《the battle logs of the formation mage (hiatus)》


 An Exceedingly Stupid Chase (log 001)

    Hello, hello is this thing working? I am not sure if now is the best time for me to be doing this, but one shouldn''t look a gift horse in its mouth, I guess.


    Right now, there are strings of mana that are linking me to every formation in this room. This gives me absolute control over this airship. Not that I am sure if there will remain a ship though the way things have been going


    Behind me are at the moment, three pirate ships that are trying to board onto our ships. If I were to go based on a general estimate, each ship behind me should have at least fifty soldiers.


    Thankfully they seem to be much slower than us. Granted I am not sure if I can maintain our speed for much longer. any second now, the propulsion formation will start failing and we all will plummet to the ground. From this high, even If the suspension formation is working (which is a big if, trust me) it won''t be enough to stop the ship from being shattered.


    This ship does not have any useful defenses at this point, making me feel quite defenseless. Thankfully the enemy ships also do not have any method of attack. It also seems to be that these people are using very crappy ships. Any pirate with a better ship would have boarded us already.


    I have to assume that these ships are battering rams. It is slang among the pirates for very cheap ships that barely run. They can only attack you by ramming your ship head on. In this process both ships are destroyed, so it is a rarely used methods. This guys only seem to have battering rams though.


    Their presence doesn''t make too much sense to me. Pirates are bad for business, especially bad ones. The people guarding this path would be hunting these battering rams for sport. For them to exist in such quantities doesn''t bode well for me.


    for now though, I have to outrun these bunch of boarders. This I have to do while making sure that my ship does not end up destroyed in the process. With a standard ship, this would have not been a problem, but with this ship the chances are looking quite slim.


    Even now, I can feel the ship break apart in my hands. Any moment now the propulsion formation will fail the way that it is vibrating in my hands. If that happens we will fall to the ground without the pirates even needing to do anything. Can you imagine the scenario, of us losing to pirates because our ships failed before theirs?


    It is only my familiarity with this formation, considerable skill on my part (hey, i accept any challenge) and a lot of luck that we are still running. Even now, I am weaving through the sky trying to make sure that the damn ships do not get their hooks into us.


    To get some theory aside, What is called a hook is nothing but a harpoon. Granted, it is enchanted to make sure that once it enters into the opposite ship it will not be quite impossible to remove them. All ships have them due to their many and diverse uses and the pirates have been quite creative with theirs. I angle down the ship to dodge another hook flying above us.


    Once the hook enters the ship the enemy will be trying to board . individually they are not very strong but the other side has like fifty people per ship. When you have a crew that can be counted on a single hand, you do not fight, you run regardless of how strong you are. Even if you can take on ten of these soldiers for sport, you do not want a fight to the death with a hundred of them. That would be such a pointless endeavour.


    Fuck, pirates are not supposed to be this persistent. We have been chased for about half an hour and that is leading to very serious worries about the durability of my ship. I can''t even slow down to let the ship cool because then these guys won''t even need to use hooks to board us. We are dealing with battering rams after all.


    Thankfully at the very least I don''t think that they will be doing this for a very long time. I don''t know why they are after us in the first place. Our ship is quite crappy, even if I do not like to admit it. Now that things are slowing down a bit, it is Time to get this log started properly.


    Honestly, I should have gotten started on this particular log nearly a month ago. That is the beginnning of our mission. It is also when I took control of the bloody arrow. (It is my first mission outside after being made a captain if I am honest. Before that i mostly did missions as a powerless soldier.)


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Before the head office loses it mind at me this was completely out of my hand. My incompetence with mind magic is legendary. I would also like to point out that this delay does not exist due to a lack of trying. I have been trying to do this for a week now. I cannot help it if I have succeeded in this the moment that we seem to be about to die. (As if to annoy me more, the ships behind us have accelerated again. I am forced to accelerate myself to keep ahead of them. Not sure how many more times I can do that. I can feel the propulsion formation burn up.)


    At the very least I am sure that I do not have to deal with a defective thought logger. The thought logger is a device that is meant to fuse our thoughts into strings of mana and then broadcast it to the thought crystal at the home base. It is a combination of earth magic( specifically crystal magic) and mind magic melded together in a way that I barely understand. For reason I have struggled to make the device work in my hands.


    Well it is working, though i do not know how. Another thing I do not understand is why the fuck do they make the captain of an expedition be the one that has to maintain the records. I know why, they mention it so many times that my ears will fall off, but why? It is such a waste of time. Especially in the middle of a fight.


    As for the why, whoever doesn''t know. They make us do this for reinforcements. After all those guys cannot send reinforcements to us for every instance when we stop sending logs. They need to know that I am imprisoned and on the verge of death, rather rhan lets say lazing somewhere. it will not help that the person that they have to send reinforcements for is me. While they certainly have no reason to cause me any active harm. it is also true that they do not wish to see me prosper too much. why do I have to handle logging while dealing with pirates and you want my opinion, I don''t know which is harder.


    Well, there goes my peace. one of the ships seems to have overloaded its propulsion formation to get a burst of speed. It''s now faster than us, which means I have to focus on the task. Okay, it seems to be trying to crash into us as I twist the ship to the left as much as I dare, to prevent that. It takes me five heart-pounding seconds as the two ships almost hit each other by hair''s breadth. Driving this ship feels like being stuck in the water. The speed at which this damn thing reacts is abysmal.


    I am sure that this is giving the other ships quite the opportunity to hook us, but that I will have to leave it to the other people of my crew. Meanwhile, I am going to be using one of my aces, which would be our only aces, our hooks. Turns out the formation on the hook can be overloaded such that once they activate they will explode. That would be when they link up with the other ship.


    Well, I am not sure of its effectiveness but I have spent nearly a week supplying it with mana so it better work. Thankfully, the ships are close enough that there is no way for us to miss. The hook gets planted into the enemy''s ship, not doing anything. For a second my heart fails. we had essentially given them four new points of entry, until a massive boom nearly threw me to the ground.


    Okay, there was no way In hell that my hooks were that effective. If that were the case, it would be quite easy to earn a decent profit. Well, my hopes of becoming an enterprising businessman are dashed as I see what has caused the explosion. Their fucking propulsion formation was of the fire element. These formations are risky in general use, especially without a good enough way to manage all that heat generated. Once that much fire mana has entered the thing, giving a gap for it to leak will cause things to heat up quite quickly.


    Fuck, I had assumed fire-based propulsion formations were banned in most places. It has almost been two centuries since such types of airships have even been used. Well, maybe I shouldn''t have destroyed that ship, it could have been sold as an antique. You would be surprised just how many people like to collect this type of junk.


    The explosion was enough to rattle a few of the sensory formations that were on the outside. my view of the outside to be affected quite a bit (basically speaking I was blind.) .Thankfully my mana sense is enough to at least approximate the location of the remaining ships in this area. I can''t say for certain but the blobs of mana seem to be getting farther and farther. They appear to be slowing down, though I can''t say for certain. (Airships are massive mana consumers. It is kind of hard to ignore the presence of an airship. It looks about as bright as the sun for those with the sight. Even crappy ones like this)


    I don''t get to celebrate this since there are an indefinite amount of hooks binding us. (I can''t tell without the sensory formations but let''s hope they are less than five.) this is something that I will have to leave for my crew to worry about.


    At the moment I have a more immediate worry which would be that at the moment we are inches away from a burning piece of wood. I would not be surprised if many parts of our ship have caught fire due to this damn thing. The thing is that I have to essentially steer this ship almost blind and hope that I am skilled enough. I have to make sure that this ship will not collide with a ship close enough that spit from one ship will reach the other. This is a fine art and is going to take quite a bit from me.


    Even if I succeed, survival is not guaranteed until the three people that are in patrol at the top of the formation remove all of those damn pesky hooks. (People tend to forget, that hooks are often also used to tow ships. let''s just say that we are in no condition to tow a perfectly working ship let alone this wreck.)

 A Belated Introduction (log 001 part 2)

    The situation has finally stabilized. This is enough that I do not need to worry about dying in the next few hours. The remaining two ships have slowed down, giving my propulsion formation a much needed rest. I don''t even dare to look at the formation for fear of what I will find there. After all, there is a chance that the formation might be failing as we speak. If that is the case I don''t want to know about it before. It is not like I can do anything at this point anyway.


    Even now, the slowing of the ship has only lowered the chance of the ship failing. The lower the chance of that occurring the happier you shall find me.


    Before introducing myself I want to be clear about what exactly is wrong with the thought logger. The head office tends to be quite liberal at blaming others, I have heard. As you already must know the process of the device works in two main steps. The first is the thought string generation and the other is the broadcast of this string.


    In my case, the creation of thought strings works out pretty well. after all, pushing our will into strings of mana is a basic skill for a formation mage. Also, you would not be reading this if I were to mess up that particular part. Let''s just say It would be particularly embarrassing if I failed at this step.


    It is the broadcasting part of the device that never works out for me. My thought string just seems to dissolve when they go beyond a certain distance from me. I assumed it was some defect in the thought logger that caused my predicament. Even now I am not sure why exactly is this thing working all of a sudden. As I said at the beginning, do not look at a gift horse in the mouth. Also, if my device is defective well then I should not be punished for the delay in the broadcast. (I''m seriously hoping it is a defective piece. The head office can be a pain in the ass for issues like this.)


    I certainly do not want this to be my first and last log, but it is looking like a certain possibility. We have already exhausted all of our hooks, so we honestly do not have any defenses left. the hooks were a surprise that even I did not expect. Good thing I spent the time to cook them up. It took quite a bit of time too. I cannot blame another for my situation as well. I desired to hurry as quickly as possible which has led to the present predicament.


    Being on this airship is certainly not doing anything good to my peace of mind. Now airships are something of a fascination for me. It has always been my dream to own one of these, you know. Being responsible for this hunk of junk has been the single worst experience of my life. The black mountain is legendarily famous for our omniscient grasp on magic.


    Sadly this omniscience does not seem to extend to the field of building stuff you know. We are capable of casting magic that is capable of crushing mountains, and evaporating rivers and lakes. We have conquered the largest mountain in the continent. We do not have any industry of our own. You can feel that in many things on the hexmountain. This also extends our ships. Now, if I were to say to people that this airship was only five years old, most people would begin by laughing at what I said. These are things meant to last centuries you know. Heck, even the pirate ships that are chasing us should be centuries old and they are competing with my ship.


    The propulsion formation and the steering formation always seem to have some problems. It requires my constant presence to keep them in working order. The environment formation that is supposed to keep me alive breaks down every other day. It was my hurrying that led to this present mess. I kept pushing the ship and all its formations to hurry to our location. I had assumed that my ability to repair it would have kept it in working order. Now I am struggling to keep the ship working.


    The funny thing is I did not need to do this. I had almost double the time needed to reach here. This was most likely to account for the time we would have to spend on the ground because the formation that was meant to keep us afloat failed. Everything that I have been doing has only been stop-gap measures. measures that lead to even more measures. It is only my emergency repair skills that have kept the damn thing going and I am reaching my limit as well.


    Don''t even get me started on pirates, we have been sailing for a month and during that period we have had to face nearly ten attacks you know. Each is essentially a stressful game of cat and mouse where we push the ship as much as possible. Each time the propulsion formation takes a brutal beating. Not willing to wait I spend a couple of days at the very least to repair it. In all of that time, I had to hope that they would not find us in that period. Repairing stuff means that the ship won''t be able to fly at a moment''s notice. Perfect victims of a pirate. I can feel my hair greying with all the stress I have taken.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Still, Whoever heard of the propulsion formation of a ship failing five years after it had been built. Sadly, that is what I am worried is about to happen if the damn bastards behind me don''t stop chasing me.


    all of that is still manageable. the thing that makes me saddest about this airship is that It does not even look like a ship, this airship of mine. it resembles a cylindrical piece of wood. It is meant to reduce the mana costs of running these formations, l think. What fucking airship, this was meant to resemble a stupid arrow. A stupid arrow that was more likely to kill us than an actual arrow. My reservations aside, it is also a logistical problem since I have always trained with a standard ship. Fighting on this ship meant I had to relearn quite a few of my strategies.


    Now, it is not a problem for others but I have had dreams related to this you know. After all, I am of the kin of Greybeard at the end of the day. Now to get back to more important matters. I have to explain my identity and the mission that I have been sent on. I will inevitably screw up and this log will terminate again. I certainly did not expect that I would be doing this while being chased.


    My name is Antonio Sevenstars, a field captain of the black mountain. Am assisted three soldier level fighters escorting three captain level scholars. Normally I am supposed to give each person under my command the option to introduce themselves using my log. at the moment they are needed up there and their absence up there will have quite a disastrous result. I could call them up here now but there is a pretty significant risk that we might end up boarded if they are not there to remove any hooks as they appear. For now, Their identities and their purposes shall be found in their respective mission logs. I have to assume that everybody will be doing it correctly. If they are not, well I honestly don''t care. The head office can handle that. If you want me to give a shit about protocol, a rule of thumb would be to give me a ship that I don''t need to repair so much. I have been spending too much of my time on it.


    Now, to describe what our mission is going to be. We are supposed to bring the scholars to documented ruin number 32, under our supervision. at the same time, we have to ensure that the folks who are in control of the ruin follow the Hexmountain treaty.


    In our present case that is going to be the snowwind empire. Now the problem with the snowwind empire is that they are one of the bloodiest forces to exist in the continent. they have built their empire in one of the most inhospitable regions of the continent. They acquired each inch of their land by conducting a bloody war. The main reason for this is also the fact that they consider themselves to be the kin of the draconians. Most draconian descendants tend to have monarchies, which makes work hard for us. incidentally, we are going to explore a draconian ruin and that is the core of our problems.


    So we are essentially what they consider grave robbers. They fear the might of the black mountain and certainly don''t want diplomatic relations to be strained. we still cannot be sure that they won''t end up killing us the minute that they end up meeting us. From that perspective maybe the pirates make a bit more sense. While I am sure that the pirates have not been sent here intentionally. the fact that even I can clear these pirates without the correct crew says enough about the treatment we are going to be facing in this place. Cleaning up for a guest is important. Not doing so must speak volumes.


    It is also a part of the reason that I am being sent over there. I am sure that my skills are going to be quite useful to the snowwinders especially now. It is supposed to be a very harrowing experience based on what I have been hearing, though I do think quite little of my source''s abilities (all of them spoilt brats.). It seems that at the moment they are also pretty likely to kill anyone other than me. The main reason for this seems to be a group of scholars that ended up blowing up a draconian ruin. They seemed to be testing a spell in there.


    That is why active logging is so important to the head office. They cannot predict how the snowwind empire might react. They need to be able to send in reinforcements at a moment''s notice. They might not like me, but I still have to assume that they would send in somebody as a reinforcement. Already I assume that I have started a panic in this first month. That would certainly not help my case at the very least.


    Still, it does not make my work any less irritating knowing it is important. If anything it is even more annoying. Anyway, it is about time that I stop this stupid thing. That is if I can. I seriously don''t even know how exactly I started the thing.


    The pirates outside also seem to have finally started to fucking slow down. You know I can feel the ship breathe a sigh of relief as I slow it down. This ship might just end up surviving this trip. I can''t tell for certain though until I can slow this hunk of junk down. I will need to see just how many fires I have to extinguish on the ship, both literally and figuratively. Thankfully, the benefit of a skeleton crew is I do not need to worry about the people at least.

 Emergency Repairs (log 002)

    Well, it has been nearly a day since the incident of the first log occurred. I had wanted to land immediately and start working on the formations which I know are clearly on the verge of destruction. I have to restrict myself though since I have been "advised" that it was not a risk that we could afford. Well, I cannot ignore this advice anymore, as I have done so many times already. The pirates could still be following us, so I had to run the ship for one full day.  We are now in a position where we can be confident that we won''t be attacked again. All of this tends to become more dreadful when the ship you are doing this in can fall from the sky at any moment.


    Now comes the crappy part. Right now I am in the formation room.  I will now have to inspect the entire room and every formation here to make sure that it is not damaged. Well, I can feel the damage in the formations in front of me.


    The propulsion formation in front of me is on the verge of breaking apart. this time I do not know how to solve this problem on my own. There are fixes but the formation will fail, if not today then tomorrow.


    Now normally the purpose of a propulsion formation is quite simple. to convert mana into some kind of spell that would be able to push the airship forward. That means that they are usually simple formations that have a single core and a control stick. The core is any material inscribed with the spell runes that will be the thing that will run the entire formation. The control stick is where I can link myself to the formation if I do not want to use my mana strings.


    Right now the problem that I am facing is that the formation core is on the verge of collapsing. The material used for the core of this particular formation is a piece of sky bamboo. It is as far as I can tell inscribed with some form of a wind spell. The thing with sky bamboo is that it is pretty good at boosting the power of wind spells which makes it a good choice for this task. The only problem is that it has very low durability. Using it for an attack spell would be nice and would pack quite a scary punch but it would be consumed in a single move. A propulsion formation must run for days if not months on end. I am surprised that It has even worked for five years.


    The sky bamboo is burning up. After pushing this formation to its limit yesterday, It has reached a state where the runes are physically visible. That means that the mana passing through it has begun to affect the material of the formation. It is such an impossibility that I have yet to see it occur practically. It is quite a risky endeavor too. With enough mana, you never know what can happen. It will most likely create a hurricane in the middle of the room. It could also create a void in which none of us can take a breath. Still, in either case the propulsion formation will stop working though by then that won''t be a priority.


    The problem with the propulsion formation Is that I cannot predict when it will fail. if it were to do that in the middle of the flight we would plummet straight to the ground in the best case. Well, the material of the formation has begun to burn up. There is simply no way for me to accelerate the ship like yesterday without consequences.


    Well, other than changing the core of the formation I have no more solutions. Changing the core would essentially be creating a new formation. if I get a material that can act as the core to the new propulsion formation. I will still have to inscribe the formation. This will be the first time that I will be doing it practically for such formations.


    The only thing I can do right now is to rearrange the runes that are supporting the core of this formation. This will reduce the strain on the core, which I hope is enough for me to keep this thing flying for a bit longer. If I were to do it though, our speed would only be roughly sixty percent of what it is now. On top of that it is only a stopgap measure not dealing with the actual issue at hand. The formation will still fail. Well, stopgap measures are the only thing I seem to have.


    I should go and inform Trevor about this. He is one of the soldiers under me but he is essentially the boss here. he has been placed here to ensure that I don''t screw up anything too bad. It is my first time leaving the hexmountain without supervision.


    He has the one thing that I certainly lack, which is experience. I don''t know much about the man, other than the fact that he has a mysterious past. He might not have a cultivation but the man has experienced quite a few legendary events. He is oddly quiet about it though. Still, without his suggestions, we would not have made it this far. This is especially true with the number of pirate attacks that are happening. It is pretty abnormal the number of times we have been attacked.


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    Enough that Trevor has begun to suspect an outside enemy. I wouldn''t take it seriously though, the man sees enemies everywhere. The way he is going about it, he is going to consider me an enemy in a few days.


    (A couple of minutes later.)


    The state of the other two people who report to Trevor, Andrew and Jacob is quite dreadful. They always seem to be in a state of panic, running around carrying out Trevor''s orders. Maybe that is why those two bastards enjoyed the scene whenever the old man would chew me out. The old man is quite indiscriminate when it comes to scolding you know. The problem with the old man is that his scolding is always correct, so there is little that you can do other than get scolded.


    As usual, I can hear those two idiots scuffling on the above floor, unless it is the scholars though that seems unlikely. (I do not think they have left their rooms since the beginning of this journey, even during the attacks.)


    As for me, I am standing outside Trevor''s quarters, which is also his office. Entering into the room is an experience. To paint a scene, Trevor''s room has a bed to the side, something that never seems to be used. His table though is the exact opposite, full of papers and documents. I am surprised it has not broken yet. He is always sitting in that chair, doing whatever he does. I do not know what it is and I do not dare ask. Opposite him, he has two empty chairs. Even right now, he is so focused on this work that he has not noticed my entry. It might also be the fact that he seems to be partially deaf, though I certainly won''t be the one to say that to him.


    "Soldier Trevor, I have something to ask of you.", I begin, trying to bring out some form of authority in front of him. I am quite thankful that I failed though. I have no desire to be lectured again.


    "When did you come in captain", the soldier replied with an annoyed tone.


    "Well, I need your advice Trevor", I begin, quickly standing next to him.


    "Go on, young man and do not come any closer. I can hear you plenty clearly from there. Any closer and we would be close enough to kiss.", Trevor began, though I interrupted him before he continued. His lectures could go on for ages. This man certainly enjoys the sound of his voice.


    "I have told you of my worries with the propulsion formations before as well. Most of them are coming true at the moment. The formation core is too fragile to handle this kind of strain again. I believe the formation core would burn out in a couple of days at the minimum and a week at the maximum." I spoke.


    "Well, how much time would we take to reach and how much time will the formation last then?." He asked.


    "I think that we can take a fortnight to reach now and this way the formation will last a month or even two," I say.


    "Then it is a risk that we will have to take. Don''t forget, Even If an attack does happen, you should be enough to deal with them. Right now we are pretty close to the frozen peaks. There will be no sky pirates here. Even if there are, they should be the variety that we can handle. I will keep Jacob and Andrew on a patrol." The old man spoke after a minute of pondering.


    "You will also have to be ready though, we might need a foundation stage mage to help us if need be. Anyway, If we are attacked, it might end up helping us. It will be easier to deal with the snowwind bastards if they think that we suffered in the journey. They should be escorting us to the base. As for the issue of the formation failing, don''t worry about it. This is something that the folks in the head office also know is pretty likely. They will provide us with a new one or with the materials for a new one at least."


    "Are you sure about that, Trevor? I mean won''t they consider us to be weaklings if they were to see us running from the pirates.", I ask.


    "Well, that would normally be the case, but you do have to remember that at the moment we are not going there as diplomats. You can be considered to be part of the apology the black mountain is sending to the snowwind empire. That is why they have sent you instead of a more experienced person from the guard corps." Trevor replied. "If we were to do too much of a show of force, it would most likely backfire on us. Right now is the time to do the opposite. A show of vulnerability means that the opposite side will underestimate you. The head office realises that. That is why they have sent you the crappiest model that they have."


    "I guess that makes sense, then why have you made me start making my armor? With that and the ship I have barely been sleeping in the last couple of weeks.", I ask him. The armor is a separate headache I will talk about later.


    "Well, just because you must seem vulnerable doesn''t mean that you have to appear weak. Remember the snowwinders are vultures. If they feel that you are weak for even a moment they will eat you up.", the old man spoke, giving me what I hoped was a bit of clarity. "Anyway, what is more disarming than a little kid trying to look like an adult in front of the adults."


    Hearing that I am left flabbergasted, how the fuck am I even supposed to reply to that. The old man seems to be thinking that I am ten eleven years old by the way that he talks to me sometimes. I am almost seventeen you know, give or take a few months.


    I do want to ask him about a lot of stuff but the old man is not likely to reply to anything that I ask of him. so I leave wondering not for the last time who exactly is supposed to be the boss here. Well, I do know the answer to that, but who would like to admit it?

 An Intimidating Presence (log 003)

    We have reached the frozen peaks nearly thirteen days after my last log. I have reached this place in nearly half of the time that my predecessors took to come here. ( granted that was kind of expected since my predecessors weren''t exactly as crazy as me.) Which I consider to be a minor achievement in and of itself. Look at the positive side, I guess.


    Anyway, Trevor at the moment seems to be very hyperactive. This might be because Andrew seems to have worn some part of his uniform in a wrong manner. That is the worst thing you can do in front of Trevor. Again, I am thankful that I do not have a uniform.


    Anyway, I can finally feel the ship descend. The formation of the ship has degraded so much that any form of auto-piloting has stopped working. Granted, it was never working particularly well before also. Thankfully, that will be managed by the folk from the frozen peaks. They are not idiots to let a ship be controlled by anybody other than themselves when it is so near their cities. That is the easiest way to level a city you know. Fill a ship with bombs and then park it in the city to explode it to pieces.


    Right now our ship will be left in the care of the snowwinders. It is both a method of preventing escape and a precaution to make sure we don''t blow them up. (granted if they knew about our ships they would know that we are not able to land properly, let alone launch an assault.)


    We fall with a thud that nearly floors everybody on the ship. That means my suspicions were right and that the suspension formation was damaged somehow. Let''s just hope the folks outside have not noticed us. It is kind of embarrassing.


    The instant that we left the safety of the airship, I had two thoughts in my mind. My very first thought was about the coldness that I felt the instant that I left the mouth of the airship. It was colder than I expected. It is harder to describe the second thought, let''s do it this way.


    Have you ever seen the sight of a deer in the presence of a lion? Right now I have the feeling that I must be looking the same. My back is slick with sweat, yet the freezing sensation that came with it is barely on my notice. I fear to move my body even an inch. It feels like if do so, something very unpleasant will happen.


    I wonder for a second why these people would even need to ally with us. Well, that answers itself. The only reason that people want a diplomatic relationship with the black mountain is that the black mountain is powerful. Nobody can afford to have us as the enemy. This naturally means that they will become our enemy the instant that we show a moment of weakness. Right now I am standing on the edge of a sword and even the smallest of mistakes will separate my head from my body or something worse.


    The reason for that is the old man in front of me is the commander of the frozen peaks. The only thought I have looking at him is, I have never seen such an old man. He resembled more a skeleton than a human if I am to be honest. However, that did not make him any less powerful. If the reports of the head office are to be believed this means that this man is an expert of the fifth circle.


    That means that he is roughly about the same level as a general of the black mountain. Even on black mountain, there are only three generals (even my master has to treat these people as equals). That means that this man needs to look at me wrong and I will be ripped to pieces. It is the authority of the black mountain that is keeping me alive.


    I am thankful that I have worn my armor, which honestly does not seem as impressive as I was hoping it to be. It was a formation armor known as "vine armor". It is not a fancy name but I have been exhausted the last couple of days. It resembles a bunch of vines covering me, which I thought would give me a more rugged look. In hindsight, I had forgotten that we were about to go to a place where even mana tends to freeze. Something a bit more tight would have been better. I will explain its creation some other day, if possible. It certainly took quite a bit of creativity from my side.


    Anyway, I am on the verge of running away screaming looking at this old man (hence all this rambling). I don''t know how to describe it but at the moment the old man seemed to be growing bigger and bigger in my eyes. It is like the world is disappearing. For a second I am left wondering if this is some kind of technique.


    "Young Captain, I greet you. It is rare for us to see such a young talent so far away from the center of the continent", the commander begins.


    The instant that he speaks the illusion breaks. the intense feeling of fear that I experienced looking at him disappears like snow in the sun. Now the fear I feel is that of a man trying to impress his superior. The only thing is that the cost of failure here is death.


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    "I bow down to you, commander. ", I begin, trying my best not to keep my fear from showing on my face as I bow as is customary with this bunch. These are very particular people. "I apologize for the pitiful state that you have found us in. It has not been easy for us to make our way to this place at the best of times and right at the onset of winter. I had assumed people were exaggerating when they told us the danger of winter. My overconfidence has caused us to suffer."


    "That certainly seems to be a mistake from our side as well and as the commander, I will apologize to you. We should have been more hospitable and sent a couple of people to welcome you. Sadly even we are restricted by the onset of winter", the commander spoke, leaving me to wonder what hidden trap lay in this apology. If only I could gather my thoughts, I am sure that I would find it. That is a task for later "for now, let us forgo much more serious talks. It is bad luck to stand too long at the door. you seem to be exhausted, so we shall speak again later."


    Saying that the old man disappeared as quickly as he appeared. For an instant, I had the feeling as If a massive weight was released from my body. I can feel my thoughts slow down as if I have spent the last couple of hours working on a particular hard formation.


    Two soldiers were standing at attention to the side, who took us to our quarters. A male and a female soldier, with strength roughly equivalent to me. Maybe I can hold my own against them, but that would require me to go all out.


    (The next day)


    Well, I am kind of embarrassed with my performance yesterday. I would have liked to say that I had recovered from the presence of the old man the instant that he left. it just seemed to get worse after meeting him. It almost felt as if I had fought the greatest battle of my life in those few minutes. The instant that I saw a bed I had ended up unconscious on it. I don''t even really need to sleep that long.


    I have reviewed the thoughts that I recorded yesterday and let''s just say there is not much there. You see, the combat troops of the black mountain must maintain clear and well-maintained records. This is especially true during any mission. Let''s just say one of these bastards were to assassinate me tomorrow, we will know who to kill. The logs are our best method of doing that.


    This information contains nearly every bit of information that a person is experiencing. From the behavior of the servants to the many habits of the guards. Every single piece of information is taken in and analyzed by the black mountain. They can make use of small information like this to predict almost all of our ally''s intent.


    You never know which place you might end up needing to take over, so any information is welcome. You have the obvious information such as the defenses and the troop placements. even petty information such as the sleep schedule of the people, the places of rest or even the kind of street food that the people will eat. (You would be surprised just how much the poison mages can do with such information.)


    To explain this thing particularly well, one cannot forget about the iron forest. The Iron Forest was one of the last centers of power for the druids. Iron Forest and its legendary iron wall can be considered to be the toughest nut that the legion had to crack in the Druidic campaign. The place managed to survive the siege of a general and his soldiers for two years. Even after that period, it did not seem close to falling. If anything, it was the troop that was suffering heavy losses.


    The reason that it was destroyed was from the log of a soldier known as Albert. He noticed the fact that the soldiers of Iron Forest had a habit of watering the iron wall to realize that it was a tree. Then it did not take long for our formation masters to figure out what they needed to do. A lot of poison to the roots and the iron forest became a part of history.


    I have a personal reason to tell this story. since it was from this place that we managed to acquire a majority of the druidic spells that the black mountain has records on. It is these spells that my master specializes in and what I am preparing to specialize in. They have one of the most unique formation systems in the continent. It would be a pity to lose it.


    Anyway, in the record yesterday no such information exists. The only thing that I noticed that would be useful from the logs is the walls that surround this place. While I cannot say with certainty I have a feeling that the place has a very powerful formation. I do not have anything else, such as the type of formation, the mana consumption or at the very least the class of the formation. even I, a formation mage could not identify the class of the formation. (regardless of how indisposed I ended up at the moment.) This means that is at least a class five formation and could be even lower than that.


    Looking at the wall, nobody would feel that. The wall itself was not in the most perfect position, with the wall giving an ancient and eroded vibe. The holes that are present in the wall give it a look as if these people had just survived a very grueling war. given the stories about this fort and the people they fight it could be a pretty reasonable guess.


    It also makes sense looking at the weather in this place. This place is constantly bombarded with snow storms from the northern wastelands. Any fort that can last for millennia in any other location won''t even last for a month in this place.


    For acquiring any other information though, we have yet to meet any other person of this fort. we haven''t even been allowed outside our rooms. Being isolated like this is not a good thing as far as I can tell. That is the standard procedure for the Snowwind army. Well, that is the principle for anybody dealing with the black mountain. General lockdown and extremely limited contact with the troops and other things. They will do anything to make sure that the black mountain will learn nothing about them.

 I am being driven mad (log 004)

    The scholars are a weird bunch. In some things, they have such a breadth of knowledge. Ask them about our history and they will have detailed records of that event. hell, They would know about the thousand events that led to that event. Ask them about anything a bit more recent and they would not know about it. It is a serious lack of knowledge.


    They are not so bad to talk to as long as you don''t mention any historical event to them. This time I have three scholars to deal with. There are two apprentices and one master scholar called Justin. Justin is one of the more normal scholars out there. my contact with him is relatively little outside of work. He seeks out the formation corps'' help on some matters, which is our extent of communication. Well,  They say that a scholar will keep working even if you were to keep torturing him.


    Even now when all of us are stuck in the same room. the scholars are sitting in what is their bubble. They are surely discussing some problem that I will not be able to make head or tail out of. There is a reason that these guys need guards.


    That is expected when dealing with scholars. They are very careful around the soldiers. Well, they cannot be sure whether we are spies trying to steal important information. This might certainly be true in their perspective. After all the scholars and their research are part of the reason that the black mountain is powerful. What they study is not only the history of the continent but also the ancient paths of magic. Taking these ancient spells as the base and then working on it, is the reason our magical knowledge is so strong.


    While all of that is true, I have to admit that it still feels a bit insulting. Regardless, it is not my duty to make the scholars respect me but to protect them. They can consider me an idiotic fool if it means that I will get my rewards at the end of the mission.


    Yet it is the part of protecting them that is worrying me so. Ask me anything about formations or fighting and I will be able to give you quite a bit of information. ask me about diplomacy and the art of making people do what you want to do. That is something that I have no idea about. I have been sitting in this confusion for the last couple of days, waiting to be summoned by the commander.


    The person who was supposed to help me in all of this was Trevor. He had completely shut me down even before I could ask him anything. Every time I go near him, before I can open my mouth I am scolded by him as if I am interrupting something important. While getting scolded is still fine. it is the looks that Andrew and Jacob give me that make all of this embarrassing. That is not an emotional satisfaction that I am giving those idiots.


    Nobody knows what exactly he has been doing the last couple of days. he has been roaming around the room, looking for something. While I don''t know what it is that he has lost it has certainly been grating on my nerves. I certainly have no desire to enquire what exactly is he doing. Asking for stuff from Trevor is the best way to get lectured by him.


    What is truly annoying is that over the last two or three days other than the two soldiers who have brought us here. They are also acting as our guards boxing us in. We are not allowed out of our rooms and whenever I try to get out, we have nearly ended up to blows with the two soldiers outside. Thankfully I had removed my armour just before I decided to talk to them or we might have ended up fighting. Maybe I should have, whatever would have happened is better than this situation. I don''t know what this isolation might even mean.


    I honestly am starting to lose my mind here, but I have no idea of what we are supposed to do here. I am honestly wondering why the fuck did I even pick a mission to the north. It honestly would have been a better option for me to go to the South. There is so much scope for a formation mage there. at least there I would not be in so much confusion. Outright War tends to make things simpler.


    "You really should learn to mask your emotions, kid.", I hear a voice to my side, breaking me from my present thoughts. It is Trevor who is suddenly standing next to me. From where did this man even appear?


    "what do you mean, Trevor", I reply.


    "Well, you have been following me the last couple of days. I know what you want to ask.", Trevor spoke, his voice taking on a tone that reminded me of my combat instructors from before. "You want me to be honest, I have no idea why the head office has sent you here. You are good, almost amazing with formations. I have never seen a person bring us to this place in record time. Honestly, you would do much better in the south, at the bone pits. Why you were sent here I won''t be able to tell."


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    "Well, I was something of a last minute recruit, if I am to be honest.", I speak, trying to hide my nervousness. That is a question I don''t know the answer to.


    "Well, if that is the case you have been sent here as a sacrificial pawn, young kid. Every once in a while they send either an arrogant fool or an overly capable idiot to this place as a sacrifice. They end up doing something that offends these guys and end up executed. The bloodlust of the Snowwind empire is sated. The black mountain is rid of future problems. You can decide what you are." Trevor speaks.


    "Well, that would certainly make sense in my present case. While they have no particular reason to want me dead, they will certainly be happy about it.", I reply, with a sigh." That still does not answer my question though, what am I supposed to be doing here."


    "Well, If I am to tell you the truth, you do not have much basic knowledge.", Trevor spoke "For example, do you know what I have been doing the last couple of days."


    "Well, I would like to say that I have had guesses, but somehow each seems more implausible than the rest. I will let you explain that to me", I reply.


    "Remember this lesson well. If you are in enemy territory, then it is always wise to assume that your enemy has some form of method to spy on you. I have just spent the last couple of days ensuring that these guys do not have any method of spying on us.", Trevor spoke, "What did you think I was doing."


    "Ok, I did consider it to be something like that. I was more along the lines of poison formations though. It is supposed to be one of the few formations that they are good at", I speak.


    "nope, it is too risky to be that violent. Anyone finds out and the black mountain will go to war, no matter how much they don''t like you. Well, now that it is clear, I will need you to focus now. Those of the snowwind empire are very particular folk. They are very sensitive to any damage to their perceived honor. Thankfully the folks here are still commoners. It is the nobles you should beware.", Trevor began "Thankfully, the commander of this fort is still around. He is a commoner and is supposed to be reasonable. I honestly do not know the last time we had reached before the hunting party left. He always leaves for the hunt."


    "Shouldn''t it be the opposite? how am I supposed to do diplomacy with him if he is so strong?" I speak, with an edge of worry that even I can recognize.


    "Well, let me tell you what can be considered to be one of the basic tenets of diplomacy. you are supposed to be of equal strength for diplomacy to occur. That is especially true for these guys.", Trevor spoke "Any hour now, the commander is going to be summoning you to his office. No matter what you attempt to do in there, try to be polite and agree with him. Do not even have the thought of trying to bargain with him. He might not kill you, but he will make your life quite hard. Given your present skill in formations, I have a feeling that your work is going to be hard. It is after all the season for the snowlords to attack."


    "the act of creation of formations is not something that can be done in a day or two.", I replied, looking at the chest to the side, " I think that we cannot wait that long. Those scholars look as if they want to strangle us in our sleep. You want me to be honest, I have never seen a bunch as dedicated as these guys."


    "Well, then we can do that. Me and the boys will accompany the scholars to the ruin if the need comes to it. With the snowlords coming, you won''t be finding anyone other than the Snowwind army in the area so our safety is essentially guaranteed. I am sure that you do not need us to protect you. That way we can complete both of these tasks at the same time. At the same time, you can look for the materials for the propulsion formation. Honestly, the way that we are going on about this task we will be completing this mission in record time", Trevor spoke as he quieted down.


    "Well, how long do the scholars take to complete their research.", I ask, looking at the scholars.


    "Well, you want me to be honest. I have never seen a scholar leave the ruin that we are going to unless they have been forced to. In our case that would be the end of winter. So for quite a while.", Trevor replied.


    "Well, that''s long.", I ask.


    "Blame the scholars if you wish, but they do get such rare opportunity to come here that I cannot blame them. It''s just bad luck for us", Trevor speaks. "One good thing is that this place is so desolate and other than the ice beasts, it is rare to find any other enemies. I am sure that you will be given a task to keep you busy. The snowwinders rarely get access to a formation master. They will make sure to keep you busy. let''s hope that we don''t need to spend too long here or you might just end up fixing every broken pot and chamber pot."


    "do they have such a weak foundation for formation magic.", I ask. "Their poison formations are quite legendary too."


    "Well, it is more of a case that they are being suppressed than that of a weak foundation. Everybody knows the expansionist tendencies of the snowwind empire. Nobody would be idiotic enough to give them any kind of knowledge related to formations. That would be giving them another weapon and God knows the Snowwind Empire has enough of those already. Their poison formations is a good example of such a weapon.", Trevor replies, as we continue this discussion on and on, going to topics that I shall not bore you with by putting it here.

 Meeting The Commander (log 005)

    The hexmountain treaty is the core of the present black mountain. The history of the treaty is a complicated mess about which I have no desire to get into. Honestly, a scholar would be better for this task rather than me. The treaty itself is a different matter. Now that is my bread and butter.


    Made between nearly every power in this continent and the black mountain. the treaty at its core is an agreement that any magical ruin found on the continent is black mountain property. No third will conduct research into ruins (it is quite risky too, as the blown up temple shows). Any newly discovered ruins will be handed to the black mountain and their scholars.


    In return for control of the ruin though, the faction that has granted the ruin can make a single request out of the black mountain. Most factions ask for spells or magical knowledge. Some ask for help in completing matters where they do not want to get involved( I will tell you about the fiery spring incident, though not now.). Some ask for help in defending a region from their enemies or other things. It is much rarer up here though. They are pretty self-sufficient up here. The snowwinders are the only exception to this rule.


    The snowwind army runs and operates the frozen peak because of the snowlords. The snowlords are a tribe who make the northern wastelands their home. The only thing we know is that they are nomadic and have almost absolute control of mana in their homeland.


    Every year at the onset of winter, the snowlords attack the snowwind empire. every year the snowwind army keeps them at bay at the frozen peak. Some say it is because of a historic grudge between the two forces. some say it is so that the snowlords can survive the winter. I feel it is somewhere in the middle of the above two. I don''t know what is the truth but it does not change the fact that there is a conflict.


    They would rather be sent a master of formations to bolster their defenses. Normally in this place, one of the captains of a more diplomatic nature is sent. They don''t tend to have much combat ability. Most of them tend to remain in the frozen peak, acting as a house guest. Their job is to ensure that the black mountain remains in the mind of the snowwinders.


    It is easy for Trevor to tell me to agree with everything that the commander says. The man does not have experience in this matter at least. he doesn''t understand just how dangerous it can be for a formation mage on the front lines. I do not even have a proper defense squad guarding me. All I have are an old man and two rookie soldiers who have not even seen war properly (who also happened to be idiots.). It would be very easy to send me to my death and make it seem like an accident.


    I am starting to wonder if I ended up offending somebody from the home office. Stephen, if you are reading this, I hope you understand that I was only teasing you when I was calling you a shorty. It is certainly not meant to be insulting. After all, why would I be insulting a person who would be getting me killed?


    Right now I am sitting In the office of the commander. The anxiety to see what request Is going to be made of me today is killing me. I am not accepting this request if this guy does not provide me with a troop at the very least.


    Trevor has tried to help me out as much as he can explaining the political situation of the frozen peak and its many factions. my summons to the commander happened almost an hour after Trevor began to speak to me on this topic. therefore the only thing that I got from this is that the frozen peak is a bit of an exception. Normally, they won''t allow a commoner like the commander to take such a vital position. There are theories but we don''t know why. It is still a good thing for me, nobles tend to be quite easy to provoke and are the source of half of their executions.


    Looking at the room again, I am surprised by how simplistic it looks. On one wall to the side, we have a very old-looking map that seems to have been very well used. The map is useless anyways, it is what is written on it that matters. Other than that there is a table and a couple of chairs in the room. I guess a busy man like him does not mind that he is essentially sitting in a box. With no windows and no way to pass the time I would have lost my mind. I am getting anxious just waiting for the commander to make his way here already. Maybe that is part of the appeal to the commander.


    I also had expected the room of the man who could cause me to enter such a panic at sight, to resemble the throne room of a king. Intimidation is a useful tool after all. His room is simple and practical and so anxiety inducing for the person who has to give a report here. Maybe I am looking at it wrong. If his presence is enough to scare a man, why should he waste time with the theatrics?


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    (After a couple of minutes.)


    ¡°Commander, I salute you.¡°, I begin by saluting in the first place. I can see the commander enter the room from behind me from the edges of my sight. I steel myself. I will need to negotiate with the man even if his presence will cause me to pee my pants.


    ¡°Forget all of that, I find all those traditions very annoying. It is a reason that I have ended up here in this hellhole.¡°, the commander quickly takes his seat at the table. ¡°Now I want to hear about that ship of yours. What kind of modifications have you done to the thing.¡°


    ¡°I do not understand what you mean, commander¡±, I ask, a bit confused. I cannot feel the impulse of fear that I felt the last time. Rather than comfort me this is increasing my sense of worry. Things are not going as expected. For now, I return my attention to the commander and his words.


    ¡°you don''t need to act coy in front of me, kid, the black mountain is the only force in the continent capable of smuggling from us.", the commander spoke ¡°You must be quite talented at formation manipulation for you to be able to make a steel arrow ship make its way to this place. It was one of our scrapped ship models. Something about the propulsion formation was the issue, if I remember right. I am certain you must have modified your ship somehow for it to make it here.¡°


    ¡°I did nothing like that, commander. I do specialize in the art of formation. I just optimized the formations of our ship to increase our speed.¡°, I reply. I wonder if I should just tell him how crappy the design of the ship was. Well, I think I shouldn''t do that. I still need to be in their good books.


    ¡°Regardless, right now you are at the frozen peak to satisfy the conditions of the hexmountain treaty.¡°, the commander speaks, ¡°in return for this protection and to grant you access to ruin number 32, you will need to complete a task for me. Are you willing to fulfill that task for me?"


    ¡°Yes commander, under the hexmountain treaty I am willing to fulfill your request.¡° I reply, attempting to gauge the purpose of the man in front of me. These are formalities that are never followed. This is due to a particularly malicious rumor about the treaty, which claims that contract magic was involved in it. It is an unsubstantiated claim though. Devil magic leaves very clear signs on the people signing it.


    ¡°Well, I have no reason to make your work any harder, young captain. Therefore the task that I am giving you will be related to the very ruin that has brought you here. I will be able to explain this much better if you were to go to the map.¡°, the commander speaks, waving his hands causing the map to start glowing. I do not sense any mana fluctuations.


    I go to the map. Getting closer the map is split into two parts, colored blue and green. (representing the snowlords and the snowwind empire, I have to assume.)


    ¡°The blue represents the territory that the snowlords have taken from us. the green represents us. Right now ruin no 32, is at this position.¡°, the commander speaks, as a grey dot appears on an edge at the border between the two colors. That certainly is not going to make my work any easier.


    ¡°The snowlords this year have been quite aggressive. this year they have managed to take nearly twice the territory that they normally manage to take. That means that while normally ruin 32 is safely in our territory, this time the ruin is almost at the border.¡°, the commander speaks. ¡°Now, you are still not going to be facing the true force of our enemies. you shall be given control over the temporary fort that is presently being built in that region, along with the troops of that fort. You will also be provided with resources to create and maintain a class eight formation.¡°


    The grey dot disappeared to show a glowing green circle that took the same place roughly. Based on the map I would have to assume that it is a pretty large area.


    ¡°The circle shows the region that the temporary fort that is supposed to be under your control. the temporary fort will also have the duty of protecting ruin 32. If any snowlords pass through this region under your control into the other regions, it will be considered to be a failure of your task. We will give you another task¡°, the commander continued ¡°You can accept this task if you wish, but I have no way of getting you tasks that are safer or more relevant to the work that you have been sent here to do.¡°


    Somehow, at this moment the man in front of me did not seem like the man that greeted me at the start of this trip. He seemed more like an ordinary man struggling to get his job completed. it would be wiser if I did not stay here for long. all imperials are worried about their image of being powerful being tarnished in any way. He might be one of the more reasonable but that does not change. They are capable of causing massacres too if you are not careful.


    ¡°Yes commander, I certainly do accept this task.¡°, I reply, trying to keep my satisfaction to come into my voice. There is no need to let the other side know how much he has ended up helping me. (Hey, that is not the case but at that moment I was imagining they would be making me into bait for the snowlords. This is better. Though me as bait is not a dumb idea.) ¡°I shall leave for the fulfillment of my task immediately. What about access to the ruin?¡°


    ¡°You don''t even need to ask young man, the team that is at the ruin is already expecting your teams. They will guide them in any matter that might cause an issue.¡°, the commander replies, waving his hand and causing the door to open suddenly ¡°With that I have completed all the necessary formalities. I will ask that you leave the room for now."

 Talking About Cultivation (log 006)

    When my master told me about how exhausting it was to be a captain of the black mountain, I laughed at it. We are given nearly half a year of rest after each mission. I have yet to do anything particularly exhausting but it is what I am about to do.


    For missions that normally last only four to five months, that is a lot of period of rest, don''t you think? The reason is that right now I can quite easily build a class nine formation (my vine armor is a class nine formation.), but building a class eight formation that too outside of the supervision of my master is a task that I am going to struggle with, that too on a battlefield. I am pretty certain that I should be able to achieve it, but that does not mean that it is going to be easy for me or that it is not going to drain me to my bone. It is pretty much exploitation, I tell you.


    Right now, I have roughly five days of traveling to the temporary fort in a Caravan. In an airship, this journey would take a couple of hours at most but this far north the volatile flow of mana will wreck most airships. That is another reason that the snowwind empire struggle to hold a defensive line here. Just communication can take so long.


    I feel quite out of my depth in this rough land and Trevor is now god knows where. The man absence is affecting me more than I expected. There is little that I can do at the moment. The man cannot leave his position now. What I am doing already would ruffle many feathers in the head office. Abandoning your charges in the middle of enemy territory is what is going to get you kicked out of the the guard corps.


    I certainly do not like being split up in this way, but there is not much one can do while dealing with the scholars. Their stubbornness is legendary. Anyway, what the commander speaks is also the truth. If a proper defensive fortress is set up, the defense of the ruin is going to be bolstered by a great degree.


    Anyway, right now I am focusing on something that I have been neglecting for nearly a month and a half. That would be my cultivation.


    Normally people are shocked to hear this. Cultivation is supposed to be practiced to a point that it seems blasphemy that you don''t do so. Firstly the problem is that my strength comes from my formations. I don''t really need a strong reservoir of mana in my body.


    Secondly, a great amount of information about cultivation has been hidden from me. My master does not want me to be knowing about the stages behind the foundation stage of the elven path. This particular command of his has been an absolute mandate in the hexmountain.


    So that would do a lot to explain my lack of interest in cultivation. So what I am mentioning here is about everything that I know about this.


    To begin from the absolute basics, every sentient creature holds in his body something called the mana core. The mana core contains the life mana of a person. (Also called as his vital mana.) This life mana is the only mana that a person will have absolute control over. The only exception to this might be folks like the snowlords, who have nearly absolute control over external mana too. Their magics are something of an enigma to us. The process of growing this life mana is also called cultivation and a method of cultivation is called a magical path. Now that we have gotten the basic definitions out of the way I can discuss my cultivation.


    To those not familiar with the magical path of the black mountain, we follow the magical path of the ancient elves. The elves were master magicians who believed magic to be an act of creation and cultivating to be the ultimate act of creation. Now why that is the case, nobody will tell me. It must be related to one of the later stages of cultivation.


    All I know is that there are nine stages in this process and I am presently at the very first stage, which is called the foundation building stage. At this stage, I am supposed to be building something called the foundation, by absorbing mana from the world around me and using it to construct a formation in my mana core.


    Even right now, I am pulling mana from the air and condensing it to form a string as I am essentially weaving a massive rectangular slab. With enough time It will turn into a segment of my life mana thus increasing my life mana reserves. However, the true magic is inside the slab, full of complicated weaves and shapes that I am only able to construct because it is inside my mana core, where I hold absolute control over mana. Trying that in real life would be like trying to draw with your brush attached to the other end of the stilt. It is ridiculously hard. I would know, I spent the first year of training trying this.


    My master did not stop me, so I suffered like that for a year. Trying to spin the strings of mana to form the complicated runes that I can make so easily in my core. That is why my cultivation is actually so low. Most people at my stage tend to have their fifth foundation slab built up. My competition at the black mountain are already at the seventh slab.


    Top put it simply, the complexity of the foundation is not comparable to any formation that I have ever seen in my life. The only thing that I can say that I have found comparable would be the class 1 defense formation that is used to guard the hexmountain. With that though I couldn''t even watch it for even a few seconds before my mana sight got burnt. That was another headstrong decision from my side.


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    The lesser that I speak of that place though the better, even thought logs are not as safe as the black mountain likes to portray them as and this is something that the head office will certainly take offense at being recorded and would certainly cause me to be executed if I were the cause of a leak. This is vital stuff that I should not be knowing anyways.


    To get back to my foundation I am presently in the stage of building the second slab, hence I am considered to be a foundation level, second stage mage. I really should focus on it a bit, but I am already so busy. I have been trying to learn how to build a class seven formation.


    My master has given me extremely clear instructions that I am not allowed to enter the next stage until I have built a class seven formation. Until then, I am not even allowed to know the name of the next stage or to gather any bit of information about it and granted the elves are extinct, right now the black mountain is the only force In the continent that has access to the elven path. So I cannot use my newly found independence to find out anything.


    Other than my path the magic I practice is of two types which are battery magic and formation magic. Right now I shall not speak of battery magic as to practice one needs to be on the stage beyond the foundation stage. I only practice beginner level optimizations that will help me reduce mana consumption as I do my work. The only thing I know about battery mages is that they tend to have absurd amounts of mana and their efficiencies are so high that they can run on their reserves for days.


    As for formation magic, It is the very core of the magic that I practice. There are four spells that every formation mage is supposed to know. With sufficient mastery in these spells, I will be able to craft nearly any formation that I wish.


    There is the basic formation view that allows one to look at a formation and make out its contents. Without it one cannot even get started on the process of making a formation. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the spell that I make the most use of. It is the only spell of mine that has reached the third level of the journeyman stage.


    The second spell that one should be able to make use of is called formation decomposition, which allows a mage to break apart formations and remove all useable parts from them. This spell is not one that I have found much use for personally, but my master has assured me that it is a pretty practical spell for the future.


    The third spell is formation control, a spell that allows me to take control of formations at a level that other people are simply not capable of doing so. A person at the master level of formation control can double the strength of a formation, while nearly cutting the mana costs of the formations by half. It is the spell that I have the second most experience with, reaching the seventh stage of apprentice level.


    As for the fourth spell, it is one that I have barely any understanding of. It is called formation flow, whatever that means and it is supposed to greatly increase the speed of my crafting formations. It is the only spell that I have not managed to craft in all of my creations.


    these four spells are the epitome of easy to learn, hard to master. Taking the example that my master used, these four spells are the foundation on which any formation mage has to work, lacking any of the spells he simply won''t be able to compete with a mage who does know these spells.


    To those that do not understand what the classification system that the crafters association has for crafting spells( which is also used by those meatheads that practice combat magic.) A person''s mastery of a magical spell can be divided into three main stages, which are the apprentice level, journeyman level and master level. Each stage is further divided into nine sublevels called stages.


    An apprentice level means that one is learning the process of using a spell. A journeyman level means that one has begun to learn the usage of a spell and the many intricacies that are involved in the process. A master level means that one can modify the spell to their preferences and interests.


    Since I am speaking of cultivation and related matters here, I might as well describe the path followed by the imperials which is the draconic path. This is the path that the imperials have acquired from the draconic empire, traces of which must exist in the ruin we are visiting.


    Anyways, Right now the only information that I have about the draconic mages is that their path is measured using something called circles, with each circle being roughly at the same level as a level of the elven path. I certainly do not have an idea as to how exactly their magic path works though it should be something similar to the path that is followed by the elves, but these are not matters that I do not understand, so I shall not comment on it further. For now, though I will use the draconic style of classification since my knowledge of the elven path is lacking and everybody follows the draconic path here.


    With that, I think that I have given a pretty clear idea of my power and where I stand and also given all the information I have about the strength of our enemy. As for me, I am going to keep cultivating till I reach the fort after which I will have to return to the problem of building a class 8 formation. I do so little cultivating already.


    Anyway, I have built only three class eight formations in my life and two of them were built by master, with my assistance.


    As for the last, it is something that I built completely on my own, but sadly it is not with me. I actually sold it to get a few materials. (including my vine armor.) Well, these were my master''s orders, so I had little chance of refusing them.


    Let me catch myself here since my master also tends to read these logs and the man is not one to forget these stuff. If he read this, he would certainly begin to imagine even worse methods of training (torturing) me.

 turns out, my work has gotten harder (log 007)

    Right now I am sitting in my office at the temporary fort. The snowwinders are legendary for their ability to construct and this building that I am sitting in is the perfect example of why.


    Would you believe that these bastards built an entire fort in a single week? A week ago this sprawling building I am sitting in did not exist.  Granted, the building is quite weak in terms of durability (strong enough that a single punch from me won''t pass through the wall but if I were to channel mana it would collapse the wall), but I have a feeling that is more related to the materials used rather than the way the place has been constructed.


    The fort itself is just like any other fort that you can find on the continent. You have a central building surrounded by a wall. There are four gates to each of the cardinal directions. The place is big enough to comfortably support two hundred people but can be easily maintained by a hundred people if they are ready to do a bit of work. This includes patrolling mainly.


    I am not particularly good at construction work, but I can tell that the materials used for this building certainly would not be good enough for creating a fort. In any other place or with any other people using these materials, I am sure that the fort would collapse any second but here I am sure that something quite defensible can be made out of this building. It is not going to be an easy task, mind you, but I have been given a task. It is now my work to finish it.


    Right now, my major work is to complete the central formation as quickly as possible. Most fort formations also do the work of increasing the fort''s durability and seeing the way the place is already crumbling, it is going to need a very strong defensive formation to work at all. I am starting to realize why these guys have given me class eight material so easily. Anything below that is useless.


    The snowwinders follow the classical method of formation building. That is by essentially having one super strong formation as the base, which will be doing all the core work that is supposed to be done such as a defensive formation, an environment control formation and so on. Such a formation tends to make it easier for the defenders in a place. They will only have to guard a single defensible location.


    Certainly makes tampering a very hard thing to do. It also greatly reduces the amount of resources needed to be invested in the thing. It reduces the overall amount of mana being consumed by the formation and also gives me more options to work with but it also greatly increases the complexity of the formation that I will have to build. I will also need higher quality materials to make such a product, but that is not my problem as any materials that I will need will be managed by the frozen peaks. Something like sky bamboo will burn up in the process of inscribing itself.


    Anyway, it is about time for me to meet the person who is in charge of the fort, whom I can spy from the edge of vision. One point that I find about these people is how ordinary they look. The snowwind empire is almost legendary for the way they have built their territory in one of the bloodiest lands that can exist. I had assumed that they would look like superhumans, maybe like a smaller version of a giant. They just look so normal.


    This is the first time that I have looked at a snowwinder properly, especially with the way that we isolated in the frozen peak. It was almost as if the frozen peak was like a ghost house, granted we spent most of our time in a single room.


    ¡°Soldier Shamon, am I getting your name right.¡°, I speak, causing the soldier who was standing next to me to snap to attention.


    ¡°Yes, captain.¡°, Shamon replies.


    ¡°Good, have you prepared the resources that I have requested of you.¡°, I ask him.


    ¡°Yes, captain. All the maps that have been left to us by the dwarven miners are being gathered as we speak.¡°, he replies. For a second he has a hesitant expression, as he asks. ¡°Captain, what is the use of these maps now? Any mines that might have existed in this region have already been completely dug out by the dwarves and anything that has been left is not worth the effort of mining it.¡°


    ¡°I have my reason for doing so, Shamon. All I can do is assure you that what we are doing here is not a waste of time.¡°, I reply, not answering him. These are trade secrets. More importantly, it will take too long to do so.


    ¡°Anyway, while these maps are gathered, give me a description of the enemy that we are going to be facing.¡°, I ask him. I have been reported on the snowlords, but that does not mean that my knowledge will surpass the knowledge of a local of this place.


    ¡°The snowlords themselves are extremely tough enemies to fight, captain. Their magic allows them to command the ice beasts. Those are the threats that we should be facing mainly. Every year during the invasion, the snowlords send entire hordes and armies of ice beasts to keep the army busy. These temporary forts are a way for us to counter these beasts. We must hunt these beasts and if possible acquire their carcasses for the ice peak. If it is the ice beasts, we will fight at least a troop of the ice beasts. A troop of ice beasts is a pack of eighty classless ice beasts led by a first class ice beast, who is called a troop leader.¡° Shamon speaks. ¡°other than that This one does not have much idea as to what their magic is exactly, but everybody says that their breath is capable of raising storms and the ice storms that we have to face every year are caused by them. There might be some element of truth in this, but not that exaggerated.¡°


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    This man is good at his job, as he explains himself quite well and tells the possible threats that we might be facing, without exaggerating any more than necessary. This man reminds me of my master''s general. He is a man of a similar soldierly disposition.


    ¡°Are there any other threats that we will be facing here.¡°, I ask again.


    ¡°Well, there is the threat that we might have to face a snowstorm. I have no idea as to what we can do to counter it unless you manage to craft the central formation. Even then we can''t be sure if the fort will last. It all depends on the strength of the snowstorm, captain. Some can even threaten the frozen peak.¡°, shamon speaks. ¡°You don''t need to worry about this any time soon though. This is just the beginning of winter. These storms are more likely to appear in the middle to later part of winter.¡°


    ¡°Still, Is there any way for us to predict if a snowstorm will hit us at the very least.¡°, I ask.


    ¡°During the winter, the snow storms are nearly impossible to predict, captain. With the presence of the snowlords and their weather magic, it is even harder to predict.¡°, Shamon replies ¡± For all we know we could be hit by a snowstorm this very minute. It is a risk that we have to take.¡°


    ¡°Fine, pass on the dwarven maps to me once you have gotten it. I will start to work on the central formation.¡°, I command him.


    He marches out of the room in perfect form as I begin to work on the formation. I have a feeling that Trevor would like this man. One of the good things about the snowwinders is that they are quite liberal with their materials( with their formations at least, they have built this fort in a dirt cheap manner.). Normally materials are roughly classified into nine classes, with a class eight material having the ability to act as the core for a class eight formation. Another thing to be noted is that spells also have similar classification methods, a spell capable of creating a class eight formation on inscription is called a class eight spell.


    Now that the basic definitions are out of the way, I will get back to business. The snowwinders have given me a material called the bronze bark. Bronze bark is a druidic material with quite a bit of history of usage. I have a feeling that I have been given this item because of my armor, which is something that I have created based on druidic spells. (which is the case for nearly any spell that has a tree at its core.) Anyway, bronze wood is a pretty solid material to a level where nearly all druids made use of it in their defenses in one way or another.


    That means that there are a lot of options for me to work on the given material but only two of which I can any significant use out of. Bronze bark has three main elements that would work on it, which are earth, water and metal. One option that I have is that I can focus on the metal and fill my formation with spells that will increase the durability of the fort. This I think can be a pretty decent option for this base, but that means that the formation that I make is purely defensive and there is simply no scope for adaptation using this formation. It would essentially be like that the materials of the fort have been increased in durability by almost two classes, but given the base material I am working with it is not going to be very impressive.


    The other option is that I can fill the spell with spells that complement the earth and the water side of things. The defensive boost that will give me is pretty little compared to if I were to go the other way but it will also give the option to add quite a bit of water based offensive spells to the formation and also give the formation more options to grow, especially since the formation I am building is druidic. Every power has a different focus when they are building their formations. The druids focussed on growth. These guys almost always built their formation with a living tree at its base or some material like the copper bark which can almost grow in any location. The formation was meant to nurture the tree and at the same time do whatever its purpose is.


    By the way, another thing that I have to note about formations (something that I always forget to mention) is the chaining of a formation. For example, I have a class eight material as the formation core. I have to inscribe a class eight formation core with a single class eight spell and ten class nine spells. Similarly, class seven core can have a single class seven spell, ten class eight spells a hundred class nine spells and so on until the numbers get a bit ridiculous at the class one stage.


    That is why a class eight formation is going to the very edge of my capabilities because I have to inscribe eleven spells into this formation core. Even the vine armor of mine took nearly the entirety of my trip here to inscribe. Granted that I was not focused on it exclusively since I had to take care of the airship formations too. (The airships are not exactly what you call a complete formation, since only a single spell has been inscribed. Sky bamboo has the potential to be class six, but it is rarely used as a formation core since it barely has any durability. A class six formation core has to be able to handle the strain of a thousand spells you know. You can already see the state it is in with a single spell.)

 crawling is hard work (log 008)

    The fort might be a work of art but the only reason for this is the way that it has been constructed. the fort itself leaves a lot to be desired. you can essentially call it half of a building, with only the skeleton of the building constructed.


    the things that one can take for granted in the case of other buildings are completely absent here. Environmental formation (which is vital in this frigid hellscape.) is the thing that is about to affect us the most. There is a significant worry about the weather and how it will affect the soldiers. The snowwinders can survive in weather like this but to fight in this weather is going to be hard unless I do something.


    the one thing that everybody forgets about the issue here is that it is not the enemy that is our main threat but the environment. After all, it is more likely that a person is going to freeze to death than fight an enemy. That means that The main threat that seems to affect those in these forts is the cold.


    Already, Every soldier here essentially resembles a ball in the way that they are covered in coats. not like it is going to help us a lot. you can think of our present situation like us sitting in an ocean of ice mana. Our life mana is like a boat in this ocean, protecting us from the worst. The soldiers are essentially flimsy plank that might not even survive a single trip here and I am much closer to the fisherman''s boat, capable of surviving easily if things are calm, but I am equally likely to drown here once things get a bit chaotic.


    that is why this place is such an annoyance to handle and why this fort seems like a stupid idea. That is why these soldiers have to wear coats inscribed with formations to isolate them from the ice mana outside. They certainly won''t be able to fight in those coats.


    While these soldiers are presently in a very crappy situation, I have something more important that I need to focus on. My main focus right now is to make sure that I don''t bring the fort down because I had to fight in it at my full strength.


    Shamon has been spending the last week trying to manage the particular problem as well as he can. He also seems to be succeeding at it. so I am sure that he can do that for a week or more. I will have a solution in place soon enough, after which Trevor can focus on more combat worthy matters.


    I guess that I should report the fix that I have in place. It has to do with the formation that I am going to inscribe. I would have liked to claim that it was my work, but this particular formation of mine is a druidic formation that is used by the druids to grow copper bark trees. Copper bark trees are supposed to be trees that grow from any part of their body, as long as they are placed in particular formations that provide them with nourishment.


    Such kind of formations are the core of the druidic society. A druidic village will have one such formation acting as the core protecting and nourishing their entire forest and the druids would protect this core formation. The older the druidic village is the stronger the druids are. If this formation of mine were to succeed it would be enough to act as the core for a druidic village, you know. Not a very strong village, but still it would be a village. Also, I can''t predict how useful it will be in such a hostile environment.


    There is also the added benefit that it can act quite similar to an environment control formation. at the very least the formation will make the fort have similar conditions to a place where copper bark can grow, which is going to be quite warm and humid. It is a fascinating topic since my formation is being supplied majorly with elemental mana that certainly won''t be able to increase the temperature, but still, copper bark can do this. It is my master''s theory that druids have somehow managed to embed microscopic formations well versed in elemental conversion in every inch of copper branch somehow that helps it regulate the weather. He has yet to prove that hypothesis of his. I am starting to realize that I am rambling about this topic. To put it into simple terms, there is something in the copper bark that allows for this environment to be created.


    So Shamon will not need to manage it for very long, maybe two months at most after which the environment is not an issue to be dealt with. That is a good thing since I would rather that the man focus on the creatures coming to kill us.


    That is not a matter that I am going to be achieving any time soon, my present estimates put me at nearly two months to complete this particular task. Thankfully, I have two weeks to complete the formation base. (which in the present case would mean a set of three formations, one of metal, one of water and one of earth responsible for controlling their respective mana.)


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    The ice beast horde always ends up attacking after the first snowstorms of winter have passed. That time is roughly around this time. Thankfully, the very first wave of the horde is always dealt with by the experts of the Ice Peak, in their very first hunts. That means that we have to deal with the second wave which is coming in two weeks. Until then we only have to face beasts that the hunting party might have missed, which Shamon and his group can handle. In the worst case, I can act as interference.


    For now, I plan to begin the process by inscribing the metal formation on the copper bark. The formation that I am inscribing has one metal based spell, six water based spells and three earth based spells to act as the ninth class formation base. As for the class 8 spell, that is something that I have yet to decide. There are many options from many different sources. The druids themselves have four spells themselves that can be used and the black mountain records have ten spells that I can use. I will need to consider very deeply which spell I have to use.


    I would like to remove another misconception that non-formation mages have about the classification system. A class 8 spell need not be as strong as a class 9 spell. What a class 8 spell is doing is essentially managing the set of class 9 that have been inscribed into the formation core to create a desired effect. It is, therefore, a very complex field of study and research of methods of pairing the correct lower class spell with the correct higher class spells to ensure that the lower class spell will even have the desired effect.


    The metal based spell will not take long for me if I focus on it. It will take me a couple of days and should make sure that the fort won''t collapse just because an ice beast clawed at it weirdly. (at its present durability I don''t even need to use my armor to shatter a wall, just my mana-powered fists are enough. Thank God there is no snowstorm yet.) What is going to take me the longest time in this process is to look for an elemental node.


    An elemental node is a stream of mana that is specific to a single element and beyond that I have no real idea what exactly they are and how they are formed. These are not useful for the average mage since having too much mana of a single element can be quite deadly unless you cultivate very specific magic paths and even then these mages tend to be pretty rare. Some people use it to power a few formations, yet even formation mages always seem to forget just how useful it is for us formation mages.


    Firstly, this way we would have a constant stream of mana powering the formation which means that I can reduce the strain on the mage powering the formation secondly, with materials like copper bark it can be used to nurture the material itself. The formation that I am considering building needs to have at least an elemental node of each element that the copperbark has affinity. There is a reason that the druids always built their forts deep in the forests where it would be easy to find the relevant nodes. They can find elemental nodes for such formations very easily and it also allows them to protect their formations.


    It is this particular requirement of their formations that made the druids so territorial. I mean there are only so many places in the continent where you can find an elemental node to meet your demands.


    This far north, I am not even sure that I can find any elemental node of an element other than ice and unless I want all of us to freeze to death, I cannot use a ice elemental node to power the formation. It is already freezing, this will leave Shamon and his group as ice cubes. That would be like creating a geyser of ice mana right below the ships that are the soldiers.


    That is why the dwarves are my last hope in this matter. Dwarves are masters of finding ore. They can find ore in places where the other races would not even dream of looking to find ore. Most of their art is a secret even to me (not for a lack of trying), but we can still make use of the dwarf''s hard work to find the elemental nodes I need. It is a common occurrence for an ore deposit of elemental metal to have a node passing through it.


    Even if the dwarves have emptied most of these ores, there is a pretty decent chance that the elemental node is still present there. Right now I am exploring one such tunnel, where the dwarves have acquired nearly a ton of an ore called blue iron. It is a basic iron ore with certain water based affinity. That means that I am quite likely to find an elemental node of the metal element or the water element. I can''t tell if the place will have an elemental node, but this is a game of probability. There are roughly thirty such mines that the dwarves have operated and I am hoping that I will find what I need in at least one of these places.


    Normally, this would be not a task that I would be doing personally. I cannot exactly send the soldiers in here. Firstly all of them are required above and while revealing such small secrets won''t cause me much problem, I have no desire to antagonize the head office more than necessary. The head office can be pretty petty If they decide that you are their enemies. You can already see me in my present case and I have no real enmity with the head office.


    That means that I am trudging in tunnels that the dwarves would consider a tight fit, and in which I can barely crawl through to reach the point where I can detect whether the place has an elemental node or not. I won''t even speak of just how frigid this place is. Let''s just say that I am a single inch from becoming a block of ice myself.


    That means that I am left with a lot of crawling and cursing, neither of which I have the desire to record so I will be taking my leave here. I will send my next log when I have managed to find an elemental node and have begun to complete the formation base.

 the work begins (log 009)

    Right now, I am feeling a peace of mind that I had not had since I had come to this fort. The reason for that is that I have finally managed to complete the inscription process for the metal spell. I do not feel like making a log but I have to do so in case I want to reference it in the future.


    I should leave a record of the formation that I am building and make sure that in case of my untimely demise, whoever will come here will at the very least know what the formation does. Misusing formations is the easiest way for you to cause a massive explosion, especially one linked to an elemental node.


    The class nine formation that I am building is a very basic nurturing formation among the druids known as the iron skin. this spell is used by the druids to increase the durability of their skin. The spell does this by adding an extremely thin layer of metal mana covering your skin. The spell itself is not very strong as this layer of metal mana is often not strong enough to block the strike of a blade and even if it managed to do that, the metal mana gathered would dissipate in blocking that strike.


    The main problem with this formation is because of the speed at which the spell works. For example, if a druid managed to run this spell for nearly a hundred years continuously without being consumed even once the metal mana layer that is going to cover the user will finally become visible and at this stage, only a general level figure would be able to harm that druid. These druids have a special name, called the iron druids. Even at its peak, the druids only had two iron druids.


    That is the goal of my metal formation is to constantly cast the iron skin spell on the fort and create a metal barrier for every inch of the place. You can see the speed of the spell for a human, so naturally, for the fort it is going to be even slower. I would not be surprised that it would take a thousand years to reach a state similar to the Iron Druids. (If it does, it will be quite unbreakable.)


    That is even the case after I have found an elemental node for the metal element. The spell can make use of any mana to do this, but pure metal mana is the best for this task. It is kind of like using paint, it will naturally take longer to paint a building if he had to process and make his paint from scratch with its raw materials each time he had to paint. If the paint is already available, one just needs to paint it on. The elemental node is a stream of paint for me in the present context, a thin stream, but a stream nonetheless.


    Hey, every bit of it will help me whenever the fort is going to be involved in a conflict. Well, It is nearly a week since the last log and I have to admit that I have underestimated just how annoying the cold is going to be. First of all, why the fuck is this place is so fucking cold. I have enough mana in my body that I do not need to worry about the cold affecting my fighting capabilities.


    That does not mean that I stop feeling the cold, if anything the cold that I am feeling is way worse than the cold that the soldiers above are feeling. They are quite warm sitting up there you know. I have been spending nearly all the days that I have since coming here, down in these tunnels and while they are covered like a ball in coats to keep them warm, I have a thin layer of clothes to keep me warm. Anymore and my agility in battles will be affected. Honestly, why the fuck did I think that the vine armor was going to be useful in this fucking cold. Oh yeah, I have two of the three elemental nodes needed for this process. One is the metal node and the other is the earth node. That only leaves me with the water node, which it seems is going to take quite a bit more looking.


    Well, rather than talking about my miserable time down there, I am going to focus on the situation of the temporary fort. Now, I have been learning why exactly these folks even need to attempt something like the temporary fort.


    The temporary forts are something that the Snowwinders have attempted very recently, as recently as a couple of years ago. To explain why exactly they are needed I have to explain the problems that are faced by the snowwinders in their war with with the snowlords.


    The place that we are in, the northern valleys is a place that acts as the border between these two warring powers. On the snowlander side, this valley ends up in a plateau beyond which we have the northern wastelands. The northern wastelands are not a place that a mage will go lightly to. To put it simply, the northern wasteland is a location where even mana tends to freeze. They are said to form crystals of mana, that certain species use as fuel. Most of these species are now extinct, maybe due to their fascination with entering the northern wastelands. The only people who have any idea about the wastelands are our enemies.


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    Anyway, If we were to go to the Snowwinders side, this fight would go on in the plains of the Snowwind empire. That would put the snowwinders in a pretty weird position since they would essentially be destroying their land to fight the snowlords. It does not help that the land that the Snowwinders are protecting is the farmlands of the Snowwind empire.


    Hence the only real place where these two forces can fight is this region, this valley that borders both the regions. Yet one point that one must not forget is that even here the snowwinders fight at a disadvantage. At the onset of winter, the valley has to face snowstorms with ice falling from the northern wastelands, which the snowlords make use of to strike the snowwinders. The snowwinders should have ended up dead in this exchange, especially the fact that the temperature at this place is enough to freeze most of these guys into a block of ice. They should have ended up dead or at least at a disadvantage in this fight.


    the main reason that the snowwinders have even managed to level the playing field is the fact that they have frozen peaks. The frozen peaks act as a place where the snowwinders can rest whenever they are not fighting. Otherwise in such a hostile environment just surviving would be hard, let alone fighting.


    You can see a trace of that occurring in the temporary fort at the moment. The enemy has yet to strike us but it is quite clear that we are in a pretty deadly situation anyway. The enemy does not even need to appear at this fort for it to fall. All that needs to happen is a decently powerful snowstorm to hit us and the place will fall. Right now that is my main worry. I am not sure If the metal spell that I have inscribed will even have an effect on the situation or if the base material that they have used for the fort is so weak that even a class nine formation will not be enough to make the fort durable enough for this place.


    Anyway, as I was describing this means that the fight that is occurring here is essentially one of construction. The snowwinders will try to put up forts in the area and the snowlords will try to break them before the snowwinders can succeed in their task and if possible they will try to loot the fort to get useful materials. The snowlords have Quite the advantage in this matter since nobody can tell where they will strike next. They have the storms with them.


    After all, even the construction of the simplest fort tends to take multiple months and during that period it is a prime target for the snowlords. So the temporary forts are the solutions that these guys have on this matter. Rather than try to build a proper fort traditionally, they are building a very large number of temporary buildings most of which the snowlords might end up breaking in a couple of strikes. The cost of materials invested is not much, especially when the fort has been built in such a way that even if it has been broken it can reconstructed quickly and efficiently. Even if they don''t become the next frozen peaks, these forts will act as outposts for it, greatly increasing Snowwind influence in the place.


    if even one of these buildings lasts for six months, it would completely be enough to satisfy the materials that have been invested into the task. That means that my present goal is to just make sure that fort will last for as long as possible. If they manage to make another fort last in the way that they have managed to make the frozen peaks last, at a fraction of the cost that they built the frozen peaks at, then they can keep doing this every year, for centuries if necessary.


    I am beginning to understand why exactly I have been sent here and the reason that I have ended up here. I am essentially acting as an experiment for these people. Maybe it is my skill in formations or my knowledge as a person of the black mountain that they want to test. Maybe they think that a stronger central formation is the way that they need to go to make these forts a success or something like that. (I certainly think so.)


    Regardless, I cannot afford to fail in this task even if it is meant to be an experiment. The ruin that at the moment is holding all the people of my troop is at the moment protected by this exact fort. If at this moment the ruin is attacked I can send a group of soldiers to help protect them, but that is granted that these soldiers are not busy fighting for their lives because the fort that was meant to protect them has been destroyed just because the wind is blowing too hard.


    Now I am starting to wonder if I am making a mistake. Maybe a nurturing formation is not the way for me to go. Maybe I should have just focussed on inscribing a formation from the first day. After all a nurturing formation requires time to show its true power and that is something that I am not even sure if I have enough of. Well, a formation built is a path set. I can''t change it even If I want to.


    Regardless, I have managed to complete the very first and the most important part of the formation. The other parts of the formation can be added slowly and steadily with time, at least the fort is not at risk of collapsing immediately. Now it is time for the riskiest part of the mission to begin, after all, one can never tell the power of a formation without the first contact with the enemy.

 we make a plan of attack (log 010)

    Formation masters fear the battlefield for a simple reason. We cannot work to our best on the battlefield.


    Take this perspective, you are being sent to the battlefield with the tools to build a weapon. You have to craft that weapon of yours in the middle of a battlefield, while the enemy is in the process of fighting you. You have shaped your blade while the enemy is shooting arrows at you and you have to heat the metal while the enemy is throwing fireballs at you.


    Do you think that the enemy will allow you to complete that weapon of yours? No, he will stick his sword into you before you even get the opportunity to start on your work. It is a very risky position to be in.


    Well, the battlefield might be a place where we cannot work to our best but it is also true that formations are often built on the battlefield in the middle of a war. The first step of war is to construct your forts and their formations, which the enemy will be trying to break and destroy. As you can see, the snowlords are masters of this kind of combat with the amount of practice they have had with the Snowwinders.


