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the battle logs of the formation mage (hiatus)
the pain of being bribed (log 038)

the pain of being bribed (log 038)

I finally feel fine after quite a while. My body is aching all over and my head still feels like a well used anvil but I have not slept as well for what feels like quite a few years.

I do wonder why the legion speak of this experience as if it is something divine. The only thing that I can say about it is it is quite a crappy experience. I won't say anything beyond since the Legion tends to be quite sensitive about this. It is supposed to be a matter of pride that you have experienced the death rush among the legion, you know.

Still, even before the death rush there was always a pressure and a stress that I did not even notice until I stopped experiencing it and There was a while even in this crappy time when the pressure of my work did not threaten to overwhelm me. That was when I had completed the formation. Even that was snatched from me almost the instant that I completed it.

Still, at the moment it would be wise for me to speak of the present and not to reminisce about the past.

At the moment we are en route to the hexmountain, travelling in the sledder called the widows tears. my master is the one carrying the ship. As for why exactly he was carrying the ship when he has dimensional storage i do not know. Maybe, the ship has protections against dimensional transport. Still, he seems to have been carrying the ship for a majority of his journey. Now we have stopped though the reason for that is quite clear too.

Well, the man is quite busy dismantling the ship. I can hear him run around the ship, messing with it. The man has built as many airships as I have seen in my life so I am sure that he won't ruin it. The only problem I have is that the man is not taking me to the head office immediately.

This is technically me abandoning my mission. Somebody will have to go the head office and smooth things with them. I wonder what would have happened to Trevor and the group. I hope that they are fine, even the two idiots. It is not like I want them dead. I really should quickly ask my master where they are.

Well, it is about time that I leave this room of mine. I have been spending the entirety of my trip in the room. At the beginning I barely noticed it but by now the room seems like a room and more like a prison.

It is time for me to take my leave then. I notice the differences the instant that I leave my room. Many of the rooms that should have been have closed, have been broken up as formations fill the entire thing.

My master certainly seems to have been doing quite the bit of work. I keep walking towards the control room, which is where I guess my master should be doing his work.

As i go to my destination my masters handiwork becomes more and more clearer. Most of the mans work is beyond me, I barely understand the stuff that he has explained to me.

Someday I want to build something like this. Finally I meet the man at the control room. The visual of the man carrying what seems to be a massive block of wood. The only problem is my master is dressed like a gentleman. The visual of a man that should be involved in political intrigue lifting like a worker is quite the visual to the eye.

"Well, you won't learn if you don't ask.", the man spoke suddenly. "It is not like you have much to do anyways. I am surprised that you are on your feet."

"Well, what was that about, I have never been this miserable in my life. My head still feels like somebody is using it to practice archery.", I speak, finding a convenient spot to sit.

"Well, whatever you did, it seems to have consumed every single reserve that you had. I am sure that you must have achieved your pinnacle for a few minutes, it came at the cost of draining your physical body, your mana reserves and most importantly your mana sense.", my master speaks. "The damage to your mana sense can match the damage that is faced when one makes use of a forbidden technique. It will take a few months to recover. You should be thankful that whatever you did did not consume your life force."

"Well, I have no idea what I did, but this is common among the legion. It is not a technique, it is more like a state of mind achieved from my training. They call it the death rush. I never expected that I would be able to achieve it, to be honest. It is not something that one can do without learning the hidden art related to it. It is a secret from us trainees, only taught to those that Excel in the training. That was not me." I reply. "Though I honestly wish that I did not manage it. I never expected it to be so painful."

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"Well looks I will need to have a talk with the legion about what they are teaching their wards.", my master replied. "Well, now is not the time for me to talk about all of this. I have something very interesting to talk to you."

"Well, you can certainly start by explaining what you are doing with this ship. It is supposed to be a piece of art you know." I ask, seeing the man bursting to respond. The man likes to show off whenever possible.

"Well, the formations in this ship are something beyond your capability. Meanwhile they are quite useful to me.", my master replies. "So I am removing these formations. You don't need to worry, I will be replacing it with something that is more in your wheel."

