Chapter 176: Those with Long swords

The snow had a way of softening sound and sharpening focus; each breath rose in a white plume, each footfall left a crisp print that the wind tried to iron smooth. By the time Orion moved toward the sword lines the sun wasalready high up in the sky.

Everyone had cloaks to shield them from the cold weather but most people had already started discarding theirs, choosing to train while wearing only their clothes. Their faces flushed as they tried to complete the task Orion gave them.

Garron paid attention too. His boots crunched in the packed earth and his eyes, the kind that missed nothing—swept the ranks.

He made this work a little bit easier for Orion, making sure to provide assistance when it was needed.

Orion had just finished with the potential axe bearers although to him, that was a group very well matched. The axe was a heavy weapon but they could use it. Cat for one though lean, has the arms for it. And thebway she had swung it effortlessly when he led her to the weapons rack...perfection.

He moved to the next group and the one that had the most members. He sighed internally but consoled himself with the fact that after this group—those welding longswords—he’d move to the one group where that one woman with her eyes that followed him around, was.

He stopped directly in front of the sword group and looked over them with a calm that drew the chatter into silence.

Orion let the silence sit for a heartbeat. The trainees watched him expectant and unblinking. Most with anticipation. While they rejoiced, Orion counted how many they were internally. He could half ass their training and just pay more attention to Sophia’s group but that would bring up attention which would lead to rumours and then pressure and then everything in between which he wasn’t ready for.

It’s not like there were no rumours now about how much time he spent with Sophia, there was but no one knew that they were romantically inclined now or in simpler terms, together.

There were at least twenty trainees in this group both old and young. With a deep breath, he calmed himself down. The faster he did this, the faster he could get what he wanted.

"The sword is the most common weapon," he said, voice carrying. "It’s flexible. It bends to whoever uses it and that can be a virtue or a weakness."

He paused then continued. "The sword itself is simple. Most people feel it’s just a weapon you swing but it’s more than that. Just like the axe and every other weapon, the sword is what you want it to be."

He reached out and took a wooden longsword from a nearby trainee, testing its weight with a practiced hand. The grain of the ashwood was faintly warm under his glove. He swung it slowly, a practiced arc that cut the air and left a hush in its wake.

"For you guys, well be doing the basics first." he told them. "When wielding a sword, there are three things to put in mind," he said then started listing them off, with each finger.

"First is grip, then stance, and lastly, intention. If any of those three are rotten, the rest are likely to be rotten too."

He set the sword down and began to pace the front of the ranks, the snow catching on his boots.

"I want you divided into pairs. Workfoot to foot. Watch each other’s shoulders, feel each other’s balance. I’ll demonstrate one move: a bound, a turn, and a cut. Don’t worry, it’s not a fast move or anything."

He moved fluidly, showing the motion: the weight back in the feet, the transfer, the guid of the off hand, the follow-through. He then repeated the movement in exaggerated, obvious beats so the ones with less experience could see the torsion, the angles, the rhythm.

"Most of you have handled swords," Orion said when he finished. "You know how to swing, right?" He asked them. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Yes." They replied to him.

Orion nodded. "This move will tell me whether the sword belongs to you, or you to it or if you belong to each other and just so you know, if you call into any category except the last, then you’ll have to search for another weapon that will suit you." He let his words settle before speaking again.

"Break into groups."

They broke into groups with the clumsy eagerness of people who’d waited a long time for a chance. Snow flew up as boots adjusted, voices dropped into businesslike tones. Orion went to work.

He watched one pair, corrected a foot angle, nudged a back shoulder, and adjusted a grip so a wrist would stop collapsing on impact. He moved directly to another, demonstrating how to keep the blade’s edge in the same plane during a parry avoid the lazy arc that makes you predictable.

When a trainee over-committed, he used a phrase that had the ring of warning and the comfort of truth: "Control your reach. Your blade is a promise; don’t make promises you can’t keep."

Garton was busy with the other groups so Orion was alone for now. He crouched down to check stances, making warriors repeat the essentials until their lines hummed the same way. "Breathe through your steps," he said to a young man who was jerky and loud. "Noise burns stamina."

Orion drifted among them like a tide, his corrections precise, rarely more than a few words at a time. He praised the right feet, the mindful guard, and clipped the slack by asking pointed questions: "Why pull your elbow like that? What are you protecting with that stance? Name the flaw." The trainees answered, learned, and practiced.

He sent some to try other weapons, an older trainees for example was sent to use the axe. He looked at Orion in shock but Orion assured him there was a reason why, explaining how the trainee’s grip fits that of an axe hence why he’s never been able to fully use the sword. The trainees nodded and moved to the axe bearers.

One more was sent to try the bow and arrow. Another to try the spear.

Orion observed them with a keen eye as he moved. Near the middle, the same blonde haired woman caught his eye.