The Quiet Life

Reynold drew his sword and lunged forwards, striking at a wooden dummy and cleaving through its arm. The missing vision in his right eye made his usual stance and attacks awkward and forced him to change. While he was busy training on his own, a group of recruits were entering their final week of training and the wooden dummies in front of them were expected to be turned to wood chips at the end of it all. Another strike interrupted the instructor as the body was cut in half and the legionnaires-to-be looked at him, "Legionnaire, do you mind?" He turned to the instructor and then back to the dummy and spun before hacking both legs off with the full motion of his blade before sheathing it with a graceful movement, pushing his sheath forwards before letting it hang normally, "You finished?" Reynold looked at him then let the equipment managing legionnaires tidy up before turning his back on the instructor and walking away.

"Legionnaire," He noticed Ilbert standing in front of him, "Hello Reynold."

"Hello Ilbert."

"You are training despite the state of your hands and your eye."

"I am," The instructor realized who he had been talking to and then turned to his legionnaires-to-be and then set them off on their tasks, "I am a restless man it seems."

"A good legionnaire, I say, have you read the message?" Ilbert pointed at the message on the younger man's belt, "You will see my opinion of you in there."

"What has become of the 1st shock?"

"Temporary disbanding, we lost a lot of men that night."

"I am only just realizing that, Ilbert, I woke up this morning, unaware of how long it had been," The commander of 1st shock was well known as the best legionnaire around and everyone knew who he was, "I am just trying to keep my mind off of the darker things."

"You slept for 3 days then, a very long time indeed."

"I ate and drank plenty during my meeting with the Dawn Lady."

"I have yet to know what happened in the valley that night."

"The dead ran from me, they fled like cowards into the darkness as I cut into my hands with the grips of my swords against the stragglers I could catch," Reynold replied, "I saw men die, I heard men die, I killed and killed, more dead than I could imagine."

"Only normal to try and get your mind off of those thoughts then," The older man replied, "I shall leave you to your day, let me know if you disagree vehemently with my opinion of you, it was a draft that I will be sending forwards to the Dawn Lady."

"For what purpose?"

"Have you heard of the title 'Hero of the Dawn Legion'?"

"No, Ilbert."

"I deemed that your actions were worthy of that merit, Reynold," He saluted and Reynold mimicked him, "I will be leaving you, I have to attend a council meeting for the redeployment of the legion's forces."

"Very well, I will be seeing you," The two men parted ways with Reynold hearing a sword slip from a recruit's hand and clattering on the floor.

"Pick up your sword," Reynold noticed the sword and stepped on it, preventing the recruit from picking it up, "Legionnaire, I suggest you lift your foot," The instructor snapped. Reynold didn't move, "Legionnaire!" The instructor shouted and got in Reynold's face, "What do you think you are doing?"

"What happens in battle when you lose your sword? Do you scramble for it? Do you ask the dead man trying to murder you to kindly stop and let you get your sword?"

"Your eyepatch tells me that it worked well!" The usual bravado the instructors had made Reynold remember his days in training.

"Sunlight powder caused this, as I mauled the beasts so hard they fled from me," The two men stared at one another and glared, unwilling to back down as the recruits stopped to watch, unable to ignore the spectacle that was the showdown, "If you drop your sword, you use your hands."

"Is that so? Well then, tough guy, you break that damn dummy with your hands!" Reynold lifted his foot and the recruit retrieved her blade.

"Sorry, you will need a new dummy," He approached the dummy and cracked his neck. Never having dropped his sword, he had never put himself in such a position however as a kid he practiced against a tree or father to learn to defend himself and those around him. The recruits gathered around him as he got ready to strike.

Without warning, Reynold sprung forwards and drove his elbow across his body with enough force to break some of the wooden dummy's head and produce a loud crack. He followed up with a second hit and then a third as more cracking came before the head rolled on the ground, cut completely off of the dummy's body.

The instructor nodded his head before shrugging, "When would you ever need that?"

"When your sword slips from your hand and the gaping mouth of the beast is approaching you," Reynold walked away, his hand resting on his sword as a habit of him still being on the front.

"Who was that, sir?" A recruit asked.

"Legionnaire Iver," An equipment-managing legionnaire replied, "1st shock."

"1st shock, " The instructor slowly nodded, realizing the level of legionnaire he had just had in front of him, "Alright, back to work, keep those hands on your blades and your blades in your hands, hop to it!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Reynold kept walking as he looked around the town he had so briefly explored in his stay there before being sent to the frontlines. It was a busy town, with many people working, living and training there.