Having finally claimed the crazed forest, the second part of Jack's plan had been accomplished.
'It will take a few hours to get back to the mansion, and its already getting dark' Jack thought he was better of heading west while he could still see the black mountain peaks through the tree tops.
He didn't want to accidentally get lost in the woods, so following the forest edge, he could easily find his way home.
[Rare Armor: Crazed Scales. This is a very rare armor made of very strong scales. No iron-made weapons can pierce it.]
Jack withdrew the armor as he walked. A complete set of scaled boots, leggings, chest-plate, long flexible armguards and shoulder guards that looked like the open mouth of a snake.
He decided to change his gear and throw the old half-rotten leather armor away.
As he walked through the forest, any remnants of crazed beasts ran away at the mere sight of him. These scales terrified them.
As the decreasing sunlight hit the armor, the blank-polished scales reflected a brown-red light that made the armor seem as if alive.
Walking uninterrupted and at a quick pace, Jack spend the time checking some things.
[Uncommon Treasure: Crazed Plantation. Description: The fruits from this plantation are densely packed with minerals and vitamins. They can be stored for a long time without rotting and can be harvested every 7 days. Requires 1 square kilometres of empty space.]
'I wonder what kind of fruit this is? But I will hang on to it for now.' Jack had other plans, and didn't intend to expand the black mountain village for now.
Hours later Jack finally saw his 6 meter high stone wall appear before him in the dark.
"My lord! Welcome back, and congratulation with the conquest!" Harken and all the troops bowed to Jack as he entered through heavy wooden gate-doors.
"It's all thanks to you Harken. And Jacko, the troops and all the civilians!" Jack knew that everyone had worked hard for this conquest.
Many troops had lost their lives. Only about 2000 remained of the original numbers. Making his total troops number at about 12.000 when the new batch was completed.
Harken had fought hard, Jacko was wounded and all the civilians had either been cooking, taking care of the monsters, increasing the resources or in some other way made a contribution.
"Harken, as you know, we now have a General Hero. And I no longer require your services in front of the army. Instead I have another use for you. I hereby proclaim you 'Guardian of the Crazed Forest'. The forest base is yours to govern. I will in time create a small village there. You will in essence be Black Mountains first line of defence!" Jack proclaimed this loudly for all to hear.
All the troops cheered for Harken as they had come to respect him as a leader during the last few days. Even the nearby civilians smiled and clapped at this victory promotion for Harken.
Harken was actually relieved by this. He was not cut out to be a commander for an army. He was just a soldier recruit after all.
Harken smiled happily and bowed before his lord. "Thank you lord! I will keep the forest clear and safe for you."
"Take the remaining 2000 trash troops. They are yours now. If you need to replenish, send word to Nisha, she will relay it to me and I will provide. For now your job is to secure all the slain beasts in the forest, hunt and kill any new spawns. They will still appear, but much fever now that we've claimed the territory. Keep the wood-cutters safe. Also, improve the forest base, make it so I can make a village there."
"Understood lord. I will have the civilians cut trees at the base so we can clear a decent area there."
With this Harken took 2000 troops and left for the forest with some civilians carrying lumber axes in tow.
There were still many hundreds of troops from the new batch around the walls and inside the barrack, and Jack ordered the gates to be closed for the night.
"How is he Gynda?" Jack asked as he reached the plateau and saw a host of humans and dwarfs around Fraco.
"He is stable lord. Luckily this female dwarf knew how to treat wounds." Gynda stood up while she answered.
That's when Jack noticed a dwarf who was tending to Fraco's leg. He hadn't realised it was a female. He realised that he could not tell the dwarfs apart. They looked so much alike!
However as he watched her, he noticed that this particular dwarf had a more feminine looking braid in her beard and her fingers were longer and thinner.
But besides this, Jack had to give up. Even a female dwarf seemed more masculine than a human male...
