The Laughing Swordsman

In just a few moments, nearly everybody was on the floor groaning in pain. The only people not doing so were Suki, Apollo, and Eden.

Suki's eyes were wide open.

Although she believed Apollo would be able to take everyone down, she thought it would either be close or with some sort of struggle. Yet, Apollo walked through the dojo incapacitating each person that he came across easily like he was just walking through his backyard.

Eden was randomly standing up among the sea of people sprawled out on the floor. She looked around herself, as though trying to process the situation.

As for Apollo, he did a simple scan of the place around him. After confirming everyone was on the ground, he rested his bokken on his shoulder.

"That took a while."

Suki's eyebrow twitched.

"Did it?"

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"More than I expected."

Suki smiled bitterly as she shook her head.

"...Huh."

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"Can I leave right now?"

Suki blinked a few times.

"Of course. Even if someone here wanted to stop you, they wouldn't be able to."

She took a deep breath.

"But if you would like to teach us, I would appreciate it."

Apollo rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"Well, I am good at teaching!"

Suki's eyes lit up.

"That sounds exciting! I'm sure everyone here would like to learn something from you."

A person in the crowd gave a thumbs up and let out a pained response between heaves of pain.

"I definitely want to learn if it's from you!"

Apollo nodded.

"Ok!"

He walked up to the stage. Although most of the crowd was battered or bruised, they looked up. Some people had frowns or appeared to be filled with disdain. They were obviously displeased with Apollo beating them up but still looked over to see the lesson.

Even the dojo master who was beaten until he cried looked up.

Apollo raised his bokken high in the air.

"To become skilled at using the sword, there are many steps!"

A few nods came from the crowd, which was mostly silent.

Apollo slowly lowered his sword, pointing it ahead of himself.

"The first step!"

Everybody's eyes widened. Nobody dared blink less they missed this precious lesson.

Apollo swung his sword.

"Swing the sword!"

Several confused expressions appeared within the crowd, while a few others nodded, trying to justify in their heads by saying this was just an introduction.

Someone in the crowd raised their hand and called out.

"What is the next step?"

Apollo put his hands on his hips and stuck his elbows out proudly.

"After swinging the sword, you swing the sword!"

After that, he pulled back his sword and lunged forward with it. Many people among the crowd were astounded.

...Because of how unique Apollo's lesson was.

A young boy in the crowd raised his hand.

"I don't understand!"

A young man scoffed.

"That's because there is nothing to understand! He isn't doing anything!"

An old man furrowed his brow.

"Maybe this is part of the lesson?"

Despite the comments from the audience, Apollo continued to swing his sword after saying the next step was swinging the sword. Voices of dissent gradually came from the crowd. They were beginning to think Apollo was making fun of them.

He pulled back his bokken and bent one knee.

"After swinging the sword when you have swung the sword because you swung the sword-"

"Apollo?"

Suki cut him off.

Apollo turned to look at her with a curious expression.

"Do you have a question?"

Someone in the crowd called out.

"Why aren't you teaching anything!"

Suki cleared her throat.

"Apollo has been teaching. He is using various forms so we can watch."

Hearing this, the sounds of dissent got a little softer.

As for Apollo, he scratched his cheek with his finger.

"What is a form?"

The corner of Suki's lip twitched.

"Um, a certain way you swing the sword."

Apollo nodded.

"Oh!"

Suki tilted her head to the side.

"Do you not know any terms? Are you self taught?"

Apollo smiled and waved his bokken in the air.

"My mommy taught me by fighting with me!"

A small smile formed on Suki's face.

"Perhaps if you learned the terms, you would be able to describe your actions better?"

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"Oh! I think I have something with terms!"

He pulled out a book.

It was light brown, and quite large. The title was, 'Proper Application of Wind Attacks for Sword Wielders'.

Apollo opened it up, before being greeted with a huge wall of text.

"Hm... what does lunge mean?"

Suki raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, when you take a long step forward. Usually, you stab forward along with it."

Apollo nodded. A few seconds later, he turned to Suki once more.

"What does sweep mean?"

Suki furrowed her brows.

"Um... some people consider it as a horizontal slash, generally aimed close to the ground."

Like that, Apollo continued to ask questions while Suki would answer. The crowd was a little annoyed, but the general consensus was that if Apollo learned how to describe things properly, he would also be able to teach properly.

And so, there was a tedious exchange between Apollo and Suki. At this moment, Suki felt like she was becoming a glorified version of a dictionary. However, she persisted anyway because she really did want to learn something from Apollo.

Right when most people were getting bored enough to leave altogether, Apollo closed the book shut with a loud clap. He smiled brightly.

"Ok! I think I got it now!"

The crowd immediately snapped to attention. Most people looked at him with wide eyes as they covered their injuries.

Apollo raised his bokken up in the air.

"The first step..."

Everyone held their breaths.

Apollo swung his bokken down.

"Is to swing the sword!"

Many aggrieved cries came from the crowd.

But then, Apollo swung horizontally with his hand.

"And the hand!"