    Even now, these bastards have caught me right at the most sensitive moment that I can have during the process of building a formation. To explain this better, let me begin by admitting that I have finally managed to build the formation base. The formation base is the part of the formation that is supposed to deal with the process of control of mana. It acts as a dam, storing the mana from the continuous stream of the elemental nodes and storing it in the formation core and then making use of it to power the entire thing. It is the heart and the spine of a formation.


    So the formation base has one ability which is to store and manage a large amount of mana. The mana stored in this formation at the moment is so much that if I were to try and channel it into a class nine formation material is that it would cause a massive explosion.


    I could try and channel it into myself, but that would just cause my death in even more painful ways (such as crumbling into the sand, suffocating while my skin and other organs turn to metal or the worst, swelling like a balloon due to the fluid in my body. Destruction by mana is quite creative.)


    So essentially even with the formation covering the fort, there is simply no way for me to make use of it. That will be the case until I can inscribe one other formation at the very least, with more offensive capabilities. Until then the formation base cannot act like anything more than a powerful source of mana, one that will be more likely to destroy the vessel than the enemy.


    As for why I am not able to do even basic inscribing is due to the three troops that have been surrounding us for a couple of days now, patrolling somewhere north of us. Even at the moment, I can feel these creatures camping somewhere to the north, their mana pulses barely noticeable in the frigid north.


    Turns out the ice beasts are better at forming an army than most humans. Eighty circleless beasts (whose strength is equivalent to the soldiers.) Follow the command of a troop leader, who is a first class being (with strength roughly equivalent to mine.). Eighty such troops combined form a horde under the control of a snow lord.


    It is this horde that makes a snowlord so hard to fight. In terms of pure might, all that would be required is for the commander to go and I think it would take like an hour for him to kill all the snowlords. But then the battle would not be that of troops but of individual ice beasts and the ice beasts are pests that the frozen peak cannot allow onto their fields. It is already a problem that they are suffering from.


    It is said that every village of the snowwind empire has to maintain a militia simply for the fact that if they do not have one then they stand to be destroyed by hordes of ice beasts that might be looking for a snack.


    If the situation were to get worse In the fields, then the snowwind empire might just end up facing a famine. (Not many forces are willing to trade with the snowwind empire, especially for things like food. Let''s just say the neighbors of the Snowwinders will make heavy profits if that happens.)


    Anyway, I am not here to discuss politics but to discuss my present situation. The ice beasts are acting to stall us, to prevent us from working on the formations any longer. That is why they are at the moment not attacking us.


    If they were to attack us now, the battle might just end in our victory or our defeat. Then regardless of the outcome, the two sides will not be able to continue on their attack. This will then lead to my benefit as during that period I will be able to keep working on the formation greatly boosting our power.


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    No, these beasts will do better by just hanging out acting as a threat to prevent me from continuing on my formation. That will be the case until somebody powerful enough will come and flatten all of us. I begin work on the formation, and these creatures will attack. It is not a threat that I can ignore when this creature nearly outnumbers us two to one.


    It is a pretty common tactic, which is particularly effective when dealing with formation mages. That means that I do have methods to deal with it, but it is neither going to be easy nor safe. The main problem is that I am going to have to take a certain amount of risk personally.


    My master would be the first person to do something like that. Well, as for what I am going to be doing, I will decide that based on some very professional advice or at the very least something quite similar. In my present case that would be shamon. He might not look like much but he is an experienced soldier who has fought in this place for years.


    Well, on that note it is about time that I go and meet him. I have been trying to stay out of his way for a couple of days, you know. He has enough stress to deal with, without trying to talk to me. These guys bend over backward whenever they see their commanding officer in the room.


    (After a while.)


    I almost forgot that I had to activate this thing.


    "My lord, I greet you.", Trevor is standing opposite of me, bending opposite to me.


    ¡°No need to do that, Shamon.", I speak "I have a certain business to discuss with you. I would prefer it if we had some privacy."


    I say that looking at the soldiers next to me, who quickly disappear at my kind. These guys might have overly complicated rituals, but discipline is something that they are very good at.


    "Now to get to business, I have a plan to deal with the ice beasts.", I ask him. "For it to work, I need to understand. How exactly do these beasts think? What are their tactics."


    "Well, If they were under the control of snowlords, there is no real way for us to predict their behavior. The snowlords do tend to be quite diverse in the way that they react to their enemies. Some to be very aggressive, some defensive, though it is most common to see them being somewhere in the middle.", Shamon begins. "With only the ice beasts, it is easier. They are stupid creatures when they are not actively under the control of their masters. They will certainly be easier to fight."


    "Well, the plan is not to fight them, Shamon but annihilate them as quickly as possible", I Begin. "What do you think is our situation at the moment."


    "Well, we are in a pretty stable situation for now. The ice beasts do not have any reason to attack us and they should wait. As long as we maintain the fort correctly, these beasts have no way to strike us. They are trying to isolate us and then attack us while preventing any further scope of attack. We cannot stay in the fort forever. They are trying to starve us out.", shamon speaks. "We need a plan of attack for the inevitable day that we are forced to leave the safety of this fort."


    "We will deal with that situation when the day comes, shamon. Those are concerns for the future. Right now we are at a more deadly standstill.", I speak. "To explain our present situation it is best to take this example. Imagine that you are a wolf stuck in the forest you notice in the distance that there is a hunter priming to strike you, his bow fully taut and ready to strike you. whichever direction you go now, you can''t be sure if the arrow will hit you or not. What do you think the beast will do now."


    "Well, it would charge towards the hunter and try to kill him before he can do that. That way even if the hunter succeeds, I will be close enough to take him down with me", Shamon replies.


    "Well, we are the hunters in this example. We have essentially put an arrow in the bow and are now having it at a full draw in front of the enemy and the enemy is charging at us. Now is not the time for us to passively wait for the enemy to make a move. Rather than shoot an arrow, we need to throw a knife at its face.", I speak to him.


    "Captain, what about your formations then? There must be some way for you to make use of it.", Shamon asks.


    "Well, I do not have much good news there. We can make use of it but there is a certain risk involved in the process and If I want to execute what I am planning to do, I will need ten of your best soldiers.", I ask him.


    That does not go well with the soldier. He keeps it in check though.


    "Well, I can provide you with these soldiers.", shamon speaks. "Their loss will be felt very clearly, captain. We are not just fighting three troops. More will come in the future."


    "I understand that, shamon. You need not worry. Your soldiers will be fine.", I say to him.


    "Captain, at the same time, I want to send messengers to the remaining temporary forts. I do not think that there is no way that we will be able to maintain this fort on its own", shamon begins. "Other than us there are five other forts. For each fort, we will need to send at least two soldiers for safe passage."


    "Well, it is not like their presence will be too much of a help for us, Shamon.", I say to him." How likely are the forts going to take such a proposal."


    "Well, I am friends with the head of two of these forts. They will certainly listen to us at the very least. The remaining I am not so sure. Such a request might be seen as a sign of weakness and the person extending this request to be insulting you.", Shamon speaks. "It will still be foolish of us to not try though. After all, we are in the same situation."


    "Good, then do the needful.", I say "I will need those soldiers in a couple of days. As for what I am planning......"


    (It is standard operating procedure to not reveal any information that might get intercepted by the enemy. After all, if I were to put my entire attack plan here and the enemy got access to it. Well, it is my corpse that is going to be lying there not yours. You shall know what I plan to do at the same time as the enemy.)

 we do a stealth attack (log 011)

    In the time that I have spent in the fort, I have not managed to spend a long time with the soldiers there. The reason for this is that I can feel these guys feeling awkward in my presence. They seem as if they do not know what to do in my presence.


    Even now as I sit with them, I can feel these guys sitting there checking their weapons and doing their best to not meet my eyes. Well, it is not like I care if they respect me or not. All I need is for these guys to follow orders when they are on the battlefield.


    I am putting myself at considerable risk regardless of whether the plan succeeds or fails.


    "Soldiers, at attention.", I speak. "Anton is the troop ready to leave."


    Anton is the leader of this bunch of soldiers and is supposed to be a person almost on the verge of breaking through into the first circle. I do not know much about the path of draconians, but that seems to be quite an achievement given his age.


    Well, I guess it is about time that I begin telling what it is that I plan to do. The very first thing that I want to do is to sneak into the ice beast camp. Well calling it a camp feels wrong, but that is what the others call it.


    it is better to call it a dungeon. These ice beasts have one ability that can be considered to be the center of their power. They can manipulate ice and snow to a very extreme level. Anywhere this ability would be quite average in power but in this Frozen wastelands, it can be considered to be one of the top-tier abilities.


    Anyway, where was I, yeah it can be called a dungeon, where these beasts will use their abilities and essentially drill into the ground, creating a network of tunnels in which I can attempt to kill these guys by causing a massive cave-in.


    I do not have the exact location of the entirety of this tunnel system but the amount that I have found should be enough to collapse the entire thing. It''s an old dwarven skill that they use when they fight in their mines.


    This was one of the things that my master forced me to learn. The method of collapsing tunnel systems from the dwarves themselves. I remember that he had to pay quite a considerable amount to the dwarves for my lessons too. The dwarves are masters of the destroying mines which you would find surprising until you remember that the biggest competition of a dwarf is a dwarf and the easiest way for one clan of dwarves to hurt another clan is by collapsing their mines.


    There are very few races that can compare to a dwarf in this regard and while my skill is pretty little compared to that of a dwarf, it is still better than most creatures. Anyway, long story short, make sure that I can reach the correct position and I can collapse the entirety of the enemy''s base. After all, snow is softer than earth. Having a massive explosive would certainly help but I will get to that when we reach the position.


    It is about time that focussed on the task at hand which is to make sure that the enemy does not detect us before we have even reached them. In this field, I am surprised by the capability of the soldiers. While they are certainly not assassins they do know how to be stealthy.


    Still, that leaves us with a pretty annoying problem of having our mana emissions being quite easily detectable. We cannot stop this unless we want to become blocks of ice and in this desert where the mana of only the ice element exists, the mana of other elements exists like in beacons in the sea.


    For now, the only option that seems to work out for me is rather than try to control the emission on our side, I will give the ice beasts something else to look at. In our present case that would be the formation base beginning to go all out. That would essentially be like all the dam''s gates leaving nothing behind in reserve. Such a massive movement of mana would be enough to mask our mana emissions. Especially, since the ice beasts would be considering this to be some kind of attack.


    That is the theory at the very least, but I am not sure what unforeseen consequences I have to deal with. For all, I know this might have just caused the enemy to be forewarned and I have just made our entry into their base even harder. Regardless, now is not the time for us to be in doubt. That is the easiest way to commit suicide on the battlefield.


    (After a couple of minutes.)


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    Well, it looks like my worries were partially correct at the very least. Right now two ice beasts are standing guard at the entrance we had planned to enter this location from.


    At the very least they have not guessed the exact numbers of my soldiers. At the moment Anton and his bunch are looking at me for orders. Normally these ten people would be enough to deal with two wolves in a matter of moments. These moments might just be enough for the enemy to know of our position. Looks like I will have to begin pulling my weight around here. Signaling for the others to retreat, I prepare to make my move.


    Right now I am not wearing my armour which will make my work much harder. Well, not much of a chance for me to complain. For now, I am using a sword I have borrowed from Shamon. It is an okay sword, though I have certainly made use of better swords.


    Compressing mana from my core I push it through my legs. Normally it is not suggested to do something like that since it will leave behind damage in my body (what I am about to do is kind of like putting springs in my legs.) But for the matter of stealth, this is the best way, since it won''t emit too much mana.


    I jump, feeling the tingle of mana leaving my body. It is a bit disorienting, but it shall not distract me too much. I have aimed myself to hit the one with the more mana being emitting.


    The crash is exactly as disorienting as I had expected it to be. Suddenly the sky seems to become the earth as my sword enters into my victim. The sword almost splits the creature in two, leaving viscera and blood everywhere.


    Fuck, I had not considered that. I fight the disorientation as I locate the second creature which is still In the process of turning in my direction. Before it can complete that though, my sword enters into its eye.


    It struggles for a few seconds until my sword finds its brain. Fuck, this is why I hate to use blades in battle. Somehow I never really seem to get used to it though. As I pull out my sword, I find that the soldiers have already made their way to the entrance. I will have to admit that these people are very efficient in their work.


    Now is not the time to get distracted. I might have just ended up exposing us. The smell of blood is not overpowering, but I do not know the strength of these creatures'' noses. I don''t know how I missed to acquire this information. They look like wolves, so for now I will just assume a similar level of senses.


    Regardless, I gesture for the soldiers to enter the base silently. Entering the tunnel I am surprised by their skill. They are no minotaurs but these tunnels would be quite defensible in case of an attack. They seem to be strengthening the tunnel with ice mana In a way that I don''t understand.


    Well, I have to focus. Slowly but steadily I make my way to the base, as I can feel the mana in the air grow denser. Normally that would make me feel nice but here it just makes everything seem colder.


    Up till now the maps that I have made seem to be working at the very least. That is good because I was worried that these beasts would have a way to beat the dwarven skill of tunnel mapping. Tunnels in ice and stone are not the same thing.


    I am quite thankful for our good luck until I feel the world around me go black as an ice beast bites into my face. The creature''s teeth don''t cause a few flesh wounds on my cheeks, but the true danger with the ice beast is the mana that they inject.


    I can feel the wounds on my face expand as I pull the wolf away from my face. Rather than pain, my face is tingling as if I have spent the day putting my face in ice.


    I throw the wolf away quickly pull out my sword and keep stabbing it into the creature. The creature struggles with everything it has but I can feel the life of the creature drain out in my hands, but my arms do not stop moving until the creature lies limp in my hands.


    I quickly turned to find three more such corpses lying on the ground, all surrounded by soldiers stabbing into the creatures as wildly as possible.


    "Anton, give me a report on the wounded.", I speak, knowing that our position has been lost. The enemy must know of our existence if we have been ambushed like this.


    "Two of the soldiers have lost their combat capabilities, captain." Anton begins. "We will need to return them to the base before the chill falls on them."


    "Fuck, we cannot retreat after entering so deep. Anton, pick three people and have them escort these two people to the base. The remaining five I need you to concentrate on the mission at hand.", I command the others. "Our mission has gotten just that harder. The enemy knows of our presence so fuck stealth. Quickly get out your weapons."


    Saying that we all get to our positions. The five soldiers that need to leave retreat at almost a lightning pace. They should be the safest among all the people. right now I am at the front with Anton and another soldier. The remaining three stand at the back with bows drawn out. The situation from now on is going to be quite terrible.


    (After that we essentially began to charge into the base. We managed to reach our target position nearly fifteen minutes after entering the place, with quite a significant amount of damage. We have been attacked five times, three times by a single troop and twice by a group of four wolves. With a proper formation, none of them caught us by surprise, but we are still accumulating injuries. I have been bit in a couple of places and clawed near the knee.


    Anton is limping because an ice beast bit at his ankle and every soldier while not injured has been battered and drained. We were not supposed to lose so much so quickly. Well, after this begins the riskiest part of our mission.)

 the escape (log 011 part 2)

    One thing people forget about formations is that they often tend to have a completely different set of rules from any other form of magic.


    One such difference that people forget about is the rule on the projection of mana. The more that you try to emit your mana on the battlefield the more that you need to pay for it. if I were to use every single bit of my mana from my reserves for an attack by the time that it reaches this place, it would be enough to maybe be equivalent to a breeze of wind.


    Such restrictions do not exist with a formation or more precisely do not exist with such intensity. For every ten bits of mana, I would lose for projecting mana myself, I would lose one bit of mana if I were to make use of a formation to do so.


    There are many theories for why this is the case, which is something that I have no desire to get into. It is such a significant threat that most formation mages are separated from their formation when they are not in combat.


    As for why I am suddenly discussing mana, it is for a pretty simple reason. The method that I am using to destroy this so-called tunnel system of the ice beasts is by making use of mana projections.


    Right now the problem with the formation base is that it is presently containing mana that is roughly ten times the amount that would be enough to make me explode to pieces. It is not a very accurate measurement but such accurate measurements would require tools that the snowwinders do not have.


    Anyway, I am about to project all of that mana into the only receptacle other than my body that will be able to handle that much mana for a few minutes at the very least. That would be the formation core of the vine armor. It is for this reason that I am sitting at the location presently trying to rig my latest invention into the ground.


    The location that I have chosen to undertake this particular task is the location to the best of my knowledge where the center of this particular mine tunnels should exist. According to my estimates this particular location once it loses its stability will cause all the other tunnels in the area to become unstable and collapse soon enough. That is the reason that I have undertaken this particular task.


    I am surprised that we have even managed to come here. With the intensity with which we were being attacked, I would have thought that we were charging into a green Goblin dungeon.


    Anyway, now is not the time for me to be distracted. After all, we have to defend this location until I set up the formation core.


    On that thought, I look at the people behind me. The location that I have chosen might not have been the wisest choice after all. This location has three main entrances. One location, that is the one from which we have entered. Presently it is the safest location.


    The other two locations are being guarded by Anton and another soldier in one location and the remaining three at the other location. Both the tunnels are swarming with ice beasts, almost seven on one side and ten on the other. The five soldiers have only been able to hold their own because they are using the tunnels to their benefit. Maybe a couple of minutes at the most.


    Thinking that I have to get back to the task at hand. Right now I am tweaking a few of the basic runes of my formation. These spells that I inscribe into formations tend to have many runes focused on limiting the flow of mana that can enter the formation core. It is done to prevent situations like the propulsion formation to occur in a given formation. I have to get rid of these limitations before I attempt to link the formation base to the vine armor.


    Well, these runes exist in a spell for a reason. Once I establish the link, the mana will rush into the class nine formation. The result of pushing mana meant for class eight formations into class nine formations will lead to very explosive results.


    Once it does occur you do not want to be standing in this place. Well, that will happen if the erasure occurs as quickly as possible. It is not as easy as I had assumed it to be. Burning the runes is quite easy. All I have to do is form a mana string into the shape of the rune and push a lot of mana into it. That will cause the rune to destabilize and disappear, especially for new formations like mine.


    The problem is that this way of removing runes might destabilize the formation and I need the remaining components to remain intact if I don''t want to go out in the blaze of glory personally. The remaining runes should be enough to make sure that the formation does not immediately explode and give us about five minutes to escape the tunnel. This would not have been a problem in rock, where such a kind of destabilization would occur in terms of days, but in the snow, I am expecting the effect to be more immediate.


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    Well, while I have been doing this I have managed to complete the necessary modifications. Now all that is needed for me to inscribe a rune into the base is to allow the formation base to recognize this formation for the transmission process to begin. With the formation base already active, it will take moments for the process to begin. I begin inscription while screaming.


    "Soldiers, prepare for retreat."


    While I complete the rune, I can feel the soldiers retreating from their position which is going about as hard as I was expecting it to go.


    Meanwhile, the moment that I complete the rune, the effects on the armor are immediate. I can feel the vine armor growing almost like a spring.


    Meanwhile, the soldiers and I made our way to our escape route and began to retreat as quickly as possible. Thankfully the growing formation has attracted the attention of most of these creatures. There are only three of them that we need to deal with.


    As I see one of the soldiers getting ready to deal with them.


    "You idiot, focus on retreating", I scream "We do not have long."


    Well, things went smoothly until we reached the opening of the cave. It is almost instinct that I flood my back with mana, defending me against the bolt of ice.


    The force of the strike is enough to nearly blow me to the ground. It feels like somebody hit my back with a hammer.


    "Scatter soldiers.", I scream as I begin to push mana into my legs. At the distance, I notice the source of that particular spell. It is an icebeast with mana fluctuations that rival me.


    For a moment I do not understand how this happened. After all, I should have sensed them, shouldn''t I?


    The answer came almost immediately, the formation base at full strength might have caused the ice beasts not to sense us, but I had not expected the beast to be smart enough to use the blaze of mana to hide their presence too. (One basic point about mana sense is that it is like a sense of smell. Smell something strong and you find it clogging your senses for quite a while.)


    I give another move to the beast while lost in all of these thoughts as it comes closer to me. The beast will win if it comes too close. Thankfully the other two troop leaders are still in the tunnels at the very least. This one seems to have left to scout the fort and return on noticing the commotion here.


    Well, the problem is I do not have any method of attacking from a distance, especially since I lost the armor. I assume that roughly five minutes should have passed in the process of retreat.


    That means the only way that I can win this fight is to confuse the beast and something shocking is going to happen at any moment. I have all of these thoughts as the beast comes closer to me.


    Focussing mana into my legs, I jump back dodging a full force charge of the beasts. It is close though, as I can feel the claws of the beast just inches from my chest. I swing my sword upwards to block another ice bolt from above the beast''s head.


    For the next ten seconds, I can feel myself and the beast attempting to predict the other''s move. This is thankfully exactly what I wanted. Finally, the formation core has begun to overload as I hear a massive boom.


    At the moment the two of us are disoriented, especially when the tunnel next to me begins to break apart as If a giant was crushing it in his hand. The ice beast was not expecting what was happening at its base.


    The collapsing tunnels often are a silent affair or at least somehow the sound does not seem enough to visualize what you see. It almost feels as if the very world is falling away. The ground shakes as if you are going through an earthquake, though other than that you often cannot tell much more, but this creature''s senses must be more attuned to the elements of this region. It can understand the full horror of what is happening down there.


    That gave me a single moment of doubt, of confusion and on the battlefield that is enough, especially when we are at striking distance from the other. Pushing nearly a tenth of my mana, which is the highest that I dare to push at that instant, into my arms I swing my sword.


    The sword is going so fast that it is barely under my control. At the moment it is almost like I am being pulled by my sword as my sword enters into the skull of the creatures. I am sure that I have pierced the beast''s skull.


    At this moment I would have expected that the creature is dead, but turns out that is the case as I feel mana begins to gather in the creature''s mouth as it bites into my arm.


    Right now, my body is hurting everywhere due to the side effect of my body strengthening. The instant that creature bit me I did not feel pain, if anything it was the opposite.


    My entire body seems to have numbed down as if somebody had just put me in a block of ice, which might not be an exaggeration In this case. Thankfully the other soldiers must have returned to the base, which means they can handle any survivors from the enemy base.


    Right now I am in a pretty risky position. If even one more troop leader is alive now would be the time that they will attack. This attack of mine was made under the assumption that they would be defending their base when they assumed their enemy would be throwing a spell at them. That was a stupid assumption to make.


    I don''t think that is the case, since the one that I fought had no reinforcements. For now, at the very least, the fort will give me some peace of mind. After all, with the formation base drained even that place is not particularly safe.


    I can feel my thoughts slow as I stumble to the base. I don''t even remember who it was that helped me out of my armor and put me in the medics room before I completely lost consciousness.

 the result (log 012)

    Well, I will have to admit that the chill is completely fucking with my plan. Right now I feel as if I am taking a bath in ice water for the last couple of days. I am sitting in my room, sleeping and feeling quite miserable if I am to be honest. It would have not been an issue if healing was the only thing that I had in mind. If I were to sit in meditation then I can completely remove all this ice mana from my body. I cannot do that though. After all, I did not risk my life and my property just to destroy three measly troops.


    What that was meant to do was buy me time. any person who is fighting a formation master will not give him the time necessary to develop his formations. It then becomes the duty of the formation master to keep continuing his work regardless of what the enemy does. Once the formation works, it will become nearly impossible to take this place.


    In this matter, I am at a pretty significant disadvantage for the simple reason that I happen to be the strongest person in this group. It is quite easy for the enemy to make sure that they do not let me continue my work. All they need to do is do what the troops were doing, to always have a force at the backend that will be ready to attack us the instant that I start my work. They can do this until we run out of food or the snowlords come into action. It is pretty unlikely that is going to happen any soon though, at least until the hunt goes on.


    At that moment I did not have any offensive formations, which was something that I could not allow the enemy to realize. If they knew that, they would have attacked directly, killing me and destroying my formation before I could make use of them. There is a reason that I keep saying that formation masters do not belong on the battlefield.


    Anyway, that is a weakness that I have finally managed to correct. I have finally begun to inscribe the water runes. Presently the formation that I am building, the most combat oriented spells that I have access to are the water formations.


    The spell that I have inscribed into the formation is known as "water bolts". The spell is a very simple spell that compresses mana into a very compressed form and then releases it in a single instant as a pretty powerful bolt of mana. It is pretty mana efficient, is very hard to dodge and is hard to miss using this spell. The spell is one of the most practical spells that we have acquired from the druidic conquests.


    The strength of the spell is decent, almost enough to breach the shield of a peak foundation mage but the key point of this spell is its speed. It is almost fast enough that I cannot be confident about dodging a water bolt.


    Well, this inscription is something that I am very proud of since I have managed to inscribe a class 9 formation in nearly half a week at a time when I can barely move. Ideally, I should be describing the process of rune inscription someday though I am not sure if the head office will like me doing that. They are very protective of this kind of knowledge.


    Anyway, to get back to the chill. I have been feeling the effects of this. it is kind of like trying to clean a particularly sticky piece of rubber. You pull and pull on it until you can feel it separating and you let go for a second and it is back where it is. The ice mana in this region is exactly like that. I can feel the mana flowing into me, entering into my mana channels. I can feel the mana entering into my mana channels, setting into blocks of ice completely restricting the flow of mana.


    Even now, I can feel the ice mana in the surroundings trying to enter my body. Well, I have no real chance for me to get it out. My combat strength is going to be quite affected due to this, but then again I do not have much chance of fighting against the enemy with only my strength. The only thing that I can do is complete the class 8 formation. Just the three leaders working together would have been the cause of my death, you know. With the water bolts, I do not need to worry about that.


    Well until the enemy makes a move, the only thing that I can do is hope that Shamon will be able to manage this stuff well, especially the stuff related to the morale of the soldiers. Now is certainly not the time for the soldiers to lose their morale. If that happens then we will lose before the enemy has even made a move.


    (After almost ten minutes)


    At the moment I am looking at Shamon who does not seem to have slept in the last couple of days. Well, I am thankful that I am not the only one who has been suffering in the last couple of days.


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    "Shamon, have you found any of our enemies yet.", I begin,


    "Well, we have found traces of ice beast activity but it is nothing concrete. Right now, there is little possibility that they will attack though.", shamon speaks. "By now the hunt should be in full swing. The commander will be entering into action soon enough. We might have at least a week of leeway."


    "Well, if that were the case, I would be the first to celebrate with you, Shamon but for now it is better to assume that the enemy is coming to strike us any minute now." I ask him., "Well, that would be partially true. A better way of explaining it would be. Do you think we can hold off the snowlords because of the commander or because of the frozen peak?"


    "That would be because of the frozen peak, otherwise we all would end up dead by now.", Shamon begins, as realization begins to strike him.


    "Well, how do you think that the snowlords will react when we are so blatantly attempting to build another frozen peak in front of them.", I ask him again. "This frozen peak might have the durability of an eggshell, but a new base is a new base."


    "But isn''t that the reason that so many temporary forts were constructed, because the enemy forces will be divided.", Shamon speaks again, his face a familiar expression of pondering.


    "Well, we did destroy the three troops that have come in to destroy us. That too in a single move rather than multiple skirmishes. Can you think of any other temporary fort that has made a similar level of move?" I ask him.


    "No, that would be not the case with any other fort, captain", shamon begins. "Well, if that is the case why have you made such a move, captain? I cannot see how that will benefit us."


    "Well, honestly speaking it was a bit of a gamble, but things are going my way for now. Right now, the enemy has most of the advantages in this battle. They own the terrain, they have the numbers and we do not have a very solid chance of reinforcement. Right now the thing is to make sure that the enemy does not have too much of a chance to set the pace of the battle. What I did just now was like striking at the enemy before the duel formalities are done, i am hoping that this will be enough to buy us some breathing room." " I speak again.


    "Well, what about the enemy''s retaliation", Shamon speaks. "We still are relatively safe for now but once the hunting party returns to the frozen peak, there is a chance that the enemy will react. In our previous attempts, we had to face multiple troops the way that we did after the retreat of the hunting party. They were not even this aggressive then. We might even have to face a snowlord attack the way that we are going on."


    "Well, then all we can do is to hope that the formation is complete then. Well, all I would do is to suggest you stop thinking about things that you cannot help with. Anyway, right now all we need is one bad storm for this place to fall. I would be more worried about that" I say. "Anyway, the reason that I have called you is to get a grasp on the present strength of the troops. For now, let us just assume that the three troops are still out there. How would you normally deal with them."


    "Well, normally we would make use of the fortress to hold them back. The strength of an ice beast is roughly equivalent to a soldier''s, with the ice beast being just a bit weaker. Their coordination is better than ours in terms of group battles. Thus the only way we can hold them back is to Make use of the fort to maintain a siege." Shamon begins, "We could have held against the enemy for two months quite easily. We can do this for up to five troops, maybe even up to ten if our troops are experienced. Defensive battles are something of a specialty of mine. This is assuming we had more solid defenses."


    "Well. Are our troops experienced then.", I ask.


    "Well, that would be a no. Roughly half of our troop is fighting for the first time on a battlefield.", shamon says, with a bit of a grimace. "I can still use them to hold off the enemy for a while though."


    "Well, there is nothing that we can do about that. For now, just ensure that the morale of the soldiers is not affected. You will also need to maintain communication with the other forts", I speak to him. "While I am not sure how likely they are to help. It would be a mistake not to try."


    "That''s all I can manage, but what about our strength now, captain? If we are about to be attacked the main threat that we will be facing would be the troop leaders. You need to be able to be able to handle them." Shamon asks.


    "Well, as long as it is not more than five I should be able to hold my own against the enemy. You need not worry about that" I ask him "What about the soldiers injured in the mission, how are they doing."


    "Well, the injury that they have faced is nothing serious but the chill has always been the main threat in this region. They will recover but the chill hinders them quite a bit. If there was any way for us to isolate them from ice mana this would be quite easy to deal with." " Shamon replies, leaving me with quite a bit of worry.


    "Well, I do have certain methods, shamon but all of them will take too long to execute and that is not a distraction that we can afford for now. Environmental formations are not easy to make" " I say, "anyway, I will be getting a effect similar once the central formation has been built. With the pace at which we are going, I think we will be able to get it working in a month. The problematic parts of the formation are finally over."


    After that, we continued to discuss the exact strength of our troops, something that I cannot keep on a log like this but our discussion went on for quite a bit of time, giving me enough information about our chances in this fight. It is not too great, but we do still have a couple of aces.

 the seige (log 013)

    Well, right now we are being besieged by a group of four troops, which honestly makes me feel a bit insulted. I was under the assumption that we would be fighting a larger number of enemies. Our present situation is still pretty crappy, but I was expecting worse.


    Anyway, right now I am not making any move in this fight. The enemy troop leader has not moved an inch from their base. I am sure that they are expecting an attack like last time. One of the problems with relying on formations like me is that I am forced to be very passive. Until the enemy comes to the walls of the fort, water bolts simply do not have the range to hit our enemies.


    I normally have more mobile formations to help me deal with this. All of that is presently stuck in the hexmountain with my master. This is a mission of his, meant to train me it seems.


    Right now the enemy does not know of the water bolts and these bolts will do the maximum damage with an element of surprise. If used correctly I can get rid of at least one troop leader from the group. The only problem is that this is something that they have not been doing at all. They better come quickly, since I have paid quite a bit for this ace of mine.


    I did not even get to make use of the vine armour you know, before I blew it up. Well, that was worth the risk though, as the water bolt formation will be boosting my power way more than the vine armor could ever do. The only problem is all of that power is presently stuck in the fort. Well, that is the case with most formation mages anyway, but that does not mean that I have to like it. I can''t even project my mana like I did before, because I do not have any more materials at hand that can handle the output of the formation base. Even if I could, this method truly wastes too much mana. While I have plenty, I can''t keep being careless with how I use it now.


    Well, there are the soldiers at the base, but organic matter is such a poor receptor for formation mana at the best of times. (There is a fundamental difference between formation mana and the mana that we cultivate. That is all I know though. Mana is an enigma to the smartest among us.) And well converting human beings into bombs is not something that I am inclined to do. It will not help if, in this process of transportation, these soldiers were to crumble into dust, which is a pretty significant risk in this process.


    Even if I wanted to do it, it might lead to a diplomatic incident. Anyway, where was I, I was complaining about how I have rarely been so passive. It is not a particularly good feeling, especially since I like to keep busy as a person. I cannot even keep working on the formation for the simple fact that the enemy leaders will be the first to attack if they knew I was working on the formation and if they manage to disturb me during inscription, well the effects of that would be quite deadly, to put it in simple terms.


    It has been almost three days since my last log and these troops have been under constant assault for the last couple of days. In this particular part of the fighting, I have no desire nor any capability of joining. Leading these people is something that I don''t think I have the capability for. Therefore, this part of the fighting is something that snowwinders have to manage on their own.


    I don''t think i need to worry about the snowwinders anyways. This type of fighting with the usage of defensive structures is something that they are experts in. It is almost a wonder for me to see the way that the soldiers have been flowing throughout the fort, trying to stay ahead of the beasts. Since the beasts outnumber the soldiers, the strategy is to make sure that they do not breach the wall at any cost. For this, there is a troop of fifty soldiers that focus on different sections of the wall to prevent any sneak attack and at the same time hold out a place whenever the number of beasts is low there. The remaining soldiers will go wherever the enemy is focussing their attack and reinforce them under the command of the general.


    If I were to try and direct them here, all it would lead to is chaos. Such a flexible strategy requires great understanding between the leader and the troops. To understand the exact intricacies of this troop''s movement I would need to join the snowwind army and learn it from scratch. Shamon must have done it for years, decades even to have such a fine understanding of such an intuitive style of battle. I can see why people would consider the snowwinders to be a threat.


    Well, I have no interest in learning that and I do not want to be in Shamon''s place anyway, even when he has essentially taken my office and set up a miniature commander center. I am somewhere in the cellar of the fort with the formation core. It is the only place in the fort where I won''t be at risk of disturbing anybody and for somebody to disturb me.


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    Regardless of how experienced they are, you have to agree that they are in a pretty crappy situation. Every day, I can see the soldiers getting more and more tired. They have to spend the entirety of the day on the wall, making sure that no ice beast can get on the wall and kill the beast if they fail at that. Shamon has been trying to get these soldiers to rest as much as possible it is getting harder and harder. In two days, I don''t think that these soldiers have gotten more than six hours of sleep. All of these soldiers have mana flowing through them, so all of them are still able to fight at their peak for quite a while even without sleep. That is true only for a short while.


    While this is not a big issue in the short term, it can be quite deadly in the long term. If this situation persists for a week or two, mistakes will begin to occur in this smoothly-oiled machine and mistakes in this case will lead to death or injuries at the very least. The more such things occur, the more work each soldier will have to do. This is a pretty vicious cycle. Again, I have no real solution for this situation. All I can do is hope that Shamon knows what he is doing and at the moment the man is showing me that he does.


    While the soldiers under control have been quite impressive, it is the ice beasts that have surprised me in the present situation. I have no idea why Shamon considers them to be dumb.


    They are not attacking like wild beasts at all. Instead, they are like a slime. They have surrounded and rather than try to outnumber us, which they can do quite easily, they are trying to find a chink in our defenses. For example, they could be attacking the northern wall gate with two hundred soldiers but these soldiers will retreat and suddenly attack the eastern gate or split into two groups to attack the other two gates.


    Their main strategy and goal is to somehow breach the wall. For that what they are trying to do is pile our snow and ice against the wall of the fort. That way they can climb the fort en masse breaking through that point.


    Since we do not have any defensive measures such as crossbows or ballistas, there is little that can be done to stop the formation of such a slope. All that can be done is to make sure that no ice beasts can use this slope to breach the wall. That is another additional pressure on the soldiers, to keep the beasts from building the slope as much as possible.


    It is only the fact that Shamon seems to be predicting the exact location that these guys will attack next that he has even managed to keep the losses so low in this fight. At the same time though, we are still at a disadvantage. After all the enemy can afford to lose nearly ten soldiers and barely notice this loss, but for us that is ten percent of our forces. Thankfully we have not had deaths on our sides, but there have been injuries. These injuries are nothing particularly heavy but it will only be a matter of time for them to get worse.


    Anyway, I have been quite the worrywart. At the very least I am still making myself useful by trying to map the enemy''s newly dug base. I can finally use this time to explain to you how the mapping skills of the dwarves. I am gathering mana into my right hand, letting it go in a single pulse. Now that pulse of mana will flow freely into the ground until it finds a gap in terms of tunnels which will reflect it to me. Right now the best place to do such type of mapping would be down here In the formation base, so it is honestly two birds with one stone. I guard the core and map the enemy locations.


    While I am mostly sure that I won''t be able to pull something like last time. it is still pretty useful to have that knowledge. Well, this time there is not much worth destroying their base though. These guys are building two bases at the very least, completely disconnected from one another. I can''t say for certain though. That means even if I had a core I would not be able to repeat the last time''s attack.


    In conclusion, I do not want to be in shamons place. while I can''t look at the man, I can say that he is under quite a bit of pressure simply from the number of enemies that are attacking, regardless of how flexible they are they cannot change the fact that they are outnumbered by nearly three to one. Also from down here, I can hear the sound of the soldiers acting as messengers. Their footsteps are like a constant beat that I have begun to push into the background.


    A dangerous habit if I am to be honest, is to get this used to noise. I have heard stories you know, about Assassins whom you cannot sense even if they are standing in front of you. Those stories scare me more effectively than any horror story. Well, now is not the time for me to think about that. I have enough real worries as it is. Why does so much random stuff pop up in my head?


    I wonder how the scholars are doing in the present situation. I am sure that nothing is too problematic for them to handle. The ruin is not a priority for either side, regardless of what the snowwinders claim. I am sure that Trevor and those two idiots must be relaxing at the moment while the scholars do whatever it is that they do. I hope that they have not blown up anything yet.


    Anyway, I will be stuck in this state here until the troop leaders finally make a move which I am starting to worry will never happen.

 I finally get to fight (log 014)

    Well, I have to admit that things are finally feeling a bit better after I have started fighting. I am not the kind of person who likes to remain passive while the enemy is at the doorstep. Until now they were annoyingly far from me, beyond the range of the water bolt formation.


    That is one of the major disadvantages of being a formation mage if you want my opinion. To have all of your power focused in a single location gives the enemy a kind of freedom that I certainly do not want to give them.


    Well, the enemy has entered the range of the formation. All four troop leaders are in front of me, trying to bait me into a melee. Maybe they assume that I would be easy to deal with in a melee. After all my last fight with them was not particularly. Shamon says that the snowlord can look through the eyes of a troop leader.


    Still, they try to shoot what I can only call orbs of ice mana at me, the only problem being that their aim sucks. The ice balls have been hitting the wall at regular intervals barely causing any damage to the wall. the wall would have held against this wall even before the iron skin. The goal of the ice ball is to not cause physical damage but to cause its victims to freeze. Now, I need not worry about that anymore.


    I have the advantage of a wall on my side. The ice beasts and their powers are more suited to fighting their enemies on the vast open field of the northern wastelands. If they were to climb to the wall, they would be fighting in an environment as favorable to me as it can get. While the normal grunt ice wolves do not seem to realize this, the troop leaders are certainly smarter than that.


    That is why I am in this situation, where they are trying to lure me onto the field. Well, I can''t let them do that all the while. The wall will be able to handle it but I cannot have drained iron skin against what are essentially cannon fodder. With any other defensive spell, I might have just let these guys keep bombarding the wall if only to test my handicraft.


    Well, it is about time that I enter into the battle. I can already feel Shamon behind me giving me looks of death. He is a bit of a worrywart, isn''t he? Those spells are not even hitting his soldiers.


    Well, I begin to condense Strings of mana which go deep into the fortress in search of the formation core. The instant that the strings find the core, suddenly I can feel everything about the core. Honestly, it feels as if I have suddenly grown a third limb. It is such a freeing sensation that I feel like I can do anything.


    I activate the water bolt formation, which begins to take in the mana from the formation base. I can feel the mana from the base being taken, passing into the rune and converting into a water bolt. All of this is happening in moments as the central formation fully awakens, which the enemy can also feel. They are already raising their shields, though I am faster.


    This formation is kind of like guiding a troop of archers, every time I let go the water bolt will travel physically from the formation to wherever I want to target it. Such an approach does have disadvantages such as the range being lower and there being a slight delay in the process of releasing spells. It is countered with the benefit that I do not need to store the mana bolt in my mana core as is the process with formations like this. I need to create a specialized quiver to hold them, though that is a work for later.


    The fully formed water bolt resembles an arrow as it flies true to its aim at the nearest ice beast. I almost succeeded in killing it instantly, but the creature''s half-formed shield while not strong enough to block the magic, knocked it off course. What should have hit the enemy''s heart hit it in its guts.


    Ok, I seriously underestimated just how effective this spell was going to be. The remaining ice beasts make use of this spell to launch their ice balls at me. Naturally, those spells do not hit me as I jump to the side where three ice balls hit the place where I was just standing. Looks like I am not the only one trying to trick my enemies, as the ice balls have essentially frozen the spot that I was just standing in.


    I can feel the chill in my body grow restless as if the proximity to this much ice mana is giving it strength( well, those ice balls are made up of ice mana compressed however many times.). Okay, I have seriously underestimated the deadliness of the chill. I do not have time to think as another set of ice balls is flying in my direction. Too late to dodge, which means that the only way to block the strike would be to shoot a water bolt at it.


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    My aim is also true as three water bolts fly and deviate the spell from its path. Well, the fact that it can do that only is amazing. What I am doing is the equivalent of fighting a shark in the ocean. anyway, I can feel another water bolt formed, which I aim at another of the ice beasts. The beast uses its ranged attack to block that strike.


    While all of that is going on, in the periphery of my vision I can see the ice beasts retreating taking the victim of my first strike with it. A bit more time and the creatures will pass the range of my water bolts. At the moment I am left with a dilemma. The retreating of the leader can be considered to be an achievement but I certainly will not get another opportunity to hurt them like this again.


    They are already aware of the strength of the bolt after all. I can push them now and hope to get rid of the injured creature before they can complete their retreat. With the chill, this is going to be quite a bit of a gamble but this seems like a season of gambles for me.


    Not thinking too much, I jump down the wall. I begin to circle all of the mana in my core along with siphoning a little of the mana from the formation, at least the little that I dare to channel into me. Let''s hope that will be enough to counteract the chill. At the same time, I am running the formation to keep producing water bolts.


    While all of that is happening, the beasts have reacted to my action by sending a leader to act as a distraction. I could try and chase after the injured one but even if I reach it, it is unlikely for me to kill it with two leaders acting as its guards anyway.


    Preparing a water bolt, the cannon fodder leader has already reached me as it tries to force me into a melee. I can sense the ice mana in this creature''s body gathering around its claws and its vitals, strengthening it. I almost am not able to react as the creature seems to have teleported to my side.


    Thankfully, almost on instinct, I hit the creature in its snout, causing it to retreat, though what damage I might have done I don''t know. Well, in my present situation, I am missing my old formations which would have given me quite the edge in this situation. I want my sword at the very least which is honestly at least half a continent away from me. My master can be a fucking idiot sometimes you know.


    How in hell is this teaching me, he is fucking getting me killed. (well, I had forgotten that I was in the middle of a battlefield at the moment). Due to all of these thoughts, I am almost struck by the creature''s claws. It is only twisting my body away from its claws that has managed to protect me. I am knocked off my feet though as the creature tackles me to the ground.


    After that, I am stuck in an embarrassing tumble to the ground, in which I am trying to fight the chill which seems to have intensified, the creature that is trying to get a bite into me and the perspective shift from being tackled to the ground. In that period at the very least, I had not gotten bitten by the creature. I cannot even imagine what would have happened to me if I did get bitten again.


    It must have been adrenaline or something as I plucked the creature and almost threw it away from me. I can feel my body shivering, but there is little that I can do about that. Regardless, I can sense the creature standing just a bit away from me, gauging out what move I want to make. Good, because I need this time to reorient myself. I enter into a defensive stance even if it were to attack.


    Well, a water bolt at this distance there will be a lag before it can hit the enemy, a time in which the enemy can strike me quite easily. For now, I think that the wisest move I can make (of which I have been not making many) would be to distract the creature somehow before I end up dying while releasing a water bolt at the enemy.


    Well, firstly I begin by releasing a water bolt. Thankfully, the other side does not seem to have noticed it, as I charge at the beast. Naturally, the beast focuses on the threat that it can notice which is me.


    Well, at this close range, there is little I can do to keep the enemy at bay other than to block the enemy charge by focusing all of the mana into my arms. That is what I do, as I suddenly duck dodging the beast''s mouth, but before I can retreat I am struck by the creature''s claws.


    I can feel the chill in my body grow stronger. Thankfully, in this period the water bolt has been traveling from the fort to here, delayed due to me splitting my focus on trying to keep this one in range at the very least. That is going to be a problem with this formation.


    The bolt hits true to its aim or at the very least it would have if the opposite side did not suddenly jump back, cleanly dodging the water bolt. The water bolt does hit the creature but it is naturally not even enough to even keep the beasts running.


    The creature''s plan succeeds at the very least. It was attempting to distract me so that its allies could retreat from the range of the water bolt. While I was focussing on the creature, it was making sure that I did not throw any more water bolts at its escaping ally. Now, the ally had disappeared from the range of my water bolts, so the creature had also disappeared.


    Well, it has been a victory regardless of what my present state suggests. I have to focus on healing myself though, one of these days regardless of how much of a waste of time it is. I might be a formation mage, but fighting at close range is something of an ace of mine, granted that was when I had my sword and armor at hand


    Limping, which I am sure is going to hurt like hell as I return to base, well, when the hell did I even get hit that it is paining there? Well, I am going to have a miserable couple of days to say it simply. Fuck it, I cannot maintain this record anymore.

 building the quiver (log 015)

    At this moment I can see Shamon coming towards me. Well, this is going to be a pain to deal with, especially when I have finally started work on another formation.


    "Shamon, nice to see you down here. It is rare to see you come down here.", I begin, hoping that I am going to be left alone soon enough. Inscribing is a process that requires complete focus.


    "Captain, there is talk among the soldiers about your behavior." Shamon begins, stopping himself before he can be considered to be insulting. He must have quite the experience considering the people that he is supposed to be dealing with normally.


    "Well, if you were to specify what is so concerning we can talk about it. Quickly if possible", I speak, while looking at the formation which is just behind me. The man picked the perfect time to bother me you know.


    "Well, I am going to be blunt then, we are worried about your life, captain.", shamon begins. "It almost seems as if you have been trying to commit suicide in the last couple of days. Nobody has ever tried to fight ice beasts while the chill is still present in them. It is almost a wonder that you have not ended up dead yet."


    "Well, expelling the chill takes time Shamon. Time is something that I do not have too much of. Well there would be no point in buying time if I do not use it now, does it?" I speak, shifting my vision from the formation to the man. He looks quite haggard, the last few days taking their toll on the man.


    "Well, if the goal is to distract the enemy then why the hell does it seem that you want to hunt them? There was no need for you to leave the defense of the wall yesterday if that were the case." By now, Shamon has an edge in his voice, the kind that seasoned soldiers tend to get when they are seriously pissed off. I put on a serious face and hope sensitive egos are a trait that Shamon has not inherited from his people.


    "Well, I do not have a need to nor the capability to explain that to you Shamon. I do not know what is the punishment for you guys to break a chain of command, but in the black mountain, we take your heads for that. Now, leave before I have to consider if I have to take your head for this.", well even I am surprised by the result of this bit of intimidation. "Now, the situation is still under my control shamon. Just because I choose not to remove the chill does not mean that I am not able to. You want to understand why I do not want to remove it. It is for the fact that now is the ideal time for me to build a formation. Do you know what is a major flaw with druidic formations? it is the fact that the formation base for druidic formations is notoriously difficult to stop once they have been started like yesterday."


    "Yes, captain." Shamon suddenly speaks, catching me off guard "We have been feeling that from yesterday. It was another reason that I wanted to speak to you. Isn''t it supposed to be wasteful?"


    "Well, I can''t stop it now. The formation base will fully close in a couple of days. The fact that the formation base can do that is a testament to my skill. druidic formations are meant to nourish their villages. Whatever excess is released is often absorbed by their plants or the druids themselves. That way they rarely need to completely shut down the formation base like we are having to do here." I begin. "It is quite wasteful in a mana desert like this but it gives me an opportunity that I have not had in the last couple of days. How do you think the ice beasts have been tracking the process of me building formations."


    "Isn''t that by tracking the abnormal amount of non ice elemental mana that you are releasing in the process of inscribing? You told me that the last time.", Shamon begins to speak, as realization hits him "but that can be hidden by the mana being emitted by the formation base."


    "Yeah, which should explain why I have to do this inscription in this period. I can purge the chill after the inscription process is complete." I begin, getting annoyed. "Do you think I enjoy feeling as if a block of ice has been tied everywhere in my body? Also, it would be nice if you were to leave me alone, I have another formation to inscribe after all and talking with you is wasting precious time. We do not know when the ice beasts might launch another attack after all."


    "Oh, oh, yeah. I apologize captain", he begins, as he almost runs back from the formation base. Well, I am not sure if I needed to scare him like that and I certainly hope that it will not lead to overly negative side effects( scare a person too much and it is more likely that he will slit your throat in the night. Scaring people is a fine art.) But he is correct in certain factors.


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    One is my certainly crazy tendency to engage in close range combat. Normally formation mages do not have too much to do with the battlefield. We are meant to stay in our forts or our formations and make sure that the enemy does not get too close to us. I am something of an exception because most of my formations up till now have been about close combat, especially my sword which would have been such a useful thing to have here. It would have made me virtually unkillable.


    That is why I am overly inclined to fight like I have done up till now, even with the injuries that I have had to face in this location. It is my first instinct to charge into a melee wherever I see it, an instinct that I have to honestly begin to learn to curb,


    Thankfully, I do not think that I am going to end up in any more fistfights. I might just end up dead the next time that I do so. At the very least, I honestly want this freezing sensation that I have been feeling to stop. The chill is no joke.


    Regardless, it is about time that I return my focus to the matter at hand, which is the formation that I will be inscribing today. It is a support formation known as a water quiver, whose purpose is quite simple. To put it simply this formation is going to be storing the water bolts that the formation will be building.


    For now, I am forced to make the bolts actively in the middle of the battlefield. Such a thing will take time and that time is something that I might not have when facing proper enemies. With proper enemies I mean beings like the snowlords, who will most likely end up with my head in their hands before the first water bolt is even released. The formation has to take water mana, condense it into the form of a bolt and then release it to wherever the enemy is. With this formation, only the third thing will be done during the time of battle.


    This formation is going to be pretty useful on the day that the formation base is fully activated. Druidic formations are unique in that way. Most formations are meant to be run only for a limited amount of time and are meant to be quite efficient with the mana that they use. A druidic formation is neither, it is meant to run nearly forever and it is so inefficient that nearly fifty percent of the mana in the base is going to be wasted once the formation begins properly.


    In druidic villages wasted mana is not too much of an issue since that becomes a safe way for them to absorb mana from nature for their cultivation. You can say that the formation takes on the role of a geyser, freeing the trapped mana from an elemental node (which exists underground mostly) and then releasing it to the world around. That way, they do not need to dig the ground like most races do for elemental mana. (The druids have their own less destructive ways of finding elemental nodes.).


    Even here the mana is not going to waste as it will essentially create a bubble surrounding the fort in which the ice mana found outside will be harder to use in.


    Anyway, cultural context aside it is about time that I begin the process of inscription. Extending strings of mana into the piece of copper bark, I can feel the entire structure of the wood, giving me near absolute sensation of the entire thing. I can feel four sets of runes interspersed all over it which are the formations that I have already inscribed. While I feel them, I have to take every precaution to make sure that my mana strings do not make actual contact.


    If I were to do that, it would activate the rune and the formation would activate fully. The formation base will push all of its mana into the water bolt formation and it will begin to produce water bolts at a breakneck pace. If I do not aim these water bolts at something then they will dissipate leading to a ridiculously high wastage of mana.


    With the quiver, I would be able to store a few of these produced bolts at least, at least up to a thousand if I inscribe the runes perfectly, though perfection is nearly impossible in my present case.


    Now, to properly explain the process of inscription I will begin by explaining what is spellcasting at its core. This is basic knowledge that most people have, but it is policy to explain everything. What we call casting a spell is essentially us using our minds to create runes from the correct mana source. As an example, a fireball at its core is nothing but a set of runes that has been powered with fire mana. The same set of runes powered with any other element will lead to weird and often disastrous results.


    These runes determine everything about the spell, the size of the spell, the amount of mana that will go into the spell or even the color of the spell. The art of inscribing is nothing but taking a set of runes from a given spell and then using mana strings to paint it onto the formation core.


    This way I can essentially leave a skeleton of the runes on the core, using which the formation will do its work in the future. Describing it like this might seem like an easy task but you have to remember that inscription is one of the hardest things that I have ever attempted in my life.


    One thing that you have to remember about all of this is that this is not your mana core, where mana is under your absolute control. I have to do this using mana strings, which I can describe as trying to thread a needle with the usage of stilts. You also cannot forget that error might lead to disastrous consequences too (a rune must have a very specific shape, and if there is a mistake on that it will lead to a big boom).


    Well, it is about time that I got back to work on this damn formation, which is a task that I am not going to be logging any time soon (I am not sure that even my master is capable of that.) And it would be quite boring to all non formation mages anyway.

 the breaking of the seige (log 016)

    the chill has been quite the torture and I have to admit that I have been underestimating the deadliness of it by quite a bit it turns out.


    The most insidious part of the chill is the freezing of mana channels in my body. I noticed it only when I was actively purging the chill. The chill essentially settled in my mana channels, freezing that region of my body and killing that part of my body. I am surprised that nobody bothered to inform me of this, then again a majority of the people I have met are like Shamon, who do not actively channel mana.


    The mana channels are a system of channels that exist in a living body, allowing for free flow of mana in the body so it is accurate to say that it is a key part of our combat strength. Without the mana channels, I will not be able to move even a tenth of my mana when it comes to a fight.


    Right now, I can''t even channel mana into the frozen part of my channels. Even now I can feel my mana colliding with the frozen parts of the mana channels in my body, barely able to crawl in there. It would be quite easy for ice mana to flow in it. That means the chill has changed the very nature of my body.


    Well, other than the frozen channels I have managed to pull out a majority of ice mana in my body, though it is going to take quite a while before the damage is fully healed. Well, I guess that I should be focusing on the enemy in front of us.


    Unlike what I was expecting I think that the entirety of the enemy forces have made their way to the fort, fighting us in what is the closest thing we have to a home ground in this area. Even now, I can see the legions of beasts charging and being held back by the soldiers throughout the wall.


    That is not the surprising part though, the surprising part is the fact that the troop leaders are also on the battlefield. Granted, they make sure that they are at the very edge of the battlefield, where the water bolt will be half frozen before it can reach the enemy. The fact that they are returning to the battlefield is surprising. It is almost like something is pushing them forward, pushing them into a corner. I don''t want to be fighting a cornered beast.


    I was expecting them to use their presence as a deterrent force, that is a force that is meant to make sure that I don''t act. Intimidation is usually the strategy of operation with formation mages. Engaging us is often a waste of resources. A formation master with a formation will be very good in battles of attrition.


    That means that we are in something of a stalemate. The soldiers can fight on roughly equal footing without our interference. In that regard, we are a bit inferior, but it is something that can be managed. At least that is what Shamon assures me. I can see the soldiers are being pushed to their brink with each day of fighting. For now, there are no serious injuries.


    Right now the main problem is that the formation base has already been sealed, to be a bit more efficient. That will introduce a bit more lag to the formation and it''s functioning if I were to need it. It is a risk worth taking, After all the enemy is least likely to attack us immediately after an attack and it will give me the best window to inscribe in a new formation. After all, what I am doing is taking quite a bit of risk. I have to make sure to minimize it as much as possible. Being disturbed in the process of inscription is quite deadly I assure you.


    Thankfully, I managed to complete the quiver formation roughly half a day before the formation fully closed. I am personally surprised that I have managed to do this, this is a personal best even if it is a basic formation. If I pull it off a couple of times more, and make sure it is not a fluke, it might just end up as something that I can boast to my master you know.


    In that period between the formation being created and the formation base becoming ready to be closed, the water bolt formation has managed to produce 23 water bolts which are stored in the quiver ready to be released at a single thought. That means that at the moment I can attack the annoying troop leaders by surprise if they just come into range.


    Of course, after that though these people will become more wary and I simply will not have another opportunity to attack them using this. I cannot forget that these people have a master behind them. I still am kind of hoping that this time at least I will get a kill. it is getting kind of annoying now you know, to be so passive and careful about everything you know. If this is how formation mages have to exist in most cases, it is not surprising that we always end up so cranky.


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    These water bolts, I wish I could use them. After all these bolts were the reason that I had made such a daring plan you know, even sacrificing a class nine formation core in the process. if it means that I get to create another class eight formation that too on the battlefield it is worth it.


    As I am thinking all of this, the troop leaders finally make a move. There are only three of them this time which means that my victim last time was seriously injured and could even be dead. it is nice to know that the attack was not a waste at the very least. This time too their plan of attack is quite similar to last time but this time they are splitting themselves into groups of three with two of the beasts going to the other side of the fort and one coming here to keep me busy I guess.


    I block their attack by channeling my mana, making sure that not even a bit can touch me. Naturally, this time I do not jump down but keep to the fort. I am tempted to use a bolt from the quiver and get rid of this beast instantly but that instinct restricts me. It is very easy to forget but these creatures are not my true enemies.


    Activating the formation base, I can feel the formation taking my mana. It is a steady and sizeable drain on my mana, but I can run it for the duration of a fight, I am sure. I use the bolts formed here to fight. The bolts in the quiver I shall only use when they push me to the brink.


    The beast down there tries to provoke me by snarling and taunting me I guess. I am not stupid enough to do that again though as I lazily direct one of the freshly formed bolts at the creature. Rather than dodge though this creature swipes at the bolt with its claws. That blow was enough to bloody its legs, but the creature made use of this opportunity to strike at me. A compressed shot of ice mana aimed at my head I am sure.


    Fuck, I did not expect that to happen as I tumble down, the ice bolt passing inches from me. The creature retreats at the same time into a group of ice beasts( you have to remember the ordinary soldiers are still besieging us). I can sense his presence but I can''t see his exact location.


    Seeing that I turn my focus to the other two troop leaders, who I am sure are up to something that I do not want to know about. I can sense their position roughly which I hope is enough for what I am about to do. I throw a couple of bolts in their general vicinity, to do nothing more than to scare them. Can''t do that too many times more though. A tenth of my mana was shaved in three bolts.


    I will need to get rid of the one in front of me quickly. these bolts are not very costly but they still have a cost. I can assume that I have roughly 300 units of mana in me and each bolt costs 10 mana. the formation base the last time I opened it had almost 2000 units of mana and now I estimate it to have a thousand. That is just how wasteful this formation base is. Thankfully it is why it was so good at hiding my mana while inscribing.


    I don''t know the success of those two bolts, as I feel the beast below me shoot another ice bolt. I dodged this jumping to the side, which turned out to be a mistake, the creature shot out another ice bolt. Thankfully I was already shooting a water bolt in that direction causing both spells to collide.


    Getting up as quickly as I dare, I shoot another water bolt at the creature which hits one of its soldiers. Okay, looks like I will have to take another risk in this fight, which well is kind of becoming common with me nowadays. I prime three to four bolts to be ready as I begin to condense all of my mana into the mana strings.


    What you are looking at is a prime example of formation control. What I am about to do is redirect the bolt so that it will hit the enemy head-on. Now, I do not have a perfect track record with spell redirection but I do not have the option of trading blow for blow like this also. Also, I do not even want to imagine the damage that the troop leaders behind me are doing to the soldiers there.


    The strings of mana extend from the formation into the water bolt that it has constructed, as I wait for the creature to try and hit me again. I do not need to wait for long, though this time I do not get to dodge it(I cannot move while formation control is active, which is why I have not used it till now.)


    The water bolt flies in its usual trajectory at the beginning as the spell flies into the air going towards the ice beast. The creature dodges the strike this time by jumping forward, with the bolt passing harmlessly behind it. I interfere at this moment, using the full strength of my mana strings to essentially pull the spell forward.


    Just this bit of redirecting nearly takes all of my focus and my mana but the result is immediate. The bolt changes direction hitting the beast in front of it right in what I think is its guts, spilling out all of its innards and what I think is its last meal as the creature crumples to the ground. It is quite disgusting to look at the very least.


    After that moment the battle continues for about an hour, and I keep harrying the remaining two troop leaders who have already retreated from the battlefield and are busy directing the remaining troops. After the hour though, the two leaders retreat with their soldiers. That is good as after the spell redirecting, I had become a paper tiger. I have enough mana in me for five maybe six bolts. It was mainly the fear of another spell redirection that kept them away from me.


    With this retreat, there should be enough time for me to at least begin on the trickiest component of my formation. Granted, the enemy is very likely to be able to sense it but I am banking on their caution for this particular piece of my work. They seem like a cautious bunch at the very least.

 a weapon of attack (log 017)

    I always struggle with conjuration spells. These are spells that convert mana into solid physical shapes. These spells are used by many races to create weapons, shields, cities and even formations, though the last thing is an achievement that only the best conjurers are supposed to be able to do. it is a discipline that many formation masters must have a decent level of strength though.


    The druids can be considered to be masters of such spells since they do not have any industries for weapons. Most of their weapons tend to be conjured from mana, causing me quite a bit of a problem.


    Three spells can be considered to be conjuration spells in the set of spells for this formation, among which I want to complete two this time. This is a set spell known as the crossbow of the druid, with one spell conjuring the string of the bow or one spell conjuring the body of the bow. There is a third spell too, which is going to be conjuring a pretty nasty surprise but that I will leave to the last. Naturally, it means that it is the hardest to do. With this, I will finally be able to make proper use of the water bolts. Water Bolts is a decent spell, with its main strength being its speed.


    With the crossbow, I will finally be able to grant the water bolt a decent amount of power and a significant boost in the amount of speed too. With this, I will be able to get rid of most of the ice beasts the next time that they attack too. With this, I will finally be able to focus on the important thing which would be the snowlords. While I can''t be sure of their strength, I have to assume that I can damage them. If not well, I have other riskier tricks in my arsenal.


    After all, the entire battle has been about them since the beginning. Anyway, the first spell I am conjuring is known as "strength crossbow" and it is considered to be a standard template for the druids. The druids essentially have a set of these spells which they make use of To grant certain aspects to their spells. I know of three such templates which are speed, strength and control. The first allowed for arrows to fly faster, the second allowed arrows to hit with just that bit of strength and the last is kind of similar to formation control, allowing a person to control an arrow shot from this crossbow. It will be kind of like what I did with formation control.


    This will be relatively easy to build since I have practice with this kind of spells and by their nature, they are supposed to be easy to build. It is the second spell, called "string of water" that is going to be the problem. By its nature, a water bolt is a bunch of compressed mana. It has no physical shape and my hand would simply pass through it if I were to push my hand through it.


    That is why my crossbow needs an enchanted string that will have mana condensed into it to work for my purposes. For that, I have chosen "string of the water" which will also increase the speed of the bolt and give it a certain extra impact when it is going to hit the enemy.


    The only problem is conjuring enchanted items is ridiculously hard. It is not a complex formation but it needs all of my skills to even make sure that it is working. A simpler way of putting it would be I have to inscribe a formation inside a formation for this thing to work. A tiny error here and I will have to start the inscription process again. If I pass through this though, it will be smooth sailing.


    Well, that is a problem I will not be able to solve if I complain about it. Well, complaining helps soothe the soul at the very least. Other than that, another important thing to have occurred is that Shamon has been able to achieve contact with one of the other temporary forts, which has led to quite a bit of distressing news.


    You see Shamon has contracted with the fort that is the closest to this area, a particular friend of his whose name I have already forgotten. Anyway, can you guess how many troops those fuckers have been facing? Well, it would be two. Two fucking troops.


    Well, I am sure that I can be considered to be better than most formation masters that the snowwind empire can field at this place, I am sure that the difference is not enough that this fort has to face nearly three times the number of troops that the other side is facing.


    That all is assuming that the snowlords know of my identity. They are a tribe so that might cause an issue. That is a whole separate can of worms and I am thinking that there are two major possibilities as to what could be happening at the moment. First is that the snowwinders are the ones that have leaked my position.


    Firstly it would be considered punishment for the big explosion (which I am sure that they have not forgotten about yet.) And secondly, it would be reducing the pressure on the forts. I am sure that even the snowlords are not able to field too many troops, especially when there is a general level figure trying to kill them all.


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    I am surprised that they have troops left. The latter probability is something that I do not want to think about. It is unlikely to happen. After all this far from the center of the continent, I am sure that I am not known. If it was my master, it could be possible but for me, it is not likely at all. At least that is the hope. Well, if it were this probability I would have been attacked by them already.


    Still, I am not one to risk it. We will need reinforcements, something that I will need to discuss with Shamon, though it is better than waiting for him to come down here. The man''s situation is almost sad to look at the moment. I might be a formation master with the disadvantage of being the strongest here, but he is even more miserable than me. At the moment he is taking up command of the troops( while no troop leaders have appeared, there have constant inflow of ice beasts attacking the fort.) And taking on a managerial role with them too.


    He is leading them to war while making sure that the soldiers are fed, their weapons sharpened and that each soldier is healed with the limited amount of resources that we have. All of this while making sure to keep contact with the other forts, who have been quite uncooperative from what I have managed to gather.


    In his place, I would have been quite miserable. Well, in my present situation, I am a close second to that man. Why in the hell did I even pick this particular set of formations I don''t even know. It is a surprise that I have even managed to complete this far. Something a bit easier and certainly without conjuration formations would have made my work so much easier.


    Well, it was not arrogance when I decided to go with a nurturing formation. I had just underestimated the intensity of our conflict. It has certainly been eye-opening, especially the chill. Well, I guess that I should be getting back to work, after all without the crossbow, the situation is still pretty crappy. I will begin logging in again whenever Shamon manages to make his way down here.


    (After almost a day)


    Well, I have both good news and bad news. I have managed to succeed in half of my goals this time. The crossbow I have managed to build. The problem is that I have almost managed to ruin the string of water. It would have led to quite a disaster if I had not eradicated the formation. To those that do not know, a formation is essentially a structure of mana, if you apply a lot of mana in the correct, surgical way you can destroy the mana structure, essentially destroying the formation. It is one of the basics of a spell like formation decomposition.


    I''m hindsight I should not have tried to build two conjuration formations back to back. Luckily, I have not lost that formation spot too or it would have thrown a serious wrench in my plans.


    Regardless the reason for me starting this blog is looking at me, wondering what I am doing without speaking to him.


    "Well, I have called you down here to enquire you what is our present situation with the reinforcements", I begin, catching Shamon off guard.


    "Well, captain as I have mentioned to you before there are five temporary forts other than ours and our request for reinforcements is presently being entertained by only two forts," Shamon replies promptly. "One is the fort closest to us, being led by a relatively reasonable leader known as laicon. He is ready to provide us with a tenth of his troops in case of an attack. The other is a friend of mine, though his position is pretty far away from us so he has only been ready to provide us with five soldiers."


    "Well, let''s just take what we get. Just how useful are these soldiers gonna be.", I ask.


    "Well, used correctly they would be pretty useful. The only problem is that we will be getting youngsters mostly if they do send reinforcements. They will not be very well trained so troop coordination will be taking quite a hit." Shamon speaks. "But that should be something that I will be able to handle."


    "Good, good" I speak "I would give you suggestions but this type of combat is not something that I am used to. The best I can do is to stay out of your way."


    "Well, I am not expecting too much help anyway, captain. I would like to enquire about the progress of the formation. With the way that we are being attacked I would not be surprised that snowlords will be after us once the hunt ends.", Shamon asks. Well, it has been a surprise that he didn''t do so before.


    "Well, it is going good. I have managed to inscribe five formations, all of which are the important ones. the ironskin formation is the most important one and it has been active for some time at the very least. The remaining is just meant to give us a method of attacking the enemy, which I will be able to complete with the next formation.", I speak "So long as the snowlords do not appear in the next week we shall be fine."


    "That is pushing it a bit close. The commander is already returning to the frozen peaks based on the communication we have with the base. That means that the snowlord could be coming any day now.", Shamon speaks. "We can hope that the snowlords to appear anytime between next week and the week after."


    "Well, is there any way to get a more concrete timeline.", I ask "Just that is a bit too vague don''t you think."


    "Well, I can give you only one warning, captain." Shamon speaks, his voice taking quite the morbid tone "Look to the mana, a snowlord moving at full speed will make his mana signature quite obvious. Look for any strong fluctuations of mana and it will be a snowlord nine Times out of ten."


    "At the very least, can you give me an idea about their strength? You should have some idea right."


    "Well, I would like to say I do captain" Shamon speaks, his voice taking a very morbid tone "but the fluctuations that I have spoken of, we are trained to run away when it appears on the field. So I assume that a snowlord is so strong that they can destroy us the instant they come in our presence. It could be in a single sword strike or maybe even ten or it could be even that they just need to look at us to kill us. All I know is that this will be the first time that we are facing a snowlord in this way."

 the ambush (log 018)

    Well, I would like to begin by clarifying that inscription is very exhausting. You have to understand, that I normally have never attempted to create formations this quickly. Until that moment even I had not realised just how deep my sleep in this temporary fort had been. I am a soldier trained under the rules of the Iron Legion from my childhood, do you think that I am comfortable admitting that I was in a state of half sleep?


    Now to begin my log, which is essentially the reconstruction of a log that I had somehow recorded in a state of half sleep so much so that even I


    am curious what the fuck had happened here with the first doubt being how the hell did I even manage it. For most logs, I fail even at full focus. all I know is that I have done something very curious here.


    This log of mine begins in a dream, which I have forgotten now but I remember the conversation I had with my mind or at least have imagined into existence now.


    Subconscious- wake up, Antonio something is wrong.


    Me- well, can we do it later, look at the pretty sheep.


    Subconscious- something is wrong, get up. It is important.


    Me- the pretty sheep are important too you know. Look they are flying into that horrid creature''s mouth. What is that?


    Subconscious- you are being attacked, you idiot. Move, you fucker.


    It was sheer luck and a lot of daring that I managed to survive the attack that followed. Honestly even I don''t know how I managed this particular feat as I took the sword under my pillow (every sane soldier will have one under his pillow), and stuck it right into the mouth of the opposing creature.


    As I was doing this, I had already taken note of the three beings that were here at the formation core with me. I could not predict their strength but they seemed to be troop leaders. The one that had taken my sword was already injured and my sword had struck a major vessel, which I could tell due to the almost ginger way in which it was moving. It is the sensitivity of a man trying to keep his guts in place after his stomach has been opened.


    It is almost on the verge of death and would not be a worry. It was the other two that were the problem. I don''t know how they managed to sneak into this place, but that was not the moment for such questions (or so I assume as I would admit that I would have frozen on the battlefield with those exact thoughts if I were fully awake). I can already feel the two creatures beginning to charge up their ice mana.


    That would be enough to bring Shamon and whichever patrolling troop down here. Even a group of five soldiers along with me is enough to take care of them and Shamon had way more troops than that. These two creatures had taken a great risk to come here and were going to reap their rewards if I did not survive until the patrolling troops did not make their way here.


    While these thoughts were going on in my head, I could feel the two creatures tense up and charging their mana. I use this time to extract my sword. Getting into a defensive stance I charge at the two creatures. The legion''s sword arts are ideal for fighting multiple opponents.


    They were not expecting such a fierce retaliation. One of the creatures had begun a charge at me at the same time, while the other almost seemed to jump back in panic. Using my sword I blocked the attacking wolf kicking the creature right in its chest. I don''t know how much force I put in it (what can I say, my leg is still hurting) but it was enough to push the creature across the room.


    I don''t stop as I charge towards the retreating ice beast. I had an advantage here that I could lose. If the two creature regained their coordination I am dead. The retreating ice beast is almost caught by surprise but it blocks my sword at the last minute.


    It is at this moment that I did something stupid, that I would have never done if I were fully awake but I did it at that moment. I dropped my sword to the ground as the ice beast''s claws cut through the fabric of my shirt. I think I can still feel the sting of that strike over my stomach and my guts. An inch here and an inch there and I would have a majority of my insides on the outside.


    I was not passive in that period as I essentially got the creature in a stranglehold, which was quite terrifying according to Shamon, who burst into the scene almost ten seconds from this particular instance. The creature was trying to claw me but did not seem to reach me. Its mouth was inches from my face but I seemed to like jelly, disappearing wherever it was trying to strike. Meanwhile, the other creature was also trying to hit me, but it must have been worried about friendly fire as I barely remember its attacks (I do not even have an impression of the other creature''s attacks.) This is a classic move of the legion.


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    At this moment, I want to be clear that wrestling is something that I know but I have only ever done it against humans and I have never been particularly stellar with it. The only thing that I am worse at can be considered to be mental magic.


    I later learned that almost the entirety of the four troops had attacked us in an almost suicidal charge. If their previous attacks were careful skirmishes this was a brutal charge. As for the exact details, I will get to it.


    Regardless, the moment that Shamon felt the presence of ice mana in the fort. He took a risk as he led a troop of twenty soldiers down here. Thankfully, with me keeping one of the creatures busy, the soldiers had a pretty easy time killing the ice beasts. Shamon had the brilliant idea of dousing me with a bucket of water in this frigid cold. It seems to be a precaution these bunch have for when their enemies tend to try to use mental magic to make us sleep.


    It was pretty effective too, if one can ignore the being soaked in such a fucking cold place. You want me to be honest, I am missing the chill. At the very least it did not seem to enter into places where I certainly would not want to feel cold in.


    Regardless, now that I am capable enough to talk again I will have to talk to Shamon who is very confused about what is happening here. Well, I am in a similar state here too, You know. I have a lot to ask him about what the hell is going on.


    "Captain, are you fine.", shamon begins with an expression I can''t place. I think the man has taken my injury quite personally with the vigor with which he is acting.


    "Well, I am in a tiptop condition, Shamon. It''s your luck that I tend to be prepared for such events and my luck that my plans work.", I say, fibbing a bit. As my father says, the best time to project confidence is when you least feel like it. Well, let''s hope the other side can''t hear the crack in my voice which I won''t be rid of any time soon." Why wasn''t I informed that the ice beasts can sneak into our bases."


    "Well, that is a very old tactic. They used to do it so many times at our more traditional attempts at the forts and they have failed so many times that I had assumed that they would not do it. Only the troop leaders can do it and they cannot use the entirety of their power in that state. The only thing they have is the element of surprise and that means that they can only assassinate one person or a small group of people. More people would die if they were to attack directly. Not one such attack has resulted in alive troop leaders, even if they had killed you we would have killed them quite easily too." Shamon begins.


    "How do they do it, i assume it is not any kind of cloaking magic since they seem to become seriously weak while doing it. My sword was not powered with mana when I killed that one. No matter how injured it is, it should have been able to shatter my sword with a bite.", I ask, wondering about the mechanics of such a thing. Don''t blame me, you can never really sate a formation master''s hunger for new spells.


    "Well, the present theory is that they somehow crack their mana cores, leaking out all their mana. Their mana then is equivalent to the ambient locations." Shamon replies simply, "We can''t verify it though, we don''t dare to leave a fully powered troop leader to experiment on"


    "Well, let''s put a pin in that. If that is the case, then why were we targeted like this? It is not like the fort will fall if I am dead. Iron skin works passively and that should be their main worry." I ask. "I assume these creatures are smart enough to figure that out. I have reason to think that they care attacking with such ferocity due to other reasons."


    "Naturally, captain", Shamon replies "Well, I have found that guessing the intent of the ice beasts is a futile exercise. For now, we need to make sure that the formation core is safe. For all we know they could have come for that."


    Well, I had forgotten about the core. Not that it is a matter of worry. Unless these beings had a method of fine mana control like my mana strings they simply could not destroy the core. Heck, they would not be able to do that at their full power.


    "The core is safe and finally functional enough. With the latest formation, I would have been able to take care of the troop leaders quite safely anyway." I say to him. "You can say the embryo of the formation is complete."


    Saying that I manifest the crossbow with its respective mana strings. For something that took all of my effort, the crossbow looked painfully ordinary if you could ignore the string of mana that powered it. It was due to this crossbow that I am in my present state. I have essentially built three class nine formations back to back each in record time.


    I had not even noticed just how much energy that had taken.


    "With this, I will kill any troop leader that approaches our location and with a bit more work it will be able to threaten even snowlords." I speak, noticing the look of quiet disbelief.


    Well, it does look quite ordinary if I have to say so, though I can clarify his doubt once the formation is put into use. Well, I honestly hope a couple of troop leaders do come. They have left me in a pretty miserable position all of this time.


    I can see that Shamon is getting ready to speak, most likely to caution me. He doesn''t get to speak though As I hear a loud thud at the door. On the ground, there is a soldier, fallen to the ground. He seems to have tripped there.


    Something feels wrong immediately but it takes me a moment to notice that one of his arms is missing. Shamon was more quick though as he quickly got the soldier up.


    I finally move into action as the soldiers gasp out.


    "We are about to fall, lord Shamon."

 the suicidal charge (log 019)

    Well, I will have to apologize to the people in the head office for the sudden cutting of the last log. To any person running around trying to secure any reinforcements (I will be thankful if it was crawling at the very least) for me, I will have to tell you that the situation here is stable or as stable as it can be for now.


    Well, the reason that I had cut off so suddenly was mind magic takes a particular amount of focus from me, which is not something that one can keep up with when one sees the visual in front of me. I mean, maimed people are nothing new to me. Formation limbs are one of the ways that my master is so wealthy after all and something about this soldier with this visual was quite disturbing to me. Well, it is my first time in charge.


    Thankfully, we had Shamon who quickly took control of the situation. He quickly began to organize our soldiers as the both of us made our way to the region that was affected so seriously. I began to check the formation base. The damn thing is nearly empty, which is kind of to be expected with the way that I have been using it. For now, I shall rely on the bolts in the quiver which number about thirty nine.


    Regardless, now is not the time for me to complain as the situation is pretty dire for us. The ice beasts almost seem to have lost all their sense of self preservation as they charge at the wall in a crazy rush. They are using the corpses of their allies as ladders. they have piled up all of their dead at the southern gate. It is supposed to be quite a macabre sight. if I want to be honest I cannot see it from this far from the southern gate. I am closer to the northern gate at the moment, I can feel the mana of the ice beasts extinguish though that is a bit hard.


