The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo and Landon were in position, standing roughly five meters away from each other on the stone platform.

Landon gave Apollo a deep look.

Landon had long brown hair and dark green eyes. He was holding a stone staff along with a casual white suit.

Seth did the countdown once again. Once he shouted to start, Landon's clothes began to ripple.

He was gathering so much mana that the wind around him was stirred up. Mana quickly coalesced into mythical diagrams on the top of his stone staff.

In just a second, two small bolts of lightning snaked their way towards Apollo.

Apollo's bokken flicked, diverting both of them to the side. The bolts of lightning slammed into the stone platform, causing some cracks to appear.

Apollo giggled.

"Woah, that is fast!"

Apollo ran towards Landon but suddenly stopped in his tracks. A bolt of lightning hit the floor in front of Apollo and many more came after that.

Apollo deflected all of them, sending most of them into the stone platform below him. However, he was having trouble getting closer.

For every step he took forward, he would later take backward.

The bolts of lightning were growing in number.

But Apollo's swings gradually sped up.

At first, Apollo was being forced back, but despite the increasing number of lightning bolts, he was advancing.

One step after another, Apollo was slowly getting closer to Landon.

Landon smiled.

"Haha, you are pretty good!"

Apollo giggled.

"Thanks! You could be better though!"

Landon rolled his eyes and continued casting.

Soon, Apollo was three meters away from Landon. Landon took a step backward but made sure to keep his distance from the ledge of the stone platform.

Lightning crackled all across the stage. It looked like there was a glass dome around Apollo that would bat away any bolts of lightning that came near him.

Once Apollo was two meters away, Landon narrowed his eyes and raised his free hand.

"I never thought your swordsmanship was this good Apollo! However, it's time to get serious."

The lightning storm slowly died down and mana began coalescing in Landon's free hand.

"Pay attention, Apollo! This spell can really kill you, so focus! I don't want to have to bury you with my own hands!"

Seth's eyes narrowed. Mana began coalescing on his wooden staff.

As for Apollo, he was in a daze after Landon finished speaking. A few bolts of lightning hit him, scorching his clothes and pushing him back.

However, he didn't realize that. Instead, a memory deep inside of him slowly awakened.

Apollo clutched his head, trying to catch the thought that was about to slip past him.

'Bury?

Why do I want to bury something?'

A ball of fire larger than Landon himself was conjured above his hand.

Seth furrowed his brows.

"This foolish top student of mine! Why are you going so far in a spar!"

Willow frowned and bent her knees.

Apollo's eyes were glazed over, he was still lost in his thoughts.

'Someone... put me through so much pain.'

Landon threw his hand down, sending the fireball towards Apollo.

Beads of sweat formed on Seth's forehead. He anxiously gathered more mana as fast as he could.

As for Apollo, his eyes gradually cleared up.

'So much pain...'

Apollo's eyes laid on the massive fireball in front of him.

It was quite grandiose, emitting a soft orange glow.

Apollo's body began heating up, but it wasn't from the fireball. Tiny red scars formed on the skin of Apollo's forearm.

Both of his hands were wrapped around the bokken's hilt. He was clenching so hard, his knuckles were white.

Apollo took a step forward and swung at the fireball.

A sharp whistle came from the bokken and time seemed to stop for a moment.

The fireball burgeoned and split in two.

The two halves were launched to Apollo's left and right.

The kids were on his right, so a mass of fire was about to burn the kids alive.

Looks of despair surfaced among them one by one.

Seth's mind worked fast. He redirected where he initially intended to cast the spell.

Large gusts of winds were stirred up around the kids. The fire was stopped in front of them and rapidly dissipated.

Seth let out a sigh of relief.

A frown then appeared on his face. He worked up the words he wanted to scold Landon with but suddenly stopped himself.

A faint giggle was coming from Apollo.

He was standing still, but his head would occasionally twitch from side to side.

"Bury... bury..."

Landon laughed, unaware of the sudden changes in Apollo.

"It seems you are fine. Let's keep going then."

Bolts of lightning streaked across the platform. Three bolts of lightning were sent towards Apollo.

Apollo's bokken twitched.

All three bolts of lightning were sent straight back to Landon.

Landon was quick to react, able to jump away in time.

He patted his chest.

"Phew! That was close. Ah-"

Landon looked up to see Apollo standing in front of him.

Apollo's eyes were abnormally widened and there was a big smile on his face. His bokken was raised and came crashing down.

Landon was no pushover however and was able to block it with his staff.

Apollo's faint giggles became full on laughter.

Apollo circled around Landon, wildly slashing at him.

Beads of sweat formed on Landon's forehead. His concentration could no longer remain on casting spells.

Landon blocked one strike after another. He was clearly trained with the staff, using proper form. However, his hands were beginning to tremble.

Apollo's laughs were raucous. Unlike normal laughter that begins to die off, his laughs only became louder.

As dense as Landon was, he felt uneasy hearing the strange laughing.

Apollo slipped past Landon's vision like a shadow.

"Pain..."

Apollo stood behind Landon, just shivering.

Landon turned around to see Apollo twisting his neck around with a wild look in his eyes.

Landon had a bad feeling. His hands gripped onto the ends of his stone staff and blocked.

Apollo flicked his wrist. The stone staff was broken in two, leaving Landon awkwardly holding two stone stubs.

Apollo's bokken shot out towards Landon's chest.

As for Landon, he saw Apollo's face, smiling as though mocking his pitiful existence.