The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo stepped partially into the shadow world, finding his breath caught in his throat.

He tried to manually step out, but ended up stumbling once he reappeared in the real world.

However, Apollo had essentially gotten the essence of the technique down. In fact, he wouldn't mind if the man of black mist disappeared. After all, the principles of this technique were what the man of black mist displayed.

And Apollo had already understood the principles. He just needed to iron out the edges. So that's what he did.

Apollo pushed off the ground, before partially entering the shadow world. This time, he preemptively held his breath and simply remained still.

Less than a second later, he reappeared in the real world while his foot landed on the stone platform with a clear tap.

He had successfully completed the technique.

From there, Apollo continued to practice the technique, waiting for the duration of this practice session to be over. The main challenge of using this technique was controlling when he decided to breathe.

This was because he had to hold his breath every time he wished to disappear. Although it was only for a moment, it interrupted his normal breathing patterns.

Not to mention... in a real fight, he would be laughing his head off, further messing with his breathing patterns.

As Apollo began ruminating over this conundrum, the man of black mist disappeared along with the stone platform, while the furniture of the request room reappeared.

And... Layla was right in front of Apollo, staring so closely that he could feel her breath.

Apollo recoiled back in fear, with a small frown on his face.

"...What are you doing?"

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"Ah, friend is back!"

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Layla pouted.

"Friend finally came back after standing still for so long! I thought friend left me again!"

Apollo blinked a few times.

...So that crystal was just an illusion?

Well, that didn't really matter. So long as he learned the technique, the process itself wasn't too important.

Apollo sighed.

"Anyway... I learned the technique."

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"Eh? Just by standing there?"

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"More or less, but by shattering the technique crystal."

Layla gasped.

"Wow! That sounds so cool!"

Apollo rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"I guess."

Suddenly, he froze.

Apollo turned to Layla with a serious expression.

"Hey."

Layla's furry ears twitched.

"Yeah?"

Apollo cleared his throat.

"...Do you want to spar?"

Layla smiled brightly.

"Ah, you mean play?"

The corner of Apollo's lip twitched.

"...Sorta?"

He understood that he was essentially putting his life on the line for no real reason considering how unfairly strong Layla was. However, Apollo wanted to familiarize himself with the technique in a real fight.

And it just so happened that Layla was the most convenient person to fight with.

Apollo wouldn't have normally done this, as he was a bit afraid of getting hit by Layla. However, the technique gave him a certain amount of confidence.

Layla's tail swayed enthusiastically, letting out soft jingles from the bell attached.

"What does friend want to do?"

Apollo looked around himself.

"Well, first... we have to find a better place than this."

With that, he stepped into the shadow world. After taking a few steps, he left it, reappearing in the real world.

He was in the middle of the forest, and Layla came through from a crack of space right next to him.

Layla eagerly walked up to Apollo with her hands clasped together.

"Do we play now?"

Her beady eyes seemed to glow with how excited she was.

Apollo's eyelid twitched.

He didn't make a mistake in asking for this, right?

"Second... we will have rules on how we play."

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"Mm? What is that?"

Apollo rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. He thought up of what to say as he went along.

"Whoever can... hit the other is the one that wins. ...After that, we stop fighting."

Layla tilted her head to the side.

"So first to touch the other wins?"

Apollo nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Layla smiled.

"Ok!"

Without warning, she pounced forth, reaching out to touch Apollo. Just when the tips of her fingers were about to touch Apollo's skin, he vanished.

Apollo reappeared with a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

This girl... had no honor!

He had reappeared behind Layla, then swung at her. Yet, like she had eyes in the back of her head, she dashed forth, getting out of range entirely.

Layla twirled around, making her long purple hair lift into the air. She covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers and giggled.

"Hehe, I'm going to win!"

Apollo twisted his neck eerily as a smile slowly spread across his face.

"...We'll see about that."

Two bangs echoed at the same time.

Apollo and Layla bolted towards each other, each creating their own miniature crater at their take off point. The snow listlessly falling through the air suddenly recoiled back, while the tree leaves let out violent rustling sounds.

Apollo stuck out his bokken like a rapier. In a head on clash, he had the advantage of extra range because of the extra length his bokken brought.

However, Layla had her own advantage, her excessive physical strength.

Apollo left trails of lighting in his wake, approaching the speeds of a thunderbolt itself. However, Layla was able to easily step to the side, out of the way of Apollo's bokken.

It was as though Apollo was moving in slow motion in relation to her.

Then, she swiped her claw towards Apollo's torso.

However, before Layla's attack could land, he disappeared.

Less than a second later, he appeared at Layla's side.

Apollo's bokken flashed.

Yet, so did Layla.

Apollo's eyes gradually began to widen, while Layla began to giggle more cheerfully.

Their battle was only beginning.

But now, the warm up was over.