    Right now, almost all of the soldiers are concentrated there pushing the creatures down however much as they can. They are not even trying to engage the enemy. The moment that a wolf jumps onto the wall, they are pushed off with most of them falling to the ground and becoming a new addition to the pile (they have a type of spear that is specialized for such a thing.). The creatures are not mindless though. Each of them is essentially scoping for the weaknesses of the base. A soldier blinks for a bit too long and the ice beasts charge towards him.


    I don''t know how Shamon is doing this, but it seems to be almost like magic in the way that he moves the soldiers. I can barely sense it and I am left in wonder. Looking at the southern gate is literally like looking at a guttering lamp in the darkest of night, about to be extinguished any second. Yet the lamp seems to be eternal under Shamon''s guidance.


    The line is barely holding though. Thankfully the actual number of injuries is quite low but that is not going to be the case for long as I can already feel the soldiers slipping and trying to hold their own. The only serious injury was the soldier who had become our messenger, who is at the moment with me, trying to keep his limb warm. Due to the chill, if his arm were to freeze the only hope he would have is to go to the frozen peak, with the chill mostly taking his life en route to that fort( imagine, every blood vessel, every mana channel in his body freezing because of the ice mana as his body slowly freezes inside out.)


    At the moment I am doing the work of patrolling. After all with nearly all the soldiers here present at the southern gate the fort is quite sensitive to attacks from the other locations. I am linked with the formation core as I send the mana strings into the iron skin surrounding the fort. As long as a creature steps on the iron skin I should be able to tell their presence. It is a pretty advanced version of formation control, one that I have barely begun to use in general like this.


    At the moment I am utilizing my mana sense to the maximum in a way that I did not even expect possible until now. Our soldiers are quite easy to sense, with the way that they contrast to the surrounding mana but the ice beasts are not so easy. It is like trying to spot a darker shade of black in a canvas of light black. You can do it but it is oh so easy to miss. Well, my job is to hit them with my crossbow if I do detect them.


    Thankfully, the iron skin at the southern gate is quite sturdy and shouldn''t be at any immediate threat of breaking. Else, with the way that we are outnumbered the gate will fall just with the weight of corpses piled on it. Some of these corpses look very old, leading me to believe these wolves have been doing digging of their own.


    I do not like being so passive I am essentially being made to sit here waiting for the worst to happen, while constantly being on the lookout. I would build a thousand formations rather than handle this kind of pressure.


    For now, though we have Shamon. Well, it is quite grating on my ego that I have to listen to him but for better or worse he is more familiar with these ice beasts and anyway, I do not want to deal with being the outsider trying to command them. It cannot be any worse than listening to Trevor. If anything, it makes me look quite open minded which is more useful than people expect sometimes. I do have a couple of ideas though, which I guess I should tell to shamon after the situation is somewhat stabilized. For now, I don''t want to disturb the man. Let him do his magic, I refuse to believe that the ice beasts can maintain this brainless charge for long.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Until then I am back to looking at the war I guess.


    (Almost a day later.)


    I am again quite sleepy. I have been patrolling for almost a day as the situation has stabilized somewhat. The creatures are still pretty manic, but that does not mean that they do not get tired.


    Most of them are still pretty active but with the drowsiness of a person who has not slept for a week. If it was me I would have given up almost ten hours ago. Thankfully, that means that the pressure on the soldiers has reduced quite a bit. The soldiers are resting in groups of five. They rest for a couple of hours, sleeping a sleep that could have rivaled mine at the beginning of this mess.


    Well, The losses on our side have been quite heavy. The heaviest injury that these guys have faced is the soldier with the missing limb. Thankfully in this cold, the missing limb won''t bleed too much though there is a worry about the chill.


    The formation core needs to be completed, very quickly at that or the attacking horde needs to be destroyed very quickly unless I want this soldier to die. The soldier who has lost his arm, named Eleron is in a particularly deep shit. The former is nearly impossible and for the latter, well I will need to talk to Shamon about it. I have a pretty decent strategy to deal with the horde outside.


    Well, I could not distract Shamon from the southern gate until now. It has been quite a brutal fight, based on what I have seen. Well, it does not take particularly long for me to reach Shamon, who is presently resting in one of the rooms closer to the southern gate. Thankfully, the ice beasts have not tried an ambush from another location, which while not particularly dangerous on our side would have been quite draining on my already limited quiver.


    Shamon is not particularly in a very presentable state. He has the look of a man that has reached the very edges of his ability to think. The last couple of days have been quite exhausting for this man. Not that I am surprised, I have never seen a defensive maintained for such a long time. Granted, most of my military training happens with bastards who have never heard of the word defense.


    He is at the moment sitting in the corner of the room, trying to meditate based on what I can tell. He is struggling with that the way he is twitching about.


    "Well, you are in quite a bind, aren''t you shamon", I speak, sitting next to him.


    "Captain, well the last couple of days have not been very good for my heart. Regardless, I hope that you have a solution to our present problems. Even I am surprised that we have managed to hold against the beasts for so long.", shamon says, "If these creatures were a bit smarter about their suicidal charge, we would have fallen already. Heck, I tremble to think what our situation would be if one of the troop leaders were leading them."


    "Well, I have a solution but it is going to be quite risky.", I begin. "I want to set a trap for the beasts."


    "There is no place to set a trap in this region, unless", Shamon speaks, realization hitting him like a battering ram.


    "Well, it is a bit of a risk but right now what other options will you have? Letting them in and killing them here is infinitely easier than trying to hold out like this. The beasts might have slowed down due to exhaustion but your soldiers are also about to enter into a similar state. Then they are waiting to be slaughtered", I tell him.


    "That is not a problem, the fort can fall for all I care if we can live for another day. The problem is with the ice beasts. They are not particularly smart beasts, but they still tend to have very sharp instincts. If we were to suddenly open the gates after literally pushing them off for a day, they will feel something wrong even if they are not able to specify what." He says it to me.


    "Well, I can try and mimic a natural break of the gate. It would make sense with the number of corpses piled over there. It will take me some time to redirect the iron skin in that area, but after that, the gates will be quite fragile. Will that be enough to keep these beasts busy.", I ask him.


    "Well, I guess that could work. I honestly cannot predict with their leaders dead. I have never faced a troop without a leader before." Shamon speaks, "Regardless, how are you planning to trap these creatures, is it one of your formations? Maybe that crossbow of yours"


    "Well, I can tell you this as long as the enemy enters into the trap, we will be able to get rid of this troop. All I need is a long corridor like space which can fit a majority of these creatures. it should preferably have two main entrances if possible.", I ask Shamon. This fort is not particularly large but it is not like I have spent particularly long in the fort itself.


    "Well, there is a long tunnel like that near the east gate, which is meant to connect the armory to the living quarters." Shamon speaks, "It should be relatively close enough to the south gate so those creatures are pretty likely to follow us if they were baited inside."


    "How about this, figure out a way to get these creatures inside while I prepare the trap. I should be done in about half a day.", I command him, feeling quite weird. "As for the exact trap...........

 the trap (log 020)

    I certainly hate these moments, between when I have completed my work and when I have to see it run on the battlefield. A thousand things that can go wrong and a million things going in your mind, it is not a state that I enjoy.


    Well, I guess that I should explain what the trap does before I enter into the fray. Our trap is going to begin with the southern gates falling. At least that is what it will look like as the soldiers have already loosened the hinges of the massive gate. With the iron skin supporting it the damn thing will hold but the moment that I move it, it should be enough to cause the entire thing to collapse quite nicely. At least that is what I hope but I can''t say for certain until the thing does fall.


    From there we will have a troop of soldiers acting as bait, slowly retreating until they reach the corridor that I have designated for this task. It is a tunnel connecting the armory to the soldier barracks. It is a surprisingly long tunnel, that is quite narrow. I think that four soldiers will be able to fit in it side by side.


    The ice beasts are significantly thinner so we are assuming that more of them will be able to fit. Even with that, it is going to be quite a tight fit. The soldiers are going to go from the barracks to the armory, trapping as many of the creatures as possible, while I set the trap.


    What I want to do is make use of the water bolts to cut all the limbs of these creatures. It has been a pain to set up and is going to take nearly half of my water bolt supplies. Ten bolts were set up all through the tunnel to react to touch. You know how hard it is to move spells made from pure mana like that. Even with a storage location like the quiver, it is something that took a lot of effort.


    To the water bolts, I have added a few more runes to control their release to when pressure is applied to it enough to blow up the legs of any creature that is stepping on that water bolt( well, I did try to make sure that the spell could retain its bolt like form, but I failed at that. This form of the spell is essentially an unstable spell on the verge of blowing up stabilized with a few runes). It is not even a formation so I know the things that can go very wrong. Spells are not meant to be modified like this. In the hands of most non formation mages, it would explode. Even with a formation mage, who knows the structure of spells better than most, it is a gamble.


    As long as even five of these bolts explode, the beasts it will hit should be enough to stop the entire group at once, which is where I come in. Right now I am hiding in the barracks under one of the beds. The moment the traps are set, I will crawl and use the crossbow to shoot the damn creature''s legs. While the crossbow still won''t give the bolts enough strength to go through all the ice beasts in the tunnels, aimed correctly it should take out their legs( maybe the bolts could do that, but who wants to bet on that in the middle of a fight).


    After that, the soldiers in the barracks will quickly take care of the creatures that are in that tunnel. Meanwhile, I will take care of any stragglers. That is the entirety of my plan, simple according to Shamon and too complicated according to me. Fuck, so many things can wrong here.


    The other side can sense my presence while they enter here, they could be smart enough to sense the ice bolts in the tunnel, they could not all fit in the tunnel, and one of the soldiers might end up stepping on the traps even with the red color I have painted on the walls next to the bolts to warn them( I don''t even know why they had paint.). Heck, that could end up warning the icebeasts of the bolt''s location. The soldiers have assured me that they won''t. The bolts could explode at any moment because the runes I put on the spell could not handle the mana of the bolt.


    These are all thoughts running in my head, causing me to want to get up from my present position and recheck everything. With Shamon about to collapse the gates any second that is a risk that I am not willing to take. Still, being cramped like this under the bed is not nice. I can feel my leg cramp up due to the half kneeling position I am under here. I cannot lie down unless I want to end up losing the ideal opportunity to cut the limbs of these bastards.


    I can feel the burning sensation in my leg as I try to hold my pretty weird position. I can pass mana through it to keep the burning at bay but that is not a risk I want to take, after all, if the creatures can sense it then a lot of them will stop to deal with me. Right now I am like a spring fully coiled to take the correct position the moment the bolts are triggered.


    Regardless, Shamon finally relieves me from the purgatory of my thoughts as Shamon finally activates the collapsing gate. ( Don''t get me started on that. It was a nightmare to make the southern gate fall according to Shamon''s command. I would get into it but now is not the time for that. I have a hundred and fifty beasts to kill after all.)


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    I can feel my thoughts slow down as I enter into a state of focus. Things might go wrong here but thinking about that now is not helpful. Now is the time to act. Well, the soldiers should be already making their way here. It takes roughly one minute for the soldiers to make their way here from the Southern gate.


    The only indicator of their presence would be their footsteps which will echo in this empty part of the fort. Almost like the clockwork, I can hear the soldiers running. I stop breathing and try to be as still as a statue. Now, I need to wait for the bolts to activate.


    This state seems to continue for an eternity as I try to will the beasts from noticing my position. Finally, the first bolt activates, resembling a flood of water mana in my mana sense. I wait for a second waiting for the other bolts to activate, which does not happen for a heart freezing second.


    I am jumping from my hiding place the second that it does occur. the scene in the tunnel is roughly what I expected it to be, as the ice beasts have stopped there for a confused second. That is all I need as my mind kicks into overdrive looking for the best spots to strike the enemy.


    It does not even take a second as the bolts fly true to their targets nearly leaving a trail of carnage as many of the ice beast''s limbs are ripped cleanly from their bodies. I might have missed a couple of them, but I will have to leave them be. The soldiers can handle the stragglers behind.


    Dropping the crossbow, which will dissipate into mana I remove my sword as I finally notice that not every beast had entered into the trap. Almost half a dozen ice beasts are in the room, taking position around me, with a couple still entering the room.


    A number that I can manage but will take my full focus. Entering into a defensive stance I wait for the enemy to make the first move. There are too many here, my major goal, for now, is to ensure that they don''t end up surrounding me while I try to separate them and take them out.


    One of the wolves, let''s call it number one for now is the first to make a move. The creatures try to swipe at me with one of its claws. I could have killed it instantly but that would mean that I would not be able to block it. It might not be able to induce a chill in me, but with seven of these creatures in the room, not a risk I want to take.


    I hit the creature with the flat of my blade, using all of the strength of the strike to push the creature backward. That gives me a moment as I look at the room. I am in the barracks, with nothing in the room other than beds and chests. The chests are the flimsy kind, which means that the only tools in my belt are the beds.


    Well, the creatures are also studying me while I formulate a plan. Finally, the creatures move into action, with three of the creatures acting as a vanguard who will charge me. The remaining four will move according to my actions. Good, these creatures tend to make pretty obvious plans at the very least. (Well, I have been studying them during the patrols so it seems quite obvious.)


    I jump to the side, to the bed that is nearest to me. It is a bed meant for utility, with nothing other than a metal frame and cushions that would work better as a rock. Anyway, with my full strength and quite a bit of mana, I kick the bed.


    My world goes blank for a moment as a wave of pain takes my every single thought. what the hell did they make it with? At the very least, the bed flew taking the four creatures with it. Well, that brought me a few moments at the very least.


    Shifting into a more offensive stance I turn to the icebeasts attacking me, who are still in the process of turning around. I don''t have long as I charge towards them. My leg feels as if somebody is hitting it with a hammer. My sword enters the creature''s heart as I duck under it, sliding to the second wolf. This one is a bit more ready as it shifts its position as my sword hits one of its ribs.


    The force of my strike is enough to shatter its ribs, which I think has struck something vital as I can feel the creature weaken, though my sword is stuck, at least for the moment. Leaving my sword, I jump to the position of my final victim. Pooling mana into my arm I enter into a grappling stance. The creature''s teeth pass me by inches as my arms wrap around its throat. The creature struggles for a few seconds as its spine snaps with a clear pop.


    With this, I let myself look at the four ice beasts struck by the bed, the creatures have already taken a defensive posture, getting ready to retreat. whatever mania they are under has been overpowered by their survival instincts.


    Well, I would not be worthy of my position as a class 9 mage if I were to let these creatures escape now. Freeing my sword, which causes its victim to spasm. Pushing mana to my legs I jump towards the four creatures, which did not expect my burst of speed.


    I still struggle to make use of this particular skill, which the soldiers like to call a dash. It is a simple application of vital mana, which any of its practitioners are supposed to know, but it still takes a lot of practice to use it perfectly.


    Well, I won''t bore you with the result as I am already in the process of gutting them. That is how I can tell that these creatures are the top predators in their environments. They don''t even know how to run away from a stronger opponent. At the very least the pulsing in my toe has reduced somewhat. Honestly, what is that bed made up of?

 I observe a celebration (log 021)

    I have heard a lot about the snowwinders. they are supposed to genius builders that have built works of art that can last for millenia (granted the black mountain do not have the right to make such a pronouncement) and are so disciplined on the battlefield that my predecessors to this position like to compare them to the almost steely stillness of the undead.


    Granted, the scholars are never a good reference and my predecessors were treating this as more of a vacation than an actual job. Not to badmouth my own people, but there is a reason that our present ties with the snowwinders are quite tight.


    Not to get distracted, i have heard a great deal about the snowwinders and every single description that i have heard has certainly not prepared for the scene in front of me.


    Well, the scene in front of me is about the last thing that i would have expected to see in our present situation. In front of me are two soldiers that are completely naked except their undergarments, which has left me on the verge of bleeding from my eyes.


    Well, i remember the beginning to this particular tavern brawl. It has all begun with shamon opening a reserve of some kind of an alcoholic drink that I will never be able to pronounce. For now let''s call it ale.


    I don''t know how strong it is or how much the soldiers have drunk of it, but what was originally a friendly contest of arm wrestling had devolved into a competition to check who had the biggest balls. Based on what i have understood of this particular Match both soldiers will stand in front of each other begin stripping in front of each other until one person gives up this particular match or until their jewels shine their full glory to the world( their words, not mine.) And the fun part, they said they are supposed to do all of this in the snow, where i would think twice before sitting and they are stripping in it. It would take a unique kind of balls to do that.( Fuck, these guys are ruining me). If these soldiers end up dying to the chill, I will ressurect them and kill them personally.


    That is how i am presently stuck in this situation, with either person convincing the other to step back and admit defeat while all the people around them are convincing them both of completing the final step. I was certainly not thinking of chants of "off with the underwears" when I thought of the snowwind soldiers. Over all it has been a loud, quite tasteless situation but somehow i have not been able to keep my head from turning in this particular direction for sometime now.


    Normally, i guess that i should be one of the people that is joining the bunch downstairs, but i am not going to break my rules so easily. Those of the iron do not lose their focus in the middle of a war. I might have left the legion, but some habits remain. I have to admit it was quite tempting until the stripping began. I think such a situation can only be found funny when you are quite drunk. Also, even these soldiers know that their victory is now dependent more on me than them.  Let them have their moment of peace.


    Anyway, If i was in their place i would be sick with worry. Not much to stop thinking when you have no work to do, i guess. Regardless, my work is pretty important. after all, if the enemy were to suddenly reveal a unknown eighth legion i would be quite annoyed if they were to suddenly attack us at this exact moment. Granted a single legion does not have the strength to really challenge us anymore.


    The presence of the crossbow should be more than enough to keep the snowlords from wasting too many of their troops in our directions or that is at least the goal. At the moment, shamon is not sure if the snowlords can see through the eyes of soldiers icebeasts. I assume that they can. In either case, an attack now is unlikely.


    Anyway, i can see that i am not the only person among this bunch that seems to have forgone the drink this day. That would be shamon who seems to be in a similar situation to me or so i would have hoped. Well, he is coming In my direction so I shall find out.


    "Well, captain i would have expected you to be among these rowdy bunch already.", he speaks, his voice taking an amused time. "It is a great time for you to become familiar to the soldiers and it will boost their morale."


    "I will be honest, i was tempted but there are rules to follow you know.", i speak to him, wondering if the man in front of me would be ready to listen to my pretty childish complaining of the rules of the iron legion.


    "I would have thought that would have been not much of an issue with your people. After all isn''t that how your people blew up the ruins in the south.", he begins, bringing up something quite embarassing. "Became drunk and tested certain formations without thinking."


    "Well, that is a different case. The scholars make use of certain set of drugs to boost the performance of their minds. Sadly a few of the side affects do look like they are drunk." I reply to him, wondering if i should be recording this. It is technically the truth though it is also the truth that these set of drugs could infact be used to replace alcohol "I can see how you people might have gotten confused."


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    "Well, I am not one to question the hobbies of other kids, but it is nice to see that i have company among this bunch. You would be surprised how boring this all gets when you have seen it a hundred times.", he says. "I am not sure if those two idiots will even be able to wake up tomorrow without a cold. It is fine as long as it is not the chill. Most of these guys will go on to make the army of tomorrow."


    "Somehow, i find that hard to believe among this bunch.", I say to him, as my vision goes one of the naked ones trying some kind of a rude gesture to provoke the other. What it would do to help him, i do not know though it must have made quite the bit of sense in their drunken mind as this guys was doing it with a child like enthusiasm.


    "Well, you would be surprised. Regardless, you are free and i am free right now. Let''s talk business now.", shamon begins.


    "Well, my ears are open. I wish my eyes were not.  I am not asleep. About as much of a best time it can be.", I reply, as he plops down next to me.


    "Why are the snowlords so interested in you, captain.", he speaks, his voice suddenly taking a measured tone. "I have lead quite many troops against the icebeasts and the only time i have seen them quite this suicidal is at one of the failed forts, which had an entire legion there. Bloody came close to completion too."


    "Well, there could be any number of reasons. Maybe it was the fact that they managed to track the emissions of my formation base, which did grow quite substantial before their attacks.", i begin. It is actually one of the disadvantages of using elemental nodes. A skilled enough local is usually able to tell about the existence of the formation.


    "Somehow, it still doesn''t really explain their rigour in getting you killed. They don''t act like that unless the snowlords are involved somehow.", shamon speaks.


    "Well, it could be any number of reasons, but i have two main reasons that might actually be the case." I speak, bringing to mind something that I have been thinking about for quite a while. "One case could be that your commander is a sadist and he is the bastard that let out the fact that a pretty important formation master resides here."


    "Somehow I don''t think that manages to describe the commander. He is not one for that kind of politicking.", shamon speaks. "That is how he ended up in the north, some say. At the very least nobody gives a good answer to why exactly is he here. his work doesn''t really match his power."


    "Well, then it is the alternative. The enemy has somebody that is able to make sense of formation structure, maybe even build a few.", i speak." The type of formation that I am building is a special type of formation, that will help you dealing with the chill at a limited level at the very least as i said before. Due to that, i have had to make use of elemental nodes. while i won''t say what I am doing is quite common, it is not so rare that somebody won''t be able to tell what i want to do."


    Well, there is a third option but that is nearly impossible. After all, i am not popular among these bunch. If it was closer to the hexmountain, maybe. Still, if this is the case then I need to get ready, not that I will be able to do much against the rage of the enemy.


    "Well, the enemy can tell when we are starting to build formations.", shamon speaks" i don''t really see how that really hurts us. All it really takes is a bit of planning. Look, you building four or five of those even though the enemy seems to have been hounding us at  every step of the way."


    "Well, most formations take a lot longer to build, shamon.", i speak, "i usually take a week to properly inscribe class 9 formations. Here i have done it in two days. Honestly, i am not sure how i have managed it. Maybe this is why my master wanted me to come here. To learn to work under pressure."


    "Well, all i honestly care about that formation is if it was worth the death of fifteen soldiers and the maiming of three soldiers.", the soldiers speaks with a rare bit of emotion in his voice.


    Those were the losses of the mission last time. Honestly, I guess i should feel something about it but i am don''t really feel anything about it. Maybe if i was there in the battlefield with them, maybe if they fell in front of me with me being able to do little to stop that maybe i would also be more emotional.


    Hey, as a formation mage i already participate in enough what ifs to reach the moon. No need to add another to it. Regardless, it is the way that these soldiers are partying that is more fascinating to me. In the iron legion, where death is uncommon it is a somber occasion with ceremonies and rituals that every person on the hexmountain knows to his heart.


    Here death is more familiar, so much so that no amount of tears will suffice. Instead they celebrate with so much passion that death will stop in the path or at the very least they strip in the ice, giving death that bit extra to walk. Well, i am not one to claim too much knowledge in this but with thoughts like this i think i understand why the scholars do what they do. It''s fascinating to look at people think.


    "Well, by the time you leave, it shall be the end of winter anyways. By then it is the headache of the folks from the frozen peaks.", shamon speaks.


    "I assumed you and your troops were of the frozen peaks. The temporary forts seems to be pretty important for your bunch.", I asked, a bit confused.


    "Well, the commander borrows soldiers from other areas when he believes that it is worth it. I personally come from the south. The soldiers are still newbies so they come from the east.", he says "any troop from the frozen peak will have fallen on the first day under siege. Well, that would be my que. Their stupid game has gone long enough."


    Hearing that I take a look at the two strippers who had finally completed their goal at the same time. The look of surprise on eithers face was enough to clue me in that either had not managed to take the final step, so somebody in the crowd had done that for them. Well the crowd seemed to have realized that at the same time, resulting in a howl that would have scared any hidden troop.

 the calm before the storm (log 022)

    Well, the last week has been productive though not as much as i would have liked. I have managed to complete my fifth water formation, which gives me extra peace of mind. As i have said before, this formation was particularly nasty piece of conjuration which has been a majority of my work in the last week. I will not put its affect into documentation until i have used it against the enemy for once at the very least.


    Though i do have to admit that if i had this particular formation working things would have been so much easier especially with the siege. I wouldn''t have to take such a risky move to get rid of the enemy at the very least.


    Regardless it is complete and that means that I have a truly good chance of holding my own on against the snowlords and their hordes or so i hope at the very least. It is also a point that i have never faced of against the snowlords and the soldiers here have also not faced them before. It is all second hand information which is not reliable at the best of times. Well, from now on though the formations are more simpler and are more focussed on the nurturing aspects of the formation.


    The last two earth formations and the last water formation are meant for the structural modification of the environment. It is a bit complicated, but it is preparing the environment for the planting of the copperback. While that is nice, the major benefit of this is the fact that the three spells will have a direct effect on the ground, make it harder and harder. While it is slower than even the iron skin formation it still a long term benefit. After all, you won''t be able to support a mighty tree if it got uprooted due to its own weight.


    Among these, i have only inscribed two, one which is called as earth compression. While i have never cast this spell the spell is quite simple. It is going to be compressing the earth to make it more dense and durable.


    This function of it will be supported by the earth spell earth relocator and the water spell solid flow. The two spells will work together to provide the compression spell with a steady supply of earth to compress.


    Still, while the nurturing aspects of the formation are still not going to be very much useful in the short term, but the hardening effect might be useful at the very, granted it is much slower than the iron skin. The druids are all about the long term after all. they can spend centuries, if not millenias in their forests crafting them into the ideal forts. Makes them bloody hard to conquer too.


    The iron skin reminds me that i still have work left on that front. Well, one of the key aspects of my plan to eliminate the icebeasts was that shamon had to be able to simulate a breach into the southern gate at will. That was the only way these bastards could be able to lure in those damn beasts and the iron skin spell was built to ensure that something like that would not happened at the very least not easily.


    Iron skin works by essentially creating a mould of the user( or the building in my case )which the user does almost instinctively by modifying the runes of that spell. This spell does not really have any way for us to modify this mould, though that does lead me to wonder how does it work for the humans because we humans do not have a specific shape you know.


    How does a teenage druid practice this spell without choking on this spell because his body has grown in that period is beyond me. Well, I don''t know the full spell. The only part of the spell taught to me was in relation to the formation. So maybe they have extra components.


    Well, i guess i should get back to the topic. Due to the mould, there are many layers of metal mana on the gate which have essentially set for the lack of a better word. Very useful to have when enemy icebeasts are puking bolts of ice mana at, or piling the bodies of the dead against it as the metal mana will take the brunt of that.


    Not very useful when the gate has to fall at your command. Thankfully, in that situation you had a bunch of corpses piled against the gate which was a plus. All of that weight were causing quite the bit of strain on the gate.


    Regardless, the trick here was not to focus on the gate but rather on the hinges. It was still a problem that the hinges were still a part of this mould. Thankfully the thing with hinges are you cannot place them fully in the mould, as they have moving parts which would be stopped the instant that the iron skin started setting.


    Unless you want to keep the door fully closed or fully opened or whichever state the door was in, of course. that is one of the disadvantages of iron skin. After all, does it really matter if the strongest part of your defense has been strengthened a hundred times if the weakest part of it is still the same.


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    Anyway, i tweaked the hinges of the gate and essentially made it so that the hinges will not be a part of the formation at the command of shamon. That along with some very controlled explosion to get rid of previous layers of metal mana was just about enough to bring down the gate.


    That also means that at the moment the iron skin formation has a very clear weakness, which i certainly have to hope that the enemy will never find out about. Right now i certainly do not want to take the risk of trying to restructure the iron skin again. I have essentially been plucking cards from a house of cards with each change that i have made to the formation.


    It has been due to significant luck that the entire formation has not yet collapsed. That means that it is becoming a bit too risky to mess with the iron skin formation unless i want the entire thing to fall. I have already removed a failed formation from the core, so i really do not want to lose one of my core formations this late in the game.


    So where was i, the southern gate is a point of weakness for the fort and there is little that i can do to help. I do have few ideas, but most of them are not something that works for the present situation, but could be somewhat helpful. That will take work, which certainly I do not want to put in now.


    With the enemy about to strike us at any second that is a risk that I have no desire to take. That has been another source of worry for me and shamon for a while now. There has been no enemy action on us for a while now. Maybe the enemy has exhausted all of its available troops in this fight. Maybe they were preparing to come to the place personally or maybe they were preparing an even larger numbers of troops to throw at us. Maybe it was both. all we know is that the snowlords were supposed to already be here attacking us but they have not even appeared. Even dealing with ten troops would have been better than this unnatural inaction from the enemy.


    Shamon has been in an even worser situation than me. He has had little work to keep him busy like me and he has been spending the last couple of weeks trying to keep the troop morale as high as he could while also clearing up all the remains of our previous fights. They simply cannot chuck the corpses of their own and the icebeasts in this frozen wastelands.


    It is hard for things to rot this far north but there is always a risk of diseases spreading. The best option would be to burn them all, turning everything to ashes. We do not have any options for that here, so it is the next best option for these guys. That would be to dig a massive pit and chuck all of these bodies into it.


    The only problem is that the ice in this place is supposed to rock solid in the winter.  Everyday almost all the soldiers in the fort have to go quite a distance from the fort to dig until they are tired to the bones, while bracing themselves for ambushes. All of this while the numbers of soldiers are beginning to hit worrying numbers. Thankfully or not, even that task of theirs is about to end in a couple of days.


    That has been another worry for shamon, who has been trying to negotiate reinforcements from the other forts. While snowwinders politics is not something is not something that i claim to understand it looks like things have not been going well.


    I will try to explain it as well as i have understood it. These are a bunch that do not want to seem weak. The very act of asking reinforcements has undermined any image of strength that shamon has built up, which means that shamon is in a weird position. All of the other fort heads will not actively trying to mess up shamon and this fort, but they are certainly making things very annoying for him.


    The one thing that the two of us could agree on is that it is the calm before the storm and now is the time for us to grow our aces. There was simply no way that the enemy was going to leave us alone after investing that much to get rid of us. The silver lining to all of this has been that the ruin will have been essentially left all alone in all of this mess. Normally also the snowlords have little desire to mess with the magical ruin but with this fort to act as a lightening rod, they was simply no way that the ruin will be threatened.


    Trevor and the two idiots are good soldiers but they are not really that powerful. At the moment, i would be more comfortable with the fact that the scholars are there. They might not know enough to safely run even one of the things in there but they are more than capable of bringing the entire thing on the enemies head.


    The only problem would be just how much of a instinct of self preservation those bunch have left. The scholars are beings of a singular focus after all. There are significant percentage among the scholars that would give up their own lives if it meant that they could preserve another ruin. They are a obsessive bunch that might just deal with devils if it meant that they could grow their knowledge. Fuck, that reputations of theirs is the reason that they need guards like us in the first place.


    Well, it is more likely that i will be attacked so i have no desire to worry about them. Fuck, it almost feels as if that bunch is nicely enjoying a vacation in this battlefield. It is not like jealousy is going to help me though, at the very least now. I am going to certainly make a note of it though.


    Somebody among them is going to suffer( certainly not the scholars and Trevor, but there are two idiots who would make for nice punching bags though and there are many formation i want to test that is going to make them suffer in interesting ways.)

 the arrival storms (log 023)

    I have no idea if I have told this before but the environment surrounding the fortress is one of the most lifeless places I have ever seen in my life. There is little movement in the area other than movement of snow and ice. Even when the ice beasts were here, i could only notice them due to their mana. Else our surroundings remained the same as it did before they came. Dull, lifeless and seemingly eternal.


    Looking at my surroundings sometimes, the place seems to be a painting drawn in grey and white with an almost timless quality to it.  It is to a point where it has almost been impossible to say the time in this place. For me night and day in this place looks exactly the same as each other.


    Anyway, weather in this area has been relatively stable during the attack of the ice beasts. Even before that we had a few snowstorms but most of them were at a level where iron skin was not even needed.  It has something to do with the snowlords, who seem to have partial control over the weather of the regions or at the very least seem to be the cause of this weather.


    They can manipulate the intensity of the snowstorms in the region. They have been reducing the intensity of snow storms for their horde up till now, based on what i have understood from shamons thoughts on the matter. Well, whatever they have been doing they seem to have finally retracted as i finally understand why the main worry of the snowwinders have been the storms as i can finally see just how bad it can get.


    Even now i can feel the entire fort tremble and i don''t even need to be connected to the formation to tell that. Every few seconds I can feel the vibration of whatever block of ice or snow accelerated to some deadly speeds collide with the walls of the fort. The iron skin is dealing with a majority of these impacts, but even it is not enough for a few of those strikes. Thankfully, it still does it''s job of taking in a majority of the impact so the physical wall is safe at the very least. The wall will break if the same spot is hit again though. The chances of that happening enough times for significant damage are quite low, thankfully. We will need to repair the wall though.


    The vibrations are annoying me to no end. The closest analogy I can think of is that I am sitting in a group of drummers with each playing theirs drums just out of tune. You know that there is supposed to be a tune but no matter how much you try you can''t just place what it is. Well it would be a lie to call it a analogy as I had the misfortune of being in such a room myself once. Granted I was also one of the drummers in that room and the class ended up with our teacher vowing never to teach another class of music to us deaf and idiotic humans( he had quite few words more, but thankfully i don''t know any demihuman languages.). Our teacher was a bat demi human with senses many times sharper then ours and used the exact same drums that he was teaching us to communicate with his people from leagues and leagues away. After this incident, my master never dared to teach me music again.


    Anyway, we cannot even leave the fort even if we want to. The winds of the storm is enough to carry a man like a piece of paper and snow that feels closer to daggers rather than frozen water. I won''t even talk about the cold, other than the fact that i wish for the time before the storm about which i have made my opinion quite clear. Shamon has been quite cruel in making me aware that this not even the coldest that it can go and that i should be ready for something even worse.


    That is not my worry at the moment as according to shamon we are presently about to be visited by more than one snowlord and that they are charging to reach our territory. The proof for that is the weather that we are facing, it seems.


    I will certainly not try to explain the reason for that though. Better you listen to shamon. I recorded this a while ago when the storm had just begun to pick up. Good that it happen then too. If it were to happen now, i wouldn''t be sure if i would have been able to hear his reply. He seems to have expected something like this to happen from the beginning the way that he has been moving about the fort. Granted, he has been moving about to make sure that the southern gate is reinforced. Without the reinforcements done to it, we would be in a completely different situation right now. Anyway here is the recording as i attempt something here.


    (Six hours ago)


    "Well, what the hell is going on, shamon. It feels as if somebody throwing boulders at the fort.", i ask him annoyed out of my mind. (I had just woken up then. I have been trying to regulate my sleep for the last couple of weeks. I had almost died the last time i did not sleep properly. It''s not an easy task with a formation to build and no way to tell the time)


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    "Well, captain it is not rock, it is chunks of ice and it is going to get worse, way worse.", shamon spoke, who was sounding quite bored for the situation we are in. The man is either very good at hiding his emotions or he has faced this many times. For now my opinion is that it is the latter. The sound is quite similar to the sound of catapults carrying fire rock hitting the fort. (Well, at least what i imagine them to be based on my masters description of it.)


    "Well, that is not pleasant to hear. What exactly is going on.", i ask him, feeling the vibrations in the fort as if somebody was throwing rocks at it.


    "It is the arrival storms, captain.", he said. "Though I want to be honest and say that I have never seen it get so bad so quickly."


    "The arrival storms?", I asked, my voice quite curious. I had not read about this in any of the reports.


    "Well, it has do with us being so close to the northern wastelands. At the onset of winter, there is a large amount of ice mana that moves from the wastelands to here.", shamon continues. "Most of the storms you see are caused by the flow of that mana. That would still not be much of a problem if it were not for the snowlords. The snowlords are massive emitters of ice mana. They emit enough mana that the already quite chaotic mana becomes even more chaotic and more chaotic the mana the stronger the storm it generates. That is what the weather mages say at the very least."


    "What is the arrival storms though.", i ask him, seeing him get off topic.


    "That is what we call the storm that occurs whenever a snowlord is coming near to you without regulating his mana which they only do when they are moving at full speed. It is often a step worse than the other Storms that we have to face that season. We use the arrival storms to steer clear of them. Any idiots that dares to brave the plains in a storm will most likely end up dead by their hands.", he says. "To be honest we would have already abandoned fort it were not for the fact that even if we were to leave, the snowlord that would be coming here will have most likely located us and killed us. Anyways, i have a feeling that it is not a single snowlord with just how quickly this storm is becoming worse.  I have never seen storms like this. That reminds me, how goes your formations."


    "Well, it is going well shamon. Yesterday i have completed the tenth formation on the core. Only one remains and within three to four days it also should be complete.", I say to him.


    "Isn''t it supposed to be the class eight formation. I would have assumed that it would be harder.", shamon speaks, his voice taking a inquisitive tone.


    "Well, the inscription process is same regardless of which level formation you inscribe. All of them are a set of runes. Designing them though, that is a whole set of headaches though." I begin, stopping myself before i go deeper. A formation mage discussing his work is the best way to put people to sleep, i have discovered. "I know the formation i am inscribing so it will take me three to four days and then your formation is complete and theoretically it should be enough to handle any snowlords."


    Shamon looks like he is about to speak something more, but before he can do that one of the soldiers comes running to him with some issue at hand and the man disappears quite quickly after that, most likely to the southern gate. That place is in quite danger in this storm.


    (Back to present.)


    Fuck, that was a very weird sensation. I want to be honest, this is the first time that i have attempted to slot in a past recording in my log like that. It is supposed to be a basic skill for everybody but me and honestly this is the first time I have dared to use it.


    My fellows like to use it for recording any diplomatic talks they had, long after the talks and with a lot of discussion of their successes, failures and other such things preceding their recording. I am sure that you must have found something like this with one of the other logs though do not expect too much of that here. It is rare for a formation master to actually engage in that kind of diplomacy and my skill with this process is non existent.


    I also do not hold the ability to convert my log into boring lectures analysing stuff like that. I have ended up sleeping reading logs like that. There is no way that i will be awake while creating them and i have heard stories people that have ended up sleeping in the process of recording a log. Well, i am certain that some part of it exaggerated at the very least but it would still be a horror story for me, atleast the part about wet dreams.


    It was such a weird feeling too, having two sets of thoughts in my mind. It is almost like my two sets of thoughts were slotting one after another causing me to almost stumble in my thought process. It is kind of like using both of your hands to write poetry, without writing gibberish in either.


    I don''t even know how i managed this. Regardless, with that particular experiment complete it is time for me to return to the task at hand, something that i have been dreading to do with so many distractions which is the inscription of class eight formation.


    While it is true that it should not be too hard, heck i know of a few class nine formations which are harder but the consequences of failures are much higher. If it fails there is a chance that i might have to redo the entire thing. After all this particular formation will link with all the other formations and be responsible for managing them. I am literally going to be making this formation over the runes of all my class nine formations.


    Well, as my master says, "thinking of failure before you have begun your work is no way to succeed now, little brat.". Fuck, i am annoyed now. Let''s begun work now. At least with this success i will have another class eight formation under my belt.

 the completion of the formation (log 024)

    This is an ideal time for me to describe how the spells for the levels beyond class nine formations actually work. Well, calling them spells would not be correct exactly. They are more closer to a set of runes than a spell model. At class nine, most spells that are inscribed have only a single function. That would be the task that they are meant to do, which is one reason that class nine spells are so easy to use. The spells inscribed into it are often direct copies of spells that are normally used by people.


    For example a druid practicing iron skin would be using the same runes that I have inscribed into the formation, except maybe the runes that define the shape of the entire thing. A person could make use of my formation core to learn every single one of the class nine spells that I have inscribed on it, maybe with a few modifications. This is granted he knows of a few spells similar to the spell that he is about to learn.


    From class eight, the spells inscribed tend to have two major purposes. First would be whatever is the purpose of the spell and secondly would be the management of all the lower formations in the core. That is why class eight formation runes tend to be so much larger than any class nine runes. Most spells modified into class eight or above formation tend to have so many things changed that it becomes very hard to tell just what the orginal formation was let alone it''s spell model.


    Regardless, the point i wanted to make was that a class eight formation is fundamentally different from a class nine formation especially during the process of designing. As my master likes to say, every man in the continent can make a class nine formation if he spent enough time on it, but the from class eight onwards is the domain of the formation mage. Only with a self designed class 8 formation a man can be considered to be a formation mage.


    Well, i am one formation closer to that particular goal. The eighth class formation that i have built is a general version of the class eight formation that the druids use in their formation. We actually do not know the actual name of the formation but we know its purpose. It is a standard nurturing formation that works on a bunch of trees along with a few tricks up its sleeve.


    My master calls the formation as "metalbark core" for the fact that this can give good results in the nurturing of almost any metal bark tree like the iron bark, copper bark or the bronze bark in my case. This formation could be found at the center of any druidic forest or village, acting as the core of their defence or at the very least some variant of this process. It is a pretty versatile formation that can be used in almost in any place regardless of the surrounding region.


    One of its key feature is the focus that is given to its domain, which makes sense with the nature of the spell. Essentially once i activate the class eight formation a domain of water, earth and metal mana is going to start surrounding the fort, making it free of the ice mana in the region of the fort at the very least. Well, i have never seen the formation work in a region so focused on a single mana to tell just how effective the domain will be but there should be some level of effectiveness.


    That means, the soldiers can be protected from the almost insidious chill and it could have not happened at a better time. The chill has begun to get to the soldiers, and unlike me they cannot just pass more mana into their body to take care of the chill. It was especially bad for the injured soldiers who should have already been sent to the frozen peak.


    The Storms picked the exact worst time to grow worser. The injured soldiers could not be taken back to the fort and all the soldiers that shamon had bargained for could not appear to reinforce us without being struck in this storm. This is simply sheer dumb luck, i guess.


    Well we can manage with or without the reinforcements but The only problem in all of this is the fact that the formation base is still not at the level of activating the formation. The formation base had been essentially been emptied in the last couple of weeks and the process of it recharging has been annoyingly slow indeed. Atleast it should not take long before I have enough though, so that is a positive.


    The formation is going to require a particularly large amount of mana from each of the elements especially with the way that only ice mana exists outside. Thankfully that absurd cost will only exist in case of starting the formation and after the creation of the domain, such a cost should be reduced quite dramatically. Atleast an amount enough for the elemental nodes should be able to supply. That reminds me that I have to tell these guys to arrange other sources of mana for this area. The elemental nodes should be enough in the short term. But few months down the line it will be emptied.


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    For this reason i am actually delaying the creation of the domain until the snowlords make their presence known. It should buy me time in which the formation can gather mana. Not much time, especially with the way that the Strom has been intensifying. If shamon had a doubt about the approach of multiple snowlords, he is sure of it now. He did not even need to come down here and inform me about that. It can be seen in the way that he has taken to pacing through the fort, fretting about everything.


    He is presently coordinating our soldiers through out the fort trying to patch up all of the holes in the fort. One of the benefits with such a storm is that at the very least the snowlords will not have a cohort of ice beasts with him at the very least. Such bad weather is quite deadly to the ice beasts as well, it seems. It is a reason that multiple snowlords never move togther. Without their hordes they are simple shooting practice for the commander.


    Well, i have been dreading this particular step of the process since the moment that I decided that i going to be making use of a nurturing formation and that would be the process of digging into the ground. Anywhere else there would be entire teams to whom I would have given the task to, but the soldiers are already overworked and even if I wanted give it to them, honestly it is better i do it on my own. That still does not change the fact that i absolutely detest the hard labour that I am about to do. One of the sad realities of being a formation mage is that we are not exactly the most physically fit.


    To explain myself better, one of the conditions that need to be satisfied before i can activate this particular formation is that it needs to be placed in the ground. After all there would not be much reason for nurturing the plant if it did not have the area to spread its roots, now would it. The druids make it a clear requirement by introducing certain runes that do not activate until it comes in contact to the ground.


    Well, if i knew exactly which runes were responsible for this particular effect, maybe i could have modified the formation according to my wishes but I have no such luck. I have memorised the runes without much understanding of the runes themselves. Anyway, that might have led to problems that i might not have expected. Messing with already inscribed formations is like playing around with a pack of cards. It is not a risk that you want to take.


    Regardless, it is for this reason that i am standing in the cellar with a pick that i have borrowed from shamon. It is the kind that is used in construction, strong enough to break through the floor into the ground below it and not break due to a particularly strong swing of mine. It should be enough to dig a decently sized pit in the room.


    Thinking this i begin to swing the pick with all of my might right into the location that shamon had indicated and I feel the pick pass through the floor, but not an inch beyond that. The land of this region is supposed to be hard enough to rival iron during the winter. My formation certainly must not be helping in that regard. On hindsight, i should have begun digging before i put in the last formations. It would have been worth it if it made my work a fraction easier.


    Well this is a bit embarassing. Granted that I had not used mana, this is not the feats of strength that i would want to show to my soldiers. After all, this entire structure was built by a group much like the soldiers of this area and they must have dug the ground quite the bit for the foundations. I would have assumed my brute strength to be enough.


    Well, i raise the pick with all my strength and make it hit the exact same location, with the ground breaking a bit. It is not much and i can already feel a dull throb in my arms. This is not going to be pleasant. Thinking this, i begin to cycle my mana into my arms. Let''s get this done quickly.


    Thinking this i get down to work feeling the ground give away under my mana empowered strikes. After almost an hour and with quite a significant chunk of my mana used i have finally managed to dig a decently sized hole in the ground. I can feel a dull throb in my arms, even after strengthening with mana which showed just how much of a challenge this is. now i have to wonder what is exactly the strength of the construction corps of the empire, if they have built the fort in a week.


    To get back to the topic, the hole is smaller than i would have liked but it will have to do for now. Picking up the formation core I throw it into the ground as my mana strings enter into the class eight formation. The mana strings flow smoothly throughout the formation without any obstruction especially into the runes of the class eight formation. If i were to try that with the entire thing out of the ground, my mana strings would have simply not been able to link with the class eight formation.


    With that confirmation i fill the entire thing, feeling the walls vibrate in this tune that was not a tune. I wonder if should be feeling a sense of success or relief, though i have to admit that i am feeling nothing at the moment. It won''t take me long before i start wondering what could go wrong with the formation and if there are any tweaks that i should be doing.


    Knowing me, without anything to do waiting for the enemy to strike is going to be even more exhausting and worry inducing than building the formation. Atleast with the formation my mind was not particularly idle. If anything it has been the opposite with this project. Well, let''s try and rest at the very least, though it is easier said than done.


    After all, i will have to be at my maximum freshness before i go and get my formation active. Using any new formation is not supposed to be particularly easy and i do not think that i am going to get much opportunity to practice. It would be not a particularly terrifying first impression if i were to miss the enemy by leagues, now would it.

 the arrival of the snowlords (log 025)

    The arrival of the snowlords was almost anticlimactic. From the way that shamon had spoke of them i would have assumed them to be monsters like vampires, Twisting their environment just by revealing their presence.


    I was expecting something dramatic like the crackling of thunder or a flash or lightning to reveal them or the storm to grow crazy or the ice mana in the region to suddenly start boiling or something like that. The only thing that these people looked like were a bunch of travelers that were stuck in a snow storm.


    The only thing of note would be the fact that among the three beings i could see( one male and two females.) The male was not wearing a shirt and his chest was shining with tattoos, which i would assume for the moment to be some kind of a formation.


    "my lord, does it seem like they are speaking something.", shamon, who is standing next to me suddenly speaks. The man is in a mood at the moment.


    "I don''t think so, maybe they are talking to each other." I reply, looking at these people that dared to live in a place that most would not dare to enter. "if they were talking to us, i am certain that they would have used some way to amplify their voice don''t you think."


    "well, what are they even doing. shouldn''t they be attacking us.", shamon asks, his face not leaving the folks in front of us.


    "well, i can think of a thousand reasons that they are waiting. somehow i don''t imagine that they have much reason to hurry. they literally are fish in this frigid waters." I reply, wondering about the best course of action. "that looks like chanting to me"


    I looked at the enemy, who had formed a triangle with the man standing at the head. it looked like they were controlling the mana in their surroundings to create something.


    "well, it would be nice if we were already doing something." shamon speaks, his words trying to hide his worries. "somehow this is scarier than them just charging at us."


    right now, me and shamon are standing at the western gate much to my relief. the southern gate would have been quite deadly for us. we are not taking any risks as all the soldiers are presently huddled in the fortress. at the moment they are nothing more than deadweight. shamon also should not have been here, but the man wanted to look at these creatures that he spent all of his life running away from even if it meant that he had to risk his life.


    well, i have more immediate worries as i finally figure out what they are doing. they are trying to compress the surrounding ice mana into compressed balls, much like the ice beasts though i imagine a hundred of their attacks would still not match the mana in the one in front of me.


    a few moments after this revelation the enemy releases their attack, which flies towards us like a cannon ball. well, this is not going to be easy.


    plucking out four to five bolts from the quiver i shoot them at the ball one after another. the first bolt does little to affect their attack but the second is more effective and the third even more. by the time that the final bolt stuck it, the attack has changed its direction to somewhere to the left.


    I turn back my attention to my three foes. It looks like things are not going to be as paced as I was hoping it to be. The process of destroying formations is not one bit how  people like to hear it in stories. There is no sane team of elites that will sneak into the enemy fortress to either assassinate the enemy formation mage or to blow up some vital component of the formation though the ones in front of me are attempting that exact thing.


    Instead it is a long process, of multiple skirmishes to understand the strength of the formations and it''s many limitations and then break the formation on the basis of whatever weakness the enemy has found. For example, a weakness of my formation could be the time that it takes to actually create a decent iron skin.


    That would make this fortress particularly vulnerable to any type of constant siege. The enemy only needs to attack once every couple days to distrupt the iron skin formation and prevent it from formly properly over the fort. The only reason that i have considered such a type of formation is that once formed, the performance of iron skin cannot be matched and with the way that people were worried about the storms it seemed to be a worthy gamble.


    Getting back to the point, this is no drawn out campaign. The enemy has no intention of trading blows. They instead want to blow up or more accurately freeze the entire fort and the formation with it completely. This will make things easier and harder at the same time.


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    Thinking this i draw out a few more bolts to block another snowball of their which is not as strong as the previous ones though they did release it faster. At the moment, my mind is not really into the fight at hand. As long as the enemy keeps repeating what they are doing, i don''t even need to focus on the fight at all. Right now, i am struggling to understand the behaviour of the enemy.


    Every fight must have a reason for happening and the reason for this one has been eluding. If I were to believe what shamon has told me about the other forts, there seems to be too much attention to this fort. If the enemy were attacking me just for the strength of my formation, there would be no reason for them to send the initial group of ice beasts. The emissions of the formation i would have built by then would not have deviated too much from the basic  formations such a place would have. Nothing to differentiate it from the forts at all.


    That means i can safely eliminate the formation. That leaves two other reasons for an attack. First is our location and the second is me. The second can be elimanated quite easily. If they knew my identity and my skills, they would have sent the snowlords a month ago.


    The only thing of matter in this location is the ruin. This is the only place from which the ruin can be reinforced in a practical manner. Everywhere else will take too long. They could be trying to get rid of this place to take over the fort in a safe manner. After all there is a chance that any magical ruin can be converted into a massive bomb if messed with correctly. That is why we need the scholars in the first place.


    That is the only thing that makes sense for now. They are targetting the ruin for reasons that i don''t know. This could be the truth or not, but this assumption directly affect my charges and my soldiers. I have not worked so hard for so long to lose my soldiers for any reason.


    Returning to the fight, nothing much has happen other than the enemy finally stopping to throw their magics at us. Even they seem to have realized the futility of throwing such massive spells at us. I can estimate that they have thrown an amount close to the amount of mana that is close to the mana i have in my formation base in such a short exchange. Granted, these beings will have access to all the mana in the surrounding that is still a large amount of mana.


    Just that volley of attacks was enough for me to make use of nearly a quarter of the bolts in my quiver. The minute that I completed the class eight formation I have been using all of my mana to power the waterbolt formation. It is not as effective as using water mana to power it, but it has been still a pretty productive task.


    I don''t really have an exact amount nor i have the time to count at the moment but it should be close to a hundred. Normally the formation would be able to produce four times that amount if I were to use the formation base. I will not be doing so for the simply reason that the more time that i let the formation base gather mana the better the affects the moment i activate the class eight formation. The water bolts are not my only trick.


    To be honest, i could have activated the formation the minute that the enemy came close enough but this exchange done correctly should have brought me a couple days to half a week. Now i think a single day is also too much to expect. A single day of time is nowhere near enough to grow the formation base in any significant manner though.


    Well, now it is a matter of curiosity for me. I want to see just how effective I can be working with only the crossbow. After all, how else does one grow unless they challenge themselves. Also, i really need to gain an understanding of the enemies capabilities before i go about revealing my aces to them.


    As for what they are doing at the moment. They seem to be meditating at the moment, though it cannot be for gathering mana. They are literally surrounded by the stuff. They can gather enough for their with a wave of their hands. That is why I think their magic seems to be focused on  controlling external mana. They can make use of larger quantities of mana that way, i guess. I could try and attack them now, but i don''t think it is going to be effective.


    "What do you think they are doing, shamon", i speak to the man next to me who has been looking at the snowlords with even more curiosity than me. I guess the man must have seen them for the first time in his life and spent all of his life hearing stories of them.


    "Well, i would guess they are trying to calm the mana that they are expelling.", he says.


    "As i have told you before, the mana that they emit is capable of making the surrounding storm even more worse. To come to this place they must have gone full force essentially risking their location be revealed."


    "If the snowlords could be tracked, i would have known it for certain shamon.", I say to him, remembering all of my reports on the snowlords. Yep, there is no way to track him and the snowwinders certainly would not have been hide such a crucial piece of information. We have been coming here every winter after all.


    "Well, calling it tracked would be wrong lord. That would be like trying to find a fish in the lake. The commander is able to detect the abnormal change in weather that occurs due to the mana that they emit even from the frozen peak somehow. Nobody knows how he does it, but everybody knows that he has an idea of the location of each snowlord.", shamon speaks. "It is not very precise though, if the number of ambushes we had to face........


    I did not get to hear him completely as I get up to see the male snowlord get up, his tattoos shining from the beginning of our conflict. Somehow, i don''t even think that he is personally supplying mana to his surroundings.


    He begins to run towards the fort, which would have looked quite funny with any other creature. I can feel the disturbances in the mana, like wind in a tornado. I aim and let lose six arrows one after another right at his head. He does not even stop as he blocks the bolts with his arms without even flinching. Well, i am fucked.

 fighting the snowlord (log 025 part 2)

    How do things get so fucked as i wonder as i look at shamon who has already begun to retreat. I wonder if i should have activated the formation fully by now. Well, it would have been the safer option i guess. I need to fight them on my own once though. Not for any fancy reason, i just need to have a strong grasp of their strength and that is only acquired in the process of fighting.


    Well, my first goal is to try and slow down the man. That would mean targetting his legs. I begin by shooting him with water bolts. The man doesn''t even bother to block the few bolts that hit as the bolt just disappears as it hits the man. The man should have something of an advantage against the water bolt, due to the nature of mana he uses but not enough to simply shrug it of like that.


    That means that i am going to be something that i certainly don''t prefer to do. Drawing five bolts from the quiver, i began to will the five bolts closer and closer to each other. Five bolts combine into one greatly increasing its strength at the cost of stability. I would not dare to leave it in my crossbow for long though.


    I take aim and shoot the powered bolt at the enemies feet (henceforth called combined bolt). The strike is true to its aim but the enemy seems to have figured it out as he jumps to the side as the bolt hits the ground harmlessly. Atleast the bolt is effective as it essentially explodes on collision carrying it with the raw power of five bolts. It is enough to leave a decently sized hole in the ground. (in hindsight this might have been better option than shoveling.)


    Well, I could try another shot but i certainly do not want to risk the man getting closer to me. The man is absurdly fast, almost reaching the walls of the fort in a time which i barely got to shoot at him. Well, i begin to run. From my present position to somewhere to the right. I run for a bit until the man reaches the wall. I certainly do want to see how exactly is he going to climb the thing.


    His initial attempts are quite unsuccessful as he attempts to use his hands to dig into the wall. His arms begin to glow as he passes mana into it as he gets more succesful. I can see the way that the creature is crushing the iron skin, which is quite worriesome. Sadly i have a more immediate worry as the man is making his way into the fort with not much effort from his side.


    Well, thankfully i had not placed much hope on the effectiveness of the wall for these enemies. Still it would have been nice if he had struggled with it a bit. I jump backwards, making my way into the fort. I can see his head poking out of the wall as i enter into the fortress. perfect positioning for a headshot, but too risky. Combined bolts are not something that i can make while moving and staying still for long enough for one will be quite deadly, especially if i were to miss.


    By the time the snowlord is on the ground, i have disappeared into the fort. This is one of the most effective parts of a snowwinder fort. They build their forts with close range melees in mind. They build their forts in a manner in which any man not of the fort will find it impossible to take their forts. One of the ways they do this is by making the fort into a labyrinth. Tunnels that end in deadends or fork into a thousands paths. There is always more than one path between two places in a snowwinder fort.


    While this is not exactly as complicated as the frozen peak, it still took me quite the bit to  get used to this place. The snowlords certainly should not be able to catch me in that place. Then again it is also true that the snowlords have been destroying structures like this for a very long time. I have to assume that he will figure out something.


    The one good thing about the fort is that it has nothing too important in it at the very least. The only place that i need to care about defending is the formation core, which is where all the soldiers should be hiding at the moment. They will act as the final layer of defence to the formation core, trying to drown out any enemy that strikes with their numbers. I can''t predict their effectiveness but in those cramped quarters there is a decent chance that they will be taken down atleast one of the enemies, i hope. It is also the place in the fort with the least concentration of ice mana due to the presence of the formation base. They are going to be the weakest down there, especially with their over reliance on external mana.


    Regardless, my work is to ensure that i don''t let things reach that level. Right now, the goal is to try and run a guerrilla fight in these mazes. I have already setup places in the fort from which i can try and snipe the man. These are locations where i would dare to actually try and combine my bolts confident that the enemy suddenly won''t appear behind because he took another route (what, i like to have options when dealing with enemies. Even if it means that i have to spend a couple of days measuring every inch of the place.). The chances of that happening are low, but why take it.


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    I only got to attempt this three times though. The first time went the best. The man is not exactly the quietest as he essentially announced his presence so early that the combined bolt i created came dangerously close to explosion. Still, that shot nearly took the head of the man though as bad luck would have it he blocked it with his hand. I assume quite the bit of damage was done to his hand at the very least though I had to disappear from his sight.


    The second shot was still fine, this shot taken from a particular L shaped tunnel roughly about enough length for the man to cover in a few moments. I released the shot the moment that the man was taking the turn i would have assumed it to catch him off guard. This time it hit his chest, though his tattoos seem to have done something to block that strike. it grew bright enough for spots to appear in my eyes. Very wasteful if you ask me, though i don''t think it is a problem with them.


    The third was the most disastrous, with the shot ready and primed to strike the enemy as he breaks the wall to my left. he literally punched through the fucking wall. I literally dropped my crossbow as I jump back in fright. That was a good thing as the crossbow was at the moment loaded with particularly volatile combined bolt that certainly did not take particularly well to falling down. It literally blew up as the man had literally shattered  his way into the tunnel.


    That brief distraction as the man grunted in pain as the explosion cut into his body (excess water mana projections often result in the water mana in question moving at such speeds they can cut through anything.) was enough to buy me the time to run away though. That is how i have ended up in my present situation of running through the fort, playing hide and seek with the bastard. He has taken to running around in the fort through the walls like some kind of a bull breaking through the wall with the kind of noise that he is making. Well, if he continues this my main worry is going to be whether the fort is going to fall on my head or not.


    I can literally hear the sound of the walls of this place give way, as the man seems to be running through these walls one after another. The sound is coming from everywhere in the fort so i can''t really pinpoint his location.


    I will have to find the man soon enough though. After all, i should not forget that he is not the only snowlord here. The other two still seem to be outside the walls, though they could have easily entered in the din. I can barely survive against one, i certainly do not want to imagine fighting three of them. I will have to activate the eighth class formation certainly. I do not know why i am not doing that at the moment. It would certainly more safer that way. It won''t even take long just the time it will take for my mana strings to reach the formation core.


    I guess i should start making my way to the formation core already. It is not like roaming about randomly in the fort is going to be getting me anything useful. Without the crossbow i have only one option left in case i meet with any of the snowlords.


    With that i begin to make my way into the fort which is not a prospect that I am enjoying. I can see why the snowwinders have struggled to build any new forts. the snowlords are experts at demolishing stuff. I can seen the holes in the wall, extending till behind where my eye can see as if the man was simply running through these walls.


    If they are given free rein, they will be able to bring down the entire place quite easily in half a day. Well, i and my formation are here to prevent that exactly happening, which i beginning to think I should activate already.


    While thinking all of this, i do not notice the sound of breaking walls stop. As i had just begun to realise it The world around me turns black. i temporarily stop feeling the pull of gravity as i fly in the air. it takes me a while, but i finally notice the cause of my flight. The bulky bastard has finally found me and in a single hit broken atleast a couple of bones i think. I can feel a throbbing in my chest that is nothing good, i asure you. I begin to push mana into to relieve the pain.


    Fuck, i did not really want to meet the bastard but i finally manage to get a look at the man and the damage that I have done to him. He is moving his arm gingerly, though his other arm is still big enough to single handedly wrap around my throat. His skin looks to have been cut in places where the explosion of water mana from my third arrow seems to have struck.


    Somehow the damage that i have done to the man seems almost neglible compared to the size of the man and already healing based on what i can tell. I could not really see it until now, but this man is massive, almost double my height and triple my width. I think that a single man is eating enough to rival ten of me. Heck, i think ten of me will fit in the space that this one man is taking.


    While, i am looking at him, the man is also looking at me. I don''t know how, but the man has managed to somehow express surprise without moving an inch of his face. How he did, I don''t know but i suddenly felt a twinge annoyance. What is he doing going about surprised like that.


    Thinking that i extend the strings of my mana into the ground, towards the formation core. Time to properly start this fight.

 the ring of dew (log 025 part 3)

    Controlling a class eight formation feels really different from controlling a class nine formation. I like to compare this to the process of making a puppet. The class nine formations are like the limbs and face of the puppet and the process of controlling them is like moving the limbs with your own hands. It is simple and a kid could do it but  there is not much you can do with it.


    A class eight formation is like moving the entire puppet with its string. It is hard and annoying but with the correct practice I should be able to make the puppet indistinguishable from a man.


    It is at this moment that i wish that the process of activating a class eight formation was more impressive than it would actually look like. It would atleast work to intimidate the fucker in front of me.


    Even right now i can feel the formations in the formation core working at their full capacity. It is going to be a long time after this time that this formation will work at its full capacity. There is simply not enough mana for it to work like that.


    Anyway, i do not have the time to worry about that though as I have the man in front of me and at the moment he is charging towards me. I quickly unsheathed my sword and enter into a defensive form.


    With a single punch I can feel the ground under me give away as i crash against the wall behind me. Maybe now was not the wisest of times to face against the enemy so quickly.


    Even a couple of minutes later, the mana in the air should be thinned enough for this to be a proper fight. (Right now the nurturing formation is literally pushing away the ambient mana to create a bubble of mana which would be more conducive for plant growth which thankfully does not involve ice mana)


    Well, time to focus on the fight in front of me. The man seems to be confused about the fact that I am not dead at the moment. There is a reason that people do not like  to be dependant on external mana. It tends to be so unreliable at key moments. If we were outtside that hit would have liquified my insides.


    Anyways, i do not get to think much as the man begins to charge towards me. I do not even get a moment as the man suddenly appears in front of me. Just what kind of brute strength is that, I think as i charge to the left barely dodging as the man charges creating a hole into the wall behind me.


    The man is not even phased as he turns back and charges to my location. This is not going to be easy, but the man is getting slower at the very least. I can see the brightness of his tattoos becoming dimmer with time. A bit more time and then I can make use of my final ace. I can''t really use it until the mana field is somewhat stable.


    That means that i have to keep dodging the brute for the next couple of minutes. The rising water, earth and metal mana will act as a indicator for them to come out and strike the snowlords, which with the amount of time that has passed should have already happen.


    (A couple of minutes later.)


    Dodging the man is surprisingly easy granted he seems to be focussed on strength rather than agility. Well, I think his duty is to bring down buildings like this. That would certainly explain his charge would which would be considered suicidal in any other perspective. My master would certainly enjoy playing around with a brute like this, heck even me with my formations would be pretty well suited to fight him.


    Regardless, i think that the formation should have stabilised already. At the very least i am not able to sense any sudden fluctuations in the mana of the region. I could tell better if I had specific tools, but even this level of stability is going to be enough, I guess.


    Well, the damn bull has essentially been running quite freely through the fort to a point where i don''t know what his Target is. I think he wants to bring down the building with me as a secondary concern. (Which i have to admit is quite embarassing. The snowwinders built the fort in seven days. I would have been a better target.) I can literally feel the building''s shake every time he goes through a wall which while making me fear that the roof is going to fall on top of us is also acting as a pretty good indicator of his presence.


    Well, that is enough complaining as I return to my hidden ace. Among the ten formations of the nurturing formation, only the crossbow is meant to be offensive in nature. It is not the scariest formation though, the title for that would go to the ring of dew formation. It is a conjuration formation that is used to create a simple ring large enough to contain me if i were to scrunch up in it a bit. the formations on the ring have a simple task, to expel water mana at a steady rate.


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    The formation inherently is not that dangerous. It is actually used by the druids to water their plant. One ring for each tree in their forest. Given that there is no forest in the place and it is pretty unlikely for one to come here any time soon, there was quite a significant reason for me to replace it with something else.


    One second, i can feel the ground rumbling from the north (the man has managed to disfigure the fort enough that I have no idea where I am.), i take the route to the left of where the vibrations are coming from. After a few moments of movement I am safely out of his path. Well, if this continues I am going to have more significant worries.


    Anyway, returning to the ring of dews. The reason that i have even put it in the formation is to actually test a hypothesis of my master. Well, no sense in delaying it any further. Manipulating the formation, i begin to create a ring of dew at every entrance to the place( two official entries of the tunnel and three holes in the wall where the bastard passed through.). At least the creation of the formation is occuring quite well. I am pretty sure that I can create these rings in real time though powering them will take some time. It is very weird to feel the conjured formation, which will activate based on my will. It is like a ghost limb in the formation. A formation within a formation.


    I can feel the ground vibrate under my feet as the man continues his demolition run. Honestly, I feel a bit annoyed. The man has clearly forgotten that he is supposed to be fighting with me. Well, he will come to regret that day, especially if my masters modification works. I don''t want to think what occur if that is not the case. Well, I am sure that the man would not enjoy beinf drenched in this weather.


    Well, i embarassed to admit that i almost got run over as i got a bit lost in my worries. It is almost instinct as i activate the ring of dew from the tunnel behind me, almost missing the man as all the water mana in the ring (which would have enough to feed a small tree for a day. Pretty negligible compared to a water bolt) is released in a fraction of a moment.


    The funny thing about water mana is that concentrated enough it tends to becomes very sharp at high enough pressure. I have seen men using concentrated expulsion of water mana to cut into metal and in the present case it does not disappoint as I can see blood seep from the cut on the man''s leg which was inside the circle. I was hoping to see his leg cut of, but this is still a pretty good result considering moments ago I could not damage him without using dangerous methods.


    Well, I will not get to enjoy my handiwork as i begin to create rings throughout the surrounding regions. With my capabilities I should be able to manage ten such rings at full power. The man becomes a bit more cautious as he is not sure of the rings positions( another reason I needed to wait for the formation to stabilize. Such rings would have been quite obvious in a purely ice mana region.)


    "Bastard of the snowwinders, what magic are you running.", the man speaks for the first time. His voice is gravelly and quite rough, like a two stones grinding against each other.


    "I was beginning to think that you were dumb, you damn brute.", I can''t help but cursing, the man has destroyed quite a significant bunch of the fort and frankly, i am getting quite attached to the place.


    "Well, there is little reason to talk to you mercenaries. you bunch come every year acting as cannon fodder that I doubt the rationality of your people." The man speaks, taking a cautious step forward. There is no ring there but a step to the left and the man will be in for another strike. "I wonder what the snowwinders give to you people."


    "I wouldn''t certainly know, but this seems to be quite familiar to you. I could hire you to bring down buildings.", i speak in what i hope is a taunting tone.


    "Well, what could be said about you people. We have brought down so many of your so called forts that I could do it in my sleep.", the man spreads his arm to the left like a man groping in the dark.


    I activate the ring as his arms enter into the ring. It is quite pleasant to see the man grunt in pain especially with the failure of my combined bolts. I really wanted it to work you know.


    "Well, you will find this particular fort much harder to conquer, my dear friend. It would be best for the both of us if you were to retreat don''t you think.", i speak. "It would not be particularly difficult to get you killed at the moment don''t you think."


    "It is a neat trick, i admit my friend. Those bastards try the same things so many times that it gets boring. You seem to be using some kind of a formation. I would assume that you originate from the south, maybe the Palin of forts" he speaks as his bleeding injuries seem to begin freezing as his flesh takes on a greyish tone.


    "Well, i have never been to plain of forts. You are quite close to my home though.", I say. I try to form a ring under the man''s position. The man seems to sense it, as he takes a step back.


    "Good attempt, my friend. My senses are not that dull. I am surprised that the snowwinders are willing to rely on you bastards. You destroyed one of their ancestral forts didn''t you while drunk." He speaks, as he suddenly looks at me.


    "Well, not me personally. It is risky business with ancient magic. Even for experts." I speak.


    "Well, i still have to thank you for chatting with me. The others would not have allowed so much time for us to prepare. i will have to take my leave here then.", he says.


    I do not get to reply to the man as all of his tattoos beginning to grow brighter and brighter completely dominating my vision. I remember pulling on every bit of my mana to protect my body. I do not even realise it as i am blown away as a massive amount of ice mana passes through me like water in a waterfall. A waterfall that had somehow frozen into a iceberg. By the time vision returns to me (atleast as far i remember), the only thing that i can see and sense in my surroundings is the ruined fort which looked like It had just survived a snowstorm.

 the reinforcements(log 026)

    I have to admit that at the moment I feel bored enough that i might just end up willingly practice mind magic. Other than waste my time on something pointless the only thing that I feel is profound bone chilling cold. Honestly, this cold is better than how it was just ten hour ago. Then I could feel nothing other than a weird sense of cold. I had to be carried down here as my body tried to push away the foreign ice mana on instinct.


    The move used on me turned out to be one of the favourite method of attacks for a snowlords. Called as the "snowlord hammers", it is a move that can be used when two snowlords work together pouring a massive amount of their mana into a third snowlords. The move is supposed to be a favourite seiging technique of the snowlords who use it to bring down enemy forts. It is literally a massive amount of ice mana compressed and released in a single burst. It is kind of like my ring of dew in that regard, though they are certainly been more effective with this tactic.


    As for from where I got this information, that would be shamon who suddenly seemed to be even more chatty about the snowlords than before we had to face them, when it would have been actually useful. He did not want to cloud my mind with legends which might have been true or not though it is quite evident that he simply forgot.


    I do not want to even think about shamon at the moment, as I cannot even vent my frustrations at the moment. Frustration is the absolute worst feeling to have when you are not able to move any of limbs. It is thankful that is the case as I am not able to strangle the man, which would certainly have not been good for me. The snowwinders protect their own. Still, This information would have been quite useful you know. I would have activated the formation much earlier and stopped playing around like that. I did not even really need to be near the enemy. The nice thing about the rings of dew is that it can be set up from nearly anywhere in the fort.


    As for where I am sleeping at the moment, it would be the formation core. Once the formation core has fully activated the concentration of the ice mana in the region is negligible. Anywhere else, i would have been a popsicle with the amount of ice mana that has entered into my body.


    Even here it is taking too much time if I am to be honest. Thankfully, the snowlords have retreated. This is not before wrecking a massive chunk of my fort though. At the moment i would have been worried about another attack from the snowlords if shamon had not come down here assuring me of reinforcements. It would certainly have been this peaceful down here.


    Even The man has the expression that is not exactly happiness. I would call it closer to relief, but the man certainly has a spring in his step. He has certainly relieved of what i have to assume has been quite a stressful position.


    I have yet to meet these reinforcements but they seem to be first circle experts based of the mana that I can sense and thankfully they have been quite busy. They are rebuilding the fort, though just how much of a progress they would make before the next attack I am not sure.


    Well, at the moment they are the least of my concerns though. My world is at the moment stuck to the formation core and the room it is in, which is pretty boring i must admit. The only person in the room other than me is the man who lost his limb, whose name is elon.


    His situation is about as bad as me, if not quite the bit worse. The man has had to face the full brunt of the chill, which must certainly have not been easy. I am surprised that the man has managed to cling on to life. The chill is quite deadly if you do not have enough mana to block it out. It will literally freeze you inside out and the man certainly looks like a massive part of his body has been frozen. Even now i can feel the mana flowing in my body trying to reverse the damage caused by an overload of ice mana in that part.


    Ever since I have been put down here, the man has been sleeping and has begun to resemble a corpse if not for the fact that I could see his mana which is also not particularly strong if I am to be frank. The worst thing is that he does not seem to be getting better even with the activation of the formation and being placed in the formation core.


    Well, that certainly does not help with the formation. The only good thing that can be said is that I have finally been given the time to relax my mind. I have been quite occupied in my thoughts. Just sitting in a single location certainly has calmed my mind by a significant bit though calling this relaxing would be very wrong. It would be quite accurate to call it mind numbing.


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    (After God knows how long.)


    I don''t actually know how long I have been down here, but I can finally move my limbs. It is still nothing to boast about, just jerky spasms that is closer to shivering than actual movment. Still it gives me something to do other than just stare around at the stuff around me.


    More importantly, i have regained my ability to speak which is going to be quite crucial especially with the construction up there. Now they can come down here and ask me rather than poking around in stuff that they should not be poking in. Also, i am finally able to push the ice mana out of my body which should accelerate this process by quite a bit.


    Other than that, little has changed in the room other than the soldiers who has woken up a bit after my return of movment. Somehow, the atmosphere has become more tragic with his awakening. Thankfully, he has returned to his sleep just a bit ago.


    Well, at the moment one of the new sources of mana is coming down here. I do not know who it is, but I will certainly need to keep my game face on. (Especially with the way that I must look at the moment.).


    The source of mana is a young soldier, much like me. He is at the moment being directed by shamon, who leaves the room almost as quickly as he leaves it. The only thing that i find of interest with the man is the fact that he is wearing a coat, which seems to be some kind of an animal leather. (To those not of the region, while animal fur is quite common the process of tanning it to leather seems to be quite an expensive endeavor up here. Thus it is something meant only for the nobles)


    "I would presume that you are captain antonio, of the black mountain.", the man spoke first bending down to match my eyeline. He certainly looks quite ordinary.


    "That would be the truth, my friend. Though I do not think that i know your name.", I reply.


    "I am captain ankon starfall, of the snowwind army", he speaks "specifically, of the construction corps."


    "That is nice, though i would have to enquire you of your exact purpose. I am not in a state of greetings you, i fear.", i speak.


    "Well, i have to intrude on your healing. It relates to the repair of the fort above. We have not worked with formations like yours and thus have no desire to cause any unneeded harm to it." He speaks, finally sitting down next to me.


    "Well, the formation that i have put into the core behind me are quite flexible. Complete your repairs and I will do all the necessary repairs to the formation. I will have to ask for a couple of days though since i need to recover from my present state." I reply, trying to maintain a fine balance between telling what the man needs to know and what i do not want to give to him. I have to assume that I am doing a good job though.


    "The chances of the snowlords attacking are quite high, antonio. It would be wise to return to a combat ready state as quickly as possible.", he speaks. The lack of honorifics is a clear attempt to prove his strength.


    "Well, it is a job that requires precision, ankon. Clearly, I am not in a state to do precise work. i have fought them and certainly hold no desire to fight them again. Anyways, i would think that it would take you atleast a couple of days to get the fort in a working order.", i speak, kind of getting tired of the conversation.


    "Two days is too long my friend, we need maybe half a day. The snowlords while quite destructive have been quite kind in leaving behind a skeleton for us to work on. It won''t be as strong though as we have only patched up the broken parts. That is where your formations will play a key role.", ankon continues. "So we will have need of your skills in atleast a day."


    "Well, that is certainly astounding but you need not worry. The key formations will work as they are meant even if the fort has been burnt to the ground. As for the remaining they shall not provide you with benefits in such a short time.", I reply, "the formations will be ready the day that I am able to move my mana freely enough. I assume that to be two days. It could be earlier too."


    That seems to catch the man offguard. Well, druidic formations are unique that way. Most formations have to depend quite heavily on the durability of their forts to function properly. druids rarely do tend to have forts and certain flexibility is required when your buildings are literally growing with you.


    "Well, is there any chance of completing it earlier. It would be quite helpful in case of an attack.", he tries again. He certainly seems to be in a hurry.


    "I could try, but with the way you are distracting me it would be quite hard. Your people must have much better experience with what I am going through." I reply.


    "I shall take my leave then. You will have to complete the formations quickly though." He speaks to me, getting ready to leave.


    "Well, before you leave I have ask you, just how many soldiers has your army sent to reinforce us", I ask, almost forgetting a question that has been nagging me for a while.


    "That would be only be three. Me and two other captain from the sword corps", he replies. "We are all soldiers of the first circle so we should be enough to deal with the enemies. Especially if your formations work."


    "You three are going to repair the damage that has happened above.", i speak, surprise in my tone. The fort above should almost be a ruin.


    "No, antonio, the repair work will be handled by me alone. After all, the other two are more likely destroy the fort if they were to join the process of repairing it." He replies, a smile evident in his face as he leaves the room.

 meeting the snowwind nobles (log 027)

    Meeting the younglings of the snowwind is something that occurs so rarely that there is a higher chance of me meeting one of the generals of the black mountain( and no I have yet to meet one of the generals. They are truly busy) Our records contain detailed records on the soldiers of the snowwinds, passable records on the many clans and their leaders, yet we do not have any record on the young powers of these clans. The young masters, the rebels and all the youngsters that will be our allies/enemies as we grow.


    We do not have any idea about the next generation of the snowwind. Now it true that all of our "allies" have always been guarded about their knowledge around us. Nobody would like to leave a talented youngster in the presence of a scholar. Adults have spent their life guarding against the curiosity of the black mountain struggle to do so, what do you think youngster that have barely begun to master their own magics would be able to do.


    Still, the protectiveness of the snowwinders is still a level beyond what I would expect of any other force in the continent. When you think about that, our reinforcements are quite unique in that regard. Three first circle beings have come to reinforce this region and one of them is of the construction corps. That is another enigma of our group.


    I am sure that the expert scholars must already be poring over every detail that I am sending. We do have a hegemony to maintain after all.


