The first thing that I do is to throw the vine armor to the ground. The vine armor is going to be destroyed if what I plan to do works here. I don't even feel regret at having to do this. The vine armour has been pretty useless if I am honest.
What I have to do next is the hard part. You see, every formation has protections in place against projection. This takes the form of a set of runes on the formation. These physically prevent projection from occurring. The runes tend to be hard to find. To ensure that an idiot like me doesn't try and break them. I am only confident in finding them because my master has been training me in the art of formation design.
Right now, my work is to find these runes and shatter them. Now, while I am doing that. I guess I should explain what even is projecting in the first place. Projecting is something that can be done when you have a working mana reservoir. Projection is a process where we create a resonance between a reservoir of mana and a target.
The mana will flow towards the target from the reservoir once this resonance is achieved. The process is used very rarely due to how inefficient it is. It wastes nine units of mana to transfer one unit of mana. You also cannot control just how much mana will flow into the target. I mean, you could try to control it. Certain formations try to do exactly that, but I haven't heard of anything that has worked yet.
There are strict requirements for the target in this process. Firstly, it cannot be a living person. Secondly, the material has to be able to hold mana. Lastly, the strength of the material has to be of class nine at the very least. The only thing that can meet this requirement right now is the vine armor.
As for how that will help us. The vine armor is going to be overloaded by mana from the base and explode. The explosion will then collapse this cave. It should also take the remaining part of the tunnel system. (And most of the ice beasts as well.) Well, even if a few manage to survive, I am sure that the troop will manage.
Well, finding these runes is taking longer than I had expected it to take. After all, I was the person who had inscribed those runes in the first place. It really should not take this long. Well, there they are. I guess that I should speak about what destroying a rune even is. Every formation is created by inscribing runes into it. Every rune has a specific purpose, and a combination of runes makes a spell.
Destroying a rune is quite an invested and risky process. An inscribed rune makes use of your formation core as an anchor to exist. Destroying these runes is quite easy in theory. You are just pushing all of your mana into the rune. The inflow of mana will cause the rune to destabilize and destroy itself.
It is a risky process. The popping runes could affect the stability of the surrounding runes. It could cause a cascade, which could end up with the entire thing exploding in my face. With me in an enemy territory, that is naturally not a good thing to happen. It would also mean that I won't be able to destroy the cave system. (I don't happen to have a spare formation core to destroy like this.)
It is with this thought that I begin the process of rune destruction. Behind me, I can hear the other soldiers struggling against the ice beasts. Right now, the tunnels are forcing the ice beasts to split apart. That means that they can't gang up on us. Still, we can't hold against the enemy for too long. They just outnumber us too much.
The soldiers must already be getting tired. Well, I guess that it might help me if I were to focus on the task at hand.
(After about a couple of minutes)
I can feel the rune collapse in my mana sense. The destruction of the rune could not have happened more perfectly. The surrounding runes are not even affected by this destruction. (Well, it is not like these runes are going to be used in the future anyway. A bit of damage would have been fine as long as it did not cascade.)
Even as the runes are destroyed, I begin to grasp the mana in the air to form a new set of runes. These runes will essentially force a resonance between the iron skin and this formation.
Around me, the sound of the battle has already begun to grow intense. Even with my focus, I cannot ignore the sound of claw against sword as I wait for the resonance to start. I am surprised that nobody has ended up dead in this process. The troop leaders should already have been here. I don't know why they are not.
My thoughts are interrupted as the vine armor begins to vibrate. Any second now, the metal mana from the reservoir will flow into the vine armour. What will happen then is something that even I do not know. All I know is that the result is going to be pretty explosive.
It is only my will that is preventing this resonance from happening right now. With each passing second, it is becoming harder and harder to control. Well, I can already feel the metal mana flowing into the vine armor, causing something to change. I can't say what it is, but it is nothing good. It shouldn't be happening this quickly. I must have miscalculated something.
"Retreat troop.", I scream as I make my way to the exit. Now, I have to make sure that I remember the path correctly.
Behind me, the vine armor has begun to grow. The way that it is growing gives me such an eerie vibe that I certainly do not want to be in the room when it gets critical. Without me, the core won't take long before the core loses its stability and explodes. We need to escape from the place before that happens. The ice beasts pouring out of the cave have different ideas, though.
The troop is behind me, retreating while defending me against the ice beasts. With the ice beasts attacking them like mad beasts, they can barely hold them back. It is time for me to get serious as I push my mana into my sword.
