Well, right now I am shivering in my robes. Normally, I am not one to wear robes. They bring up too many bad memories for me to like them.

It is the clothes of preference for a sage though. They might not even notice it if I do not wear my robes, but that is a risk that I cannot take.

Right now we are in the best room in the fort, sitting on a circular table that I think must be built of some kind a fancy wood. I did not bother to ask shamon. The only thing that I know about it is it has some kind of a formation engraved into it that is supposed to grant it more durability. It is not particularly useful as even I will break the table apart with a strike especially now. Instead, it will do the work of hiding my new trick quite nicely. Granted for that to happened I had to modify the existing formation quite the bit.

The room itself is quite bare though. The only other thing that is worth noticing about the room is the window that gives a view of, well the frozen wastelands. If things go well, the window is going to be quite useful.

“Oh sage, if you are checking me out now. I would suggest that you keeps your eyes to yourself.“, the lady soldier finally speaks first. Turns out, I was staring at the few creatures. Thankfully, they have assumed my fear to be my lust.

Controlling my awkwardness, I speak out as a sage would.

“Why would I not, my lady. such a fine physique you have.“, I reply. Don't judge me, all sages tend to have the same personality. I wonder if you can call being horny a personality.

Regardless of my embarassment, I focus on my future enemies. I forgot to mention it to you yesterday but the other two snowlords were a man and a woman. Now that I have looked at them properly, it is clear that they would be about as strong as the giant, but they have burnt through their mana somehow, most likely to reach here.

“Well, I have not certainly come here to be ogled. I shall consider it an attack the next time that you ogle at me.“, she replies, clearly used to it and quite annoyed at it. Looks like the snowlords have quite the experience dealing with sages. That is a point to be noted.

“Certainly, my lady. I certainly would not like to be attacked by you.“, I reply. Well, a sage would make use of more expletives but I think the enemy has yet to notice.

“Well, then begin with an explanation, sage.“, the giant speaks, his voice so laden with killing intent that it is a wonder he is not attacking already. “Why are you here. This close to the truelands, do you want to break the treaty.“

“Well, I wouldn't know of which treaty that you are speaking of.“, I reply, taking the most sarcastic tone that I could possibly take. These people are idiots, to think that a treaty with the sages would be followed. Unless they are trying to trick me and there is no treaty. Then I am dead.

“Well, Mr sage, you are dangerously close to losing your head at this moment. After what your people have pulled of at spear valley, the fact that we are talking is proof of the goodwill of our tribe.“ he replies.

“well, I guess that we have played around here enough.“, I speak. “Why are you here?“

The only reply to this is that the man opposite me has begun to laugh. His laugh is booming as is befitting his size. He is pissed off, if his fists are any indication. He would be very bad in a true negotiation.

“The question is why are you here. The snow tribes shall not accept anymore help from the sages.“, he speaks. “Be thankful that you were not found in the truelands. Else, we would have been forced to kill you then and there.“

Well, I am confused about replying to this. It doesn't take me much time to commit though.

“Well, why would I be going to your lands. The only reason that I am here is that the snowwinders offered me a good deal. I shall build their formation and leave.“, I reply. “I wonder if that breaks the treaty.“

Well, let's just hope I sound sarcastic in case of the worst case. No matter what they should not get the idea that I don't know what they are talking about.

“You bastards. All of you.“, he suddenly gets up and slams the table. “You and your kind have agreed not to fight in this battle. Remember what we have given to you, we can snatch it just as easily from you.“

“I wonder what you have given them.“, almost as soon as I spoke it I realised my mistake. The other side is much faster than me at catching it though. I don't think he has fully realised the implication of my statement as he attacks me almost on instinct.

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I jump down, feeling the opposing sides fist pass above my head. I don't even need to look back to know that the wall behind me was blown away completely. he has already begun to gather mana in his other fist.

Fuck this, as I finally activate my trap. Well, calling it a trap is wrong as the table collapses under my hand. I am surprised the damn thing managed to handle the pressure of what I had hidden in it.

It is a water spear, though not a normal one. I will speak about it later but for now I grab it. The instant that I do so the power of the spear overhelms me. The mana in it washes into me like a tidal wave. A lesser mage would have lost control of it but I grasp the mana and direct it into me, ensuring that I do not lose control for even a second.

