The process of placing defenses is a field of study that every formation master must have passing knowledge of at the very least. I can say with confidence that I have more than passing knowledge of this.

Without this knowledge, it would reduce the effectiveness of our defenses by a ridiculous degree. Unlike the simple defense of the iron skin which had only one real component, the mayfires have a more complicated design.

It is a combination of traps, barriers and offensive formations that are working together to give the ideal output. It has been constructed by multiple formation mages over the course of many years. To call this design chaotic is an understatement. There are many problems that plague this formation and it's design.

Firstly there is the matter of the actual placement of the traps. Most traps are placed in such a way that they will be able to cause even more damage to the involved parties.

For example, an exploding formation could be placed next to a fire ball formation and a person dodging the exploding formation could end up right in the path of fireball.

Most of the defenses exist in such a combined state, which makes it really hard to move stuff around. Most of these are put in place in such a chaotic manner though.

Other than that there is the problem of multiple formations working together. Most of these formations will pull mana from a single source.

That means that the placements of these formation will affect how mana can be accessed by the formation. For example, placing two fireball formations would be unwise since the both of them would suck a lot of mana.

Rather than a single strong fireball it would lead to two fireballs with half the mana supplied to it and that is the best. In the worst case, it could lead to a burning of both the formations.

These two reasons are the main reason that placements of formations are always such a mess. I have to assist my master on the formation chain of the hex mountain. Compared to that this is a cute piece of work.

Regardless, That is why people need formation mages to plan the defenses of a fort to ensure that every component will work as it is supposed to. Else it is more likely that your defense will be the reason that your fort was destroyed.

It is an entire field of study as I had mentioned before, with formation mages spending the entirety of their lives studying this field. I am not such specialist but I still have a bit of an experience at the process of building up a defensive line.

That is what I have been doing in the last couple of days. I have been studying the formations here and have been modifying them to better promote its efficiency.

I personally think that I have done a pretty good job at this process, but one cannot really tell how good a defensive line is until the first contact with the enemy.

I should have at least grown the power of the defensive line by thirty percent if this thing works well. It could've even more than that if I am lucky.

The major problem is if I can complete the modification of the formations. As I have told you before, this is an active battlefield and messing with formations while somebody can attack you any second is about the most dangerous thing that you can do.

Thanfully, the mayfires also seem to have an idea on this so I have been given a pretty decent team to execute my plans. They are no powerhouses, naturally but they have a passing knowledge of formations and have a decent amount of fighting prowess too.

They are all on the younger side, Most of them children of the less important members of the mayfire family. Some of them are bastards even.

Regardless, the thing that matters to me is that they are decently skilled at moving formations and they will be able to survive even if an horde were to fall on them.

Well, right now my plan is about finalised. The team is at the moment hurrying through the inner keep struggling to complete their tasks as quickly as possible. They should be returning in five days if they have completed their work completely.

Until they return I have to remain in this state of uncertainty hoping that the team completes their work correctly. If they do end up dying in the process I eill be left in a state where my death is also more than certain. The family head would certainly not appreciate the waste of life that I would have caused if I do end up failing.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Right now, I am free looking at the map in front of me doing God knows what. The map contains all the formations that have been placed by all the people that have been hired by the mayfires to build their stuff. It contains every single formation and trap down to their precise position.

This map is the only copy that exists. The mayfires naturally cannot allow their enemies to ever get their hands on this.

This room is right next to the room of the family head. It is a completely bare room containing only a table and a bookshelf. The books on the bookshelf can only be opened at this exact table.

I have been warned that I should not even think about opening any of the other books in the room. Also that I should not be removing this map from this room.

If I do that, with the family head in the room right next to me he will pop me like a pimple. So at the moment I am quite worried even about the touching the map.

I could keep studying the map, but at the moment I cannot cause any changes in the map. It would mess with my plan completely. Also, I am not sure how the man in the next room react if I were to touch the map without any need. I have no reason to tempt fate at this moment.

So that leaves me at my present position of sitting here bored out of my fucking mind. Well, I guess that I could leave the room immediately but somehow that doesn't feel particularly safe.

The assault has led to a lot tension in the mayfires. It is the kind of tension that a soldier gets when he goes on a mission. They are putting themselves in a state of mind where they will enter the peak of their performance.

At this moment these soldiers are so quick to action that they might just end up attacking me the instance that they feel my foreign mana.

While it is not as extreme as I am speaking, there is a pressure and that is being felt through the entire place.

Also, I cannot ignore the hostility that is being shown by the folks here. It took me a while to figure out why these guys are so hostile but I finally remember that I am the guy that has just now sent their children right the middle of a battlefield. It is about the most logical thing that they can do.

Well, I will leave in a while. Until then I have to just figure out what to do for timepass. I am not built to handle free time. It will just lead me to overthinking, which is about the worst thing that I can do at this moment.

(Almost three days later.)

Right now I am in my room, where I should be resting but with how my mind is racing I won't be sleeping any time soon.

Part of that could be due to the fact that I am hearing Trevor snore next to me in the most annoying that is possible. It is almost a wonder that I am not strangling the man.

The main reason though is the news that has been by the soldiers that are working with me. It is not particularly good news nor particularly bad news but it certainly has increased the scope of my work.

The good news is that these guys have managed to complete a majority of their modifications that I have given them. Well, I am quite surprised at their efficieny. It has been three days since I have sent them on this mission. It was supposed to take them five days.

That leads to the bad news, which is the fact that one of the formations has begun to fail. It is a component of the absolute barrier.

I can't say for certain until I look at the formation, but the description of the troop makes it sound like a core failure.

If that is true, then while it won't cause the absolute barrier to fail, It will certainly cause a weakness to arise in the formation. It will be enough to allow a couple of powerhouses to breach the inner walls easily.

It certainly is bad design, what barrier tends to have pieces of its out of the barrier. I have to assume that some formation mage had overestimated the size of the absolute barrier adding this component beyond the range of the formation.

The lucky thing is that none of the necromancers have managed to catch this particular weakness of the barrier. They are also pretty good with formations, though they still are no match to a formation mage on this.

Well, it would have been pretty hard to find this particular component if I am to be honest. Nobody would be expecting it in the first place and nobody certainly would be actively looking for it.

Still, a core failure would still be a pretty risky thing to have around. That means that I will have to leave the absolute barrier and go check up on this formation as soon as possible. If that formation were to fail it will cause most of my work to be wasted.

Taking an expedition is not a problem, but the mayfires are still not willing to return my sword to me.

I don't know under what protections they have my sword under but I can feel the effects of the sword disappearing already. It leaves me feeling lethargic in a way that I had not expected to feel.

I have become more reliant on the sword than I had expected to become. Without it, there is little action that I can take.

Even ignoring that, there is the sense of hostility among the mayfires. Most of them are now busy with the assault and it's planning (About which I can tell very little since they have left me out of it.) but I feel like the moment that this distraction is gone, they will again return their focus to me.

Trevor tells me that the reason for this could be the fact that the family head does not seem to be very loved among his people.

If Trevor is to be believed, the man is barely been keeping control over his people and that we might be in danger just because the family head is the one that is protecting us.

Somehow, I find that very hard to accept but it is very wise to always be ready for a fight. The only question that I am left with here who is it that I am supposed to be fighting and how.

Well, I really should be getting a bit of sleep. After all, I think that it would be wise to leave as quickly as possible. Let's see how many hours it is going to take me.