    Regardless it is time that we return to the discussion at hand. Three first circle level beings, each with the power to challenge me anywhere except this fort and the three together might just be enough to actually do me in even here in the fort. Their presence feels less like reinforcements and more like an hostile takeover.


    The one that had come into the formation to talk to me was called as ankon starfall, who seemed to be a up and coming genius of the construction corps. While shamon has little knowledge of actual use, ankon seems to be a genius at the repair and upgrading of the many structures built and i am inclined to agree with shamon on that.


    It has barely been two days since we met the man and he has already managed to bring the fort back to a spick and span shape. Unless i were to look closely at the place i would not even know that it has been repaired at all.  I literally had to do the repairs to the formation the instant that I could move simply for the speed with which ankon has done his work. That was no easy work.


    The other two men seem to be no less formidable( in strength and in background.)  though i have only their mana to base that out of. Theo and Travis starfall are supposed to be direct descendants of the starfalls and while i have little to know about them, the starfalls are supposed to be a merchantile family with above the average military power among the snowwinders.


    They are still known more for their commercial capabilities then their military might, though that does not mean that i should be underestimating them. Mistakes like that are what will lead us to death.


    Now that I have transmitted this vital information (for the head office atleast) it is time for me to return to the discussion of my formation and it''s success. The activation of the nurturing formation has been a success that even I did not think would happen, especially the ring of dew.


    The ring of dew could have just as easily been useless in the battlefield and i dare not imagine what would have happen with the snowlord then. I have been gambling on quite the bit with this class eight formation, I have to be Frank.


    Well, let''s leave the beating myself up for my future works and focus on the things that matter for now. The very first thing that can be noticed about the entire thing is the dome of mana that is now surrounding the formation. Well it is closer to an amorphous blob rather than a dome to be honest and it is not visible. The only thing that marks the presence of said dome is the sharp decrease in ice mana that can be felt while entering it.


    Actually, that reminds me that I have to tell somebody to keep cultivating in the region nearby. To put it in simple terms, the dome is created by the mana leaking from the formations. With the druids such a dome is useful for the simple fact that the druids would use it increase the concentration of mana in their surroundings. Right now this mana is literally disappearing into the wind. The only way to make use of this mana would be to absorb it and use it for cultivation. It is actually a virtuous cycle as the emitted vital mana then would strengthen the blob. Granted, just like with everything related to the druids, it is a slow and steady process.


    I can actually think of a few formation that will be able to absorb this discharge and enhance the concentration of mana in the region but I have done enough for the, especially in terms of formations.


    Other than that though, nearly every other formation especially the iron skin formation and the water bolt formations are working at an efficiency never seen before. These two formations actually benefit from the presence of the dome.


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    I can literally feel the quiver being filled up with bolts and it is such an addictive feeling to feel the sheer quantity of bolts that are present in the quiver. This is especially the case with the way that I have had to adjust with working with a limited amount of bolts for such a long time.


    That also means that my time in this fort will be coming to an end soon. Simply put, no man would like his neighbour to have the keys to his safe and in my case it is even a formation that will allow me to comfortably fight against a second circle being. Sadly, my replacement jas already arrived at the spot too with the reinforcements.


    At the moment, I would now prefer to be sent to the ruin already. I am quite surprised to see how much I am looking forward to talk to Trevor( and i am sure somewhere in my heart I miss the two idiots too.)


    Anyway, to return to the matter of talking to reinforcements. It is about time that i have been called up to meet with them. Only ankon has deigned himself ready to come down here and talk to me. The other two might as well be ghosts. This will be the first time that I will be dealing with a snowwinder ego.


    Today I am finally going to meet, regarding which only I am sitting down here waiting for them. They will simply do not meet me by the formation core. It could be because they do not want to meet in the location where i would be the most powerful.( A common misinformation about formations is that proximity to them makes them more powerful. While that is true, it is valid across distances as large as the distance between nations. Anywhere in the fort and the formation will serve me with the same capabilities.)


    Even now, i have to go up to meet them. It is for that reason that I am waiting for shamon to actually come up and take me up there. They are the sticklers for conduct after all.


    (After a few minutes.)


    "Captain, i hope you are ready to meet the starfalls.", shamon speaks his voice echoing from outside. The man enter with a hurry that I did not even see with the ice beasts suicidal charge. the starfalls scare this man.


    "Well, you will do well to calm down my friend. We are not going to meet the devils.", i say to the man.


    "The devils would be easier to deal with my friend. If you truly displease them, then they will only kill you. The starfalls are new nobles, with an itch to prove themselves. If you offend them they will likely kill you and every person in this fort to make their point.", he speaks, his voice in quite a bit of panic.


    "Well, you need not worry about that, shamon. I do not think they have any reason to kill me. I am certain that i must have exceeded their expectations quite the bit.", I say, as i allow a bit of pride into my voice. This has been an achievement for me atleast.


    And it is with this kind of nervousness that I go to meet my reinformcents. The men are in the southern gate, all three as they seem to be deep in discussion until they notice my arrival.


    Ankon was studying the gate and most likely it''s hinges. Well that is their problem to figure out. The other two starfall brothers are standing to the side, absurdly tall for a human. They were tall enough to look down on me while talking. I would have thought them to have giant blood, if they did not have the necessary mass for that to be true.


    "Captain sevenstars, it is rare for us to meet people of your capability this far north. It is an honour to meet you.", the one I think called Theo speaks. He is the elder of the two, recognisable with a scar on his cheek. He is supposed to have got it wrestling with a ice beasts as a child, which seems unlikely based on personal experience. Even this was a rumour of a rumour we heard from random soldier talking to a previous dilpomat to the frozen peaks.


    "Let''s just get to the point my friend, I am exhausted and flattery is beyond my capability at the moment.", i speak. I can see the way in which the two soldiers change the moment i speak. If they were relaxed a moment ago, now they are ready trade blows.


    "That is certainly direct. We shall return the favour then, the commander has been quite explicit that you shall have to surrender control to the formation and return to the frozen peak." The second brother speaks, who looked a step shorter than Theo.


    "I do not mind returning. If anything that is what I want. This place has been quite miserable for me. Sadly, i have duties too and I cannot leave the place unless you can confirm that me and my people will be protected.", i speak looking at Theo with my most serious expression.


    Travis looks like he is about to speak, but his brother interrupts him before that can occur.


    "That is fair my friend. We are honour bound by the hexmountain treaty to protect you and your ruins. Failure to do so would be stain on the honour of the commander and we cannot afford such a thing ourselves.", Theo speaks, "we shall March to protect you and your soldiers should they even think of attacking you."


    The man speaks as if he was performing in play, taking a tone too grandiose for reality. It is quite weird if I am to be honest.


    "While that is nice to here, it is not practical. what army shall March to my aid. The soldiers here have barely held on against the enemy.", I ask.


    "Well, captain. The enemy was not supposed to pile up against you like that. It shows the strength of you and your formations that this place has held, with even the snowlords unable to cause significant damage to the place. Maybe that is why the commander has commanded quite a few troops to swing by this direction. In a few days this place will be quite stocked with troops.", ankon speaks to the air, as his focus had not left the gate.


    "What about me then, am I to remain here or is your commander planning to send me elsewhere.", I ask.


    "You are to return to the frozen peaks, to talk to the commander after which you are free to do what you want in fort.", theo replies. "With that I think we have covered everything of note. you can retire if you wish, but we need to figure just what has to be done with this gate".


    Taking the request to leave i dissolve into the background.

 the journey back to the frozen peak (log 028)

    I am returning to frozen peaks. They literally kicked me out of the fort first thing in the morning (or so I think at the very least). None of the soldiers were present other than the soldiers of the caravan and of course the three people that had come to replace me. This was almost immediately after my meeting with the starfalls too.


    This time i do not have the luxury of cultivating en route so this is going to be an annoying week, along with a heavy dose of nervousness. There has been quite the bit of overthinking involved in the process too. This journey requires me to be in ready state, ready to fight a moments notice. If it were not for a couple of the injured soldiers taking care of patrolling for me, i would sadly have to forsake sleep too (which is quite painful to those that have never used mana to replace sleep. It literally feels like somebody is splitting my head with a axe by the end of the second day.) I have no desire to ambushed by anymore icebeasts.


    I feel naked without the protection of the formation. It literally feels like i have been ripped from the fort and i still feel a phantom connection to the formation core. At the moment, I do not have anything other than this sword hanging on my belt, which while i can agree is a fine piece of work is no formation. Made of an alloy of iron and mithril, the sword is built in the shape of a standard snowwinder sword, though it is a bit smaller than the standard swords. The sword is about as hard and durable as a class eight formation core( which is not a good metric, remember the sky bamboo) and is about as mana conductive.


    The sword is going to be very good at pushing mana and i might even be able to inscribe a few formations on it though the chances of that are ridiculously slim. Inscribing on a purely metal structure such as swords and anything of metal is such a slippery affair. Most runes won''t simply form on it and even if they did there is a pretty decent chance that the rune would lose its structure the moment that i pass mana into it. Good luck would mean that the rune would dissipate and the worst case is that the entire thing will explode.


    Getting back to the point, the sword is the reason that i am here sitting in a caravan. After all, it would be poor form if i were to agree to the snowwinders suddenly sending me to frozen peak, far away from my formation especially when the enemy seems to have an disproportional interest in me without getting something in return.


    The sword is my bribe, to return to the fortress and i am quite thankful the snowwinders had the sense to give it. Else, it would have been similarly quite easy for me to remain at the fort and make it seem as if I am the only one that can control the formation. The art of formation control is quite mystical to those that have never properly seen a formation before and even if they had, i am still skilled enough to fool any second rate formation mages. I could have insisted to remain at the fort, though there is a risk of escalation with such things and i am in their lands. it would be quite easy to lose my little life due to accidents and my body could as easily be lost in the snows of this place.


    I am at the moment sitting in this carvan only after extensive assurances from the ankon who i have to admit seemed quite keen to get rid of me. Firstly, they assured me that the enemy has simply no way of knowing that this Caravan would be containing the formation master that has been such an annoyance to them. Ambushing a formation mage en route to somewhere is the best way to get rid of a formation mage after all. Still, I am at the moment suppressing my mana as much as possible, even though none of these creatures have a sensitivity similar to mine.


    I also have to note down another point before I forget about it, one of the snowwinders has basic formation control capabilities at the very least. They were absurdly quickly to get rid of me and they did not ask for any information about the formation except ankon. While my formation is not something that needs any kind of special control techniques, it is not something that a non formation mage can learn without asking.


    That means that one of these three have access to spells like formation control at the very least, under my opinion. It is nothing advanced and nothing that would violate any treaties but it is the first step in that direction, I would think. I am thinking it could be ankon.


    Getting back, The second reason was this sword, given to me by theo who certainly seemed to have brought it as a gift. Else, without a method of protecting myself i would not have left with these bunch regardless of how much anonymity that they promised me. (The ease with which this sword was given is another proof. The sword would be worth quite a bit to a normal mage but quite worthless to a formation mage.)


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    The last reason for me leaving now would be at the moment other than me there are most of the injured soldiers including Elon in this particular caravan. That is another reason that i am joining these bunch. There is not enough resources or soldiers to send this bunch with a proper guard. These soldiers would have left anyways, with the severity of their injuries especially Elon who seems to have become completely comatose for a while now. According to shamon, these soldiers had to be taken to the frozen peak before the chill would cause permanent damage to these people. We might have been too late in case of one soldier at the very least.


    i have not dared to relax until now, in the third day of our journey (i honestly do not know, I am feeling in basis of the number of times we have stopped for food.) That is why I am recording now whem I am almost half way through our journey. We are at the moment solidly in snowwinder territory and if anybody were to attack us here, there is a decent chance that the disturbances will be enough to attract the commander if the snowlords were to come here and anything weaker than that I will be able to handle. I am not adding being attacked by a troop to that though. These soldiers would not be able to act like even bait in this case.


    That is a gamble that i will have to take I guess. While i have been spending all of this time worrying I have to admit that the trip has been going quite smoothly and i have to admit that this is the first time that i have properly noticed our surroundings plains. The time I came to this place I had not noticed the way in which the snowwinders move about this place and i have to admit that the way that they do so reminds me quite strongly of formation magic.


    It is not exactly formation magic, but the bones of it still exist here. To explain this i will have to explain to you how exactly I think that the snowwinders are moving here. Normal travel of wooden carriages on these plains would be tantomount to suicide here. The storms here can collapse buildings, so you can imagine what it can do to wooden carts.


    We do face storms during our journey, none quite as crazy as the one we faced at the fort and each time the damage to our carriages is almost negligible. Also, the carriages seem to be moving quite smoothly for a place that is essentially a frozen desert. i would assume that our trips would be a bit more jerky.


    That would mean that they have formations for protecting the body of the cart like the iron skim, formations to reduce an sudden jerks and formations to hide all of this and very good ones at that since they are able to escape the sights of a formation mage.


    And even if that is not true The carriages have methods of protecting themselves and any such method would be quite mana intensive for them rely on mana batteries and i am certain that nobody but me would have the mana to run these hypothetical means of protection in our present carvan. (And ambient mana formations are not good for anything but lighting especially in this area, except maybe a formation that would freeze water.)


    So what i am assuming that is happening here is some kind of a leylining. Now leylines refers to mana that is being flowed in predefined streams, often as methods of transporting mana (you can consider elemental nodes to be a kind of a natural leylline.). It is used to power massive formations, the kind that can span cities or kingdoms. Leylines can be created by any decent formation mage and are often used to power magical carriages in most cities. Those leylines would be quite similar to any hypothetical leyline that might exist here.)


    I can''t say for certain since I have only seen leylines only a handful of times and most tend to be quite distinct. Still, i cannot think that they would have any other method of transmitting mana over long distance especially in our locality.


    I could also be completely wrong and the snowwinders just might be geniuses at designing carriages and they might have some method of guarding their carriages that i simply do not have an idea about. i still think that this might something that head office would like to put under consideration. I am sure that the black mountain would benefit in some way with cards against the snowwind empire, especially now. Especially if that means that I am not coming here anymore.


    With all of the key points completed it is time for me to admit something. I must admit that regardless of how nervousness inducing this journey has been, i have got the opportunity to relax finally. even I have not noticed how tightly strung i have been in the fort. This has been a strange experience if I am to be frank.


    I have finally figured out The reason for that. The snowwinders do not have any respect for formation mages. The snowwinders as a society barely tend to rely on formations for any of their tasks. While i am sure that is not something they do by choice, it is also the truth that they are not really reliant on formations.


    That means that they do not really have much need of formation mages too. Even me, who can barely be considered one can feel the way in which people change their behaviour when they come to learn of my profession. That respect certainly makes work very easy for us formation mages. If we had to explain every single action of ours it does tend to make life so much harder. People tend to look at our works like a piece of art and at us like artists.


    That has been lacking with the people here and that could be one of the reasons that things have been so weird here. Regardless, my work as a formation mage is complete at the very least. I won''t be building another class eight formation atleast.

 why wont this thing end(log 029)

    The funny thing about being a formation mage is the fact that our power is so volatile, so dependent on external things that it seems to be a joke. Men that we could crush with a single wave, men that we could kill by the thousand yesterday, would be able to cut you up like a fish the next day. This is a reality all formation mages have to contend with, to accept and to adapt too.


    This is not my words, but the words of my master. He has said it to me so many times and in so many places that I can even predict the length of his lecture simply from the first few words that he uses. In all of that i have to agree that I have heard what he has always told me, but today I have to come to accept it or atleast understand it.


    Yesterday i was at the fort, able to control an entire fort at my whim. If i wanted to I could have killed every single man there. With water bolts it might have been hard, but with the rings it would have been quite simple. Heck, i fought a man an entire level above me and and came out relatively well. Most men in my place would have been a frozen corpse by now. (Well, if you can call being frozen in this hellhole relatively well.)


    It was quite an addicting feeling i admit, though I think it is for that reason that I was removed from the place so quickly too. Even if the control to the formation is usually surrendered, the formation mage remains at the location for a while (even forever sometimes) taking on a consulting role. (An outsider controlling your formations is the biggest taboo for any organisation.)


    Today, i am stuck on the ground not able to move an inch while all the soldiers injured around me are still fine. They still do not dare to move though. After all, the two men who are the cause for my present situation only need to look at me wrong and i would be crushed to death. A few inches from me is my sword, but it might as well have been a couple of leagues for the help that it has done.


    One of the men is actually quite familiar to me, an old man so old that he is closer to a skeleton than a man. The commander arrived at our position almost as quickly as the other man appeared. we are still almost three days from the frozen peak too. There might not have been more than a few seconds difference between the two men appearing, but those few seconds have been the worst in my life.


    I still remember the other man appearing like a speck in the horizon. I did not even have another second to look at him as the world around me faded. No calling it faded was wrong. My brain has judged the world to be useless information and is using every inch of its capability to look at the man that it has felt as a threat. Even then i know that I won''t be able to see the man move. I don''t think he needs to honestly. Who will tell my mind that though.


    The appearance of the commander a few seconds later greatly reduced this "pressure" on me. The other is a bulky man almost thrice the size of the old man, who is covered in the pelt of what i have to assume is a massive ice beast as a cloak. The mouth of the beast acts as a hood for the man, though he is not wearing it at the moment. It lies loosely behind him.


    The two man continue their staring contest for a few seconds or for a few centuries. I honestly can''t tell at the moment. Finally the commander speaks.


    "Lord, you are not welcome in these lands. Your presence will break our treaty.", he speaks, his voice is not loud but is clearly heard like the wind itself does not dare to stop the man''s word. They are projecting their voices for some reason.


    "My old friend, i do not like to come to this place myself. Every time I come here it feels like i am sitting in the middle of fire.", the second man speaks. "I sometimes wonder why you people don''t just melt away. It would certainly reduce quite a few of our problems."


    "I am no friend to you, lord. If you do not leave at the moment I will be forced to use my sword on you.", the commander speaks, giving me a moment of hope.


    "Well, you could remove your sword, I could get serious. I honestly want to know who among us two would win. I wonder whether the first blow will kill the kid or the second. Kind of pointless to kill your own men for a fistfight. Anyway I have come to bargain.", the second man speaks, disappearing.


    My mind almost shuts down for a second in panic, as i catch the second man halfway through speaking.


    ......."Want this outsider.", he says. "Anyway i seem to have heard that one of them got pissed and wrecked one of your ancestors graves. Seems to be quite the affront."


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    The man is now next to me, though i honestly don''t know how he got here. Maybe he simply walked and my mind was not fast enough to notice it. Maybe he teleported like the mages of the ancient times. I guess that my fear should have intensified but this is already beyond my capacity for fear that I don''t know anymore.


    "We are honour bound to protect him, you bastard.", the commander speaks. He is also by my side, his sword at the man''s throat. The weird thing was that it is still sheathed. "It would be even more of affront to my ancestors if I were to break promised taken on their names."


    "Give your excuses, you pretentious bastard. You would dig all your ancestors graves and personally piss on their bones if it meant you would get an iota more power.", he speaks, his voice taking on a growling tone which seemed to echo in my mind. "Such paper thin honour that sometimes I wonder why you even bother to pretend."


    "Don''t go beyond your limits, you fucking half breed.", the commander speaks, his voice certainly not containing the emotion his words conveyed. It was almost like he was reading from a script and a well read script at that.


    "Well, do we really need to go through these motions. I am sure your masters would be pleased with your present performance. I honestly think they know what you are doing. Such an obvious con and you call us stupid beasts.", the man speaks, laughing as if he had heard the funniest joke.


    "Well, i am sure they do. All they need is that I am atleast putting their interests first and that i have moved to protect their honour. After all, you are our enemy, you bastard. You never make things easy. Our last fight nearly got me court martialled.", the commander spoke, irritation finally entering his tone. "They seem to have an hatred for you especially."


    "Well, I was offering to fight at another location. you are the one that suddenly charged at me. I had to go all out personally. I certainly would not have the energy to care for that abomination you call a fort.", the other man spoke, his voice finally losing that growling. "As for your masters, if my poking is enough to harm their so called honour do they really need it. Few things are fragiler."


    "Regardless, you are in our territory and if I let you linger for too long, I will get court martialled again. I need you to beat it now.", the commander spoke, finally removing his sword.


    "Well i would, but I need to take the kid with me now. Sadly, that is not negotiable in the least. I leave only when you let me take him.", the other man speaks.


    "Well, what is stopping you. Pick him up. Take him with you.", the commander speaks, with a bit of edge in his voice.


    "I know you. You will ambush me the instant I pick him up. I also know that i will block anything that you throw at me. The kid would blow up like a pimple about to burst. That is not something that i can handle at the moment.", the other replies, causing my heart to relax. Atleast he is not looking to killing me instantly.


    "Well, i can allow you to leave, but i will have to face quite the problem if I were to let the kid get taken in my watch. I did mention to you i have been almost court martialled.", the commander speaks.


    "For that I have the ideal solution. Let me take the kid with me now and I will make sure that he has a fighting chance against the other tribes. I can also command the tribes allied with me to retreat this season. You can imagine just how much of a loss that is for me.", he speaks" you can be praised with reducing my influence on this lands while giving this lad a chance at leaving here alive. I won''t bend anymore beyond that though."


    "that is quite the bit, you bastard. What did he do to earn such an ire from your kind and is he your bastard, the way that you are protecting him.", the commander spoke.


    "You fool, the kid is not related to me in any way. As for what the kid is. He is a child of the sages. You will get me killed talking like that. This is nothing but a business deal and quite a attractive one at that.", the other man spoke, his voice finally becoming a bit flustered."else imagine me moving to protect a child of the sages."


    "That still does not explain your presence. The kid is not really in any danger just for his heritage and if he was a sage with active abilities, i would know it.", the commander spoke. My heart sank hearing all of this. Looks like these guys do know of me or atleast about my people. That is not nice, but the sages do have many enemies. If it they knew of the army that would be a different thing.


    "Well, just being a son of a sage is no crime, atleast to the son. the crime are his skills and that he uses them. the kid uses the skills of the iron legion. Nothing of their hidden arts, but their style we will discover anywhere in any form and we shall burn it from all living memory", the other man spoke, his voice finally serious.


    "An orphan of the legion, eh. if that is the case I will have to admit that the kid has balls, coming here. i am surprised that they are allowing them of the mountain with how many feathers they have ruffled across the continent", the commander spoke. "Well, I shall agree to your deal. I will need guarantees though. If the kid does die I want detailed records on it, along with the identity of the killer. I will need information that I can give to the iron legion too. Those crazy bastards might just fall on me for this. I want to offend them even lesser than my masters. I would atleast survive my masters ire."


    "Well, always covering your ass aren''t you alveron.", the other man speaks." Fine I agree, though I also will need to point out that there is little i can do in this case. This is a matter of all tribes. If it were any of the others, the kid would be paste on the ground."


    As soon as this conversation ended, the world around me became black. It was not much later after this that my mind simply blanked out as I lost consciousness.

 being kidnapped is quite boring (log 030)

    Being kidnapped is I have realized a very boring experience. Maybe the fact that i have not been able to move for the last couple of hours or the fact that i have not been able to turn my head could quite a significant factor for it. It is not even paralysis, it is almost like every muscle of my body has been chained by chains of steel.


    Another fact for my boredom could be that at the moment i being carried by the man i have now named as wolf man in a position that reminds me of a farmer carrying a sack of rice. I was rather embarassed at the beginning, but now I am bored.


    I also have to admit that Up till half an hour ago I have had a choice viewing of the wolf cloaked man''s butt, which i have to admit is not something that i have the desire of looking at again ever again in my life. Thankfully the man had shifted his position and i have finally gotten a view of the world around me.


    At the moment there is little to see though. The world around me is a white blur as i am moving at speeds that should have killed me. The wind feels like a sharp knife on my skin, though oddly the sensation is not accompanied by any pain. I have to assume the man carrying me has something to do with that. I shall not even speak of the cold as the moment I can''t even sense it. It is so cold that my mind has overloaded in the cold and at the moment I feel pleasantly warm.


    Regardless the reason that i have started recording now of all times is simply for the fact that the man is capable of killing me in a single move and the log would be the last method for me to transmit any information. It is taking quite a focus to do this but I literally have nothing else to do at the moment.


    The man might be able to kill me with a thought but he certainly should not be able to interrupt a log in the process of transmission. I would at the very least like to give my colleagues a chance at understanding these men and beating them at the very least. After all even the druids can fall if you know where to poison them. Theses snowlords are nothing compared to them.


    In that regard I will need to talk about my surroundings. For quite the while we have been going upwards, as if we are climbing a massive mountain. Steadily i can feel the flow of mana becoming wilder and wilder until we reached this place.  If the place we had been in is a frigid hellhole then the place we are going to is a step beyond that. at the moment,  This place seems closer to a sea of ice mana. My mana sense is literally blinded by the movement of ice mana in this region. There are skills to supress the mana sense of man. Until today I have not understood the necessity of it.


    Standing here (or carried here) I am reminded of the feeling of standing in a ship, feeling the world around me shake and turn. I can literally feel the content of my stomach turn as it threatened to come. I seriously debate the pros and cons of letting it happen. Well, the man is literally my only chance of surviving in this region so I master my stomach and keep it from emptying.


    Whatever the man has done to protect me is the only thing keeping me safe. If he were to retract that protection, let''s just say that the chill would be nothing compared to what is going to happen here. I would not die due to my mana channels freezing like with the chill, i would die because I would have become a statue of ice.


    Finally after what seems to be an age, i can feel the man slow down. At the moment i am about as useless as blind man so i can''t really describe wherever we are going to other than the fact that it seems to be a massive tower. I cannot really much about it but as we are getting closer to it, it seems to be made up of some kind of a black rock.


    Well, the moment that we entered the tower the first thing I noticed was that the pressure from the wind had disappeared. If a second before it felt like I was being put under a waterfall suddenly I felt like a feather floating in the wind. Sadly none of my limbs still did not seem to show any signs of moving. Well if the man wanted to kill me he does not need to do all of this. the alternatives are not particularly nice. Formation mages tend to make ideal slaves.


    "I would suggest not moving your body yet, my little wolf.", the wolf man spoke, putting me down in what I assume to be some kind of a bed, though sleeping on it did not feel like that. It felt more like it was a statue that seemed to be carved from rock rather than a bed that somebody would use. Even with all of this discomfort, i can feel my body slip into the comfort of sleep.


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    (After almost a day.)


    I have to admit that, while my body feels like i have been sleeping on a rock i can finally move my body. I would have given up all the pleasures in the world for the simple ability to move my head as I wish. That is what i am doing at the moment though my body is cramped in places where i would have assumed it to not even be possible.


    Right now we are completely in the northern wastelands, in the parts that should be having no living people. I don''t know how these people actually do end up surviving here.


    The room that I am standing in is a simple room, with everything constructed of some kind of a black colored rock. Everything in the room seemed to be carved of this rock. It almost seems to be art the way that the rock in this room has been carve. All of this seems to be the work of an expert.


    "The rock is the only thing that can survive in the true lands my young friend. Nothing, except the frigid rock can survive in the ice mana that flows through this land. I would suggest therefore that you do not attempt to escape from this place.", a voice suddenly spoke behind, revealing itself to be the wolf man, explaining to me. "I will also suggest you get comfortable. Firstly, i am an ally of your master, and have no desire to kill you. I have to assume that is evident."


    "Well, your actions up till now have been to the contrary, my lord.", I spoke, taking on quite a rude tone. Let''s hope the man is not a sensitive one. Massacres have happened for much less.


    "Well, there are no lords here my friend. We find that it is not very conducive to a cooperative effort and without it not many of our people would survive in this lands. Even our people can freeze to their deaths in the true lands.", he speaks, pointing to a chair "i do insist you sit down though. This is going to be a pain to explain but I will try my best. You can call me cloak. Everybody does"


    "Well, what do you know about the sages. I do not think your trainers would have spoken of them much. It would have been quite the sore spot to them", the wolf m.. cloak spoke.


    "Well, all i know is that the iron legion used to have them as allies and very close ones as that. Enough that they were willing to intermarry and have children. Then something happened and now they are quite hostile to us. They left their children with the legion who took us in and trained us, all of us who are now called the orphans of the legion.",  i replied, the reply sadly well practiced. Everybody is curious about the orphans of the legion.


    "Well, it shall be enough for now. The thing is your master called on me to protect you in case something were to happen here. Until I knew of your heritage i did not know why the man was insistent on this.", he spoke, sitting next to me. The man was large enough that him sitting on the ground was enough to put him at eye level with me on the chair.


    "The people of the truelands have problem with you due to two main reasons. Firstly, they do not trust sages. We have a lot of history with the sages. The sages often used the tribes of the snow to test their formations, especially ones related to environment modifications.", cloak speaks.


    "Isn''t that supposed to be a very tricky field of formation magic, with extremely high chance of these formations failing.", I reply, replying as i remember from my masters books.


    "Well, that is the problem. Every year we have a few tribes that listen to the sages and entire tribes are wiped when these formations fail. The snowstorms of our lands are not tame affairs like the storms of yours. Very few things can survive in these lands, especially flesh.", cloak replies. "Anyways, that means all of the older tribes make sure to keep wary of the sages especially one that come bearing gifts. Their previous association with you people does not help thing too. Thankfully In your case that is not a problem since your blood has not even woken up yet. Our people have tricks to recognise the blood of the sages"


    "What is the second reason then.", i ask, curiosity dulling most of the fear that i was feeling. There is little that is told to us about the sages.


    "Well, that is a bit more complicated and certainly a whole lot more tragic. It is ancient history and I do not think a few days would be enough to explain the relation between us and the iron legion.", cloak replies. "Ask your master if you wish to know, young wolf. All you need to know is that the tribes have decided to annhilate every trace of the iron legion. That means any that dares to practice their arts will be put to death. It could be from the legion. It could be from their textbooks. If you knew their hidden arts, even i would not be enough to save you. You do not know any of their hidden arts, do you?"


    "Only their names. The iron legion have given up their claims on me only when they saw I was bad at their arts and that i was talented in the magic of formations." I reply, remembering just how much of a scandal it had actually caused. A fish should have been more likely to fly than the iron legion leave one of their charges. Even me as a child understood just how much of a rarity it was.


    "Good, the tribes have gathered to decide your fate. Until that is decided you shall remain in my tower. No tribe would dare to cause offense to me in my own lands.", he replies. "Until your fate is decided, you will be remaining in this tower. I would assume that you are going to suffer quite the bit, but even the conclave of tribes will not dare to offend me and the grand wolf at the same time. We still have to take care not to offend them, though."

 the sledder (log 031)

    i am stuck in this place. The tower is guarded from the elements outside, which i why I think cloak has been so comfortable in leaving me here. My mana vision has been constantly blinded by the way in which the mana in the region is moving about. It took me almost two days to get used to sensing the mana in the air, without my stomach heaving along. Once used to it looks quite beautiful though. The very ground is constantly blown away, forming dunes like mountains. If I noticed one today then it is likely not to exist by tomorrow.


    I could have seen more clearly from the balcony, from which cloak had entered into this place through. The door is still open though not one bit of the wind outside is entering into it. stepping out on the balcony, I will be frozen directly into a ice statue directly at worst or be stuck in what is essentially seems to be a mana storm at best. I might not even need my dizziness to fall to the ground. For that the force of the mana moving about should be enough. I have heard that the force of pure mana once excited is enough to even effect physical matter and this is the purest single attribute mana that I have seen.


    Anyway it would be stupid to leave the man if he is supposed to be my masters ally or friend. Granted, always having a method of escape is also something that i cannot ignore. My master is not exactly the most social of people too after all.


    He wouldnt be able to differentiate a smooth talking backstabber and a friend. I find it surprising that my master had access to the tribes. One of the goals of the head office has been to try and establish as many bridges as possible with any of the tribes in the continent. if possible, one of my commands actually was to establish connection with the snowlords.


    Well, calling them tribes would not be exactly correct. Some of them are tribes, some of them are kingdoms and some of them are even city states. They would be like any other forces in the continent occupying any other location in the continent if it were not for the fact that their language is completely different from any other person in the continent. That makes our entry into these places a very hard task to say the least.


    Each of them is a local hegemony, all stuck in their own bubble, with their own politics and with their own armies. They have little to no interactions with the powers of the continent. Most do not have an idea what occurs in the continent and nobody in the continent have an idea what occurs in their lands.


    The language barrier is not the problem for us, from the black mountain. We can manage communication with them quite easily because those bastards know our languages called as draconic in their languages. (I can go for hours on scholarly thesises discussing on the actual orgin of our language, but for now it is enough for you to know that it is the most common language in the continent and that it is originated from the dragons.)


    Without strong knowledge of their languages though, the information we have on them is painfully little. The information we have is even lesser than the snowwind empire and  The snowwind empire have to run an entire campaign of disinformation on us to keep it that way. With the tribes, even if we had acess to their villages we won''t be able to gather any accurate information.


    After all, how will we know their stories when we can''t read their storybooks. How will we know their gods, their rituals when we can''t read their holy texts. How will we understand their politics if we can''t read their history. Thus even with the presence of entire might of the black mountain we have not found out much about the tribes. The sad part is the black mountain is creative enough to acquire most of these books too and they most likely have done so and will do so in the future. We just need a person with the correct skill with the language to open the many secrets that would hidden there.


    While their culture and their rituals are a mystery to us, their will has been painfully clear to say the least. Most of the tribes that attack us have attacked the iron legion, with a promise of complete annhilation of our skills. This is one of the worst promises of destruction that exist in the continent only taken up with the worst of your blood enemies. I don''t know the history that the legion has with these tribes( we are never given concrete information on these tribes for some reason.) with us but they satisfy their promise quite brutally. It doesn''t matter where a person has learnt it from, but they won''t be allowed to live. It has reached a point that the trainees of the iron legion are not allowed to leave the holy mountain without an escort.


    If you have seen the trainees of the iron legions, especially those with access to the hidden arts, they are complete force onto themselves. There is a reason that the iron legion has a reputation, such bloody reputation too.


    Something seriously messed up must have happened for such brutality to exist in our enemies though, to the point that even their exilees and criminals banished from their lands hunt us with such a blind dedication I have never seen anywhere else. (A majority of the attacks on iron legion soldiers are done by lonewolf soldiers that have not been to their homeland for a very long time. Most tend to have become soldiers of another country, leaving little trace of their heritage. That is why the soldiers of the iron legion have to be careful of anybody.)


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    Well, it would be wise not to think of that too much right now. Me entering a blind panic will help nobody except my enemies. Regardless, i have protection anyways though the only problem is that at the moment i am having a very hard trusting the man supposed to be my guard. The man called as cloak is clearly a tribal, a man who speaks our language as second tongue.


    It is hard for me to record it onto the log, but you can hear the way I''m which he pronounces a few words. Also, his magic is not something that i have an idea of. I barely have an idea what he is doing. This is very hard to do when a person of the black mountain is involved. While we might not have practiced a lot of magics, we have seen quite a few of them.


    (After almost twelve hours.)


    Well my work to find the method to escape from this place has been quite painfully limited. It is almost crazy the amount of time that one tends to lose when he enters into a overthinking spiral. regardless, every option that I have discovered until now has been quite painful to say the least. I would die atleast once regardless of which method i follow. I am sure that death is supposed to be painful isn''t it. There I go babbling again.


    My weird thoughts stop the second that my vision is attracted by something that i notice away in the distance. For a second I think it to be a airship, but the disturbances would have been quite clear if that were the case. As it gets closer, i see it is cloak who seems to be carrying a massive boat with him.


    I can help but wonder again what this man''s magic is. To be able to move such a massive object in that kind of weather. I can''t help but wonder if my master could pull something like this. He certainly could but it wouldn''t be so effortless. Then again, nothing we could do is.


    It doesn''t take long after that for the man to deposit the ship somewhere and appear in the room.


    "Little wolf, your master has quite stringent requirements for the transportation of him and his kin.", cloak spoke, as soon as he landed into my room.


    "Well, i would have thought that no airship would work in such a land. Such wild mana fluctuations in the air would have burnt through most formations in a second or the ship would fail to simply work.", I reply, my mind Finally entering a more focussed state. Hey formation are work, you can''t stop learning just because you might die the next moment.


    "Well, we from the snow tribe have heard that from your people quite a few times. It has the same origin but a sledder is nothing like a airship of yours except I guess in shape. Firstly, it is meant to move on the ground. Only men attempt to fly in the truelands, if objects could then your kind would have taken us long ago.", cloak speaks. "Anyways, the sledder is closer to a ship of yours. The sledder has to move on the truelands after all. The sledder is powered by the mana of the ground itself. There the fluctuations of mana is much more stable, atleast in most cases."


    "So why do you need it. You brought me till here your own haven''t you.", I ask cloak.


    "Well, i have to take you to the council, kid. I can take you there but you have to understand that would make you an inferior relying on my power. The tribes won''t deal with weaklings. Instead I will be coming with you on the ship with you as a guest. If you are able to do that those bastards will atleast act like you have a fair chance.", cloak speaks," on top of that if that bastard is calling in a favour for me, he will make sure to extract every penny from me. Anyways he has presented you with a challenge. you are supposed to be the person that is direct this sledder without any aid from me. Better you do that, you can never tell with the council what punishments they will throw on you. They have a pretty nasty one involving sledders."


    "My masters, eh", I say quieting down.


    My master likes to give me challenges you see, annoying painful challenges that has always required a pound of flesh. One such challenge was that reason that I am in my present predicament. After all if I had brought my kit with me, my life would have been way easier.


    Focussing back to the sledder, i can see that it does have differences in a few locations from a normal airship. First the ship ends in two pointy stumps which I think will be dragged on the ground. next there are no ports, either for hook release or cannons. The wood is completely smooth, almost reflective If i have to say so.


    This does not look anything like my travesty of an airship. I would say if put in the ocean this sledder would be able to sail.


    "It''s a piece of work my friend. This particular sledder has been almost constructed from druidic heartwood as a core. That tree is able to live and thrive in any place in the continent and in any shape. Most druidic weapons made from it and it were considered to be one of scariest in the continent." Cloak spoke. "The druids were one of the few people that would even bother trading with us. It is another reason that they do not like the iron legion."


    "Well, so when are we leaving", I ask, quite curious now to play with this sledder.


    "You have nothing to bring with you, so i would say at this very instant.", cloak says.


    The instant that he says that I am in the air, the man having me thrown me into the ship. I fall on the ship with a crunch, feeling the pain originate like a wave in the back of my body. Thankfully as quickly as it appeared it disappeared. At this moment I have a sinking feeling that this trip is going to be quite painful for little me.

 the first meeting of the council (log 032)

    I want to be honest, the true lands are a scary place. The massive waves of ice mana that can completely over turn the sledder and the nearly unpredictable storms. Things could fine in front of you now.in two minutes, it would devolve into one of the worst storms I have ever seen in my life. Cloak is a master at predicting these storms and he does so skillfully that I have yet to enter a storm though i have had to dangerously skirt around a couple of them. It does not mean that my work has been easy though.


    The experience of driving a sledder has been quite unique if I have to admit it. At its core, sledder and an airship are the same things, be it shape or function. The point of difference is related to the way they propel forward. If the airship is like a balloon using the propulsion formation to push itself forward, the sledder is like a man swimming. The two bases of the sledder push against the ground which in turn push the entire thing forward.


    The two processes are quite similar in most things, except when it comes to handling the damn devices. The basic controls of both the devices are almost the same but the difference comes in the way that it feels. The airship is a distant almost faraway type of control. You move forward, you get the feedback of it too late to actually be able to react to it. Hence, you create a set of processes and trust it in the heat of battle. The sledder is like a reactive little child, i move forward and i realise that the instant it happens. A bit too quick in my opinions, as it essentially causes me to paralyse whenever there is a sudden change. it will greatly increase my skill with this whenever I do get used to it though.


    Somehow i find it hard to believe that this only due to the nature of the way the two ships move as cloak explains to me. Such a difference is more likely to occur if the environment monitoring formations were much much better in the sledders than in our ships. As an analogy, this difference would be at a level of an apprentice sculptor trying to copy the work of master sculptor. The master sculptor just has all the features of a man set in such a man that the sculpture might look as if it is about to rise up and slaughtering all the people around. The apprentice would never be able to copy that, no matter how many times he sculpts the sculpture. As for how exactly this is being done don''t ask me. This is very foreign magic to me.


    Also, another point of difference for a sledder would be the fact I can only move in two dimensions. When your first instinct is to pull up and to outrise your opponents position and you try to pull the same thing in a sledder. The results tend to be quite disastrous, if i were to be put it into more friendly terms. When you try to fly away from a storm and end up charge right into it because you can''t do that with a sledder you do not like to admit it to others. Sadly cloak will exist as a proof of my incapability. Atleast I did not charge head on into a storm at the very least.


    That has been a very stressful however long it has been. Telling day and night in the truelands is a futile activity. They also do not seem to have a particularly strong timekeeping device. I have to admit that i have not been this attentive even when dealing with the pirates. The pirates did not hold the ability to instantly shred your boat into shreds though.  That is what is supposed to happen the instant that i blunder into one of these storms.


    Regardless of all of that, it is time for me to focus on the matter at hand. At the moment I am sitting in my sledder waiting for cloak to call on me. For my first time, it has been decided that i let cloak do his thing. Without their language, i can do very little in what I have to assume is a bloody debate in their council. Any action of mine, heck my presence might be counted as an insult among the council. That also means I do not get to look at a tribe in action in their homeland. Well, curiosity can be sated when i am sure that it will not get me killed in an instant.


    "The council does not like outsiders in what is their heart, especially for one with ties to the legion.", was what cloak replied to me when I pressed him on this. That means that at the moment, my life is completely dependent on cloak. The man could say the wrong thing and i would be killed on spot. I am not particularly worried that it will happen though. My master is a capable man, he should know what he is doing.


    All of that is true but powerlessness is not a pleasant feeling in the least and I do not have any work to do at the moment to stop my mind from working. I could try and study these wonderful puzzles of a formation that have been engraved into the ship. While i am sure I will learn nothing of importance from it anytime soon but it would have kept my mind busy. I cannot do that because I am sure trying to break their formations in front of them would be quite provoking wouldn''t it.


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    And so most of my day went like this as I sat in the privacy of the ship, ruminating on so many different thoughts in so many lines that by the end I don''t really remember anything of the grand jumble of thoughts in my mind. Most of them were related to impractical plans of escape though.


    This useless waste of time was finally broken by cloak, who appeared like a ghost behind me. The man managed to nearly fail my heart when I turned deep in thought and the man was behind me. No rustle of the door, no activation of formations to mark his presence. Men like this would be making quite a killing in the black mountain.


    "Well, I will have to admit to you, kid. I do not know whether you are lucky or unlucky, little wolf.", cloak spoke, clearly not noticing the fragile state of my heart. Well, fear in front of a stranger is inviting his blade tomorrow.


    "Well, i can venture a guess on that. What happened.", I ask. Well it is not like my head might be depending on this particular exchange.


    "Well, the council has agreed that you do not be destroyed on the spot since you do not know of the hidden arts. What you showed could have been learnt by any man, even enemies of the legion who might be interested in taking them down. You actually do not know any of the hidden arts, do you?. If you do, don''t actually admit it. I don''t won''t so much of my work wasted because you are an idiot.", cloak speaks. "Before you celebrate though, you have managed to insult a soldier of the council. They would be the people that you call as snowlords. That means that soldier shakok of the tattoo tribe, the person that you have defeated by the usage of unfair means has the right to ask for you head in the council. Generally that would mean that you would have to fight him hand to hand in the circle."


    "That massive brute, from what angle was that beating him. I began to finally injured the man and then he literally managed to freeze me into a block of ice and nearly blow up the fort that I was in. I can''t call that a victory in any angle.", I reply, thinking back to the fight. From what angle could that be considered a victory. An admirable fight, I agree but no way my victory.


    "Well, that certainly makes more sense. You certainly would not be able to take shakok. Well, let me tell it to you as the council sees it. Soldier shakok, appeared on the platform with banadges covering his legs, his arms and his chest. He then claimed that his present state was caused by the spawn of the sages. That he had honorably gone to conquer a fortress according the laws of the council. That means for every person that enters the attacking party, you can send a person to duel him for the fort.", cloak began, sitting down. "Rather than send a person to match him in a duel, you lured him into the fort and then trapped him in a formation. He even used such flowery language to describe your formations. "Bolts of water that can pierce anything.", "spears of water that rise from the ground and pierce their opponents flesh.". Things like that can intimidate the council quite the bit."


    "Well, how else is a formation mage supposed to fight.", I began. "I certainly did not manage to injure him in that fight, anyways. Well then is there any way to negotiate some kind of a solution in which i can survive. I don''t even mind building them formations."


    "Well, that would have been enough normally if you were anybody else. The council always needs formations but You are an orphan of the legion, kid" cloak spoke. "You have learnt from the embodiment of evil and are the spawn of bastards to those that sit in the council. Do you think they honestly need to believe that man''s story to try and hurt you. Normally they wouldn''t even need a flimsy excuse like this to get rid of you. The fact that they have to rely on scheming like this has been quite the bit of hardwork on my side."


    "So what is to be my fate.", I ask him.


    "Well, the council needs to be convinced of your innocence and that shakok is lying in the first place. That will be very hard if i were to keep you away from the council anymore. So it looks like you will be meeting with the council the next time we meet.", cloak speaks. "Which means that i will have to accelerate your teaching of the sledder. I wanted more time for that part atleast."


    "Wait a second, why did the sledder come into this.", I ask, quite surprised by the man''s sudden change in topic.


    "Well, the council has only two ways of settling complains of slighted honour like that. First is the traditional fight to the death. Both fight until only one side is annhilated. That is what happens in ninety nine out of a hundred case. Sometimes though, things can get blown up like the present situation. A child challenging his elder or running away with a girl from the enemy tribe or stealing his elders weapons also come under slighting honour you know. At this time you want to have a method of punishing your child without having to kill him, so the council set up the winters loop for cases like that.", cloak spoke.


    "That still doesn''t explain the necessity of a sledder.", i speak.


    "Well, simply put winters loop is a game that is played between two sledders and two captains. Both will charge into a storm and whichever ship falls to the storm first is called the winner.", cloak replies. "And yes, before you ask, this is one of the safest games that we play. While a sledder might be lost we of the truelands won''t truly die in a storm. we will suffer, a lot but nothing that correct first aid at the right time won''t fix. I don''t know what is the case for an outsider. I am sure you will live."

 in short, I am about to die (log 033)

    I don''t know which idiot said that it is hard to understand the tribes. The logic of the tribes seem painfully clear to me. Then again I am quite sure that the man cloak is somebody quite important to the council. I do not speak this knowing of any of the man''s history. I speak that on the basis of how well he understands the council. You do not try to learn the rivalries, the supposed alliances, the true alliances of a court if you do not benefit from it and as My master likes to say it is in the best interest of a king to always understand his underlings. The people likely to assassinate a king often come from the underlings after all.


    I am a minor character in the black mountain. One of the other scholars would be able to establish connections like this quite easily integrating themselves into their societies in such a way that people tend to forget that you are even an outsider. I have read quite a few logs and it is almost creepy the way that they tend to do it. It is supposed to be literally part of training for scholars to enter into hostiles territories to change the opinions of the people that might oppose it. How else do you think the black mountain gets new ruins to research.


    I am stopping this weird tangent of mine to return to the topic. Firstly, i am not claiming cloak to have a important role in this council, but the man understands the formation as i might understand the inner workings of a formations. It might be because he is a curious man that finds these things fascinating or he might have actual benefit in learning such stuff. only time will tell the truth and I certainly have no wish to wait here for long. If being at the fort was torture, this place is hell.


    Thankfully I atleast don''t need to worry about feeling cold, since the only way that I can survive in the true lands is by staying in formations and magics specifically meant to protect me. i won''t be feeling cold here since I would be frozen long before the chill would even be registered by me. i don''t know if that knowledge is comforting or terrifying.


    For now i am struck between choices. Neither is a good choice and neither give me much chance of living. I sometimes wonder if my master wants to get me killed sometimes. This entire trip has been just the process of delaying death to the next day. Well, regardless of whether my master is to blame or not, I will need to focus on survival today. After that, well I am a formation mage and our revenges are quite creative when we bring it to our enemies. It warms my heart as i imagine the many formations that i can use to bring pain to my masters heart. Sadly these thoughts have to remain in my head. The man has used anything that I can think of a thousand times. I am sure if i were to actually act on my thoughts, i would be infinitely more miserable.


    Well, first I guess i should explain to you on the exact nature of charges that have been placed on me. There are four such charges though cloak had only expected three. First is the charge of dishonoring the council. Turns out the man that I have fought in the fort is a soldier that is under the hire of the council. Specifically a man of the tattoo clan.


    This is where I struggle to understand the snow tribe. If I had killed the man, the council would have no grounds to assign any blame to me. Instead, since I had fought the man and I used unfair means in the fight, it was to be considered an insult of the council.


    This particular charge is not particularly bothersome, since the punishment for such a fight is little more than temporary imprisonment, though i have to imagine that rules apply a bit differently to outsiders. Any local must go through a much harsher punishment. That would have been the case if a similar thing happen in my home.


    The second charge on me is the charge they have thrown against my bloodline and my training. Normally, a sage is to be killed on the spot after they have been discovered, to prevent any unnecessary nuisances from occuring in the future. While there is a universal hatred of the sages, they seem to be tolerated as a necessary evil. Necessary evil is always code for "I want to till the other side, but they are too strong for me to do so effortlessly."


    Why that is the case, I don''t know. How the snow tribe and the sages interact with each other I do not know. Cloak can be pretty tight lipped when he wants to be. As for the legion, i can feel the hatred palpitate from the man that is supposed to protect me whenever he speaks of the legion.( And stuff like this is why I say my master can be naive sometimes.)  Judging from the way the man has reacted at the mention of the legion, this is what I supposed would be the thing that would do me in. The man is good at hiding it but he is a powerhouse at the same level as the commander. Even his suppressed bloodlust can invoke the sense one gets looking at a predator. Honestly, i wouldn''t be surprised if the man is stronger than the commander. This man''s suppressed presence is enough to match with the commanders intimidation. I seriously wonder how they do it though.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    I don''t know how cloak got me of that particular charge or even why to be honest. With that most of the charges levied against me should have been shelved and i should have been free to leave at the time of the last log. Since you must have noticed the fact that I am still here, you can say that I was screwed over in the worst possible way.


    The man that i fought, a gentleman by the name of shakok has taken a charge against me. It is supposed to be the same law under which the council could charge me of disrespecting them, except in this case the person I am supposed to have insulted is the man himself. Turns out the punishment is the repeating of the fight under more fairer conditions.


    That means that i would have to fight the man without the support of any formations. You can imagine just how quick of a fight that is. I wouldn''t even last a few seconds. The  man doesn''t even need to move. I can hit him for hours and i am not sure if i will be able to penetrate that skin of his.


    Well, that means that i will most likely end up dying still. The only option left to me is that I will have to go to the council personally and somehow convince them that i did not fight shakok in a unfair manner. How i am supposed to do that, I do not know and nothing is striking me at the moment.


    Well, it is not like the council would ever accept that i am not guilty of the final charge, it is literally the only chance that this guys have got of killing me. They would rather be idiots rather than letting a potential enemy of theirs walk.


    That means our goal is not to get the result changed but to reduce the intensity of the challenge. After all, the man might definitely kill me in a direct one to one fight, but the alternate punishment has chance of me surviving, so slim that there is no really difference between the two. (as is with life, in case a particular fight cannot be repeated the alternate punishment is used.)


    Now, as to what the alternate punishment is. The challenge is simple, a sledder will be given to each person and both of them will be directed into a storm. Now a storm here is nothing like the tame stuff that occurs near the fort. The storms are so wild, that is like a wild buffets of ice mana that flow much like waves in a storm. Imagine that, but in all directions around you. Top to bottom, bottom to top, left to right or right to left and in any direction you can imagine. Essentially, the instant that you enter into the storm, there is a chance that you will be blown away in any direction.


    There is a way to survive the storm. A capable enough person would be able to predict each wave in this omnidirectional storm and would be able to steer the ship to match the wave. That way there is a chance that you will be able to survive this terrible outcome. Even in this method there is a decent chance of death though.


    Now the punishment is that we are made to enter into a storm, and whichever ship is surviving once that has passed would be the winner. The person who has made the complain, will consider his complaint shelved regardless of if the other ship has survived or not.


    That is why this is the alternate punishment. It is so brutal that just surviving tends to make people forget about whatever complain they had. Atleast that is what cloak claims. I just think these people are suicidal.


    I have been practicing the usage of a sledder for the last couple of days and I must admit that i am getting quite used to it. While there are differences between it and an airship, I am learning to adapt to these differences quite quickly at that. No amount of training will help in a storm though.


    Those things are quite brutal. By the way I am in the control room of the sledder at the moment.


    "You really should be focussed kid, the council is expecting to meet you in a week.", a voice spoke behind me. The man has pulled that trick so many times that I am not even particularly phased. "They honestly need one little excuse and you are dead kid. My influence is quite limited among the council. It certainly won''t allow you to go in front of the council as an arrogant young man."


    "Well, I am quite sure that I can learn all of this quick enough, cloak. We at the le...", i speak, almost losing my tongue. "at the black mountain are a similar stickler for traditions and rules. I am certain that I will manage the council. What i am worried about is what is to happen immediately after. Even in the best scenario, you say that mastering the sledder takes years. How exactly i am supposed to do it under a week."


    "Well, as i have been telling since a week ago. Surviving a storm is not a matter of skill. It is about the sensitivity of your senses. To grasp the flow of wind and adapt according to it is something that you outsiders are good at. Else your airships wouldn''t survive even a storm in your lands. I can''t even imagine it, to be in the sky during a storm. Granted yours are not that violent. How many of those you had to face?", cloak asks.


    "A fair few, i must admit. but our storms are gentle compared to shit you have here. Any normal airship would be torn into pieces even if I was the god of flying.", I say.


    "Well, that you will have to figure out. Your master seemed quite confident that you should be able to do it. I have never seen him go wrong when it comes to his craft. So I am sure you will do it." He replies, leaving me speechless.


    How is a man supposed to react to that. So I don''t.

 the great council of the snow tribes (log 034)

    The council of the snow tribe its a piece of work. it is a massive crystal mountain, that seems to be glowing like a sun in these frigid lands. Well, it would be wrong to call it a crystal since the entire mountain is made up of a special kind of ice, though why the material is special has been withheld.


    The mountain barely shows any pulsation of mana which would have calmed anybody else. No mana leakage is often a sign of mana efficieny and only a good formation mage is able to create formations of that variety. It would be easier to find a bad formation mage using only good materials for whom such wastefulness won''t hurt them but much harder to find a formation mage that would be able to make complete usage of a formation.


    it is doing it''s work amazingly well. The instant that the mountain came into view, I could feel the wind around me stabilize almost stopping now that we are much closer. Only very powerful formations should be capable of something like this and i personally cannot imagine creating such a thing. Also i can say with quite a bit of confidence that this is not formation magic, something similar to it but not formation magic.


    it is supposed to be the grandest work of the council and the greatest proof of the council''s ability to work together, though I would say the better proof would have been the thousands of tents containing shops next to the mountain. i can better explain once you know of the history of the tribes.


    The truelands is a unforgiving place and just surviving in this place is a torture that most people can barely handle. It takes years of training for a person to even enter the truelands safely and not return with disabled limbs. For the folks that are not able to do so, they have to live in places heavily modified by magic. The children''s, the parents and any person without the talent to cultivate would be a part of this list which is almost the entirety of the population.


    These people would literally not be able to take a step beyond whatever city, village they originate from unless they want to become a statue of ice. If whatever magic that was protecting them failed most would die unless they managed to reach a sledder and even for a small village, the number of sledders needed would be astounding. The council must have a absurd number of sledders as a reserve.


    What magic they use I do not know. Cloak is very tight lipped about that but they are called as a dome. Regardless, whichever method of protection they have  environmental manipulation is legendary for how easily it tends to fail. There are just so many things that can go wrong that each second that this formation runs is a gamble.


    Even with formations, environmental modification is not something that can be guaranteed for places the size of villages, let alone cities. Heck most of them tend to not work in the airships (as I can tell on basis of recent experiences.) and they are the safest method of doing so in all the magics that we have discovered.


    So you can imagine these people need a backup for any emergency that might occur. Suppose a dome of their fails, not many people would be able to survive unless they are removed in a prompt manner. Something like that cannot just be managed by the people of single village or even city. every village will have to coordinate and that requires one more thing.


    They need a overarching group that will co-ordinate all of this. The process of redirecting people into different villages such that each village has optimal number of people( as I imagine farmland will be very hard to find here.), to provide people with sledders to facilitate such moves and a bunch of managerial work of that nature. Without this the number of losses one would be facing would be astounding. No, it would be more accurate to call it scary.


    Essentially, the people here need a kind of central government managing all of these tasks without which most people would be quite fucked. According to cloak, such a thing is nearly impossible to setup though. All the sub tribes of the snow tribes have been trying to do something like that for millenias. Some tribes even manage it, setting up a kingdom but it has never lasted. Most do not even tend to pass the first generation after its inceptions. That doesn''t stop the fact that these people still need management.


    The only solution that has worked is the council. There have been five tribes that have setup a kingdom, but failed to maintain it. The five tribes combined all their knowledge together to create the council and the mountain it has come to represent. It is an alliance of all the tribes that exist in the truelands and their work is quite straightforward and important. nothing else would work to be honest. Even the council has been barely functioning, it seems.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    First is the maintenance of all the domes and prevention of any unnecessary collapse of domes. Second in case of an attack, they are charged with providing sledders that will be used to escort these people back to safety. Third would be to act as a place where all the tribes can fight each other under the supervision of the other tribes.


    A hidden fourth I assume would be the maintain the council. The council is an attempt at environmental magic at a nation wide level. Such crazy attempts at environment manipulation can be counted in a single hand across the continent after all. It would not exist without infusions of a crazy amount of resources. I know of a man in the black mountain that would do anything to come to this place and study the thing.


    Regardless, at the moment I have more immediate worries than a piece of experimental magic that might explode ten years down the line. After all i am sure that my corpse would not care if this place exploded the second after it has been killed. If anything I am sure my soul will enjoy it as i go to hell.


    There are five tribes that hold a seat at the council, the very five tribes that are supposed to have constructed the council. Among them I have the support of two tribes who I should be describing now. First is the tribe of wolves. They are supposed to be experts of beast taming and are the people that are charged with providing the snowlords with their hordes. Other than that, I have no idea why they are supporting me. It has something to do with cloak, I feel.


    The second tribe is the tribe of blood, a militant tribe that seems to practice the art of strengthening their bodies with the usage of blood. This group is a bit more easily understood as they seem to always oppose the popular opinion of the council. For every decision that the majority makes in the council, the blood tribe is always the sole exception. Again I do not understand why that is the case except that it is the way of that tribe. Cloak is always careful not to give too much information about the tribes especially related to the politics of the place.


    That means that there exist three tribes that are opposing me. The first is the tribe with the complain. That would be the tribe of tattoos, whose abilities are strongly linked with the tattoos in their flesh. It is supposed to be quite easy to see the power level of any person of the tattoo clan since they literally show it off in the tattoos that they wield. Other than that, they are supposed to be the most egotistical in all the tribes. Insulting them always leads to a bunch headaches according to cloak.


    Anyway to speak of the other two tribes, the first is the tribe of spear. Their entire magical abilities are supposed to have originated from the spear that they use which is supposed to be passed in their families. I assume it is some kind of a contractual magic, something similar to what the warlocks use. They are a neutral tribe that have no opinion on either the sages nor the legion but they seem to be supporting the tattoo tribe for now. Making them shift sides is our goal at the moment.


    The last tribe is the tribe of ice, who seem to be experts of ice magics. Their ice magics are stuff of legend, though the disadvantages of using them is even more popular. These magics are supposed to make the flesh more susceptible to the chill, though the people here have a more poetic name for it. They call it the blue death and that is the state that most people will be in if any of their defenses fail. Naturally, the chill is even more worse here.


    Anyway this should be enough to describe my present situation. To discuss about more harmless matters, at the moment i am walking through a market. The council also seems to act as a center of trade based on the amount of merchants that I can see in this place. I can see hawkers selling everything from weapons to food. I can see more permanent structures in the place, where i am sure more precious items are traded. I certainly wont be getting the permission to visit any of these places. After all, it is not rare for most black mountain people to be blindfolded, their hearing blocked when they are captured. This is especially with the scholars, who can learn quite the bit just from looking at a place for quite the bit. They say let a scholar live in your city for a month and he can cause a civil war, let him live there for a year and he can land an army into your city.( To be frank, even the scholars claim this particular ability of theirs to be an unexact science, but they have a reputation to maintain.)


    The area outside of the council seem to exist as a city of its own, An independent city that might be the closest thing these people have to a capital if what cloak claims to be true. The number of people here are enough for me to actually disappear among them. Granted I would be discovered among them almost instantly. Compared to them, I am really very different. Firstly, I am so short compared to the average height of the people here. The embarassing thing is that i seem to be shorter than most kids in the place. Other than that, I am dressed so differently from them. I am still wearing the clothes that I had at the fortress while the people here seem to like to wear clothes made up of animal skin.


    All of this while i have been walking to the mountain, almost since the moment that I started this log. I must admit simply walking has been quite relaxing to me. I have been staying in cramped places for quite the bit of time and that is something that will allow nobody to remain calm.


    Regardless, my mind has been wandering. It is time for me to focus. I going to be under quite the bit of pressure after all. I am entering a den of wolves and the mountain does a good job of reminding me of that. Well time to convert my certain death to a nearly certain death.

 meeting the council (log 034 part 2)

    As impressive as the council looks from the outside, the inside gives me a vibe similar to the head office. men busy managing things, so chock full of bureaucracy that it is a wonder that things get done. It gives me the vibe of a machine so large and massive that you don''t know understand nor care how each gear is linked to each other. They still work though.


    As i go deeper into the mountain. The tunnels and the rooms grow smaller. At the moment it is already quite a tight fit and cloak has to bend to even fit.


    Any more and I will be crawling.i was so lost in thought that I did not notice the massive room I had exited to. The room is so massive that for a moment that I felt as if the entire thing existed in another dimension. I remained gobsmacked at the craftmanship involved in the place. The place is divided into two floors. The bottom floor has a single chair where I will sirt while the above floor is divided into five tables, one for each tribe I have to presume. Everything in the room has been carved from the same material as the mountain. Every chair, every table, every pillar and every brazier (don''t ask me how.) has been carved.


    These are not simple carvings at that too. Complicated patterns, that I have believe have some kind of a magical significance are inscribed into the entire place. It also has quite the disoriented quality to it, which I believe is the goal. To make the person being interrogated feel as small as he can so that the command of the council is more easily accepted.


    This is where I have to focus. I cannot think about the might of the enemy and that I can significantly reduce my lifespan by making the wrong choice in this matter. So I force myself to look at the men that will be judging my fate. Each of the tribes is relatively easy to predict. The tattoo tribe, with artworks on their skin are the easiest to locate. They are sitting in the center table of the five tables.


    The beast tribe, wearing cloaks of wolf skin (or ice beasts skin.) is also quite easy to detect as they sit immediately to the right of the tattoo tribe. The others look much more ordinary as I can''t tell who is who. Each table has ten people on it and each table will have one vote assigned to it.


    The majority decision of the ten people will become the vote of the table. Cloak has two tribes on his side and the tattoo clan have three tribes to their sides as I explained before.


    At the moment one of the tattoo clan people speak. I believe there is some kind of a magic involved in the process because I swear for a second that I felt as if cloak who is standing next to me spoke suddenly. He does speak a few seconds later.


    "Child of the legion, state your name and your identity. Let the council decide if a man of your kind should even waste the time of the council.", cloak speaks. "Introduce yourself as a child of the council, specifically as an orphan of the legion."


    "Do they even understand our language.", I ask. Though the instant I speak it I realise I fucked up as the table to the rightmost location gives me a look that told me what dozen words could not have. A presence so strong that I caught my breath in my throat. They understand my language and they don''t need a translator to make their opinions known it seems.


    "Well, then I am Antonio sevenstars, captain of the black mountain. I was an orphan of the iron legion. Now I am the disciple of the grand wolf, formation master of the black mountain.", I speak, better to dissociate myself from the iron legion.


    A guy from the central table speaks, their language kind of making sense in my ear, but that is just my mind making patterns where I can''t find any. To me all of this is just noise.


    "The tattoo clan is warning the other clans that nobody leaves the iron legion unless they are dead.", cloak spoke. "And that you are still the blood of the sages. Trickery is supposed to be in your blood."


    Almost In reply, the guy that gave me the look speaks. Cloak takes a second to reply.


    "The leader of the blood tribe asks the council to get on with it''s work and decide wether you are to be killed now or tomorrow. Your origin and whether punishment is necessary for it has already been discussed. He has heard enough about blood without getting to spill any.", cloak speaks.


    They continue their back and forth for a few moments, clear that it is some kind of a debate that is ongoing there. This continue for a few minutes, as cloak joins into the discussion once in a while. I am being kept out of the conversation. Now judging from the tone, i have to assume things are going relatively well. For all i know though these people could discuss about beheading me with the same intensity i would have talking about my evening tea.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "The argument happening now is not related to you. The tattoo tribe and the blood tribe, well any tribe and the blood tribe tend to have pretty bad relations. The tattoo tribe is threatening to attack the blood tribe and the blood tribe is teasing them into actually attempting.", cloak speaks.


    "Aren''t they a bit too calm for two of their factions going to fight like this.", I ask, clearly confused now.


    "Well, every tribe has their round of challenging the blood tribe. Nobody really likes them and nobody will actually attack them. Even they know it.", cloak speaks again. As he speaks the man speaking for the tattoo cptribe turns to me and speaks in a rapid fire pace. The man is clearly in a worse mood than before.


    "The tattoo tribe is asking everybody to return to the topic at hand. They have accepted your identity and speak on the charge placed on you. You have fought against soldier shakok of the council, who had challenged you honorably in the process of conquering your fortress. You have used an unfair means of magic, namely formation magic.", cloak spoke translating on pace quite languid from the other man''s speed of speaking.


    "How would you refute that, child of sages.", cloaks speaks, finally putting the spotlight on me.


    Now how i speak will be the indicator of my life and death. The thing is that there is little that can be used in my defense. I could claim not to know that formation magic was illegal in these lands, but that certainly won''t act in my favour. If anything this defense would get me killed. Instead we have picked something that might work in our favour.


    "My lords, I had no intention of making use of my formation. It was meant to be a defensive formation, meant to intimidate and protect. The only reason that i have used it is that i have felt formation fluctuations occur from the other side. I was sure that the other side was making using of a formation to attack the fort. Thus the fort was At risk of an formation attack. Thus there was precious little that i could do to defend myself.", i speak, speaking exactly as i have practiced. The man even trained me on the exact emotion I was supposed to speak in.


    This provokes a change in the council. The guys on the leftmost side speaks. Cloak replies to the question asked but before he can complete the tattoo tribe speaks.


    "Under the command of the council, I am not to add any statements of my own and only translate exactly what the council says to you and vice versa. Having done so once the council will give a warning. If i speak for you again the council will replace me with another translator.", cloak speaks. "The spear tribe asks you, that they need more concrete proof of this claim and if it''s the truth, the tattoo tribe has to explain to the council why they are researching forbidden arts."


    "Well, giving a concrete claim would be impossible. My claim is based on the mana fluctuation I have felt. It is a common formation that is used in armies to share the mana of the soldiers among each other.", i speak.


    As i speak, the council becomes quite. Nobody speaks for a few seconds as the spear tribes begins to speak. The tattoo tribe replies though they are getting agitated. I honestly want to know if that is a good thing or I have just signed my own death warrant. Cloak looks as if wants to speak but he remains quite. After a few tense minutes.


    "The tattoo tribe claims that you are lying. They have no need of making use of formations. They say it is grave insult to compare one of the core techniques of the tattoo tribes to formations.", cloak speaks. "The spear tribe is asking you if you could demonstrate such a formation if need be."


    "I can, though I can''t precisely copy theirs. These formations exist with almost every major force. Also, if the tattoo tribe claims this to be their techniques. I would like to point out that one of the core techniques of the iron legion is called as seven star linkage. The effect of this technique is to share mana among a small group of soldiers without the need of a external formation acting as an anchor.", I reply.


    As i speak i can feel the tension in the room magnify a thousand fold. I honestly feel that I have somehow insulted every soldier and their mom''s in this room. The most terrifying part is that the speaker for the blood tribes, the man stiffened up. It reminds me of the way that my brethren used to get before a fight. this is the posture of a man that is expecting a fight.


    The man of the tattoo clan and the spear clan speak almost at the same time, at each other. Pretty soon it devolves into a shouting match as the two groups speak to each other, with tones implying murder. The tension in the room is is getting heavier. finally cloak speaks again.


    This time there does not seem to be a reprimand, though the folks of the tattoo clan are clearly agitated. They have murder in their eyes. It looks like I have poked the bear this time. Finally.


    "The council has decided that they have heard enough about the attack on you and your usage of formations. Your statements bare no importance to the council as there is no demonstrable proof that the opposing side has used a formation. Normally the punishment of usage of formations is death by beheading. Since the formation used is out of the truelands and there is the matter of it being used against a legal conqueror in an unfair manner the tattoo clan has the right to choose your punishment.", cloak declares to me and the room. As he completes it the tattoo clan speaks which he translates in real time.


    "You have directly insulted one of our elite soldiers and have used unfair means against him. Since you have attempted to cheat in a fair fight, the punishment shall be a repetition of the fight in the inked valley where we shall ensure the fairity of the fight, if the council agrees and the alternative punishment already discussed if the council does not agree. It is time to vote. Those that agree to this punishment."


    The tattoo tribe and the table to its left raise their hands indicating agreement. At that moment i look to the spear clan. They are the people whose decision shall effect me. I can literally feel the seconds pass as the tribe do not raise their hands. I barely here cloak speak again, as he confirms the failure of the vote.

 the bloody city and the alternate punishment (log 035)

    The soldiers of the blood tribe are not like the other people of the snow tribe. Firstly, they do not seem to have a dome. I never personally seen a dome so who can tell and secondly, almost the entirety of their kin seem to be able to survive in the cold. And lastly they are supposed to be the smallest tribe in the trueland. Their members all can live in one city supposedly and Even i who has never stayed in the true lands can tell that the place they live in is a step colder than the surrounding regions on top of that. During my journey to here, i could see their children in the edges of my vision following us and looking at the strange outsider. I have been assured that they won''t disturb us when I enquired about them.


    Part of this could be the fact that these people live in mountains. Even I struggle to believe that mountains exist in this frigid hellscape. Well, anywhere else i would not like to call it a hill, but here where nothing should last these humble hills are the tallest of mountains. I would assume that these mountains would crumble under the constant onslaught of ice mana in the region, let alone the constant storms that must blow through them.


    Still, no sledder can enter into this land obviously which must already make things hard for any other tribe. Almost a couple of days ago, we had to leave our sledders and begin our trek. The folks of the blood tribe seem to be very familiar with the mountain, scaling it like mountain goats. They seem to discover paths through which only one person would be able to make it through almost as if they were wishing it into existence. They could scale the entire thing in a couple hours i am sure but They had to seriously slow down for both me and cloak.


    The reason for our being slow is different though. Mountain scaling is a skill that I can do little without in my home. We do make the largest mountain in the continent our base. Anybody from the black mountain and the surrounding regions is a mountain goat in his own right. For me it is the cold, the bone chilling cold that seems to penetrate through the defenses set by cloak and enter into my very bones.


    I can climb through the path quite easily, but after ten minutes i stop feeling my arms and after half an hour my body begins to feel oddly hot after which we have to take a rest. That warmth is quite deadly it seems, caused by an overdrawing of vital mana. If not managed correctly one can end up in the mountains without mana to protect his body. If that happens, people will wish for the chill it seems. So we have to sit in cave that seem to be designed to trap in heat and rest as i try to circulate mana to ensure nothing ends up freezing in my body. Even with cloak''s protection, I do not dare to understimate the coldness of these mountains. Just in the temporary fort, I could feel mana vessels freeze. I am sure this much farther north I will lose quite a lot more and more easily at that.


    Meanwhile cloak can barely climb the thing. He is doing it as a child would, charge through the mountain paths, without any grasp of footing. He is literally using his ridiculously strong body to climb the mountain. If I climbed as he did, i would be end up falling in a ditch with my bones broken in multiple sites.


    Still it was due to the both of us that it took two days to end up where we are. The blood tribe would be able to do it in a couple of hours. We are presently in the capital of the blood tribe, high up in mountain built like a fortress. They call the city anku tloth or the holy blood which would be a more accurate translation. I will call it the blood city for now. Sadly I am not here for tourism so I cannot see much of the place. I have been staying in a room that they have provided.


    As i was saying the blood city is a fortress. One that is quite easy to defend given the performance of cloak coming here. Entire armies can thrown against the city and still nobody will be able to make it to the walls of this fort, let alone enter the city. The instant that the vote was confirmed to be rejected cloak made sure to request the blood tribe to take him and me in till the alternate punishment could be arranged. Clearly the tattoo tribe seems to quite influential among our enemies, for me to be placed in the most remote location that cloak could find.


    The punishment is the reason I am recording at the moment. The man is supposed to explain the exact rules of what i am supposed to be even doing for the alternate punishmenta and if there are any changes in the rules. We left the council meeting quite early. The man has been teasing the explanation of these rules like a candy to a kid. Then again, i have seen the man slip and fall so many times that i am surprised that he still has a nose and most of these falls were into quite deep pits in the ground.


    Well, i can finally get to business as the man finally appears.


    "Well, there you are, little wolf. I have been looking for you since the morning.", he speaks, his arm in a splint. I remember when he got that particular injury. He had slipped from a path and tumbled down the side of the mountain until I could not see him. I doubted his survival for a couple of minutes too. He came back after almost a couple of hours with a nasty gash on his hand.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "The blood tribe a fussy lot. They find it better to overeact on injuries early on I guess. They certainly cannot afford infections after all. It is a simple scratch.", cloak speaks, seeing me look at his splint. "Regardless, you need to focus. You have quite the sledder battle to undergo."


    "Well, first I will have to begun by telling you that you have managed to thoroughly piss off the tattoo tribe. They are certainly not going to be forgiving in the least to you. Granted they would never have been forgiving in the first place.", cloak speaks. "You managed to wreck the relation between the spear tribe and the tattoo tribe. The spear tribe has always been sure that the tattoo tribe has been using legion arts and more importantly formations. Your final declaration almost confirmed it to them. Your one statement will cause chaos in our lands this season."


    "So do they use legion arts." I ask, quite curious. "What i have admited is merely a speculation on my side. All major armies tend to have a mana sharing skill. Most battle formations would not work without techniques like that. They could have a thousand ways of doing it."


    "It doesn''t really matter. The spear tribe will not allow formations to exist in this land and they certainly hate the legion.", cloak replies. "All of us born in the truelands know the risks of using formations, but the spear tribe is literally the group that has the most to lose from formations. the tattoo tribe literally used your bloodline to get the spear tribe on their side against you in the first place."


    "So why did they finally side with me. Seems counterintuitive.", I ask.


    "Well, the spear tribe fears the sages for their abilities with formations. Formations in the truelands is dangerous. Most formations can seriously affect the flow of mana in this land. it literally can make our storms ten times worse. The spear tribe is particularly susceptible to something like this.", cloak replies, though i am not sure why. This is pretty sensitive information isnt it. "If the tattoo tribe is actually using formations in their magic they will enter into a state of war against the tattoo tribe. This is just a more diplomatic method of showing their disagreement. Nobody wants war if it is possible to not have it after all."


    "So what about the punishment.", I ask. Politics and all is fine but at the moment survival is more important.


    "Most of the rules are the same, except for one thing. Your survival will not assure your victory. The other ship will need to fall for you crime to be forgiven. That means it is still a duel, just more fair.", he says. "It was passed in our absence, sadly but i needed to get you out of there quickly."


    "Why?.", i ask.


    "Well, the tattoo tribe holds quite the bit of influence and they have access to tricks like Assassins. Only the blood tribe is truly free of their influence. If the council made you stay at one of the other tribes I would have quite the headache guarding you, you know", cloak says. "Other than that, both you and shakok will be provided with a ship from the council''s stores. I will be making sure that there is no tampering occuring but that won''t be preventing them from giving you an older sledder. Thankfully the council will not have any truly shitty sledders so the competition is still pretty even. They have to constantly keep their sledders in a working order. Even one bad sledder would cause permanent damage to the council''s reputation."


    "What about the sledder that I have been given. Can I not use it.", i ask. My sledder is supposed to be a step above the other sledders and significantly more durable. It would have given me peace of mind.


    "Sadly, no though I have to assume that you shall face no real challenge. I have seen you drive. You have taken to the sledder like a blood bastard takes to the mountains.", he replies. "Still you will need to be careful. The other side is no slouch. All snowlords are trained in the art of driving sleds and the tattoo tribe tend to be quite skilled in art of sledding. They create a majority of the sledders that you are using after all."


    "So what can I do. I haven''t even properly used a sledder in a storm. There is no guarantee that I won''t fall immediately don''t you think.", I ask. Somehow at the moment a direct fight seemed to be fairer.


    "Well, surviving a Storm is more related to the strength of your senses rather than you skill at driving a sledder as i have told you before. You are a child of a sage. Only sages can compare to you in the sensitivity of your mana sense. Anyways, you would make a half decent sledder at your present skill. I won''t say it will be easy but you have a chance.", cloak speaks.


    "Well, that is nice to hear. what is the problem that the spear tribe has with the legion then. It does not seem like we would have much reason for their enmity atleast not more than other people of the true lands .", I ask, my mind wandering due to the politics of this land.


    "Well, everybody hates the legion to their bones. Any person will kill a person of the legion even if they have bite you to death. The only reason they have a lukeworm reaction to you is simply the fact that you are not a core member of the legion anymore and don''t know their hidden arts. Your masters identity certainly helped.", cloak replies. "As for the spear tribe, they are the most proactive in fighting the legion. No other tribe has killed more legioners nor lost more members to the legion. The spear tribe have lost too much and gained too little to back away from that particular fight. They call it a blood debt now, not a holy war.

 the winters loop (log 036)

    I must admit that i am feeling quite numb at the moment. The thing is I have been in many competitions in my life but none has ever ended in me having to fight to my death in a sledder. Heck i did not know they existed until a while ago and I have just used them for less than a couple of weeks. Even if they are similar to airships that is no time to master anything.


