

 Whether men compete or not, many choose to become master swordsmen in order to protect their family (and status).

A man carrying a sword usually represents someone who is to be respected and even feared (not to be messed with), because he’s got an education(not always tho) and lots of dedication and discipline behind him.

With that being said, anyone can learn to sword fight, no matter how rich or poor, you just need a sword.

But like anything, some swords are more expensive than others and the higher the price the better the quality will be.

But does the sword make the swordsman??