The Laughing Swordsman

The fruit was soft, like cotton candy.

It melted in his mouth before he had a chance to chew.

The fruit was bittersweet with a hint of salt. Although he wouldn't say it was the best in the world, it was oddly satisfying.

After finishing it, he joined Layla in picking the tree bare of fruits.

The two of them quickly finished eating every fruit they could find.

Layla sprawled out on a tree branch, closing her eyes.

Apollo was about to berate her, but he himself wanted to sleep as well.

As such, he did the same on another tree branch.

These fruits naturally made one a little sleepy. This wasn't because the tree would consume them after they slept.

...Not to say that trees like that didn't exist.

It was because the effects of the fruit could only take place on someone that was asleep.

If one paid close attention, one would see a soft glow coming from the crack in Apollo's eyes.

As for Layla, though she ate more, there was hardly any glow.

Their sleep was undisturbed.

There were definitely monsters around them but they did not want to approach for whatever reason.

When Layla woke up, she did an exaggerated stretch.

"Wakey wakey!~"

She was quite loud, directly startling Apollo out of his slumber.

Apollo sat up while holding his head.

He felt strangely relaxed.

After a moment of pondering, he realized it was because he didn't feel hungry. Whatever he had eaten was quite filling.

Apollo's eyes fluttered upon, then froze.

Was this still the same forest?

There were faint dots of black mist scattered throughout the entire forest. It was hard to tell, but the trees were emitting this strange black mist.

Apollo furrowed his brows.

"...What is this place?"

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"It's a fun place!"

Apollo paused.

"Have you been here before?"

Layla's tail swung from side to side.

"Mmm... once or twice? I don't know."

Apollo rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

Well, it wouldn't be that dangerous, right?

Apollo shook his head.

"Anyways, we need to kill more of the shadow monkeys."

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"You mean play with our friends?"

Apollo blinked a few times.

"...Yes that."

Layla giggled.

"Ok!"

Layla enthusiastically walked through the forest with Apollo not far behind her.

Apollo's eyes kept darting from the left and right.

He kept seeing figures among the trees, like snakes or bats. Yet, a second later, they would disappear.

"Ah, over there!"

Layla jumped up and down excitedly.

As for Apollo, he jumped as well. Except it was out of fear from Layla's sudden announcement.

Regardless, Apollo composed himself rather quickly.

"Let's go chase them."

Layla grinned happily.

"Ok!"

Layla broke out into a sprint while Apollo matched her speed.

The two of them jumped and vaulted over the tree branches deftly, chasing after a shadow monkey.

Although Apollo was only looking forward, he caught glimpses of the shadow monkey here and there.

He did not understand how, but he also wasn't going to complain.

After a few minutes of chasing, they caught up.

Layla grabbed the shadow monkey's tail and Apollo killed it soon after.

As the blood splashed Layla's face, she giggled.

"Wow! That was so fun, we need to find more!"

Apollo nodded.

"Yeah."

Like that, the two of them hunted off any stragglers they found.

Soon, they came across another penumbra tree.

Apollo could make out a few shadow monkeys eating the fruit from the tree.

The shadow monkeys turned to Layla, then scattered.

Apollo furrowed his brows.

...Were they scared of her?

Layla laughed gleefully.

"Look, more gifts!"

Although there was an impulse to tell Layla to chase down the monkeys, Apollo did not act on it.

He wasn't particularly hungry, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few more bites.

Layla stuffed her mouth like she was a squirrel.

As for Apollo, he casually tore a few off to eat.

At first, he didn't care too much. However, the more he ate, the more hungry he felt.

He began shoveling as much as he could like he was starving. All of the fruit would disappear the moment they reached his stomach. As such, nothing was holding him back from eating more.

Once Apollo snatched almost every fruit from the tree, his eyes closed.

Layla pouted.

"Hey! You took so many of them!"

Apollo didn't hear what Layla was saying.

He had fallen onto his knees while one hand clutched his head.

Apollo's body heated up rapidly.

A faint sizzling sound came from the ground beneath him.

Apollo's skin became a light shade of pink and began squirming.

The muscles on his body were becoming more flexible, yet tougher.

It was almost like a child was offered two options, but found a way to pick both.

Apollo sucked in a deep breath, then let it go.

It was almost like he was meditating.

Layla was no longer mad. Instead, she curiously looked at Apollo as she wagged her tail.

"Apollo?"

He slowly opened his eyes.

"Ah... yeah?"

Layla poked Apollo, pushing his head to the side uncomfortably.

"Are you ok?"

Apollo grimaced.

"Ow! Yeah, I'm ok. Stop that."

Layla perked up.

"Ah, that's good!"

Apollo shook his head and took in his surroundings.

The black mist became thicker...

Apollo quickly realized that these fruits were changing how he perceived this forest.

As for whether that was good or bad, he did not know. However, if it helped him kill the shadow monkeys easier, then he was not complaining.

Apollo flexed his new muscles. They felt quite empowering, to say the least.

After doing a few stretches, he got used to his new strength.

"Alright, we should go."

Layla smiled, then led the way.

Although Apollo had a breakthrough in strength, he did not feel reassured.

There were more shadows. They were larger as well.

Suddenly, Apollo snapped his head to the side.

But nothing was there.

He could've sworn he saw someone standing high up in the trees.

"Hey, look over there!"

Apollo broke out of his stupor and looked at where Layla was pointing.