    I am sure I am supposed to be feeling quite nervous at the moment, but the only thing that I can feel is a numbness. That is a good thing because I will need to run every iota of my focus at hand in this so called "fair duel".


    The council has been quite busy in the last couple of weeks, as they prepare for the winter loop. This particular alternate punishment is particularly resource intensive for these people as they have to firstly provide two sledders which mostly won''t be making it through the storm intact. It is not a suprise if they are destroyed in the process.


    Also they have to locate a storm through which the two participants will be able to spend a satisfactory amount of time in after all. Storms in these lands are quite common but most would be either too long or too short for it to be able to handle the winter loop. They take quite the while to locate the storm with the ideal length of time. That is usually about five minutes to one hour depending on the strength of the people involved. For us it will be at the lower end, about five minutes.


    Until now I have trained for the winter loop considering that i have to spend that length of time surviving, but now I will have to change my strategy to adapt to the new rules. Just by changing one rule these guys have managed to convert what should have been my goal of survival to a hard deadline. I have to cause significant damage to the others sides ship now.


    Now the both of us standing here waiting for the arrival of the storm. Before i might die, it is better that I make it clear that the council is an expert at the prediction of weather in this land. They seem to be the group that is the most capable at this in the truelands. That could be another reason that they have slipped into a commanding position in this land. Again i have no method of actually verifying this hypothesis. That is the work of the scholars.


    Anyway, neither side will be having any method of attacks, other than a reinforced bow which can be used like battering ram. That means the goal of this fight is essentially what boarding ships attempt to do in the air. In the air boarding would be much simpler, though inside a Storm there is no way of predicting what can happen. There the winds will be able to rip us apart.


    "Prepare for the storm", a voice screams into my ears directly.


    As i link myself to the formations, i can see the storm approaching us. It is not actually physically visible but to those with a mana sense it would look like a massive wall of ice mana charging at us. It is no wall though as the ice mana in that "wall" is flowing even faster and deadlier than water in a whirlpool. Beyond the wall you shall find the storm though the wall itself is the first threat in this duel. I need to breach the wall, which is built of ice mana so packed that from a distance it appears solid.


    Before i enter into the storm there is another thing that i have to mention. The core of the sledders is not related to formation magic. All the formations that are used in a sledders are present only in the drivers room and are used only for controlling, fine control at that. Beyond that my mana sense is not able to make any sense of what exists there. This means that the snow tribes practice a style of magic that is quite similar to a formation, but there are still core differences. They make use of our formations wherever they need to control anything.


    So we can conclude that their pseudo-formation magic is quite capable of creating formation like objects but they don''t have any method of controlling it like we can with formations. Atleast they cannot achieve as precise of a control as they can with formations.


    I shall speak on this later as the storm arrives in front of us. I can literally feel the chill as the wall passes into both of our ships. I can sense the other ship somewhere to my right though telling the precise location is nearly impossible.


    I even lose that a couple of moments later as the world begins to lose all directions. I can feel the sledder groaning as ice mana laden winds buffet it from all the directions. If i keep allowing the ship to move headerless like this, soon enough it will split into many pieces simply due to how many times it has changed directions and how forcefully that has happened.


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    This is something that one needs to be wary of with in a airship too. The trick to survive such a thing is to go with the flow. Moving the device in whichever direction it is supposed to be going and not against the wind. The only problem is that the wind is constantly changing in this case. Only a skilled pilot will then be able to go with the flow.


    I can finally understand why cloak has been saying to me that this is a game of mana senses. You need sensitive mana senses to even attempt such a thing. Still, I focus as I link up with sensory formations.


    I can feel the wind buffet the ship in all directions. The winds are coming at me randomly, pushing the ship in all directions that I can still not tell my location exactly. I begin to move the sledder, which really feels like travelling on a ship in this chaotic storm. Before the ground had a level of stability that made it easy to orient myself. Now the ground itself is like water, moving about like waves that threaten to capsize me.


    I begin to move the ship, first left then immediately to the right then suddenly slope it downwards as I try to go with the flow. Now the battle between me and the giant is one of speed. Right now, both of us are like leaves in a storm. Whoever stabilizes first and breaches the wall will get the opportunity for the first hit.


    So i get busy, try to move the ship with flow of the storm. Here i clearly feel the limitation of being stuck to the ground. in an airship, you can simply go up whenever there is an updraft. With the sledder whenever there is a updraft, i have angle the ship upwards and hope that I won''t end up flying into the ground. Cloak has always warned of doing that, as it can damage whatever it is that is pushing the ship forward.


    After all the two stumps at the bottom seem to be playing a very key role in this process. Any damage to them will drastically reduce my speed. Still, the process of adapting is taking longer than expected. The other side might have already done it too and is waiting to steer the ship towards my direction too. He will ambush me the moment that i breach the wall.


    The breaching of the wall happens a couple of minutes later, as i finally break through from the wall into the storm beyond it. Here the winds are still very strong, enough to overturn the ship but atleast the wind here is not strong enough that I will capsize the moment i go against the wind. There is a decent chance of the ship being overturned though if the wind is moving to the side of my ship.


    I am lost in my thoughts as the other side finally appears to my side. His bow is perpendicular to the side of my ship and it can cause quite the significant bit of damage. It is almost on instinct that i try to move the ship upwards. That costs me a few precious seconds as I reverse the ship. The other side still hits but it is the front of the ship near the front of the ship, which is armored. There is damage but nothing that can get me killed in the short term. Thankfully this is not the ocean or we would be sinking already.


    Turning the ship i move to the left, which would be away from the opposing ship. Sadly the wind is in the direction opposite to me slowing me down quite significantly. The other side also retreats, unless he wants to press his attack in which both of us would fall as one ship would become stuck in the other. I can''t maintain this for long though. The enemy will begin to follow me soon enough and he will catch up to me in this storm quite quickly enough.


    For  a few seconds I do not know what to do as the opposing ship begins to chase after me, after which I get a idea. It is quite risky but there is little that i can do anyways. To start my plan I quickly reverse the ship (another nice thing about the sledder they do not have a front or back, so they can move forward or backwards at equal speeds.). Thankfully even the wind is supportive of that and It is quite stable too. Well. If it suddenly come from the right or left, well i would wish luck to both of us. You can tell the ship is being boosted by the outside winds just from how the ship is being cradled like a babies crib. It feels like the ship will be carried away by the wind at any second. Now I am scared that thought will become the truth.


    That means that i have given the opposite side the time to catch up to me though. It will be worth it though. The other side moves to my right as i hoped he would though not by much due to the wind. He must be expecting a charge much like what he had done. Such a charge would lead to head on collision and then it is a matter of luck of which ship would survive. That won''t happen now anyways, but that wasn''t my plan anyways.


    I turn the ship at its maximum speed, directly perpendicular to the wind. I can feel the ship being pulled by wind as it is in the verge of of overturning. I do not have much time, before the winds will overturn my ship. I use these moments of time to strike my target which is at the moment moving away from me.


    He is not perfectly perpendicular to me but he is within the range of me striking. I push the ship to its maximum speed, even as the ship sways to the left and right. Just as it feels like the ship is about to fall my bow finds its target. I can feel the opposing ship crunch as my ship enters into it. I can still feel the ship wanting to turnover and fall, but the opposing ships acts as an anchor albeit not a perfect one.


    Before either of us can do anything though the world around me beings to spin, as if we both were standing on a spinning top. I begin to lose all sense of direction again though it is nice to see that i am still stuck in the other ships side as the force of the spinning blows right into the. I am actually going deeper into the other sides ship as my ship is still accelerating in that direction.


    That is all the information I am able to get as the world finally becomes a black void as I lose consciousness. The spinning of our ships literally caused me fly away and hit the wall.

 the death rush (log 036 part 2)

    Have you ever been woken up because something is running towards you and your are sure that you are about to die. I have experienced that today. Well calling it woken up would be wrong. After all one doesn''t wake up from being unconscious. What would be the accurate term I do not know. Still here I am here as if somebody filled my mind with drugs. This must be the death rush that philip liked to speak so much about. Focus of such extreme degree that the world seems to have slowed down to a standstill.


    Well, whatever it is I certainly did not expect the scene in front of me. Thankfully the storm seems to have passed with minimal damages to the ship. Well minimal would be relative to what is in front of me. The other sides ship has essentially split into two. The two pieces are connected to each other by the barest piece of wood.


    There is simply no way that ship is going to be moving any time soon. I could maybe repair it if you gave me a couple of minutes. I don''t think it ever will. My ship is much better of. The bow has been bent to a weird angle. I certainly not going to be doing any ramming with this ship and there are holes in the ships. The only one that i need to worry about is the one that is near the bow, the one that was caused by the ramming of the enemy ship. The hole has expanded becoming much larger in the process. It would easy for a elephant to enter from there let alone a man. That would have been quite a source of my worry if it were not for the fact that there is a chance I might not survive this fight.


    The annoying thing is that the thing that woke me up was a glowing man that stood out like a fire that is charging at the ship at this moment. Somehow the glow of the man''s tattoos seems to be even more intense here than in the fort. If i did not know better I would have thought that the man was on fire. Well it makes sense, if their tattoos work on ambient mana, they have way more mana to work with here than they had elsewhere and he certainly seems to be running his tattoos at full throttle. if that is the case The man is going to chew through me like a toffee.


    Right now the only chance of survival that  I have is to ensure that the other party is not going to be entering into my ship. Thankfully that is something that i have a certain level of experience with the process of preventing boarding. I have to admit that i have never done this against a single man though. Such a thing would be impossible with an airship. Most die just being exposed to the sky.


    Right now the glowing bastard has only one point of entry to enter into my ship. That is where i think that he is charging towards. I am not completely sure as the man can simply punch a hole in the ship too. Granted the ship is sturdy enough that I think it should last a while under his assault, he has too much control of mana for me to tell accurately. thus At the moment retreating is not a option. The man is moving towards me at speed that the sledder will not be able to match. It is like a tortoise that is trying to swat a mosquito. The only option left then is to go on the offensive and not let the man anywhere near to the hole in the ship.


    Strings of mana worm their way into the formations that are working. I quickly access the sensory formations as my mana sense overlap with the input from the formations. I began my move at the correct time. I begin to accelerate the ship, which is not as impressive as it was before (it is only the half the acceleration that i have managed before). I don''t know what has been damaged and I do not care at the moment.


    Thankfully the man certainly did not expect me to go on the offensive. He just pauses there for a second as he processes what has just happened here. Sadly, He is barely able to jump on the side of the hall as the winds caused by the ship cause the man to fly away. Now is the time that the true threat begins. The man is very close to the ship and I can''t create a distance anymore. The only option left is to keep attempting what I am doing, trying to run over the man with the sledder while keeping him as away from the hole as possible.


    Sadly, the man seems to realise that at the same moment as me as he begins to charge towards the hole in the ship with a renewed effort. He is at the moment on the side where the hole is. Again i pick the more agressive choice as I turn the ship in his direction. This sledder has not been designed as I can feel the ship bending too much for my comfort but atleast it does not overturn. The man is ready for such a thing as he jumps to the side. I honestly wish this ship had hooks. With such good sensory formations it would be quite easy to snipe the man. Atleast it would do more to keep the man on his toes than what I am doing. The man is very careful at the moment, playing very defensively. If he was more aggresive, well this mosquito would be quite capable of biting the tortoise.


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    And thus our cat and mouse chase begins. The man tries to close in to the hole, while i turn the ship towards always attempting to hit the man. Twice I manage to get a hit as my damaged bow hits the man, the force of the blow enough to make the man fly. He always returns, with barely any damage to the man. I think I can feel the bow cracking with each succesful collision. I think the ship is going to give away before the man is going to get tired.


    This is not as easy as it looks like. A ship is naturally much slower than the man. Every second it feels like the man has reached into the ship. Every turn that doesn''t allow the man to do this surprises me just as much as the man outside. The sensory formations of the ship are amazing. Now that i am using it take sense of the man, i realise just how much the sensory formations are helping me to handle this.


    I don''t know how long I can manage this. I can feel myself tiring and each reaction of mine is just a fraction slower than before and it is starting to add up. My movements are already like a man that has not slept for the last couple of days. I am quite sure that my vision is going blurry and I can''t say for certain but I am certain I have peed my pant. I dont dare to check my pants. That is a distraction that I can Ill afford.


    I cannot feel my body anymore as the only thing that I can see becomes the man blowing around me like a leaf. He is always near the hole, no matter how i try to surprise him. Every turn of my ship is just that bit slow. Every moment i can feel him come closer to breaching the ship.


    For a moment i wonder why I am i even doing this. I will literally only buy minutes, maybe seconds doing this and there is no man here that truly cares to save me. Even cloak only has helped me because he fears my master. Otherwise, i can feel the venom that exists in the back of his mind. Without my master, the man charged with protecting me would be the first to strike, I am sure of it.


    That thought proves to be my undoing as the man uses this moment of lapse to enter the ship. I let go of my strings, as i finally notice that i seem to have collapsed to the floor.


    I can atleast confirm that i do seem to have peed my pants. It could be sweat too I cant tell.


    I think that i should be scared at the moment, but I have never been this exhausted. I can''t move an inch, though i am still too tired to crawl away. The world seems to have slowed down as i wonder what I could have done to not end up in this situation. When is the fucker going to come here. even at this moment. Thinking has never been such a chore.


    The world suddenly flashes like somebody overloaded a light formation. The only though I could think before my executioner entered the room was, the bastard did not need to destroy a wall, door was unlocked.


    Everything after this a blur of memories, though I guess that i should try and make sense of it though I have to admit that i have had to edit much of this particular part of my memories. Most of this i found out much later after the event occured. immediately after my loss of consciousness the man that came into the ship was not shakok, as I had expected. Instead it was cloak who had literally charged through the ship to get to me.


    The man reached the ship as quickly as he could, in the process causing significant damage to the ship. The sledder given to me looks literally as if somebody has shot an arrow into it though my memory of it is quite vague. I honestly can''t tell if it is memory or imagination at this point. Other than that force of the impact burned through most of the formation on the thing. The two ships involved in this sorry affair are lying there like a monument to our fight.


    The man''s movement were restricted by the chief of the tattoo tribe. The reason for this is something that i do not know of. cloak is really selective with his information it looks like. Most of what I learnt from him is something that i would have guessed from just observing the people. Maybe that would not have been the case if i did not their language but that is not my job anyways.


    Getting back to the point, cloak had to fight the chief of the tattoo tribe to reach to me. I have to assume that it was at the very least a tie since the man made it to my location. After that it was supposedly a massacre cloak supposedly punched shakok right to the mountain of the council with a single punch, though my sources for this are a bit unreliable.


    There he supposedly ripped the limbs of shakok and presented his still alive but limbless body to the tattoo tribe. Hearing this I am not sure how i am supposed to feel. The man has been the source of quite the trouble for me but somehow such a brutal end does not sit well with me.


    Still, i realise that I am not the one to make such a decision. That would be cloak. Well, i am quite tired and this process of editing is harder than I have imagined. At the moment my mind is aching as if had drunk a thousand bottles of beer. (Don''t get me started on that, it was a stupid challenge.) So it would be wise to end the log now.

 the consequences (log 037)

    Well, it has been the first time in my life that I have edited a log before sending it like I did yesterday. It is a weird sense, changing a log. It feels like a man changing his words mid speech. Still, something like yesterday never has happened. I was so focused on the enemy that i didnt even notice that the log was not sent (i have sent the records the instant that I have created them. I almost don''t even realise that i have done so nowadays.). That would have been quite funny, somebody hearing me rambling but missing the one that would have been the most important.


    Then again, the death rush is something that i have experienced for the first time in my life. It was almost like for those few minutes, there was no other thought in my mind. Even the log, much of it I have edited in a form that would be understood by people.


    Else most of what I had was fragmented thoughts and fractured emotions. Sadly, the log is not the only thing that has been broken. My mana sense is burnt. I can feel my mind getting tired as I think my thoughts. My body felt as if somebody had been hammering it like a piece of iron ingot.


    As if all of that was not enough, i still might not be completely clear of the council. Even now they are debating my fate in the council. Paltroc, who is the healer that has been taking care of me has been quite happy to share news with him. The man is a gossiper though, equally likely to believe a rumour as he is willing to listen to the truth and certainly not interested in differentiating the two. But he can speak my language and hearing the man speaks i realise the thought process of the people here. Also the room I am in at the moment is completely devoid of anything but the bed. So the man is literally my only link to the world outside. It is quite funny since all the events that are going to affect me are happening in the building that I am sitting in. Right now i seem to be in one of the rooms in the council.


    He has heard that the council meeting involves all the bigwigs of the council. The lady of spear, lania. The lord of the fallen inked, allon. The cloak, who wields no title. The lord of blood, palok. The lady of the beasts, shilva. Lastly, it is the arch magus of the magicians.  These are all the titles of the people that have attended the meeting in the last couple of days. People that have not left their domes in centuries have come to this council meeting. Somehow I don''t think i warrant such attention, do i.


    I am sure that the head office would be happy to hear all of this. They feel the greatest


    Peace in life after learning all of the factions of any people that might become their enemy in the future. The tribes are the very first on that list. You have no need to thank me also, head office. Just try your best to not to get me killed.


    These are the leaders of all the factions, except maybe cloak and he is the man that is supposed to representing me. talking to paltroc i understand why such a massive reaction has occured. Firstly, it would be due to the nature of the crime committed and secondly it was due to the way that cloak reacted to it.


    Among the snow tribe, it is considered to be a great insult for a more powerful faction to strike a weaker faction. No it would be said that this rule needs to be maintained with a rigour. Most would be living in a bubble which might just pop because powerful person breathed wrong on it. Even if they are using formations environmental magic is fragile at the best of time and the true lands are anything but gentle.


    In such an environment, everybody weaker than the five tribes would be quite careful with the five tribes which might just destroy their home for no reason. The council needs to be quite careful of ever gaining that image. If that happens, the tribes would stop trading with the council and that would be the death knell for the council I believe. I am sure that thing are way more complicated here, but it is also the truth that no matter how complicated it gets, the basics never change.


    See, hear me rambling on. People would think that i am scholar the way that i am going on. Anyway, the actions of the council have been quite objectional to the other tribes and such thing tends to travel through the chain of command. Other than that, cloaks action have also provoked a reaction that could not be predicted. Almost all the major groups seem to have been shocked by this behaviour.


    If it was a faction I think such a reaction would not have been provoked. Then killing the person of the other faction while tasteless makes sense. An independent party beginning to kill people just because they provoked him would cause quite a stir. After all if you begin to kill everybody because they looked at you wrong what is it that you can do especially when you are weaker.


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    Such a person would be treated like a plague among these people gotten rid of as quickly as possible by the major players since they would cause quite a chaos. Still that does not change the fact that at the moment cloak is the only party that is speaking on my side in that building at the moment and the man seems to be quite unpopular at the moment. Seeing this i have to ask why does the man go to such lengths to protect me. It does not really make sense, unless I have seriously underestimated the influence my master has in these lands. I don''t really believe that though, i have never really heard my master mentioning the north except in the passing.


    Still, Let''s hope cloak''s position does not screw up anything for me. If it does well, there is little i can do. Turns out at the moment I do not even have the strength to scheme properly. That would be a certain mark of how tired i am given my history of overthinking. Whatever people say about overthinking they have to admit that it certainly prepares one for quite a few possibilities.


    Anyway, at the moment I do not even want to think about my bodies present state. I have never been injured to such a state and i have taken quite a few nasty hits just in this trip alone. my head is still pounding and there is nothing that I can do to stop it. Even paltroc stopped after trying quite a few tricks to stop it. He has managed to stop the rest of my body from hurting atleast using a mixture of herbs, medicine and magic.


    So that is how i have ended up in my present situation of lying in my bed, with my entire body so numb that I doubt it if I am paralysed and with my head pounding like a drum beat. At the moment, i really don''t which feeling I hate more, the feeling in my head and the inability that I feel at the moment.


    At the moment I can''t even decide how I feel. It is oddly freeing to have to not worry about what is going to happen. At the same time it is not a nice feeling of having your life in the hand of others. Today of all days these two emotions are clashing with one other, leaving me quite confused.


    (After God knows how long.)


    When the door opened and I saw the man, my heart dropped. For a second I was sure that cloak had come to announce my execution. My heart beat speeds up.


    "The council has made a decision regarding you. They have decided to drop all of their charges on you. You are to immediately leave the truelands and not participate in any more matters involving snowlords. That involves building formations for the snowwind empire.", cloak speaks.


    The man sits down, his head still looking above me. Hearing this I guess i should have felt relief or something. The only thing I felt was sleepy and exhausted. Exhausted enough to stop wondering how exactly the council came to such a conclusion. Somehow it feels as if my master has been involved in it.


    "Well, leaving immediately might be an issue. At the moment I cannot even get up if I wanted. I am quite helplessly stuck in this bed for atleast a week.", I ask. My head is still pounding.


    "Oh that is fine, you won''t be leaving this land on your own. It will take a couple of days, but there is am escort coming for you. Your master is personally coming to pick you up today.", he replies. "Until, I will have to stand guard over you, to make sure my brethren don''t do anything stupid. Well, my position should be enough for these guys to stop doing anything funny. Well, that is fine. These fuckers seem to need a reminder every few decades. A bit of trash cleaning should be acceptable to them."


    "Well, what happened to the sledder, the one that you were giving to us as a gift.", i ask. "I hope it has not been damaged in all of this mess. It was a fine piece of work."


    Well, i honestly do not why the ship even came to my mind. I am sure that i should have more immediate worries but the ship is a piece of work especially compared to the ship i came in. I certainly would not like anything happening to it.


    "It is fine, young wolf. It took too much effort to acquire that ship to risk it in children''s fight.", cloak says "and the tattoo tribe is clear enough that the ship is a gift to somebody important for them to try anything with it. Regardless, it is better you rest up. I don''t know what forbidden art that you have used, but your body is quite damaged."


    "What forbidden art, cloak. It was the death rush.", I reply. I am surprised that the man does not know about it. It is common knowledge among the legion.


    "Now what would that be.", cloak asks.


    "A more accurate way to describe it would be the final focus. During life and death battles, a being can sometimes be able to pull out all their reserves of power and enter a state of focus that is not achievable any time else.", i reply, word to word as it had been taught to me. "The legion does not much about it, since so few warriors are able to even achieve such a state."


    Looking at cloak, it is quite clear that the man did not know about that certainly. For a moment, I worry that I have divulged something that is quite important. Well, I can''t even think at the moment how i might have messed it up. Well, whatever will happen will happen. At the moment I don''t even feel like thinking about this topic.


    The man just stands there for a couple of minutes. Finally,


    "Well, it seems that matters here are well in hand. I have quite the bit of work elsewhere in the building. So take care and rest up. You need to be able to walk before your master makes it here." Cloak speaks and leaves.


    That leaves me here again in this room, quite bored out of my mind. Well, there is only one thing that can be done now. That would be to sleep. If the bastards want to kill me, let them do it to in my sleep.

 certain negotiations

    Deep in the truelands, there stands a tower. In the tower sit two men. One is man covered in the cloak of a beast. The other is a middle aged man, one that seemed to have retained all the defining features of his youth. The middle aged appears at ease in the tower while the cloaked man had the aura of a man that was facing his deadliest enemy. To an outsider the scene would look as if the latter man owned the building, though the opposite was true.


    "Why are you always so tense around me, cloak.", the middle aged speaks. "It makes me feel as if I am a monster that has to eat you up.".


    "Well, in my opinion you are worse, lord wolf.", cloak replies, regaining his composure.


    "I will not ask you to explain how you managed what you did. I will certainly not ask you to ever use it in my favour any time soon. I was sure that child of yours would be declared executed unanimously."


    "I am trader by nature, cloak. I naturally traded for that favour.", Lord wolf replies. "Now, I hope that you have not forgotten our trade."


    "What is that you that can give to those ancient bastards that they are willing to leave me alone and leave a child of the legion alone. That to with that detestable bloodline.", cloak replies.


    "That would be a trade secret. It would be wise if you did not poke too much into this matter. Otherwise what you have faced here will seem tame to what the council will pull on you.", lord wolf replies. "Well, that reminds me, you are of a calm sort. I have never seen you be so reckless. To directly attack and maim a soldier of the council. You have a death wish, do you."


    "Well, it was kind of strategic. The council is always headed by youngsters. There is very rarely any need for the actual people that I need to worry about to come into action." Cloak spoke. "If I really wanted to I can empty that building in a day. Youngsters need to be shown with whom they are not supposed to mess with."


    "What happened this time then, I have never seen the tribe leaders so agitated.", lord wolf asks.


    "Well, the tribes all have a sensitive spot for one in the legion. That is still fine, but the kid managed to poke into one of our most sensitive holes. If a person of the legion makes the claim that a person is using legion arts, it is not a claim that can be taken lightly." Cloak speaks "normally this matter would be buried quickly for just how much it can divide the council. The tattoo tribe did not allow that to happen this time. He decided to come personally after what I did. If a tribe leader joins the council, the others have to present themselves. Why they are taking this so seriously is something that only God can tell."


    "Well, there is no need to bring God into this, my friend. After all, you are the man that knows what is going in the head of the tribes." Lord wolf speaks. "Without that, you would have found yourself dead quite quickly."


    "Well, I can guess their intentions. They are good guesses but they are guesses. I can''t think of any reason for why it happen. It suddenly just escalated" Cloak speaks. "Well, you have managed to manage the situation quite well anyways, lord."


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    "Well, I have given my pound of flesh though. Still, what about my ship. You should have it ready by now." Lord wolf asks.


    "The ship is ready, though I do not understand why you need the widows tear. Heartwood is amazingly durable but it simply is not suitable for a sledder.", cloak asks instead. "If you want to study them, I can easily get infinitely better ships. I even managed to smuggle out one of the tattoo tribes most recent flagships. They are pieces of art, lord.."


    "Well, your tattoo magic is quite different from formation magic in general. I would not be able to understand much from a more complicated tattoo, as you clearly know.", lord cloak speaks. "And you know the materials are quite suitable for an airship."


    "But, you would not need to go such hassle for simple airships.", cloak speaks.


    "Well, the airship is not for me, cloak. It is for my annoying disciple.", lord wolf replied.


    "Isn''t a heart wood ship a bit too valuable as a gift to your disciple." Cloak replies. "Even after so many years and and even when it is clear that nothing amazing can be made from heartwood. It took me quite a lot of time and resources to acquire this ship."


    "Well, at the moment I have had to destroy quite a lot of the kids handiwork. The only thing that I have spared is the kids sword. It is a tradition of ours. When it is time, we destroy all the formations of our disciples except the one that has the highest chance of succeeding." Lord wolf continues.


    "In what my lord.", cloak asks.


    "Well, that is a secret of our people, my friend." Lord wolf continues. "I have spoken too much already. Well, point me to the ship and I will take my leave. Also, make sure that the troublesome brat is placed on it first though."


    "As you wish, lord." Cloak replies.


    (After almost a couple of hours.)


    The grand wolf, formation master of the black mountain is at the moment carrying a ship by hand from the truelands to the snowwind empire. The man knows many methods of placing it in other dimensions, his ring being his favourite method of doing but the tattoos used here instead of formations are quite fragile to anything but the ice mana that causes so much trouble in this land.


    Studying these tattoos, so similar to formations was one of the reasons that he had built up his presence in the region. The other was related to the kid he had to come here to save.


    "Lord wolf, it is a surprise seeing you here.", a voice spoke behind him. He had not detected the man until he spoke. He really became annoyed whenever they did that.


    "Well, things certainly got hectic over here aren''t they. To think that the legion would send an observer.", lord wolf replies.


    "Well, the kid is still legion born. The commander is within his rights when sending us.", the observer replies.


    "Well, I don''t care my friend. The legion have given up responsibility of the kid. You have as good as abandoned all claims over the kid.", lord wolf, his voice taking on a snarling tone reminiscent of a wolf.


    "You have sent a child of the legion right into the headquarters of a tribal force, one that is clearly hostile to us." The observer replied. "We have the right to ensure wether the kid is dead or alive."


    "Well, I had protections in place for the kid. The tribals should not have been able to detect neither part of the kids abilities. Since that happen I am left to wonder, if you people illegally ran your rituals on a kid.", lord wolf replied. "Run back to your master and tell him that the kid is safe with his master and I do not need the interference of the legion."


    "Well, it seems that your protections failed and my master was right to worry about the kids safety.", the observer speaks.


    "Well, I wonder if the legion conducts their rituals on little kids. My protections would have easily held against his bloodline as a sage. Even in the council they should not have been able to detect it." The sage replies. "What could have burnt through the protections, I wonder. When you return remember to ask your master that."


    Saying that the grand wolf continues, holding that ship of his in hand.

 the pain of being bribed (log 038)

    I finally feel fine after quite a while. My body is aching all over and my head still feels like a well used anvil but I have not slept as well for what feels like quite a few years.


    I do wonder why the legion speak of this experience as if it is something divine. The only thing that I can say about it is it is quite a crappy experience. I won''t say anything beyond since the  Legion tends to be quite sensitive about this. It is supposed to be a matter of pride that you have experienced the death rush among the legion, you know.


    Still, even before the death rush there was always a pressure and a stress that I did not even notice until I stopped experiencing it and There was a while even in this crappy time when the pressure of my work did not threaten to overwhelm me. That was when I had completed the formation. Even that was snatched from me almost the instant that I completed it.


    Still, at the moment it would be wise for me to speak of the present and not to reminisce about the past.


    At the moment we are en route to the hexmountain, travelling in the sledder called the widows tears. my master is the one carrying the ship. As for why exactly he was carrying the ship when he has dimensional storage i do not know. Maybe, the ship has protections against dimensional transport. Still, he seems to have been carrying the ship for a majority of his journey. Now we have stopped though the reason for that is quite clear too.


    Well, the man is quite busy dismantling the ship. I can hear him run around the ship, messing with it. The man has built as many airships as I have seen in my life so I am sure that he won''t ruin it. The only problem I have is that the man is not taking me to the head office immediately.


    This is technically me abandoning my mission. Somebody will have to go the head office and smooth things with them. I wonder what would have happened to Trevor and the group. I hope that they are fine, even the two idiots. It is not like I want them dead. I really should quickly ask my master where they are.


    Well, it is about time that I leave this room of mine. I have been spending the entirety of my trip in the room. At the beginning I barely noticed it but by now the room seems like a room and more like a prison.


    It is time for me to take my leave then. I notice the differences the instant that I leave my room. Many of the rooms that should have been have closed, have been broken up as formations fill the entire thing.


    My master certainly seems to have been doing quite the bit of work. I keep walking towards the control room, which is where I guess my master should be doing his work.


    As i go to my destination my masters handiwork becomes more and more clearer. Most of the mans work is beyond me, I barely understand the stuff that he has explained to me.


    Someday I want to build something like this. Finally I meet the man at the control room. The visual of the man carrying what seems to be a massive block of wood. The only problem is my master is dressed like a gentleman. The visual of a man that should be involved in political intrigue lifting like a worker is quite the visual to the eye.


    "Well, you won''t learn if you don''t ask.", the man spoke suddenly. "It is not like you have much to do anyways. I am surprised that you are on your feet."


    "Well, what was that about, I have never been this miserable in my life. My head still feels like somebody is using it to practice archery.", I speak, finding a convenient spot to sit.


    "Well, whatever you did, it seems to have consumed every single reserve that you had. I am sure that you must have achieved your pinnacle for a few minutes, it came at the cost of draining your physical body, your mana reserves and most importantly your mana sense.", my master speaks. "The damage to your mana sense can match the damage that is faced when one makes use of a forbidden technique. It will take a few months to recover. You should be thankful that whatever you did did not consume your life force."


    "Well, I have no idea what I did, but this is common among the legion. It is not a technique, it is more like a state of mind achieved from my training. They call it the death rush. I never expected that I would be able to achieve it, to be honest. It is not something that one can do without learning the hidden art related to it. It is a secret from us trainees, only taught to those that Excel in the training. That was not me." I reply. "Though I honestly wish that I did not manage it. I never expected it to be so painful."


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    "Well looks I will need to have a talk with the legion about what they are teaching their wards.", my master replied. "Well, now is not the time for me to talk about all of this. I have something very interesting to talk to you."


    "Well, you can certainly start by explaining what you are doing with this ship. It is supposed to be a piece of art you know." I ask, seeing the man bursting to respond. The man likes to show off whenever possible.


    "Well, the formations in this ship are something beyond your capability. Meanwhile they are quite useful to me.", my master replies. "So I am removing these formations. You don''t need to worry, I will be replacing it with something that is more in your wheel."


    "Well, is there a need to rip apart the ship for studying these formations.", I ask him again.


    "Well if you want to use this ship, you should be able to repair the ship. It is not like I will always be sitting here to help you repair these ships.", the man replies and I realise that he wants to give the ship to me almost as quickly as i realise what it means. "What have you done this time, you old man. I am not going to be doing another mission of yours."


    My master is a very strong believer in the process of bribing you. If he has done something that will hurt you, the man likes to prepare gifts that would smoothen the blow at the same time as he would give his terrible news to you. Sadly, it never really seems to work for the man.


    "You brat, I really should punish you one of these day." My masters speaks and after hesitating a bit. "Well, I had to destroy your works kid. All of them except for your sword."


    Hearing that, my mind becomes blank. Do you know how many fucking months I have had to spend building those formations. It is time for me to take a deep breath. Men like my master must be dealt with calmly or they tend to get very annoying.


    "Will you tell me why at the very least. If it was in a random whim I will make sure to remember it.", I reply. I am also surprised at the calmness I am exhibiting. I expected that I would have already tried to punch the man.


    "Well, it is tradition kid. The reason why I had to do it I will explain to you later. I still have to do quite the work. I will after all have to make sure that you will be able to reach your next mission." He speaks. "The head office technically considered this missions of yours to be a failure. I have had to negotiate with the head office to get you another mission."


    "Well, that reminds me what has happened to my colleagues. The people that I was supposed to escort.", I ask the man. It would certainly not reflect well on me when the head office were to evaluate me on my first mission and my colleagues are all stuck in a bad situation while I am stuck here, quite far away from a position where I can help.


    "They are fine, kid. Else the head office would not have left you with such a light punishment. Thankfully, you also completed their request. That was a pretty good formation you built there. I must admit that you are quite naive to take such risks and build such a formation. To build a nurturing formation in the middle of a battlefield.", my master speaks. "In everything that you did that was the thing that the head office would be most pissed of."


    "Now why would that be.", I ask. "It is not like I can go against the hexmountain treaty."


    "Well, the formation you have created is like a seed. If the snowwinders are able to work on it correctly and if they study it well enough, they will have a fort like the frozen peak in the next ten to twenty years. The head office certainly does not wish for such a thing to happen." My master replies. "Though, the information that you have provided is enough to offset some of that anger. For the remaining I have negotiated with them. They will forget your present transgression if you do another mission this time. Something that is a bit tamer and bit closer to home."


    "So what is it that I am to be doing.", I ask. The head office is known for their ability to remember vendettas. If I am not careful they might just end up chucking me in a location where my death will be a certainty.


    "Well, your colleagues will be joining you soon enough. Trevor and his bunch will meet up with you at the hexmountain.", my master replies. "As for what is that you will be doing, it is a mission in the mayfire castle next to the hexmountain. It is one of the vassal powers under the black mountain. Recently there has been heavy bandit activity in the area and they are somehow distrupting our communications with the mayfires, whose fort it is."


    "So it is a investigation mission.", I ask. "Go in, locate all the bandits. Kill as many as you can and retreat if somebody powerful comes in."


    "Something like that. You will need a decent airship though, which is why I am having to hurry with all of these modifications." My master replies. "Once I am completed, it will be a airship of a pretty decent quality and I am sure that you can improve it further from there."


    "How the hell did bandits grow so powerful near the hex mountain though. It is not like the legion is lazing over there.", I ask. That is something that i have always been confused about. There have always been bandits near the mountain, sometimes enough to make traveling a pain in the ass.


    "The legion is a hammer, lad. they can empty the region surrounding the hexmountain out of bandits, but such cruelty is something that will also make our allies quite wary of us. At the moment we certainly don''t want to be bogged down in fights right next to our houses. Especially since a majority of these powers also tend to feed us.",  My master replies. "The head office will always manage all of this on their own for that reason, even if they are not very good at it and in this case that means sending you to take care of this matter. Its a win win for every party involved."

 the bloody fang (log 039)

    The modifications on the widows tear have been going on for the last couple of days. Well, I will have to change the ships name to something else. this name sounds so depressing.


    Anyway, I have to admit that my master is quite efficient when he wants to be (which Is a surprisingly rare occurence). The magic that I don''t understand at all has been replaced with formations that I barely understand. Looks like I will have to start studying again.


    It looks like my master had wanted to acquire this unique magic the name for which I do not even know. Well, even if the master has left only the bones of this ship, these are solid bones. Heartwood is way better suited for formation magic the way that I can feel the mana chugging along on this thing. It is almost like a heartbeat the way that the mana thrums along in this thing.


    I also think that the material is able to show more of its capability under my master. Granted that should not have been a surprise given that my master is quite a bit more capable at using druidic magic. The man has been hinting at a very interesting ability too.


    Anyway, the formation that my master has replaced the ship with is a barebones network. It will do its job correctly and will run pretty well but there won''t be any fancy tricks with this one. It looks it will be my job to add those fancy tricks. Well, It is not like my master to hold my hands anyways. The man is a mother bird, ready to push you out of your nest to teach you flying, except you are a human that cannot fly.


    Still, compared to the piece of trash that I have had to deal with while going to the snowwind empire, this is almost the difference between heaven and earth. Almost as if he can read my mind.


    "The head office does that with intent", my master speaks. "It is a way for them to project weakness. It would hard to keep sending your soldiers so deep into the territory of quite a few forces if they did not feel like you were without claws. Also, it is cheaper for them to do this. The head office is pretty miserly. You will understand once you complete a mission for them."


    "Well, it was such a pain to maintain the ship, master. I really thought I would die in it a couple of times.", I reply "leave it about the ship though, give me my sword. At the moment I do not trust any of my works with you. They would have been so useful too."


    "Yeah, yeah. That sword of yours is with me at the moment.", my master replies, as he finally throws my sword at me. "As for why I have called you down here. Firstly, it is to grant you the control sticks for this ship. You can use it until you have linked the sword to the ship."


    He sees my miserable expression. That particular skill I have never really managed to achieve in my life.


    "You will complete it, you brat. You can build a class eight formation in a battlefield and formation linking befuddles you. Well, even if it does it is important that you learn. As for the reason why, I guess it is time that I explain to you about quite a few stuff.", my master speaks. His tone takes on a seriousness that makes it clear that I should shut up.


    "Well, I am sure that you must have always wondered why I have never explained the elven path of cultivation beyond the foundation stage.", my master asks.


    "Well, not really. Cultivation doesn''t really matter to us doesn''t it. Our strength is dependent on the formations that we build, isn''t it. Cultivation doesn''t really a key role in that now doesn''t it. I just assumed that you must have forgotten to discuss it", I reply. It is almost funny to see the expression of despair on my master. I do actually wonder about it, quite the bit.


    "You brat, you will really end up dead one of these days. Well, the cultivation path of a formation mage is quite unique in the elven path.", my master speaks. "Other cultivation paths focus on the cultivation of self. The building up of your body, your mana or your spells. For us formation mages, the process is different. We make use of formations to cultivate."


    My master arms begin to change, taking on a wolfish characteristics. One of my masters core abilities is his ability to transform into a wolf. He can freely control this process, to an almost absurd degree.


    "My transformation abilities are an example of this. I achieve it using a formation, but can you feel me linking to an formation. The formation is inside me, if I were to put it simply. It is a basic druidic formation called as "wolf transformer".  The path that we formation mages follow is the path of fusion. The end goal of our path is to fuse a single formation into our flesh, our soul and a part of your very being. The formation will then be able to become the core of our power.", my master replies. "For each step of the path, you will need to refine this formation. At your present stage of cultivation you will need to fuse with a class nine formation. This will be called your core formation and it will be the core of your magic in this path."


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    "Why does that relate to the destruction of my other formations. I could have sold them if I cannot use it.", I ask the man.


    "As I have told before, it is a tradition. My master did it to me and I did it to you. You will most likely do it to your students. I have destroyed all the formations that belong to you, except the one that might function as your core formation", my master replies. "Now is the time for you to focus. There is a reason that you have to go through this at the moment anyways. At the foundation stage you will have to link your sword with each foundation block that you have created. That will grant you greater control over your sword and other benefits too. It is going to be a pain to complete though. How many foundation blocks have you even built up, you brat."


    "I am at the second stage, master. I am working on the second foundation slab.", I reply.


    "That is good, I had almost five or six of them built up when I started my work. I will give you the method to link your sword to soon enough, for now here is your sword.", my master speaks, throwing my sword at me.


    It is my master piece, even though I have built class eight formations for the simple fact that I built it completely on my own and it was what earned me my discipleship with my master. Made from the bone of a vampire grunt, it is able to make use of a few of the racial abilities of the vampires. The main ability of it is its ability to absorb blood and heal me up till a limited amount. Other than that it still gives me a few more abilities.


    Even after training under my master, this sword has been my treasure. The only reason I had left it in the base was due to his explicit command that I could not take it with me. I assumed it would remain safe there. After all, who would think that my master was a formation destroying maniac.


    I had built it using the bone of a vampire grunt. I will speak of them when I need to but just know they are the weakest in the vampire hierarchy, Created to be cannon fodders and distractions. That is why I call the sword "bloody fang".


    "Good, I will have to warn you though the process of linking will be quite painful to you. It will literally feel as if somebody is pulling your bones. You can''t give up focus when it is happening.", my master speaks. "If you do, there is a significant possibility that your foundation block could collapse."


    "Well, will you tell me about the stage after the foundation stage then.", I ask my master.


    "My rule still applies, you brat. You need not know about the stage after the foundation stage until you have completed my condition." My master replied. " Create a class seven formation and I will explain the next step to you. Until then this knowledge is simply too unsafe for you. I know you, you will go and attempt this the instant that I tell you anything about this step. I have never seen any formation mage that is as impulsive as you."


    "I am sure that if the person teaching me would have been more careful in explaining the negative effects of what we are doing, I would be more than happy to actually follow the Safer path." I reply. "I have never seen a teacher less inclined to teach than you."


    "Well, I teach well you brat. My master did not even used to do that, you know. That damn man just used to give me tasks. Everything else I had to manage.", my master replies. "I atleast teach you and I teach you well at that."


    "Are you sure. Just because your teacher was shitty at teaching doesn''t mean that you are not shitty at teaching, you old man" I reply. "Anyways, I am sure you can give me something. After all, I cannot do much with just a description of the stage now can I. I would need the method to do so, which is safely still in your hands."


    "I wonder why I took you in as a disciple sometimes. You are such a pain in the ass. Just that explanation will be enough to give you ideas and that is even more dangerous. You won''t even stop yourself from trying it out and that would be dangerous, especially with the half knowledge.", my master replies. "Naturally, you will not listen to a single word of my explanation since you have decided not to do so."


    "What can I do. You dangle that knowledge in front of me like a carrot in front of a rabbit and expect me to remain calm.", I reply. "I would not be so curious if you just told me what to do in the first place. I am tempted to go and ask somebody else about it."


    "I knew it, that is why I have given specific warnings to anybody that you might be able to ask. Nobody will give you anything." He replies.


    "Oh that is why nobody was ready to talk to me." I realise while at the same time realising that I had spoken that out loud. I can see my masters expression change in real time, as I begin to plan my escape. There is only so much provocation that the man can handle before he will lose it completely.


    I find myself at the door to the room, as my master talks behind me. Right now my spine is tingling in my back.


    "I knew it, you brat. Where are you running to, I just want to which bastard did not inform me that my student was asking questions he should not have. I won''t kill them, ....."


    I don''t hear the remaining part as I safely leave to the confines of my room. I will go and talk to him once he has safely calmed down. He won''t harm me in his anger, but the man is more than likely to take it out on my ship and I don''t want to get a half broken ship before I have even driven it.


    Well, it is the ideal time to shut down this log I gues.

 adding cannons to the ship (log 040)

    War in airships normally involve cannons. These cannons are not like the ships that exist in the seas. Those cannons work using a black powder which they use in fireworks called as gunpowder. That is enough for skirmishes in the water where you need to be able to get close to the enemy in order to fight them.


    The cannons of the sky are formations. They are usually magic of a more volatile nature.  Mostly they tend to be of the fire element, mostly fireball at various levels of strength. These formations can be locked on to enemy targets too in all directions too. So if the enemy were to suddenly rise or descend you could still make sure that your cannon can be aimed at them, though that takes quite a bit of skill.


    One could try and use cannons of the sea in an airship battle, but the problem with such ships is the range of these cannons. Most would not be able to touch the ship even when the other ship ended up in boarding range. After all, just being a bit above the enemy or a bit below them, would be enough to make them essentially useless.


    Fighting in the sky then becomes the process of trading blow using our cannons and dodging said cannon shots, while trying to board the other sides ship and prevent boarding into our ship. Boarding into the widows tear will certainly be a impossibility in the sky, so if you manage the cannons of the enemy, our chances of survival are quite high.


    Thankfully such cannons are costly and most new pirates are not able to afford it. The pirates nearer to my home will be much better equipped. I wouldn''t be surprised if they had a dedicated flagship (every pirate group usually has one. Most of them tend to be the older ships of the armies in the south. They might be kld but they are hard to fight.)


    Anyways, I have given all of this explanation to explain why a ship needs a cannon. You would be surprised how many do not tend to know even the basics of a battle in the sky and how important some of these people tend to be. They usually are the people that end up deciding how the people in the sky end up being equipped.


    I have three such cannons that I need to add to the ship. Two cannons are mid range cannons of the fire element and one of them is a large cannon of the light element. Sadly, these cannons are not the creations of my master. The man seemed to have acquired it as a spoil of war. I don''t know which unfortunate pirate ship encountered my master, but the cannons have barely been used and they are supposed to give quite a bit of decent firepower too.


    They are quite useable at my level, but they are still a step below the working of the ship itself and that is where my work has grown to be so troublesome.


    These cannons need to be linked to the formations in the third floor of the ship. My masters formation can work both on the ambient mana and also work on a separate source of mana.


    The cannons naturally will need to be linked to the formations that power the ship or I will have to individually go and charge each of these cannons. Thay would certainly eat up a lot of my time. I will also have to manually shoot the cannon. For that purpose though I would need a proper troop that has been trained for aerial battles which is something that I can certainly not imagine happening in my case. I am actually not sure if the head office even has a troop that has been trained in aerial warfare.


    Even if I had a troop, then there would be the issue of soldiers living space. The widows tear is not particularly large. It has three floors with a storage area in the first floor. The second floor is the living quarters with what I count to be twelve room. I could stuff like two people in one room, though I will have to admit that is going to be quite a tight fit and that would still be enough to only fit half of one troop, which is roughly about fifty soldiers. All of this is discounting the fact that soldiers will need to eat too, which would be another massive storage issue.


    Instead this ship is destined to be a speedy bugger, with a majority of the controls under the control of the mage that will be controlling the ship. This is a kind of ship that I have always wanted to pilot so you won''t find me complaining in that case. Well, it is stuff like this that end up leaving me wondering if I should really be so mad at my master.


    Then he does something that he only does to make living a pain for me that I end up wanted to strangle him. Anyway returning to my present situation, where I have been spending the last couple of weeks in the simple process of trying to understand how to link the cannons to the ships formation so that the ship will be able to control the cannons under my command.


    Normally this is a pretty easy task, with skilled formation mages able to link thousands of cannons on their own in one of the larger ships. They have the two benefits though. First is a group of underlings who are actually willing to do all the grunt work and secondly, a standard design of formation which makes the process of such an addition quite a mechanical process. Hundreds of mages have used and perfected the processes of such a linking to make our work quite easy.


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    The formations on the ship are all my masters work, not the result of the creations of any of the Titans down south so it is impossible for him to actually follow a standard method. The man would work better using his own designs. That also means compared to those somewhat trashy formations that you can find on most ships, these formations are infinitely better.


    This difference exists at the very basic level of a formation. If I create a formation, I will need ten runes to do something my master is able to fit hundreds in the same spell. The final spell might be same but there is a marked difference in speed, efficiency and the simple raw output of the formation.


    Such a formation cannot be generalised into a standard structure that would be easily understood by even a normal pirate. My masters work is naturally not that simple. Even me, a man that has spent nearly half of my life with formations is not able to understand much of this, let alone a outsider who has never seen formations like this. Only another formation master of my masters calibre will be able to even figure out my masters designs correctly.


    Anyway, returning to the present case Those extra runes are what is causing problem in my present case. If it is a normal formation It would be quite easy to figure out which runes I need to tweak to link the ship to the cannons even if nobody has a easy solution for it.


    Among these hundreds, the purpose of each rune is something that I have little idea about and I cannot go about wantonly messing with these runes. That means that I have to study each formations from the very basic runes, getting an idea on their structure atleast. This way, I will understand the core components of the formation that I don''t want to be messing with.


    At best, I might mess with whatever additional bonuses that my master has built into the ship and at worst I can completely collapse the propulsion Matrix in the ship, causing the ship to crash to the ground and then my master would be the only person that would be able to fix that.


    You can say for certain that my master won''t be pleased about that since he has left clear instructions that he does not want to be disturbed. He has impisoned himself in the storage area, studying the new magic that he encountered here. He calls it tattoo magic, which means that it must have some relation to the tattoo tribe.


    That could certainly explain some of the animosity they felt for sages. We are not told much about them but they are supposed to skilled at more technical magics, much like formation magic, warlock magic and other such magics.


    After all, who would like to have competitors when they hold a monopoly over a region and I I also have to assume that the sages must have left quite the trail of destruction behind too. I can''t say for certain, but it seems to me that formations have quite a negative effect in the truelands.


    Anyways, that is not my place to wonder about such things. After the last time I provoked the old man, it would be wise for me to not remain in his radar for too long. The man is not one for direct punishments. Instead he will find the method that will seem the funniest to him, which often is the cruelest method of punishment.


    After all you need to remember. The man took away all my formations and made essentially go defenseless into enemy territory as training. His punishment certainly will be a step beyond that. I honestly can''t predict the man''s reaction sometimes though.


    Once he calms down enough, we would already be at the hex mountain and my master is a pretty busy man. I will be frank, that I honestly dint understand what is his work since he is quite protective about it but he certainly will not have the time to do it for me. He must be quite interested in this new magic that he even travelled this far north.


    Without the ship, he would still come north, mind you, but the man is quite good at showing his annoyance.


    Now, to leave my master aside. The addition of the cannon has been quite a success, atleast in my eyes. That is why I had even forgotten to add a log in the last half a week. My master has nearly traveled half of the distance on his own, after which he modified the ship and is using it to return.


    That means we have roughly about another week and half of traveling left to return to the hexnountain. I am sure that my master can make it a much shorter trip, but he is busy in his own thing.


    That leaves me with one final thing to do that I have to assume will take nearly the remaining time that I am left and that would be linking my sword to the ship. This is technique called as formation linking that seems to be quite unique to my master. I have atleast not seen anything like that in any other formation created by other formation mages.


    With it, my master is able to link all of his formation with that one formation called as the key formation. Once the link is established, one is able to control all his formations directly with the key formation granted he is physically close enough to the formation. He can make use of the key formation like a control stick, essentially. No other person will be able to then make use of the formation.


    Other formation mages tend to have other techniques to achieve something like this, but none are able to achieve my masters feat of remote control that he can achieve with a key formation.


    While all of that is nice, the only problem is that I only know the theory of this technique. My master claims that it is supposed to be easier than building a class eight formation but I won''t believe until I achieve it on my own first.

 first attack on the ship (log 041)

    Piloting a ship this time is a completely different from the previous time that I fought in one( or more accurately ran away in one.) My previous ship feels like a tortoise compared to this one both in speed and the way that it moves. The ship reacts almost immediately to every command that I give it. If there is any lag I can''t detect it.


    The ship behind us is a pretty good vessel, though. I am pretty sure that the other side has atleast two cannons. They have been trying to get their cannons in position for quite a while.


    Often the cannons are placed to the side for convenience and to put as many cannons in the place as possible, but the opposite ship have taken the option of keeping it to their front and back. They can keep much fewer cannons that way, but it is going to be harder to hit them with my cannons. That would be the case with any patrol ship i have to assume.


    The ship shouldn''t be particularly strong in combat though, for the simple fact that it has managed to ambush us. That means that these pirates have invested quite the bit in their camouflage formations. (And you can tell most pirates never spend much on their ships.)


    The fact that even my sensitive mana sense did not manage to capture them, means that they should have spent a lot on it. It could also be that my senses have not recovered as much as I hoped. My master would have detected them for certain, but the man is the kind that he would not even have mentioned it to me so that I can have a learning experience. He is still in the storage, so I cant really expect him to react. Well, I should be able to handle them or the enemy would have been destroyed before I even sensed them. It could also be his way of punishing me.


    I would have already taken down the ship too if they had not ambushed me like this. The ship is a mid sized one and the reaction speed of the ship can be considered to be quite decent too though still a bit slower than mine. The problem is that their pilot is pretty experienced too (certainly more than me. I was given a ship to drive when I was made a captain. Knowing only theory has its limits), so I won''t be able to take him down just by basic tricks.


    The ambush was a cannon shot that should have pierced through the ships defence and hit the navigators room. That would have wrecked most of the control formations and would have made the process of boarding quite a bit more easy for the other side.


    The opposite side missed and I entered into action, quickly diving down to dodge any further attacks. That means that the opposite side doesnt have particularly strong cannons (granted my ship is smaller than the average.). The surprising thing is that the ship even managed to hold up quite well.


    The cannon did not even manage to penetrate the outer wall. There is damage that I think that I will be able manage it. It will even allow me to test a surprise that my master managed to leave for me. The man was quite explicit that I should only use it when the ship is damaged only. The man never gives a warning lightly.  As for what it exactly only God will be able to tell. I pissed of the man before he could tell.


    Returning to the ship, right now we are trying to get into positions. The enemy ship is trying to get perpendicular to me while I am trying to get palleral to them. As is usual, I have placed the cannon to the sides of the ships. While three cannons are not particularly a large number of cannons, it is something I am used to and it is not like I will only be using three anyways. the flame element ones are on one side and the light based one on the other.


    Where the enemy suddenly turns to either it''s front or back. I immediately back down or go up, essentially dodging the shot but it also ruins all my chances of lining my shot. A more skillful pilot could maybe pull of the turn, essentially turning in line with the ship so I am parallel to it and peppering it with all of my shots. That is the standard method of operation based on all I have learnt.


    That is the usual method, but I do not have the skill to pull it off, especially due to the opposite sides pilot. He seems to almost realise my intent and react accordingly to it. If I even show an inclination of going their way, the enemy almost dives down so steeply that I can''t help but wonder if they are crashing. You can never really tell with pirates and the ancient stuff they use.


    Otherwise, if the other ship was a combat worthy ship of this era, this would be a terrifying fight. Thankfully most such ships are not something the general public would be able to access anyways. Heck even seeing them is a rarity. Some of the newer models, even the head office is not sure they exist.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.So we dance, each trying to get a shot without the other hitting us. My trip to the north has atleast increased my patience with energy consuming chases that often end up with us being chased. Here I have quite a bit more control. This is especially since, we haven''t even stopped making our way to the hex mountain. It is still a couple of days away. The closer to the hex mountain we are though, the more allies that we have. Not that we need them at the moment.


    This particular dance where neither side is able to shoot the other will continue for a while. That is until the pirate would either retreat, attempt a boarding or do something crazy. It is the crazy ones you should be careful of with the pirates.


    Anyways, We will have allies in the area, who would be able to help out a friendly ship like me. That puts the pressure of completing this fight early on the enemy rather than me for once.


    After a while of this stupid chase, the enemy finally does something decisive. Rather than try to weave around me, the enemy ship decisively charges at me. Rather than try to charge at me, it takes a sudden turn which essentially puts it in parallel to us. The enemy begins to shoot hooks into my ship. So that proves that they are not crazy atleast.


    The enemy essentially gave me the opportunity to shoot it in return for a chance at boarding my ship. A risky move for them so I naturally take the opportunity as the enemy presents it to me.


    The side which the enemy has parked at is the side where I have placed two cannons in, so I press my attack, as the cannons of the fire elements eat into the enemies side. The fires that it will cause will be enough to leave the enemy ship quite damaged even if they manage to escape. Wood is wood, no matter how much you enchant it.


    The hooks are a problem though. Fighting a boarding battle in such a small ship is unwise, even if I wanted too. The enemy seems to have banked on that, expecting to catch me offguard. Here I have to again thank my experience dealing with hooks from my journey to the north. (Thankfully there were no cannons involved in our journey north or we would be a wreck.)


    My normal trick to deal with enemy hooks were to shoot it with my hook, essentially causing a head on collision. This is a good enough trick to deal with single ships and is useful even here.


    This is even easier since I have a cannon on my ship. The mana in those cannon per shot is easily ten times the mana that I had overloaded my hook with. It would literally take me ten weeks to gather that much mana. That means that the cannon doesn''t even need to be particularly accurate to destroy the other side hook. It will just burn up like a paper placed in a fireballs path.


    The enemy certainly does not seem to have expected such a reaction, especially since what I have done is essentially shooting at myself to prevent the enemy from boarding. It does damage my ship but I expect a boarding would be harder to deal with and would certainly cause greater damage anyways.


    With the failure of the boarding hooks, I think the opposite side seems to decide to retreat, as the ship begins to dip. I could try and shoot my hooks into this ship but that would ultimately earn me nothing. Destroying this ship would simply means that another pirate ship would take over this region.


    After all, if the pirates were so easy to deal with, the guard corps have people that are expected to take on entire armies with their subordinates often outnumbered by a significant number. A few pirates would be quite easy for them I have to assume.


    The pirates here must have something that allows them to fight with the guard corps on equal footing. I certainly am not in the mood to discover that ace in the hole, especially with this new ship of mine.


    Pirate attacks this close to the hexmountain are supposed to be a rarity. It is almost a wonder to see one happen. Well, the widows tear is a relatively small ship.


    Even my previous ship, is a size above this one, though no pirate would be likely to attack the thing simply for poor it looks. A small pretty ship means people assume the ship to be a easy prey. After all, anybody powerful enough to be a threat would be travelling In a ship that would be matching his strength.


    As for why the hexmountain is stuck with such shitty on the ground protection. It has mainly to do with the fact that the black mountain holds control of only the hex mountain. The regions around the place are held by an alliance of forces that surround the hexmountain.


    They do not like excessive influence of the hexmountain in their lands, especially that of the legion. I would assume the legion becoming active here would cause them all to rebel the way that everybody talks of it.


    The only armed force that can operate near our home base is guard corps except the fact that the guards that are busy with their escort missions of the scholars.


    They can barely keep their focus on our surroundings unless something serious has happened. Even then they send newbies like me to the spot to manage it.


    Most of these tend to be easy missions, since nothing really dangerous exist in the area. The only threat that can exist in the region are bandits.


    Most of them are non existent threats. Farmers that had their lands snatched or ambitious young men that are out to make a quick buck tend to be the targets of our missions.


    It seems almost a pity to have to hunt them down, but travelling would become quite a hastle if it is allowed to continue though and while we are no trade center or a land people would like to travel to, trade is something that is still occuring and something that needs to occur smoothly.


    Anyways, regardless of how weak these pirates are, if they do manage to survive our hunting they also tend to become quite the pain in the ass too. After all, one just need to see the existance of the pirate kings for just how much of a pain in the ass they can be. Atleast we don''t need to deal with that.

 the hexmountain (log 042)

    The hexmountain is the largest mountain on the continent. Somehow those words don''t really seem to do it justice. Even standing here It is hard for me accept that the thing in front of me is supposed to be a mountain.


    From where I am standing the place seems to be a wall of stone that is covering everything in front of me. You can imagine that half of the world has suddenly been replaced by stone. The angled slope of the mountain is vast and uniform that it almost looks as if the mountain was created by some giant that bent the ground towards the sky.


    Though, to be honest I would struggle to imagine a large enough giant to be able to achieve this feat.


    From where I am situated the buildings most of which are the offices of all the important people in the black mountain look like a toy. Most of these are palaces that would make the temporary fort look like a commoners house.


    It is for this perspective that I even dare to be so high up. I am looking at the mountain from as high as I can and all I can see is the wall of rock. It almost feels like somebody has turned the heaven and earth by ninety degrees. For a few moments i wonder if this is what a man crashing to the ground would look at.


    Any higher than this point and even this sturdy ship will broken due to the storms that rage in the mountains. Even coming this high was already a risk. It is a wonder that my master Is already not here.


    One of the consequences of being one of the tallest mountain is that the mountain is plagued with storms, capable of crushing the bones of anybody that crosses the storm line. The Storm line is the point beyond which the storms on the mountain become deadly.


    I have heard that only the generals are able to survive beyond the storm and even they have to be careful when they reach the peak. Though nobody would be stupid enough to try such a pointless act.


    "Get the ship down, you have already damaged the ship too much.", a voice behind me speaks. It is my master who seems to be quite annoyed by my daring.


    "I will, I will. I am sure that even you don''t get many opportunities to appreciate the beauty of the place.", I reply. "You can do with a bit of relaxation in your life, old man. Anyway the ship is more than capable of taking care of itself."


    The storms of the hex mountain are sight to behold to those that have the sight. It looks like a painting in which one could get lost in, ever changing and always unique. I could look at it for hours.


    Still, I heed my masters command as I tip the ship to dive downwards. Just making my way here already was unwise, but it was always something of a wish to atleast reach the storm line, either personally or in a ship.


    Anyways, My Target is my masters personal landing square which is one of the least used places in the mountain. My master is a solitary man and I am the only person other than him that is allowed into his complex.


    The only reason that the man even has a landing strip is that it was built in when he was given this place and the strip never came in the way of my masters own renovations. Well, it ultimately ended up benefiting me since the man is pretty unlikely to ever use it.


    Dropping of the man shouldn''t have taken long, but the man had finally decided to go into a lecturing mode (I have honestly got too much experience due to trevor.). Most of it were warnings not to damage the ship as soon as I got it without any oversight.


    My master office is one of the closest to the storm line. One of my very first challenges when I became his disciple was to make my way to his office on foot. The result was that the young me was almost blown into the air due the strong winds in the place. It almost killed me and did result in me breaking both my legs. Some kind of a tradition for my master. He has many of those.


    Now, with the mana in me I can easily do that now. It does not mean that this particular mission left me without a healthy respect for the mountain.


    the man takes his leave as I go to another place in the hex mountain. This spot is a not as private as my masters, but I don''t need to spend long here as my troop enters into the ship.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    It has been quite a while since I have seen the three people. In all of the mana spots in this busy place it is hard to tell who is who, but the man in the middle is certainly Trevor.


    Well, can''t keep staring at the idiots, after all I have to remove the ship as quickly as possible or it is pretty likely that I will cause an accident in this busy landing area. They are used to much larger or much smaller ships than mine.


    The minute that I confirm that the three men are in the ship I take off. For a few moments I feel cheated as I do this. After all I was supposed to be left alone for atleast a couple of months before being given another mission.


    I then remember that I would have technically failed in the mission since I had essentially abandoned the troop. I could argue that I was forced to go to the temporary fort, which caused the events after that.


    One should not forget that the first priority of the guard is supposed to keep the scholars as safe as possible. The people that would judge me would certainly not have a very deep idea about the nuance of the situation I was in.


    Anyways, it doesn''t take me long to leave the hexmountain though it will remain visible for a very long times, it ever changing color becoming a bit more static.


    (After a while)


    Assigning rooms to the three soldiers doesn''t take long, though trevor has beconed me into his room the instant that he has settled.


    "The head office is quite angry at you at this moment.", Trevor begins, with a gravity that leaves me worried.


    "Well, there is little I can do when the commander cannot do anything against an enemy. I was pretty sure that I was going to die.", I reply, my tone more defensive than I hoped it would be.


    "Well, that is fine. We guards are imprisoned all the time. The head office has a problem with the way that you have abandoned the scholars to galavant off." Trevor speaks, his tone quite serious.


    "Well, how was that galavanting. It is not like I wanted to do that. I almost ended up dying too", I reply, Getting a bit mad.


    "Well, that doesn''t really matter to the council. You were already a pretty unpopular choice in the council for captaincy based on what i have been hearing and the way that you have acted in your first mission was supposed to be the proof that you could handle it.", Trevor speaks, his tone getting a graver as he speaks. How the hell does the man do that.


    "I followed your suggestion then and you have done these a thousand times haven''t you." I ask the man. I don''t even know why I am quite so emotional at the moment.


    "Well, these things happens. We can just adapt to the cards we are dealt with. I gave the best suggestion according to the situation. Anyways, your master has managed the situation now. They have given you a more suitable mission they feel.", Trevor replies. "If you fail this one, I think they will quite likely remove you as a guard."


    "Well, what exactly is the mission then. My master has only told me that it is something to do with a place called the mayfire castle and that bandits were involved.", I ask the man.


    "The mayfire castle is a fort that exists about two days from the hex mountain. It is lead by a friendly mage family called as the mayfires. They are master of flame magic and have been responsible for providing security for the food caravans passing in the region.", Trevor replies. "At the moment, the only thing that we know is that the mayfires have stopped communication with us for some reason and we have not been getting as many food caravans as we should be getting."


    "So we are supposed to see what has happened to the mayfires.", I ask.


    "No, you are supposed to ensure that the food caravans are protected. How you do that is up to you. The main threat that you are likely to face is a group of bandits called as the bloodheart gang. They are relatively old group of bandits, that have expanded quite heavily recently.", Trevor speaks. "That means that you should be able to deal with a majority of their ambushes. Atleast that is what the head office assumes."


    "So what is that you assume.", i ask the man.


    "You can try the legions method but that would mean you are treating the symptom rather than the disease. You will have to spend time constantly doing patrols and even then it would likely that you will be struck here for a very long time.", trevor replies. "The blood heart is like a slippery eel if you chase after them directly."


    "What else can we do though, it is not like we can know of their headquarters to then attack them headon. Anyways we do not have that much firepower, to take on a gang like that.", I reply.


    "The point is you don''t need to. The mayfires have always dealt with the bandits. It is their food that is being sent to the hexmountain. They themselves will be undergoing heavy losses in this. They should have the most experience in dealing with the bloodheart gang. They are old enemies.", trevor speaks. "Firstly they have completely cut off communication with us and they seem to have retracted a majority of their forces. That is why the bloodheart gang is acting up so much. Better to deal with whatever problem the mayfires have and then return."


    "But if they needed help why would they shut of communication with us. It is not like we would not come if they asked for help.", I ask.


    "Well, you are assuming that it was them that shut down comunications with us. There is a significant chance that outside forces are closing this communication.", he replies.


    "Well, we are pretty close to the hex mountain. Which force would be able to pull of something like this.", i speak. "It cannot be anybody from down south."


    "Such assumptions are unwise. They might be engrossed in their war but we are in their sights. If they can they will take us down. So it is not like we don''t know how to fight them. Anyways, it need not be any of the major powers. We are not the only people that can study magic." He replies." It has to be a force other than the blood heart gang. If they had a way of disrupting our communications they would hold it to their chests. After all the guard corps are ultimate threat the bandits have to face. Messing with our communications at the right time will be enough to be a new lease on life for them. So it is somebody new i feel."


    "Well, then we will figure out what to do once we reach the mayfire castle, about who to go after.", I reply.


    "I will have to assume so, but I won''t speak in certainties. After all I have never encountered a situation like this.", he speaks, tapping his figure on the table which I have to assume is a proof of just how nervous my Ally is at the moment. The man was still relatively calm on our journey to the north, so this is enough for me to enter a similar state.

 fighting the bloodheart gang (log 043)

    "weren''t you very clear that the bloodheart gang was unlikely to attack us, Trevor.", I ask, finally remember that I was supposed to log too. They exist for moments like this after all.


    "Captain, my assumption was that the blood heart gang would be very busy with their hunts. I certainly did not expect them to maintain constant patrols like this.", Trevor replies. "At the very least it is none of their named ships. It is about as strong as a regular pirate ship."


    "Doesn''t change the fact that they are chasing us, now is it.", I reply. "This is going to be quite a tough time."


    "Well, I am sure that you should be able to manage them. After all, you have fought their type of ships so many times by now." Trevor speaks. "You only encountered these kind of ships in our journey to the north after all."


    "That''s a boarding ship not a battering ram, one that is actually built for the task at hand. It is going to be a rough ride.",  I reply. "Boarding would be easy to deal with on any other ship, but every strategy I can use is ineffective against the ship in front of me."


    "I am sure that you will figure out what to do.", he replies.


    Hearing this I wonder, what the man is even doing here. It does not look like the man is particulary bothered at helping me. Well, I can''t really keep him in the other areas. Most of our environmental formations are not that good and at the moment I certainly do not want to worry about the old man.


    The problem at my hand is my ship is not equpped to fight a boarding ship. A boarding attack and a boarding ship is not the same thing. A boarding ship is specifically designed to facilitate boarding. You can see that in the way that they are designed.


    Most do not tend to have sleeping quarters or weapon stores. All of these are replaced by boarding rooms, where you stuff quite a few number of people. These rooms each would be connected to an harpoon which would grant easy entry into enemy ships. If normal ships can have fifty people. These ships can easily have four to five times that.


    Harpoons are a more aggresive version of a hook. They are literally created to board ships and are nearly impossible to remove once it gets into the enemy ships.


    They are rarely used by pirates because of the costs involved in using them. They would also damage the ship too much in obvious ways to make selling them later a pain in the ass too.


    Still, a pirate group like this might just end up making more money keeping a ship rather than try to pawn it off. After all the hexmountain have no ship industries. No group of people to whom they can make backend deals with. The only people with anything like that is the hexmountain and we are certainly no going to be doing anything like that. That would be like inviting rats into our own house.


    These ships still can take quite the punch before they are forced to retreat and throughout all of them they are able to send waves and waves of boarders at me. The most important part of a boarding ship is their harpoon though. They will need to be able to have their harpoons bite into the ship.


    Thankfully, the only good thing that I can think of is that boarding ships tend to be pretty light on their long range weaponry and the distance between both the two ships is significant enough that I need not worry about the harpoons yet.


    I greet the enemies ships by shooting my cannon. They are on the light cannons side, so I finally get to use that. (what light based weaponry tends to be quite rare. Even I rarely tend to see them.)


    The cannon looks like a big beam of light as it hits the other side. Not that it has much of a impact. Beam of light almost seems to be blocked by a invisible wall, not even touching the ship. I would have to assume that it is some kind of an air magic based defensive shield. Those tend to be quite a pain in the air. A couple more shots might penetrate the shield, but the enemy ship can catch up to us in that period. The fire cannons would have been better in this situation, but I am not in a situation where I can turn the ship around.


    The opposing side takes this opportunity to come closer to us. I quickly shift gears as the ship accelerates, increasing the distance between us again. Not that I think it will be helping me too much anyways. The ship has managed to crawl a bit closer. Not enough for the  harpoons thankfully.


    Somehow I have to imagine that this kind of slow and steady battlestyle is something that they are really familiar with. A rare battlestyle for bandits I have to say. Most tend to focus on agility and quick escapes. Else most situations would develop into risky encounters. This is something that I would expect more from the legion.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Anyways, fighting on time is something that I cannot afford. After all, the enemy ship is a patrol ship and they have only to delay us until reinforcements come to them. Then it will be quite the disadvantageous situation for me, to say the least. Having to deal with enemy cannons while a boarding ship is approaching us. That is the nightmare for most pilots.


    "Just direct the ship towards the mayfire castle, captain.", I hear the man next to me speak. "The blood heart gang will be wary of going in that neighborhood. The mayfires might have removed protection for their caravans but I struggle to believe that they would have removed the defenses of their castles."


    "But that would mean going towards the boarding ship. We are literally going in the opposite direction to the castle.", I reply. "Unless you suddenly have the ability to fight hundreds of pirates, I do not have much option to get close to that ship."


    It was something that had crossed my mind, but how the hell would you achieve something like that. Going close to a boarding ship especially now would be a suicide.


    "We do not have an option. Just remaining here is death. Anyways, you are a creative flyer and it is about time that I show this trick to you.", he replies. "Captain give me the controls to the two brats up there. They will know what to do."


    Saying that I remove the strings of mana that I have added to runes that I had added just a while ago, giving me remote control over the cannons.


    "Captain, be ready to push the ship to its maximum speed towards the enemy ships.", Trevor speaks next to me, bracing for a sudden increase in speed.


    "Are you sure, if they get a single hook into us. It will be out defeat. Even I can''t fight against an entire ship full of pirates. I have only my sword." I reply, as I feel the comfortable weight of the sword in my hand. It is feeling that I have sorely missed in my previous mission. Fuck that old man and his missions.


    "Well, you are fucked regardless. This is quicker don''t you think.", the man in front of me replies.


    Well, how the hell can I argue with that. So I do what is needed to be done. Sadly this is not a sledder now, or I could have caught the enemy off guard. The ability to go both front and back is such a simple abilty but it would play such a key role in battles.


    The only way to reverse the ships movement would be to turn the entire ship. That means that the enemy would know of my movment and would be quite comfortably pick the position to board me. That is the absolute last thing you must allow to happen if you are dealing with a boarding ship.


    As I expected, so it happened. As I turn I can sense the enemy ship slow down, plot its route and then pick the ideal spot to throw that harpoon at me. If that thing enters the ship. Well, the two idiots will be dead before me at the very least.


    I expect exactly that to happen, as the two idiots do something good for once. They activate the cannon at its lowest intensity and begin to scale it up. The entirety of the enemy ship just seems to stop for a second as I safely use that moment to slip away from the ship.


    "Well, it is an old trick that I learnt from a mercenary from the south. The beam from the light cannon can temporary blind people.", Trevor, looking at my curiosity. "Shot at its full power, most people are able to instinctively avoid looking at the beam directly. That is why you have to tempt them with a weaker bolt. So, the weaker bolt which might have looked like a weird glint of the sun can be used to have them look at the cannon directly. Then just crank up the cannon and it can act like a flair."


    "Does it really work.", I ask.


    "Well, we have escaped from the enemy haven''t we.", he replies. "Well, to be franked I am quite surprised myself that it worked. It always seemed like a tall tale."


    "Well, I am surprised that you allowed them to handle this though.", I ask.


    "Well, they are capable enough if you know how to train them. Anyways, for now our goal will have to be the mayfire castle. Whatever is happening here is very serious. I have never seen the bloodheart gang act with such ruthlessness.", trevor speaks. "They must be angling for a very valuable prey if they are willing to mess with the guard corps. We would be quite bad for their business if we truly went serious against them."


    I guess that I should have taken note of his statement at that moment but at the moment I was distracted by the visual in front of me. My mind became completely blank as at the very least five different enemy ships appeared in front of me, with a few more at the edge of my views.


    For a moment the ships in front of me look at me in surprise, while I look at them in surprise. I guess that I should have used that moment to escape, but I was too late as I hear the sound of a cannon ball hitting ship.


    The enemy side had already begun to act, bombarding me with cannons shots. Well, what should have been a move that should have brought me to safety ended up Putting me right in middle of the two forces.


    Well, I can''t really blame this in trevor too. The man was assuming my only enemy to be the one in front of us. It is too early, they should not have been able to make their way here from anywhere too quickly. What is the point of having a patrol if your main force is right next to it. It would be pointless.


    Well, the only direction left for me to move are either above me or below me. At the moment the latter seems to be the safer option for me, though I will have to be careful. One wrong move and the ground will kill us before the enemy can. The only thought I could think as I enter into action is. "Just how crappy is my luck."

 Surrounded From All Sides (log 043 part 2)

    Descending in an airship is a really weird sensation, especially as quickly as I have done at this moment.


    There is nothing deadly about it, since there are protections against it in our defensive formations but it is a weird sensation. The closest sensation would be to call it a sense of nausea.


    It isnt exactly, but for our purpose it is essentially the same and piloting an airship is a demanding and adaptive process, especially when it comes to descending quickly.


    You lose focus for a second and you could overcommit, directly hitting the ground. As for the reason I am explaining all of this, it is for the fact that the instant I go down none of the enemy ships go down with me. Firstly there is a risk of crashing and secondly they don''t really need to.


    One reason is that I will have to rise up soon enough. Flying this close to the ground in a mountain is quite the dangerous feat. You can''t really tell the slope of the ground, so crashing is quite easy unless you really know the land. Then again, there is a forest in the region so I have more immediate worries.


    There are too many things that can go wrong. I don''t dare to stay down here for too long. Well, I still managed to get rid of a more immediate problem.


    I am not surrounded on all sides by the enemy. Though, how long I can maintain this is really upto fate.


    For now, I get my bearing and begin to move the ship away from the present location, towards the mayfire castle. Flying this close to the trees is quite the  hazard.


    You never know how the trees might react to the propulsion formation. Some just tend to move away. Some just remain where they and other tend to rebound and hit the ship. This is a problem with particularly old trees. Such constant barrage of trees hitting tends to really put a strain on the defensive formation, which is fine in our case. The environmental formations will be taking a hit. Most of the environment formations on this ship are present outside the ship, encapsulating the ship like a bubble.


    Well, the ship should be able to take it for a while thankfully, mainly due to the strength of the materials. The enemy ships have remained in the sky, not daring to come down to my level. That doesn''t mean they are not chasing me. They will follow me from a safe distance and bombard me the instant that they can come close to my position. Thankfully they are not shooting at the moment. Even if they shot it, it would be nothing but a waste of mana. Aiming cannons is a very specialised art, something that pirates cannot afford to learn and a cannoneer someone they cannot afford to hire.


    Studying my enemies. there are eight ships, with the boarding ship included. Atleast the reinforcements do not seem to be a ship at the level of the boarding ship. The cannons on the enemy ships seem to be a combination of the fire elements, the wind element and what I think is steam (can''t tell from this distance) all aimed at me.


    Other than their cannons, They are closer to piles of junk than actual ships, though I have to admit that they are offensively strong at the very least. I have to assume they spent everything of their budget on the cannons.


    Well, it is a not a weakness that I can afford. I go to shoot up one of them, I will have to face the barrage of seven ships. My ship is quite durable but seven sets of cannons is not something that simple durability will be able to handle.


    I will need a formation shield of the seventh class at the very least to handle that kind of barrage. That leaves me with escape as the only option left.


    How to escape is the issue that i cannot figure out. My ship is relatively small and quite agile, enough to keep out of the way of the enemy ships but I have no method of escaping their range of cannons without leaving a dozen holes in my ships.


