The Laughing Swordsman

Once Apollo disappeared, a massive fireball shot out from an alleyway.

The woman flying in the air was still distracted, which made her reaction a second slower.

One second too late.

The fireball blasted into the woman, directly charring half of her body and setting it aflame.

The woman cried in agony and fell from the sky.

She hit the ground hard, cracking the cobblestone path. Her body rolled back and forth in an attempt to put out the fire but to no avail.

Her screams resounded throughout the area as she slowly burned to death.

From the alleyway, Maya took a step forward.

She was covered in blood. Parts of her skin had directly burst open, bleeding profusely.

Maya uncontrollably coughed out blood.

"...Apollo?"

Her body was trembling. If someone poked her, she would fall like a leaf.

Nonetheless, her priority wasn't to recover but search for Apollo. She looked left and right, but couldn't find him.

"...Apollo, you didn't die, right?"

As worry clenched her heart, she fainted.

...

When Apollo disappeared, he stepped into his shadow. That brought him into the shadowy world composed of mist.

Apollo felt a strange tug. It was as though something was trying to lead him somewhere.

He did not resist this tug, traveling in the direction it brought him.

After passing by some grey waves, he found what was pulling him. It was the association's symbol, the slightly parted eye.

He reached out to touch the eye.

With a flash, he was in the enclosed black room.

He lightly tapped his ribcage.

It was painful.

Apollo giggled to himself.

"Too weak... too weak."

Apollo's neck twisted.

"I need to be stronger."

Apollo recalled the requests and their rewards.

He looked at the grey desk next to him. His hand fished out his copper coin which brightly displayed the association's symbol on one side and the demon face on the other.

Apollo flicked his thumb, flipping the coin up into the air.

Before it landed, it suddenly disappeared. Behind the white desk, four white mist lines appeared.

It was the remaining amount of times he could view requests.

On the desk, three pieces of parchment appeared.

Apollo ignored everything except for the reward section.

'Reward: Basic Shadow Step Technique'

'Reward: Ten Gold Coins'

'Reward: One Gold Coin'

His eyes were attracted to the technique. He believed that it could increase his strength. To him, money was worthless.

If it couldn't directly give him power, it was useless.

Apollo looked at the rest of the request.

'Rank: Copper Coin

Target: Otis Everfield

Description: Resides in the Enberoes Kingdom. Noble. Estimated to be an intermediate mage. Old man, roughly fifty-six. Long grey hair. Large beard.

Requirements: Assassinate target.'

Below the page was an ink picture of Otis Everfield. He looked like an average old man without anything special going for him.

Apollo picked up the parchment.

Once he did so, the other papers disappeared. The coin tumbled onto the desk. As Apollo retrieved the coin, the parchment wriggled out of his hand.

It hovered at the top of the room.

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"I... accepted the quest?"

He rubbed his thumb and forefinger on his chin. Nothing appeared to be happening.

After shrugging his shoulders, Apollo fell backward, going back to the shadow world.

The world was noticeably different. Among the grey waves were red ones. They were all going in a certain direction as though they were pointing the way.

Apollo felt a tug from these red waves and did not resist it.

At some point, while the red waves continued onward, a black wall appeared.

Apollo tried to move past it but was unsuccessful in doing so. His body was cramping up from the lack of oxygen. Apollo shook his head.

His bokken raised and with a flash, he was back in the real world.

He was at the perimeter of the city, next to the walls.

Apollo saw the city entrance not too far from him, so he walked towards it.

Though he used to be covered in blood, entering the shadow world got rid of it all. It made Apollo look relatively plain and unassuming.

Once he reached the entrance, he heard a squeaky voice come out from behind the wall.

"Oh hey, you're back. How did escorting the noble go?"

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?"

The voice chuckled.

"Oh, I'm the gatekeeper that lives in the walls. I just use magic to sound cooler to outsiders."

Apollo nodded in realization.

The voice cleared its throat.

"So, what happened after you escorted her?"

Apollo frowned.

He was reminded of Maya.

...The only thing she would do is get in the way.

"She decided to remain in the city. I am leaving."

The voice gasped.

"Ah, I see. Let me raise the gates for you."

The iron bars rose from the ground and Apollo walked past.

When Apollo left the voice let out a sigh.

A short old man was sitting in a small room within the city walls. He was smiling bitterly.

"Haha, kids. I was like him once. Hoping for love with royalty. Haa... the riches it would've brought. If only noble life wasn't so complicated. You have my prayers kid, don't feel too bad about being rejected."

...

Apollo traversed the snowy forest fearlessly.

He soon found himself hungry. As such, the moment he encountered a massive wolf, he split it in two.

As the blood splashed on his face, he pulled out chunks of the wolf and ate them.

It was a familiar, yet painful experience. His body burned from the blood traveling down his throat while his teeth were forced to tear into the tough meat.

Apollo ignored the pain.

He considered it the price to live.

It did not take Apollo long to have his fill of the wolf. His hand wiped off the blood around his mouth.

Apollo raised his foot but suddenly froze.

"What is a kid like you doing all alone here in the forest?"

A young man wearing rags walked into vision from behind a tree.