Looking at the split scarecrow, Apollo couldn't help but be surprised. "I did that?" He raised the wooden sword to observe it closely. The wooden sword had sharp edges, but they weren't enough to cut into anything unless it was paper.
Apollo glanced at the half scarecrow and then at the sword in front of him.
Suddenly, the earlier scene of a martial student using this scarecrow as a training dummy came to mind. Is it because of him? Apollo frowned.
There was only one way to find out. Apollo turned to the other scarecrows. They were scattered across the training ground, originally numbering ten. Now there were only nine remaining.
He walked to the nearest scarecrow, took a look around to make sure no one was watching, and, finding no one, he attacked the scarecrow with a horizontal slash. He felt the same slight resistance before the sword's trajectory became smooth.
A second or two later, the wind blew in his direction, causing the upper half of the scarecrow to fall to the ground.
Apollo could feel Qi leaving from the fallen scarecrow half.
"Woah!" The beggar exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise… and excitement. "Sh*t, I can do that?"
He thought his attack was weak because it didn't produce much of a 'special effect,' but contrary to his expectation, he could slice this scarecrow that was meant to handle attacks! Even that previous martial student could only make the scarecrow sway from side to side.
Enveloped in excitement, he turned to the other scarecrows, walked to the nearest one, and slashed his sword in a diagonal slash. The top of the scarecrow slid diagonally, falling to the ground with a thud.
Good! Apollo tried another attack on another scarecrow. Stab!
Like cutting tofu, the wooden sword passed through the thick leather filled with Qi that reinforced its whole structure. The beggar pulled the sword out and looked inside the hole, seeing the other side of the training ground with shining eyes.
Filled with exhilaration, Apollo visited each scarecrow and used his sword technique on them.
"Hahaha!" Apollo laughed, seeing the last training dummy fall to the ground split on both sides. Feeling cool and amazed with himself, he raised the wooden sword and put it on his shoulder.
However, the next moment his laughing face turned stiff. He felt a burning sensation on his shoulder. Turning to his right where he placed the wooden sword, he saw blood seeping out from the point of contact.
"What the f*ck?! Ouch!" Apollo cursed in pain. He lifted the wooden sword, and blood gushed out from his right shoulder. Come on, friendly fire?!
He immediately sat down and gathered the Qi around him, guiding it to his right shoulder. The burning sensation was met with a cooling feeling from the Qi, and the beggar sighed in relief.
After a while, the wound stopped bleeding, and it was just a matter of time before it fully closed, though a scar would be left. He would have to use a Health Potion to fully heal everything, including the scars. But with his current Alm points, Apollo didn't want to waste even one of them.
"My back isn't even fully healed yet and I'm injured again?" Apollo muttered in frustration. He raised his right hand and swung it around. Fortunately, the wound didn't affect his ability to move his arm. This also served as a lesson for him not to casually play with sharp objects.
He glanced at the wooden sword on the ground, deep in thought.
"Once an attack is perfected, the sword will no longer be a sword but a tool to use a sword," Apollo muttered the sentence again. "Dull or not, I could use anything to cut anything."
This understanding made him hold the wooden sword once more. He made sure not to do that foolishness again. Just thinking about it made him want to break this sword in two.
"Be good to me because you are mine now," Apollo said to the wooden sword. The wind blew, messing up his hair and clothes. It felt like the sword was answering him.
Although the wooden sword looked sloppy, when Apollo wielded it, it became as sharp as a real sword. He could cut the training dummy even though the other martial students couldn't. Or were they not purposely cutting it? This thought made him glance at the scarecrows on the ground.
"Sh*t, did I mess up?" Apollo whispered, but there was no bitterness in his voice. No one was looking; what should he worry about?
The beggar smiled and was about to place the sword on his shoulder when he stopped midway and immediately pointed the sword towards the ground.
"D*mnit! You almost got me!" Apollo shook his head with a sigh. "I should head back."
Apollo glanced around once more before he walked towards the street that would lead him back. Along the way, he couldn't help but think it would be better if there was someone he could spar with. He wanted to test his strength in a fight and also see the capabilities of the Simple Sword Technique. The beggar had long since 'realized' that the technique was not as simple as the name implied.
Filled with disappointment, he casually walked back.
But the heavens seemed to have heard his wish as, in the next moment, someone shouted from his right. Apollo turned to the sound and raised an eyebrow.
"You are… that guy?" Apollo asked, staring at the thin man with one bridge spectacle placed on his nose. It was a wonder how those glasses hadn't fallen yet.
The thin man wore a black and white uniform with a serpent insignia on the left chest. However, compared to what the beggar had seen from the other martial students from the Great Serpent Martial School, the man's clothes were filled with holes and tears. He resembled more of a beggar than Apollo.
Apollo couldn't remember the thin man's name, probably because no one had mentioned it, but he knew him. It was the same guy he fought on the platform in the middle of this training ground.
"Because of you, I lost it all!" Bernie shouted with a hoarse voice. His eyes were red, and his lips were cracked. "I lost it! I lost it! My life! I was supposed to be among them, the elites!
I was supposed to be looking down on people like you! It's because of you!"