    Well, at my present location if enemy cannons won''t be the cause, the trees here will. Every moment, I can feel the ship being bombarded by trees from either side, hitting the ships with a dry clunk that frankly leaves me worried. Every hit represent a certain chance that I might end up choking due to a lack of an atmosphere when we rise up.


    The force of such collisions might not be high, but it accumulates. I can stay here for another ten minutes beyond which the environment formations will be breached for certain. All I can hope is that the ship will gain enough of a distance from the enemy before that limit. Though looking at the way things are going it might not be case.


    Thankfully, all the ships that are following me are slow enough that I have no need to worry about the fact that I will be able to get something of a lead.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    (After ten minutes.)


    Well, as I had expected, the enemy ships were quite adept at keeping up with us, especially the boarding ship which is the fastest among the enemy ships. While they are distant enough that the boarding ship is not a problem but I am still in the range of the cannons. Not close enough for accurate hitting, but enough that one in their ten shots will hit. Not particularly bad odds given their number.


    Well, I can''t remain down here anymore. Every tree hitting us seems to be on the verge of breaching the environment formation. If that happens then we can''t rise into the sky again. I prefer a quick and fiery collision to slow choking.


    Maintaining an atmosphere is already the limit of the formations that my master has placed here. Looks like I will have to upgrade that formation myself. Knowing that man it was intentional. Druidic magic is one of the best at environmental manipulation after all. The man is out to kill me, i swear to you.


    Leaving distractions aside, I raise the ship. Climbing upwards, I do everything to ensure that the enemy won''t end up shooting through the ship. Firstly I adopt the zig-zag manner of travelling that I seem to have perfected in the recent times. That is a depressive thought.


    It is not particularly effective, as I can still feel the ship walls strain as fire balls hit it. I am thankful that heartwood doesn''t seem to be burn that well, so at the very least we do not need to worry about the ensuing fires. I am pretty sure the ship has no emergency formations to deal with a sudden fire.


    The ship can last under their pursuit for quite a while at this distance. I push the formation to run at its maximum speed leaving behind all restrictions placed on it. It leaves behind a trail of turbulent wind as I remove all the safety limits my master placed on the thing. The external defensive formation feel as if it is about to break apart and if that happens thing are going to get quite bumpy up here.


    I forgot to mention before but my master had placed a wind based propulsion formation. I do not really know what level of formation it is( it is always hard to tell with my masters work.), though based on its performance I have to assume that it is a class seven formation at the very least.


    Fuck, why am I speaking of this now. I can feel the ship breaking apart and that is when I am already a decent distance away from the enemy. If they were closer I would have to deal with this barrage while trying to keep a boarding ship of my tail.


    I keep the ship aimed upwards, trying to see if the enemy has a height limitation that I can exploit.  Sadly, the enemy keeps following us. At some point, Trevor had left the room. The trio should be shooting at the enemy at this moment unless they fell due to a hole in the wall.


    From this distance even if they get a couple of shots in though, they will not be able to do much damage. Well, as long as it effects the enemy it is fine for me.


    At this point, it would be wise for me to call my troop into the core room, especially trevor but I do not have the formations available to communicate with them. Another formation that I forgot that I did not have. Even if I could telling them to move is too risky. Every cannon shot that is hitting the ship is breaking the ships stability just that bit more.


    Thinking about the ships state leaves me feeling like I want to cry. Thankfully this is the worst of what I will be facing. The enemy ships are slowly being left behind. Even the boarding ship is quite the bit behind me. Repairing all of this damage will be quite the pain but I should be able to manage it for quite a bit. I have a trick up my sleeve after all.


    As I begin to move the ship a bit more quicker, the door to core room is flung open. I can see my troop here. All of them seem to be running, with Trevor on Jacobs back.


    "Captain, ground the ship.", Trevor speaks.


    "That is impossible, Trevor.", I reply. "It would damage the ship too much."


    "The ship might as well be destroyed, captain. Just heed my word and ground the ship.", he speaks, his voice containing a rare gravity.


    "Fine, but after this the ship will be grounded completely for a couple of days at the very least.", I reply shortly and focus on the task at hand.


    Land in a forest is just about the hardest challenge that I will face. Well calling it landing would be wrong. This will be crashing, just as soft of a crashing as I can manage. For a moment  I wonder if I have lost a screw or two. I squash that thought. Trevor know what he is doing.


    It breaks my heart though, as I slowly descend the ship about as vertically as I can manage it. That way the chances of collsions with trees will be as little as possible.


    At least on this I am succesful, though I can feel that the ship has been pierced in multiple locations. I can confirm three locations where a tree has left a hole in the ship.


    "The ship is grounded, Trevor.", I speak, with annoyance that must be clearly detectable the way the guys are behaving. Who likes to damage his own ship. "Without a good explanation I will imagine up some way to punish you."


    "Captain, I have been wondering if how the bloodheart gang could have reached us so quickly after detecting us.", he spoke. "First I assumed that they would have just put that many ships for the purpose of patrolling."


    "Seems reasonable, but I would prefer you got to the point where I have been forced to damage my own ship", I reply.


    "I am getting there, young man. There is no way the bloodheart gang could have managed to keep their pirating ongoing with so many of their ships stuck in patrolling. The only way they could have the affected food transport to such a degree is if they have managed to take over the mayfire castle already.", he speaks. What he says does seem a bit logical, though it does leave one point.


    "Why did you then make land the ship. We are still  atleast twenty minutes away from the castle. There would have been safer places to land", I ask.


    "Well, if they have taken the castle. There should be a bunch of reinforcements passing through any second, captain.", he replies. "That would have been enough to ground us anyways isn''t it. I would suggest that we camouflage the ship as much as we can manage immediately."


    "Yeah", is the only thing that I reply.

 Plan Of Action (log 044)

    Looking at the damage done to the ship, I have to admit that it leaves a sense of depression in me. I did not notice it during the battle but there has been significant damage to the ship. Most of it is due to collision with enemy cannon shots. There is little to no secondary damage, either due to fire or any other element. That is a good thing since must of the damage is concentrated on the outer walls of the ship.


    I am actually surprised that I did not have a complete idea on the damage done to the ship during the fight. Such negligence often tend to have pretty disastrous results. I tend to be good at stuff like this. Well, panic tends to really mess with performance. Anyways, getting back to the matter at hand.


    The actual core of the damage, which would be the ship and the many holes that you can find in it, is actually not an issue. The reason for that is actually that my ship has an ability, called as memory regeneration. This was the ability about which my master had warned to use only when the ship was damaged.


    To explain this particular ability i have to explain to you about heartwood. Heartwood is something of a legendary material to the druids. That is because anything that has been crafted from heartwood will always retain its shapes. Any weapon made from it will always remain as sharp as the day it was crafted. Any armour made from it will never lose its shape. Even being snapped in half, the material will return to its usual shape in matter of days. To the druids, that naturally do not have many materials like this a material like heartwood is one of their most precious secrets.


    At the moment the most important thing is that the ship has finally gained this particular ability of memory regeneration. Now I will try and explain it as well as I can but you cannot blame for the vagueness, since that is my masters teaching style.


    Until now the ability of the heartwood used to make the ship has been deactivated or not properly activated. it needs a second of specific formations to activate that particular ability.


    My master has activated that ability fully about a week ago. That means that as long as the ship has enough mana, it will return to its old shape and I have finally gotten to see the process in its full glory. You want my opinion, it boring. It is literally like seeing wood grow. But seeing the difference from yesterday, I understand why the druids wanted such materials. It is almost like somebody is reversing time to a period when the ship was full and fine.


    Well, it would be nice if this regeneration could be somehow given to the formations that were inscribed on the ship. Right now I will have to inscribe every gap in the ship. Thankfully, my master has left a few notes on the formations that he has used, so I should be able to figure out a few things given enough time. Until then I will need a different kind of environmental formations. The present environmental formation


    will not be able to function for too long. Though there is little I can do until the regeneration process is complete.


    That is why I have made myself busy with other tasks, them mainly being covering the ship with as much foliage as possible. The external senses of any of the ships should not be capable of detecting the ship. They mainly do so from the mana that is being emitted by the ship and at the moment we do not have any mana emission. That will occur if the ship were to activate.


    The only threat that is then left is that they might have scouts visually searching for the ship. The foliage will trick them unless the ships is flying particularly low.


    Other than that, ships are built with enemies in the sky in mind. They simply do not tend to have much capability in detecting stuff on the ground. It won''t be able to fool a dedicated search party. So, our present hope is that the enemy suspects that we have escaped to much further ahead, narrowly missing the reinforcements. That will leave them looking in the wrong location. And if they do attempt a thorough search in the wrong location we will be gone long before they will find us. Atleast that is what I tell myself, you never know what can happen.


    Thinking of this I wish that I would be able to take off now. At the moment the ship is completely and absolutely grounded, so thinking about that anytime soon will not be an option. The ship itself is in working order, but to take to the sky with a messed up environment formation is suicide. Choking due to lack of air is the simplest thing that can happen. I have heard of worser things (men popping like bloody baloons, becoming rabid like dogs). I thankfully never witnessed them myself.


    Even my previous ship did not have such a messed up environment formation, granted that this time it is my own fault and my masters too. The man crafted the formations like this wantedly. Another test, i assure you. The remaining damage I can safely assume that a combination of me and the memory regeneration can handle easily.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Anyways, at the moment the main threat that I have to face is the environment formation and other than the druidic ones for which I certainly lack the raw materials, I have no idea about other environmental formations. There are standards formations for environmental control that you can use during emergencies called as cells. My previous ship also had a few of those. This is so that if the environment formation fails, the cell can temporarily take over that function of the environment formation until you end up in a safe place.


    but since this is a new ship, it lacks a bunch of the stuff that a ship should normally have. So there are no cells in the ship. Even with a cell though I have no idea where we would go. The cell would last maybe a day or two and the only place that it will get me to is the mayfire castle. That is certainly not an option.


    At the moment, what I need is to do a bit of shopping, getting materials to replace the environment formation atleast temporarily and maybe figuring out a way to boost the defensive capability of the ship. For that to happen though, I have two main problems again.


    First, I certainly do not have any cash. Most formation mages do not really need cash since most people are quite ready to sell stuff to us on credit for the simple fact that they need somebody to help out with their formations always. Also, having a formation master owe you is quite the benefit for any person. Therefore money is not much of a issue, unless you happened to need to keep a low profile, such as if you happened to be in enemy territory and you don''t want them to identify you.


    And that leads to the second issue, that the only place that I can do this trade is in the closest tradehub to us, which happens to be the mayfire castle which based on our present assumption is under the temporary control of the blood heart gang. Trevor tells me that he had a way for me get into the city, beyond the noses of our enemies.


    Well, to explain this situation better I present to you the chat I had with Trevor regarding this issue.  This was around the time that we had enemy ships flying above us. They have been appearing in intervals like that. No ship stays here for too long though.


    "The enemy do not seem to be a thorough search for us, captain. A dedicated search would have already revealed our presence to them already. The ship is not exactly hidden down here.", shamon speaks.


    We all were huddling next to each other in the core room, catching our breathe as if our breathe would reveal our position to the enemy. Naturally that is not the truth, but hey fear had weird ways of showing itself.


    "Well, it could be that they are doing a dedicated search, just at another location. They could reach this position any second now.", I reply, better to assume the worst don''t you think. "We don''t really have a method of fighting without taking to the air."


    "Well, that could be the truth. I don''t think that is very likely though. They will be more than busy looting the mayfire castle. At the end of the day the gang was setup for the purpose of looting not hunting the guard corps. Nobody will waste their precious time looting to look for a guard ship.", he replies. "Destroying us or not destroying us will have the same result to the blood heart gang and they know it very clearly. They would rather maximise their profits and run away before we can send a fleet after them."


    "Still, that doesn''t change the fact that we are quite helpless. We can''t move unless you want to choke right now. Even if we could, We cant even return to the hexmountain, unless you want me to be removed from the guard corps.", I ask him. "We can''t even go to the  mayfire castle now. How the hell Am I supposed to get the ship fixed now."


    "Well, we can go to the mayfire castle to get whatever you need to repair the ship.", Trevor replies. "It will be a bit unconventional, but I am pretty sure that I can get you through the walls of the castle. We can''t take the ship with us naturally for obvious reasons."


    "It is under blood heart control according to you, so how are we going to be doing that.", I speak. "I would assume that they would think to look for me in their own city wont they. Even they must know it is the only option they have left."


    "Well, the mayfire castle is too big a bone for the bloodheart gang to manage. If they had complete control over the place, I would eat my boots. They are bandits, taking everything in the place and then retreating before the locals can react to their presence. Taking a location and keeping it steady is not their skill. I would have to assume that they have made one of the buildings in the castle to be their base and they might have control over a small portion of the city.", he speaks. "The folks of the castle are more than capable of holding their own against the blood heart gang individually. The blood heart gang cannot rob without thinking or they will likely end up facing the wrath of the people."


    "So if they are besieging the castle, how exactly are we supposed to be sneaking into the place. It is not like we can just walk to the place.", I ask. Well, neither possibility that he had ststed seen to be good for me.


    "Well, that is what we are planning to do, captain. Though it will be only the two of us.", he said and completely shut up about it.


    I will actually leaving with him for this hidden path in a while. On foot, it will take us roughly two days to get to the castle. What will happen in that period I do not know. Trevor as it seems to be his nature is keeping particularly quiet on this topic.

 The Organisation (log 045)

    Travelling in the forest has certainly been an experience. The heat and the humidity is honestly not an issue. With my vital mana I barely even notice it. Humidity is something that I am used to anyway.


    It is the mosquitos that are causing me such a massive problem. With my instincts and agility crushing them in my hands is not much of a problem, but there are so damn many of them that after I point I had to give up. After all, how many times can you slap yourself even if it does not hurt.


    Now they are buzzing around in my ear, like they a practicing a symphony. A symphony meant to drive me into a rage. They have made sitting into an action that I have been avoiding for the last couple of days with a passion. Not that I am particularly safe from the internal droning even if I keep moving.


    Other than the damn mosquitoes, our journey has been quite smooth. Right now we are next to the mayfire castle. We have camped at a distance about five minutes away from the camp. We could go closer but then we would risk discovery. The bloodheart gang do seem to rarely leave the castle on foot, but there is a constant flow of ships from the castle.


    Trevor has not been speaking much in the journey and he has not tried to approach the fortress. He has just been sitting here as if waiting for somebody. Not that the man is willing to tell me anything even If I wanted to know.


    "Don''t pace around like that kid, looking at you makes me feel tense too.", he speaks.


    "What are we waiting for then. It is not like we have a lot of free time here. We have left the ship unguarded.", I reply.


    "Well, the people we are about to meet somebody quite dangerous. Better to be in a good state of mind.", he speaks.


    "Well, who are we meeting then.", I ask. The man is so unwilling to share information sometimes.


    "Well, all the lesser you know about these folks, the better off you will be. If the head office were to know that you know, they will make sure to extract complete value from that knowledge.", he replies. "I myself wish I had never gotten to know of them. Life would have been so much easier."


    "Well, is that secret really that terrible.", I ask. The man''s word are just ending up terrifying me.


    "Well, it is not exactly terrible but it is a matter of image. If everybody were to know that we work with them, it would certainly make out entry into a lot of locations very hard.", he says. "They have been a thorn in the side for quite a few of our allies."


    "So is it the shack or the divine valley. The way you are speaking, it can only be either of them.", I ask.


    "I have no desire to tell you even if you want to know kid.", Trevor replies with a finality that makes it clear that there shall be no more discussion.


    And thus we sit waiting for whatever criminal organisation. The only two that I have a real idea about are the shack and the divine valley.


    The shack is well named after their headquarters, a place called as the shack. They are a group of assassins that meet up at the shack and then assassinate people. The reason that they are famous is due to the shack. There has been a concentrated effort by all the major forces to get rid of the shack but nobody has succeeded to do that yet.


    The divine valley is even more famous. They are essentially a religious sect that believes the divine valley to be their god. How a place can be a god don''t ask me. Anyways, they are essentially smugglers and arms dealers that sneak in weapons to rebels of all countries.


    Other than these two though, I don''t really know of any organisation association with which would be so harmful to the black mountain.


    "You really should speak about us to the kid. I would rather be dealing with a naive flower like him than a tough old fruit like you. How long do you expect us to keep dealing with the same old people I do not know." Spoke a voice from somewhere behind me. Until he spoke I did not even detect the man. I do not dare to turn around, something in me warning me that this man I am better of not seeing. His mana is chaotic, like a blizzard in the true lands though of some kind of a dark mana that I do not detect. I don''t know how I have not managed to detect the man as he approached. Trevor in front of me just sighs, as If he has faced that man a thousand times.


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    "Well, I have been commanded not to tell anything to the kid. If you want to you can do so. I don''t know who will come to hunt you though.", he says. "I will begin to run away now though if you don''t want to shut up."


    "Well, well. Why would I risk such a thing if the great Trevor is not willing to do so. Anyways, let''s get back to business. The boss has told me that it would be nice if you stopped calling him for every small thing. If you really want to bother him so much, he is willing to even give you a honorary position. The black mountain overwork you.", the other person speaks.


    "Well, that would be nice if your organisation was not so reviled. Anyways, let''s get things over already. We need to get into the city already.", Trevor replies.


    "Well, never seen in you in such a hurry, nor so following of the rules. I won''t ask you who the kid is. I would say the great Trevor is scared, if I didn''t know better. you know the rules, A favour for a favour.", the other man replies.


    "Well, fear is a natural response for when you are dealing with somebody terrifying, don''t you think. Also, you get to the point. What is the favour that you need.", Trevor replies.


    "Well, it is actually something simple for you. We need you to break into a particular building and steal a book. It is not even a grimoire, just a ledger of a company.", the other man spoke. "You must have quite the experience with that already, don''t you."


    "Well, if it was that simple you wouldn''t be asking me to do it. So what is the catch, you bastard.", Trevor speaks. "Does a demon guard it or is it an elemental. Could it be a ghost."


    "Well, we do know how to deal with elementals and demons, just the loss of life is not worth the investment. The only thing that can be considered to be closest to an issue would be the fact that blood heart gang have made that particular base their home. It isn''t even an issue for you though." The other man speaks. "Anyways, for this particular problem I don''t need your expertise, I need the kids. The book that we want is protected by a formation. A pretty complex and fragile formation at that. That kind that if somebody damages it, it will be destroyed along with the contents of the safe. As you can see, that leaves at quite the conundrum until you appear with a formation master in the tow."


    "Well, we certainly accept that deal. We need you to get us into the city and help us contact the mayfires.", Trevor speaks. "I am sure you have associates in the family as well. You seem to have quite a few businesses already setup in the city."


    "Well, that is something that we won''t be able to complete. The mayfires have retreated to the inner keep. The castle is split into two, the inner keep and the outer keep. The inner keep is a place that only the mayfires can enter or leave, especially now. What they are doing behind their shield when their city is mutilated like this, only the mayfires can tell.", the other man speaks.


    "Especially now?", Trevor asks.


    "Well, three weeks ago the mayfires completely sealed the inner and the outer keep with magical barriers. We were stuck in the city until the bloodheart gang somehow pierced the outer barrier. They have taken the outter keep completely. The mayfires all are in the inner keep, with us having no way of getting inside. Whatever the bloodheart gang did is not working on the inner keep shield." The other man replies.


    "So then, how is life under the blood heart gang.", Trevor asks. "Business must be booming."


    "Well, it has never been better. The bloodheart gang makes us look cheap in comparison. The merchants have been flocking to us like never before. We have had to double up our smuggling operations in the last couple weeks and still we are considering if we should increase production. Doing this favour to you is proving to be quite experience. Time is money my friend." The other man replies.


    "Well, I am sure that the loss will be manageable, but what about the bloodheart gang. How are they at holding a city.", trevor speaks.


    "Quite poor, though their numbers are very high. Abnormally high for a bandit gang. All quite inept though.", the other man speaks. "Our boys have been playing with them the last couple of weeks. They are quite passionate though. We have lost three teams in the last week, all new ones thankfully."


    "They have somebody backing them then, the blood heart certainly is not capable of breaking apart fort magic. They had to have relied on somebody. Anyways, we have deviated too much from the topic at hand. What are you willing to offer then.", Trevor asks.


    "Well, we can provide you entry into the city. We will hide you from the bloodheart gang and if you are willing to waste your time, we can take you to the wall to the inner keep. You figure out how to breach it.", the other man speaks.


    "What would happen if we were to fail our favour though. To do your favour we would have to be in the city.", Trevor asks.


    "Well, a favour owed is a favour owed. If not today we would finally a method of reclaiming it soon enough.", the other man spoke. "You are a useful man to owe deals to."


    "Well, we accept your deal, but you know the deal. Nothing that harms the black mountain not something that would be a obvious suicide for me. Also, keep the kid uninvolved in the matter." Trevor speaks.


    The other man does not reply. Just as weirdly he appeared, the man disappeared. Again, I could not figure out how he is moving.


    "What was all of that.", I ask.


    "Well, the lesser you know about them the better of you will be. For now let''s just call them the organisation.", Trevor speaks. "They are a bunch of profit hungry bastards. They tend to occupy cities and then slowly take over all their illegal businesses slowly. Beyond that you have no need to know about this."


    "So why would they need a book.", I ask.


    "Who knows, maybe it could be the true ledger of some local smuggler, who is lying about his profits. Maybe it is a human trafficker against whom they can use this book as blackmail. I can imagine a thousand things. With the b...organisation it would be wise if you do not ask too many question." Trevor speaks. "You do not want them getting interested in you. It is the ultimate recipe for disaster."

 Trading For Cells (log 046)

    There is something that is common throughout the continent and that I believe is the annoyingness of haggling with merchants. Every city that I have gone to and every merchant that I talk to makes me wish go straggle them. It is especially annoying when you rely on skills to pay for stuff.


    As for with whom am I bargaining, that would be one of the merchants that are smuggling all of their goods outside the city.


    Talking to him, I finally understand the state of the castle. The mayfire castle has been acting as something of a final bastion to the people of this region.


    Most of the people here are grain traders, mostly bought from the farmers that call the surrounding region their own. The mayfires actually make their money by providing protection to the merchants and the villagers that call this location their home. Due to this they are something of a trade hub in our surroundings.


    With the disappearance of the mayfires most of the merchants were thrown in for a loop. Thankfully, the organisation seems to have taken in most of these merchants and is slowly smuggling them out of the city. They can''t take everybody out at once for obvious reasons, so most of the merchants are hiding down here, with most of their precious wares.


    As for how they are doing that, that would be due to the sewers of the castle. Without too much planning in how it was built the place is a maze of twist, turns and dead ends that nobody can navigate it without knowing the route and the organisation seems to have done some modification to the place. I cant imagine a place large enough to fit all these cart of grains to exist naturally in the city. It is literally as large as a cathedral, if you could somehow ignore the fact that it was literally in the middle of a sewer. I wonder if the organisation has access to space enlarging formations. Those are fifth class formations at the worst.


    Anyways, the reason I was blathering so much was due to the fact that with any decently sized settlement you shall always find a formation merchant. They tend to be greedy buggers that make their money by selling things that people need to stay alive.


    And that brings me back to man in front of me, who has been talking so much that my thoughts had begun to wander around everything but what he is saying.


    He is a middle aged man, who seems to have earned quite the bit from this business. It is a hard trade though. Formation merchants are mainly needed in outposts and settlements which frankly put are not the best places to live. The man has been very careful in making sure that I do not know his name. That makes me wonder if he has a bounty on him or something. Merchants are the folks that can most likely end up with a bounty after bandits.


    "...hiring guards has also become so costly nowadays. We used to hire them from the farmers, though even that has become very hard due to the grain farmers. The bastards charge such low rates for everything that most farmers end up starving.", he speak on.


    "Well, all of that is fine, but you have yet to answer my question. Do you have a cell.", I interrupt the man.


    "I do have cells, my friend. Though I can''t give it to you for free now, can I. That would cause me quite the bit of losses." He replies.


    "I am a formation mage and I will be able to repair any damaged goods that you have.", I reply. We have been arguing on the same point for quite a bit of time. The man is simply not ready to accept that I am a formation mage. I don''t look that young no?


    "Well, as I have already told you. I have no need for a formation mage messing with my good. I already sell products of the highest quality. If people got to know what do you think would happen to my reputation.", he speaks, his reaction so dramatic that I am left wondering why he didn''t become an actor.


    "They would rather respect the fact that the man sells products of the highest quality and actually works to maintain his quality.", I reply. That finally seems to shut up the man, though he has shut up like that atleast four times by now.


    "I will think about it, kid. Too bad you do not have any cash at the moment though. Even buying grain has become so hard now.", he begins speaking, ready to enter into another speech about the difficulty of getting food. This is his third time speaking about that. He won''t stop now.


    "If you want to trade with the grain merchants, isn''t now the best time." I speak, cutting him of. "Most of their carts must have environmental formations. Otherwise I cannot imagine why they would dare to bring in wares into the sewer. Rotting food would be bad for business."


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    "Well, that is true. I made quite a bit of killing on that, but they already have the formations.", he replied. "It is not like they want to buy a new one, even if their previous formation is not as effective as they expected it to be."


    "Well, the formations must be running at full force for the last three weeks. I have to assume then that some of the formations must already be showing some issues.", I ask him.


    "Well, that is the truth. It has been causing quite the damage to my reputation too. The bastards have almost stopped buying my goods too.", he replies.


    "Then you have a person that can repair your formations for you. You just point me at the people that need their formations repaired and I will repair it for you. All you need to give me in payment are three cells.", i speak. "It is quite a bargain don''t you think. You are lucky that I need a cell urgently or i wouldnt have worked for so cheap for you."


    Right now cells would be priced quite dirt cheap since there are no ships to make use of them and the one group of people that could, are more likely to murder the merchant and take everything he owns rather than pay for it.


    "Well, you talk big but how can I tell that you will actually be able to repair the formations. If you were to mess anything up, it is my reputation that would be dragged in the mud.", the man in front of me replied.


    "Well, test me then. If I don''t work out, business isn''t exactly lining up for you anyways.", I reply, wondering if the man would have bothered to ask the same thing of my master.


    and thus my work continues. In all of this period, Trevor has essentially disappeared. He is presently in the castle working to prepare for the heist. Until he comes back I have to figure out the formation issue as quickly as possibly.


    I have a feeling that I do not want to stay here for more time than necessary. The situation down in the sewers is quite stable, but I can''t let go of this sense of unease that I feel.


    (After a couple of days.)


    I am seriously bored out of my mind. Repairing carts is not exactly the hardest of works that I have ever done and honestly, i have seriously underestimated just how crappy these formations are.


    Well, at the moment I am resisting the urge to kill the man in front of me. I can think about killing him after he gives me those cells.


    "Well, I am surprised at your skill. Those formations are as good as new. Here are your cells. You have repaired ten different carts in the last couple of days, which I think should be enough for two cells don''t you think." He speaks.


    "you old man, Three of those formation i had to build from the scratch up. Give a little something extra", i reply.


    "That might be the case, but you have caught me at a point when I quite low on my wares. I had to leave most of my formations in the shop. The bloodheart gang came after my shop almost immediately after the barrier broke. Most of what I have are related to preservation. You are lucky that I brought the cells.", he speaks, throwing what looks like a couple of rocks at me. With a touch I can tell that these are legits cells, of pretty high quality too. I don''t want to admit it but I might just have lucked out in this deal.


    "Well, there must be something that you can give.", I ask. Well there is no problem in asking just a little more. You never know what you might end up getting.


    "Well, I would have to assume that you have a ship stranded somewhere outside, since you want cells.", he asks. "If that is the case I might have something for you."


    "Well, something like that.", I reply. Better to be non committal. You never know what might happen with merchants.


    "When I had to leave the shop I had to leave behind a grimoire of mine. It contains all of the formations that I have ever managed to discover contained in it.", he speaks. "When I had to leave the shop, I had to leave it behind. If you were to get it back for me, I will provide you the schematics to a class eight camouflage formation and one more cell. How does that sound."


    "A camouflage formation, of which element.", I ask. The best element for such a task is light, followed by water and wind.


    "It is of the light element. I was quite lucky to get it. I had to trade a class eight preservation formation to even get it. You know how rare it for preservation formations to have a class. It is almost an environment formation if you tweak it a  bit.", he begins to speak.


    "all that is fine, what is the catch to this.", i ask. Nobody gives a class eight formation for simple tasks. "You certainly do not have a giving spirit."


    "Well, the person that raided my shop was a captain of the bloodheart gang. He is a bloody bastard called "heart burner Steve". He continued, looking at my confusion. "He is the bastard that burns the heart of his victims."


    "What does being a captain mean though", I ask. The enemy hierarchy is something that I should already know. It''s a serious lapse of knowledge.


    "The captains are the cultivators that exist in the bloodheart gang. Nobody knows what demon they have made a deal with, but the bloodheart gang gain their cultivation as a blessing from a demon. How they do it is related to hearts. There are three kinds of captains. Some of them burn hearts, like Steve. Some eat it. They are called cannibals and there is a third group. I don''t know much about them though, except that they are called seers. I think they have some form of clairvoyance", the merchant replies.


    "So I have to get the book to you and I will get the formation, nothing else. Nothing like fighting this Steve or killing him.", I ask. Better to always make sure I say.


    "Yes, why would I give a contract to kill A member of an organisation with clairvoyants. I have no desire to be chased by the bloodheart gang.", he replies.


    "Okay, I will try to get your grimoire, though I will have to prepare a contract for this. Also I want a proper explanation of the formation.", I speak, as the merchants finally becomes jubilant. Seeing this I wonder for a second, if I had been scammed into accepting this. Somehow I get the feeling that I have been played.

 Stalking A Demonic Worshipper (log 047)

    The mayfire castle has been well built. I will have to admit that much. Looking at the place I am reminded of any place that can be called a trade hub. The people of the mayfire castle is a mixture of mercenaries looking for work, merchants looking for business and farmers or miners looking to sell their goods. Basically it is a busy place, perfect for a person like me to hide my presence.


    Looking at the place on first glance, you will not think that the place is in the hand of bandits. The farmers are still going about their work, the merchants are still trading their wares. It is a scene that you can find in only bustling cities. It is pretty rare for what is essentially a frontier fort. The mayfires seem to have been quite adept in running this fort. It is hard to become successful in a place like this.


    You can still sense the presence of the bandits though. Everybody is startled like a deer in the eyes of the lion, especially the merchants. Most are forcing themselves to stay calm, to pretend that they have nothing valuable at hand. To pretend that they have nothing if possble. If they fail at that though, the bandits are more like a swarm of locusts than men. They will leave nothing.


    Well, this could also be due to the fact that i have been spending most of my morning following my target. Steve, the heart burner seemed to be quite the feared person in the castle. I haven''t yet figured out what his work is exactly supposed to be, other than giving these people nightmares and making me really annoyed at following the man for so long.


    I have been following him for quite a while. It was actually not that hard expect for the fact that I had time knock out a farmer. He was roughly about my size in build, so I borrowed his clothing for some time.


    I didn''t cause any real lose to the man though, since I left him with my clothes. My clothes would be worth ten times the mans clothes. The man will wake up by the evening, with my clothes. If he is wise, he would keep it safe with him house and sell it once the bandits leave. Else, the bandits would be making quite the killing.


    Sadly that was the only set of clothes that I have at moment. The farmer is pretty clean though, and his clothes quite Comfortable. Otherwise, I don''t know if I could have gone through with it.


    While I still feel quite awkward He seems to be some kind of an accountant or more accurately some kind of an appraiser, I think. He has been visiting all the major stores in the city. I have heard every bandit group has a group of people like that. After all, it would be quite stupid to take stuff from people if they you don''t know what is precious among these people. Still, what would let a man with such a useful skill end up among the bandits, I don''t know.


    Well, his goal is not looting. I can be certain of that. Firstly the number of people following him would not be so meager than. They would be large enough that i would have to actually worry about the underlings too. Thankfully, they seem to be not a lot. I am certain that there at least ten of them. I can''t say too clearly as I have to keep distance from them. The heart burner has a mana sight that is about as good as mine at this moment. I almost got detected by him, until I completely stopped channeling my vital mana.


    They are not cultivators by cultivation and their powers have been granted to them. They are armed quite heavily though. Every one of them have at the very least two weapons, most of which I think have been recently looted. One ordinary weapon and one magical weapon, I am certain. I can''t say for certain since the mana of Steve is quite bright. That is pretty significant problem when dealing with somebody who has gained power like Steve. Well, no matter how magical a weapon is, it is nothing but a sharper blade until you have enough mana to power it.


    I would have to assume these weapons would be due to the mayfires. They must have barracks in the outer keeps after all, which is something that the enemy would not leave alone. Magical weapons are also quite rare. Anyways, fighting them is going to be a pain. Killing them will take a few moments, but a few moments in front of the heart burner is going to be dangerous. This is especially true if I want to get rid of him by surprise.


    No better to leave them as fodder for my blade. That would leave me more things to worry about at the moment, though I should be able to manage it. Still, just this preliminary following has not revealed as much as I hoped I could learn. The only thing that I can confirm is that the enemy has not cultivated his strength. That tends to leave pretty solid marks that someone with sensitive enough mana sight can understand very easily.


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    Taking me as an example, the way that I move, the way that I react and the way that I weave spells all will show very obviously that I am a cultivator, specifically a formation mage. That Is because it takes years of crafting for us to grow our powers. You repeat something for years, you tend to pick up a few habits along the way.


    The one that I am following is the ideal example of a dark cultivator or demonic cultivator as the general folk call them. They usually gain their strength from demons, gods or the myriad magical beings of this world. A warlock would be the best example of this or demonic mage. To do so they would need rituals, much like what the bastard in front of me is. Some tends to have pretty reasonable rituals.


    For the knowledge king, you will gain strength as long as you provide rare books to him. The dragons tend to use you as guards. The longer you work for them, the more powerful you will become. Some can even become as powerful as the dragon I have heard. How that works I do not understand. Warlocks might use formations but it is a completely separate art.


    That is what I have to assume the person in front of me is. Demons are creatures of fire and souls. So a being that accepts burnt hearts as an offering is definitely a demon. Though, a demonic cultivator this close to the mountain is a security hazard. I am certain getting rid of him should be quite rewarding.


    Demons tend to give you acess to magical flames, called as hell flames. The flames tend to burn using souls, so I can''t be hit by their flames. Damage to the souls at moment will be quite hard to handle.


    Still, the most deadly part in all of this is going to be the fact that demon worshippers tend to be crazy durable. They fight in a manner similar to vampires when they are weaker, only a vampire relies on his ability to feed and regenerate and the demon worshiper can fight purely on the strength of his body. That means the endurance I can gain from my sword will not be enough to take him down, especially when he is surrounded by servants to act as meat shields.


    Leaving that though, this might be able to explain some of the discrepancies that the blood heart gang is showing. They were never a particularly aggresive gang. They are what the guard corps call as the hyenas, bandits that will attacks anything that is weaker than them, but run away they meet a member of the guard corps. Well, when you have demonic ritual to complete you cannot help but be quite proactive. After all, why will you be careful if you have your own heart on the line.


    It is quite pitiful to look at it actually, the way that demon worshippers are punished for not completing their tasks.


    In summary, demonic cultivators are a pain to deal with. Most tend to have one or two tricks at the very least that makes killing them a pain in the butt. At the moment though, my main question is what should I be doing.


    My main goal is the grimoire that the formation merchant is supposed to have left in his shop. There are three main possibilities. First and simplest is that Steve has yet to find the grimoire and it is still in the formation merchants abode. Then retrieving the formation would have been quite easy. Just sneak into the building and steal it from whereever placed.


    But, this option is clearly not possible. I would have the book with me already if that were not the case. After all, Grimoires tend to be filled completely with formations to seal the content present in it for everybody but the owner of the grimoire. It will be quite easily visible if it were just laying about. I still went to the mans shop to verify it. That was actually the beginning of my little scouting trip. Such formations tend to emit a lot of mana.


    The second possibility, is that he has found it and has hiddent it somewhere. This possibility makes the mission nearly impossible, because it would not be particularly for Steve to hide the mana emissions from the books. The only way that I can realistically acquire information would be to ask the man myself. It is pretty unlikely too since the grimoire is quite precious and you do not leave your precious stuff in a camp full of people whose work is to steal stuff. That would mean that i will need to make use of soul searching, a branch of magic that i find very uncomfortable to use. It is very close to necromancy.


    And that leads to the third possibility, where the book is on the mans body. This makes my work both easier and harder though. Easier in the sense that I would not need to look particularly hard for the books, but then the book can only be acquired by killing the man.


    Well, I have at the very least verified that I will be gaining nothing by following the man any longer. Men like this tend to have safe houses. Locating that area has been my goal, which to be honest I found quite early. The only reason that I have things till now was to figure out what he has been doing. That seems like a mystery that I have to be satisfied not knowing an answer too.


    Anyway, his base is a three floored building that I have to assume was a smithy in the past. Now it is nothing but the example of bike bit of magic. I don''t even need my mana sense to see the many hearts the man has sacrificed in the place. I am sure that if we were to dig up the basement of this place, I shall find piles and piles of body. Thay actually leads to the main question, how did the man have the time to do all of this. It is not something he could have done in just three weeks. That is a question for later. If need be, I can ask his soul too. For now, I have to focus on getting to that state.


    Too bad the formation merchants store had been looted. I would have liked to get a few materials to build up a couple formations. Relying only on my sword is quite risky.

 The Assault On Steve (log 048)

    I have yet to meet trevor in the last couple of days. I honestly want to know what the fuck he is doing. I have yet to see the man since a while. The man does not wish to speak about the organization at all.


    Anyway, it is not the time for me to think about this. I have a captain of the bloodheart to assassinate after all. Right now I am crouching at one of the corners near this guys base. Turns out there are not many captains in this gang. The merchants are not sure but there should be eight of them. So looks like this fight is going to be harder than I hoped.


    Fighting him at his base might be a bad idea, but for now it is the only thing that I can fight him. Right now the problem is that there are no concrete idea on the position of the enemies bases.


    Based on what I have understood from the merchants, all the captains have divided the city into multiple zones, each headed by a captain. I do not hit him in his house then I will have to hit him in another of these zones. I am quite sure in my limited time following him that the heart burner has no real combat ability or atleast is on par with me in terms of combat ability. That is why I am sitting here getting ready to attack the man.


    Assassinations do tend to become a pain when you have to deal with reinforcements that can appear any second. Well, I have spent enough time here. I don''t even know why I was wasting my time here.


    It doesn''t do anything but increase the chance of me getting caught. So I enter into the building. The building is not particularly large, so I am entering into the place without knowing the layout of the place.


    That might cause a problem but not as much as you would think. There is only so much you can do with such a limited space.


    Activating my sword though, that is a rush. The moment that I activate it, I can feel world in a sharper way. My sense of smell becomes sharper, my sight is able to pick things up even in near darkness. I can feel my throat becoming dry, as if I have not drunk water in the last couple of days. I can feel the heart beat of all the people that might become my victims in a way that cannot be explained using my enhanced senses.


    It takes me a moment to ground myself back. The strengthening that the sword provides is not without it''s costs. It makes me closer to a vampire in both a good way and a bad way. Let''s just say it would not be a wise idea for me to drink blood. The side effects will be quite deadly.


    Well, the place that I have entered into seems to be a bedroom for steves underlings. I can count four people plopped here in various States of drunkedness. Naturally, catching my enemy in such a defenceless state I go for the kill.


    Within moments, my sword has slit the throats of all the men here. They did not even stir when the blade pierced their throat though. Just what the hell were they drinking.


    I do not get to think much on this as I hear footsteps outside the room. Well this is going to be unsavoury. I quickly position myself on one of the beds, using one of the recently made corpses to cover myself. It should be enough to hide myself from an intial scanning.


    That will be enough. The door opens and I see my future victim. She is a lady that did not seem to expect the soldiers to be dead. In her shock she just keeps staring at them.


    Well, before the lady can react though I throw the victim at her. Being that close to flowing blood is very hard. Imagine piling food in front of a starving glutton.


    Using the corpse as a cover, my sword plunges into the lady. I seem to have missed my strike though, as I was aiming for the ladies heart. I assume I must have pierced the lung. The lady takes her revenge though.


    She stabs a knife right into my sword holding arms. As I press my sword deeper, she finally relents. Her hold on her sword finally loosens. There goes my element of stealth. I managed to get rid of half of the underlings, though that was not plan.


    I can feel the vital mana of my swords victim flow into me. I can feel my thirst disappear, though it will return soon enough. This vital mana will flow into my side causing my injured flesh to knit itself. Well, I hope that the injury can be fixed in a minute or so. After that the sword won''t be able to absorb anymore vital mana from its victims then.


    It is not particularly fast, but it will have to do for now. Drinking blood would have better results, but the sword will be enough for now. Drinking blood is icky and then there are the side affects.


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    For now though I look at the room I am in. It is a hallway, surrounded by rooms which make me think that this is their living quarters.


    I am lost in my thoughts as an underling makes his ambush. Thankfully it is not Steve since I was genuinely distracted. He could have done fatal damage.


    I take a sidestep and my sword plunges into the victims head. The vital mana is appreciated though. Looking at him, I am left to wonder why he even tried to hit me.


    Well, any prospect of stealth that I had is lost. Thinking this I descend into the next floor and I finally understand what is going on. The next floor is a single massive room, at the center of which is a massive summoning circle at the center of which we have the man I wanted to hunt, Steve. Surrounding him in the cardinal directions are thr remaining four victims. The most disgusting thing is the pile of corpses that are present at the other end of room, presumably missing their hearts. Thankfully, the ritual does not seem to have ended as Steve is still chanting.


    Summoning circles are a very esotoric branch of formation magic, one that is least used by us formation mages actually. Instead it is mostly used by warlocks, demon worshippers and so on. They mostly use it for the purposes of their rituals.


    That sparks me into action. I really have shitty timing, though. I charge towards the circle as the remaining four bastards move to block me. I dodge the first bastard, while ducking and swiping at his legs.


    I can''t do much as the second person appears and swings his sword, which I block using my left hand. It leaves a massive gash on my hand, but I can already feel it healing. I reply with a strike to the neck.


    I can see the man crumple as the third and fourth men also strike at me. This time I react a bit defensively as I block the third ones strike and dodge the fourth ones strike.


    Right now the goal is to reach the magic circle. Can''t let him summon reinforcements now, can i. That was my thought until the edge of the formation hit my face like a wall. The bastard had defensive formations.


    "Well, what we''re you expecting, you backstabbing bastard of the elder blood.", Steve spoke suddenly. "Did you think we would not have defenses ready for you."


    Well, I do not make much of a policy of speaking to enemies.


    That was good thing to as I would not have heard the swing of the blades of the bastard behind me. Might as well get rid of them soon enough. I will figure out this barrier issue soon enough. This barrier is a blessing for me since I don''t need to fight the boss with the underlings.


    A quick swipe and guy number three is dead and a few moments later guy number four is dead. I finally kill guy number one as well, not that there was much chance of him striking me, but one cannot take that risk when he is messing with formations.


    Behind me, I can feel that Steve is gathering mana for something. Massive amounts of mana. Well, there goes my element of stealth completely. Such massive movement of mana is easily detectable. I would not be surprised if the enemy were to already making their way here. Except that it is a good thing. Who begins summoning a demon with the enemy in front of them.


    Fuck, I quickly return to the barrier. It is an barrier of the spiritual kind. That is it prevents the passage of anything with a spirit. A summoning circle is after all not meant to stop anybody from entering, it is meant to stop somebody from leaving.


    Why steve assumed this would protect him I do not know. Well, there is no bow here but I spy a couple of throwing knives on underling number three.


    "What exactly are you trying to summon, my friend. If you spend that much mana for a demonic summoning, do you think that demon will even be able to survive for more than a few minutes.", I ask.


    "What. Why would I be summoning a demon.", Steve suddenly stops. That over there is a lack of professionalism. You arent supposed to stop during a demonic summoning.


    "Well, then who are you summoning.", I ask.


    "It is the great lady of the flaming moon. She who will crush the tyrants that have invaded the divine mountain.", he replies.


    Well, cult demons are the worst of the bunch. Thankfully I do not need to worry about him completing the chant. That is a serious deficiency of demon summoning especially for demons with a cult. I have a solid five minutes before he can complete his required chanting. Even more if he keeps stopping like that.


    Well, time to find that grimoire. Strings of mana spread from my arms until I can finally feel a formation. It is in the above floor, right next to what I have to assume is steves room.


    A minute later, With the grimoire safely in my hands, I descend to the next floor. Steve is still chanting, with an edge of desperation in his voice. I have to say that he must have not assumed the chants to be so long. Such unprofessionalism.


    It is almost a pity to see the knife enter into his throat. It takes him a moment to die too. Well this entire trip has been pretty anti climatic if i am to be frank.


    Well, I have no mercy for demonic cultivators. They can easily cause massacres you know, in their zeal to call their God up here. I have had to deal with quite a few too you know in my time in the legion.


    And then the world became white. It took me a few seconds to realise the cause of this. The bastard has blown up the summoning circle. How I do not know, but demonic magicians have many methods to survive.


    "Of which clan are you, you half converted grunt. Which elder has left his mutt on us.", Steve speaks, though his entire presence has changed. At moment I feel as if there is a sword on my neck looking at him.


    "To which being am I speaking to.", I ask. Speaking to the creature reminds me of the commander and the presence he held. This is not going to be easy.


    "What an untrained mutt, you think that you are qualified to ask that question. Which elder wastes a half converted mutt to piss me of", Steve speaks.


    After this question was asked it suddenly felt like my heart had stopped working. I honestly do not know how I had escaped that building but I did so on pure instinct.


    It took me distance from the building and a calm atmosphere to finally realise that the creature in front of me was not a demon, but a vampire.

 The Assault On Me (log 048 part 2)

    My few moments that I had gained by jumping out of the building are over, as I see the corpse that has now been possessed by the vampire lady.


    There are a thousand questions running in my mind, but I supress all of them. In this case curiosity will lead to death.


    "You haven''t told me who you work for mutt. Whoever he is doesn''t seem to hold much regard for you. Sending you half transformed like this.", a voice speaks in my head. It is a female voice, quite ordinary except for the authority that can be heard from it. This lady is some kind of a leader.


    Thankfully the lady is nowhere near me. As is true with any fort, the place is a confusing mess for any outsiders. I have at the very least spent a few days in this place, so I can tell some things at the very least. The enemy cannot.


    I don''t reply. Right now the entirety of my focus is on escape. Possession of dead bodies is a massive problem in any place that is able to produce them. I will explain this better one day, but there are places that are put in places like this where possessed corpses are placed in, where possessing forces will not be able to enter them. These places are called the burial grounds.


    These places should also be able to exorcise whatever is in seths body. Now, the only problem is that I can see the burial grounds and the many formations that power it but I do not know the route to it.


    As I make my way to where I think the burial ground is, I fall to the ground as a massive pain splits my head in two. Again I hear the commanding voice, though now it is even worse.


    "What an arrogant mutt, to think that it can run away from a superior. You should be thankful that this body is quite limited in its ability. Else every drop of blood that is in your body would be outside it.", the voice speaks.


    I get up, force myself to keep moving. I force myself to study the ladies power. If she is a vampire, she must be some kind of nobility and one of the higher rank ones at that. The bottom three ranks of the vampires are, the grunt, the captain and the general.


    The only reason I even know this bit is due to the fact that it might have been useful for my sword. The grunt are the bottom tier of the vampires, one that has been freshly converted into a vampire. Any person above him is supposed to have the ability to command him.


    I think I have seen that in action today finally. Well, this ability to command seems to be distance based since I am quite steady at the moment.


    That leads me to make a decision that I am certain that I will regret, but there is little I can do. I deactivate the formation on the sword and I can feel the pain. There is a pain in my arms, in every spot that has been injured. The vital mana of my victims acted as an salve completely blocking out the pain.


    Well, still am running through all of this quite lost at the moment. I can feel sources of mana, all moving about though I have yet to meet one. Somehow I don''t think that I am their target. Still, that does not mean that the lady is still not behind me.


    She is following me, how I do not know. Some people say they have noses as sharp as a dogs. Maybe that is it. Thankfully there is not sound in my head, no splitting pain and no crushing pressure when I try to feel her mana.


    All of that must be due to my transformation. Well, that won''t matter until I reach the burial grounds. On that front I am making certain progress. The pathways here are certainly confusing but the formations of the burial grounds are like a beacon in the middle of a dark forest.


    I have to be thankful that the place is still not particularly developed. In a prosperous city, the mana of the burial grounds would have been overshadowed by the many formations that people like to put in their houses.


    And thus I run, with dread in my heart toward the goal. Every dead end, sparking the fear in my heart of my enemies position. She could literally be a few steps beyond me. At this point I cant even tell anymore with the mana emissions throughout the city.


    Thankfully, the ever brighter spark of mana from the burial lands has given me hope. Well, I have reached quite close to it, though I can''t be sure of the lady behind me.


    I must have roused every captain, every powerhouse of the outer keep. Thankfully, I have yet to meet any of them. All of them seem to accept that the lady behind me was the true threat. They are not fighting though, which is a pity.


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    I can assume that they have at the very least slowed down the lady though. For how long they would have slowed her though, I do not know. Almost as if to break my happy fantasy.


    "Oh little mutt, oh little mutt. Wherever you hide I shall find you.", I hear a voice, strengthened by vital mana. "How long do you think that you can hide from me."


    I do not reply as I begin to channel mana into my legs. I need to get to the burial grounds to protect myself, that surely I can tell that I still will need to be in my peak condition to fight this menance.


    Wasting mana like this means that I will have lesser mana when I reach the burial ground. It still takes a minute or so with my enhanced limbs, but there were thankfully no more dead ends or my heart would have failed completely.


    A burial ground looks likes any other cemetery, except if you have the sight. Every inch of the ground here has been inscribed with formations that separate the flesh from the spirit. Any person that has been buried in such a place will have a body completely devoid of spirits, protecting them from necromancy, spirit summoning and more importantly in my case possessions.


    Thus fighting this enemy that has possessed a dead body, the burial grounds are my safest bet. I don''t know why the lady has been chasing me for so long, but maybe the sight of the burial ground might prevent her from acting.


    Well, a few minutes later my hopes are dashed completely. Steve appeared a bit worse for the wear, but I honestly can''t say if that will have any real effect. For a few seconds he waits, before speaking.


    "Do you think such a paltry formation will protect you mutt, this formation will take hours if not days to expel me from this putrid body.", Steve speaks, as he enters into the place.


    "Why are you chasing me like this, lady of the flaming moon.", I reply, finally speaking to the lady. "It is not like I have truly harmed you in any way."


    "You really are an arrogant mutt aren''t you. To think you would try and question your superiors. The reason for your death is simple, mutt.  You forced me to possess the body of putrid man.", the lady spoke I steves voice. She becomes a blur as my sword collides against the claws.


    I am barely able to redirect her attack as I prepare to block her left hand.


    "Months of preparation, wasted."


    I block the left hand, but she twists her right hand right at my throat. I jump backwards, feeling the edge of her claws grazing my throat.


    "You fight well for a mutt, but how many strikes can you hold against me."


    This statement is followed by a flurry of claws strikes which I still not sure how I blocked. It resulted in a swipe on my right hand. The wounds keep bleeding, without stopping. I can''t do much except pass my vital mana into those regions.


    "Who is your master, mutt. Tell that and your death shall be painless.".


    Another flurry and another swipe to the left hand. The lady is playing with me.


    "Well, I have no master, my lady. He has died almost a couple of years ago.", I speak, bullshitting with such confidence that I am surprised at my words.


    "Atleast lie a bit better, do you think that the death of a noble capable of creating grunts would not be noticed by me.", she replies, taking a swipe at my head. I duck to dodge it.


    Fighting this lady is going to be painful. Simply put my injuries will be at the moment healing the enemies wounds quite slowly. Vital mana is not really useful to dead things after all.


    That doesn''t mean that the vital mana leaking from me won''t debilitate me. I can already feel the vital mana that I have been using to reinforce my body dissipating through my wounds.


    "I shal ask you one final time, tell me the identity of your master.",  she asks again.


    "Well, if I were to tell you that I have no master, would you be able to believe me.", I reply. Well, the world has begun to rotate or is that me getting dizzy. I honestly don''t know.


    Well, I don''t even catch the ladies movement, as she charges towards me. Her movement feels as if she is in slow motion.


    Well, that certainly means nothing good. I think loss of blood can cause something like this or else the lady has poison on her nails. I can''t really discount that too.


    You know one funny thing about combat, just how much of combat is dependent on your solidity with the basics.


    I enter into stance, feeling the ladies hand aim for my heart. I take a step to the left, feeling her hand pass into my chest. This is going to hurt.


    The stance that I have taken is positioned in such a way that my sword is aimed right over the enemies head. Almost as soon as I swing my sword down the lady retreats, but the thing is in a battle of fists to blades, the blade will always have better range.


    No matter how fast or agile the enemy is, this fact is not something that can be changed immediately. I can feel the resistance on my sword as it enters into the steves skull splitting it.


    Well, such an injury doesn''t actually hurt someone who has possessed a dead body, but we are in the burial grounds. The burial ground you can say is pulling the spirit from the flesh. You can think of the body as a container. The more broken it is the more the contents of it will spill out to be pushed away by the burial ground.


    There is a reason that I ended up here. Thankfully, the enemy is busy. What i have done is equivalent to me shattering the lid of the container and turned the entire thing upside down.


    Well, I don''t really get the chance to react to the enemies strike though. The pain of the strike hits me like an elephants charge. I can barely keep myself in a steady state as I look at the dissipating lady. The expelled spirit looks likes smoke wafting from a bonfire.


    "I have remembered your mana, you half converted mutt.", she speaks. "We shall meet again in the court and then I shall show you the finest of pains. You will be screaming your masters name in the process of begging me for mercy. This is my promise."


    I do not retain consciousness to see the entire process of dissipation as the world turns black.

 True Linking (log 049)

    I am once again stuck in the sewers of this fort. I honestly don''t know how I dragged my injured body from the battlefield to the sewers. All I remember was that it was painful. I remember struggling to take each step forward and then finally falling to the ground, my body not responding to me.  it wasn''t due to only my efforts that I have managed to escape from the pursuit of our enemies. The organisation had a big hand in it, though trevor refuses to tell me even how they have done so.


    I have been left with strict instruction not to leave the sewers by trevor. He himself should already be up there, doing whatever it is that he has been doing.


    Well, I am sure that the people of the organisation are still debating whether to kick me out or not. I certainly seem to have caused a storm up above and whatever the organisation is, I have to assume that chaos is not good for business. The bloodheart gang have been ripping through the city looking for me. Thankfully nobody seems to have a solid idea of how I look.


    Well, I don''t like to think about things that are out of my control, but  to think that vampires have managed to infiltrate this close to the hexmountain. Well, the blood heart gang is not exactly prime property. The only thing that they are really good at is scurrying in the outskirts of the hexmountains.


    Vampires have always been a pest, hiding among the people and causing massive pains to the people that have to deal with them. Most of the higher vampires are quite indistinguishable from humans, you know. Even a grunt, who has the least control over its physique can hide itself in a human village as long as it is wise about it.


    Well, the grunt called as steve certainly caused me a great deal of pain. Right now, I am bandaged up and my body is hurting like hell. The claws of a vampire are coated with a poison that keep the victim bleeding and Steve has been Converted into some kind of a grunt. That much I am certain of. There are many varieties of grunts so it is quite hard to predict exactly which kind.


    The most obvious sign of a grunt is their above normal speed and their hands which can grow strong enough to fight against metal weapons. One naturally can''t discount their ability to absorb blood to accelerate their healing process.


    Fighting a grunt might not be hard, but killing one is a claim I can''t take. I can''t say that I have personally killed a grunt like that on my own, but my team and me have fought against them a few times. That was a very long ago though.


    If it were me I would have retreated to the hexmountain on getting this information, but trevor seems to have a plan so following it for now is wise. Honestly speaking, the man knows more than he is letting on.


    If the vampires are getting involved in this matter than I have a need of getting stronger quicker. Even their grunts are such hard foes to fight. Thankfully it is impossible for any of the higher vampires to make it into the region surrounding hexmountain. While we are not inquisition we still have our methods of defending against the vampires.


    Anyway, it is related to this prospect of growing stronger that I have been going into my masters book. The man has left me all the basics that you might need for the maintainence of the ship, but more importantly my master has been using it to describe the process of what he calls as the true linking.


    He has been explaining it in brief to me, but from the book I have gained a greater understanding of it, especially about the methodology of achieving such a thing. My master might be bad at explaining stuff physically but he is actually pretty good at noting it down.


    True linking is essentially the process of fusing my cultivation with the formation I have picked which would be the bloody fang. The process is simple, as I construct my foundation slabs in my mana core, I will be able to selectively choose certain runes (when the foundation slab is yet to be built.) which will not be inscribed into my foundation. Instead, the missing runes will be replaced by a small formation called as the linker, which will link up with another linker to create a link between the two objects.


    In this case the two objects are my foundations slab and the bloody fang. The benefits to this are very high. A foundation block becomes a part of your mana core, in ways that are beyond my understandings. That means that If I succeed in this process the formation sword will technically be a part of my mana core.


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    While I cant exactly predict what exactly I will gain from doing such a thing, I can certainly guess. Firstly there should be reduction in the cost me using the formation. In the present case that would be the way in which I am using the bloody fang. I will be able to draw more power from the formation, at lower mana cost and I will be able to control the formation as if it were a part of me. Most importantly though, this should work very in reducing my thirst by quite the bit.


    The thirst of the bloody fang is actually a byproduct of the way that people convert into grunts. A higher vampire will bite you, acting as the catalyst for your conversion. In this process, the vampires is injecting you with his own mana.


    Then the bit person will experience the thirst, as absorbing the mana will slowly but steadily drive the other person thirsty. Once blood is drunk though, your body will begin to change. It will become faster, stronger and your hands will be able to morph into its claw form.


    At this stage, the grunt will be able to bring his thirst under control. He can go days without having to drink any blood, even when surrounded by an entire city of people.


    Right now I am at the very first stage, before the bit person drank the blood. Everytime I use the formation the mana in it is trying to turn me into a grunt. That is why I absolutely have to not drink any blood. The vital force from the sword is safe though. The sword acts as an filter.


    Now that happens because the blood energy of the grunt is a external source of mana. The mana of vampire, which I shall call as blood mana for the lack of a better word will cause this transformation to occur. After all, there is no really difference between an ordinary person and me, except in the amount of mana that we have.


    Now imagine if this formation become a part of my mana core. The mana it emits would then become a part of my vital mana. That would be like I am digesting an external source of mana and making it my own. While it won''t be to the same level as what a grunt would be able to control, it will be quite close to it. Without the thirst, the bloody fang will become quite the useful tool. I can hold the transformation for way longer.


    That is what the process of true linking should be doing to me, atleast in theory. Though since my master was the one to make this theory it being wrong is quite unlikely. The man knows what he is doing, except in teaching.


    Well, the process is no walk in the park and this is especially the case since I have built up my foundation blocks. You are not supposed to be messing with your foundation especially after it has been built. What I am doing is essentially the process of selectively destroying my foundation and then replacing it with the linker formation.


    To describe the pain, imagine someone is pulling your bones from your body or if somebody were to pull all your teeth at the same time. I think that would be enough to describe the pain that I am feeling.


    Part of the pain is because I have already built the first foundation block which has become a part of my mana core. What I am doing then is break a small piece of my mana core. That is true for the second one too, though it is not complete yet.


    Well, part of the reason that I have been making this log was to actually put of this work off for as long as I dare to. I am slowly losing that battle though. After this log is over I will be returning to this process though I have a feeling that I going to gain a new level of hatred for my master by the end of the day.


    The last thing left to mention would be the formation mage. He is not in the sewers, to be honest barely half of the merchants that were here the last time are still here.


    Since the organisation must have spent quite the bit in my protection, I have to assume that their operations must have slowed by quite the bit. So they have reduced the number of people that they are hiding in the sewers. It must be quite the extensive formation to be able to hide so many down here.


    They must have moved these bunch to a safe house. I imagine that it would be some warehouse, old and disused with a hidden basement where all of these guys are huddled together.


    I hope that is the case at the very least. The grimoire has protections on it. I will not be able to access it unless the man allows me to. I could try and break it, but there is a reason people use formations to protect stuff. It is quite effective at doing so. If I were mess it up, I am sure that every piece of content present in the book will have been destroying leaving me nothing to show for sacrifices.


    I will need to ask trevor about the man''s fate the next time that we meet. He must be fine.


    Lastly, I hope that ship of mine is safe. It is still standing there in the wilderness with no protection except jacob and Andrew. Well, i have heard bo news among the merchants about the ship atleast, so I have to assume that the ship is still safe. The merchants have a vested interest in making sure that any black mountain ship succeeds in their work after all, so they must have kept a very keen ear on this topic.


    Well, this just me delaying the inevitable now. I really don''t want to try true linking, if I am to be honest. Just hearing about it is causing my body to ache.


    I have to do it some day or the other though. The benefits it will provide me is too good to ignore. Anyways, it is not like I can ignore my masters order anyways. If not now then tomorrow, and knowing my master he will make sure that it will hurt even more.


    So with steel in my heart, I close this log. If I do end up dying due to this, I hope that I become a ghost. It would be fun to torment my master one of these days.

 We Need To Save A Bastard (log 050)

    The only news of the formation merchant that could be found came in the form of Trevor. Our room in the sewers is quite sparse, two beds, a table and a chair. Well, considering our surroundings even this little bit seems like a magic. All the others have to make do with their corners of sewers. Let''s just say it is a damp and stinky place. The merchants have been showing quite the bit of patience staying down here.


    I had been sleeping, which is against all of my impulses. To rest, to not think in enemy territory has been an activity that I have barely managed to accomplish. The entire place is enemy territory. You should hear Trevor speak about the organisation. The man speaks of it like a dangerous lion. I might not know much about the organisation, but the man was still calm (though quite anxious) at the snowwind empire. The man is still anxious, though now it is due to fear. The man looks like he is about to defend against a strike. It is the tightness of his movement, like a loaded spring.


    Speaking of Trevor, the man almost caused my heart to fail. the man just sat next to me. Waking up the first thing that happen to me was looking at the old man''s face from up close. I am not embarassed to admit my heart did fail for a second. Thankfully my sword is in the other side of the room, otherwise who knows what I would do in impulse.


    "Cool, boy.", trevor speaks, with a voice that makes me feel as if he is talking to a horse. That is really annoying.


    "Well, what happened. I don''t think that I have seen you here in this room more than twice or thrice.", I ask.


    "Well, I have been busy kid. The organisation would be kept at peace knowing the fact that I have been busy doing their work. They do not like to keep anything with them that doesn''t benefit them.", he replies taking on a more comfortable position. "You have been a particularly costly investment for them. Costly is a word that really makes them uncomfortable."


    "So are they the ones that is protecting me from the vampires. That is pretty strong magic if that is the case.", I ask. "And when exactly was i supposed to know about the vampires. Somehow I get the feeling that you already know about them one way or the other."


    "Well, we have known about the blood heart gang and their captains shortly after they made a deal with whichever vampire clan that leads them now. Do you think that if every random person in the street has a doubt about them, the black mountain won''t know about them.", he continues speaking. "Well, we still had only doubts about them. To think that they were attempting a descent possession right next to the hex mountain. That was certainly not in my imagination, I must admit. Then to think that you would be catch them in the middle of this process too. If only we could return to the hexmountain. The general might even get involved with this matter."


    "Descent possession, what is that?", I ask, it is a new word for me.


    "Well, there is a reason that vampires like to create their grunts, other than them being servants. A higher vampire will be able to temporarily posess the body of a lower vampire whenever it feels like it.", trevor replies. "It''s a reason that most of the higher vampires are so hard to catch. They have a network of such vampires everywhere. Most of these vampires even tend to take on the shape of their master. At a moment there are always seven or eight of these guys in seven to eight different empires. You can imagine the chaos thay causes."


    "Well, if that is the case, why would they not try that here. It''s sounds like it doesn''t have much consequences.", I ask, interrupting the man. He is entering a lecturing mode and I seriously have no desire to learn about the vampires at the moment.


    "Well, we always keep a very strong eye on our surroundings. With a majority of the guard corps always deployed, there is always a risk of invasion. We cannot allow forces like this to exist in our surroundings.", Trevor spoke. "In short That means that the vampires must have found it very hard to even setup a little something like the bloodheart gang."


    "So why would they be going around wasting them in such a flippant manner if it is so hard to create them.", I reply, completing the man''s thought. "I don''t even think It was for me, though I could be wrong."


    "Yeah, that is the question at the end of the day. What required them to take such an action. To waste so much and to fight what. They didn''t even know that you existed, so it wasn''t to fight you. Anyways the blood heart gang could have quite easily ambushed you, they didn''t need to call on their masters just to fight you.", he speaks. "There are too many captains of the blood heart gang missing for me to think it is a exceptional event. No they are fighting something else, I would assume the mayfires. My only question is why."


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    "Maybe they want to take over the place. It is a solid piece of construction. They could launch an invasion from here if they wished too", I reply.


    "They could be, but what would they gain. Firstly they would become completely stationery, a sitting duck for the black mountain. Secondly, they are no hidden faction of the vampires, so them taking over this place would make it the territory of vampires. Nobody will come here then and lastly, we are the people that mainly trade with mayfire castle. Us not doing so would drive down trade completely in this place.", Trevor replies. "And even if you discount all of that, the surrounding people would be the very first people to attack them. Nobody likes a vampire as a neighbour, captain."


    We both sit there for a couple of minutes, me processing the information that I had just gained and he pondering on this topic for God knows how many times.


    "Well, we won''t be solving that puzzle until we breach the inner keep, kid. No point in wondering about that.", Trevor speaks suddenly. "What we need to do is instead focus on the man that has caused this much of a mess. This formation merchant of yours, that is going to be our present focus."


    "So you have found the man''s location. What was he doing.", I ask. That man has formations to unlock and knowledge to give. I will be getting those cells and the formation even if it kills him.


    "He has somehow managed to get himself into a very tight bind, kid. He has somehow ended up being imprisoned in the headquarters of the blood heart gang.", Trevor speaks. "It is a dinghy old pub, almost as old as the fort itself. It is almost as durable as the fort too. The fucking thing is built of purely stone. Some bastard earth mage I have to presume."


    "So direct confrontation is not an option. I can''t certainly fight another captain in this state and I can''t fight multiple captains even if they are not possessed.", I speak. "I can''t use the sword against higher vampires. So that is an ace of mine gone. I might have a method of dealing with it but until I achieve it I can''t tell."


    "Now why would that be, something to do with the material, I assume.", Trevor replies.


    "Something like that. It has to do in relation with the mana of the vampire. Feeling that mana greatly increases my thirst and there are other things. All of that is not considering the suppression. It is even hard for me to think in the presence of a higher vampire.", I speak. "And my transformation is only at the level of a half converted grunt of their kind. The kind that has not drunk blood. A fully converted grunt would not even be able to do that."


    "Well, that will certainly cause a problem. Still, we might not need to do that. All we need to do is focus on getting to the man and getting him out.", Trevor replies. "How long would it take for you recover."


    "Not that long actually, my transformations tend to have an effect even after I have cancelled it. I would have been fine in a few hours actually, but the vampire cause wounds that keep bleeding.", I reply. "It should still be fine in a couple of days. Most of the vital mana that I have absorbed will be wasted though."


    "I think we can delay the rescue then. It is not like they will kill the man any time soon.", Trevor speaks.


    "How likely is that actually", I ask.


    "They could be killing the man at this instant and I would not know. I am relying on rumours for my work, it is not like those spread before the deed is done.", Trevor replies, quite nonchalantly. "Don''t think about it, it is the man''s luck until then. Thinking about it will just cause you to lose your head. I think you would do better by focussing on the process of linking your formation."


    "How do you know about that.", I ask. I didn''t know about it until my master spoke of it at the beginning of this mission.


    "Well, kid. When the grand wolf makes you promise not to leak any information related to something to his disciple, people tend to take a notice of that. That is even more so if that person were to go to each person capable of doing so and giving them an warning. It caused quite a scandal too. I remember the legion had to intervene too.", Trevor speaks, his mouth opening in a laugh that somehow didn''t sit well on that old face. "Also, supposedly the knowledge that he has restricted has become a field of research for those that work for your master. They are completely sure that there is some hidden knowledge or method hidden in it."


    "Well, is there any.", I ask him.


    "Well, kid. I have no reason, nor desire to piss of you master. That man is a scary bastard if he holds a grudge against you. Anyways, return to focus on more pressing matters.", Trevor speaks. "You should be able to manage atleast one level of linking at this level, can you."


    "I think so, I havent really managed it yet.", I reply. "My master hasn''t really given me more than a couple of weeks of studying this thing properly."


    "Well, as long as you can do so. I have to assume that it has something to do with that sword of yours.", Trevor replies.


    "Something like that. One last thing that I want to ask is exactly what kind of defenses do you have against an actual invasion. Even without the guard corps, the legion can still act, cant it?" I ask.


    "Well, I can''t say that I am particularly privy to that information. I dont think the legion will be involved in this expedition. The usage of the legion this close to home will have scary consequences kid.", Trevor replied. "You don''t need to worry though, even if an entire clan were to end up here we have defences against that, I am sure. The general is still in the hexmountain."


    "Still how are you planning to attack. It is not like we can just go and attack those bastards.", I speak.


    "We ar......."


    And thus here I break the conversation again. The head offices need to keep important information hidden is so annoying.

 Acting As Bait (log 051)

    I sometimes wonder when will a particular plan of mine work smoothly enough that I can complete it straight forwardly.


    A mission in which I was supposed to kill a bandit leader somehow managed to involve the vampire clans, a possible invasion on the hexmountain and now somehow ended up with me here.


    It has been a while since my last log, but I have managed to complete my task for now. Being true linked to the formation is, lets just say a very invasive feeling. I can feel the sword like it is activated all the time.


    I can feel my mana flow into the thing, without any particular push from my side and the mana of the sword come out of it. I am sure the presence of this mana is causing changes in my body even without the sword being present. It is just too slight for me to notice.


    It is almost like the sword is breathing in my mana. I can see how this can reduce the affects of the thirst. It won''t disappear completely, mind you but it should become closer to that of a fully converted grunt at the very least.


    It is a very weird feeling, granted this was exactly what my master had theorised would have happened. Well, I really need to stop getting distracted now.


    Right now I am in an abandoned lodge quite far away from the enemy and their present base. The owner of this place was the very first victim of the gang. I am in the first floor, in What I have to assume is the tavern of the lodge. The place is perfect. Anyone''s entry into this place will be quite obvious to me and the pace won''t be missed even if I were to end up demolishing the place. Not that such a intense fight will happen. Well, I sit down on floor, feeling the orb of black metal I have stashed in my shoes. That is going to be the star.


    Trevor actually has got his hand on a pretty rare formation this north for it. It''s called as the void smoke. It is supposed to create a mist in which all the senses are blocked completely. The people stuck in it feel as if they are stuck in a void.


    The problem is that this is a double edged sword, I can''t get stuck in it. And I can''t make obvious movements too trap them. Whoever I will fight will have senses as sharp as mine after all, even one thing goes wrong and they will dodge it.


    Still if they get trapped in it, there will be little that I will need to do. Escaping the void is nearly impossible, except by accidently walking away from its edges or the mana powering it is over. Regardless of which occurs, this will buy me at the very least ten minutes of time.


    That will be enough for me. After all The plan that Trevor has proposed is quite simple, if a bit risky. Vampire clans are nearly legendary for their infighting. If a clan is doing something, you will find its opposing clan somewhere nearby trying to make it fail. I was transformed when the lady possessed Steve.


    Trevor and I assume that she thinks of me as a suicidal attacker of some clan. She did keep calling me a half converted mutt, so I have to assume that thought is forwarded to the blood heart gang.


    Right now i will transform using the sword in a while, pushing out my mana like a beacon for the bloodheart gang. Fully converted grunts with control over their blood mana should be able to sense blood mana in their surroundings even if it is not their masters. At the moment I am not able to do much with the blood mana other than to flair it up.


    I have no idea what I am supposed to be waiting for, the only thing that Trevor said about it was that it is going to be quite obvious and should buy me some time to prepare for a fight.


    To complete the plan, I will be acting as a bait to the enemy while Trevor will sneak into the enemy base and open all their prisons. They have quite a few people locked up, mostly merchants, some guards and a few of the more ambitious mercenaries. Releasing all of them should chaos. Chaos that would enough for us to slip out safely with our price. There are three other captains of the blood heart gang in the city, out of almost twelve. The remaining eight, Trevor has not found any trace of them.


    And thus I wait until Trevor finally makes his move. What he said is true, the signal was quite unignorable. It was after all a bunch of fireworks. I am sure everybody in the fort must be looking at it. I can''t say how many since the fireworks were set of almost opposite to me in the fort. But since I can hear them from this far it must have been a lot. Trevor has raided a shop, I tell you.


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    More importantly there is a fire that has started in region, based on the plume of smoke. Well, remembering Trevors plan, I begin to activate the formation on my sword.


    It is a heady feeling, to convert like this. This time it is especially so since the thirst that I was supposed to feel is much lesser than before. If I had to give a comparison, if before If the thirst was like I had not drunk water for the last couple of years, now it feels like I haven''t drunk water in the last couple of weeks.


    I don''t get to enjoy this feeling for long, as the enemy finally makes their move. The first thing that I can confirm that it is two enemies, one coming down the only set of stairs in the place, which is quite creaky. The other has just threw a rock through a window. At the very least stealth does not seem to be a focus of theirs.


    The window lady is the first to find me. She is maybe five years older than me. The most annoying part is that she is holding a saber with a pretty sick looking edge. I will have to assume that it is a magical one.


    I was hoping they were like Steve, more ready for close range fighting. The lady comes at me the instant that she locates me, as I block her strike. I don''t allow her to maintain a momentum as I keep pressing my attack on her.


    In a few moments, I hold the more dominant position. The lady has not used a saber for a very long time, of that I am sure. She does have training though. That is how she has held against my sword.


    I don''t get to keep it up though as the second vampire comes to attack. It is a man, who is thankfully using his claws. I am barely able to get in a strike into the bastards side, as his claws aim for my heart. I block using my hand.


    I can feel a string of vital mana flowing from the man to me. If before linking this string was single string, now it is like four or five of those strings have merged to form a new string.


    I jump back taking a defensive position. We stare at each other for a while after which the lady strikes finally. I block her saber, as the man tries sneak behind me. He is aiming for my heart, which I dodge by ducking.


    For a second, I have the hope the man would end up hitting the lady, but even she jumps to the side, barely dodging it. The two people don''t know how to work together at the very least. That is good news.


    And thus our dance began, I give up on offense completely as I dance around the tavern blocking and dodging. I exploit every bit of the unfamiliarity that the two people have for their two styles and to their surroundings. Honestly speaking, it is their inability to work together rather than my skill that has left me so pristine in this fight.


    I will not be able to maintain this for long though. My mana expenditure in the fight has been constant, while the two can do so in bursts. As if that was not enough, I took an injury. It is a pretty inconsequential injury, but it takes a constant stream of vital mana to maintain it. Vampires and their poisons.


    I jump to side, dodging the lady''s saber. It has taken on a greyish colour by now. I assume that something quite deadly will happen if I get hit by that thing. This would be a ideal time of attack, but I am forced to dodge as the man appears to my side. I use the sword to block him.


    I feel a sharp pang of pain. The lady managed to sneak in an attack, in that while. The effect of the sword seems to be petrification, as my skin begins to take on a greyish tone. I have to push mana into my wounds. The petrification is stalled temporarily.


    And thus I begin to lose. I believe I hold a pretty formidable defense but that can only be confirmed by my enemy. I block both of them as much as possible but my mana is already approaching the bottom of the tank.


    On hindsight, maybe I did not really have need to fight for so long. The only thing that I was supposed to be doing was buy some time for Trevor to do his thing. Well, I got an idea but it is going to be quite painful.


    I jump back barely dodging a saber strike from the lady. Now is seriously not the time for complicated planning.


    I jump back again, feeling my back hit the wall. Fuck, I can feel both of them charging in to take a swing. Fuck it, now is not the time for grand plans. I duck down, not dodge the enemies blows, but to reach my shoes.


    The lady redirects her blade right into my back. The saber is lodged solidly in my body. I can feel my flesh beginning to petrify as I pour all of my remaining mana into the block of black metal.


    I seriously hope that I have not calculated the range wrong as I throw the block at the two people, who as I expected bolted backwards away from me. The black metal suddenly expands forming a sphere of pure blackness. It seems to be devouring the very light in the world. Turns out I did calculate the range wrong, the sphere has formed up right next to me, close enough that I can see the sphere eat up my nose.


    Almost in fear I take a step backwards. My nose is still there thankfully, but I still keep moving. Pulling out the ladies saber, I move away from the place. After all, knowing my luck I am sure that the two people will make their way out of the place any second, getting out of that void in pure luck.


    I hope that the formations I get is worth all of this. If it is not, at the very least I got a magical tool. Thinking this I begin to hobble, trying to lose myself in the mess of streets in this place. After, there is no way in hell that I cannot allow an outside person to find the rendevous point.

 Light Shield And A Map (log 052)

    I am back in the sewers in our little room. It is a bit cramped, if I am to be honest with three people present in our room. The journey to my escape route was surprisingly quick. It didnt take me more than an hour to return to this position.


    I could feel something was going on in the city based on the manner in which the city had fallen into chaos. Everybody running everywhere and no person from the blood heart gang to manage that chaos. Anyway, Trevor and the formation merchant came roughly after a hour of our meeting.


    Then I understood just how much chaos the man had caused in the city. This was the conversation I had with the man as he deposited the formation merchant on one of the beds. The man had become unconscious.


    "Just what have you done, Trevor.", I speak, seeing the man struggling to move the quite heavy formation merchant.


    "Well, I am certain that you could help with this bastard. Carrying him has been quite the pain.", Trevor speaks, his voice twinged with embarassment.


    "Yeah, yeah.", I reply, promptly helping the man with formation merchant. "Still, my question remains. What did you do that the city almost feels empty of the blood heart gang."


