The Laughing Swordsman

Eden pushed through the crowd while holding Apollo. Although the passerby wanted to get a closer look at the 'angel', they were also slightly afraid. As such, they did not resist Eden's shoving and backed out of the way.

The crowd appeared to disperse, but there were still some people trailing from a distance.

By now, Eden was panting slightly, a bit worn out from maneuvering through the crowd. She looked towards Apollo, who was similarly looking at her.

"Sorry, Apollo. The dojo is a little far away, so it might take a while."

Apollo nodded.

"Ok!"

Then, he began staring off in the sky, thinking about something. He held the figurine of Serosh he created close to himself.

As Eden said, it took a fair amount of time for them to reach the dojo. Along the way, some of the people following from behind either lost them or stopped following of their own volition.

The dojo was much further into the center of the city, but not by too much. It was quite large, even after considering a lot of space would be needed to swing swords around.

The dojo had two floors and was made out of red wood. There was nothing particularly fancy about the place, but it wasn't sloppily made. Eden pushed through two large double doors.

They were greeted with a female attendant with long hair at a desk. She gave a glance at the two before losing interest.

"Hurry along, the people inside are already practicing."

Eden blinked a few times.

"Ah, just go in?"

The attendant sighed and pointed at the bokken in Apollo's hand.

"You've already bought the wooden sword, no? That grants entry to the dojo. Go in the door to my left."

Hearing that, Eden nodded hastily and just decided to go in the door.

Inside, was a wide expanse that had a set of tatami mats. In the middle of the room was a fairly large wooden stage, polished well. Many clacking sounds rang out from within, courtesy of people using wooden swords to hit training dummies or sparring with each other.

Since Apollo had a bokken, he looked like he belonged here.

There were people of all ages practicing in casual clothes. However, the majority of the people here were kids and young adults.

Eden looked around, at a loss, then turned to Apollo with a bitter smile.

"We have made it to the dojo. But... I haven't been here before. Um, I don't know what we are supposed to do."

Apollo gave a glance at Eden, then jumped out of her hold. He held out the figurine in his hand towards Eden.

"Can you hold this for now?"

She nodded absentmindedly.

"Ah, ok."

From there, Apollo ran inside, looking left, then right at all the people around here. Eden hurriedly walked after him, trying not to get left behind.

A middle-aged man took notice of Apollo and walked up to him with a friendly smile.

"Hey, I haven't seen your face here before."

He was noticeably different from the others because of his loose-fitting white clothes.

Apollo looked up to the man.

"Yeah, I came here to see other people swing the sword!"

The man laughed.

"Then you came to the right place! Since it's your first time, I recommend you try swinging at the training dummies."

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"But I'm very good at swinging the sword already!"

The man chuckled, clearly not believing him.

"Why don't you try using the training dummy for a little to show off your skill?"

Eden had caught up and smiled amicably.

"He has the best swordsmanship I've ever seen."

The man looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"And have you ever been in the dojo?"

Eden blinked a few times.

"Well... no."

The man laughed and waved his hand dismissively.

"Everyone has started by practicing swinging the sword. It is only natural."

Apollo nodded.

"Swinging the sword is important for learning!"

The man gave him a thumbs up.

"Exactly!"

With that, Apollo ran over to a free wooden training dummy. Both the man and Eden followed from behind. Once Apollo reached the training dummy, he simply stared at it for a few moments.

Apollo looked to the side at a kid smacking the training dummy filled with vigor, adding to the clacking sounds that filled the air. He turned to look back at the training dummy in front of him.

Apollo rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger and muttered to himself.

"...Every cut is permanent."

He slowly lifted up the bokken while his pupils constricted ever so slightly. Then, Apollo swung.

He didn't hit the training dummy. Instead, his bokken brushed right by its side. The strike was less than a millimeter away.

The man smiled bitterly.

"Try again! You will hit it this time, I'm sure."

As for Eden, she furrowed her brows.

What was Apollo doing?

Apollo pulled his bokken back before suddenly stabbing forwards like he was using a spear. Once more, it brushed right by the side of the training dummy.

Although the difference wasn't visible to the naked eye, his strike was even closer than last time. Apollo continued to swing his bokken, letting it whip right by the training dummy. He wasn't swinging particularly fast, but every strike was unbelievably close to hitting, but still missing.

After a while, Apollo stopped and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. After a few moments, he turned to the man.

"I want to try fighting with someone else now!"

The man nodded with an amicable smile.

"...You did swing at the training dummy, so you can fight against someone. However, that doesn't mean you are done with practicing! After this fight, you should go back to swinging the training dummy."

Apollo nodded with a smile.

"Ok!"

The man took a deep breath, then searched for someone that would take it easy on Apollo.

"Suki! Come here to spar with our friend here!"