"My lord, I have managed to stop the bleeding with a burning spear head... It won't infest. But it will certainly leave a scar. If only i had some medical herbs, I could treat him right now. But as we lack these, essential items.." She had drawn out and made emphasis on the word 'essential' as if Jack should have already stockpiled such things.
"He will be in bed for at least a week to fully recover." She ended.
'This female dwarf is very bold..' Jack scuffed, he wasn't used to his civilians talking in this manner.
Jack looked at her for a while, and the surrounding civilians held their breath. They had all heard the tone that this dwarf dared to use towards the lord.
"What is your name?" Jack didn't think any more of it, he was tired after such a day. And actually, he was pleased that a civilian dared to push him. He might need such words to keep progressing in the future.
"I'm Dimpa My lord." She didn't even look at him as she answered, she just refocused on the wound as if she didn't care who had asked.
'You might sound like you don't care, but you still called me lord.' Jack noticed this and smiled. Maybe she wasn't a harsh lady dwarf. She just cared very much and currently she was inefficient to treat a strong member of her race. Maybe she felt she was a failure at this moment.
"What kind of herbs do you need to treat him Dimpa?" Jack asked. He was actually prepared to spend huge sums of gold coins to treat Jacko. Having his Hero general bedridden for a week, did not suit his plans. At all.
When Dimpa heard this question and turned to look at him, Jack for the first time saw the genuine care he suspected Dimpa held, when he looked into her eyes.
'Those are kind eyes. Feminine eyes. A female for sure. So that's how you tell the dwarfs apart, you have to look them in the eye...' Jack finally realised this. When looking into the eyes of a female dwarf, one could clearly feel the feminine energy inside.
"I'm not sure my lord. This is a new world I have entered." Now Jack could clearly see the sadness of this dwarf. She genuinely just wanted to help, and felt very useless.
"I will make it a priority. Do what you can for her Dimpa. If you need anything, ask Gynda. I will return when I have found something helpful."
Jack left them behind and grabbed two ready-to-eat bowls as he walked to his mansion.
'The 10.000 trash troops wont be fully summoned before tomorrow afternoon... I need to check-in with Xena and Ramises... The vast grasslands beyond the forest needs to be scouted... I have two treasures that needs to be placed... I need that damn forge!!! The forest camp needs to be populated... The dwarf city-zone needs to be completed...'
Jack walked with these and many more thoughts in his head as he stumbled into Nisha outside his mansion.
"Are you alright my lord?" She came towards Jack with tender steps.
Her lord looked like a prince, clad in mysterious armor that reflected the light from pyre. But he was heavy with worry. She could sense it clearly!
"I'm okay Nisha. Just fatigued." Her lord smiled to her.
But Nisha knew better, having already slept with her head on his chest, she felt a deep connection to him. She no longer felt that she was the master of her own body. She belonged to him. And if he was troubled, it was her finest duty to make him relax.
"Come with me my lord." She left no room for argument as she clasped his hand and almost dragged him to the bathroom.
Jack had actually never used the bath ever since he came to Prime. As the mansion had upgraded, the bathroom now had a large 'roman style' bath that could fit multiple people at once. The faucets that had been implemented was able to produce both hot and cold water and quickly filled the bath with steaming hot water.
While the bath was filling, Nisha continued to undo Jacks armor, piece by piece she removed it and put it neatly in a pile until Jack was standing naked in front of her.
'He doesn't even move a muscle' Nisha thought with a blush, but steadied herself as she continued to undress before him.
With a smile she grabbed Jack, who seemed to have completely lost his bearings, and dragged him into the shower with her.
Nisha pushed herself against her lord inside the bath, it was so deep that her hole chest was submerged. Her breasts hard-pressed against Jacks back.
They stood as such for a while.
Nisha was burning inside. She wanted him to touch her. But she controlled herself and dragged him to the small edge in the sides of the of the bath.
Here she sat down and began to run her fingers and nails over his lords shoulders and chest. She massaged his neck, head, shoulders and back for a long time before he finally spoke.
"Thank you Nisha. I really needed this." Jack was more calm and relaxed than he had ever been before.