"It is certainly pretty impressive, Captain Antonio," Theo Starfall starts speaking. "I did not know that a formation mage could be that well-versed in combat."
"I am not that skilled at combat, Theo," I growl, as I return to my chair. "Your soldier simply has no sense for combat."
Even as I am speaking, I can't help but wonder what exactly is the man's angle here. By now, I should have been throwing rings of water at them. Such restraint is pretty rare for a Snowwind noble. I am struggling to do the same right now.
It doesn't help that I have to split my focus maintaining the formation. You are not actually supposed to use a formation on a battlefield like this. Losing control of it would be disastrous. I could even end up destroying the formation, along with half the fort. (At the moment that is a death sentence.)
"That might be the case, but he is a second circle mage while you are barely in the first," Travis replies. "On top of that, he is a Young Master of the Starfall family. Even the youngest of my family would have bloodied his sword on the Ice Beasts, so he doesn't lack combat experience."
"A human is completely different from a Ice Beast, my friend. Fighting a beast is not fighting a human," I reply, wondering why exactly I am debating about this. "This fellow clearly has not fought a lot of his own kind. You should work on that."
"Still, you managed to beat him with a single move, especially with that injured arm of yours," Theo replies, pointing to my still bandaged arm. "The arts of the Legion are as legendary as they say."
"A punch to the nose is a punch to the nose, my friend." I reply, starting to feel awkward now. "There is no skill involved in that. Just good timing and a lack of blocking by the other party."
As I am saying this, I realise that the edge that I had at the start of the conversation is gone. The man has dissolved much of my irritation with this conversation. I should be careful with this fellow. A silver tongue like this is rare. (and dangerous.)
"Enough, let us get to the issue at hand. What exactly do you want from me?" I ask, as I flex the control string. It is not enough to do anything, but it certainly shows my intent. "I refuse to believe that you don't have a purpose for coming here. If that purpose is killing me, I swear, you are not going to leave this place alive."
"We are here because you killed a Snow Shaman, formation mage," Travis finally says, an air of gravity to his voice. "Do you realise that killing one has made this fort of yours a target for all the Snowlords in the vicinity. If we had wanted to kill you, we would just need to wait a week. Your head would be mounted on these walls by the Snowlords."
Even as the man says this, I resist the urge to attack. The killing intent the man throws at me is intense. This is a man that has seen a lot of combat. To reply in kind might be the spark that triggers this fight.
"Now what is a Snow Shaman?" I growl. (What, I do not like to be threatened.)
"A Snow Shaman is a special kind of a Snowlord, Legioner," Theo says, as he places a hand on his brother's shoulder, preventing him from acting. "They are always stronger than their cultivation would suggest. They are always more experienced than their fellow Snowlords too. Fighting one of them in single combat is considered to be very hard. Killing them is considered almost impossible."
He says this while looking at me in a pointed manner.
"They also always possess strange abilities too. Abilities that make tracking them almost impossible," Theo continues. "A shaman has not been hunted this early in winter in a very long time. There are going to be consequences to that. Even now, I am sure that at least a horde of Ice Beasts is gathering to attack this place in retaliation. Don't you think that will require at least the three of us to handle, Antonio."
There is a spark of admiration in the man's eye as he says this to me. The man seems genuinely impressed that I killed the third Snowlord. (or he is a very good actor.)
"I would say that the three of you might not be enough," I reply. "Fine, what do you want?"
"We simply want answers," Theo speaks. "Why are you here, formation mage?"
"I am here to fulfill the Hexmountain treaty, just like we do every year," I reply. "I am a guard of the Guard Corps. I cannot exactly stop myself from going to work. Even if it is this death trap of a place."
"Do not consider me a fool, Captain. Just because I am trying to be diplomatic doesn't mean that I will keep accepting this bullshit," Theo growls, finally revealing his killing intent. "There has never been a formation mage among you not associated with the Formation Corps. How can you be considered part of the Guard Corps?"
"It doesn't matter to which part of the Black Mountain I might belong to. I have come here for the reason that I have already stated," I reply, growling even as I try to calm myself. "If you stubbornly believe that I am here for anything else, I can only consider you to be a fool."
As I say this, I also make sure to flex my control strings. If I am meant to intimidate the other party, I might as well do it properly.
"The man has spent a lot of effort and resources to bring you here, Antonio. There is only one reason that the Commander would require a formation mage so desperately," Theo replies. "So, my question to you is simple, where is he hiding the formation cores? What did he do with them?"
"I have no idea what you are speaking about, Theo," I reply. "I have seen only one formation core since I have come here and that is the one protecting this fort."
"We have our own friends among the dwarves, Formation mage," Travis speaks, his voice calm. He sounds like he is barely surpressing the wish to rip me into pieces. "Do you think that we would not know what is happening in our own backyard? That the Commander could hide an entire army's worth of formation cores from us."
"That is entirely between you both. All I know is that I have seen only one formation core and that is in this very fort. I can show it you at this very moment if you wish," I reply, "I have not seen this stash that you speak of. Instead of me, you are better off asking the man himself."
"We would, if we could. The Commander is a protected man. Harming him will lead to consequences that we cannot afford. You are not so protected. which is why we have come to you, Captain." Theo starts, the threat clear in his voice. "It would be wise to cooperate with us."