Well, on the spot I am only able to think of mage hand. It is a basic spell that is able to manifest the hand of the user. the more power that is put into the spell, the larger the hand is.

With the mana I have put into it, the mage hand formed is the size of a giant's hand. Well, I do not waste any more mana as I direct the hand towards the giant. The force of the hand is enough to carry him right out of the window and the hope is that it will last until he is really far away.

Well, I don't get to celebrate that victory as the lady had already begun to charge towards me. I am not even able to react as the lady punches me right into the wall. I can feel my skull punch through the wall.

Well, this was the expected case. There is no way that I will be able to fight these bastards in a direct fight. Well, that was never the plan anyway.

“That was certainly rude, my lady.“, I speak out, trying to provoke this lady. There is blood in my mouth which is not a good sign. “well, what else can be expected of the tribes. All of you are brut.....“

I don't get to complete the statement as the lady appears in front of me like a ghost and before I know it my throat is in her hands. She is not as weak as I considered her to be.

“You should be careful, you damn bastard.“, she finally spoke, her voice wispy and tired. “The men of the legion have been killed for lesser.“

“How much lesser?“, I squeak, almost on an impulse. The result is a tightening of her hands. I can feel my spine cracking.

“Well, as long as you exist you have to be killed.“, she spoke.

I finally stab into her with my spear. The spear barely penetrates into her flesh. That is enough as I push all of the mana of the spear into her body. I can feel the spear physically diminish in my arms until it dissipates completely.

As the world around me blackens, I can see the body of the lady swell up like a balloon.

(After about five minutes.)

I can't really tell how much damage actually happen to the lady. All I know is that the damage was enough for her to leave without killing me. I can safely assume that she is out of this fight.

Well, that went well. The third person of the group, the man has also disappeared. I think he disappeared the instance the giant was blown away, to save him. He must have assumed that I would easily die to the ladies hand. If he stayed back. Fuck, let's not dwell on the what ifs.

The man leaving has both made things easier for me and much much harder.

Well, I begin to run towards the ballista. The tower I have placed it in is actually pretty close to the room of our negotiations. as I enter into the place, I notice that shamon is also there with me.

“What the fuck are you doing here”, I scream at the man, while aiming the ballista. Meanwhile my mana sense has grown to cover the entirety of the castle. I will know when the enemy is going to be approaching.

By the way, even this mana sense of mine is a result of my bloodline as a sage. Well it is the only thing unless a sage decides that I am worthy of having my bloodline activated.

“Well, the soldiers are already in the formation room. they will manage guarding the place. I am better of here.“, he replies. “Regardless of what happened downstairs I would have been here to manage the ballista.“

“as I have told you a dozen times before, the ballista will not work for anybody but me right now. The formation is not fully active. Regardless, I have told you that the spear would work. The snowlords might be able to handle ice mana perfectly, but then all we needed to do is to overdose them with some other mana type. Strong resistance to one element of mana usually means a weakness to another type.“, I speak to the man. “That spear of mine had almost the entire mana of twenty five spears stuffed into it.“

“how many did you even get with that spear of yours?“, he asks.

“Well, only one, but to justify myself I had to spend a majority of my mana to push that giant far away from the castle.“, I reply.

“Well, then what are you waiting for captain. Activate the formation at least now.“, he starts again.

“I will, I will, let them come to the battlefield already. There is no need to tip our hand to the enemy.“, I reply. “Now do not disturb me. I have a battle to prepare for.“

saying that I begin to concentrate on the spears that are in my hand. As I bring them closer I can feel the two spears repel each other. I don't stop pushing them as strings of mana bind them. Once they cross a threshold the two spears merge into one.

I put that merged spear back and start the process again. These spears will not be lasting for more than a few hours. If I had more time I could make more spears like the one I used downstairs. That took me almost the entirety of the last night.

Right now there is no way in hell that the enemy will be letting me play around like this now. These merged spears will have to do for now. If they don't well, the only thing that I have left in my hand is the nasty surprise.

That would require me to activate the central formation which is the only reason that it is not active right now. I guess that I could have it started right now. That would be the best case as it will take about five minutes for the entire formation to activate.

The only reason that I hesitate is the fear that I might not have enough mana in the formation. It is not like the few minutes will make any real difference in the grand scheme, but even a fraction of a benefit is a fraction of a benefit. It will give me peace of mind at the very least even if it doesn't do anything else.