Well, I almost don't notice the attack of the troop leaders. You cannot blame me for this now. The creatures appear almost the same as the ambient mana of this region. If it were anywhere else on the continent, I would not have missed them even in my sleep.
Well, it is not like the creatures have really caught me off guard. I will be there before they can do any real damage to the walls. In the few moments they have gained, they will be able to attack the wall two or three times.
Today, I will be able to give a demonstration of formation control. Without this skill, I would not even be able to use this formation. The skill allows me to control a formation even when it is incomplete. The only method of controlling a formation other than this is the formation stick. the Formation stick cannot be used unless the formation is complete. After all the runes meant to control the formation have to be inscribed as part of the class eight spell.
I do not want to activate the formation if possible. It would mean that I will be losing quite a bit of my stored mana. This formation requires a lot of mana to work. I can't use it unless I confirm the beasts are there. Such a waste of mana cannot be done lightly. (I won't be able to justify the loss of mana if the troop leaders were not there.)
It is not easy to differentiate the troop leaders from their underlings. I can do so by barely making use of my mana sense. The creatures emit a bit more mana than their fellow ice beasts. The other ice beasts are here to provide cover for their leaders.
The moment that I locate the beast and am about to strike it, they all react. They try to shoot balls of ice mana at me. I don't even need to dodge as the ice balls hit the wall below me. The goal of this ice ball is not to cause physical damage but to cause its victims to freeze on the spot. (You could say it is a stronger version of the chill.)
The damn creatures don't want to get rid of me, they want to get rid of the wall. Right now, I have the advantage of a wall on my side. The ice beasts and their powers are more suited to fighting on the vast open plains here. If they were to climb to the wall, they would be fighting in an environment as favorable to me as it can get. The normal grunts are being treated as cannon fodder, as they come at me and my soldiers in waves. Well, they are more in number than me. They can afford to lose their underlings like this.
Well, I begin to condense control strings that go deep into the fortress in search of the formation core. The instant that the strings find the core, suddenly it feels like my eyes have opened up. 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. That is a dangerous feeling, though. Most formations end up destroyed because it was pushed beyond their limits. It is especially a problem with an incomplete formation.
I activate the water spear formation, which begins to take in the mana from the formation base. My control strings temporarily take the role of a control rune, as it links my mana storage to the water spear. I can feel the mana being taken, passing into the rune and converting into a water spear. All of this is happening in moments as the central formation fully awakens, which the enemy can also feel. As I throw the spear at them, the creatures have already raised their shields.
Right now, there is no way for me to use these spears other than to throw them. Most projectile formations tend to have a method of shooting them inbuilt. That is, using these formations is kind of like directing a troop of archers. Give it a target, and the projectile will hit there. The water spear doesn't work like that. It can only be grasped in my hand and thrown at our enemies. (That is why the water spear formation is mana-efficient. It doesn't waste it's mana on all of this "useless" stuff.)
I almost succeeded in killing my target as well. The spear flies true, but the creature's half-formed shield causes it to change course. What should have hit the enemy's heart hit its guts.
The remaining ice beasts make use of this time to launch their spells at me. Naturally, those spells do not hit me as I jump to the side. Three ice balls hit the place where I was just standing. Looks like I am not the only one trying to trick my enemies. The ice balls have essentially frozen the spot that I was just standing in. The creatures have a better aim with the spell than they are letting on. (And the spell itself is more destructive.)
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 quite a few times, so there might be an element of truth there.) I do not have time to think as another set of ice balls flies in my direction. Too late to dodge, which means that the only way to block the strike would be to shoot a water spear at it.
My aim is true as three water spears leave my hands and deviate the spell from its path. Well, the fact that it can do even this is amazing. What I am doing is the equivalent of fighting a shark in the ocean. Anyway, I can feel another water spear form, which I throw at another of the ice beasts. The beast uses its ranged attack to block that strike, as the water spear is frozen into a solid. It shatters into pieces like a piece of glass.
I can see the troop leaders retreat, taking the victim of my first strike with them. A bit more time, and the creatures will pass the range of my throw. At the moment, I am left with a dilemma. I will not get an opportunity to attack them like this again.
They are aware of the strength of the spear 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 a bit of a gamble, but this seems like a season of gambles for me.
Not thinking too much about it, I jump down the wall. I begin to cycle all of the mana in my core as my body just seems to heat up. (That is not true, the vital mana can only strengthen the body, not heat your body.) Let's hope that will be enough to counteract the chill. At the same time, I am running the formation to keep producing water spears. All of this mana is barely enough to stop my leg from shattering as I hit the ground. The impact travels from my toes to my head as I take a moment to catch my bearings,
While all of this is happening, the beasts have reacted to my action by sending a leader to hold me off. I could ignore it and run after the injured one. The injured beast is still being escorted out of the place by the remaining two leaders. That would be stupid, as I would have to expose my back to the creature in front of me.
Preparing a water spear, 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, strengthening it. I am almost not able to react as the creature seemingly teleports to my side.
Thankfully, I hit the creature on its snout, causing it to retreat. Well, in my present situation, I am missing my kit. It would have given me quite the edge in this situation. At the moment, I feel like cursing the old fucker. Why does he need to make everything so hard?
How in the hells 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 protects 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. I am trying to fight the chill, which seems to have intensified as my body suddenly feels like it is burning. At the same time, I am fighting the creature that wants to get a bite of me.
Both of us finally disengaged after a couple of moments. The creature has not managed to bite me during that period. Thank the gods, I cannot even imagine what would have happened to me if the creature had gotten a bite into me.
It must have been adrenaline or something, as I literally plucked the creature from the ground and threw it away. I can feel my body shivering with the chill. It is growing stronger with such a mana source nearby, 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, preparing for an attack.
Well, manifesting a water spear at this distance, there will be a bit of a lag. For now, I think that the wisest move I can make would be to retreat. (of which I have not been making many.) I have to distract the creature somehow and escape before I end up dying to it. With the chill, the creature is not an easy enemy.
Well, firstly, I begin by manifesting a water spear. 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. (Splitting focus like this is quite risky with formation control.)
Well, at this close range, there is little I can do to keep the enemy at bay. The only option is to block the enemy's charge by focusing all of the mana into my arms. I 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 spear has manifested. (It was delayed due to my splitting my focus.)
The spear flies true to my aim as the creature suddenly jumps back, avoiding any fatal damage. The water spear hits the creature, but it is a peripheral hit, not even enough to keep the beast from running away.
As it runs away, I realize the creature's plan has succeeded. It was attempting to distract me so that its allies could retreat from the range of the water spear. While I was focusing on the creature, I did not throw any more water spears at its escaping ally. Now, the ally has disappeared from the range of my water spears, so the creature has also disappeared.
Well, it has been a victory regardless of what my present state suggests. I am screwed, but I have won this particular fight at the very least.
Limping, which I am sure is going to hurt like hell once the adrenaline wears off, I return to base. Well, when 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.