"Well, is there a need to rip apart the ship for studying these formations.", I ask him again.

"Well if you want to use this ship, you should be able to repair the ship. It is not like I will always be sitting here to help you repair these ships.", the man replies and I realise that he wants to give the ship to me almost as quickly as i realise what it means. "What have you done this time, you old man. I am not going to be doing another mission of yours."

My master is a very strong believer in the process of bribing you. If he has done something that will hurt you, the man likes to prepare gifts that would smoothen the blow at the same time as he would give his terrible news to you. Sadly, it never really seems to work for the man.

"You brat, I really should punish you one of these day." My masters speaks and after hesitating a bit. "Well, I had to destroy your works kid. All of them except for your sword."

Hearing that, my mind becomes blank. Do you know how many fucking months I have had to spend building those formations. It is time for me to take a deep breath. Men like my master must be dealt with calmly or they tend to get very annoying.

"Will you tell me why at the very least. If it was in a random whim I will make sure to remember it.", I reply. I am also surprised at the calmness I am exhibiting. I expected that I would have already tried to punch the man.

"Well, it is tradition kid. The reason why I had to do it I will explain to you later. I still have to do quite the work. I will after all have to make sure that you will be able to reach your next mission." He speaks. "The head office technically considered this missions of yours to be a failure. I have had to negotiate with the head office to get you another mission."

"Well, that reminds me what has happened to my colleagues. The people that I was supposed to escort.", I ask the man. It would certainly not reflect well on me when the head office were to evaluate me on my first mission and my colleagues are all stuck in a bad situation while I am stuck here, quite far away from a position where I can help.

"They are fine, kid. Else the head office would not have left you with such a light punishment. Thankfully, you also completed their request. That was a pretty good formation you built there. I must admit that you are quite naive to take such risks and build such a formation. To build a nurturing formation in the middle of a battlefield.", my master speaks. "In everything that you did that was the thing that the head office would be most pissed of."

"Now why would that be.", I ask. "It is not like I can go against the hexmountain treaty."

"Well, the formation you have created is like a seed. If the snowwinders are able to work on it correctly and if they study it well enough, they will have a fort like the frozen peak in the next ten to twenty years. The head office certainly does not wish for such a thing to happen." My master replies. "Though, the information that you have provided is enough to offset some of that anger. For the remaining I have negotiated with them. They will forget your present transgression if you do another mission this time. Something that is a bit tamer and bit closer to home."

"So what is it that I am to be doing.", I ask. The head office is known for their ability to remember vendettas. If I am not careful they might just end up chucking me in a location where my death will be a certainty.

"Well, your colleagues will be joining you soon enough. Trevor and his bunch will meet up with you at the hexmountain.", my master replies. "As for what is that you will be doing, it is a mission in the mayfire castle next to the hexmountain. It is one of the vassal powers under the black mountain. Recently there has been heavy bandit activity in the area and they are somehow distrupting our communications with the mayfires, whose fort it is."

"So it is a investigation mission.", I ask. "Go in, locate all the bandits. Kill as many as you can and retreat if somebody powerful comes in."

"Something like that. You will need a decent airship though, which is why I am having to hurry with all of these modifications." My master replies. "Once I am completed, it will be a airship of a pretty decent quality and I am sure that you can improve it further from there."

"How the hell did bandits grow so powerful near the hex mountain though. It is not like the legion is lazing over there.", I ask. That is something that i have always been confused about. There have always been bandits near the mountain, sometimes enough to make traveling a pain in the ass.

"The legion is a hammer, lad. they can empty the region surrounding the hexmountain out of bandits, but such cruelty is something that will also make our allies quite wary of us. At the moment we certainly don't want to be bogged down in fights right next to our houses. Especially since a majority of these powers also tend to feed us.", My master replies. "The head office will always manage all of this on their own for that reason, even if they are not very good at it and in this case that means sending you to take care of this matter. Its a win win for every party involved."