I certainly hate being in this state. The period between when I have completed my plan and when I have to see it pan out on the battlefield. A thousand things going wrong in your head. A thousand things you want to tamper with.

  Well, I guess that I should explain what the trap does before I inevitably play my part in it. Our trap is going to begin with the southern gates falling. At least that is what it will look like as the soldiers have already loosened the hinges of the massive gate. With the iron skin withdrawn, it should be enough to cause the entire thing to collapse quite nicely in a while. At least that is what I hope but I can't say for certain until the thing does fall.

  From there we will have a troop of soldiers acting as bait (that is a group of ten soldiers, for your information.), slowly retreating until they reach the corridor that I have designated for this task. It is a tunnel connecting the armory to the soldier barracks. It is a surprisingly long and wide tunnel. I think that four soldiers will be able to fit in it side by side. This tunnel is something that is meant for when the fort gets breached. The armory would be the best place to turtle up against an enemy. That will help out the troop, if and should the plan fail. (By that I mean they will most probably die after me.)

  The ice beasts are significantly thinner so we are assuming that more of them will be able to fit. Even with that, it is going to be a tight fit. The soldiers are going to go from the barracks to the armory. In this, they will be trapping as many of the creatures as possible in the tunnels. If it goes well all of the damn creatures should be dead.

  What I want to do is make use of the water spears to cut the limbs of all these creatures. (I could try and kill them all, but Shamon has pointed out that the water spear might not be strong enough to pierce them all.) It has been a pain to set up the ballista and the quiver in the armory. Most of my earth mana reserves are consumed in the process of manifesting the ballista. Half of my created water spears will be consumed the moment the trap is activated.

  Ten spears from these were set up all through the tunnel to react to touch. These spears have been modified by me. To these water spears, I have added a few more runes to control their release. When a little pressure is applied to it, such as when a creature were to step on it. It will explode with enough strength to blow up the legs of any creature that is stepping on it. (well, I did try to make sure that the spell could retain its spear-like form, but I failed at that. This form of the spell is essentially an unstable mass of mana.). It is not even a formation so I know the things that can go very wrong. Spells are not meant to be modified like this. In the hands of most nonformation mages, it would explode. (I mean that is the point, but not on my face.) Even with a formation mage like me, who knows the structure of spells better than most, it is a gamble.

  The original plan was to cover the tunnel with spears like this, but it was taking too long to make and now we are following the present plan.

  The worst-case scenario is that all the spears will just fizzle out not doing anything to the creatures. If the creatures do not stop moving at the moment that I am aiming at them, a large number of them will dodge the barrage.

  As long as even five of these spears explode, the beasts will be forced to pause for a second. The moment the traps are set, I will come out and use the ballista to shoot the damn creature's legs off. The ballista is already set up on the other side inside the armory. I will be activating it using formation control the instant that the enemy has paused in the tunnel. I will also be doing the work of aiming for the ballista at that moment.

  After that, the soldiers acting as the bait will quickly take care of the delimbed creatures. Meanwhile, I will take care of any stragglers. That is the entirety of our plan, simple according to Shamon and too complicated according to me. Fuck, so many things can go wrong here.

  The other side could sense my presence while they enter the barracks, they could be smart enough to sense the spears in the tunnel, they could not all fit in the tunnel, formation control could fail at the last moment or one of the soldiers might end up stepping on the traps even with the red color I have painted on the walls next to the Spears to warn them (I don't even know why they had that paint.). Heck, the red color could end up warning the icebeasts of the Spear's location. The soldiers have assured me that this won't be happening though. The creatures are not supposed to see color that well.

  The spears could explode prematurely because the runes I put on the spell could not handle water mana.

  These are all thoughts running in my head, causing me to want to get up from my present position and recheck everything. With the gate about to collapse any second that is a risk that I am not willing to take. Still, being cramped like this is not nice. I can feel my leg cramp up due to the half-kneeling position I am forced to take. I cannot lie down unless I want to end up losing the ideal opportunity to cut the limbs of these bastards.

  I can feel the burning sensation in my leg as I try to hold my pretty weird position. I can pass mana through it to keep the burning at bay but that is not a risk I want to take. After all, if the creatures can sense it then it will stop them in their tracks. Right now I am like a spring fully coiled to take the correct position the moment the spears are triggered.

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  The problem here is that the room I am hiding in is the barracks of this fortress. The only things here are beds and chests. The cupboards are too small for me. The only thing I can do is crouch under the bed and hope that none of the creatures get curious about me. I hope that the creatures will ignore me in the frenzy of chasing the troop.

