I am returning to the frozen peak right now. They kicked me out of the fort first thing in the morning (or so I think at the very least) about three days ago. Only the three nobles were present at our departure. Not even one of the common soldiers had stirred by then. This was almost immediately after I met with the starfalls too. It was the day after that we were pushed out of the place unceremoniously.

  This time I do not have the luxury of cultivating en route so this is going to be a very long week. I don't want to put myself at risk by entering meditation now. The trip this time gives me a feeling of fear. I don't know how to describe it other than that I feel an edge in my surroundings. It feels like the world around me is trying to gobble me up. Well, I am sure that it is my imagination, but who will tell my head that,

  The problem right now is that I feel naked without the protection of the formation. I can still feel a phantom connection to the formation core. I remember connecting to the formation and just how powerful that made me feel. I still feel tempted to connect myself to the formation. Sadly, something like that is impossible. Even now, most of my plans popping up in my head have the formation in it one way or another.

  At the moment, I do not have any way of fighting other than this sword hanging on my belt. I can agree that it is a fine piece of work but it is no formation. Made of an alloy of iron and mithril, the sword is built in the shape of a standard snowwinder sword. It is a bit smaller than the one that the soldiers use normally though. I have already begun to adapt to it. The sword is about as hard and durable as a class eight formation core. (which is not a good metric, remember the sky bamboo.)

  It is a fine sword, one that is worthy of a mage. The sword won't shatter even in a fight with a snowlord (ironically I can't make the same guarantee for myself.) The problem is that it is a poor replacement for a formation, especially one as powerful as the one I have left.

  I can't even convert it into a formation. Inscribing on a purely metal structure such as swords and anything of metal is impossible. It is just such a slippery affair. Most runes won't form on the metal. Even if the runes were inscribed somehow, there is a pretty decent chance that the rune would lose its structure the moment that I pass Mana into it. Good luck would mean that the rune would dissipate and the worst case is that the entire thing will explode.

  I am at the moment sitting in this caravan only after extensive assurances from Ankon. (I have to admit the man seemed quite keen to get rid of me.) Firstly, they assured me that the enemy would not find out about this trip. Then they assured me that even if they did find out about it, there was no way that they would be able to attack me. The commander would be on their tails within the hour.

  Still, I am not comfortable. Ambushing a formation mage en route to somewhere is the best way to get rid of a formation mage after all. It is such a strategy that I will find a hundred cases in outer logs without even looking for them. That is why I am right now suppressing all of my mana. It will be enough to hide my presence. I don't know how successful such a tactic will be, but it will be better than steadily making myself mad thinking about all of this.

  I also have to note down another point before I forget about it. I am reasonably confident that the Snowwind Empire has achieved some form of leylining. Well, now how do I explain leylining it to you? Yeah, the best way of explaining it is that a leyline is an artificial elemental node. Well, the opposite would be more accurate. It is a stream of mana that is built between two points and mana flows from these two points. A well-built leyline can transfer mana across entire nations as well.

  It is a fundamental thing needed to create a formation. Especially to create formations beyond class four. That is why I am not able to tell if leylines are being used here or not. This type of magic is just beyond me. I have seen quite a few leylines but all of them were created by my master. If those were like mighty rivers then the leylines they have built here are like tiny rivulets barely carrying any mana. How exactly am I supposed to use those as a reference for this?

  It is not exactly formation magic, but it is intrinsically a part of formation magic. Well, I haven't yet sensed these leylines if they exist. To explain my assumption I will have to explain to you how exactly I think that the snowwinders are moving here. Right now we are traveling in wooden caravans.

  The caravans are enhanced by magical formations that can enhance the durability of the formation. Traveling in normal wooden carriages on these plains would be tantamount to suicide. The storms here can collapse buildings, so you can imagine what it can do to mere wooden carts.

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  We do face storms during our journey, none quite as crazy as the one we faced at the fort. Still, the damage that should have been done to carriages does not match the damage that the caravans take. I can see the caravans are being powered by mana batteries. Still, unless the mana batteries can store more mana than their capacity, it won't be able to explain how we are traveling so smoothly.