    "Well, I did exactly what I told you that I would be doing, captain. I released all of the prisoners of the bloodheart gang.", Trevor speaks, getting ready to tell his tale. "This is something that all people forget, but full prisons are not safe for a healthy kingdom. Sneaking into the place was damn easy too. Their base is a two stories inn, with the upper floor acting as a makeshift prison. The bottom floor was their base of actions. Over all, a pretty smart plan if you have capable guards manning the place. Smart these people are not. I didnt even need to do much, just knock out one of the cleaners of the Inn and then take his supplies to he base. They didn''t even bother to verify my identity."


    "Well, that was easy.", I reply.


    "Not that easy too, the damn bastards made me clean all of their rooms too, before letting me up there. They managed to turn their rooms into proper pig stys, too. These old bones are not built for that kind of hard work.", trevor speaks. "There was this moment with the owner of the inn, where I was sure my cover was blown. I had assumed him killed. Instead they have been making him do some kind of accounting work. The man was thankfully smart and played along with me. I was sure that one of the guard suspected something though."


    "So they allowed you entry upstairs.", I ask. "That is kind of careless."


    "Not that careless. They sent a couple of guards up there with me. Head on fighting them would have been impossible without raising a din.", Trevor replies. "I just pretended that the door was stuck and while the two bastards were busy trying to pry it open, pushed them into the room. The prisoners there took care of everything after that for me. Well, after that I had little to do actually. The prisoners didn''t take long to find their arms and then things just kept escalating from there. It was pretty to hard to find this bastard in that chaos though."


    "Just how many people were there for such a thing to occur", I ask. "It felt to me that the entire blood heart gang had disappeared from the streets."


    "Well, there easily could have been a hundred to two hundred people in that building. That is almost ten people per room. It is not an understatement to say that it was quite a tight fit.", Trevor replies. "The blood heart gang is clearly not very popular in the city. It was a pretty healthy mix of mercenaries, the city guard and the merchants."


    "Well, what about the formation merchant. How did he end up in his present state.", I ask.


    "Well, it will be better if you blame the bastard. He took up a fight with one of the other guys, a guard I think. The bastard ended up pummeling him into unconsciousness."


    "Regardless, he is with us now. That means that we will be able to finally get that formation.", I reply, the prospect of that particular headache being over quite the motivation.


    "Are you sure, that he will be able to legitimately provide the goods.", Trevor asks.


    "Well, this grimoire of his is pretty high grade magic. You don''t usually use that kind of magic to protect useless stuff. If the bastard is not able to provide us with that formation of his, then i will make sure to extract every single word of this book. This bastard is not going to be short changing us. Of that I am completely sure" I reply, the irritation apparent in my tone. What can I say, my body is still feeling the injuries that I have had to take for this bastard.


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    "Well, you can do that anyways, can''t you?", Trevor replies.


    "I could I guess, but at the moment those formations are quite worthless to me. What is the point of having the schematics of even a divine weapon if you do not have the time to build it.", I reply. "And grimoire magic is quite hard to break. There are failsafes the bastard can still exploit."


    "Okay, will these camouflage formation be enough to bring the ship here to this city.", trevor asks.


    "Well, that is the truth. Though I don''t see how that will really benefit us.", I ask him back.


    "Well, we will still need an escape route.", Trevor replies. "You don''t want to be stuck in the city after we have breached the walls of the inner keep. I have a feeling that we shall find nothing pleasant there."


    "Well, that is the truth. There is not much I can do until he wakes up though.", I reply.


    And thus we sit in silence after this. the man seems to be almost sleeping, if you could ignore his face which look like he has put it inside a bee hive. The man is clearly not popular.


    I wondered if I should make my contribution by punching him a couple of times but I resist that impulse. Can''t have him dying before opening that grimoire of his.


    Thankfully we don''t need to wait long as the bastard finally opens his eyes. Whatever might be my annoyance, the man has clear understanding of his situation. The instant that he sees us, the man is on the ground bowing to us.


    "Thank you, thank you, my lord.", he says. "you have managed to save me from quite a dreadful fate."


    That leaves us both quite confused as to what to do. Finally, I speak up.


    "Leave all that bootlicking to somebody that might like it.", I speak. "We had an agreement, you bastard. You will be fulfilling that immediately or my sword is quite thirsty for blood, my dear friend."


    I am sure that came out more threatening than I assumed it to be, as the man almost begins shivering in fear. He recovers almost immediately though.


    "Naturally, my lord. Give the grimoire and I will give it you.", he replies and I give him the book.


    "What was you problem with the blood heart gang, though.", I ask him as he fiddles with the grimoire.


    "They had need of my services in locating a certain formation, my lord.", he says. "A particularly strong one. A rank six one if their description is to be believed. they were quite certain that it was in my possession."


    Finally the grimoire opens.


    "Is it in your possession.", I ask.


    "Well, if I had a class six formation, even the schematics for one. I would not be in this damn fort. I would be home, without having to do any work.", he replies. "I don''t know anything about a class six formation. I do know something, but I can''t guarantee that it is something that will help you out."


    "Well, regardless, the damn book is open. Give me what you have promised to me and then we will see about leaving you alone.", I reply.


    The man fiddles with the book for a while and finally opens one of the pages.


    "My lord, this is a class eight formation. It is called as the light shield. The purpose of the spell is to create minor illusions around your ship, allowing you to conceal yourself as a cloud.", he speaks. "It is one of the most precious formations that I have at hand."


    Saying that he suddenly tears the page from the book, handing it to me. I am sure that the book has mechanisms in place to restore the damage the man has inflicted on it.


    "That was for the mission of returning my grimoire to me, my lord. I also need you to reimburse you for the act of saving me.", he speaks suddenly. "The reason that the blood heart gang was behind me was due to a map that I had acquired from one of their underlings a couple of years ago."


    "A map to what?" Curiosity getting the better of me.


    "I have to believe that it is the ruins of an old elven formation storage facility. Atleast that is my belief.", he speaks. "Now, I might have a map but I have no way of knowing the actual situation of the ruin. It could be empty for all I care."


    "But if it is not and if even a single formation remained in the place, it has to be a class six formation at the very least.", I reply.


    "Well, then it is an gamble isn''t it. The question is are you willing to take it.", Trevor, who has been silent speaks suddenly.


    "Well, I was quite sorely tempted, I must admit. You never know what you can find with the elves.", the formation merchant speaks. "But, it was simply too risky for my tastes. The ruin is right next to vampire territory in the first place. Even if it was not, it is quite an costly endeavour."


    "So then why was the blood heart gang after you.", Trevor asks again.


    "Well, they were under the assumption that I have already looted the place. Why they thought that, I don''t know. They were not even ready to listen to anything that I had to say.", he replies. "Still, I will be able to escape soon enough. With the grimoire, I will be able to buy my way to the front of the bastards list. They will remove from this infernal place by the end of the week."


    I can actually see that the man has a significantly worried expression. He is either a very good actor or he is being quite truthful. Regardless of which it is, the man does not stop ruffling with the grimoire, finally landing on what I have to assume is the map.


    "The map is guarded with a little extra magic than my other formations. Unless I utter a specific phrase as I open it, the page will remain blank.", the formation merchant speaks. "This one you will have to copy on your own, since tearing that page is quite an impossibility."


    "For an useless map, you have it safeguarded quite well haven''t you.", I ask.


    "Well, even if I were to place a class nine formation in front of the people that I have to usually deal with, they would never be able to make any head or tail out of it even If I were to give them a couple of days. A map is completely diferent.", he replies, as Trevor quickly takes the grimoire to do the necessary copying.


    I could do it, but even though I am a formation mage my drawing skills are quite negligible. Better to leave it to an expert I say.

 planning a heist (log 053)

    It has been almost a week since Trevor and I have saved the formation master. He had disappeared after the third day of us saving him. I would say that is a good thing, since I have no more use of the man and I have gotten everything that I could have wanted from the man only.


    Anyway, finally Trevor has been involving me in the planning for this heist of his. If you can call single sided conversations as conversations. Well, the very first thing that I had understood is why the hell the base of the blood heart gang is so easy to breach.


    The damn place does not even have a quarter of the forces of the blood heart gang and none of the three captains are staying there. The base  is essentially like one big scarecrow protecting something for the blood heart gang. Anybody would find nothing of value at the base of the blood heart gang, other than a few prisoners.


    Even Trevor and the organisation do not seem to know what it is that they are protecting. All they know it is something that is very important to the bastards and they have been quite careful in that things protection.


    All they know is that it is some kind of a statue, covered in odd etchings that are definitely not formation markings. It was acquired from some kind of an old elven ruin. That is all we know about it. If rumours are to be believed it is the statue of an elven god, with traces of divinity on it. Naturally these are rumours, otherwise the clergy of most gods would destroy this fort for such a blasphemy.


    Anyways, regardless of what it is They have a constant force of soldiers protecting it, and atleast two of the captains are always near it. That is why it took them so much time to react to the prison break. Even now, a majority of those prisoners have disappeared into the city. Looking for the prisoners have completely freed the organisation from the blood heart gang. It is almost as if they have been given wings the way that they have been smuggling people out of the city.


    Leaving all of that to the side, whatever treasure that they are protecting is not the goal of our missions. Instead our goal is in the room right next to the treasury, where they would be guarding such a precious thing.


    The guard house of the mayfire castle is a simple structure considered over all. It is built up of the same kind of rock as the walls of this fort. That makes it quite indestructible and quite resistant to assaults.


    Other than that, the entire thing is a box. The treasury and the accounting room is near northern side of the building. Our Target is right in the accounting room. It is the accounting books of the guards containing all of the business deals made by the guards of this fort.


    Such information will be quite useful to the organisation as they can do quite the bit with this knowledge. For example, if they were to find out which blacksmith (there are many) manages the creation, maintenance and repair of their weapons. Killing that blacksmith would cause them to stumble for a bit. This would prove quite useful if say they would going on large scale search operation.


    That is why no blacksmith would go about boasting about this fact. They can also predict the actions of the guards based on the orders given to said blacksmith. For example, a increase in weapons ordered would mean that the guards are about to become more active.


    All of that is just from the blacksmiths. The record books would contain even more. Masons, architects, apothecary and so much more. I would not be surprised if the organisation would be able to predict every single move of the enemy, atleast for a while.


    And all of this is considering the fact that the guards would be angels, without a hint of corruption. The organisation would be able to control quite a significant chunk of the guards simply by threatening the more corrupted folk.


    I can see why the organisation has been so persistent in finding these books. It would certainly give them quite the edge in this city. It would be enough to make them solidly grounded in this fort, I tell you.


    Well, wanting it and getting it are two different things. The place is pretty heavily guarded, and that is even before considering all the extra people that would be standing guard in that area. Firstly, sneaking up to the building is itself going to be a significant problem. Surrounding the guard house are moats, which while won''t be doing much against an enemy charge is certainly going to make sneaking into the place very hard. If we were to be detected en route, we would be converted into pincushions with the number of arrows they will shoot at us.


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    Even if we got into the building, there is the issue of patrols. The treasury is right next to the accounting room and the place is quite consistently patrolled by the captains of the blood heart gang.


    While I can certainly hold them off, that would mean that the third hurdle in this matter we will not be able to manage and that would be the formations guarding the books. It won''t be anything heavyweight like the grimoire, but it is still going to be a challenge, especially since I have to do it so quietly.


    As for how we are going to manage this thing, I have no idea. All of the planning I have left to trevor and the man is even less forthcoming about his plans than I am. Let''s just say, I will discover what is about to occur at the same time as you.


    Anyway, on to a more personal matter. I can feel the second foundation block achieving completion. I have not done a lot of cultivation, but the thing had been near completion for a while and ever since I have linked with the bloody fang I can feel the speed of my cultivation increase by a crazy amount. If before it was like I was trying to weave using rope, now it is like the rope has suddenly become a thread.


    Firstly it is due to the constant amount of mana that is flowing into my body from the sword. It is trickle compared to the mana that I can actively gather, but the trickle is always there. It is actually quite risky too. If I do not keep using that mana in my foundation building the blood mana from the thing will lead to more permanant and unsavoury changes to my body. I wouldn''t be surprised if I became a grunt permanently.


    Still, it removes one of the major hurdles in the process of foundation building, which is converting external mana into vital mana. That is a process that takes half of my focus, with the remaining half actually on the process of weaving the foundation. It is a pretty inefficient way to do it, but that is the process of cultivation.


    Secondly, my control of mana in the mana core has grown by a ridiculous degree. This is very paradoxical because since I am actually introducing a new type of external mana into me. If anything controlling it Should be much harder. I can feel the mana flow so smoothly that it feels like my mana up till now was like honey. I seriously have to wonder why my master kept this from me until now.  The man teaches me the randomest of stuff, granted they have proved somewhat useful. While other disciples are commanded to cultivate as quickly as possible, the man actually asks me to slow down and most weirdly, there are his challenges. A few I can understand but some I don''t know the purpose for. (For example he once made stand upside down on my head for a day. I still havent found any use for it other than knowing that doing such a thing is stupid. I ended up unconscious that day.)


    Well, I won''t be figuring that out any time soon. Still, it leaves me with another headache. The process of linking a complete foundation block is a painful process, the pain of which is something that I have talked about before. I assume that I have a month, maybe half of that before I will be able to complete the foundation block.


    I need to complete the work of linking before that period is over. The process of linking is much easier before the foundation is set. It will still be painful but at the very least I will not feel like hitting my head is being extracted from my skull.


    Getting into more positive matters, I can feel traces of the changes done by the sword. I can feel the mana of the sword humming in my body, making it stronger and my senses sharper. It is almost negligible, mind you. If I could lift ten kilos at Max before, now I can lift ten kilos hundred grams at max. Still, a change is a change and such a thing will accumulate with time.


    The most profound affect of the linking is still on the thirst. If before I would have used the sword, I would still feel the thirst for the next week or so. It is nothing deadly and can be handled easily by drinking a bit more water. I am not like the grunts who need to drink blood every month or so, before their thirst overcomes them.


    To them it is a burning thing, as if their throat has been drained of all moisture. For me water suffices to keep the thirst a bay but for grunts normally water will do nothing. They actually don''t even need to eat you know. Blood is enough for them. Blood is their food, their water and even their drug.


    This thirst is due to the very blood mana that fuels their transformation into a vampire. The thirst is a side affect of being exposed to the blood mana abruptly and suddenly. A more steady way of exposure like mine would have made this process a bit more painless. Even If I were to suddenly gain vampiric form due to the blood mana, I will be closer to the higher vampires.


    They have to barely deal with the thirst, making them that much harder to catch (really hard to catch). They also gain methods of exciting blood mana in the body of others, giving them almost absolute control over the lower vampires, especially the grunts. Some say that just standing in the presence of the higher vampires can cause the thirst of the grunts to lose control. They become like beasts that cannot think if their master wills it so.


    Well, all of that is matters for the future anyways. It is not like I will be meeting any of the higher vampires this close to the black mountain. They would be killed by the guard corps or the legion long before they can even reach close to us.


    The most they can do is possession and while fighting grunts is certainly hard work, I have to admit that now, without the thirst to deal with fighting them will be harder. That is assuming that it will be a one on one fight.


    Somehow I don''t find that will be the case. Once we have breached the inner keep, the first priority will have to look for the mayfires. Even another person supporting me will certainly make this fight fairer.


    Well, let''s just focus on the tomorrow. Breaching the inner keep is a matter better left for later. We have to breach the guard house before.

 The Heist (log 054)

    I am in a really uncomfortable situation at the moment. We are presently outside the guard camps, in the most disgusting position that Trevor could find.


    I don''t blame the man mind you, this is the safest method for us to enter into the place. It doesn''t change the fact that it is disgusting.


    To be more clear, I am wading through at the moment in one of the many pits that the guards have built up in the place.


    These pits are the place in the guard house where the soldiers shit. Now they certainly need a way to get rid of all that now and these people decided the best way to do that would be to connect the moat outside (I will get back to you on that.) to the cess pits. The moat literally floats into the cess pits and carries everything out. That means we can crawl in through the place.


    That means that we have a point of entry, which is a good thing but that also means we are wading through a pile of shit at moment.


    The moat itself is a thin stream of water. I have to think that they are using some kind of a formation array to create this array since the area has no underground source, nor any river from which it could have taken that water from. If that is the case, I have to say that I have been underestimating the mayfires wealth. (What can I say, I would charge an arm and a limb for such an array if I could make it.)


    Lets talk of more technical matters, as we walk through here. Right now, the pit that we have will link into the washroom closest to our target. Here we will be taking a bit of a risk. The cesspit and the washroom are separated by a plank of solid wood.


    It is supposed to be quite sturdy, so the only method of entry is to explode it. We are using a basic fire formation for this purpose, but explosions are explosion. We cannot really predict who will be there to hear it. If it is one of the captains our plan is fucked on the spot.


    Even now we can''t be sure if one of the more sharp eared soldiers could be hearing the splashes that we are making. Well, no use thinking about this as we make it to our location.


    I can see the plank of wood, with holes at steady seperation. All I can think about it is just how uncomfortable it must be to sit on. Well, I can''t really waste time so I get to work.


    About half a minute later, I have set up the fire ball formation onto the wood. It is a basic formation that will burn through all of its reserves to create a pretty strong fireball. It should be able to eat up the entire wood in matter of seconds.


    Normally fireballs spells are risky in that they are hard to control. It is more likely to start a fire that would be barely in our control. Thankfully, these guys have done the good thing of placing the thing over a source of water. Anything burning will fall into water. There is a difference between a heist and setting the entire thing on fire.


    As I think this, the formation activates (the standard activation, five seconds before it will access the mana reserve.) And it begins to shine like a miniature sun.


    Well, that might be an issue. The wood is eaten up by the fireball though. I can hear the wood give way to the flame as the entire thing falls with what seems to be a thunderous crash. All we can hope is that this was in my head.


    We climb up into the fort and position ourselves next to the door. Anybody enters the first thing that we will do is stab him in the head.


    We wait like that for a few seconds that seem like an eternity. Thankfully, it seems that nobody is in this part of the fort at this moment. That is good, since that is saving quite a bit of time.


    We walk into the corridors. From here things should be safe. We are about a minutes walk from our target. This area should be relatively free of people though even I don''t know what Trevor is going to be doing at the treasury though. That place will have both captains and soldiers.


    Thus, we make our way to the location in suspense, at least me. The treasury and the accounting room look almost ordinary, much like the bunch of doors that we have seen while walking here.


    The guardhouse is essentially divided into many rooms which are connected by corridors to each other. The two rooms here are one such room. Other than the two doors, there are three corridor doors including ours.


    That doesn''t bode well for us if we are discovered. At the moment we are hiding near the entrance of our corridor, peeking through the door. The surprising thing is that there is nobody in the room. I would have expected normal guards at the very least.


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    Meanwhile trevor has been fiddling with a formation. It is a pretty low powered formation but that is about what I can say about the thing. It takes me a few more minutes of study to understand what it was.


    It is an illusion formation and one of the rare active ones. (Illusion formations, especially the active ones are the kind of formations that only illusion mages can use. It takes too much skill to make a illusion believeable. The formation only works to make the casting easy.)


    "Are you sure you can run that?", I ask.


    "I have my tricks, captain. It would take me years to explain to you all the tricks that I have in my bag.", he replies. "Just be ready to react to anything."


    Saying that the man goes back to his fiddling. Soon enough he has the thing running. In front of me are two men, perfect replicas of us. Looking from even this close, I can''t tell the difference between us too. The only thing is that the illusions do not have the mana presence of us. That doesn''t matter much though, which person would try to sneak into a place without having suppressed their mana.


    The two illusory men sneak their way into the room. They reach the door of the accounting room quite safely. The illusory me has already bent over the door, acting as if he was fiddling with the formation (being an illusion it naturally cannot interact with a formation.)


    It doesn''t take long for them to be noticed. First it is a group of soldiers, along with a captain. It must be the third captain. He is a middle aged man, but quite well built. He gives me the vibe of a general. He won''t be an easy enemy to fight.


    They begin to attack the illusory us, as the illusory us retreat and begin to run across one of the other corridors.


    Within a few moment the room is silent again. I wait a few seconds, as Trevor beside me is scrunched up in concentration. Controlling an illusion like that and keeping it believable must be quite the strain on the man''s faculty.


    After a few moments of hesitation. I drag Trevor and quickly make our way to the locked accounting room. At the moment all the remaining guards should be in the room, waiting for a prospective invader.


    If even one of them glanced outside we would be fucked. Well, I put all of that out of my head. No point in wondering about that now. It is with this focus that I make my way to the door. It is a simple lock. To be Frank, the only thing to worry about is a small alarm formation that exists on the side.


    I don''t even need to think as strings of mana enter into the formation and break all links it has with the door. The alarm is never going to ring again in its life. Nobody will be able to tell from the outside though. Almost forgetting the man behind me I enter into the room.


    For all the effort taken to get to this place, the place is painfully lacklustre. It is basically a accounting room, full of documents and account sheets. Rows and rows of them to be precise. The entire room is so full of cupboards holding these documents that there is barely any place to walk. To be Frank that is an abnormally large amount of paper for the guards of a fort. If possible, the organisation would like every book in the place, I am sure.


    For now though my focus is on the formation, the only hint of mana I can detect through my mana sense. (there could be fainter sources, but at the moment my mana sense is not as it used to be.)


    The only reason that I even managed to find my target was due to the glow of the mana it emitted. Otherwise it would have been lost in the complex mess of cupboards in the room.


    The moment that I get close to it, I can sense the mana formation on the cupboard. It is the trusty old pressure based sigils it is acting as the first layer of defense. The runes of such a formation tend to be quite fragile. Even a touch will be able to break them. Once that happens only god can tell what can occur. Some just tend to be alarms. Some tend to release noxious fumes. the best traps (or the worst for the man in it.) are often the result of a formation mage and poison mage working together.


    Such traps though will not exist this close to the hexmountain thankfully. Still, this trap will be more than enough to get me screwed. After all we are hiding in the room right next to the people whom such a formation would alert.


    And thus I begin my work. Strings of mana extend into the formation, like cautious rats next to the trap. My work now is to find the section of the formation which will correspond to the trap. The part that will cause the alarm to be raised. If I can do that without damaging the part that will collapse on touch, the security will be disabled. For now I will call this part the non trigger.


    Then I will need to start work on the other layers. Shit, I catch myself as in this moment of distraction I almost triggered the trap. It is time for me to return to focus.


    And thus I work, my body drenched in sweat for the next five minutes. I don''t do much, just study the structure of the formation. It is an art, to hide the non triggering part of the trap. That is why they keep the structure so confusing. What might be the trigger in some formation, will be the non trigger and vice versa.


    That is why dealing with security formations is such a hassle. You can never be certain. In this while, I have actually found the non trigger or atleast what I think is the non trigger.


    I have been poking it with my mana strings for a while and it has not reacted. It could be that this is the trigger and the formation mage was not skilled enough or too skilled (if this was an accident, not skilled at all. If not, really skilled. It is hard to do this on purpose.)


    Screw it, I can''t waste time. My mana strings began to vibrate with energy as I grasp the non trigger and crush it.


    For a few heart breaking seconds I fear a puff of poisonous mist on my face. Thankfully, the moments drag on and nothing happens. I breath a sigh of release as I destroy the remaining formation. (It is not so hard since it was built to do so.)


    Before I can continue on to the next layer though a voice interrupts me.


    "Captain.", whispers Trevor as if he is being choked.


    I turn back from the formation to look at the female captain standing behind, her claws on the neck of Trevor.

 Matthew (log 054 part 2)

    There are moments in life when your brain is supposed to go all out. When in the instant of looking at something you suddenly realise a plan of action.


    Nothing like that happen here. The only thing that I could speak was.


    "Why haven''t you killed him yet.", I ask.


    For a second the three of us look at each other. None of us expected my statement.


    "I will kill him, unless you return my saber to me.", the lady speaks after a few moments.


    "How did you detect it though. It is not like you have any sensory formation on it.", I ask. This is pure delaying so that I can have a moment to plan.


    "Do you think anything else in the fort emits that kind of mana. It is quite unique. Now enough delaying.", she replies. As she speaks her claws grip Trevor tighter. I can see a trace of blood on his skin.


    Well, it would have been wiser to not bring that sword with me, but at the moment the risk seemed manageable. How was I supposed to know that this lady would have memorized the mana signature of the saber. That is such a big waste of time, especially when you have formations to detect it.


    Screw it. I aim the petrifying saber right at her head. She still could have cut through trevors throat, but instincts prevailed as the lady jumps back. Trevor who has already scampered away from the lady is already making his way towards me.


    Meanwhile, I activate the bloody fang. As the lady picks up her saber, I can feel my body transform. The degree of transformation this time is even more than usual. I can say for certain my senses have never been sharper.


    I enter into a defensive position, there is no possibility of a proper offensive in this congested place. That doesn''t really stop the lady though, who has already charged at me.


    I can feel the impact of sword as it bounces away from my sword. It is the ideal moment to strike her as my sword bites into her stomach. This fight is going to be much easier than expected.


    Sadly my goal is not to win this fight but to get those damn books out. If I keep fighting then I will not be able to break that protection and that means no books.


    I block another of her strike. She comes in for a second, but overcommits on her swing. Her sword is now stuck on one of the bookshelves. I don''t attack her though.


    Instead I retreat a bit back and risk a glance behind me at Trevor. Looking behind me I spot a window and an idea pops in my head.


    "Trevor, chuck the bookshelf down the window now.", I scream.


    "It is too heavy captain, I can barely move it.", he replies.


    "Just get it near the window.", I scream back to him.


    I don''t get to see what he is doing as the lady behind swings her saber at me. It almost does get me too. I barely block using my sword and thus we begin our spar again. She has also taken on a more defensive posture. After all, Trevor''s illusion has broken.


    Any moment now the distracted guards will be returning. Meanwhile, I can hear the scrapping noise as Trevor drags our target to window. The lady has noticed him, bit can''t do anything at the moment. I have held her down quite effectively.


    And thus our stalemate continues for a while. It could have been a few moments or a few years after which Trevor screams from the behind.


    "It''s in position captain."


    This is gonna hurt as I turn and run towards the bookshelf at my full speed. I begin to concentrate my mana into my legs, as quickly as I can.


    All of that momentum and strength I use to kick the bookshelf right through the window. The moment that my leg hit the bookshelf, it flew like it had wings. It had crushed right through the window and I think it took a bit of the wall with it.


    I don''t get to appreciate it though. All I can feel is a wave of pain that seems to have travelled from the tip of toes to my brain in a matter of a moment. Passing mana into my leg does little to the symphony of pain in my leg.


    I wince as I put my leg on the ground. the lady detected this and went on the offensive. I do the same, as I block her strike trying to counter attack. She blocks it following which I jump to the side. I stab her, getting me decently sized gash on her knee.


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    All of this I do with a distracted focus. The pain in my foot felt like somebody hammering a nail into it. (It happen to me once when I was a kid. It is very fucking painful.). It is almost a wonder that I have managed to block the lady in that period.


    Her injuries help with mine, thankfully as her vital mana flows into me. My leg still hurts but it is not mind numbingly so. I can see the traces of our battle all throughout the room in its full glory.


    Books have been torn apart. Many of the shelves have gashes on it. The lady has injuries on her chest and one of her arms too. I am not free of injuries sadly. I just did not notice it in the pain.


    A small Nick on my arm, which had already begun to take a greyish hue. I quickly fortify that area with my vital mana.


    Right now the two of us are still holding our sword against the other. The reason we have stopped is due to the sound of people running that can be heard outside. The worst possibility had occurred. The enemy would now be reinforced.


    "You are dead now, you thief.", the lady speaks. "The master has appeared."


    "Well, I don''t see how that makes a difference. I have fought against you people pretty well haven''t I.", I reply, without turning back. "Trevor, if you would be kind enough. Jump into the moat will you."


    As I say this, the presence of the third captain distracts me from Trevors action. This man is a danger, i can say simply from his dangerous presence.


    "Lady Erica, if you would be kind enough to introduce the two of us.", he speaks. "We shall speak of your disobedience later."


    I can see Erica (nice to have a name finally.) Visibly contract in fear. She still speaks.


    "You damn mutt, meet the master of the blood heart gang, Matthew. Master, this damn mutt is the half converted grunt that had damaged lady Esmeralda possession ceremony."


    "Well, it is nice that I have met you. What would your name now be, young mutt. I can''t keep calling you a mutt now, can I?", he speaks. Listening to him is enough to make my spine chill.


    "My name is Alfredo, great vampire.", I reply.


    "Well lied, young Alfredo.", the man spoke. "I shall ignore that insult for now. All I really need is your master name. I personally don''t like to enforce my will but seeing you lie so freely what can I do."


    As he speaks, the world around me grew stifling. It felt like somebody was crushing me to death. The pain in my foot returned like a tidal wave, taking me with it into oblivion.


    "My brethren use the blood hierarchy to enforce their commands. That is like using a hammer to break an egg, don''t you think? What I do is more elegant. Right now I have increased your flow of blood to double it''s speed. Your head must be pounding.", the man speaks, his voice like a ghost in haze.


    Hearing him speak, I understand. I can feel the sword lying right next to me, pumping vital mana and blood mana into me like a heart.


    I shut it down. The difference is almost immediate. The world felt as if it had become grey, lifeless and heavier.


    The pounding also stopped as the world came back into focus. Matthew also seemed to be quite surprised.


    "Now how did you do that, Alfredo. Ah, I see a bloodline formation.", he speaks as he understands my swords ability in an instant. This is no ordinary man. "From how familiarly you hold that sword of yours, that must be the container. What did you use."


    "The bone of a grunt.", I reply.


    "Oh, that makes sense. No need to worry about the output then. If I were to excite your bloodline with even a soldiers bone. Let''s just say you have given me an interesting question to ponder on." He speaks.


    "Maybe you can let me go. I can give you the secret of my sword.", i reply.


    "Well, if I wanted to i would figure it out in a month or two. You have pissed of Esmeralda and that lady will always hold a grudge. She especially hates being forced to possess a man.", he replies. "I help you and she will make life very annoying for me. Anyways, helping you will be like helping a snake. Only the hexmountain has the ability to craft a bloodline runes. I would assume you are the remanent of the ship that disappeared recently."


    "Well, a man has got to try. You never know", I reply.


    "I would trust what you were saying if could not feel the mana gathering in your hand.", he replies. "What spell can you cast that you think can harm me."


    "Well, a man has got to try, doesn''t he?", I reply again. As he speaks, a fireball appears in my arm. I throw it immediately into the air.


    The fireball splits into four separate parts and lands on many spots in the room. The wooden bookshelves and the paper books catch on fire in an instant. The room goes up in a blaze as I turn and run towards the window which is now nothing more than a hole in the wall.


    As I fall I wonder who the man in front of me was. It looks like I will need to grill Trevor on this later.


    Crashing into the moat, feels like colliding into the ground. I can hear a distinct snap as a sharp pain appears in my arm. (It is almost funny to think that I can barely feel any pain from my arms snapping, but it felt like the world had disappeared from what was essentially stunning my toe.)


    I do not allow myself to delve on the pain. Trevor has already left the moat, trying to keep the heavy bookshelf from floating away.


    Quietly I take up one side of the cupboard with the arm that is fine. After that we both hobble with the bookshelf in our arms. We are going at our maximum speed as Trevor takes us through this complicated tangle of roads. Any minute now they will appear behind us.


    Thankfully they seem to have all gone up the accounting room to act as a reinforcement. That is pretty stupid if I have to say so. Thankfully that ended up helping us. Soon enough, we were in the sewers again.


    It was a small grate hidden in a shop about four or five streets away from the guardhouse. It was a blacksmith incidentally. That meant trudging in the sewers with the bookshelf above our head (we couldn''t risk any of the books getting damaged. We had already taken quite a risk with the moat. The formation guarding it might not have blocked out water). Already there is a double throb growing in my arm. Meanwhile, the pain in my foot still is going strong, though the pain is more manageable now.

 log 055

    I am waiting for Trevor to appear in our rooms in the sewer. After our escape into the sewers it did not take particularly long for us to make our way to our rooms. The instant after that I got to work on the bookshelf.


    It hurts like hell even now, especially my left arm. I am sure that I have broken something in there. Until that is fixed there is not going to be much fighting from my side.


    Other than that also, it feels like my body is pulsing in pain. I had heard about the bloodline supremacy of the vampires, but I had never expected it to be so scary.


    It was thankful that I had my last trick. It is a nifty druidic spell called as "cluster fireball". Just like every spell of theirs, cluster fireball they use for the clearing of their forests. To remove any unnecessary weeds from the forest. It also the perfect spell to start a blaze at a moments notice and vampires do not like to be near fires. It is too intense for their sensitive senses. If I was transformed when I set that fire, my vision would still be affected till now. That transformation is a double edged sword, I am realising now.


    I have yet to touch my sword since the mission. I cannot risk our location being discovered this quickly after the fight. It would waste all of our work and with the way that Matthew played around with me, I don''t even want to risk it now.


    Anyway, to get to back to the formation protecting the bookshelf. The drop from the top of the guardhouse was enough to damage it quite the bit. Thankfully, the formation protecting the bookshelf was of the simpler variety. More advanced formations would have destroyed the contents of the shelf after facing that much damage.


    Still, it took me a day of study to figure out the method of breaching the formation. My present physical situation was not of particular help. Still, that work is done now and I can focus on resting. Now the problem is my mind.


    It is not letting me rest at all. Trevor is presently absent from the room. He is at the moment dealing with the organisation. He has taken all of the relevant books with him. I expect that he shall be successful at his task.


    Still, that does not stop me from worrying. About what I don''t know, but the fight this time undermined me in a way that I can''t understand. The man called Matthew is going to be a very scary foe.


    I am so lost in my thoughts, that I do not notice trevors entry into the room. He has the tired look of a man that has completed a work of great importance. It doesn''t help settle my heart.


    The man has also not left unscathed from the fight. Firstly there is the leap that must be the result of our jump. Then there is the cut on his throat, which has not stopped bleeding since the fight.


    Other than that there is an air of great exhaustion. The man cannot handle so much adventure. Still, the man has slacked on his job. He is still going about his work. It is enough to make me feel embarassed about talking so much.


    He makes his way to his bed, almost collapsing on it.


    "What is the result then, Trevor?", I ask.


    "The negotiations went well, captain. The blood heart gang is oddly passive about our presence. There have been no major movement of their forces.", he speaks. "It is almost like they have given up on us. A very large number of them are now joining the patrol force."


    "How would you know that. We have not left the sewers in a while.", I ask.


    "You can thank the organisation for it. They have been keeping a very keen ear out for any movement of the blood heart gang.", he replies. "Still, I assume that they are expecting reinforcements from the hexmountain. The way that they are rushing about. It certainly puts the ship at risk. I don''t understand how they knew we were from the black mountain though."


    "Wait a second, I think that the head of the blood heart gang is trying to look for our ship.", I reply, as I remember the way that the man had deduced our identity. "The man knows that we are black mountain."


    "Now how would you know that?", he asks. "When were you expecting to tell me?".


    "Well, he discovered it from my sword. The man had figured out the power of my sword in a few moments of seeing it work.", I reply. "Only the black mountain can make a formation like mine. At least in the surrounding regions. There is little I can do to hide it now."


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    "Well, that doesn''t really change our plans that much. to be Frank I expected something like that. The blood heart gang is preparing for an invasion. They would not be doing that if they were not expecting the hexmountain to react." He speaks.


    "What are the chances of reinforcements actually coming. Would they react if we were not sending them logs", I ask him. "I would have to assume that the logs that we are not making it past whatever blockade they have set up here." (To those that are reading this in the future, all of these logs are presently stuck in the thought logger. Once we break their blockade this will be transmitted to the head office again.)


    "Well, the chances are pretty low. The guard corps have completely misunderstood the situation here.", he speaks. "They were expecting a bandit gang that had grown too ambitious for their own good. This is a proper vampire infestation. With a bandit gang, even if you do not send them logs for a month or so, the only thing that they will send to you is message to to tell you to stop being lazy."


    "Well, do we have any method of communication with the hexmountain.", I reply. "They must have something, this close their home base."


    "Nope note one bit. Even the emergency flair that I was given is not working.", he speaks. He has the looks of a man that has just misspoken. I am surprised that even this man can be startled.


    "Emergency flair?", I ask. "Now what would that be?"


    "Well, in case something untowards happens to us I can call the head office for reinforcements. It is a precautionary measure that they have for new captains." He replies. "After all we can never be sure when you will mess up after all."


    "Then why did you leave me for the ruin? I almost died at the ruin, you know.", I ask him.


    "Well, the emergency flair is used so rarely that I assumed that it would have been worth the risk. Who would have thought that a general level figure would have kidnapped you.", he replies. "You were supposed to be facing only ice beasts. That was an exception among exceptions."


    "Well, fucking leave that for now. Just how strong is the flair.", I ask him. Well, I am not particularly phased. I would have thought the head office capable of something like this. Still it is hard to hide my annoyance.


    "The power of the flair is almost a thousand times the strength of the our logs.", he replies. "We need a formation of the eighth class to break it, according to folks at the formation corps. It has to be dedicated completely to block the logs. So it is quite a bit of investment. The bloodheart can do it if they were to call in every favour they owe to their masters."


    "Well, we cannot expect any help from the hexmountain.", I ask. Well, i was not expecting any helps any way. They would have already been here if they wanted to reinforce us already.


    "Not at the moment. We will need to break into the inner keep. That is the only hope that we have left.", he says. "If they are dead, we might be following them soon enough."


    "Well, you must have secured our entry into the inner keep then. After all it for this reason that I have a broken arm at the moment.", I say to him. "Just don''t tell me that they have refused."


    "It is a bit complicated but to put it simply, They want to wait for a while before undertaking the mission to the inner keep.", he replies. "In this time, I think we need to secure the ship. If it were to fall into enemy hands we would not be having any methods of escape left."


    "That would be easier said then done. I can put of a cell on the thing to keep it moving, but with the enemy now patrolling so actively. Where do you propose we hide the ship.", I reply. "Even with the cell, it won''t be handling a proper fight any time soon."


    "Can''t you just repair the damage to the ship?. You have pulled of similar feats before haven''t you", he asks. "The environmental formation of our previous ship was way worse wasn''t it."


    "Well, if you were to give me a week certainly. That is me at complete focus.", I reply. "So nobody ready to deal with an attack."


    "So if you do that will the ship be combat worthy?", he asks.


    "Maybe, it will still have the same flaw as before.", I reply. "I certainly can''t manage more than a few ships. With enough shots, we will still end up in the previous situation. People have stopped using this type of formation in the last couple centuries due to this exact reason."


    "Well, our focus is escape. I think if we manage that should be enough for now. Do you think that it will be able to take at least a couple hits.", he replies. "Anyways, for now let''s focus on getting the ship safe. There is only one place in our surroundings where we can safely hide our ship. We will have to bring the ship to this fort."


    "Are you sure?", I ask the man.


    "Well, if we were to go in any of the other directions we will end up right into their patrols.", he replies. "The greatest safety is to park the thing near the city. It will also allow us to make a quick escape."


    "Well, we can try to do that, but where in the fort will you hide the thing. It is not like we have a conveniently large place to hide the ship.", I speak "unless that organisation of yours have something for us."


    "I am not a part of the organisation kid and I would suggest that you do not speak to freely of them.", Trevor speaks, his face completely serious for a second. "I do have something, though it is a bit unconventional. It will be a tight fit though."


    "Well, as long as you give me a place to hide. I can make the ship as hard to hide as possible. I can even start a preliminary inscription of that camouflage.", I speak, more to myself than to the man next to me. "it won''t do much but it should still count for something. The cell will be a issue though. A cell is an emergency measure. It sucks in air from its surrounding to supplement the shop. When your formations are failing it is a godsend. Stealth might be an issue."


    "Well, do what you can. It is going to be a gamble regardless of what you are about to do.", he replies.


    And thus we both lay on our beds, thinking our own thoughts.

 log 056

    Right now we are sitting in our ship, doing the final changes that would be needed to the ship. The addition of a cell is very easy. It is like a rock or a marble. All you need to do is break it and the emergency formations will wrap around the ship, keeping it safe. It is a fascinating process to look at, the way that formation cover the ships like a bubble. It is almost a pity to interrupt this process.


    This can be done by anybody, but I was needed here to make the entire thing last. If Trevor or somebody else were to do it, the cell won''t survive even for a day. With me it will be able to last much longer.


    It is a fine example of my formation control, placing each individual node in a manner that will ensure that the formation won''t fail suddenly. (which is a major issue with cells) I am also acting a mana battery for the cell, to keep it running.


    With this, I can be sure that the formation will last for a week at the very least. That is given nobody will be shooting my ship. That would cause the cell to unravel very quickly.


    Other than that I have to start working on the camouflage formation. Now that was a completely separate headache for Trevor. The man had to do quite a bit of negotiations with the organisation to get it. The only reason that we even got it because I have just burnt up the accounting room of the organisation''s main enemy.


    That would give them quite the edge over the city guards once the situation does become a bit normal. The guards will have to keep trying to figure out all of their finances while the organisation will have the ability to blackmail most of the corrupt guards. That means that the city guard has just been made toothless.


    For all of that effort what I have gotten is a piece of black rock basalt. It can be considered to be an average class eight material, with some ability to boost light spells. It is a very practical material, to say a good thing about it.


    Light spells are not something that I have a lot of practice with. It is a very weird magic, almost on par with mind magic. The runes of light magic simply do not make sense to me. Thankfully, that does not change the fact that I can memorise it. I don''t know the names of the spells, but I can tell that it is a set of eleven light illusion spells, all of which together will be able to create a pretty mighty illusion.


    It still will take a bit of time, but I am sure that I can complete at leasr one of class nine spells for the formation when we are about to leave. Rhay won''t do much, but every bit will help. I seriously don''t want my ship to be shot at.


    According to Trevor we will be leaving in four days. That is the period when most of the patrol ships will reach the edge of the mayfire castle''s territory. Beyond that and they will attract attention from the hegemon of that area. After that it won''t take long for the black mountain to get involved.


    Until all we can do is that nobody will get interested in our small patch of land and even if they do, out temporary camouflage of foliage would be enough to fool them.


    Trevor assures me that this won''t be very likely, though the man had assured me the exact same thing at the beginning of this mission, so you would not be surprised that I am sceptical.


    I do not have a better plan, so we are sitting here while I while away my time by working. Other than that things have been going well. My second foundation block has reached a stage where it is going to be completed soon.


    I have been linking my sword to the second foundation slab therefore. My master certainly spoke the truth. While, it is still painful it is not to a point that I will lose my mind due to pain. It still feels like somebody pulling your teeth out of your mouth.


    Another interesting that I have to note about this is that the mana flowing into me from the sword is becoming greater the more that I link my foundation slab to it. It is a virtuous cycle, the more I cultivate the more blood mana enters into my body which it makes it easier to cultivate.


    The only thing that might be a issue with the sword pushing it''s blood mana into the sword is that I can feel my vital mana change. There is nothing substantial at the moment but the changes are still detectable. My mana is becoming more and more similar to that of a grunt.


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    Soon enough, my mana will become a majority of blood mana. By then my conversion into a grunt will have almost no negative affect, like the thirst. That will also mean that the transformation that is brought about by my sword will soon start to become permanent. I have told you about how already, I can feel the changes in my body starting to become permanent.


    I don''t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it certainly allows me to imagine. I don''t even know the extent of these changes. My thirst will decrease, of that I am sure but the grunts do not drink blood only for the thirst. It is sustenance for them. Will my changing mean that I will become more dependent on blood. Will my thirst change from a burning fire of desire to silent but always increasing sense of hunger that a starving  man faces.


    Then there is the issue of blood hierarchy. If my change becomes permanent how much will that affect me. Will I be less susceptible to it than a pure grunt or will I be more susceptible to it than a pure grunt.


    What about the blood mana in my body. Will I be able to control it like the old grunts are able to or will it make my life mana even harder to control.


    There are just too many questions on this matter. I will have to trust my master on this matter since the man seems to have an idea what he is doing to me. He might like to torture me but the man has never really done anything dangerous to me.


    Enough discussion about the depressing stuff. After being confined to a sewer for so long, the trip outside is still more comfortable even with the mosquitos.


    At the moment I still feel as If I am stinking from my time there. Even during our trip to return to here, I felt as if the number of mosquitos trying to bite me were lesser than usual. It might be due to the stink, or so many other reasons. It doesn''t change the fact that I want a good scrub. That I won''t be getting any time soon.


    From the corner of my eyes I can spot the two idiots changing the foliage for our camouflage. I guess that I should explain why I even have so much problem.


    I do not hate them but they are part of the sworn bloodlines, so i hate what they represent. To those outside the legion, the sworn bloodline (the sworn in short.) are the children of the slaves captured by the legion. They tend to show the utmost loyalty to the legions and even are willing to die for them.


    That is why they are idiots, because they are slaves that are ready to give up everything for their slavers.


    The legion surrounds itself with the sworn as servants, as security guards and as spys. That is why I do not interact with them both much because I am sure that they repeating every word of mine to the legion.


    I respect the legion. They have taught me so much but still It would be wise not to trust them too much. The legion is a tight knit community, and they expect lifelong service from its soldier.


    Cases like mine are rare. Most people that leave the legion are traitors and traitors are put to death. There is no arguing that.


    My discipleship was something that my master had negotiated with the legion. It was not well recieved on both sides. The tension between the two sides have been palpable since then.


    I have heard that even all of the generals had to get involved in this matter between both sides. Now, neither side is even willing to talk to the other. Most communication between the formation corps and the legion happens via the guard corps. It is another reason that I wanted to join the guard corps. With time I hope to be able to meet with the folk of the legion. I cannot meet any of my old friends from the legion. It is for good reason though. After all there is actually a risk to my life from the legion.


    even if you ignore all of that you cannot forget that there is a chunk of the legion that considers what I have done to be the equivalent of being a traitor. Those guys will want me to be dead. I can certainly imagine all the people in the legion that must be arguing for my death.


    If you find all of this uncomfortable, that is the reason it is occurring. The legion is feared for its brutality, to its enemies and to itself. To maintain their reputation at the very least, the legion will not leave anyone that they consider to be traitors alive. Every alive traitor is a doubt for our enemies about the strength of the legion.


    So to put all of this in summary,  the presence of jacob and Andrew certainly leaves me very uncomfortable. I am sure that they will give up their life to protect me, but I am equally sure that they just might end slitting my throat in the night if they have been ordered to do so. I can''t even get rid of them now can I. That would put a target on my back then. It would also be a pity.


    They even have talent, which just makes it even more confusing. Right now they might not have much of a cultivation but with the way that they are going, in the next couple of years they should be able to form their first foundation block. It is a bit slow, but most of the sworn do not even have the ability to cultivate. Among them, these two would be geniuses that appear every century.


    Why would the legion send such good seeds to me is a question that I do not know the answer too. I am not sure if I want to know also. Only time will tell what will happen here.


    As individuals, they are actually pretty fine individuals. They are hardworking and try to follow every single instruction of Trevor. Trevor has taken it upon himself to train these guys. He teaches them everything that he knows and the two try their best to soak everything up.


    Trevor is a pretty strict Taskmaster too. He keeps the two soldiers in shape, much like my instructors at the legion.


    If they do end up trying to kill me I have to make sure that their deaths are quick. After all, the legion is not forgiving towards failure.

 log 057

    Right now I am sitting in the control room of my ship, trying to get the ship to be as slow as it is possible. We are hugging the tree line, which is the lowest that I dare to go beyond which we will end up in the trees again. This time I cannot take a risk with the trees. This is not my master''s formation to be able to take a beating. This will break in five minutes I assure you.


    Right now we are trying to sneak the ship closer to the city. It is not going as well I hoped it would.


    We are producing too much mana for us to pass through the area undetected.


    With the mana the ship is emitting we will be able to handle a uncommitted sweep, but any person looking for a serious mana signature should be able to still find us. It is is not like I can reduce the mana being emitted anymore. That would be dangerous. Already the ship is slow enough that what should have taken us two days in now taking us almost a week.


    Doing This is not an easy task also. Ships like this are not meant to be runned slowly like I am doing. I have to actively ensure that the ship is going as slowly as possible. Sadly this task is so monotonous that is hard not to get sleepy or annoyed.


    The only good thing is that my formation control is being trained like never before. Who knows, I might finally have breakthrough. That is the only thing that I can tell to myself to console me.


    At the moment I can sense Trevor making his way to my room. (I have missed being able to do that. My mana sight has been healing, even though It is my first time noticing this.). Most likely to discuss about the ship and it''s mana output. The man must be able to sense this even with his weaker senses.


    As I think this, the man has opened the door to his room and has stood next to me. Whatever negative you have to say about this man, you must admit that he is a confident bastard.


    "Captain, how goes our journey.", he asks.


    "Well, how else do you think, bumpy and slow.", I reply, feeling a twinge of annoyance. "Is such a precaution really that necessary. It is not like the enemy won''t be able to detect us even this much amount of mana being emitted."


    "Well, then can you try and reduce the amount of mana that you are emitting?", he asks.


    "Well, I can do that and you guys will be choking to death. The major mana emitter at the moment is the cell. Should I deactivate it.", I reply. What, the man is trying to move in stealth in a ship with a cell. It is a wonder that I am not laughing at him.


    Well, the reason becomes evident in the next moment as the ship begins to accelerate. Focusing, I slow the ship down again.


    "Do you have anything important to say, this is not as easy as it looks.", I ask the man.


    "Well, I need to discuss with you the options that we will have once we succeed on the transportation of the ship.", he replies.


    "Like what exactly.", I speak.


    "Well, firstly about what we shall do regarding the inner keep.", he replies. "We cannot be sure of what we shall find in there."


    "Well, you need to worry about entering into the place. I havent yet to see this barrier, but what makes you sure that i would be able to break it.", I reply. "Defensive magic is always very hard to breach."


    "Well, it is a gamble that we will have to take.", he replies. "We are betting everything on the mayfires."


    "Well, then what is it you want to talk about, I am sure you do not want to be hearing about the specifics of why this formation is going to be hard to breach.", I reply.


    "Well, I want to discuss about what we shall be encountering in there. As I see it, there are three possibilities that might occur.", he begins to speaks. "Firstly and least optimistically, we might have to face a legion of the converted mayfires. If this occurs then the only thing that we can do is run."


    "Well, it is unlikely right.", I reply. "Otherwise why would the barrier still be there in the first place."


    "True, still it would be wiser to know about the mayfires, don''t you think.", he speaks. "They might be one of the powerhouses of this region, they still did manage to outlast all of the above mentioned powerhouses. The main reason that they have managed is their magic."


    "Some kind of a fire magic, based on my understanding.", I speak. I promptly shut up. The man does not like to be disturbed and his information is important.


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    "Well, it is a kind of combination of of plant magic and fire magic. The intricacies of the magic you will have to ask the mayfires themselves, but their magic allows them to create constructs of extremely intense flames.", Trevor speaks. "Most conjure items, but a few of the beings are able to even mimic creatures with their flames. Even a legion might struggle against their full might."


    (A legion is a group of a hundred captains and their leader, the major. )


    "Well, how are we supposed to be escaping from them then.", I reply.


    "Well, I would have to assume that their power is seriously compromised. They have abandoned the outer keep. Nobody does that unless they have faced a large amount of losses. That like cutting the fruit bearing tree to light a fire. You might survive the night but in the next month your death is not pleasant. Anyway, That leads to the second possibility.", he speaks. "This would be the best case scenario. The vampires have been penned in the castle. The mayfires are getting rid of them before the removal of their shields."


    "Well, how likely is that going to be.", I ask.


    "Not very likely, captain. If things were going well, there wouldnt be such need to drag things. Fighting a vampire is just going to grow harder with time.", Trevor replies.


    "So what is the third case?", I ask him.


    "Well that would be a combination of the two. The battle must still be undergoing in the inner keep. The mayfires fighting the possessed captains.", he replies. "If that is the case we might be able to actually make a difference. We reinforce the mayfires and it just might be enough."


    "Well, just how much of a help will I actually be. Being capable of fighting the mayfires means that they must atleast be in the third stage of cultivation, whose name I don''t even know.", I reply.


    "Well, your abilities as a formation mage would be more useful in this case. If you could rig up a communication array and pass the messages to the head office, things could work out well.", he speaks.


    "Now that is going to be a challenge, Trevor. This is mental magic we are dealing with. You know I can barely use the thought loggers.", I reply, there are actually a couple of tricks that I could try but better to be practical.


    "Well, there are certain things that I could try, but it is a tricky magic to manage especially in formations.", I reply. " Basically, I can try but there are no guarantees of success."


    "Well, it is not like we have any other moves to make. Even if we fail in doing all of this, things are still going to be safer in the inner keep.", he replies. "If fighting them is not an option, we just need survive until the head office notices that something is rare here."


    "How long would that be now.", I reply. "The head office can be pretty lax if they want to be."


    "Well, if our luck is bad, it might even take a couple of months.", Trevor speaks "the head office really do not tend focus in this area much. If they could maintain even a legion for patrolling this area. It will be cleaned up in a matter of a decade."


    "Well, thinking too much about such stuff will drive you mad.", I speak.


    "Still, the inner keep is the only option we have. The only other option is the organisation and your life not a favour that you want to owe the organisation.", he replies.


    "What is it about the organisation, you speak as if you are scared of them but you have been working so closely with them.", I ask him, the doubt in my mind since the beginning.


    "Well, at the moment they are the closest thing we have to an ally. Our goals aligned for the moment then. They have gotten what they wanted and now I cannot predict their actions now.", Trevor speaks. "They could sell us to blood heart gang if it means making a quick buck. That is why they are not related to this particular mission of ours."


    "If that is the case, where are we going?", I ask him. I had assumed the organisation was directing him till now.


    "Well, there is a cave that I found in the trek to the fort. Decently sized and quite closed. It might be able to barely fit the ship.", Trevor replies.


    "When did you even do that?", I ask him, as I rack my mind trying to recall it.


    "Well, it was right of the path. I am surprised that you have not remembered that place.", Trevor replies.


    "Well, as long as you know the location.", I reply, though I still cannot the remember the place he is speaking of.


    Speaking this completes our conversation, as the man just sits in the room. Before it can get awkward though, the man leaves.


    (After almost a day of traveling.)


    One of the funny things about airships is that they are such easy things to detect. Most ships going at full speeds tend to output such a large amount of mana that a man with a sensitive enough mana sense can detect it from very faraway too, if he was ready to put his mind at risk.


    My senses are still not upto that mark, but I have formations boosting my mana sense (hey, it is still better than the average cultivator.)  to levels even beyond my normal limit. Boosted, my senses can reach even till the hexmountain. That would mean my head would literally blow up though.


    Running the sensory formation for this purpose is risky. Even now, I only dare to use it in intervals of half an hour, only for a minute each time.(all that information in my head, a lesser being would have a brain stroke and collapse to death.) Even this has been more painful than I expected and something that I had no need to do but my talk with the old man has somewhat rattled me.


    Now I can feel myself returning to my previous state of overthinking about everything. Fuck, (my head is killing me.) let me get back to topic. I have detected a ship that is roughly about a day behind me. It will catch up to us by tomorrow. From this far I can only tell that airships are present.


    How many of them are there and their exact forces I have no idea. All I know is that there is going to be a fight. One that I have little more than a day to get ready for. Well, at the very least this time I won''t be surprised like the last time. That was actually kind of embarassing, to be ambushed like that.


    I might be no sage, but my mana sense should still be strong enough to detect the mana of a ship when it is close by.

 log 058

    The crashing of the ship is about the most predictable thing that has happen to me in the last half an hour. Honestly speaking it should have happen much earlier. Matthew who is piloting the opposite ship was playing with my ship like a cat that toys with the mouse.


    Well to explain my present situation, it would be better to start about ten minutes ago. As I concluded in my last log, I had detected an enemy ship heading in our direction.


    It was to be expected with the way that we were going about even though Trevor is not going to admit it later on. When it got closer, I even managed to detect it mana emission to the type of ship that it is.


    It was a single ship. that had somehow detected our scent and had begun to follow us. At the moment I should have gotten a doubt of how the other party appeared alone. About how, it just seemed a bit too much like standard pirate ship. To explain this better, let me explain to you about the ragman. It is one of the named ships under the blood heart gang.


    The ragman has the ability to mask it''s mana signature, appearing like a normal ship. Even it''s exterior appears like one of the more normal ships of the blood heart gang.


    What should have tipped me of was that the blood heart gang would be patrolling in groups, to ensure that I would not be able to ambush any single ship and destroy it. This I remember now, not then. The only thing that I had was that a single enemy ship had appeared and it would be easy to get rid of before making our way to our goal. Once that happen, we would not need to worry about the ship for a while.


    That was what I had thought. That is why I had kept my present speed, waiting for the enemy to catch up to us. Things did go the way that I expected until the enemy ship appeared in front of us.


    Looking at the ship lulled me into confidence. Such a ship would have fallen in couple shots at the correct spots. If I had pushed the ship to its maximum speed at that moment, then I would not be in my present state.


    Funnily, I was the one that initiated combat with the first salvo. I used the fire based ones, get into range and get a couple of shots in. Let the fire cause a panic in the group and I would have advantage. Then use the light one at decent enough distance away and cause further damage.


    I try that, getting in close and shooting the fire cannons. Everything goes smoothly, I get in close and release the cannons and retreat at the same time. It was perfect, almost as if I had practiced this motion all of my life.


    The only thing was that the ship was not hit. No, it was hit but it was a scratch. It was not even enough to start a fire. The enemy''s ship should have a proper blaze going on at the moment. That caused my mind to blank for a second.


    At that moment I should have retreated and run away. Again, I would have had a decent chance of surviving, even if the ship is destroyed in the process. I should have realised that the pilot of the other ship was not somebody that I should have messed with.


    Well, I certainly didn''t do that. I had assumed that my aim was somehow compromised. With new formations you can never predict what can go wrong.


    "Trevor, you guys manage the cannons. I think that my remote aim has some problem." I remember telling Trevor, sending him to manage the cannons. I still have control of the cannons, but the three men of my troop can also shoot from their location.


    I wonder how trevor is at the moment? he should be safe wherever he is, at least relative to me. Right now my formation room and its surrounding has been shot the most. I can feel the intensity of the fire that threatens to burn me down.


    Where was I, yeah, I should have run from that position at that time. No, instead I engaged the enemies ship again and again. Each pass had a similar result. none of the cannon shots even managed to hit at its targets.


    Each shot would have been enough to cause serious damage to the other ship, crippling them at the very least if not outright destroying. Each hit at most managed to scratch the other sides ship. It was like trying to cut water, it just never seemed to have an effect.


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    By the fifth round of this, I had begun to realise this. A bit late, but I still could have escaped if I really put it to the pedal (break the security sigils on the propulsion formation and hoping that it won''t end up with the thing exploding on my face.) and that is what I was planning to do.


    It was a voice in my head that interrupted this process. It is a raspy whisper, like somebody screaming from a very faraway place. The voice was very familiar.


    "Isnt it a surprise to see you at the helm, young grunt.", Matthew voice resounds in my head.


    There should have been no way of this happening. I haven''t transformed since the mission. My sword is at present in my room, safe away from me. My body is purely and completely human at the moment.


    "I am sure that you are surprised, but it is kind of obvious. You have willingly taken in a corruption into you and are surprised that some of it has remained in you.", the man speaks again.


    "Well, there are precautions in my sword, only when I fully activate my sword will they be deactivated.", I reply, more to see if the man is going to reply. The conversation could be one sided too you know.


    "There is a channel directly between the sword and you, young man. I can still see the blood mans pumping into you. It is a trace amount, almost negligible. You still cannot hide blood mana from a vampire", he replies. "As for precautions there is no need of precautions when the poison is already in the body, is it now?"


    "Well, what can you even do.", I reply. "There might be blood mana in me, but it isn''t enough for you to pull something like the last time. How did you even do that. The blood hierarchy does not work like that. You are not the master of this grunt aren''t you."


    "Well, if you have only seen grunts it is easy to see how you could have made such a assumption. Well, the only hint I will give to you is, blood mana flows with your blood not in your mana core. Matching the blood flow in you. You are smart lad, I am sure you will figure out how I have done what I have done from that.", he replies. "As for what I can do, well, I can completely cripple your ship and take you in as prisoner. I don''t want to do this though. That ship of yours is so fascinating. Wrecking it would be such a waste. let''s even the odds a bit then. I will give you the warning for the next five shots. If you can bring me down in that time, or lose your life."


    The man is silent a couple of minutes, in which I have put the sensory formations to their maximum. My head feels like somebody is pounding it but there is little that I can do about it now. I need to be able to see every inch of information I can get, especially when the other side can throw fireballs from seven cannons.


    "First.", the voice echoes.


    I detect the shots as it is released. I weave through the shots, dodging all of them though it was not easy. It is not something that I have tried before. I am surprised I have even succeeded at this. There is a difference between theory and practical aplication after all.


    "Well, you do seem to have quite the skill, young grunt. Second.", he speaks as he releases the second volley. This time I am barely able to turn the ship. The ship is hit in two places. These are not strong cannons but they still cause damage.


    In that moment, I realise that the man is playing with me. At the same moment I made the decision to gamble. Instead of trying to dodge I charge towards the enemy ship. The goal is atleast two shots into the ships side. The ship is still flimsy and two well aimed shots can bring it down or atleast cause some damage.


    "Three", the bastard whispers into my ears. I can feel the enemy''s cannons shred into my ship. I am certain that the cell is screwed but at the moment I do not have the ability to care. The ground is a more immediate worry than the sky.


    I take control of the cannons as I prime them to their full power. I won''t be getting many shots in this state but even one shot will be pretty destructive, I hope.


    I use the fire cannons, though I have the light one primed too. I can see a massive fireball hit the enemies ships. Before it can hit the ship though, I sense a defensive shield popup blocking it completely. Again I had failed to detect anything related to this at all.


    It is at this moment that I understand that I had seriously fucked this up and also realised that I could be dealing with the ragman. I should have run away from the start.


    Well, that is what I try to do as that infernal voice begins to whisper in my head again.


    "Four"


    I bend the ship downwards, angling it towards the ground. There is a risk of crashing but there is little that I can do at the moment. It is of no use though, as the man behind almost seems to have predicted my actions.


    I can feel the cannon penetrate into my ship. I almost don''t even notice when the man whispers one last time.


    "Five."


    This time he doesn''t even need to do much for his cannons to hit my ships. By this point I had given up.


    All of that has led to the present moment. Right now I have given up trying to protect the ship. The man has been accurately hitting the region surrounding the formation core. I am not even sure if the man is playing with me or he seriously can''t hit the formation room.


    Still my goal is not to focus on the man, instead it is to land the ship as safely as I can. The ship is essentially useless now. Even with its regenerative ability the physical damage might be handled but with the damage to the formations and that to this extent it will take me atleast a couple of months to get the entire thing working again.


    This is what I am thinking as the ground is coming ever closer. Hitting the ground is enough to damage and rattle all of the remaining formations, as we hit the ground with a force that would have broken most ships into scrap material.

 log 059

    Things have been a bit of a blur since the crash. All I remember of the crash is a massive spike of pain in one of my legs, causing me to black out in pain. At the moment I am not even sure just how much time has passed since the crash has occured.


    It has not been a whole lot of time thankfully. Since I can still tell that the control formations of my ship have begun to start burning. It is not a pleasant feeling to have control of a formation that is being physically destroyed. It feels like somebody is yanking on all the nerves of your body. Right now that is the case with a majority of my formations so let''s just say it is hard for me to think in this pain. It is something that I am somewhat used to thankfully.


    Well, crashing into the ground has brought us some time. It will take them time to land safely on the ground, and then rush their way towards our location. We fell right into the trees, something that Matthew will not do unless he wants to crash right to the ground. It does not give us very long.


    Right now my goals are only related to the survival of me and my soldiers. blindly flailing about is not going to be helping me out. that means that I will have to take a deep breath and focus.


    right now there are two points of worry, first being my sword. finding the sword is going to be easy. after all I am able to sense the thing though I can only tell the general direction. I set out from the wreck of a room that is the formation control room. it is completely levelled, partly destroyed from the fire and partly crushed by the roof of the room which has fallen into the formation room.


    The sword is fine, if a bit dusty due to having fallen on the ground. The crash to the ground had thrown it quite far into the forest. Even touching it gives me a sense of security. After finding this, it does not take me long to find the members of my troop as well.


    Speaking of the ship, it has been completely and absolutely destroyed. Most of the damage is due to the fires caused by the enemies cannon. Thankfully, most of the damage seems to be physical. I don''t even want to check the damage that might have happened to the formation.


    I find Trevor first. The man is not dead, thankfully and is directing Andrew into giving first aid to Jacob. All of them are banged up but nobody is dead which was my worry.


    Sadly, their injuries are enough to leave them quite helpless on the battlefield. I will have to make sure that they have escape to make sure that all of us survive.


    "What are we going to be doing, Trevor.", I ask the man. I already have an idea but it is not like asking the man will hurt me.


    "Well, captain I would assume that the ship is well and truly fucked.", he asks me. "Then our only option is to abandon ship and make it to the inner keep before the enemy catches up to us."


    "We won''t be flying on this anytime soon.", I reply.


    "Well, then we will have to make our way towards the fortress as quickly as possible.", Trevor speaks. "The organisation is our only hope."


    "Well, we are about a day away from the city. Travelling there might risk a fight.", I reply. "I am not sure if I will be able to win a fight with the vampire called as Matthew."


    "Well, it would be wise that we leave at this moment.", andrew speaks up suddenly. "We cannot be sure when the enemy will be making their move. We aren''t in the state to even fight of a team of bandits."


    "I am sure that they are already here. If not, I wouldn''t even be sure if we were fighting bandits", Trevor replies. "Somehow I get the sense it was not the ship that has attracted the attention of the enemy."


    "Well, I have reason to believe that enemy leader is able to track my presence. I am atleast sure that the man can speak to me remotely.", I speak. "The only chance of survival that we are going to have is that you guys escape now while the enemy is still faraway. I will act as bait, distracting the enemy forces."


    "Are you sure that you will be able to do so, captain", Trevor replies. "You were barely able to survive against only the man the last time. Now he will have the support of an entire ship. I would not be surprised if he has the other captains too."


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    "Well, all I can do is try. I can ensure that I am alive if I am alone. If I have to worry about your safety as well, things will get complicated quickly", I reply. "Anyway, our goal is to escape. This seems to be the best way."


    It did not take long for us to quickly complete our plan after this and even more quickly for the troop to leave me. Right now I am walking in a direction opposite to theirs.


    It is a weird experience if I am to be Frank. The forest is a strange and dangerous place for me. It does not help that I am waiting for a voice in my head to go of which would herald in a fight that I am not sure if I will win. It causes an itch in my teeth.


    It does not take long for the enemy to appear though. To be clear it is an enemy, as I can only sense Matthew. The man has no reinforcements and the man is certainly not trying to ambush me. With every step of his I become more sure that the man can sense me. His steps are too purposeful for that not to be the case.


    "Young mutt, it would be wise if you do not force me into a fight.", the man speaks before appearing in front of me. "Would you believe me If I have only come to talk to you. I have not even brought my soldiers with me."


    "Well, I would have assumed that you would have brought an entire team with you. After all, I have killed one of you before.", I reply. It is mostly bravado that keeps me talking.


    "Well, I will be frank. Esmeralda is a bit of an idiot. She has such little control over her emotions that I am not sure how she survived till now.", the man speaks. "She possessed a body haphazardly and then she grew angry enough to follow you into a purifying ground. She is a fool, I am not."


    "Well, will you kill me now then.", I reply, sounding confident though my heart is beating like a drum. I am sure the man opposite me can hear it. "You can certainly try. Who knows I might just end up killing this pawn of yours."


    As the man''s hand extends into claws, I remove my sword. I don''t activate it but circle my vital mana. We circle each other for a few seconds.


    I block his first hand with the flat of my blade, while dodging his second hand.


    "Well, what would a genius formation mage like you would be doing with the guard corps.", the man speaks, while charging towards me.


    "Well, how can you be sure that the sword was created by me.", I reply, while blocking him again. With this second clash I am sure this man does not know how to fight in hand to hand combat.


    "I am a vampire of great age, young mutt.", he replies. "I understand the magic that you use."


    He replies while blocking a strike of mine.


    "Well, that doesn''t explain why would you be coming to fight me alone. Also I would like to know how exactly you are tracking me." I ask the man. "Do we need to be fighting like this. You seem to be more interested in talking to me than fighting me."


    "Appearances have to be maintained, young man. You never know who is looking at you.", he replies. "I would like to kill you, but the body of a grunt does not allow me many tools. You seem to be proficient in using that sword of yours too."


    He enforces this point by attacking me which I block again. It was not even particularly hard.


    "Still, it is true that you are useful. How you are useful you will have to understand. Right now there are three clans of vampires.", he speaks. "The first among them are the flaming moon. They wield flame magic, as you can guess and are quite skilled at combat."


    (By the way we are still fighting. I have just removed all descriptions of it to keep consistency of the knowledge that he speaks.)


    "Why are you speaking of this?", I ask him.


    "They are good at combat, but have no sense of strategy. Most are idiots like Esmeralda.", he speaks, ignoring my question. "The second clan is hunger kings. They practice the art of flesh transmutation, capable of devouring it to grow more powerful. You need to beware them. You never know what they can do."


    "Seriously why are you telling me this.", I ask again.


    "Youngsters, dont even have the patience to listen their leaders.", he speaks. "You want to know why I have come here to speak to you. You have the potential to screw things with them."


    "Oh", is all that I am able to tell the man. I relax a second to process this information and a strike to the throat that I barely block with my sword is the reward.


    "Let me tell you of us vampires, young mutt.  We are forced to work together due to the threat that we face from your kind.", he says "that means many things, but the thing you need to know is we do not like each other. If you can cause problems for them, why wont I describe them to you."


    (At this moment we have stopped the sham of our fight.)


    "So you must be the third faction. What is your mission?", I ask.


    "Now why would I be going about making my mission harder, grunt. The failure of this mission would certainly cause me a few headaches.", he replies. "it is true that I don''t want to kill you, but I also have people that I must work with. Can''t have them complaining. Think of this as a test.


    As he speaks this his eyes suddenly starts to bleed. I cannot even wonder as to a reason why as my head bursts in pain.


    It feels like a worm that is worming into my head.


    "Let this be a lesson too, since that sword of yours is fascinating.", he speaks. "Blood mana is like a wild bull. If you do not have control over the bull, it is very easy to cause it to rampage. To a skilled mage he won''t even break a sweat. That is even true even if you were to dilute blood mana with other types. The only way forward is absolute control. Anyway here are your allies. I would have thought that I would have to maintain this sham for eternity. You really need to think about getting better soldiers."


    He continues speaking but I am not able to make out anything more as the world around me becomes a void in which I feel as if I am drowning.

 log 060

    The inner keep is a very fascinating formation to observe. Right now I am standing in front of it and taking it in at its full glory. It is a elemental separation barrier. All elemental separation barriers look like a chaotic swirl of mana. It is chaotic, but beautiful.


    Such a type of barriers are meant to hold back a certain type of mana. In this case, it is meant to stop the passage of the vital mana of humans and also the blood mana of the vampires. I could try and pass the barrier but in the process the very mana that keeps me alive would be left behind. (I even tried to pass the barrier while transformed. A burnt hand is the only result.) The result is not going to be pleasant to observe.


    Well, right now my job is to somehow make my way into this inner keep, preferably with whatever is inside the place not knowing that I exist. Before speaking about that, it would be better if I speak about the barrier first and why we have ended up in this position in the first place.


    The barrier is a elemental separation barrier, that is at the moment spread across the walls of the inner keep of this fortress. The inner keep is the Homebase of the mayfires, the building in which they live.


    It is their base, the largest building in this fortress. It is a miniature fort in its own right. I can sense the mana that is coursing through the fortress, powering the many formations that are guarding the place. Whatever is going on inside, these formations are being used at their full power. I would assume them to be defensive formations like the iron skin, trap formations and the barrier that is keeping us out of this place. Exclusion barriers consume a lot of mana.


    It is still a mighty piece of work, explaining why the hexmountain considered them to be useful allies. We don''t send agents for just anybody''s defense.


    Reaching the barrier to the inner keep is easy work, but we need the organisation to provide us a place in which I will be able to mess with the barrier. I am not sure if I will be able to break this formation without attracting attention. If they were to detect the mana fluctuations of barrier being messed with, it wouldn''t take them very long to find us.


    Naturally, this was before the bastard called as Matthew appeared. Now I cannot dare to even leave the formations that surpress the mana that I emit. Leaving might just be enough to have matthew detect me and that is something that I absolutely do not want.


    Trevor thinks that he is one of the noble vampires, though he cannot explain why such a powerful figure would be here. As long as the man exists, my ace is completely useless. Transforming each time now is risking me ending up in their control.


    If anything, it might just end up revealing my location to the enemy. Even now, with the sword safely in the hands of Trevor, I am not sure if the man is able to detect me or not. I have to assume that he cannot, but why should I take a risk.


    It would be safer to assume that he can do so. While this thing has certain caused a problem for us, it has also given me a certain amount of freedom. If the enemy is able to detect me anyways, I do not need to be worried about leaving my presence to the enemy.


    The organisation has even provided us with concealment formations, which we will be able to use to suppress the mana that we are emitting. This includes my blood mana, which I seriously think is the reason that we have ended up here in the first place. It is not a particularly good one, but as long as I am able to breach the barrier quick enough, it will be enough to buy us some time. I can already smell a stench of blood from the room we are presently hiding in. (It is some kind of a warehouse that the organisation has repurposed into a hiding place.)


    Well, it is about time that I begin to speak about the breaching process. Well, this is not going to be any fancy work, about which I will be able to boast.


    Well, the problem is that this barrier is going to be passively blocking the passage of the mana. It is more mana consuming to do this, but you don''t need a person to actively maintain the formation.


    This passivity of the barrier means that I either need to break the barrier or atleast create a hole in it or to temporarily encase our mana to protect our vital mana.


    For the latter, I am not really a necromancer so the only thing that I can do is to break the formation. This is how they raise undead or atleast it is one of the step involved.


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    For this I have three methods. First and the one that I am least likely to be able to do is the formation bomb. These are formations created from materials like sky bamboo, which will be able to output a massive amount of force in a small instance. Crafting them is an art that I have never really gotten the drift of. Anyways, I will not be getting the necessary materials for it here.


    The second is more achievable, but is constrained by my mana capacity. That is the process of interfering with the formation. My mana strings can enter into the barrier and mess with the barriers shape. This is kind of like my iron skin formation, where certain parts are meant to define the shape of the barrier. Modifying them will be enough to create a small gap.


    It is the stealthiest method of sneaking into the place, since nobody will be able to tell if the formation has been messed with unless they were to seriously study the thing. Nobody would be using such a passive barrier if they had a formation mage, so I think that I can get away with it.


    The only problem is even my mana strings are made up of my vital mana, which is restricted. I can force my strings into the barrier, but I will have to keep using considerable amounts of my mana to do so. Five minutes is my limit. After that the barrier will cut into my string like a scissors.


    The third and the stupidest method of doing this is the bruteforce method. That is to push all of my mana into a single location of the formation and create a hole in the barrier. It would be literally like using my mana to push away the mana of the barrier. (Which will be replenished in moments.)


    I am more than confident that all of my mana pushed into the barrier in a single instant will be enough to create a hole to let a person pass through.


    At the moment this seems to be the only method that I have at my disposal which I might be able to execute at the moment. I will have to do so four times, for each member of the team.


    I guess I could go and enter the first and try to break the barrier from inside, but that would be too risky. I am the only person in the group that has any combat capability. The troop cannot fight a enemy while I am trying to modify a formation, that I might have never seen in my life.


    So that is why we are waiting for me to get a bit fixed up. The fight with Matthew has taken its toll. Fighting the man physically was not a problem, but the way that he can mess with my blood mana is the issue.


    Even now I can feel my mana bubbling up. As a formation mage, we have very fine control of our mana. Without it every single inscription of our will tend to have explosive results. Other than that there is quite a bit of internal damage in my body. It feels like I am walking about wearing a coat of thorns. This is especially true when I try to channel mana.


    It will take a couple of days to manage that damage. So we won''t be entering into the inner keep until then. We could try before that, but at the moment it just seems to be a bit to risky.


    To explain this better I will have to explain how we ended up in this place in the first place. I honestly don''t remember too much of it. I lost consciousness after fighting him.


    I remember vague glimpses of Trevor picking me up, carrying me deep into the forest.


    Much of what I have recorded now, I found out from Trevor. Our escape from the fallen ship was mostly due to matthews efforts. Trevor and the troop did not even encounter any enemy forces during our trip. We smoothly escaped into the forest, and we made it to the fort on our foots (well, I was being carried by andrew and Jacob.)


    Trevor did not seem particularly surprised with what I had revealed about the motives of matthew. Still, the situation in the fort that was caused by our escape is why I do not dare to make any move now.


    Our actions at the ship seem to be a tipping point for the blood heart gang. Right now, they are proactively looking for. They are just not very skilled at it and are very stupidly violent about it.


    Right now they are causing so much chaos and violence that I am surprised that people have not gone fully violent. They seem to be readomly forcing themselves into various places, homes and shops to find any trace of the organisation.


    It has been a pretty bloody affair too, based on what I have understood. Most people that refused such a sudden and forceful acts of entry have ended up dead. This bit of brutality was enough to finally cause the people of the city to act. They have been resisting their overlords.


    Most do this by getting their knives bloody. Any lone blood heart gang member that gets drunk in the bar is more than likely to get his throat slit in the quiet of the night. It could be anybody in the bar doing this too. Most of these are so brutalised that it is clear that multiple were involved in the process.


    This has caused all the blood heart members to gather up and brutalise the supposed murderer. Let''s just say that they are certainly not merciful to their enemies. Their have just caused the folks to get angrier.


    This is a brutal cycle that has worked to protect us temporarily. Right now, the blood heart gang is more busy trying to deal with the people rather than trying to find us. I am not sure for how long but this will happen for a bit at the very least.


    Whatever happens, we have a plan for now. If the bastard could track us, we would be fighting him already. Atleast that is what I tell myself. I honestly have no idea what will happen.


    It would be a waste of time of the ultimate degree to guess the thoughts of a vampire. They have survived to this age for a reason after all.

 log 061

    Our present location is really causing me to feel very uncomfortable. At the moment, we have finally made our way into the inner keep. I am trying to rest at the moment though my pillow and bed made of rolled clothes is not helping. I am also trying to keep my mana from bursting out. It is riled up in a way that I would have thought not possible until now.


    That can happen when you have expended your mana five times in a row. As for why it is five times regardless of what Trevor said, there was no way that I was about to let anybody enter the barrier to the first time I opened it up.