  I am finally relieved as the gates fall with a bang. (Don't get me started on that. It was a nightmare to make the southern gate fall. It was the hardest part of the entire trap. I would get into it but now is not the time for that.)

  I can feel my thoughts slow down as I enter into a state of focus. Things might go wrong here but thinking about that now is not helpful. Now is the time to act. Well, the soldiers should be already making their way here. It takes roughly one minute for the soldiers to make their way here from the Southern gate. (I am telling this based on the one test run of this that we have done. It is a very rough measure.)

  The only indicator of their presence would be their footsteps which will echo in this empty part of the fort. Almost like the clockwork, I can hear the soldiers running. I stop breathing and try to be as still as a statue. Now, I need to wait for the deformed spears to activate.

  This state seems to continue for an eternity as I try to will the beasts from noticing my position. Finally, the first of the deformed spears activates, resembling a flood of water mana in my mana sense. I wait for a second for the other spears to activate, which causes my heart to sink. I almost don't react as the remain set off a second later.

  I am jumping from my hiding place the second that it does occur. The scene in the tunnel is roughly what I expected it to be, as the ice beasts have stopped there for a confused second. The burst of water mana gives a bath to these creatures for the first time in their life. That is all I need as my mind kicks into overdrive looking for the best spots to strike the enemy.

  It does not even take a second as the spears fly true to their targets. It leaves a trail of carnage as many of the ice beast's limbs are ripped cleanly from their bodies. I might have missed a couple of them, but I will have to leave them be. The soldiers can handle the stragglers. According to the plan, I am supposed to shut the door.

  The reason for this presents itself as I remove my sword. As expected, not every beast had entered into the trap. Almost half a dozen ice beasts are in the room, taking position around me, with a couple still entering the room.

  It is a number that I will be able to manage if I don't end up making any major mistakes. Entering into a defensive stance I wait for the creatures to make the first move. There are too many here so much goal is not to be surrounded by the creatures. My present position next to the gate means that I won't be surprised from behind at least.

  One of the beasts is the first to make a move. The creature tries to swipe at me with one of its claws. I could have killed it instantly but that would mean that I would not be able to block it. It might not be able to induce a chill in me, but with seven of these creatures in the room, it is not a risk I want to take.

  I hit the creature with the flat of my blade, using all of the strength of the strike to push the creature backward. That gives me a moment as I look at the room. The chests are flimsy and will break quite easily. The beds though, give me an idea.

  Well, the creatures are also studying me. Finally, the creatures move into action, with three of the creatures acting as a vanguard who will charge at me. The remaining four will try to get behind me. These creatures tend to make pretty obvious plans at the very least. (Well, I have been studying them during the patrols so it seems quite obvious. A few weeks ago I might have been fooled by them.)

  I jump to the side, to the bed that is nearest to me. It is a bed meant for utility, with nothing other than a wooden frame and cushions that would work better at bashing somebody's head in. Anyway, with my full strength and quite a bit of my mana circulating, I kick the bed.

  My world goes blank for a moment as a wave of pain takes my every single thought. What the hell did they make it with? At the very least, the bed flew taking the four creatures with it. With that, their plan is ruined. (And so is my foot.)

  Shifting into a more offensive stance I turn to the icebeasts attacking me. I don't have long as I charge towards them. My leg feels as if somebody is hitting it with a hammer. My sword enters the creature's heart as I duck under it, sliding to the second wolf. This one is a bit more ready as it shifts its position as my sword hits one of its ribs.

  The force of my strike is enough to shatter its ribs. The sword still has struck something vital. I can feel the creature weaken even as I let go of my sword. My sword is stuck though, at least for the moment. I jump to the position of my final victim. Pooling mana into my arm I enter into a grappling stance. The creature's teeth pass me by inches as my arms wrap around its throat. The creature struggles for a few seconds as its spine snaps with a clear pop.

  With this, I let myself look at the four ice beasts struck by the bed, the creatures have already taken a defensive posture, getting ready to retreat. Their death trance has been overpowered by their survival instincts. So it is not as powerful as Shamon claims it to be.

  Well, I would not be worthy of my position as a mage if I were to let these creatures escape now. Freeing my sword from the corpse of the icebeast and pushing mana to my legs I jump towards the four creatures, which did not expect my burst of speed.

  I still struggle to make use of this particular spell, which the legion likes to call a dash. It is a simple martial spell, but it is hard to use effectively in a fight. If you get using it though. There is nothing more terrifying.

  Well, I won't bore you with the result as I am already in the process of gutting them. That is how I can tell that these creatures are the top predators in their environments. They don't even know how to run away from a stronger opponent. At the very least the pulsing in my toe has reduced somewhat. Honestly, what is that bed made up of?