Chapter 18: Faded A few days had passed since the caravan arrived. Jerry gave time for the veterans to introduce the new recruits. In total, they had 8500 men with 5000 Infantry, 2000 Archers, 1000 Cavalry, and 500 Mages. The men were better geared than when Jerry first met them. The Infantry and Cavalry had more heavier, and durable armor and a helmet with a faceplate. Archers were given bodkin arrows and extras were placed in the Armory. The Cavalry were given short bows and broad-head arrows. The Mages however were a mystery. Jerry knew that they could use magic, but he didn’t know what. He would ask Scharla, but she was gone along with the rest of the party. They left with the caravan along with the wounded. Jerry was still bitter but had to move on. In war, he couldn’t complain about things that have happened and had to deal with them. He decided to consult with Falk. Maybe he would know a thing or two about the mages. As he entered the command tent, he could see Falk sitting on a chest reading over some paper. “Whatcha lookin at, Falk?” Jerry asked in a casual tone as he snatched the paper from Falk’s hands. “H-Hey! Give that back!” Falk said. “Let me read it first” Jerry said as he held Falk away. As Jerry read the paper, it became apparent that this was a letter. In fact, it had been a letter from Falk’s significant other. Falk, I wish you were back home in my loving arms, embracing me throughout the night Before Jerry could read on, the paper was snatched from Jerry’s hands. “How much did you see” Falk asked as he looked over the paper. “Nothing much. But Falk, you should’ve told me you had a wife. Explains why you ran from Kasune. Thought you were a weak-willed man” Jerry said as he let out a short laugh. “That’s none of your business!” “Anyway, I need to ask something” “What is it?” Falk said as he tucked the paper away in the chest he sat on. “I need to know more about the mages. Specifically, what they can do” “Mages? They can shoot a projectile or bring up a wall of the element they were born as” “Anything else?” “It depends on the mage. Some can launch projectiles that will soon violently explode or penetrate armor. It all depends on the mage and what school they went to.” “Schools?” “Different magic elements have different schools that study them. For example, the fire element has 2 special schools that a person can go to. One specializes in pure damage and the other specializes in control. Of course, one can go to both but that takes significantly large amount of time. “So, most of these men can bring their balls to the walls?” “Uhh, yea” “Most of these guys can just do those two right?” “Yep” “I see” Jerry thought what he could do with that information. Maybe he could layer the elements? “Do the balls fall down?” Jerry asked. “Yes they do” Falk responded “Do they have a small explosion?” “Most do, yes” “Great. Take half of the mages and assign them to the Archers and the other half as a new division as Frontline Rangers. Take a quarter of the archers and put them there as well. Marksmen preferred” “As you wish” “Thanks” Jerry quickly left the tent, wondering what he was gonna do next. He decided to go the canteen since he was feeling a bit peckish. When he arrived, there was a short queue with a 5 men waiting in each of the 3 lines. It seemed wise to get in line before the rest of the men arrived for their lunch. He soon arrived to the front of the lines the queue was fairly quick. The cook took a bowl and poured in what seemed to be potato and meat stew. Jerry took the bowl and thanked the cook before taking a spoon and going to one of the nearby tables. Jerry took off his helmet and set it aside before taking a spoonful of the stew and it was marvelous. Maybe it was the fact that the caravan had arrived and replenished the stocks of the kitchen or the cook was just that talented, but either way the stew was very delicious. Jerry quickly finished the stew and felt a bit disappointed that he had ate it all but quickly cheered up. He got up and returned the bowl and put his helmet back on before wandering around the camp. He soon found himself outside the command tent with the sun setting. He decided to go inside to see what Falk was doing. As he walked in, he found Falk sleeping on his chest. Jerry looked around the tent for something interesting he could do in the mean while until he realized something. The entire army had been dawdling around for the last few days, doing nothing. He had to change that. Jerry shook Falk back and forth multiple times. “Mariah?” Falk mumbled “Is that the name of your lover?” Jerry asked. “C-Commander?” Falk said as he quickly woke up. “Hey. Tell the men we set out at sun break tomorrow” “Really? Why me?” Jerry thought about it for a moment before coming up with a reason. “Because I don’t trust myself doing this. I need you to do it.” “Right” Falk said. He didn’t seem to buy it but decided to go with it anyway. Falk quickly left the tent, leaving Jerry alone in the command tent. Jerry looked around for something to do but couldn’t find anything. So, he decided to take some R&R and take his backpack and go to the northern outskirts of the forest. He picked his backpack up and left the tent. Each step he took on the grass felt nice. It had been a while since he stepped on something other than a dirt road. He settled down near the edge of the forest surrounding the camp and set down his backpack. He took out his phone that was stored near the observation drone as it was charging. He put on some lofi before looking around the forest and finding the fabricator left out. He completely forgot to repack it and put it back in his backpack. He packed the fabricator up, pressing the button and the fabricator collapsing on itself and then turning into a neatly packed box. He placed it in his backpack and just as he did, he heard some rustling in the forest. Jerry quickly reacted by drawing his pistol and aiming where the sound came from. However, Kasune was the one that emerged from the forest instead of a hostile. Jerry holstered his pistol before looking at Kasune and her new armor. “Hello, Jerry. Been a while since we talked” She said. “It’s been 4 days” Jerry responded. “But it felt a little longer. Well, what do you think. Does it look better than my old armor?” Kasune said as she spun around, showing off her entire body. It looked beautiful to Jerry. The chest piece bent very little but had it’s own appeal. The helmet’s mask was placed up and allowed Jerry to see Kasune’s face and it made her look like an angel of death that he wouldn’t mind dying to. In a nutshell, she was beautiful to Jerry. “I think looks marvelous” Jerry said. “I can tell from your thoughts” She said as she gave a small smile. Jerry looked away from her swearing to himself. “We’re setting out towards the Demon Lord’s army tomorrow. Anything you want to tell us?” Jerry asked. “Are you sure you want to do that?” Kasune asked. “Do you have a different idea? I told them in a letter I sent that when I got the men, I’d finish this war as soon as possible” Jerry said. “Then why’d they send the party back?” “I-I” Jerry was at a loss of words. Now that Kasune had brung it up, it didn’t make sense. Jerry was going to lead an assault on the Demon Lord, so why did they withdraw them? “It’s because the think this plan is foolish. They don’t believe that you will succeed” Kasune said. All of a sudden, Jerry felt tired. Numb even. He could feel his mind slipping away as Kasune circled him. He felt tired and his vision soon faded to black. “Mother fucker” Jerry said barely before Kasune stopped in her tracks. “I’m sorry” Kaune said as Jerry’s consciousness faded away and fell with a loud thud as his body hit the ground.