The Laughing Swordsman

"Ah, he is a troublemaker that spends each day pranking others."

"Apollo? That lousy kid never shows up to school, he only knows how to annoy other people."

"Haha, Apollo huh? He's just a kid being a kid. Can't really do anything about that fella."

Willow ruminated over what others told her.

She expected that Apollo would be well known, but she thought it would be for his swordsmanship, not his troublemaking tendencies.

She was determined to get to the bottom of this.

Willow took Apollo to a large public training range.

Snow was falling from the sky and covered the streets, but that didn't seem to bother anyone.

There were quite a few people there, swinging at the various dummies provided.

The first set was made out of wood and quite beaten up, while the others were made out of various shades of stone. The farther down you go, the deeper shade they would be.

There was a man who swung his long metal saber and shattered a light-grey stone dummy. He had a big smile on his face and raised his saber high in the air.

"Ha, I did it!"

The range was very large, with plenty of dummies. However, the majority of the people were congregated near its front. There were only a few people here and there deep in the range.

Willow stopped once she reached a wooden dummy.

"Attack the training dummy."

Apollo looked at Willow with a confused look.

"But you never taught me how to attack something."

Willow's face twitched.

"How do you not know how to attack something?"

Apollo pouted.

"You have to teach me! Teach me!"

Willow sighed.

Another kid that was similar to Apollo's size overheard the conversation.

He had a metal sword in his hand and a big grin.

"Oh, hey Apollo! You decided to practice how to swing a sword?"

Apollo tilted his head.

"Mm... if mo-"

Willow glared at Apollo.

Apollo cut himself off and cleared his throat.

"If Willow teaches me yeah!"

The kid laughed.

"That is a funny one! Now tell me, who is your next victim?"

Willow sighed.

"His next victim is going to be a training dummy."

The kid raised an eyebrow.

"Did your dad hire you a babysitter?"

Apollo laughed.

"No silly, this is my mommy."

The kid furrowed his brows and pointed to Willow.

"What? You're his mo-"

"No."

Willow really didn't want this misunderstanding to spread. So she quickly cut him off.

"He just thinks of me as a mother."

Apollo giggled.

"Because she is my mommy!"

The kid blinked a few times.

"Uh... ok I think I get it."

Willow shook her head.

"Anyway, give me that sword."

The kid took a step back.

"Wait, I really like this-"

Willow slipped the sword out of the kid's grasp. Before the kid could react, she slashed at the wooden dummy.

"That is how you attack someone."

Her slash was sudden, only leaving a faint afterimage. With a faint thump, the wooden statue was bisected diagonally and the top half slowly slid off.

The kid's eyes widened all the way.

"W-What?"

Apollo gasped in awe.

"Oh, like that I see!"

The kid furrowed his brows.

"Apollo, something of that level can't be replicate by just seeing it on-"

Apollo ignored the kid and slashed with his bokken.

The red tassel of his bokken whipped to the side.

The wooden dummy Apollo slashed did not move.

The kid scoffed.

"See! I told-"

His jaw dropped.

The top half of the wooden dummy slowly fell. His cut was even smoother than Willow's. Not to mention the fact he used a wooden sword.

While the kid was speechless, Willow blinked a few times. She was confirming Apollo really just did that, but overcame her shock soon enough. After all, she knew that Apollo knew how to swing his bokken.

Apollo raised his hands in the air.

"Yay, I did it! It's all thanks to your great teaching mo-... Willow!"

Willow smiled bitterly.

"If my teaching really was that great, I would have become a teacher."

Apollo tugged on Willow's sleeve.

"Ah! Don't get too good at teaching, you can't leave me!"

Willow sighed.

"I'm not becoming a teacher anytime soon."

Apollo giggled.

"Ok!"

The kid rubbed his eyes and finally got the words out.

"Apollo? Did you... do that?"

Apollo's head tilted to the side.

"Only because of my mother teaching me!"

Willow patted Apollo's head.

"My name is Willow."

Apollo shifted his eyes away.

"Ok."

Willow then went to a white stone statue.

"Come here, Apollo. Now try the same thing on this statue but at a different angle."

Apollo tilted his head.

"But you never taught me that angle!"

Willow rolled her eyes.

"Remember the times I swung at you? Learn by copying those."

Apollo was silent, then laughed.

"Wow, you are so smart Willow!"

Willow shook her head with a wry smile and watched Apollo lift up his sword.

Apollo swung his bokken but also twisted the handle.

A clear crack resounded. Apollo had shattered the stone dummy, splitting it into four pieces.

Small pieces of stone were scattered across the floor.

Apollo was frowning.

"Mm... I did it wrong! Why am I so stupid..."

The kid began pinching himself.

"This isn't real, this isn't real."

Willow laughed and put her hand on Apollo's shoulder.

"You did fine Apollo."

Apollo giggled.

"Aww, thanks, Willow!"

Willowed chuckled with him.

"You seem to be remembering my name as well."

Willow put one hand on the hilt of her sword, while the other traced the blade. Suddenly, the sword snapped out.

"Just do it like this."

The dummy had been bisected twice, with two diagonal slashes.

The whole thing collapsed into four even pieces.

Apollo had a hand on his chin.

"Oh! Right, you can also use both hands!"

Apollo's finger traced the blade of his bokken, then it snapped out.

Like a mirror image, the stone dummy split into four even pieces.

Willow put a finger on her chin.

"Come on, let me bring you somewhere else."

The kid was staring at them with his jaw dropped.

Willow and Apollo walked off into the distance.

After a few moments, the shocked expression left him.

The kid was rubbing his chin while his brows furrowed.

What was he missing again?

He abruptly gasped.

"Wait, my sword!"