The troop leaders are at the moment hiding on the battlefield. They have hidden themselves among their underlings. They are just so visually similar to their grunts that differentiating them out on the battlefield is very hard. They are a bit larger than their underlings but it is hard to see that from up here in the walls.

  Even with my mana sense, I am not able to differentiate these creatures anymore. They have completely suppressed their mana output. If I were to try something similar, I would be quite dead at this moment. I can't even imagine suppressing my mana to such a degree. The creatures are barely emitting more mana than their underlings. Keeping track of just this bit

  Thankfully shamon had warned me of this particular ability of theirs. I might have been fooled by the creatures too if I did not keep a very keen eye out for them. It is a common tactic of theirs to attack the commander when hidden like this.

  This ability of theirs does come with a disadvantage. The creatures are not able to use their magic in this state. In this state, they are only a threat if they had managed to sneak up on me. I want them to do that. I am sure that I will be able to take out at least one of the creatures.

  As for why we are waiting to attack them is mainly to figure out what exactly these beasts are even doing. I am studying them at the same time trying to figure out how they move as well. The creatures might all have different styles of fighting but some things you cannot change. It will certainly make fighting them easier.

  Now when I am relatively in control of the situation would be the ideal time to study them. Maybe if I figure out how exactly they are being compelled to attack me, I could manipulate it to my benefit.

  The creatures have been sneaking into the battlefield for the last couple of days. First, they would dip into the battlefield cautiously, ready to escape in an instant. Then they began to make their way closer to the fort. Now, they are almost a part of the group that is reaching the wall and trying to breach it. Whatever they are planning they are very careful of me and my mana sense.

  They are not trying to ambush me, as Shamon is expecting them to. They had plenty of opportunities to do that already. The creatures don't know that I am tracking them. Right now I feel like the creatures are studying me as well.

  Maybe Shamon is right and I should not be on the battlefield. Maybe he is right to keep me in the formation room. (I haven't even fully healed from the chill.)

  I have not been doing much at the wall. I have just been using my mana to attack a few of the creatures that had managed to breach the wall of this place. The attacks are only strong enough to push the creatures out of the wall. Then the fall is enough to kill the creatures. It is not much, but it is better than nothing.

  Well, I guess that I should have not been on the wall at all. It is not like my presence would have helped the soldiers here much. All I can claim to have done in the last couple of days is to reduce a bit of the pressure on the soldiers. I can't even claim to have been very good at that as well. After all, two more soldiers have died yesterday.

  They were two of the soldiers that were infected with the chill. I could have done little to help them anyway. That is why I am here. The morale has become heavy enough that it has begun to affect the performance of the soldiers.

  That is part of the reason why I am suddenly helping out the soldiers after staying out of their way for so long. It is also because I have managed to push out nine-tenths of the chill from my body. The last little bit I can get rid of easily enough tonight.

  I can focus on removing it tonight but I just can't do it now. It is not easy to take control of mana under all that pain. I can't inscribe as well. I could, but half a day of inscription under the chill will not give me much of an impact.

  That is why I am not working on my formations at this moment. I guess that I could work on the ballista already. All of the runes will just collapse even if I were to work now. Better to do it after the chill is gone. Also, inscribing a spell requires a certain freshness of mind. All of this work has left me exhausted. I also need to relax my mind. That would certainly not be happening if I were to stay cooped up in the formation room. Being stuck in that small room is torture enough already. The injured soldiers present in there who could die at any moment as my only company.

  The death of the two soldiers has been particularly demotivating. I did not manage to do anything that might have helped them out in the situation. I was awake when the soldiers were discovered. They had gone completely blue and still. So still the soldiers next to them had gone to check what was happening. Just yesterday these soldiers were fine. I would go so far as to say that they were hearty even.

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  To see them fall like a corpse like that when I could see them so fine yesterday has affected me in a way that I do not understand. Let's just say that at this moment it is not only the soldiers who are suffering from a case of low morale. Still, I don't know how long I can stay away from that room. Delaying my work like this is dangerous.

  Well, speaking of the formation room reminds me, that I had managed to complete the quiver formation yesterday. It took me about half a week to do. When I have to inevitability activate the formation again, it will cut the mana requirement.

