Throwing open the door, Tan went out into the street. I breathed in the air. -Very dry, he thought. How Athanasius yearned for the rain. Approaching a barrel of water, which stood next to the entrance to the tent, he scooped water into a jug standing there and poured all its contents onto his head. Suddenly, as if waking up from a dream, Tan heard sounds coming from the direction of the forest: singing of birds, rustling of branches. An unknown insect chirped in the grass nearby. And all these sounds reminded him so much of home. Smiling slightly, Tan went to perform his morning ritual.
A few hours later, having heavily refreshed himself, Tan was at the training base, where he checked and supervised the training of his squad.. They weren't the best of the best. But these were the very people with whom Tan wanted to serve and those who eventually replaced his family. Under his supervision, everyone performed the exercises with special zeal, because Tan enjoyed indisputable authority, both among ordinary soldiers and officers. Tan knew that rumors and various tales were circulating in the detachment and beyond about his military exploits. Tan even heard that he single-handedly chopped an entire enemy squadron to pieces. He always found it amusing how from mouth to mouth five people turn into fifty elite thugs. But the skill in working with the sword was not to be occupied by Tan. At the same time, add the speed and mighty strength that he had. And believe me, there are few who would like to measure their strength with him. But nevertheless, from time to time such people were. As a rule, these were battle-hardened wars who wanted to write their names in history. Tan has fought over a hundred such fights. And he was never defeated. Therefore, there have not been many such challenges lately. The last challenge was accepted about two years ago. It was a large Arconian named Egon, who also had the blood of Meinard's people in his veins. Therefore, in physique he was not inferior to Atanasius. However, the battle did not last even one minute. Tan, like no one knew how to read his opponent, and after a little reconnaissance and parrying several blows of Egon's sword, he struck him with a lightning blow with his left hand from below in the jaw. The blow was delivered with such force that Egon's head threw back, and it seemed that it was about to tear off the spine. Needless to say, after that, he fell as if knocked down in the tournament circle, and Tan didn't even lose his breath. The face showed no emotion. He knew this would happen. This has always been the case. After that, Athanasius Mirra stopped taking calls. He even received an offer to go to serve in the guard of the castle of Virgil himself. Who would have thought, the son of a simple blacksmith, would be in the personal guard of the king. But Mirra did not need such work. Although he sometimes didn’t know what he wanted, it was definitely not city life in a warm bed. The army is his home!