Slayer: I Kill All Dragons For Power

The burning in my shoulders only continues to grow stronger as I force myself through another swing.

Whoosh. Again. Whoosh.

I don’t even know how many times I’ve swung the sword anymore.

Three hundred maybe? I lost track quite some time ago since I didn’t see the point in stopping. The dragons aren’t stopping just because I’m training.

Sweat slowly drips down my forehead before falling into the grass beneath me, even my breathing has become heavier than before.

I lower the wooden sword for a brief moment before taking a deep breath.

"I thought I told you one hundred," Ash says from behind me.

I glance over my shoulder.

"You did," I reply while hunched over.

"So why are you still going?" She asks.

I look back at the open field.

"Because one hundred doesn’t feel like enough," I answer honestly.

Silence follows for a few moments.

Ash doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, I hear her footsteps slowly make their way over.

She stops beside me before looking out across the field.

"I’ve seen people like you before," Ash says softly.

I didn’t really expect her to say that. Then again, isn’t she older than me? Not that it is obvious or anything... She looks young.

Nonetheless it catches me by surprise.

"You have?" I ask curiously.

She nods.

"They all wanted strength as quickly as possible," Ash answers while crossing her arms.

"Did they get it?" I ask while standing back up properly.

"They got stronger," Ash answers.

My expression softens slightly.

"But..." I say.

"They also forgot why they picked up a sword in the first place," She replies.

Her answer lingers in my mind.

How could anyone forget something like that? Unless she is referring to something completely different than what I’m thinking.

"I won’t," I say with a serious tone.

I answer almost immediately as I tighten my grip around the handle again.

"I’ll never forget them," I continue on with a bit of anger in my voice.

"I believe you. Just know memories alone won’t win you a fight," Ash speaks without any sort of hesitation.

She steps in front of me before raising her own wooden sword.

"Again, but this time don’t think about killing anything," She instructs.

With that I straighten out my feet and immediately raise my sword.

But I end up staring back at her for a moment because I don’t know what I should think about.

"What do I think about?" I ask curiously.

"Nothing," Ash answers instantly.

I blink.

"Nothing?" I question with confusion now in my voice.

"Just swing," Ash responds as she turns away.

I don’t think I can just swing a sword without thinking about everything that happened to my home and my family.

Ever since I picked up this sword every swing has carried the image of dragons, the burning village, my father’s body, and even Xareth.

Those thoughts are always there as if they won’t ever go away, no matter how hard I try.

I slowly lift the sword again and take a deep breath.

Swing.

Whoosh!

In a way, it kind of feels different from how I was swinging the sword earlier.

"Again," Ash instructs.

I begin to swing the sword over and over again until I can finally understand why it feels so different.

Eventually I stop paying attention to everything around me as I focus on the motion of the sword.

And for a few moments everything else seems to just disappear.

It is only me and the sword.

"Better," Ash says quietly.

I stop swinging before looking toward her.

I didn’t think she’d tell me that it was better yet since it was only a couple of decent swings at best.

"Was it really?" I ask with a serious tone.

"Yes. You aren’t just swinging with anger and you aren’t trying to overpower the sword anymore," Ash explains.

She walks over before taking hold of the wooden sword and demonstrates another simple swing.

No wasted movement, no unnecessary strength, just a clean strike through the air.

"Watch carefully," She instructs.

She repeats the motion.

Then once again. Every swing looks exactly the same, not a single movement changes.

"Consistency, that’s what you’re missing," Ash says.

"I thought power would matter a lot more," I reply while looking down at the handle of my sword.

"It does, but power without consistency is unreliable," Ash explains with ease.

She hands the sword back to me.

I don’t really know what else to say at the moment because everything is still so new to me.

She walks several steps away before turning back toward me.

"Your next lesson is to swing that sword fifty times in the exact same manner without it being different. This is about consistency," Ash speaks loud enough for me to hear her.

"Swing the same way repeatedly. Got it," I mumble to myself.

I stare at her for a few moments before I slowly raise the wooden sword once again.

This is definitely something I’m capable of doing... Just need to take a breath and begin.

Swing!!!

I immediately realize my arm traveled a little farther than before.

Again.

This time my wrist twists differently and the blade ends slightly lower.

"This is annoying," I mutter.

Ash folds her arms.

"It should be. If mastering a sword was easy then we’d have a lot more problems than dragons," Ash replies.

I let out a quiet sigh before trying again.

Swing!!!

I repeat the process over and over again as the movements begin to feel a bit more natural than before.

It isn’t perfect but it is definitely a lot closer than how I was swinging earlier on.

"You’ve improved pretty quick," Ash speaks up.

Ash’s voice breaks my concentration and immediately I lower the sword.

"It doesn’t feel like I have," I say with disappointment in my voice.

"Learning what you are doing wrong is the most important part of the whole thing," Ash replies with a small smile on her face.

That smile alone tells me that she isn’t being cruel or looking down on me, she is reminding me that I’m human.

Mistakes are something we all have to learn from, otherwise we don’t improve. I didn’t really think about it like that.

Now, after swinging this sword around today... I understand that I definitely wasn’t swinging the correct way at all yesterday. Even earlier today I didn’t swing it properly whatsoever.

Maybe it really is improvement after all.

Ash looks toward the sky for a brief moment.

"The sun is starting to go down," Ash mentions.

I follow her gaze.

I didn’t even notice how much time had passed.

"I guess we really have been out here all day," I respond while lowering the sword completely.

"We have. Let’s head back for now," Ash says as she turns around.

"We’re done?" I question.

"You’ve been working hard all day, it is time for a break. You earned a proper reward," Ash answers as she walks ahead.

I tilt my head.

"What?" I question with some confusion in my voice.

"A proper meal," Ash says before letting out a small chuckle.

"That’s my reward..." I mutter.

"You’ll appreciate it once you start training every day," Ash assures me.

Maybe everything is not entirely as bad as it once was. I don’t know where my path leads or where it ends... But I will do my best to kill all of these damn dragons.

I won’t let all this training from Ash be for nothing... Not ever.

I smile slightly as we finally reach the shack.

Besides, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without her or the elder. I’m starting to feel like I’m capable of doing something... Instead of feeling like I’m useless.

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