Well, I have to admit that I have been given a pretty interesting challenge here. First I guess that I should speak about the place that I am defending. The fire altar is supposed to be one of the most protected regions in the inner keep.

  I might be the only person of the black mountain that has been given such access to this place. Even that is mainly because I am the only person that will be able to defend this place.

  It is supposed to be the place in which they are supposed to bury their ancestors. It is also the place where they come to worship their ancestors.

  I would say that they have not spared any money in the defense of this place. Just a mana-isolating barrier would have a cost equal to the mayfire castle. Right now the problem is that formations can't be made inside the fire altar.

  The mana isolation barrier would make the maintenance of said formations a pain in the ass. These formations would have to be taken out of the fire altar every time that they need to be maintained. Also, you can never tell how these formations would behave inside the barrier.

  That is why all the formations defending the place have been concentrated outside the fire altar, in the paths to this place. The fire altar is a place that is pretty easy to defend, all things considered. It was built with defense in mind after all.

  There are only three ways in and out of the place. One is the main tunnel to the place. It is the largest tunnel to the fire altar and is only meant to be used to enter the crypts of this place.

  There are three barriers, in this path. While they are not as strong as the barrier in the fire altar. They are certainly capable of holding against a few assaults. I would like to activate them to test out how strong they are, but that would tip off the enemies. Still, they should be able to last a decent time against the enemy. At least that is the hope.

  The most important defense in the area is a class nine formation, a little spell called fire vines. It is laced throughout the tunnel, activated whenever I want it. It will conjure vines made of fire, that will wrap around a person and burn them to death. I don't know how successful that will be against the vampires, but it will still work well to bind them.

  It is a simple spell, but one that I can see myself using in many ways. It is a good spell that could work well in synergy with the traps in the area. I don't want to speak of these traps or my ideas yet. You never know who is intercepting these things.

  Incidentally, this is the path through which we have entered into the fire altar. This means that the formations are pretty well hidden. Though if I was actively looking for them I would have found them.

  The next point of entry is the servant's tunnel. There are no magical defenses because it is meant for servants to use. Thus the place can only be defended in a fashion.

  The servant tunnel is narrow and there is barely enough place for one person to move through the place. While it does open up into the fire altar, the room is separate from the actual location and easily held. The person holding the room will be able to hold against an army trying to break through. The only problem is that it will be a problem to defend the area should this room be lost.

  It is the third tunnel though that is the main problem right now. They call it the path. Based on their explanation, it is some kind of ceremonial path that is taken only when a person in their family has died.

  Due to its ceremonial nature, there are no defenses present here. The only thing that is present is a set of alarms that will do little to inform me that we are being infiltrated.

  The main problem with this path is that, unlike the servant tunnel, this opens up right into the crypt. As you can guess, that is a pretty risky place to hold against the enemy. If they somehow manage to take the crypt then they take the main tunnel pretty easily as well. If that were to happen, we won't be able to hold against the enemy for long.

  Another problem is that I can't station any soldiers in that tunnel. The only time that you are supposed to enter that tunnel is when somebody in your family is dead. I could maybe threaten a few of the soldiers to enter the place should things get bad. Until then the only option that I have left is to station soldiers at the crypt. Even that is something that the people here are very superstitious about.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The only benefit of this path is that it is supposed to be hidden. If the enemy were to look for it, they would find it eventually though.

  Well, I am pretty sure that I will be able to manage something about it. At least the people assigned to me this time are strong. I don't need to worry about actually joining the battle when somebody inevitably attacks us. I can focus purely on my work.

  In terms of manpower, I have been assigned all the young elite of the Mayfire family. There are about thirty people who are at my level of mana (they are my age too). Their combat strength is nothing worth writing about though. Their magic is too costly for them to sustain it for long and another problem is that they have not seen much of combat.

  There are about five or six people with mana beyond me. They should have a combat capability that is approaching my level. Among them though, I have to keep an eye out for two people especially.

  The first is Alfred Mayfire. The man is supposed to be the strongest in this generation of the Mayfire family. He is supposed to be a genius at flame conjuration, which is the art that these people are the strongest in.

  His placement during the battle is going to be vital. I am not too worried about the man himself though. Alfred Mayfire is somebody that we have quite a bit of information on. In terms of combat capabilities, he is somebody that can be considered to be quite elite even in the legion.

  I am sure that the man would beat me if I were to try and fight him. Not that he will be able to kill me that easily though.

  It is the second person that I am worried about. Her name is Amelia Mayfire. She is also supposed to be a genius at flame conjuration. However, her variety of conjuration is something that we do not have a lot of ideas about. They say that she can summon weapons made up of flames.

  Based on our interactions with the mayfires, we know that she is supposed to be a close contender for the position of the young master. The only thing is we do not know whether it is because of her strength or because of the politics of this family.

  She is an unknown variable in all of this. Right now, I am wondering if I can challenge her to a fight. It would give me the best idea of her combat capability. The only problem is that the mayfires are a willful bunch. Victory could mean that my command over these people will become tenuous. These are a proud bunch and I am an outsider here.

  If I were to lose, this lady might not be willing to listen to my commands. As I said, these are a proud bunch. I might still challenge her, but I am going to have to think about it a bit more.

  It is not like I am free at the moment anyway. I have to check up on the formations and make sure that nothing is at risk of failing in the heat of the moment. After all, with the patriarch still here, the necromancer and the vampires are pretty unlikely to attack us. The man is planning to attack after about a week.

  Any maintenance work or any repair work has to be done now in this week. That is why I am right now back in the main tunnel, steadily going through the formations in the place.

  I am also going to be modifying a few of the formations. I won't say anything about it though.

  I have a troop of seven soldiers with me here right now. I have to say that they are well-trained at the very least. They keep an eye on the exit to this tunnel, In a cool and disciplined manner. Well, better that I don't form an opinion here. Things like discipline are only understood when you enter into the heat of things. Any assumptions made now would be wrong only.

  I guess with that I should start recording the enemies that we might be facing here. Again I don't know who or what will be fighting us

  I assume that we will be mainly fighting the vampires. The necromancers could attack, but that would leave their homes unguarded. Overall, it would be pretty stupid.

  Anyway, There is no use thinking about them since I have no idea about their strength. They are going to be an unplanned variable always. I have faced a few necromancers in my time with Legion. I can guess their ability based on that, maybe. They feel much stronger than the few necromancers we have hunted though.

  If it is the vampires, at least I have an idea of who could be attacking me. With the people assigned to me and the defenses in this place, I am worried about only six people in the Bloodfire gang.

  Of these six, only three are in the inner keep with me. The archer is busy holding off the guard corps from attacking them. So there is no way he will come in here. The demon is dead, beyond a doubt. I have to assume that the hunter is dead as well though even if survived he is no state to fight.

  The remaining three that I need to worry about are the two remaining captains and the mysterious leader of the Bloodfire gang. Surprisingly, the person that I am worried about the least right now is the warrior. Based on what I have learned about the man, he is good at direct confrontation only.

  In the narrow tunnels of the inner keep the man will struggle to show any of his capabilities. Still, I think that it would be wise not to underestimate him. After you never know what bag of tricks a vampire can have.

  Still, I am more worried about the snake. The man is variable in this situation. I honestly don't know how effective the man would be if he were to attack now.

  Yet it is the master of these two that worries me the most. How am I supposed to fight a man that even the black mountain could not get any information on? I am sure that the man is formidable. Vampires are not the variety to allow themselves to be pushed around like this. They will only follow the strong.

  Well, I am not doing myself any favors by recording it now, am I? If anything I am just working myself into a panic.