Chapter 56: An Army on the March
Jack wiped sweat off his brow as he continued to march forward. After their first victory, the army did not have much of a break. Time was off the essence, and so they continued to march forward to their next objective.
Every morning, he would wake up and eat a small breakfast before the whole army would gather up and begin their march. The march was quite monotonous as they were essentially walking through large stretches of empty land. There were no people anywhere around them as they had all been driven away or killed by the demons. They didn't even have the fortune of having good scenery either, as most of the land had been trampled by the horde of demons. So, he had to put up with an unending view of desolate, empty land.
The situation was made worse by the fact that not only was the march boring, it was also extremely tiring. This issue was a particularly bad one for the army because many of the riflemen, including Jack, had been taken from their training before it was complete. Even though they had enough ability to use a rifle acceptably, they were still lacking in endurance and physical ability. So, the pace was somewhat slower than that of an army of experienced regulars who would both have the strength and the will to continue forward. However, considering the strain that the current army was going through, by the end of the campaign they would be up to standards.
Jack felt increasingly tired as the army moved forward. He could tell that his comrades weren't much better off. They too were feeling exhausted by the daily marches. However, none of them were dumb enough to start voicing their complaints out in the open. So, they all kept their mouth shut and tried their best not to let it show.
When the order was given to stop and take a break for lunch, Jack almost collapsed in relief. His spirits immediately lifted as he would now be able to take a break from the tiring march. Then, his spirits fell again when he realized that after lunch they would have to keep on going.
Jack and his friends gathered and sat down in a circle to begin eating. They wouldn't be making any fires as lunch was not meant to be a long event. There would be no cooking involved and instead they would be eating prepared food like bread. Unlike dinner, lunch did not have the same priority attached to it.
Still, everyone took this opportunity to finally be able to sit down and rest their legs. As they were eating, Jack and his friends chatted with one another. One man was bragging about how he had a beautiful wife that he was going to return home to. Many of the others were very jealous as they were still single. However, soldiers were quite popular amongst the women so the single soldiers had high hopes of finding someone.
Throughout all of this, Jack was rather distracted. Rather than focus on the conversation with his fellow soldiers, his attention was directed elsewhere. He was gazing wistfully at an adjacent group, in particular looking at a certain woman. It was the blond haired witch that had so enthralled him in the previous battle. He couldn't help but admire her but being far too scared to approach her, he could only look on from a distance.
Then, one of his friends, Lop, spoke to him. "Hey bro, what are you looking at?"
Jack quickly broke out of his trance. "Nothing", he replied.
"Nothing?" A large grin appeared on Lop's face. "That sure didn't seem like nothing. It looks to me like you were staring at that group of ladies over there."
Now, the other soldiers began taking an interest in Jack, and he blushed as he realized that so much attention was being focused on him.
"That looks like a yes", Lop said teasingly. "So, which one do you like?"
Jack fidgeted around nervously. The other soldiers began pressuring him to tell them, as they all became very interested in the topic.
Eventually, Jack conceded and told them. "It is that blond one sitting over there. The one between the two short ones."
All of the soldiers quickly turned around and looked in interest. "Aye, she is a fine one", Lop said. "So, you like her don't you? Why don't you go up and talk to her?"
"I am too scared", Jack replied.
"Come on, she is a real beauty", Lop said. "Don't miss your chance. Talk to her."
Lop and the others began trying to encourage him to go, but his fear was holding him back. Then, the order was given to resume their march. Jack was relieved to have finally gotten out of it as he began to march forward. His relief quickly faded once he realized he would have to march for hours.
During the march, Jack couldn't help but take glances at the woman. After his friends had said so much, he couldn't get her out of his mind. The distraction helped a bit, taking his mind off of his exhaustion as they continued to march. However, a few of his friends caught him taking glances and though they were too tired to talk a lot during the march, Jack knew that the reckoning would come later.
Finally, the army had finished their march for the day and was instructed to start setting up the tents and cooking the food. Jack buried himself into his task of setting up the tents but once he was finished and it was time to go eat, he would have to face his friends.
"So, I heard that you were taking glances at that lady while you were walking", Lop said. "It looks to me that you really like her. She is right there, you have a perfect chance right now"
"I can't do it", Jack said. "She is a beautiful, powerful witch and I am just an ordinary soldier. She is totally out of my league. I doubt she wants anything to do with an ordinary person like me."
"Hey, witches weren't given such ascendant positions just a few years ago. Back then they were seen as the lowest of the lows", Lop reminded him. "I don't think they would have became high and mighty in such a short time frame now that they are important. Remember, they are still a person, just like you."
"I suppose", Jack said.
"Well then get on it", Lop said. "What do you have to lose?"
After much encouragement from his friends, Jack finally gathered up the courage to walk over and approach the witch. She was sitting with a bunch of other witches.
When he walked over to them, they all looked at him with interest. He went up to her and said, "Hello, my name is Jack. May I ask what your name is, fine lady?"
The other witches started giggling and Jack blushed. "I just made a fool of myself", he thought to himself. The blond witch looked at Jack silently. She was totally shocked by what had happened.
Finally, she collected herself. "My name is Meera", she said nervously. "It is nice to meet you."
"I…" Jack panicked as he realized he didn't know what to say. His mind was filled with terror as he realized he was about to botch everything.
"Hehe." A short girl with red hair sitting next to Meera began giggling. "I think he likes you, Meera."
"Likes me?" Meera's face flushed until she became as red as a tomato. "What are you saying Nina. How could a handsome soldier like him be attracted to me."
Jack was quite shocked. He didn't think that this tall imposing lady was actually so shy. She even thought he was handsome. After taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he replied. "It is true. I think you are very beautiful."
Meera was silent for a moment. Then, she spoke quietly. "Really? You think I am pretty?"
"Definitely", Jack said with confidence. "When I first saw you in the battle, it looked like you were a goddess descending on the world. You were amazing. What is your ability?"
Meera was quite embarrassed when Jack began praising her. "My ability lets me control the air. I killed the demons by compressing it to reduce the surface area which will increase the pressure of the hit. It also increased the density of the attack and gave it some mass to slice through."
"I thought what you did was amazing", Jack said. "You must be the strongest witch there is!"
"No", replied Meera. "I only got my abilities a little over a year ago. There are plenty of witches much more powerful than me. You just haven't seen them yet."
"Well, you will always be the one I admire most", said Jack.
After Jack left, all of the other witches went into a flurry of excitement as they began to talk.
"Wow, you are very lucky", Nina said. "That guy looked very good. Why do you get a big strong guy but nobody wants to approach the rest of us?"
Everyone began talking about the merits of Jack and what kind of person they thought he was. Meera remained silent, still lost in thought. She was quite attracted to Jack as well. She never had the confidence in herself and was surprised that someone like him would like her. She really hoped that he would come talk to her some more, she really wanted a man like him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone