"What was that about, Jamal?" Heskins was the first one to ask while the remaining forces in the area continued to clean up around the perimeter.
"I don't really know. Something felt strange is all I can really say," Jamal continued to stoke the fireplace for the cool night, not adding any more information.
The town of Harler itself was rather busy, as more reinforcements came from the initial camp in the hills for preparation for the subsequent attacks. Counting up their losses and the enemies, the total came to about fifty of their soldiers compared to two hundred of the enemy, mainly thanks to Jamal. Alongside those numbers, their army managed to capture ten members of the Reserve Guard, who were hiding out in the ruins of one of the homes Jamal had yet to destroy. So far, they had Youden's forces on their heels, but the momentum had to continue going for everything to go as planned.
"Whatever it was, that didn't seem like something you would do in any normal encounter I've seen. But you have our thanks." Heskins took note of, as Jamal finished the task and took a quick stretch.
"Yes, you all have been doing very well." another voice joined them, as they saw one of the advisors holding a long piece of paper.
"Of course, it wasn't too difficult." Jamal gave a quick salute that was returned.
Settling down next to them, the advisor began opening up the paper which was revealed to be a map of the entire nation. It was already marked in territory that they'd gained from the last few days, as they still had swaths of land to cross before reaching their first major city. Littered with small towns and villages would likely cause overextending with the number of troops they had currently available and make it harder for more advances as the days progressed.
"As you can see, we're only occupying what's estimated to be about 0.3% of the nation right now, or if we compared that to Beai's resistance where with your help, they managed to control about one percent of Youden's territory. The point I'm trying to make is that the fight is far from over." the advisor informed them, "The nearest city with a population of over 50,000 is still over one hundred miles away from our location. And there's the likelihood of the Reserve Guard increasing the pressure by any means necessary."
The words kept the men silent in thought, as the terms were slowly being processed. While it was true that it was to be expected to get much harder in advancing further inland, no one had really taken into the magnitude of their ambitions. And time itself wasn't on their side either, as the more pressure they brought along with them would only equal more weapons and resources thrown against them. No matter, the heat was now picking up for them and if they utilized it to their best abilities, would nothing stop them from winning.
"Well, I'm not really worried." Jamal finally proclaimed, causing the others to watch what he would say next. "I think Youden deserves what's coming for him, and the people here to remember what they fought for. We will make sure we do not fail!"