  Regardless, being active on the battlefield has certainly been more than helpful to me. People tend to forget that even formation mages tend to be humans. It is quite hard for us to spend days and weeks in a single location trying to craft the runes that we are trying to inscribe into a formation. I was going crazy down there.

  Well, it is not all bad news. The organization of the ice beasts has begun to falter finally. Some holes are being formed in the creature's ranks during the assault that Shamon has been using to cut through the enemy numbers. (Not much, but at least five of these creatures die in every encounter.) I have to admit that I have not been particularly skilled at finding all of these flaws myself. I do recognize a few but I certainly would not have been able to exploit them if I were in command.

  Part of the reason for this I have to assume is the fact that nobody is present among these beasts to lead them. Before the troop leaders would always be present at the edge of the battlefield leading these creatures. Now they are hidden among the rank and file. (How they expected to hide their presence when their absence would have such an obvious affect I don't know. Well it would not have been visible in the short term.)

  With that, I have completed much of my report today. The only thing that I have left is what I have learned from Shamon and his bunch of soldiers (people tend to forget that a mage has ears. One that can hear much of what you are speaking even if you are whispering across the room). I guess that I should begin to talk about the general situation that we are in. Most of what I have learned has come from the soldiers here most of whom are nothing more than farmers.

  The enemy that the snowwinders are facing is also called the snow tribe, I have learned. Most of the tales that I have heard are about the snowlords but there are stories about the tribe themselves as well.

  Based on what I have heard, the snow tribe is a tribe of bloodthirsty humans. They can survive in the northern wastelands with just their bare flesh. The creatures are supposed to come from the wastelands. That place is going to be even more extreme than this place. This place has been created from the man's that has spilled from the wastelands. Even the Snowwinders will freeze to death in the mana of that place.

  There is very little that is known about this land. I don't find out anything other than the fact that the mana that is flowing here is supposed to be very chaotic and so deadly that it makes the chill look like a party trick in comparison. The snowwinders call the place the truelands. As for the reason that they make their yearly raids down south, I would assume it is for resources. (Well, Shamon claims that it is for the blood of the warm-blooded soldiers but a man has got to recognize propaganda where he sees it.)

  The snowlords and their hordes are supposed to be the main vanguard of the snow tribe. The snow lords are supposed to be masters of manipulating the mana of this land. This is to the point where Shamon claims that they are also called storm bringers. Most of the snowstorms of this season are also the fault of the snowlords at least according to the soldiers. There might be an element of truth here, but it is mostly exaggeration.

  Other than that, the snowlords are supposed to have bodies that are equivalent to iron. As for the degree of this, I have heard a tale where an arrow shot into the eye of the snowlord got deformed after hitting his eye. The snowlord was even supposed to be unharmed after this. Well, features like this do tend to get quite exaggerated again. Well, I will still take it as the truth for now. Better to overestimate the enemy rather than underestimate them.

  Well, a particular ability of theirs that I find interesting is the ability to possess the body of their underlings. They can look through the eyes of the ice beasts. They also are supposed to be able to command these creatures remotely. Some of the soldiers even claim that the snowlords can forcefully possess the body of their creatures as well. (It is unlikely, possession like that requires rituals which the creatures certainly can't make.)

  While it does seem like a tall tale, I have to admit that possession would certainly explain quite a few things. It would certainly explain quite a few of the creature's behavior.

  It would certainly explain their oddly human behavior. It would also explain why the creatures seemed to be able to make such strategic decisions. It would also explain why the creatures seem to be shopping after me. The snowlords are studying me.

  That is one reason that I think that Shamon doesn't want to accept that the snowlords could be snooping on me. The snowlords terrify the man to the bone.

  Well, I still have to make the point that all of this is purely speculation on my side. While I am reasonably confident that the creatures can possess their underlings, I have to be ready for that to be wrong as well. I have read enough records to know that being completely sure about your speculation is the best way to get things wrong. I have seen enough people die to know that overconfidence can get you killed.

  Well, I am getting tired of maintaining this record. I will send in the next record when the damn troop leaders end up attacking. Until then, the only thing that I will have are complaints which will end up benefiting nobody, not even me.