Well, I am fucked. To explain my present situation, I will have to start by explaining why we formation mages do not like to build formations on the battlefield. The reason for that is that on the battlefield, you have an enemy who is trying to disturb your work. Ask any formation mage. Being disturbed while you are inscribing is about the worst thing that can happen to you.
I cannot imagine a more terrible way for us to die. The destruction of a formation core, especially one connected to a mana source like this one, is not pretty. Even in the best-case scenario, there is the chance that the backlash will damage my mana core. (which would destroy my cultivation.) In the worst case, I would be consumed by the explosion. So will this fort.
The formation core is going to become unuseable regardless of what happens. Without a core, you could say that I am just delaying my death. That is the only way that I can deal with the enemy. I don't think that the Snowwinders will be giving me a backup core. Even if they did, coming here to give it to me is going to be a problem. (Already the storms are getting more violent in the Northern Wastelands.)
On top of this, I am the strongest mage here. There is no way for me to stay on the sidelines if and when the battle starts. Shamon has already made it clear that they can't face a large number of these creatures. They might be able to hold against them for a bit, but they won't survive a prolonged fight. If I were to focus fully on inscribing right now, we will lose the fort in a matter of hours.
That is why I have to inscribe at half my attention. That way, I will be able to react if the creatures finally make a move. The only problem with it being that it will take me twice as long to inscribe a spell and I will make four times as many mistakes, which I will need to fix.
If the creatures attack while I am inscribing and I am not able to detach in time, then the resulting explosion will destroy us all. (at least, I will take the beasts with me, I guess.) Just this thought is enough to cause a shower of cold sweat. As if that is not enough, I actually don't know if the Ice Beasts can detect my inscribing or not. The creatures themselves do not have a mana sense.
Yet Shamon is sure that the Snowlords are able to possess the body of their captains. If this is true possession then the Snowlords will be able to make use of their mana sense through their underlings. (Somehow I find this to be very unlikely. possession is a dangerous bit of magic.)
If what Shamon says is true, then it is very likely that the creatures are waiting for me to inscribe. This uncertainity is not helping with the inscription, I assure you.
Turns out this is a common strategy of the Ice Beasts. The soldiers even have a name for this type of thing. They call this having a "sword to the throat". The best strategy for the Ice Beasts is to stay back. After all, most of the time these temporary forts tend to be incomplete in nature. The best way for the enemy to take care of us is to make sure these forts remain incomplete. As winter progresses, more and more flaws will begin to pop up in the forts, making it easier to conquer. That is why their goal is to force us into a battle of attrition.
This strategy is particularly effective in our present case. I can't wait too long before I am forced to start my work. (The soldiers will simply not be able to survive the cold without the formation base.) To do so, is to risk discovery and to not do so is to risk death. After all, these creatures will just gain strength as winter progresses. (and we will keep losing it.)
As for who is holding the sword to my throat. It would be the three troops of Ice Beasts that are making a base outside our fort even as we speak. Every Snowlord has a horde of these creatures under his command. Each horde consists of about eighty troops of Ice Beasts. Each troop consists of eighty Ice Beasts, and a first circle Ice Beast acts as the troop leader. (A troop leader has about the same amount of mana in its body as I have, which makes me want to laugh.)
To speak of the Ice Beasts, the myth is that they are the only creatures that can survive in the Frozen Wastelands. (There must be other creatures of course.) They can eat almost anything, so they are easy to feed. They also breed pretty easily, due to which their numbers can grow pretty quickly as well. Due to this, this creature is able to prosper even in the Frozen Wastelands. Based on my understanding, the Snowlords use these creatures for everything. (From war to labour.) The beasts are the main reason the Snowlords can even wage a war against the Frozen Peak.
I would have described them if I could, but I cannot really see them. (both visually and in my mana sense.) Normally, I should be able to catch them in my mana sense at least, but I still haven't gotten used to this place. Coming to this place with a majority of one type of mana, It is like trying to tell how red blood is when everything in your vision is a shade of red. I am trying to get used to it, but it will take some time.
Shamon describes these creatures as "Horny Little Wolves" to me. For now, I will take his word for it. The man has faced plenty of these creatures. He has killed at least ten thousand of these beasts. (So he claims.) He is something of an expert on the creatures. According to him, the creatures have been trying to sneak into the place.
A few have even managed to succeed. Thankfully, they were found by the soldiers before they ended up anywhere sensitive. The result of that fight was a couple of injuries, though nobody died, thankfully. He has already begun to set up a patrol to ensure that we won't be caught by surprise anymore. I guess that I should describe all that I know about the creatures. (Which comes from Shamon.)
They are supposed to be masters at manipulating snow and ice. They are able to shape it into any form that they want to. That is supposed to be their magic, a basic ability to control ice mana. It is not a particularly strong ability in general. It is considered one of the worst abilities that a magical beast can have, if I am being honest.
