Meeting the young elite of the snowwind empire is something that occurs very rarely. Our records contain detailed records on the soldiers of the snowwinds. After all, they deal with negotiating 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 around us. Nobody would like to leave a talented youngster in the presence of a scholar. Adults who have spent their lives guarding against the curiosity of the black mountain 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 that. 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. We do have a hegemony to maintain after all. (Omniscience as a trade only works if you know everything.)

  Regardless it is time that we return to the discussion at hand. Three first-circle level beings. Each on their own has the power to challenge me in the fort. The three together might just be enough to do me in even here in the fort. If they catch me by surprise of course. (Or if I was paralysed too)

  As if that was not proof enough, all the vital functions of the fort have already been taken over. The watchtower, the damaged gate and everything else in the fort have been taken over by my soldiers. All of the soldiers that had been assigned to me have been sent down here to the formation room.

  Well, I won't be the one to complain about that though. The soldiers have already suffered enough with this battle. I think this is the most that these soldiers have been stationary in all this time. Let them have their rest.

  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 of the people here.

  We know very little about the starfalls. They are a family that has become nobles in the last couple of generations. That is why the scholars don't have a lot of information on them. 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 near the southern border, 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 their capabilities 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 and my opinion does need to be considered for these things. 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 to them?

  Well, right now my goal is to make sure that they are not able to make use of the formation at all. Thankfully, this formation of mine is more oriented towards defense than offense. The ballista will be something that they will figure out pretty soon. You just need a strong grasp of spell modeling to do that.

  Also, the soldiers have seen the ballista used properly. They would naturally figure it out quickly. Right now the goal is to hide the ring of dew for as long as possible. They have never seen it in use, so they don't know what to look for.

  At the same time even if they were to study the formation, the ring of dew doesn't stand out until you have used it. Even then it is a pretty hard spell to use without guidance. They will waste a couple of years before they can use it properly if I am lucky.

  As for the barrier, they won't be making use of it anytime soon at least. The only thing that they can do with the place is to make it a more permanent outpost. With the barrier, it can fulfill that role pretty well.

  That reminds me that I have to tell somebody to keep cultivating in the region nearby. The druids used these formations to also extract the mana from the elemental nodes as non-destructively as they could. Right now this extracted mana is disappearing into the wind.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  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.

  That also means that my time in this fort will be coming to an end soon. They are going to be kicking me out pretty soon. To be honest, I wanted a bit more time with the class eight formation. After all, I have built the formation and studying the construction of this formation would have made my future work a bit easier. Sadly, I don't think that I will get to do that.

  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 get involved in the politics of the frozen peak. Sadly, I don't think that is an option. I will try but these people 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 did not want to mess with my formation. The other two might as well be ghosts. This will 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 has all the ideas about the rituals that need to be conducted to keep the nobles happy. 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 even see 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 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 kill every person in this fort to make their point.", he speaks, his voice betraying his 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 end up giving me ultimately" 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. The other two Starfall brothers are standing to the side, absurdly tall for a human. They were tall enough to look down on me while talking. 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 got it wrestling with an ice beat as a child, which seems unlikely based on personal experience. Even this story was a rumor overheard by one of the guards before me.

  "Commander, we have been admiring your handiwork.", Ankon starts. "To think that a mere formation would be enough to create something capable of surviving the snow drive. It is admirable."

  "Well, I did my 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 speaks. "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 me and 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 bastard is looking for a fight. "We can be attacked minute. They cannot go through the wilds 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. I don't need to worry about the head office this way should something happen. They could not have given me a better guarantee than this.

  "Fine then, what are my exact commands.", I ask.

  "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.