The Laughing Swordsman

Upon getting on the stage, Apollo casually held his bokken at his side. It was clear he didn't really care. As for the man standing on the other side of the stage, he slowly shifted his stance, raising his wooden sword vigilantly.

The man smiled enthusiastically.

"I apologize for not letting you fight right away earlier. It was my fault for being unable to see the signs of someone skilled. I hope that you can fight with your full strength and display the prowess of your swordsmanship."

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"Do we fight now?"

The man laughed.

"Alright, alright. We will use the same rules as your previous spar. I am ready. Are you?"

Apollo nodded.

"Yeah!"

The man took a deep breath.

"Then..."

He bent his knees slightly and tensed his feet.

"Go."

The man bolted forward. He was not the fastest, still within the realm of normal humans. However, it was an impressive speed nonetheless.

Although he saw Apollo's ability to dodge, his actual ability to attack and simple strength were unknown. As such, the man swung his wooden sword just to test the waters. He made sure not to put in too much strength so that he could back out as needed.

As for Apollo, he didn't even take a single step forward. In fact, even when the man began swinging, Apollo had yet to move at all.

But right when it seemed like it was going to be over, Apollo moved.

He did not directly meet swords with the man. Instead, his sword snaked past right next to it. Then, the blade of the man's wooden sword collided with the hilt of Apollo's bokken.

The man immediately put more strength into his wooden sword, trying to overpower Apollo with strength and taking advantage of this clash. From what he could tell, since he was a grown man that practiced swinging his sword all the time, he should be able to beat Apollo. And that was despite the fact Apollo had an advantageous angle to push against because of how their swords met.

Unfortunately, his assumption was incorrect.

One would imagine he would think twice after making a wrong guess the first time, but at least they were fairly reasonable in nature.

Apollo pushed against the man's wooden sword using the hilt of his bokken forcing it to the side. However, he was not done just yet.

Apollo walked forward, letting the man's blade move past him while his blade shot forward.

A light tap rang out.

The man was hit squarely in the chest.

There was a moment of silence. The man had an expression of disbelief, eyes wide open and jaw dropped. As for the crowd, they were caught off guard. There was supposed to be a grand battle between two masters, but instead, it seemed like one of them slipped up and lost straight away.

Eden was clutching the figurine of Serosh tightly unconsciously. She expected to be happy that Apollo won, but felt a sense of anxiety that slowly crept into her heart.

Someone within the crowd began clapping, prompting the rest to do the same. Everyone seemed to be in a partial daze, almost like they were hypnotized to continue clapping.

The man retracted his bokken. He scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

"Er... It appears you have won this fight."

Apollo nodded.

"Yup!"

Then, he turned around and began walking off the stage. Seeing this, the man hurriedly spoke up as he took a step forward.

"Wait!"

Apollo turned around with a curious expression on his face.

"What?"

The man cleared his throat.

"There are so many people watching us. I am sure they were not satisfied with watching when our battle ended so quickly. How about we have a rematch? If I win, we can then have a best of three!"

Several excited sounds came from the crowd.

"Another spar! That one was too fast!"

"I missed most of it because I blinked!"

"I want to be able to learn from watching two masters fight!"

Apollo tilted his head to the side, then looked at the man.

"Ok!"

The man laughed.

"Thank you, thank you. Let us get into position again."

The two of them got back into their original places. Apollo casually stood there, while the man took on a stance, but more seriously this time. The man believed that the last fight was just a fluke.

It was just that Apollo got lucky.

He shared a similar mentality to certain people that play certain video games.

This time, the man did not plan on challenging Apollo's strength in a disadvantageous position. However, that didn't mean he wasn't going to challenge it head on. The man still had confidence that he was the stronger one of the two of them.

With that, the man took a deep breath and looked Apollo dead in the eyes.

"...Go."

He shot forwards while Apollo stayed in the same spot, a repeat of last time. This time, the man suddenly stopped a few meters away and gauged Apollo's reaction.

However, there was no reaction to gauge.

The man thought that Apollo might at least flinch, giving him a slightly advantageous situation to strike, but it was as though Apollo didn't even see him. A small frown formed on the man's face.

He slowly paced from the left and right, trying to see if Apollo would lose patience and take a step forward.

A few displeased mutters came from the crowd. After all, nothing was really happening. Hearing them, the man decided just to charge in.

He no longer bothered with a strike that tested the waters and went all in, doing a heavy handed strike aimed to overwhelm Apollo with brute strength.

Unfortunately, nobody told the man that his strength was not only lower than Apollo's, but it was something that wouldn't work against this particular person.

A swishing sound rang out.

The man's sword twisted to the side, while Apollo's bokken shot towards his chest.