In this area, though, it is one of the more terrifying abilities that we can face. The main reason for that is the chill. Their claws and their bites are powered by the ice mana that makes this region such a death trap in the first place. Even a single one of their strikes could prove fatal unless the soldiers are shipped back to the Frozen Peak.
To return to the creatures, they have already begun to build a base near the fortress. The base is an underground one, created by the beasts shaping the ice and snow to create tunnels in the ground. Based on the little that I have studied the place, it seems pretty flimsy but Shamon assures me that it won't be easy to bring down.
This underground base means that they plan to attack only our fort. (Mine is not the only temporary fort in this place.) They also do not show any signs of attacking us yet. (Which supports our sword to the throat theory.)
The problem is that I need to inscribe three spells to even make the formation base. Only then can I even think of making something offensive in nature. At the moment, I am only really be confident about inscribing a single spell before being detected.
Sadly, even escape is not an option here. We are surrounded by a plain of snow on all four sides, where the Ice Beasts will decimate us. Even our mana stands out in this place. This is to the point where the enemy does not even need mana sense to track our path. I am not sure if I will manage to reach even the magical ruin (which is the closest to us) with the beasts chasing after us.
Now, if I am a bit honest. Things are not as bad as I am making them seem. The first benefit I have is naturally that I am able to inscribe a single spell. This gives me options.
Right now, I plan to inscribe a little spell called the ironskin. It was a pretty popular spell among the iron druids. The spell allows you to coat yourself with metal mana. (you could say the spell is why the iron druids were such a challenge in the first place.)
Due to the nature of metal mana it is not easy to shape such a variety of mana. It takes days to shape metal mana into any particular shape. That is why, once it has taken shape, it is almost impossible to change it. To give an example, it takes almost five years for the ironskin to reach a state that it can actively defend you. In this period of time I grew to twice my height five years ago. (The ironskin naturally won't grow with you.) This spell is not useful to any cultivator for that reason.
Things change when you involve a formation in the mix, though. A formation will never stop. It will keep running without tiring, sleeping or needing to go to the washroom. (This greatly reduces the amount of time taken for the iron skin tobecome useful.) Also, the shape of a fort doesn't tend to change. It remains in the same form for centuries, if you are lucky. This is where spells like this show their true power.
Maybe the barrier formed will not even be able to stop an arrow now, but such things accumulate with time. Within a few weeks, the barrier will become strong enough to block most physical attacks. Within a couple of months, the barrier will be strong enough to even handle ballistas. With a few decades, the barrier will be able to handle most kinds of seige magic as well. (Again, I would like to see them hold this place for a few decades.)
I need the barrier for a different reason than defense, though. I need a store of metal mana at this moment. That is the role of the ironskin in the formation base as well. I will be able to store metal mana all across the fort and make use of it the moment that I need metal mana. (This gives me the ability to store nearly infinite metal mana, by the way.)
Making this barrier is naturally a gamble. After all, the ironskin is not going to show it effects for a few weeks at least. The only reason that I am taking such a risk is Shamon. He assures me that he will be able to handle the enemy beasts. With the protection of the wall and the fort, they should be able to easily handle a troop that is about twice their size. (or so the man boasts.)
The only problem in this are the troop leaders. Any one of them will be able to bring down large chunks of the wall with a focused attack. (for a wall it is not particularly durable.) That is why it is not really possible for me to stay away from the battlefield. I will have to be there everytime they pop up near the fort.
Personally speaking, I will be able to kill one troop leader quite easily. I will be able to fight two of them, though it is going to be a proper fight. Against three, even I cannot tell who will live and who will die. Even then, as long as I am placed correctly in the battlefield, I am more than a challenge to these three beasts. (Which is something that I will have to leave to Shamon.)
It makes me wonder why they are not attacking us already. (If it was me, I would have already attacked them.) If the goal is getting rid of us, then taking us by surprise would have been the better option.
Screw it.
I will lose my mind if I have to ponder the thoughts of the enemy. It is not like I have ever fought them before to have an insight on them. (That also means, that I have to give up control to Shamon for now.)
Honestly, The situation left my control the instant that I appeared here. The only thing that I can do is adapt. It is not like I am completely helpless as well. I have a few plans in my pocket, though they are going to be quite risky. I just don't want to record them in the middle of an active battlefield. You never know who is reading this stuff, after all.
I started this log to record my successes with the elemental nodes, by the way. I have found all three of the nodes that I need to power this class eight formation of mine. (Don't get me started on the process.) I have not redirected any of them at the moment, though. The only one I need for now is the metal node, anyway.
The major reason for that was the fact that I did not have any plans to build the formation base in such a rush. I still plan do it carefully and reasonably without panicking. To have it fail will mean that I will die. (whether it is from an explosion or Snowlords.)
It won't take me too long to redirect the elemental node. (I can even do it in the comfort of my room now that I have found them.) Now that I have recorded all of the important things that I can think of, I should take my leave. After all, I might leak something important if I were to keep rambling on like this.