Meeting the young nobles of the Snowwind Empire is a pretty rare occurrence.
Our records contain detailed records on the common soldiers of the snowwinds. After all, they are the folks sent mostly to negotiate with us. We have passable records on the many noble families of the and their leaders. We do not have any record of the young elites of these clans, though.
Now it is true that all of our "allies" have always been guarded about their knowledge with us. Nobody would like to leave a talented youngster in the presence of a scholar. Adults who have spent their lives guarding against our curiosity struggle to do so. What would a young man who has barely seen the world be able to do against a scholar?
Still, the protectiveness of the snowwinders is a level beyond this fear. They don't want anything to be revealed about their youngsters. That is why I am sure that the head office is going to be very interested in my meeting with them today. I am sure that the scholars must already be poring over every detail that I am sending.
Regardless, it is time that we return to the discussion at hand. The people I am meeting are the three mages sent to me. Each one on their own has the power to kill me. The three together might be enough to fight me with the formation. (The ring of water would split them into pieces if we are being honest.)
As if that were not proof enough, all the vital functions of the fort have already been taken over. Everything in the fort has been taken over by their soldiers. All of the soldiers that had been assigned to me have been sent down here to the formation room. The excuse given is that they have spent too long in the icy atmosphere of this place.
Well, I won't go against this order. The soldiers have already suffered enough. I think this is the most that these soldiers have had to rest in all this time.
Right now, my only task is to ensure that this transfer of power happens as smoothly as possible. The snowwinders are not gentle people.
They are the kind to kill to make their work easier. If they feel that I am a threat, there is a pretty significant chance that it might get violent. I have read of enough such things in my predecessor's logs to be very wary.
We know very little about the starfalls. The little that we know, I am recording here. They are a family that has become nobles in only the last couple of generations. (Which is naturally not a lot of time.) The little we know about them tells us that the Starfalls are supposed to be a merchant family. They are supposed to have an above-average military power among the Snowwind nobles.
They are situated quite close to the frozen peak, so they must have a decent army with them. (They must face the brunt of the ice beasts that end up escaping through the frozen peak and its borders.)
They are still known more for their commercial capabilities than their military might. There is no way that I am underestimating them, though. Right now, I am supposed to meet up with the three mages and have a "discussion" about what to do in the next couple of weeks. (I am still technically the commander of this fort. They can't insult me on my face.)
Well, that is not going to be the case very long, though. After all, why in the hells would they allow an outsider to take control of such an important formation?
Well, right now my main worry is whether or not they will be able to study this formation. I feel that it is pretty unlikely. Still, things like this can shift the fragile balance that has formed at the southern borders. Thankfully, this formation of mine is more oriented towards defense than offense. I am sure that they must have better alternatives to my ring of water. Anyways, I am sure that they won't be able to grasp the modifications I have done to make it so deadly.
The only thing to worry about is the ballista. The ballista will be something that they will figure out pretty soon. You just need a strong grasp of spell modeling to do that. Well, I am sure that they must have similar weapons with them already.
As for the barrier, they won't be making use of it anytime soon, at least. The ironskin spell is pretty basic if you were to think about it. Even if they figured it out, it just takes too much time for the spell to show its power. Even trying to copy it, they will realise just how impractical it is to use at scale.
As for this formation itself, I am not too worried about it. The only thing that they can do with the fort is to make it a more permanent outpost. With the barrier, it might be able to survive the winter, but that is it. I don't think it will last till next winter, though. The snowlords won't let another frozen peak rise in this place.
That reminds me that I have to tell somebody to keep cultivating in this place. The druids used these formations to extract mana from the elemental nodes non-destructively. Right now, this extracted mana is disappearing into the wind. (The iron bubble works to hold a bit of it in, but it is not perfect.)
Maybe the wastage is not as much as opening the formation base would have wasted. It will be a significant amount in the long run. The only way to make use of this mana would be to absorb it and use it for cultivation. It is a virtuous cycle as the emitted vital mana then strengthens the barrier. Granted, just like with everything related to the druids, it is a slow and steady process.
Meeting these people also means my time in this fort will be coming to an end soon. I will be honest, I wanted a bit more time with the class eight formation. After all, I might have built the formation, but that is still a class eight formation. I might know the theory, but having the thing in front of you is still so useful.