    I have never practically done something like this in real life before. When the first one was stable enough and once I had verified that, I allowed Trevor and his group from the second one onwards. It was a risk, but I would prefer to take that risk than for that hole to destabilize suddenly and cut them into two. (Not physically mind you, but wherever the barrier will pass will kill that part of the body. If that were occur at your neck, let''s just say I would pity that person).


    All of this mana pushing and whatever Matthew has done has made the mana in body a bit out of control. It is nothing serious, just that a bit more or bit less mana than I need is being pulled out each time I pull my mana. It would be disastrous if I had to inscribe, but it would cause no problems for now. At least that is the hope.


    Pushing myself like that is something that I have never done before. My brethren who tend to be more vigorous with their cultivation would be very surprised at this. Pushing your mana like how I done is the only way to ensure that your foundation is more stable without expending resources.


    This would ensure that you would be able to store more mana, have it flow more smoother and also have better control over the mana. Also, when you have to push yourself like how I have done, you tend to get lesser side affects. When you have to fight against your fellows capable of that, it would seem stupid not to undergo the same training.


    I have never done training like that, sadly. Formation building is an involved task. It leaves no time for other pursuits. I barely have enough time to cultivate already. Otherwise, why would it take me three years to get the second foundation done.


    Right now, I can feel my mana channels ache. It is like a pain in my bones, ever present and alway hurting. By tomorrow this pain will be gone and I will have stronger and more robust mana channels.


    Anyway, it is time that I return to the topic. Well, I am not sure what to tell. Our entry into the inner keep was issue free, almost scarily so.


    I was expecting the blood heart gang to pop up any second that I was sending the troop in. Nothing like that happen. There was no trace of moment of the blood heart gang. Granted, I don''t how it would have looked if they did make a move on us I expected to notice something.


    Their silence is more scary than any action that they could have taken.


    I was so sure of their attack that I had the sword in standby too. Not that I could help it actually, pushing my mana out like that has my sword at an edge too.


    I can feel it itching to activate, as it keeps pushing blood mana into me. I honestly cannot figure out the mechanics of the sword. How exactly is it converting my mana into blood mana, that only the vampires will be able to tell.


    However it does this, it is excited. I am actually struggling to keep the formation in control. That is part of the reason that my mana is out of control.


    The place that we are seems to be a storage house. It contains loads of clothes, stored here unused. It is a decently big room, enough to house the tents for us four.


    Trevor and the troop has been quite liberal with these clothes, tearing them up to raise up tents. It is almost fascinating to seem them work with so much efficieny. They have even managed to get a fire burning from a set of clothes though I am not sure if it is actually needed. For a second I worry about that but I am sure that it would not be burning any bridges. The mayfires have more immediate worries than caring about what happen to their clothes.


    Right now this is our place, our home base if you will. We cannot really proceed beyond this point without preparations and rest. Proceeding without either and I am sure that we are going to end up in a very messy position.


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    Right now we have three main threats to contend with in the place. At least that is what I assume to be the case. I honestly have no idea what is going on here.


    The first would be the traps that I am sure are hidden in every nook and cranny of this place. Unlike popular belief forts are the perfect places to hide traps. In the thrill of the battlefield they work the best even more than in tombs where you can expect them.


    Traps are an integral part of the defense of a place. They are just so effective that it would stupid not to use it. It doesn''t consume a lot of mana, like a mana sucking barrier. It has a better kill count than most defenses, like catapults and it certainly demotivates malicious parties very effectively.


    That is why tomb raiding is such a dangerous process. Traps kill more people in the tomb than any other defense that might exist in that tomb and it certainly a similar case in case of forts.


    Right now traps are going to be making our progress so hard. The storehouse leads to corridors with a door on either side. Right now, the troop have cleared the corridor of traps. There was a nasty one that exploded on somebody stepping on it.


    Thankfully, Trevor activated that trap with a stick. Other than that there are a few alarm traps, which I think can be ignored safely. Somebody would have already come if that was not the case. Anyway, the folk it will give a warning to will be the one that we want to meet anyway.


    We can''t be sure of the two doors though. They have mana passing through them, but with this much mana pulsing around us it is hard to tell if a trap exists or not.


    They certainly must have a trap, but we honestly do not know which one. I would assume that it will be some kind of a passive trap, like the alarm traps that we triggered since a door has to be opened even in normal times. Active traps would certainly cause more headaches for genral commute in a fort. Still, there is no need to take that risk now that we seem to be in a pretty stable situation. Especially with how much of my combat ability is compromised at the moment.


    That is why we are so passive in the first place. With me expending so much mana and with my previous injuries, I am not at my peak at this moment.


    The troop is resting for now, until I recover my mana and get a reasonable amount of combat strength.


    After that we will begin our journey into the fort properly. Other than the traps, there is a matter of our enemies also.


    At the moment I certainly would not want to meet a vampire captain, especially with the sword acting up like it is. Matthew does seem to be an exception with the way that he was playing with me. That is a risk that I cannot take. Regardless of which case it is, I will be fighting at a disadvantage. It is so annoying that I cannot use my sword to deal with them.


    That reminds me, I have completed work on the second foundation. It occured after we had broken through into this place. The pressure caused by my continuous expulsion of mana certainly must have played a role in that. It didn''t even take me that long, the foundation seemed to be building itself the way that it was going.


    I am starting to understand why everybody is willing to put themselves with this torture of pushing their pushing mana like I did if it can help them build up the foundation like I did.


    That must be another reason that my sword is so riled up. Still, all of this ends up in the conclusion that fighting the vampires is not an option at the moment. At the moment there are eight captains in this place, each about as powerful as Matthew or worse. Somehow, I get the feeling that this won''t be the worst of what I will be facing in the place.


    Well, I actually don''t know if they are here but where else they can be. Trevor could not find a trace of them anywhere outside.


    As if the vampires were not enough of a headache, I have to deal with the mayfires. The mayfires would certainly have no idea about how trustworthy we are. It would be quite funny if we were to end up dying at the hands of our trigger happy allies.


    They also must be hidden somewhere in this fort, though where exactly is a question that I do not know. Even if I knew where it would not be worth much since I don''t know where we are. Trevor did try his best to get even a rudimentary map of the inner keep. The mayfires have good reason to ensure that their enemies do not know the layout of their home.


    This is all well trodden knowledge. Thoughts that I have had from even before we entered into the place. I am recording all of this mainly for the head office and also to understand what is going on here. Well, recording all of this is only causing me to worry about this even more.


    No, that would not be the correct way to put it. I had expected every single thing that I have described till now. What I am feeling is not related to any of this is all I have understood. This anxiety is completely different.


    It feels as if I am missing something very obvious here and the feeling is not pleasant. Well, obsessing over this is certainly not going to be helping me. For now it would be wise for me to focus on the process of recovery.


    Well before leaving, I guess I should talk about the magic of the mayfires. They are elmental conjurers, cultivators that use fire in the shape of items, beasts and in many different shapes.


    They tend to have decent combat ability, especially those that specialise in flame conjuration. The mayfires are specifically famous for their ability to conjure birds of prey from fire. The birds are supposed in such a lifelike manner that it feels like the mayfires have put a piece of their soul into their conjurations.


    While, that is certainly not the truth (splitting souls is the business of necromancers.) But there must be something there.


    Their combat ability is good enough that the black mountain considers them to be an ally. That is more than enough proof of their strength in my eyes. Though, I am still not sure how they would fare against the vampires.

 log 062

    Right now we are standing at the door to the left side of the corridor. I have my sword in hand, ready to transform at a moments notice or the exact opposite, depending on the nature of our foes. Can''t have something like with Matthew happen again. If one of the other possessed captains can mess with me in the same way, it would be quite risky. What I am going to be doing against the captains, I actually have no idea.


    My transformation is the only combat ability that I actually have at the moment. naturally, I do not tend to have such a deficiency. I have an entire set of formations depending on the situation. The bastard of my master managed to really screw me up again. I do understand the man''s logic though. I would certainly not have started on true linking any time soon if I had all of my formations.


    As I have mentioned in my previous log, I have been resting due to many factors. I still feel quite weak at the moment but there is little chance of me resting anymore. Even I can pick up the tension of the troop. They do not like sitting about doing nothing like this.


    I can already feel that Trevor and other two are already at the edges of patience. Everyday, we hear noises from the outside, as if somebody were trying to get in. That doesn''t help with their frayed nerves I tell you. It certainly does not help me. We should be more active. Waiting like this is wasting precious time. Well, I guess that is why I have Trevor to whisper caution into my ears.


    As for the blood heart gang breaching the inner keep, I am not worried myself. Given the fact that the blood heart gang has stayed in the outer keep for a while, I would think that they would not be able to do so easily. The barrier that I have breached is not at all easy for a non formation mage to breach. Well, it is not supposed to be easy for even formation mages.


    I can understand the structure of the formation and naturally have an understanding of the weakest point of this structure. Even then, it took me all of my mana to open up a hole in which a person could crawl through. If it was me even a couple of months ago, I would not have achieved it.


    To somebody like Matthew, I would not be sure if even ten times the mana that I have used would be enough to do anything to the barrier. They would then need to permanently break a part of the barrier if they want to have any hope of getting in a sizeable troop into this place. I certainly would like to see if matthew would be able to do that. It will be an impressive bit of magic.


    If everybody could make holes in barriers like I have, it would not be so well used. What I have done is actually considered to be something quite suicidal frankly. You would be surprised at the death toll such actions can have. That is why my method is so popular in the first place. You will find it most of the stories too for the same exact reason.


    To get back to the matter at hand though, we are going to begin our exploration into the inner keep. We are doing this by opening the door to the left. There is no solid reasoning for this other than the fact that my gut says me to go in that direction. We will end up somewhere by taking either of these routes, so there is no real difference here.


    Well, as far as I can tell there are no obvious traps on the door. Rather than comfort me, this just ends up scaring me more. Obvious traps usually act as warnings. Most of them do not tend to have any danger at all. It might sting a bit but they are still better than the truly insidious traps.


    The silent ones are always more deadly in my opinion. That is why Trevor and the troop are hanging back waiting for me to trigger the trap. If there is something, you can be sure that no stick will be enough to protect Trevor. Anyway, Trevor''s stick was destroyed with the explosion trap. I am sure that he will find something else soon enough.


    The hope is that even if there is a trap, it won''t be able to cause much damage to me. If it does, I will be able to recover from it pretty quickly if one of the troop were to provide me with a bit of their viral mana. That is especially true if we were to find an y enemies.


    That is how I have ended up standing in this place, with the troop waiting for me behind. Well no point on delaying this anymore.


    Steeling myself, I open the door. As the door swings open, I prepare myself to feel any number of poisons, acids and mana explosions but nothing occurs. It is very anti climatic in that sense.


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    The door swings open to reveal no enemy getting ready to launch an ambush at us. Otherwise, in my imagination I was already thinking of ways to hold of multiple vampire captains, possessed or not.


    We are in what I have to assume is some kind of a laundry. Well, there is nothing that threatens us here as we make it inside the place. The troop has already begun to scope out the exit paths of this place.


    There are two doors in this room, one that we just came in from and one that is again closed. That will be my work as the troop clear the room of any traps.


    If we need to beat a hasty retreat, you certainly do not want to be worrying if in front of you is a trap or not.  It is a bit time consuming but what can a man do.


    I could help them to speed up the process but, there is also a need for a lookout and I have the sharpest senses in the group for the better or for the worst.


    The troop takes five minutes to complete it''s work. There are no traps in the room. Once I get the go ahead from Trevor I open the closed door again. Again, there is no trap.


    (After a couple of hours, I think.)


    The first leg of journey into the inner keep has been about as boring as boring can be. Up till now, wherever we have entered has revealed nothing of interest to us. Well, to be frank calling it boring would be wrong. After all, every moment when you feel like the enemy is going to ambush you from any corner of the room, you certainly don''t feel bored.


    It is a mixture of anxiety, boredom and fear. There is also the persisting feeling that I am missing something quite vital. That is what is messing things for me, the feeling that something is not as it should be. This mixed with my overthinking really makes my mind the perfect breeding grounds for anxiety.


    The procedure of entry for each room is same. I open the door, the troop goes in with me at the back. The troop quickly and thoroughly checks the room to ensure that there are no traps in the place.


    Sometimes this is over in five minutes, sometimes this takes about half an hour with Trevor simply not convinced that there are no traps in this area. He prods and twists around the trying to trigger any new traps like a crazy daredevil. He has gotten a discarded sword in one of the rooms that he is using as his new stick.


    Right now we are stuck in what I have to assume is some kind of a army Barracks. Trevor certainly seems to be taking this place more seriously than normal since the man has been poking around the room to no affect for almost an hour. If it were up to me, I would have left the place as soon as we entered the place. That is true for every room until now.


    Anyway, there have been no traps up till now. Now, rather than comfort me this terrified me. A fort always has traps. Even a unused piece of crap fort will have its share of traps. This obsession with traps is to the point that it always causes a problem even to the people that are living in a fort. They need years to understand the position of each trap in the place.


    A place so devoid of traps can only mean that somebody has been triggering these traps left and right. Now, no local would be triggering these traps for fun and there is only one party other than ours and the mayfires that is here.


    I am pretty sure that we are following the trail of the vampires. Trevor seems to have realised that even before me as our progress into the keep slows to a snails pace. This is the case about two rooms ago.


    Well, I actually need to talk to him about this now. Inaction has its own dangers.


    "Trevor, how long are you going to be checking for traps?", I ask the man.


    "Well captain, You can never be sure of which trap hides in which corner of the fort.", he replies. "Checking for them carefully is always the more prudent option."


    "There hasn''t been a trap, Trevor. You know what that means. Every minute of time that we are wasting is a moment that we risk being discovered.", I speak.


    "Well, it is a risk, but so is being struck by a trap as the enemy is in front of us.", he replies. "now is not the time to hurry the fight. We are at an disadvantage, captain."


    "Well, it is going to be a very hard fight, Trevor if we are forced into one.", I reply. "We have to make sure that we don''t end up in a fight or to at least make sure that we are at our best for the fight."


    "That is the hope, captain that we won''t end up fighting.", he replies. "Anyway, I don''t think it shall be an issue. Anything that involves the captains will attract the mayfires. All you need to do is hold of the captains for a while."


    "Well, how easy do you think that is. I can hold them for a while but do you think that the mayfires will be able to fight them of?", I ask him.


    "Well, I would assume that they are decently strong. The situation would be completely different if the two sides were not of equal strength.", he replies. "I am at the very least sure that the mayfires are able to put up a fight with them."


    "Well, I find it to be peaceful not to think too much of it at the moment.", I speak. "For now let''s just find people, whether they be allies or enemies."


    What can I say, all of this waiting is getting to my head. It is a annoying feeling. I am invading an enemies keep. Isn''t it supposed to be a bit more exciting?


    It is due to this thinking that I not able to notice the thing that is in the next room. It is some kind of armory based on what I can tell. The thing that I had not noticed was the group of corpses that was walking in the middle of the room, who seemed to be in the process of munching something.


    As I begin to focus on them, the creatures also look at me. The creatures charge at us the instant that they look at me.

 log 062 part 2

    Looking at the skeletons I would like to say that I had some cool move to make. Instead the only thing that I could do was stare blankly at the undead in front of me.


    It is only when I feel the movement from behind me that I am spurred into action. I have troop members to protect.


    Thankfully the creatures in front of me are zombies. Zombies are the most scary looking creatures among the undead, with their body rotting like it is.


    They are the weakest among the undead thankfully. They are slow, shambling and their flesh acts as more of an hindrance than an assistance. It is when this flesh begins to rot and only the skeleton is left, that one can begin to fear an undead. With a skeleton, firstly they move so quickly and silently that is pretty hard to predict their movment. Secondly, they are just plain harder to hit unlike a zombie.


    Anyway, just because zombies are not particularly hard to kill does not mean that they are dangerous. If anything, a zombie plague is about the worst thing that a necromancer can do.


    The problem with zombies is their ability to fight with quantity. You never have a single zombie alone, you have legions and legions of these creatures.


    Just imagine, for every zombie that you slay another two take its place and you cannot have even one of these creatures bite you.


    That is a major problem with zombies too, that their bite is able to spread its infection through you. Once they bite you, you will become a zombie yourself within a couple days. Naturally it won''t really be an issue for me due to my cultivation, but I will have to keep channeling mana to keep that at bay.


    That is naturally an expenditure that I cannot afford at this moment. I already do not have my usual method of fighting, let alone an ace. I cannot hope to survive with a disadvantage like this. That is why I have removed my sword and am swinging it aggressively at the corpse.


    The creatures are not particularly phased by it. They are still staring at us, while a couple had already begun to shamble towards us.


    Once they get close enough, I use my sword to behead them both. That is about the best method that a person has when dealing with zombies.


    Right now there are seven zombies in the room, each with their heads turned in my direction. I could get rid of them easily but I am not sure if I should do so.


    Zombies are never alone. Getting rid of seven zombies should not attract a hundred more or you are dead. I take a basic step forward to see the creatures are not reacting to my movement.


    You can never really tell with zombies how they will react. Sometimes they will charge at you like a crazy person, or they will completely ignore you.


    Most of the time they are somewhere in the middle. Taking a look back, I see that the men behind me are trailing me. For now we will try to walk through the zombies.


    We begin to take step by step, following the trail to handle the zombie. The zombies still look at us while we are moving slowly through them.


    They have yet to move in our direction at the very least. We begin to make our move towards the other side of the room.


    We almost made it to exit of this room, before I managed to fuck this up. Well, I don''t really blame myself. We had almost reached the other door. One of the troop behind me must have been very overzealous.


    He kept walking while I paused for a second to look at the zombies behind me. They knocked into me, due to which I fall to the ground with a grand thud.


    Well, the fall itself doesn''t not really hurt me, but it is the noise that causes my blood to go cold. The zombies jump into action like a loaded spring.


    By the time I get into action, trevor and the bunch are already fighting of the zombies, quite effectively too. Without me they still would be able to take on these creatures.


    Andrew is making use of his shield and sword to hold back three of them, while Trevor who uses a sword is holding back another two of them and Jacob is fighting another two of them with two daggers.


    They fight more carefully, since they certainly do not want to get bit but even then they are already winning over the creatures. Zombies do not tend to even show about half the strength of the corpses they are made from. (And that is if you are a really good necromancer. Those guys would need to sneeze to get rid of this keep.) If only they did not tended to number so much.


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    "Captain, I am sure that you will be able to take them out.?" Trevor screams at me.


    Oh yeah, studying these guys I had forgotten that I was supposed to be involved in this fight. Quickly removing my sword, I manage to kill the zombies surrounding Andrew.


    Then I kill trevors zombies followed by Jacobs zombies. It doesn''t take much time at all, but I can already hear scuttling from the door behind us. Let''s hope that this much amount of noise did not attract too many zombies.


    "What is the plan here, Trevor.", I ask Trevor. "We certainly are not trained to handle zombies."


    "Well, the zombies are here. We might be able to hide from them for a while but we cannot escape them if we want to proceed.", he replies.


    "Still, what the hell are zombies doing here? This is nowhere near the bonepits.", I ask.


    ''well, that is something that only the mayfires may be able to answer, captain.", he replies. "Don''t ponder on it for now. It shall give you no real benefits."


    "Still, that does not explain what plan of action we have.", I ask again.


    "Well, we have wasted enough time. Right now, I don''t think that we have any need to change our plan. The zombies will be limited in each room. If you could just get rid of them before they make a ruckus.", he replies. "Other than that, there is not much chance for a zombie to form an infestation here. The rooms and corridors here are not suited for these creatures to fight."


    "Well there were nine zombies in this room itself. Where would they be even coming from?", I ask.


    "Well, such a massive building would have a large group of people working to maintain the entire thing.", he replies. "Most of the undead would be maids and cleaners, I assure you. The mayfires do not have an army of their own. With an army things would have been very different."


    And thus our discussions went on for a while. I honestly think that we should have retreated a bit and systematically clear the place.


    Trevor made the exact opposite point since he already feels like we wasted a lot of time. I would have liked to point that I already wanted to get this things started already.


    It was Trevor that wanted to wait as we made our move. The man can be quite annoying sometimes.


    Still, what the man speaks is certainly the truth. We do not have too much time to get into the keep. Already we must have attracted the attentions of the vampires and regardless of what Trevor likes to say about the vampires and how the mayfires are going to be helping us out, it is also the truth that it might not be case.


    (After a couple of hours.)


    we have started making our way through the fort at a more quick pace. With the zombies here trevor is finally more comfortable with allowing us to charge through a room without him prodding through the thing.


    Mostly the problem we had to deal with was the zombie. They never crossed the number twenty so I managed to hold them of quite easily. There was a group of ninenteen zombies that nearly ended up killing me, but with some support from the troops I managed to get rid of them quite easily. Each time though, we are worried that a horde of said zombies would crash into our room and take us out.


    Trevor was atleast telling the truth when he told us that the zombie infestation would not be able to show too much of its power here. Firstly all the rooms and corridors are too thin for too many of them to be in one single place.


    There is also the problem of traps too. Most of them were set of by the zombies but we did almost end up for falling to a couple of them. It was an explosion trap both times, literally exploding on my face. Thankfully it was me that set of the traps both of the times or else the troop would be in a bad position.


    Right now, both my legs feel as if somebody put them through the grinder. Still, we have been making decent progress into the keep. If I could just activate my sword, I would be able to heal up from this damage quite quickly.


    This is to a point that we are slowing down again, not for traps or zombies but for the vampires that might could just be hiding around the corners.


    Before we used to mostly end up in storerooms, soldier barracks and servant quarters. Essentially it is an entire path through the keep that is only mean for guards, servants and anybody that the mayfires would have liked within easy reach but beyond their sight.


    It also leaves behind a easy pass for invaders to enter into the keep. Now we are getting somewhere. We are presently in the office of somebody that is important. The office is much like the one that I had seen in the office of the commander, simple and easy to work in.


    It was a tight little place, but with fourteen zombies crammed in it. It is almost a wonder that the zombies outside did not react to the din that we were making in here. I was almost bit a couple of times too in this hurry.


    Right now we are using this room as a resting point. The last couple of hours have been a bit of a mess. The troop and me are clearly exhausted. (I mean, I am not genius ar combat but to almost be bit by a zombie especially in such small numbers. I am tired.)


    Anyways, Trevor assumes that we are already reaching the inner parts of the keep where the mayfires and the vampires might be fighting in. I hope so because this uncertainty is now annoying me to no end. I want to get my blade into somebody''s head already.


    That is another reason that Trevor has forced me to rest up in this room, while the troop take over the work of being a lookout. We certainly don''t want to end up in a fight without being ready. Normally, I don''t like to do something like this but I can hear things behind the main door to this room.


    Zombies are silent creatures by nature, so something making this much noise either means that they are not zombies or that they are a ridiculous number of zombies. Honestly, I lean towards the latter since with the noise I have been making any vampire or necromancer would have already come here to investigate.


    I am itching to open that door to find out, but Trevor has warned me against doing that. So I am sitting here completing my log. After a couple more hours, we will open that door ready to fight whatever exists beyond this room.

 the necromancer (log 063)

    Well, it did not take us particularly long to find out what is behind the barrier. It was as exactly as we had expected it. Beyond the room is a horde of zombies, all of which are looking at me at this exact moment.


    We had opened the doors carefully to ensure that we would not attract any attention. It didn''t not help us much but we will have the option to quickly shut the door if the zombies do not attack.


    At least in terms of stealth, it did not help us much. The creaking of the door was enough to attract the attention of every zombie in the room. The only way that would work is if the horde had a master.


    Zombies as creatures are not able to think for themselves. That is why most of them are not able to detect our presence even as we walked through them. They have a set of instincts on basis of which they work.


    The fact that all of them are looking at us at this moment is proof that somebody is heading this particularly group of zombies. A necromancer is able to look through the eyes of his horde.


    That is why even when they are looking at me they are not making any move towards us. I am sure that they will be on us the instant that the necromancer decides to attack us. That is why I am still standing at the door and the troop is hidden in the room. We are ready to retreat at an instant''s notice. You certainly don''t want to deal with a horde.


    It does not take long for the leader of this horde to make his presence known. It is a man that is covering his entire body in a cloak, made of some kind of a black material.


    "Who would you be, commoner, slaying my creatures like this?", the man speaks, gesturing at me.


    "Well, I would assume that you would already know about me.", I reply. "Your master outside has certainly been struggling to deal with me."


    "Well, if you are speaking of the creature called as Matthew", the man replies. "He barely leads his own people. He certainly has no control over me. It is true that we maintain contact with him."


    "Well, then who would you be working for?", I ask him.


    "Well, why would I reveal my secrets to the black mountain.", he replies. "The only reason that you are not being attacked by this horde is due to the fact I already have others to deal with. Leave now and you shall not be killed immediately."


    "Well, you saying stuff like that makes me want to stay here even more.", I reply.


    "Well, then I will be forced to kill you.", the man dissolves into the group after saying this. As soon as he says this the zombies begin to charge towards us like a wave.


    I don''t get particularly long to react to the movement of the creatures as I retreat behind the door, as the troop bolts the door completely.


    "Is it a necromancer.", Trevor asks me.


    "Yeah, a bastard at that too.", I reply.


    My attention returns to the door which had already begun to buckle under the weight of the zombies that are charging at it.


    "What do you want to do?", I ask Trevor.


    "Well, we can do little more than push on, captain. We won''t be able to hold of a horde that is under sentient control.", he reply.


    "Well, I know that but the question is how exactly I am supposed to be doing that?", I ask him.


    "Well I would have to assume that the necromancer has something else to deal with?", he asks me.


    "Yeah, he disappeared before the horde started to attack us.", I reply.


    "Well, then I have to assume that one of the mayfires is fighting him.", he replies. "Else, with a necromancer it won''t take more than few seconds to break open this door."


    "Still, that doesn''t not answer my question.", I reply.


    "Andrew, pass your shield to the captain.", Trevor commands Andrew.


    In a few seconds, the shield in Andrew''s hand is now on mine. It is relatively sturdy but I will not be able to use it for long. It will break in a few instants.


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    "Captain, what we want you to do is to act as bait for these zombies.", Trevor replies. "We can be sure that the necromancer is busy dealing with one of the mayfires. All we need to do is to ensure that we will survive until the mayfires win."


    "Well, there is a chance that the mayfires will not be able to win. What will we do then?", I ask the man.


    "Well, there is little that we can do then. We could retreat back to our previous positions but we won''t be able to survive much time like that.", he replies. "Still, that would be the only option that we will have left. You might need to open up the barrier again."


    "Well, I could try if you could hold the horde back.", I reply.


    "Well, then all we can do is hope that the mayfires win this particular duel. Regardless you holding back the legion will do wonders for the mayfires.", he replies. "After all a necromancer without his horde is a knight without his armour."


    As we were speaking this, the door behind us has begun to give way to the zombies. The door hasn''t been broken through completely but one of the hinges has been broken up.


    It won''t take long for the second hinge to break up. Well, there are not many good options here so I do the only thing that I can do.


    I grasp the shield and sword. I wonder for a second if I should transform but I let it go at the last moment. The zombies certainly won''t have life mana and there is always the risk of vampire captains.


    I charge into the group of zombies at the same instance that they break open the door.


    I will fight them just outside the door. It is the only way in which I can fight without putting the troop at a risk.


    Fighting zombies is a matter of endurance. I could take tens of them before I empty my mana reserves but there are hundreds of these creatures here.


    Thus I focus on clearing a circle around me. I ensure that none of the zombies are within the reach of my sword. That means that the instant they enter into range, I have to either move away or I have to strike the creature.


    (After about fifteen minutes that felt like an year)


    I can finally see the creatures in front of me begin to falter. It doesn''t make my work easier but I can see that the zombies on the edge of this horde has finally began to lose interest me.


    That must mean that the necromancer has been neutralised. That doesn''t mean that my fight has gotten easier. It just means that the zombies will be easier to handle. They won''t be chasing after us like a dedicated attack dog, instead they will follow us like a mindless horde.


    Killing them might be easier but I am also not at my best. About half of my mana reserves are gone and the other half is dissipating just as quickly.


    My arms feel like somebody has put weights on it. Each swing is just that bit harder.


    Regardless, now would be the time in which I can retreat from this position. In the duration of my fight I had somehow ended up in the middle of this room. That is the problem of controlling mana like this.


    Right now, I am surrounded by zombies on all sides. Even now, I am constantly swinging my swords to either push back the creature or using the shield to block any bite that night occur.


    It is a wonder that I have not gotten bitten till now and it looks like won''t be bitten in this particular fight.


    Even now, I have already begun to retreat to office. It is not particularly hard, but I have to do this slowly. Unnecessary hurrying would just mean that I increase the risk of me getting bit.


    (After about five minutes.)


    I have finally entered into the office. Trevor and the group had used the furniture in the room to block the entrance of the place.


    They just left a small opening at the top to ensure that I will be able to return. No zombie would think to enter using that place. Even if they did, the troop would be there behead it as it entered halfway through the place.


    Entering the hole, I see a room that is thankfully free of zombies. (I was worried that the troop might be at risk.) Trevor and Andrew are resting at the other entrance to this room while Jacob has taken the zombie duty.


    Seeing me, I can see the look of worry that they had on their face. Seeing me they seem to have calmed down a bit.


    "Captain, would it be safe to assume that the necromancer is dead?", Trevor asks me.


    "Yeah, you should be able to that from the fact that the zombies are not breaking open the blockade that you have placed here.", I reply. "Well, what will we be doing now? We can''t be sitting here forever now can we."


    "Well, we will be sitting here until the mayfire will be getting rid of the zombies.", Trevor replies. "A broken door will certainly attract their attention."


    "How could you be certain that the mayfires would be even getting rid of the zombies? Maybe they just came here to get rid of the necromancers", I ask.


    "Well, they will need to get rid of the zombies. They would suffer too many loses if they don''t do that.", Trevor replies.


    "The zombies are getting rid of the traps, captain.", Andrew speaks, which reminds me about his shield. "They would not send their zombies in here and divide them like they have had for anything else."


    "Yeah, it is one of the standard strategies that are used by the undead, captain.", Trevor adds to this. "they are the ultimate cannon fodder for such traps."


    "Well, then what should we doing until then? It is not like we can just keep sitting here waiting for the mayfires.", I ask, even though my arms have started to ache a bit.


    "That is what we shall be doing. You will have to focus on recovering your mana.", Trevor replies. "It is about the only ace that we have captain."


    "Are you sure?" I ask the man, the only way I will recover mana would be to meditate which would certainly all of us helpless. I have about a third of my mana anyways. It will be enough to beat a hasty retreat.


    "Well, the zombies have lost interest in the room, captain. I am sure that it will be safe.", Trevor replies.


    And hearing this I sit. Before starting my meditation though, I remove the straps of the shield.


    It is quite banged up, mainly due the force of my shield swings. It should still be useable though.


    "Here is your shield, Andrew. I got a few dents in it but you should be able to use it.", I say to him.


    "That is fine, captain.", Andrew replies. "In the worst case, I will have you fund my new shield if it comes to it."


    I don''t reply to this, as it makes me feel like slapping the man. Sitting down I begin to meditate as my senses descend into my mana core.

 Alfred Mayfire (log 064)

    Being interrupted from meditation is a very annoying feeling. It feels like somebody just woke up a person who is sleeping and you look at the world in that half sleeping half waking state. It is actually quite a dangerous thing to do in enemy territory. Being without mana is more dangerous, if I am to be honest.


    It is with this exact annoyance that I am looking at Alfred Mayfire, who had burst into our room in the most dramatic fashion possible. The man has completely pulled me out of my meditation. He should be thankful that my sword is not out. I would have struck him if that were not the case. That would have led to a mess, that I certainly would not like to manage.


    I recognised the man the instant that he entered into our room. He did so in the most dramatic manner possible. An eagle made up of pure fire burst through the blockade in our room, completely annihilating every bit of furniture blocked entry into the room. Eagles are one of the more powerful conjurations that a mayfire can create.


    Alfred Mayfire is roughly about my age and is known for his skill at conjuration, his families speciality. Other than that though he is supposed to be a very annoying figure. He is considered to be a figure of interest in the black mountain. A person of interest basically means that this person might grow into a threat for the black mountain. He is a young master of the mayfires, one with a decent chance of becoming the family head and in terms of strength, he is certainly many times stronger than me.


    "Now who would you be, people. I have never seen a cultivator dressed so plainly.", the man remarks, looking at my dress that I had not changed in a while. I really should get more clothes in the future. ¡°Well, humility is a useful thing to have.¡°


    ¡°I am captain Antonio sevenstars of the black mountain, under the charge of the guard corps to investigate the mayfire castle. Your food shipments have not been reaching the hexmountain in the last couple of months¡°, I reply, a bit off focus.


    ¡°Oh yeah, the troop that was shot down halfway through their flight to this place.¡°, Alfred replies, feeling quite smug about it. ¡°you have caused quite a bit of chaos in the outer keep, based on what I have been hearing. It has certainly helped us out in here.¡°


    ¡°Well, how would you be hearing this, young master.¡°, Trevor replies, his voice taking on a tone that I have never heard him speaking in. Fawning and quite humble, this voice would be perfect for bootlicking.


    ¡°The fort is ours, soldier. We have been working on the fort since the day that it has been created. We naturally have our methods of looking into it.¡°, replies Alfred mayfire. ¡°At the moment, you should be having more immediate worries. Antonio, it would be ideal if take our leave from this place. We do not want to get into a melee this deep into the necromancer control.¡°


    ¡°Well, what is it with the necromancers? The hexmountain is under the assumption that you are dealing with vampires.¡°, I ask the man.


    ¡°it is a long conversation, captain. One that we cannot have in the middle of a battlefield. You do not want to be dealing with a group of necromancers in such a congested location, Antonio.¡°, replies Alfred.


    I don''t reply as we all begin to move. Maybe my conversation with the man was not particularly awe inspiring, but hey the man had distrupted my meditation. I am still collecting my thoughts. Leaving the room, I can see the destruction that the man has caused in the room in his fight with the necromancer. There are entire piles of corpses burnt to a crisp lying about. It is not a pleasant sight in the least.


    The necromancers corpse itself is pretty much in a very bad state. The man is blown up into many pieces, split into many pieces by the man in front of me. It must have been a pretty hard fight judging from the way that the entire thing was riddled with holes. Alfred himself is pretty injured though most of the Injuries are internal, though the man is quite skilled at hiding all of this.


    ¡°Well, necromancers are a pain. Rather than fighting them alone it feels like crushing flys in a cloud of flys. We can''t even ignore these undead. they activate all of our traps. It has completely messed with our plans in the process.¡°, replies Alfred. ¡°Let''s leave before the other necromancers get a wind that we are here. You certainly don''t want to be overwhelmed by them.¡°


    And thus we begin to make our way into the inner keep. Unlike before, where the rooms are connected to each other in thinner and thinner corridors. the rooms here are much larger and much more vital in purposes to the mayfires. I find it hard to believe that the inner keep is so massive.


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    I can see Alfred means by the Presence of a horde. Conjuration is a pretty costly magic, if I am to be honest. Using it on a horde is pretty costly on your mana supplies. Right now, the man in front of me must have consumed at least half of the mana reserves of his.


    Even me, who is pretty efficient at using mana would be quite intimidated by the number of zombies this man has to deal with. Other than this man, I have yet to find the mana of any other mayfire. They could be in other areas, but beyond my senses. They certainly are not going to be coming to our rescue any time soon.


    ¡°Captain Antonio, it would be wise not to get distracted on the battlefield. Necromancers might not look particularly strong but the bastards are tricky enemies to fight. Be especially wary of the corpses. Even this burnt, I am not sure if the necromancers can use their magics through it. They can explode these corpses to poison you.¡°, replies Alfred.


    ¡°Certainly Alfred¡±, I reply.


    And thus we begin to make our way through the inner keep.


    (After almost a couple hours or a couple minutes. My sense of time is pretty weird by now.)


    The only thing that I remember about our journey is the profound sense of exhaustion that I had felt during the journey. The reason for that I think is due to the fact that I have been focussing at the peak of my senses ever since I have been in the inner keep. I feel like I want to sleep at this moment.


    I certainly can''t do that now since Alfred is taking us through the inner keep. He is very slow and methodical about it, especially in the corridors particularly around the corpses. Other than that the man has been going through the inner keep as if he knows it from the back of his hand. That familiarity with the place certainly assisted in our quick progress through the inner keep.


    Even right now I have begun the process of recording only because we have clearly entered into the mayfire''s section of this keep. Even this place is not completely secure. the necromancers have been clearly trying to breach into the place but just from the ever decreasing piles of burnt corpses it is clear that the place is still in mayfire control.


    Throughout our trip here, Alfred mayfire has been certainly quite silent. The man has a warriors focus to speak about him. Sadly, I have yet to witness the conjuration that makes these people so famous. Well, sadly would be the wrong word here, since we have not been attacked in our journey to this place. Still, I would be more comfortable if I could know of the capability of the mayfire''s.


    ¡°Alfred before we go beyond this point you will have to give up on your sword.¡°, speaks Alfred, who had suddenly stopped at the edge of what I have to assume is another barrier. I am surprised that I was not even able to sense it. It could be my exhaustion or it could be the barrier itself. The latter would be more deadly ¡°This is our absolute shield, beyond which no external formations must be activated. That includes that sword of yours.¡°


    Hearing this, the only thing that I can say is that the mayfire''s are certainly obsessed with barriers. An absolute barrier is exactly what is sounds likes. The controller of the barrier will have absolute control of the mana that exists inside the barrier. It is one of the hardest barriers to establish.


    It is a sensitive formation though, one that would be messed up if somebody were to move mana inside except the barrier wielder. Naturally, that is not a problem if these people had a person to control the barrier. Without such a person, it would certainly be harder to take control of mana, but it won''t be that much harder. I could break through the formation using a large amount of mana that I can certainly produce using the sword.


    Well, I don''t really have much of an option here, since the man opposite me can burn me into a crisp even if we were to go into a fight. Then there is the problem of the necromancers who can attack us at any second. A fight is not ideal here.


    ¡°I understand your situation. Here is my sword.¡°, I reply, giving my sword to the man.


    Naturally the only reason I do this is because my remote link with the formation is still there and I can activate it even if the man in front of me is holding it. The other side is no formation mage, that much I am certain of. All he needs to do is pass through the barrier and I can cause this formation to fail if there is a need.


    Even the man seems to be very surprised that I had given up my sword that easily. Well, what I am doing is quite stupid, I guess but what else can I do.


    ¡°Thank you. Antonio. You and your troop can enter into the barrier now. You will be greeted by my kin on the other side of the barrier. Just introduce yourself and you will be fine¡° Replies Alfred. ¡°I have to hold back this horde of zombies for as long as possible. They have been getting too close for our comfort.¡°


    Saying that the man disappears, taking the route that he taken previously taking my sword away with him. Well, there goes my fancy plans. I have given up the sword now there is no way to reclaim it without things going awry. Looks like the man is aware of the weakness of his defences.


    I just stand there paralysed for about a minute I think, trying to figure out what I can do to deal with this particular mess. Just standing there I cannot really string together thoughts. The exhaustion I am feeling is showing its vicious fangs. I just stand there thinking about my inability to think until Trevor speaks.


    ¡°We will have to go in captain. It is not like we can trace our way back anyways. The only option is forward.¡° Speaks trevor. ¡°We are still at a risk here captain. Atleast in the barrier we will only have the mayfire''s to worry about.¡°


    Heeding his warning I take a step into the barrier, not knowing what I would find on the other side.

 meeting with the family head (log 064 part 2)

    Entering into the barrier is a pretty weird feeling. It is like a dizzying sense, where I feel like my mana sense is being pulled when it is not. Entering the barrier though, I can tell that the mayfire''s control the place. There is tangible difference in the mana of the place from the outside. There is more fire mana here.


    ¡°Can you sense any of the mayfires in the place?¡°, asks trevor.


    ¡°Well, I can''t really use my mana sense in this place. I could try but there is a pretty significant chance that I might be wrong. My mana sense feels like there is a mist in front of my senses. Better not sense than sense wrongly ¡°, I reply.


    And thus we walk on for a couple of minutes, waiting for whoever is supposed to be picking us up as I study the region through which we are walking. I am so engrossed in my thoughts that I almost miss the lady that had come to pick us up.


    I pick her up a few seconds before she appears. If she wanted to strike us, I would only be able to protect myself barely. The troop would have been at her mercy. Thankfully, she does not seem to be in the mood of attacking us. Looking at her I guess her identity almost instantly. She is another mayfire about whom I have information on.


    She is called Lizbeth Mayfire if I remember, a more neutral figure among the mayfire''s. She practices a pretty obscure branch of their magics, more related to stealth than direct combat like they normally do. She seems to be partially hidden in mana sense and completely hidden to my sight. I can fight her off if I can focus all of my mana sense in her. Time to poke the bear.


    ¡°Lady Lizebeth mayfire, there is no need to hide like that. I certainly carry no Ill intent.¡°, I speak. ¡°It would be a pain to talk to you if you were hidden like this.¡°


    While speaking, I channel my mana into my arms. There is more resistance than usual but it certainly won''t hurt my combat capability by much. Granted this absolute barrier is meant more to boost the power of the mayfires than inhibit my power. So a fight would be pretty deadly still.


    Lady mayfire appears a bit farther from us, appearing like the disappearance of a mirage. She looks very ordinary, at least compared to Alfred Mayfire but she is way more scary if you want my opinion.


    ¡°Captain, there is no need to call me lady. We are equals here. You can call me Lizbeth.¡°, speaks the lady.


    ¡°Well, then you have to call me Antonio.¡° I reply. ¡°I have to assume that you are here to escort us. Your young master implied that at least.¡°


    ¡°Certainly, Antonio. We cannot have outsiders walking in the very core of our defences unescorted.¡°, speaks Lizbeth. ¡°We cannot have you being blown to pieces while walking here.¡°


    ¡°Then you certainly have my thanks.¡°, I reply, as we begin to follow the lady that had begun to lead us. ¡°I would like to know what exactly is going on here. Your young master seemed to be very unwilling to tell us anything.¡°


    ¡°Well, that can be better explained by the head. I can certainly explain the nature of the threat that we are facing.¡°, replies Lizbeth Mayfire. ¡°We are certain that there are two major threats that we are facing. First would be the vampires. I am certain that you must have faced them while entering into the inner keep. They attacked us suddenly one day completely catching us by surprise.¡°


    ¡°How could they do that? They must have left very clear marks. Magic related to the spirit and possession is very hard to hide.¡° I ask.


    ¡°On that I have no idea. That is something that those with the expertise will have to explain. They attacked us suddenly one day and we barely managed to activate our defences. Not that it helped much. They shattered the outer keep barrier in a couple of days and breached the inner keep barrier the very next day.¡° she answers. ¡°we have been fighting them in here since then. It was a pretty even fight, with neither side really winning until the necromancers appeared.¡°


    ¡°how did they appear here though? I don''t think there exist a necromancer in our surroundings until the bone pits.¡°, I ask her again.


    ¡°Well, that is the question that is plaguing us. Regardless, their appearance screwed us up completely. We lost most of our soldiers and servants to the zombies and the zombies certainly have managed to screw up all of our defences.¡°, replies the lady, a bit too nervously in my opinions. She is hiding something. ¡°That is about the limit of my knowledge. Anything else, you will have to ask the family head, whom we are going to meet.¡°


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    Saying that Lizbeth shuts up completely. I don''t try to pry anything from her. It would be quite easy for her to kill me without my sword. I walk in silence studying the area that we are in. The place we are in could be considered to be the very core of the mayfires fortress. This is the place where the leaders of the mayfires make their decisions and give duties to their underlings.


    This place is meant to be the mayfire center of power and their head office all roled into one.


    You can see it in the way that the place has been designed to impress people. Torches that I assume must shine in impressive colours, weapons and heads adorning each wall (spoils of wars.) and the entire place is constructed of a rock that I have to assume is quite costly.


    More importantly, I notice the things that all of this splendour is supposed to be hiding. The formation built into each wall and floor of the room, to increase the durability of the materials. The piles of heads and weapons acting like mana reserves for what I have to assume are traps. I certainly am not going to to be triggering those. You can call the entirety of the area to be the trap here, though such an open trap should not be called a trap.


    The only reason that I notice all of this is because the place is being operated with a soldiers efficiency with all of the useless stuff removed. All the useable weapons have been removed from their perches and all the offices here have become temporary barracks.


    The mayfire''s are soldiers that are masquerading as nobles. My master would say that is the absolute worst type of noble to haves as an enemy.


    I can finally see the other mayfires, who are all hurrying about trying to get their work completed as quickly as possible. Most of them are injured and the few that are not have a glazed look I recognise from when I had to forgo sleep for a very long while. Still, everybody is doing something or the other without letting their injuries affect them. This is a result of fear or discipline. Somehow I think it is both. I get so lost in my thoughts that I do not notice Lizbeth had stopped until I had almost ran into her. We have stepped outside a room that looks quite ordinary compared to the other rooms that we have been going across.


    ¡°captain, we have reached the office of the head of our family. Let him speak first, unless you want to insult him. If you do though the results will be quite terrible.¡°, speaks Lizbeth Mayfire. ¡°Address him as the family head and nothing else. Not doing so will also be considered to be an insult.¡°


    Saying that she disappears as quickly as she appears, which I am beginning to realise is a pretty annoying trait of the mayfires. Still, there is little I can do when I am literally in their home. Steeling myself, I open the door to feel a shiver in my spine.


    The man in front of me looks young for a family head, almost as if he has just entered his third decade. I don''t doubt the strength of the man though as it seems to be exuding from him. The nearest feeling I have felt to this would be the commander, though it was way more intense with him. I don''t speak as I wait for the man to speak.


    He looks so plainly handsome that whatever would imagine as a handsome man would match the man in front of me. The only thing that mars this is a single scar on his forehead, almost splitting it in two. It must have been a pretty heavy injury as the process of cultivation can heal most injuries.


    ¡°Captain of the guard corps. You have certainly picked the worst time to visit us. Let''s hope you come bearing good news.¡°, speaks the man, his voice sounding like the ringing of a bell. I can''t think of any other method of describing this.


    ¡°I regret to inform you that the head office has no idea what is going on here. They have sent me here only for dealing with the blood heart gang. They have no idea what Is going on here.¡°, I speak.


    ¡°Well, I wouldn''t be so quick to assume that, lad. Regardless, can you get through to them?¡°, asks the head. ¡°Well, since I don''t see any reinforcements here I would assume that to be no.¡°


    ¡°Family head, there is a formation that they are using to block the communication with the head office. It cannot be any weak formation at that. I would assume that it is a formation of the eighth class or above at the very least.¡°, I speak.


    ¡°If such a formation were to be breached, would it be possible to communicate with the black mountain?¡°, he asks.


    ¡°It might be possible, family head.¡°, replies trevor behind me. ¡°We might be able to get it through to the head office that something is wrong at the very least.¡°


    ¡°I am certain the captain has a mouth, soldier.¡°, the family head speaks, the pressure of his presence intensifying. The man has an ego. ¡°Heads will roll if you speak out of turn.¡°


    ¡°I apologise for my soldier, but what he speaks is the truth. We might be able to get an emergency flair if the formation blocking this might be found.¡°, I reply, taking what I think is my most service tone.


    ¡°Well, we do know of such a formation, young captain.¡°, replies the family head. ¡°I can''t be certain of the purpose of such a formation. It could be used for warming the blood of the vampires before drinking for all I know.¡°


    ¡°That is something that I can handle, all I need to do is sense the mana signatures of the formation and I will be able to identify it''s purpose to a certain degree.¡°, I reply.


    ¡°Well, that can be arranged, captain. We shall meet again later, young captain. You have given me things to think about.¡°, the family head speaks, shooing us away.


    Before leaving though, I had to ask him something that has been plaguing me since the very beginning of this mission.


    ¡°Family head, before leaving can I enquire as to how a group of vampires and necromancers are suddenly attacking you.¡°, I ask, preparing for some kind of a retaliation. What I did is considered to be pretty rude.


    Instead of an attack though, the family head laughs.


    ¡°The black mountain is famous for much, but nothing is beyond your curiosity. I could sate your curiosity but it is the only thing that I can securely use to negotiate with your betters. You will have to ask your masters in the future, young captain.¡°, he replies, while waving us away again.


    This time I do not push my luck as I leave the room.

 The preparation (log 065)

    The funny thing about being among soldiers is how quickly you tend to get your flow with them. I have not been in a proper army for ten years or so and still I can find myself working with them so efficiently. It is almost like I am back the legion planning our next attack on our enemies.


    While most of my work is still pointing on a paper and explaining stuff, it is still a wonder at how quickly I got into the rhythm. Well, I guess that is a good thing.


    I have been spending the last couple of days helping out the mayfires to strengthen their defenses. I am not a particularly skilled strategist but my insight into formations is about the most useful tool that they have at the moment. Most of them have pretty useful formations for their defense that they simply do not know how to use. It is almost like giving a monkey a spear, I tell you. They have been doing themselves more harm than good.


    Their defense can be boosted simply by moving the postions of a few of these formations. I don''t give them too many of these suggestions though. I do not want to lose an escape route if something were to happen.


    While I know the location of every trap, every defensive wall that the mayfires are using they are careful in not letting me know the true strength of the enemies they face. I can tell from the map the vague postions of each enemy powerhouse but there is nothing concrete for me to work on. They certainly have given me no hard numbers, but some things can still be inferred which I am recording right now.


    The main threat here is the necromancers, even though the mayfires have really been trying to downplay their strength. They seem to have greater numbers and they certainly seem to have the greater strength. They also are infinitely more better at dealing with the traps that the mayfires have sprinkled around their defenses so generously.


    Among the vampires, the vampire captains are the only real threats that they have. Even they will not be able do much to the more combat oriented mayfires. Sure, the mayfires might not be able to kill them but they can still cause them retreat with quite a bit of ease.


    The necromancers are also very good at what they are doing. They have completely managed to lock the mayfires in a bubble in the eastern wing of the inner keep. The mayfires are holding them back with a combination of defensive formations and soldiers. While the necromancers will not be able to burst this bubble any time soon, they are certainly trying their best.


    The necromancers have the benefits of numbers too. The horde can keep harassing the mayfires, something that they cannot ignore fully and essentially force the mayfires into a state of constant vigilance. It is about the quickest way to cause the mayfires to lose their focus, which will only benefit the enemy.


    Still, It is a pretty effective defense. A series of traps, walls and other nasty things that I do not want to be mentioning here. If only they knew how to set them up properly. I can suggest a few changes but it would be hard to execute such changes on the battlefield now.


    Over the last couple of days I have been studying these formations as much as I can. Other than helping out the mayfires, just knowing of the arsenal of the mayfires can greatly reduce the threat of these formations. The mayfires certainly have an obsession with traps, is all I will tell. Anything beyond will cause vital information to be lost.


    The mayfires are also planning something that is pretty big. I would assume it is something to do with getting me the formation that is blocking our conversation with the head office.


    It is assumed to be right at the center of the other side of the inner keep, though I cant be certain about the exact location. To get there, you would need to enter deep into the territory of the enemy forces. Right now, that is the only move that the mayfires have to get reinforcements. (Let''s just say that these people really need the reinforcement too.). Such an attack would certainly require a lot of daring and a lot of planning.


    That is also a problem. The timing is weird. It is pretty unlikely that these people were just waiting passively until now to suddenly have such an offensive plan. If they have a plan of attack, they must have been making it before I had even appeared in this place. Maybe they have decided to finally deal with the because they have finally found a formation mage to do so. Maybe, I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rather than comfort me, it causes me more worry.


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    This leads me to the second problem and that would be about the mayfires themselves. They certainly have been quite careful around me. I have not managed to make it out of the absolute barrier in the last of couple of days, even after multiple requests to do so.


    They have been quite careful in making sure that I am not in a position to control any formation without them knowing. It is not easy to ignore every time a soldier enters into the striking distance every time I have to study a formation. I have ignored them for now as I am sure any hostile movement and my head will fall.


    On top of all of this I have not felt the presence of my sword as well in the last couple of days. I have a feeling that they are separating us for pretty obvious reasons.


    They do not trust me, yet they have been more than willing to share this plan of attack with me. They are either very desperate or very confident that they will be able to deal with me if something were to happen.


    Such caution would not be given to the captain of a troop with only four folks. Looks like my popularity is not as well hidden as I would have hoped it to be. Well, this close to the black mountain It was a pretty significant probability that I would be recognised. If we can have a list on the mayfires, it would be idiocy to assume that the mayfires do not have a similar file. Maybe not as detailed, but a few lines on me still are a few lines on me.


    I certainly have to be more careful with my sword in the future. Without it, I certainly can''t think of any violent actions that I can take that won''t end in failure. This sense of powerlessness is something that is terrifying me if I am to be honest. For now, being diplomatic seems to be the only way that I can act.


    Still, ignoring all of this they have been treating us us still pretty well. The room that they have given us seems to be some kind of a guest room, with pretty comfortable beds if you can ignore that the room has been stuffed to its brim with beds. A room that can fit one bed has somehow been stuffed with four. At the moment I am not able to even turn towards the door to this room without waking somebody up.


    The door opens behind me as one of the two soldiers enter the room. Other than me Trevor is already in the room. The others have been doing hard labour for the mayfires and judging from the way that they have been working, the mayfires are not easy masters.


    The other two have mostly been given grunt work. They certainly can learn nothing from their work other than how much work they can do before exhaustion consumes them. Trevor has been given no work, but the man has not been leaving this room. I have to assume that he has his reasons.


    Well, at the moment there is something else about Trevor that is a more immediate worry for me. There has been something about that man has done that has been bothering me the last couple of days.


    "Trevor, I have something to ask you.", I speak. Trevor is on the bed next to me staring at the ceiling. He is lost in his own thoughts.


    "You can ask, captain.", replies the man quite neutrally. Sometimes it is so hard to tell the man''s emotion.


    "Well, why did you speak in front of the family head?", I ask the man. "It is not like you to behave as you did. You certainly seems to have provoked the man completely."


    "Well, there are many reasons for that, captain. Of them the only one that matters is that I don''t trust the mayfires.", replies the man. "He is a shifty bastard as far as I can tell. They are hiding something pretty big judging from the way that they have been behaving. They have not even been allowing me out of this room the last couple of days."


    "Well, it is not like we have much choice. We certainly can''t deal with a necromancer with a horde of zombies on our own.  I don''t even have my sword.", I reply.


    "Well, we do still have moves to play, captain even though it might not seem like the case", speaks Trevor. "The only thing that we don''t know is the moves that we have to play. I am sure that we will be able to figure it out soon enough. I already have ab Idea in what we can do."


    "Well, what should I do until then?", I ask the man.


    "The only thing that you can. You have to assist them.", replies Trevor. "Not doing so will certainly result in our deaths. Whatever has to happened, I will have to do it. You do anything out of the ordinary, we all will be killed. Regardless, I think that our aims have aligned together anyways. It is not like these people will refuse even a baby in this fight let alone a troop of the toayk guards."


    "Still, that doesn''t explain what you did.", I ask the man. "You are not one prone to impulses and I cannot think of any benefit what you have done will be giving us."


    "Well, I assume it would be better to make them think that the group is more divided than it actually is.", replies Trevor. "What better way than to play an ambitious underling. One that certainly wouldn''t mind snitching on his master should the mayfires require. After all, if they can control the story that the head office will hear then why would they need to worry about a child."


    Speaking this trevor turns towards me.


    "Still, to think the man had such an ego. It would be wise not provoke it too much. A scheming mans moves can be predicted, an emotional ones cannot be." he speaks. "For now, he has given no inclination of causing us any problems."


    "Still, we cannot do much without their support.", I speak to the man.


    "They haven''t killed us yet, captain. That must mean that they cannot act without us too.", replies the old man. "Do not think much of it. Overthinking on the thoughts of other men is the quickest way to lose your own."


    Saying Trevor turns away from me. Taking the man''s advice I go to sleep as well.

 The plan of action (log 066)

    The council room of the mayfires looks like any other room in the place. It is just like the room that has become our quarters here if a bit bigger. the only difference in the room would be the people that are here.


    I can recognise a few of these figures. Most of them are popular figures in the mayfire family famous in black mountain and the surrounding regions. I can''t recognise most of them. That can only mean that the mayfires have hidden their strength quite effectively.


    I am standing to the side, waiting for me to be called upon. I certainly have no desire to speak on my own among these people. The men and women in this room are the truly powerful people of the mayfires. The weakest here could kill me in a couple of minutes.


    Each of them is at the stage beyond mine. The only figures that could be comparable to mine would be the lizbeth and Alfred, who are slinking to the back and ensuring that they will not be noticed.


    Looking at Alfred the first thing that I did was to check my link with my sword. I still cannot feel the link that I have had with my sword, which means that the man has taken appropriate measures to separate me from the sword. I am sure it is within the absolute barrier.


    Focussing back on the room, there is a table at the center of the room holding a map of the inner keep and it has been the most used thing in the room for a while now.


    Over the last couple of hours they have been discussing about the status of their defensive line. While I have not understood much of their discussions, the thing that I have understood is that things are not going particularly well for the mayfires. They have been losing many rooms, though none of them seem to be very important.


    They have been undergoing a pretty strategic retreat trying to keep back the vampires and the necromancers back for as long as possible. It has been a losing battle from the start.


    Up till now, the family head has shown no sign of speaking or even moving. He has just been quietly hearing the many reports that have been made here and looked at the map.


    The man''s mood has affected the room to such a degree that even I, an outsider in all of this can feel the silent pressure in the room. It is a sense of quiet foreboding.


    This continues on for a while until the family head finally speaks.


    "Well, I have been hearing of all your worries and to all of your fears for a while now. In that period, I think it has become clear to you and to me that our present plan of action has failed completely.", speaks the man. "Is there anyone that would like to speak against this? You can raise your hand if you believe this plan is working."


    Naturally, nobody raises their hand.


    "Well, this naturally means that we will be needing a new plan of attack. Thankfully, just a couple of days ago a captain of the black mountain appeared in our castle.", he spoke. "I am sure you all must have considered it to be a rumour since the outer wall had not been breached. I will assure you that the black mountain has given us aid and he is in the room with us."


    At this mention of me, I can feel a few of the figures finally take a look at me. They have finally connected the dots, linking the unknown stranger in the room to me. I can even feel a sense of hostility in the room too. Without the family head, I have a feeling that things would have been very different for me.


    "Well, I am sure that some of you must find it awfully convenient that a man appeared like this in the inner keep, but the man has been helpful in our defenses.", speaks the head, looking at the people looking at me. "He is a formation master with an understanding of how to breach our defenses. If the man wanted to, he could have caused us pretty serious damage if he wanted to. Instead he has been helping us bolster our defenses."


    Hearing this the people looking at me with hostility retract their gazes. They have no desire to offend this family head. Somehow, I feel that this is more a threat to the family rather than a assurance.


    "You must have even felt it in the last couple of days too. How the pressure on our troops has decreased a bit. This was partly due to the suggestions given by this man.", the man speaks. "Still, even this child will not be able to turn the tides of this battle unless we do something drastic."


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    With this, the people looking at me return their focus to the family head again. There is clear fear in their eyes about this drastic thing.


    "We can either escape the inner keep or we can strike against the necromancers.", speaks the family head. "The formation mage will be able to explain why the former will be such a bad idea."


    Saying that he points to me. I can feel the view of the entire room on me in a instant. Hoping that I am not stuttering I speak.


    "Well, both the plans have their pros and cons, family head. I feel at the moment that escape is the riskiest option.", I speak. "Right now the only outer keep is completely in the control of the blood heart gang. We know how difficult it was to keep escaping them. We were not able to escape the place even when we had our ship. Without our ship we have no means of escape left. Then there is the problem of the barriers."


    "Why, what would be wrong with the barrier?", asks the family head.


    "Well, an absolute barrier is like a piece of fabric. Different formations interwoven together to get the desired affect. The only way that I can pierce the defense of the place is to create a hole in it.", I reply "the vampires and the necromancers must have made massive holes and I made a small hole to enter into it. Too many holes would be quite dangerous."


    "Well, there is no sign of the barrier having any hole in it though. It is still working quite smoothly.", the family head spoke.


    "That is true, because the barrier will naturally be able to heal any damage that is done on it.", I tell him. "Too many holes and there will be failures in the barrier. I would not be surprised if the entire thing fell if we were to poke the thing too many times. You do not want to fight a horde of necromancers in the city. Why they haven''t done so already is beyond me."


    "Well, then what would you suggest that we do, young captain?", asks the family head.


    "Well, the only thing that can be done. We will have to destroy the formation that the enemy is using to block out my communication with the black mountain.", I reply, not missing a beat. "once that is broken, it will be quite easy for us to request for reinforcements from the black mountain."


    "Thank you, young captain. Your insight certainly has been quite useful.", the family head spoke. "As the young man has spoken, retreat would be quite dangerous. That leaves us with the final option of an assault."


    Hearing this the people return their focus back to the family head. It takes me a moment to realise that my back is full of cold sweat.


    "As the young man said, our main focus has to be disable the blocking formation which is right in the middle of their territories.", he continues. "that naturally means that we will have to mount an assault on the necromancers. Not a very large force, but one that should be able to survive under the assault of the enemy. Our goal is stealth and precision. We are not going to be having any heroics there."


    Hearing this, there is dip in the atmosphere of the room. Somehow I feel like I am missing some politics that is going on in the he background here. I wish Trevor was in the room with me right now. He understands this better than me.


    "Naturally, I can see that you are worried about the defenses of this place.", the family head speaks. "For that we shall rely on the formation mage. The man has managed to strengthen our defenses just by giving a few suggestions. Now, we shall provide him with a group of soldiers with which he can go about strengthing our defenses."


    Hearing this is just as much of a shock for me as it is for the people in this room. That is a dangerous amount of power being given to me. I could just as easily screw up the mayfires as I can strengthen them. Not that I will, I have no desire to go down with them.


    "Well, it is a bit of a gamble, but the captain has proved himself worthy of our trust.", speaks the family head. "How long would it take for you to strengthen our defenses, captain."


    "Well, I can do that forever but I think that I should be able to get the formations into a more defensible state in a couple of weeks.", I reply.


    "So we have an assault to plan men. Firstly I will be needing volunteers to work on this for me. I will pick the remaining myself.", speaks the family head.


    And thus they begin their politics, which I don''t really understand again. There were a few volunteers but most of the group that joined the assault group did so under orders.


    I guess I should have heard their assault plan with more interest but I already had the gears turning in my head. The assault will be managed by people that know what they are doing. My work is set. Restructuring defensive lines is not particularly easy and we are in the middle of an active warzone here.


    Still, I do have a few ideas though it is more dependent on the people that I have been assigned for a proper idea to form. After all, moving formations can be quite a dangerous piece of work.


    Other than that, I guess that I should also record on the assault plan being made. At least the part that I bothered to listen to.


    A group of seven people have been chosen from the group. They each are at the stage beyond the foundation stage. That leaves only five people at the stage beyond the foundation stage behind to help us out in our defenses. This group of seven naturally includes the family head.


    The seven people that I am seeing here should be an equal split of two opposing factions in the family. That is my assumption at the very least though I won''t speak concretly on it. As they say half knowledge is more dangerous than no knowledge.


    The assault is going to be conducted in a couple of weeks, giving double the time that I had requested for in the process. That certainly reduces the pressure on me though it certainly is not going to be an easy task.


    Fuck, why do I have to be the one that has to build all of this in the middle of a battlefield. Even my previous mission was just like this.

 A record of my work (Log 067)

    The process of placing defenses is a field of study that every formation master must have passing knowledge of at the very least. I can say with confidence that I have more than passing knowledge of this.


    Without this knowledge, it would reduce the effectiveness of our defenses by a ridiculous degree. Unlike the simple defense of the iron skin which had only one real component, the mayfires have a more complicated design.


    It is a combination of traps, barriers and offensive formations that are working together to give the ideal output. It has been constructed by multiple formation mages over the course of many years. To call this design chaotic is an understatement. There are many problems that plague this formation and it''s design.


    Firstly there is the matter of the actual placement of the traps. Most traps are placed in such a way that they will be able to cause even more damage to the involved parties.


    For example, an exploding formation could be placed next to a fire ball formation and a person dodging the exploding formation could end up right in the path of fireball.


    Most of the defenses exist in such a combined state, which makes it really hard to move stuff around. Most of these are put in place in such a chaotic manner though.


    Other than that there is the problem of multiple formations working together. Most of these formations will pull mana from a single source.


    That means that the placements of these formation will affect how mana can be accessed by the formation. For example, placing two fireball formations would be unwise since the both of them would suck a lot of mana.


    Rather than a single strong fireball it would lead to two fireballs with half the mana supplied to it and that is the best. In the worst case, it could lead to a burning of both the formations.


    These two reasons are the main reason that placements of formations are always such a mess. I have to assist my master on the formation chain of the hex mountain. Compared to that this is a cute piece of work.


    Regardless, That is why people need formation mages to plan the defenses of a fort to ensure that every component will work as it is supposed to. Else it is more likely that your defense will be the reason that your fort was destroyed.


    It is an entire field of study as I had mentioned before, with formation mages spending the entirety of their lives studying this field. I am not such specialist but I still have a bit of an experience at the process of building up a defensive line.


    That is what I have been doing in the last couple of days. I have been studying the formations here and have been modifying them to better promote its efficiency.


    I personally think that I have done a pretty good job at this process, but one cannot really tell how good a defensive line is until the first contact with the enemy.


    I should have at least grown the power of the defensive line by thirty percent if this thing works well. It could''ve even more than that if I am lucky.


    The major problem is if I can complete the modification of the formations. As I have told you before, this is an active battlefield and messing with formations while somebody can attack you any second is about the most dangerous thing that you can do.


    Thanfully, the mayfires also seem to have an idea on this so I have been given a pretty decent team to execute my plans. They are no powerhouses, naturally but they have a passing knowledge of formations and have a decent amount of fighting prowess too.


    They are all on the younger side, Most of them children of the less important members of the mayfire family. Some of them are bastards even.


    Regardless, the thing that matters to me is that they are decently skilled at moving formations and they will be able to survive even if an horde were to fall on them.


    Well, right now my plan is about finalised. The team is at the moment hurrying through the inner keep struggling to complete their tasks as quickly as possible. They should be returning in five days if they have completed their work completely.


    Until they return I have to remain in this state of uncertainty hoping that the team completes their work correctly. If they do end up dying in the process I eill be left in a state where my death is also more than certain. The family head would certainly not appreciate the waste of life that I would have caused if I do end up failing.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Right now, I am free looking at the map in front of me doing God knows what. The map contains all the formations that have been placed by all the people that have been hired by the mayfires to build their stuff. It contains every single formation and trap down to their precise position.


    This map is the only copy that exists. The mayfires naturally cannot allow their enemies to ever get their hands on this.


    This room is right next to the room of the family head. It is a completely bare room containing only a table and a bookshelf. The books on the bookshelf can only be opened at this exact table.


    I have been warned that I should not even think about opening any of the other books in the room. Also that I should not be removing this map from this room.


    If I do that, with the family head in the room right next to me he will pop me like a pimple. So at the moment I am quite worried even about the touching the map.


    I could keep studying the map, but at the moment I cannot cause any changes in the map. It would mess with my plan completely. Also, I am not sure how the man in the next room react if I were to touch the map without any need. I have no reason to tempt fate at this moment.


    So that leaves me at my present position of sitting here bored out of my fucking mind. Well, I guess that I could leave the room immediately but somehow that doesn''t feel particularly safe.


    The assault has led to a lot tension in the mayfires. It is the kind of tension that a soldier gets when he goes on a mission. They are putting themselves in a state of mind where they will enter the peak of their performance.


    At this moment these soldiers are so quick to action that they might just end up attacking me the instance that they feel my foreign mana.


    While it is not as extreme as I am speaking, there is a pressure and that is being felt through the entire place.


    Also, I cannot ignore the hostility that is being shown by the folks here. It took me a while to figure out why these guys are so hostile but I finally remember that I am the guy that has just now sent their children right the middle of a battlefield. It is about the most logical thing that they can do.


    Well, I will leave in a while. Until then I have to just figure out what to do for timepass. I am not built to handle free time. It will just lead me to overthinking, which is about the worst thing that I can do at this moment.


    (Almost three days later.)


    Right now I am in my room, where I should be resting but with how my mind is racing I won''t be sleeping any time soon.


    Part of that could be due to the fact that I am hearing Trevor snore next to me in the most annoying that is possible. It is almost a wonder that I am not strangling the man.


    The main reason though is the news that has been by the soldiers that are working with me. It is not particularly good news nor particularly bad news but it certainly has increased the scope of my work.


    The good news is that these guys have managed to complete a majority of their modifications that I have given them. Well, I am quite surprised at their efficieny. It has been three days since I have sent them on this mission. It was supposed to take them five days.


    That leads to the bad news, which is the fact that one of the formations has begun to fail. It is a component of the absolute barrier.


    I can''t say for certain until I look at the formation, but the description of the troop makes it sound like a core failure.


    If that is true, then while it won''t cause the absolute barrier to fail,  It will certainly cause a weakness to arise in the formation. It will be enough to allow a couple of powerhouses to breach the inner walls easily.


    It certainly is bad design, what barrier tends to have pieces of its out of the barrier.  I have to assume that some formation mage had overestimated the size of the absolute barrier adding this component beyond the range of the formation.


    The lucky thing is that none of the necromancers have managed to catch this particular weakness of the barrier. They are also pretty good with formations, though they still are no match to a formation mage on this.


    Well, it would have been pretty hard to find this particular component if I am to be honest. Nobody would be expecting it in the first place and nobody certainly would be actively looking for it.


    Still, a core failure would still be a pretty risky thing to have around. That means that I will have to leave the absolute barrier and go check up on this formation as soon as possible. If that formation were to fail it will cause most of my work to be wasted.


    Taking an expedition is not a problem, but the mayfires are still not willing to return my sword to me.


    I don''t know under what protections they have my sword under but I can feel the effects of the sword disappearing already. It leaves me feeling lethargic in a way that I had not expected to feel.


    I have become more reliant on the sword than I had expected to become. Without it, there is little action that I can take.


    Even ignoring that, there is the sense of hostility among the mayfires. Most of them are now busy with the assault and it''s planning (About which I can tell very little since they have left me out of it.) but I feel like the moment that this distraction is gone, they will again return their focus to me.


    Trevor tells me that the reason for this could be the fact that the family head does not seem to be very loved among his people.


    If Trevor is to be believed, the man is barely been keeping control over his people and that we might be in danger just because the family head is the one that is protecting us.


    Somehow, I find that very hard to accept but it is very wise to always be ready for a fight. The only question that I am left with here who is it that I am supposed to be fighting and how.


    Well, I really should be getting a bit of sleep. After all, I think that it would be wise to leave as quickly as possible. Let''s see how many hours it is going to take me.

 Emergency repairs (Log 068)

    I have realised that there is something even more annoying than being forced to do work and that is being forced to do work with a negative bastard like Trevor. I wonder for a second whether I really need to even convince the man, with how difficult it is becoming nowadays.


    "well, I would warn you to be very careful, captain.", Trevor begins again, trying to convince me not to leave. This is his third or fourth time trying to convince me to go on this formation checkup.


    "Well, there is little that I can do about this now, can I?", I reply, trying to keep my annoyance in check. It is very hard to keep repeating the same thing to the same man.


    "It is just a very ideal method of getting rid of you, captain.", Trevor speaks. I do try to listen to the man, but he has become bit too frequent in predicting our doom that it is starting to get on my nerves.


    "I know, but it is not like I can risk the absolute barrier because I will not be able to trust the people that are escorting me, now can I. It is not like they need to get me beyond the absolute barrier to kill me. They can do it right now at this very instant if they so wish.", I reply. "It would be more dangerous for the mayfires if that formation were to fail. I would have to think that the mayfires understand that better than me."


    "You cannot really bet on that, captain. Humans are stupid creatures at the best of times. The family head is the only reason that these people are even working together.", speaks Trevor. "Beyond the barrier I am not sure of how much effective his commands will be."


    "Are you sure of that, Trevor? I have never seen enemies that work this well together." I ask the man. I am sure that the man is right, but as I said he has been getting on my nerves.


    "Well, I have seen blood enemies that would kill each other at the drop of an hat work together like blood brothers to kill the third enemy so many times.", he replies. "Sometimes I am left wondering why even are they fighting each other. Yet they do fight each other in the most vicious manner possible. Even if this means their death."


    "Still, I am sure that my safety is assured, Trevor. In this case, I am certainly not the third enemy.", I reply. "The third enemy is the one that has invaded their keep and is still encroaching into their homes. Until they are gotten rid of, I am sure that the soldiers will remain focussed."


    "I hope that the mayfires are also thinking like this captain.", replies trevor. "I find it wiser to remain prudent. It is not like necromancers are formation mages anyway. I find it very hard to believe that this vulnerability will even be found by the enemy."


    "Well, if it was that simple, I would have remained behind. But if the team is to be believed then it would be wiser to just to go with these people Trevor. Why have a vulnerability if it can be fixed?", I reply.


    Well, that is enough to shut up Trevor completely. He will try in a while again with different arguments and different logics. I guess there is wisdom in what he speaks but what can I do. It is not like I have worked so hard in strengthening the defenses of this place only to have it destroyed by a simple flaw.


    Let''s just hope that Trevor will remain quiet until I can actually leave on the mission. It is hard to enter into a focus with a person next to me constantly blabbering.


    (after a couple of hours.)


    When you are designing formations you always have to have a very clear idea of where each component of the formation is being placed.


    Otherwise stuff like what is happening with me at this exact moment is going to keep happening.


    How the fuck can a formation mage build a barrier formation by leaving the formation outside of the barrier. That literally defeats the point of having a barrier in the very first place.


    Thankfully, the component of the absolute barrier that is outside of the barrier is a basic formation that is supposed to ensure that the shape of the barrier remains as it should be.


    Without it, the barrier itself won''t be affected but there is a chance that the barrier shape can be modified. It might give a creative enemy the opportunity to breach the barrier.


    Naturally, with such a glaring weakness in the barrier there is little chance that I will be able to ignore it.


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    Well, I honestly don''t not have an idea as to what I am supposed to do with this formation but I will have to figure it out in my journey to the place.


    It is not very far away from the barrier but the place it is in a prime location to be attacked by horde. It would also be quite easy to be detected by enemy necromancers.


    That is why I am leaving under the escorting of the team that have done the modifications that I have proposed. I will be dealing with the modification of the formation while the remaining people will be focusing on protecting me.


    I guess that I should talk to them, build a bit of a friendship with them. Neither I am nor the people escorting me are particularly interested in this. The reason for this I think is due to the fact that these people seem to be pretty hostile towards me.


    They are all roughly my age and could be considered to be my peers. There are seven people in this team. The only person whom I knew from before would be jericho mayfire. There is not much about him, other than the fact that he is supposed to be pretty skilled at conjuration.


    Other than that, the remaining six people are pretty unknown. I guess that I should record their information one of these days.


    For now I am focussing back on the topic at hand. Right now, the main problem that I need to deal with is to prevent the component from being detected by the enemy. Normally it would not be a problem, but with a core failure it becomes way more likely that it would happen.


    I could try and move the formation inside the barrier, but that is one of the riskiest move that I will be able to make. An absolute barrier formation is a class six formation at the very least and it is a hybrid formation. It is made by the combination of three to four different formations which work together to produce the barrier.


    This absolute barrier formation is one of the more complicated, working with a combination nine to ten formations. Whoever made this formation though, seems to have done this for the first time in his life, leaving behind such an obvious weakness.


    Anyway, all of this explanation comes down to the simple point that moving this formation will be quite a difficult task. Well, calling it difficult is quite an understatement. It would be quite likely that I would end up breaking apart the absolute barrier if I were to try something like this. Then it is certain that I will be popped by the the family head.


    That means that is not an option at this point. I have to either build up a defense around the vulnerability or I will have to hide it somehow from the presence of the enemy. Right now, I am not sure as to which of these I should be doing.


    I have a few ideas regarding that but I will have to figure it out looking at the scene myself. After all, there would be little point in trying to hide a formation if my method of hiding it would be more likely to reveal it''s presence.


    Then I will have to build a couple of traps around the formation and hope that it would be enough to keep it safe.


    Also, there is an issue that I have neglected until now and that is the fact that the formation might be facing a core failure. A core failure might sound like a very fancy thing, but it just means that the formation is under a lot of strain.


    The formation then begins to face a lot of problems. The issues could be quite simple like the formation shutting down for a few seconds to the absolute worse which is that the formation has begun to overdraw on mana.


    If that happens, things can end up in one of two ways. One would be to either the formation will end up burning up or the second would be that the formation would explode.


    The formation that we are going to visit is not that bad, but based on the descriptions that I am hearing it is well in the process of over drawing on its mana reserves.


    Speaking of this, The propulsion formation of my previous ship is a pretty good example of core failure. It is a pretty extreme example of it though. A formation core burning up physically is about the worst thing that can happen with a core failure.


    Most core failure cases could be managed by shuffling around a couple runes in most cases. Again I can only confirm this after reaching the location. Let''s hope that this is simple, because it will certainly consume a lot of my time otherwise. Fuck, why the hell do I have to be the one that has to work with formations in the middle of a battlefield. Most formation mages tend to have an army of their own for doing their work. Me, I have to rely on an old man and a couple soldiers.


    Otherwise, I have to rely on people that are equally likely to kill me, as they are supposed to protect me. It is a different kind of pressure.


    Well, as my master likes to tell me, focus on the problems at hand. If you worry about the world, you will end up doing nothing.


    Still, one cannot help but worry about all of this. At the same time, my surroundings are not helping me with my worries.


    It is much like the scenes that I had witnessed from before. Piles of corpses laying around the room, burning under the fires of the mayfires.


    Well, these corpses are not as thoroughly burnt as before due to the sheer quantities of corpses that these guys have burnt. I even had a couple of scares when the zombies would suddenly popup from the poles trying to strike somebody. They are so clumsy that it would be quite easy to kill them. They still cause your heart to beat harder though.


    How the mayfires had so many servants, I do not know. Somehow I think that the horde is procuring corpses from the outer keep.


    I guess if it is only corpses, it would be easy to get it through the absolute barrier. Still, I can''t really imagine it happening.


    Over all, things are feeling as if something is about to go wrong at any moment. I can feel my senses sharpening, as if some enemy is lurking in the corner. Things are about to go wrong though I can''t really tell when or where. Somehow, walking here what trevor has been telling seems to be logical.