(After a couple of minutes.)
The horde of ice beasts has finally been cleared. The only problem is that I have had to channel about a quarter of my mana in the process. With the prospect of the troop leaders appearing any second, this is not a position that I want to be in.
Regardless, we begin to run away. I will need to focus on recollecting the path back to the entrance. That will require me to focus. I will start this in a bit.
(After about five minutes.)
Well, I have to admit that I would have never thought that I would be happy looking this plain. It might be one of the bleakest places I have ever seen. Regardless, right now the plains outside look like heaven.
I can feel the concentration of metal mana behind me has finally begun to destroy the cave behind us. Let's just say whatever is behind us is not a pretty sight. The thing is on the verge of going critical.
The presence of the troop leader sticks out like a sore thumb even before I see it. It must be channeling its mana like crazy. (It is embarrassing to admit that my mana sense is not very useful here. Everything is just so same here.)
"There is a hostile at the exit. Assume it to be a troop leader." I speak. "Focus on escape and do not engage it in any manner. I will attract its attention. Make use of that time to escape."
Right now, my main focus is to attract the creature's attention. Killing it with the troop will give me a better chance of getting rid of it, but right now, escape is the priority.
It takes a moment for me to notice the troop leader against the white background of this place. I expected it to look more intimidating than this. The only thing that I can say about the creature is that it is a bit larger than the average beast.
The creature has finally noticed me. Now, the hope is that it will focus on just me. Can't have it attack the troop now. In this environment, I can barely fight the creature, let alone my troop.
I did not need to worry as the creature charged at me, trying to claw me. I block it with my sword. I can feel the impact as I am nearly brought to the ground. The creature is certainly stronger than its physique would suggest.
Well, I still manage to push the creature away from me physically. I can feel a dull ache in my arm, though. Well, I do not get to think up a new strategy as the creature is already in front of me, trying to get a bite into me. I barely managed to dodge the creature's bite as I tried to keep the creature facing me. Can't have it biting me on my ass now, can I?
It catches me by surprise when the creature opens its mouth, releasing some kind of ice bolt right at my head. I can feel my sword shudder when I use it to block the bolt. I swing the sword again, blocking another bolt that is aimed at my throat.
Right now, the priority is not to get hit by the enemy. Things are going to go quite downhill if it manages to get a bite into me. The chill is not something that I want to be dealing with in the middle of an actual fight.
The creature also seems to have slowed down a bit. Both of us are trying to predict the action that the other will take. We are looking for holes in each other's defense.
I am waiting for an opportunity. It should already have happened by now. For a few moments, I was left wondering if my calculations were accurate or not. It also surprised me a bit when the tunnels behind me finally began to collapse.
It is a pretty silent affair, but it must have had quite an impact on the creature. It just pauses for a second, looking at the collapsing tunnel. Both of us are disoriented as the ground around us begins to shake due to the collapsing tunnel.
We both take a moment to regain our footing, and this is where I finally find my moment of attacking. You see, the creature was not expecting this, and I was hoping for it. This single point of awareness is enough for me to recover just a moment before the ice beast. (There is also something off about the creature. It's like it is taking a moment more than necessary to react to this.)
I do not waste this moment either, as I concentrate most of my mana into my sword. Swinging the sword, it is so fast that I feel like the sword is leading me rather than me leading it. I can feel the fractures arising in my sword as it handles more mana than it is capable of handling. Even with the strengthening of my mana, it will become useless after this move.
My gambit is successful at the end as I feel the sword enter the creature's mouth. It trashes against me as the sword exits through the creature's skull. The strike is fatal, though it did not kill the creature the instant it was struck.
It occurs almost in slow motion as the beast's mouth shuts right on my arm. I can feel the creature's teeth enter me like a pair of daggers. It is so cold that it feels warm for a couple of seconds. Then it begins to spread in my body, freezing me right to my bones. I begin to channel mana, feeling the cold retreat for a bit.
I quickly shake the damn corpse off me. I already have to channel a majority of my remaining mana to fight the ice mana entering me. Right now, I can only hope that the collapsing tunnels will be enough to distract the other leaders. I am certainly in no state to fight them off.
I can feel my thoughts slowing as I walk to the fort. I don't even remember how exactly I had made my way to the fort. I don't even remember who helped me out of my clothes and put me in the medics room. All I know is that the world around me has steadily been getting darker.