"Again, I do not know about this stash of cores," I reply, trying to keep the irritation from my voice.
"Have there ever been any attacks on Scholars and their guards in the manner that you have been attacked? I know that you can read the records of your predecessors. Have any of them been attacked in this manner by pirates?" Theo speaks, a forced calm to his voice.
"No. Maybe the seven temples incident finally galvanised the nobles against us," I reply. "Enough that they are willing to attack us now."
"I can assure you that the pirates that attacked you were not from any of the noble families. The Snowwind family has sent down a decree to ensure your protection, formation mage. Any attack on you is to be considered an attack on them," The man says. "No noble with a family to protect will go against such a decree. That leaves only one group of people that would have known you were coming and prepared such an ambush. Can you guess who they are?"
"The Frozen Peak," I reply. "What would they get by attacking me?"
"That is the question, isn't it?" The man replies. "Do you still want to protect a man that has endangered you in such a way? Why were you sent here?"
"Let's believe that what you say is true. Even then, my answer doesn't change. I have not seen this stash that you keep speaking of. The only two places that I have seen here are the Frozen Peak and this temporary fortress. In both places, I haven't seen more than a couple of formation cores," I reply, with an air of finality. I don't want to keep repeating the same thing.
This reply causes the man to pause for a second.
"Then tell me about who could have sent you here? We know that the Commander is in conversation with somebody high up in the Black Mountain," he says. "Somebody he is communicating with through unofficial channels."
As the man says this, I can actually think of a man that would fit this description. I feel irritation just thinking about him, though. This is exactly the kind of scheme that he would pull off.
"I can certainly guess who this man could be," I say. "The only problem is that you must realise that you are asking me to betray my own."
"They clearly want to kill you, formation mage," Travis replies. "Otherwise, why would they send all those pirates after you?"
"Maybe, but information is information, my friend. Only a fool will trade it for free," I reply. "A fact for a fact is a fair trade, don't you think. Tell me, to which family or organisation, do my assassins belong to?"
"Whom do you mean?" Theo replies, a crack in his voice. He didn't expect that.
"The two assassins that have succeeded at ambushing and almost poisoning me to death in the Frozen Peak," I reply, almost letting a growl out in the process. "Do not play dumb with me. I swear I will eat my boot in front of you if your family doesn't have records on them. No noble will ever take such trained assassins lightly."
"You ask a lot, formation mage," Travis replies. "To offend that family is a heavy price to pay indeed."
"To betray one of my own is a heavy price to pay indeed, my friend," I reply, sarcastically. "If that is too heavy a price for you to pay, then find out the name of the poison that they used on me. Even that is enough for me."
I can see the look of surprise at this. It is too random a query, I admit. Still, a poison that potent is worth knowing about. My healing has still not fully recovered in all this time. Not many poisons can do that. Who knows, maybe these guys might even know about it.
"They are known as the Listmun family," Theo replies, ghosts of his bafflement still on his face. "They are a family of assassins, that can be hired by anybody for the correct price. Nobody will ever speak about them, especially to your people. It wouldn't be wrong to say that they guard their secrecy quite jealously. We might be attacked just for sharing this, you know."
"As for what poison they use, we don't know about that at all," Travis replies.
"That's fine. Now, for my end of the bargain. There is only one person that would have been able to plan ambushes of this manner involving me. It is my master, the Grand Wolf of the Formation Corps," I reply, as a look of shock appears on the face of the two in front of me.
It is nice to see that my master's name has value in this part of the continent as well. The shock turns to confusion as they think about the implications of the thing I just told them.
"My master is of the belief that I do not have enough real combat," I reply, explaining to them. "Which is why he constantly keeps looking for ways to train me. The pirates and even the assassins is exactly his style."
"That is fine. None of you Black Mountain folks are right in the head. Why are you betraying your master in this way?" Travis asks, His serious tone replaced by one of shocked suspicion.
"When you are almost getting killed every other day due to the machinations of a man, you start wanting to see the man sweat a bit, even if he is your master," I reply, struggling to put away the irritation in my tone. "Anyway, he is a schemer. He always slips away from any problem you throw at him. I am sure that he can manage anything you can do as well."
I wonder if I have spoken too much for a moment. Then I think about the last couple of months. I have not accumalated so many injuries in a very long time.
"You know what, let me tell you something that I am sure that you will appreciate," I say. "Tracking formation cores is almost impossible. They could be hidden under you chair at this moment and you wouldn't really be able to detect them. A formation requires two things, especially at the higher levels. A formation core and the mana to run it."
Even as I say this, I can see their face's scrunch up in deep thought. Looks like these two have some experience with formations as well.
"If I were an enterprising commander, I would have gathered all the elemental nodes nearby to make a mana repository," I say. "There are an abnormally low number of elemental nodes in this place as well. Just finding the three to run the formation took me so long."
Even as I say this, I can see the look of realization their faces. I am sure that they are going to start tracking the mana of this "repository" the moment that I leave this place.
I am more than happy to let them do so. My master is the tricky sort. He is more than likely to have a trap ready for people looking for such a mana repository. (Especially if the asshole is reading this log.)