Meeting a Beauty Sitting On a Rock

"Hah! Haah! Hah!"

"Just five more reps!" Anthony shouted as he carried a humongous bag over his shoulders, jogging along the road as he took a deep breath at each step.

He was currently running ten laps around the military camp, and he had just finished his fifth lap after 1 hour of running.

"Fuck I'm tired!" Anthony whispered in between his breaths as he ran up the hill on the road.

Even though he was travelling on a road, he was currently surrounded by bushes and trees in the area where the hill was situated. Military scouts sat on top of this hill as they observed the camp and borders of Kron.

There were in towers as the bored soldiers played cards while neglecting their duty of keeping watch of the border.

The guards didn't really pay attention during the nighttime. After months of scouting, they were already adept enough to know that a beast army was very visible to the naked eye, despite the darkness during the night.

The beasts were also very audible whenever they arrived. They would roar and screech moments before attacking the camp, alerting the guards and dying before even taking ten steps towards the gates of the camp.

With these clear signs of attacks from the very, stupid beasts, the soldiers became complacent in their duties and decided to play cards to pass the time of the night.

Anthony was the furthest away from the main camp as he reached the hill. It was quiet, and the annoying lieutenant couldn't see him stopping for a few minutes whenever he tried to take a break

'That lieutenant acting all high and mighty just because of his status. Hmph!' Anthony thought as he scoffed in his head while his heart had a shred of fear towards the lieutenant.

Anthony and his two friends already knew about the hatred the lieutenant had for them.

It was very palpable to the trio since the first day they saw him.

Anthony had tried arguing with Lieutenant Cleatus a few times, but he would just get bruises all over his body whenever he spoke up. After a few attempts at reason and many bruises, Anthony stopped arguing and decided to try and not get on the lieutenant's bad side whenever he saw him.

But in the end, he was very unlucky. Why did he complain right behind the lieutenant, goddamnit!

At this thought, he finally decided to damn it all!

"I quit!" Anthony shouted in frustration and exhaustion when his eyes suddenly shifted towards a beautiful figure a short distance away from him.

A young woman with slender legs and bountiful mounds sat on a rock as her bottom pressed against its surface. She had dark blue hair, along with strands of white as it seemed to symbolise the moon and the night sky along with her eyes that radiated a bluish-violet that shimmered with moonlight like a star in the night sky. Her visage was a thing of beauty as they seemed to be carved out of the purest of marble and hair made from the softest of silk. She seemed to radiate an aura of purity along with infatuation. Any man that saw her wouldn't be able to resist the urge of taking her for their own.

And, Anthony wasn't any different.

'She's gorgeous...' Anthony thought as he looked at the mystical, almost heavenly figure before him with wide eyes as he tried to keep his heart under control.

He tried his best to take away his gaze from the goddess, but at every single attempt, he made it only seemed to exasperate his condition as every failure to take his eyes away only brought more infatuation and desire in his being as he looked at the young woman with locked eyes.

Anthony soon stood up and decided to walk towards this gorgeous woman while fully indulging in the sight sitting before him.

But after he reached a close enough distance to be able to speak, she suddenly turned towards him and looked at the man before her perplexed.

"Who are you? I've never seen anyone else come to my private spot before?" The woman said as she looked at the man before her with unease.

Anthony seemed to snap out of his stupor as he waved his arms around wildly trying to make up a sentence and explain himself.

"Wait, wait! I'm just here on a punishment. You see, I'm supposed to run around the entire camp with this humungous bag on my shoulders," Anthony said as he pointed at the very noticeable bag behind his back with a thumb.

The goddess seemed to have calmed down as she took a deep breath and sighed in relief.

"That's fine then. If no one else knows this place, then I can be at ease," The young woman said as she seemed to have relaxed after Anthony's words.

She took her time of respite for only a short moment before she looked at the man's eyes once again as she asked another question.