Right now, I hope that I will be sent to the magical ruin. That way, I can focus on protecting the scholars, and I will not have to get involved in the politics of this place. Sadly, I don't think that is an option. I will still try, but the snowfalls are the ones who control the caravans, not me.
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. That, too, mainly because he wanted to mess with my formations. The other two might as well be ghosts. This will also be the first time that I will be dealing with the legendary Snowwind ego.
Even now, I have to go up to meet them. The only reason that I am sitting here is for Shamon to call me up. The man knows all the rituals that need to be done to satisfy the nobles. He will do them as needed, and I just need to worry about the talking.
(After about an hour)
"Captain, I hope you are ready to meet the Starfalls." Shamon speaks, his voice echoing from outside. The man enters with a hurry that I did not see, even with the ice beast's suicidal charge. The starfalls scare this man.
"Well, you will do well to calm down, Shamon.", I reply. "Such fear will only make the other side more bold, I find."
" I would warn you to be careful, kid. The starfalls are new nobles, with an itch to prove themselves. If you offend them, they might not be able to punish you, but they can still kill every person in this fort to make a point." he speaks, his voice quivering in fear.
"Well, you need not worry about that, shamon. I do not think they have any reason to kill me. After all, I plan to agree with every command that they give me." I say.
And it is with Shamon's nervous energy that I go to meet my reinforcements. The men are in the southern gate, all three, as they seem to be deep in discussion until they notice my arrival. They don't have strong mana senses. Then again, very few people can compare to me on this.
Ankon is studying the gate and most likely its hinges. Well, that is their problem to figure out now. The other two Starfall brothers are standing to the side, absurdly tall for a human. They are tall enough to look down on me while talking. (I am pretty tall myself.) I would have thought them to have giant blood if they did not have the necessary mass for it.
As they turn to look at me, I now bow down perfectly. (What, I have been practicing,)
"Captain Sevenstars, it is rare for us to meet people of your capability this far north. It is an honor to meet you.", the one I think called Theo speaks. He is the elder of the two, recognizable with a scar on his cheek. He is supposed to have gotten it while wrestling with an ice beast leader as a child. (which seems unlikely based on personal experience.) Even this story was just a rumour that one of my predecessors overheard. I have no way of verifying it.
"Commander, we have been admiring your handiwork.", Ankon starts. "To think that a mere formation would be enough to let you survive the snow drive. It is admirable."
"Well, I only did half of the work, Captain Ankon.", I reply. "This fort has been built from the sacrifice of your soldiers. Without them, we would have died by the end of the first week. They are an admirable lot."
"Well, Captain Antonio, we will need your assistance once more.", he says. "We need to send the soldiers from here to the frozen peak. While they are unlikely to get worse in this barrier of yours, they are also unlikely to recover. It would be wise to send them to the frozen peak. The only problem is that they need an escort to do so."
"I do not mind returning to the frozen peak. I certainly don't mind escorting the soldiers as well. Sadly, I have duties too and I cannot leave the place unless you can confirm that my people will be protected. After all, I am a guard sent to guard my people." I speak, looking at Theo with my most serious expression.
"We cannot spare any soldiers to guard them, captain." Travis begins, the aggression clear in his voice. The man is looking for a fight. "We can be attacked minute. They cannot go to the frozen peak without a guard. You will need...."
"What he asks is fair, Travis. Antonio, we are honor-bound by the hexmountain treaty to protect you and your ruins. Failure to do so would be a stain on the honor of the commander and our family. ", Ankon speaks, explaining. "We shall March to protect you and your soldiers should they even think of attacking your ruin. This promise you have on the honor of the starfalls. Should we fail to pull this off, we will have to abandon our names and become commoners. "
I look at the man for a second, wondering if he is lying in some way. Why would they be willing to give such an extreme oath? I don't know. Nobility is a big deal down here. It is enough of a confirmation that the head office will be satisfied. They could not have given me a better guarantee than this.
"Fine then, what are my exact commands?" I ask. I guess that I could have negotiated a bit more, but I am already getting all I need anyway.
"You are to return to the frozen peaks while escorting the injured soldiers here. Once there, you will have to listen to the commander.", Theo replies. "With that, I think we have covered everything of note. You can retire if you wish, but we need to figure out just what has to be done with this gate."
I take that cue to dissolve into the background.