It went back to when Hellfire was finding its feet and the rules had just been established. Back then, the soldiers had faithfully observed their one day off.
But many of the cavalry were refugees with no families. They had nowhere to go on their day off and preferred to stay in camp. With nothing else to do, they trained as usual.
The cavalry who had families or enjoyed their time off couldn't stand it once they found out. The sound of their comrades having fun was easy enough to enjoy; the sound of them training kept them tossing and turning all night.
Soon, even the cavalry with families stopped going home on their day off. At most, they went back for a quick visit in the morning, or chatted with their families over the camp's high wall before running back to train.
After all, turning 250 ordinary people into Professionals in a year was a remarkable achievement anywhere. It could only have been forged through sweat and exhaustion.
The officers couldn't see what good less training would do. But if the other squads were no longer sneaking out to train in the middle of the night, they had no reason to keep competing.
They had worried that cutting back would slow their progress. Instead, after a few days, several soldiers reached the threshold of becoming Professionals.
Whether the Mage Tower was right or a balance of work and rest was the answer, they couldn't say. Either way, the captains and Centurions who had been getting soldiers up to train secretly in the dormitories at dead of night couldn't sit still. They ordered everyone to be asleep by midnight. Anyone who stayed up wouldn't be allowed to sleep during the day either... No, they wouldn't be allowed to train during