The Moonlight Swordsman

The taxi then came to a halt in front of the park. The same young man dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans exited the vehicle and walked towards the park, his face expressionless.

The young man walked and walked till he came to a chair in which to settle. He sat there, aware of the stares he was receiving.

It was nighttime, and there were some folks there for an after-dinner walk, some parents, and some couples having fun.

The young man's phone suddenly rang, and when he realized it was Irene's call, he paused for a while before answering.

"Hello, Aizel. Are you okay? I spoke with Dr. Shelly, and she explained the issue to me: You don't need to worry; you may call me at any moment if you don't feel well; don't worry about the state you're in right now; and I can also help you get some freelancing projects, okay." Irene sounded sincere as she spoke.

"Thank you, Irene; I'll call you tomorrow since I'm exhausted right now." Aizel spoke.

"Well, goodnight." Irene said, and Aizel hung up without responding.

Aizel pulled the cigarette box from his back pocket, took one out of it, and lit it up.

He smoked while calmly gazing at the skies. The passerby gave a brief glimpse towards him as he smoked. Aizel took a deep breath and exhaled the smoke in the air, watching the smoke dissipate and disappear in the sky.

Aizel closed his eyes and was lost in the moment, undisturbed by any outside influence.

Then, it began to rain, and everyone in the park began to run towards their homes. Nobody expected it to rain so abruptly, and neither did the weather forecast. Aizel was not phased by the sudden rain and continued to sit there peacefully in the rain while smoking.

The rain soaked his clothes and hair as he smoked, and no one could tell if he was crying.

"Am I going to be alone for the rest of my life?" On taking another puff, Aizel spoke slowly.

"Is this going to be my life, without a single moment of happiness?" Aizel rose up and looked up at the sky, rain pouring down on his face.

"At least I had fun fighting Larisa; that was the best moment of my life."

*****

Aizel returned to his apartment while changing clothes and turning on the television to watch anime. While he enjoyed watching his favourite shows, Aizel could not help but think back on the fight with Larisa and the moment that made him feel truly alive.

He gave his katana a brief glance before shaking his head. "I don't even know how to return to that world." Aizel let out a sigh.

He had to acknowledge that even though his life was continually in danger, he had never experienced such excitement, exhilaration, grief, fury, and the rush of killing his opponent in just a week there.

"I was drunk beside the lake near the cliffside. Perhaps there is a teleportation portal or something like that there. Shall I go and investigate?"

"Absolutely, I should, because if there is a teleportation gateway or something that connects both worlds, there is a risk that people from the other side will come here."

"That would be too risky." Aizel convinced himself and went for the lake.

He arrived after a half-hour and discovered that the beer can from which he drank was still there.

"How should I find the gateway to that world?" Aizel looked everywhere near the lake but couldn't find anything.

"Should I try to detect mana here?" Aizel attempted to concentrate while sensing mana here but failed. "It appears that mana is not present in this world."

After an hour, Aizel gave up and realized he wouldn't be able to locate anything here. "It's already past my bedtime; I should go back and sleep."

Aizel returned to his home and immediately returned to his bed. As he slept, he imagined his battle with Larisa and everything else the world has to offer there. "I truly want to go there," Aizel mumbled to himself in his sleep.

And just like that, the night had passed and the sun had risen again in the sky.

But there was still darkness surrounding Aizel as he opened his eyes to find himself next to Larisa's decapitated body. He screeched and abruptly moved away from the corpse.

There were still some flames in the woods at the fireplace, and while the light from the flames was dim, it was enough to view the corpse.

"I spent all night trying to figure out how to reach this world, but I just arrived like that without doing anything near that bitch corpse." Aizel was still angry after seeing her corpse.

Aizel took a deep breath and approached the corpse. He pulled the ring from her finger on her right hand after a quick glance.

"This had to be some kind of magic ring or storage ring; should I try it?" Aizel pondered while directing the mana towards the ring when a separate dimension appeared in his mind filled with potions, clothes, food, water, and silver and gold money.

"Damn, this bitch is rich; I struck gold." Aizel was overjoyed as he kissed the ring. "It appears like I obtained the loot by slaying an enemy, hehehe."

"I am finally back."