"So, what did you do to get this kind of punishment? You don't seem like a criminal with your soldier uniform, but your punishment seems a bit too... heavy, let's just say, for any normal punishment," She asked as she stared at the comically large bag behind the young man's back.

"Oh, you're right. This isn't a normal 'punishment' and this torture is definitely too heavy for the little thing I did," Anthony said as he looked to his side with an annoyed expression as he gave a rebellious scoff.

"But, why are you here my lady?" Anthony asked the young woman as he tried to flatter the girl.

The young woman seemed to notice his attempts at flirting as she giggled at his silly remark.

"Young lady~ Fufufu, I'm no 'lady'. I'm just a common girl trying to live her life," The young woman said as she giggled at the young man as she turned her head to her side.

"But I'm currently hiding away from the world. As I sit here alone," The young woman said before she looked at the man to her side.

"Well, when I 'used' to be alone," The young woman said as she gave a beautiful smile to Anthony.

Anthony stared at the young woman as if he was smitten. He couldn't take his eyes off her figure and smile for even a moment. He wanted to know who she was desperately after this short interaction.

"My name is Anthony. What's yours?" Anthony said as he gave a confident smile to the girl.

The young woman gave a small giggle as she gave her name as well.

"I can't believe you only decided to ask my name now," She said as she continued to laugh for a little while longer.

"My name is Mari. Nice to meet you," She said as she extended her hand toward Anthony, who didn't hesitate to take it and kiss it on his lips.

Mari acted like she was blushing as she took her hand away from Anthony and started stuttering.

"W-why did you kiss my hand! I gave it to you to shake it..." She said as her voice seemed to fall off towards the end of her sentence. She played with her hair as she looked to the side with a red face.

Anthony seemed to have made a fist bump in his mind as he looked at Mari's blushed face with a satisfied smile. This was good progress in seducing this goddess before him.

Too bad, this woman wasn't like any other woman.

Mari seemed to have come out of her stupor as she gave a peak at Anthony's heavy bag and asked a question in worry.

"What kind of punishment are you doing? That bag is certainly too much to carry. You might get injured," She said as she looked into Anthony's eyes with worry.

Anthony seemed touched as he wiped his eyes with a sleeve.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just have to luggage this around for another five rounds before I'm free of this punishment," Anthony said as patted the bag behind his back with a strained smile.

Mari seemed to notice his pained expression as she looked at Anthony with increased worry. She pinched her chin as she seemed to have come up with a thought and a solution that could help Anthony.

"Anthony, can you come near me," Mari said as she used her hand to hither Anthony towards her.

Anthony became curious at Mari's sudden action, so he listened to her as he came close to Mari enough distance for them to touch.

"Bring your ear towards me," She said as she did the same 'come hither' motion as before.

Anthony listened and got closer as he brought his ear near Mari as he waited for her to say something.

But suddenly, he felt a kiss on his cheek!

Anthony quickly stumbled back in surprise as he fell down. The bag fell off his shoulders as he fell on his bottom and seated himself on the floor.

Mari blushed as she looked at Anthony with a courageous gaze. She looked at the young man beneath her as she gave a promise.

"Look, if you do this round, then I'll give you a small present," She said as she pointed to her cheek with a blush.

"So go and finish your punishment. I want to talk a bit longer with you,"

After speaking, Mari quickly turned her head to the side as she seemed to hide her embarrassed expression from Anthony, who was currently looking blankly at Mari in concealed shock.

Anthony shook his head and gave a small cough as he cleared his throat.

"Okay, If you keep your promise then I'll run another round," He said as he picked up the heavy bag from the floor and prepared himself to run another lap around the camp.

"Un, I'll be waiting," Mari nodded as she saw her man walk off into the distance.

Anthony turned around with a smile and waved his hand to Mari before he started jogging toward his next destination.

As Anthony jogged away, Mari suddenly gave a big smile as she looked at Anthony's strong back and mischievous smile.

She couldn't help but think:

'Cute...'