Dionysus waited for the training to begin.
"General Demeter, why don't we make the training interesting? Let's have a challenge." Dionysus smirked, "why not have men battle me? There aren't many warriors more lethal than I."
"Dionysus, other than the fact that it would make training interesting, I'd rather not lose a bunch of men while we wait for reinforcements." General Demeter barked back to Dionysus.
"Sir, we can use wooden weapons and have you make sure nobody gets hurt." Dionysus sarcastically pouted.
"Fine, we can do it, but if anyone gets hurt more than what's expected. It'll be you who faces the punishment. You'll be sleeping outside of the camp." General Demeter claimed while rolling his eyes.
After sometime of battling and training, Dionysus had yet to be beaten. It wasn't even close. He had bullied everyone that stepped up. Markos even tried to fight Dionysus. He did his best.
"Can anyone defeat 'The Reaper'?" Yelled Markos, albeit, he was a little drunk on wine at this point.
"Me." Huffed General Demeter. Everyone turned as Demeter walked in full gear towards the circle. Most men were shocked, some were excited to see the two best soldiers in the army go at it. Markos took position to make sure it didn't get out of hand. As Demeter entered the circle there was plenty of chatter, most of it seemed to be putting bets on who was going to win.
"Are you sure you want to do this sir? I don't want to hurt you." Mocked Dionysus.
"Don't worry, boy. I just need to humble you." Demeter spat back, "start it Markos."
"Okay..." Markos said hesitantly. "Ready... GO". And with that they began to fight.
The wooden weapons clunked and thuded as Demeter and Dionysus went at it. Demeter was trying his best to throw his best soldier off balance with his weight and power advantage, but Dionysus seemed to be a step or two ahead of Demeter and it was infuriating. It went back and forth and back and forth. Nobody could really tell who was winning and who was losing, many were impressed with how fast Demeter was reacting to the swift strikes of Dionysus. Dionysus himself was stunned, but that was short lived, he could tell Demeter was getting tired. They continued to strike and bash with shields and wooden weapons. Demeter getting extremely frustrated with his inability to defeat Dionysus, grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Dionysus. It had blinded him. And for the first time since Dionysus battled his father, he hit the ground.
Demeter proud of himself for finally defeating Dionysus gasping for more air yelled, "I've defeated our so called 'Reaper', I'm the best soldier still."
"I think not Demeter, I believe you couldn't handle Dionysus so you resorted to dirty tactics." Slurred Markos drunker than hell at this point, "take him on proper."
"TAKE HIM ON, TAKE HIM ON, TAKE HIM ON, TAKE HIM ON..." the army shouted at Demeter.
"Fine." General Demeter said angerly. And with that they began to fight once more, but this time it seemed Dionysus was moving faster than before, Demeter couldn't keep up. It only took a few minutes for Demeter to be put on his ass and look entirely shocked that he was defeated by a lieutenant.
Demeter stood up, and without skipping a beat said, "Dionysus is victorious." And walked away. After a few minutes, while everyone was talking and finishing up exchanging thier proceeds from the betting, General Demeter hollered from his tent, "MARKOS." Everyone shut up, you couldn't even hear their breathing. Markos took the long walk over to General Demeter.
"Sir? What is it?" Markos said extremely hesitantly and slightly slurred.
"One, never again will you talk to me like that in front of the men especially drunk as a fucking mule. Two, I don't think Dionysus is entirely human if at all." General Demeter claimed.
"Wha- what do you mean, sir?" Markos said confused.
"I think Dionysus might be a God. Like Herakles. He doesn't move like you or I should." General Demeter whispered, "I want you to keep an eye on him, watch that malaka like your life depends on it."
"Y- yes sir," Markos said even more confused, "I shall do that." And he walked out of the tent in absolute shock and some terror. "Is my best friend possibly inhuman?" He thought.
"Dionysus, General Demeter wants you in the command tent." The main messenger of the army said.
"I see, thanks Aeson." Dionysus said in return before getting up and walking to the tent. "You wanted me, sir?".
"Dionysus, I told you if anyone got hurt more than expected you'd be the one punished, and someone was." General Demeter remarked while ushering Dionysus closer.
"But who, sir? I can assure you I made sure nobody got hurt." Dionysus said shocked.
"Me, Dionysus. You embarrassed me infront of my men, I should never be put to shame, at least not like that." Barked General Demeter, practically spitting.
"Oh... I'm sorry, sir. It'll never happen again." Dionysus said sternly, "and I assume that means I'm sleeping outside the camp."
"You got it Dionysus." Laughed General Demeter.
Early morning the next day, Dionysus awoke to the sound of birds and the calm serenity of the wind. It was quite peaceful. He still could not seem to figure out who was talking to him, the low toned voice that seemed familiar, but not quite familiar enough for him to determine who it was. Dionysus took time to ponder it. Using some training time for it, he made his way over to the training court in the camp. When Dionysus arrived he was shocked to see Markos and Demeter sparring, unbelievably Markos was holding his own. But Dionysus didn't want to think about it while training with them around, his flawless moves may look flawed, so he took a walk out of the camp and thunk.
"Dionysus, why haven't you trained yet? Why are you just sitting out here?" Asked Markos with a stunned and confused look. "You've been out here for hours since you walked passed General Demeter and I."
"What, oh, uhhh..." Dionysus mumbled to the wind, "just thinking about some things." And without hesitation Dionysus walked away.