  Also, the carriages seem to be moving quite smoothly for a place that is essentially a frozen desert. I would assume that our trips would be a bit more jerky here.

  That would mean that they have formations for protecting the body of the cart. (imagine something like the iron skin.) they also must have suspension formations. They also must formations to keep and formations to hide all of this from me. ( They must be very good ones at that since they can escape the sights of a formation mage as skilled as me.) Maybe it isn't even a formation. It could be way more rudimentary than that. A prototype leyline if you will.

  And even if that is not true, my point stands. The Snowwinders have some degree of formation magic available to them. Any method of enhancing the strength of the caravan without making it too mana-intensive. A method of defending the caravan that lets them rely on just mana batteries is something that even the bastards down South would want. I am certain that nobody but me in this group has the mana to run these hypothetical formations, so nobody's mana is being used here. One other thing I can think of is ambient mana formations. The problem with them is ambient mana formations are not good for anything useful. You only really use it to light up a place. This is especially true in this area, except maybe a formation that would freeze water. Not that you need a formation for that though.

  I could also be completely wrong and the snowwinders just might be geniuses at designing carriages. They also might have some method of guarding their carriages that I simply do not have an idea about. They could just be using all of their stock of mana batteries to power these caravans as well.

  That is very unlikely because the Snowwind empire isn't supposed to have a very large number of mana batteries as well. Mana batteries are one of the things that they have been banned from trading with their allies.

  I think that this point about leylining might be something that the head office would like to put under consideration. I am sure that the black mountain would benefit in some way with cards against the snowwind empire, especially now. After all, you can't send me here every year now, can you?

  With all of the key points completed it is time for me to admit something. I must admit that regardless of how much nervousness this journey has brought me, I have got the opportunity to relax finally. Even I have not noticed how tightly strung I have been in the fort. This has been a strange experience if I am to be frank.

  I have finally figured out The reason for that. The snowwinders do not fear the black mountain. I mean all the powerful people are pretty fearful of my people, but the common soldiers here are not scared of me. Even Shamon has snapped at me more than his fair share of times. Even I am surprised by just how refreshing of a feeling that has been.

  Another thing to be noted is that the formation mages are not respected here. Anywhere else, formation mages are looked at as magicians. I don't mean the kind that practices magic but the kind that goes from village to village and pulls off little tricks for the people such as making coins disappear and appear. (I have heard that there is a complete course on this at the Bard Academy.)

  People also tend to treat us like we are made of glass. (Well, I do admit that we do tend to be pretty weak for our levels.) that also has been lacking here. Now that I think about it staying here has kind of reminded me of my time in the legion.

  Going from town to town in disguise, looking for monsters to hunt and enemies to kill while pretending to be a down and struggling adventurer. Being forced not to be fully reliant on our magic and our tools. To be forced to think on our feet and adapt to the situation.

  All in all, it has been a pretty eventful mission. I guess this might have been what my master intended to do while sending me here. Well, I have stopped guessing with the man. He could have done this simply to torture me as well.

  Most of his challenges feel like torture if I am honest. I sometimes wonder what exactly can the man teach me. He is simply at a stage that is beyond me.

  The weakest formation that the man can craft is at class six. The man simply is not able to craft anything simpler than that. At the moment, the most powerful formation that I can make is of the eighth class. My goal is the seventh class formations, which will finally let me begin to study the stage beyond. Then I can finally think about class six formations.

  Almost everybody in the formation corps who can craft a class seven formation is on the stage beyond. I don't know why my master has put it as a requirement for even the information about the stage beyond. All I can say is that the bastard has very high standards.

  Once I reach the stage beyond though, I think that my master will be able to personally tutor me in the art of making formations. He tried to do so at the very beginning of my discipleship. All I can say about those attempts is that I could understand each word that my master told me. When I tried to put them together though, I could not make a head or tail of it. I still can't.

  That is why the man has such a hands off approach regarding my education. He provides me with all the books that I need and he keeps taking me to new teachers in so many different fields that I have learned a variety of things. All except the art that I am supposed to be a master of.