I really should not be recording right now. If anything I should be meditating right now, making sure that I am at the peak of my performance.

  After all, I have to go on the winter loop tomorrow. Leaving is going to be a bit easier since only me and cloak are travelling tomorrow. (And climbing down a mountain is just falling if you are strong enough.)

  Even I don't know why I have started recording right now. I am supposed to be studying the rules of the winter loop, but there are only so many times that you can read the rules. All in all, it is a pretty simple contest.

  Now that I have gotten the thing started, I might as well start it for something a bit more useful. Let me speak about the blood tribe today.

  The Blood tribe is pretty interesting. The first reason for that is Cloak. The man is scared of them. He tries to hide it, but he doesn't do a very good job of it.

  Even how the man speaks about them to me is very different. How do I put it better, the man is very careful in how he presents the information of the other tribes. He is very careful in only providing me with the surface-level information of the other tribes.

  The kind of information that would make it easy for us to work with the tribe. It is not enough for us to exploit it though. (I will have to admit that getting it up front like this is still very weird.)

  With the blood tribe, the man is very open about them. He speaks everything that he knows about them. The only time anybody gets that open with us is when they are speaking about their enemy. Not that he knows a lot about this tribe. I have learned more useful information from just observing their city.

  Well, right now I am in the capital city of the blood tribe. Translated the name of the place means "bloody city". That is what I will be calling the place for now. (I have tried to pronounce its name many times. It is impossible.)

  Simply put this place is a fort in disguise. They put their utmost effort in trying to hide it but I am a formation mage. A majority of my master's work is related to forts and defensive structures. It would be embarrassing if I were not able to tell.

  The first thing that tips you off is the location of the place. It is located in a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. It makes this place almost impossible to scale, especially if you are here in large numbers. There is certainly no chance that they will be able to bring any war machines here.

  As if that wasn't enough, you can look at the shape of the city itself. It has a ring-like structure divided into three rough rings, with the housing of the people present at the very center in the innermost ring.

  The houses are clustered together in the center of the town. I have not been allowed to check this place out, but the little I got to see is enough for me to tell that the place is well organized. It is made up of the same kind of rock as the black tower so it is very durable as well.

  Somewhere in this ring, they should have a grain store and a source of water hidden too. Not that I will be able to find its precise location. Not that I am going to. That would piss off our hosts. I certainly won't take that risk, especially on the last day of staying here.

  Surrounding the houses is the middle ring. The less important things that you need in the city, (like their markets, their shops and their barracks) are here. This ring of shops and markets acts as a barrier for any invading army.

  All of these markets and shops are arranged in such a chaotic manner that any invading force would essentially come to a standstill in this place. It has been built with guerilla warfare in mind.

  Finally, surrounding these two layers of the city is a final ring of farms. I am sure that they are not lying about the place being a farm but it is also the truth that it serves a defensive purpose. I am sure that the large "channels" that they have dug in the ground are not only meant to water their crops.

  Well, it could be true but the "channels" could be flooded quite easily to make them into moats. Even their source of water is very well guarded. It is somewhere under the ground is all that I have managed to figure out about this.

  They also must have strong defenses under the ground. These people are supposed to have very extensive mines below the ground. I can't claim that I have a strong idea about how their defenses are below the ground.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  All of this makes me conclude very easily that this place is meant to be a fort and that these people are more than ready for a fight. My only question is why? I have seen such defensive fortifications only in the plain of forts. There you can be attacked any hour of any day.

  The people here don't need to worry about anything like that. I can't imagine this place being attacked by anybody. Just the mountain would convince half of the people coming here to stop their attack and the climb would convince the other half. These people have defenses ready as if the enemy will attack them today.

  Well, that is all that I have observed in my week here. Now, I will record what Cloak has told me about the blood tribe. Well, as I told you before the man doesn't know much about the tribe so it is not particularly long.

  The blood tribe is something of an anomaly in the council. They don't need to be in the council, exactly. It won't particularly hurt these people if they are kicked out of the council tomorrow. (I don't think most people will even know that they have been kicked out.) The other tribes in the council all have something that they trade that is vital to the other tribes.

  The beast tribe are the merchants facilitating deals between all the tribes. The spear tribe acts as guards protecting the many sledders going to and fro through the truelands. The tattoo tribe provides many things, the chief of which is the sledder. Finally, the wolf tribe acts as mercenaries for hire for all the lower tribes and the other tribes.

  This all means that all the tribes of the council have a certain degree of interdependence. Harming the other side would end up harming yourself to a certain degree as well. The blood tribe has nothing like that. The only thing that they have in terms of trade is their black rock.

  The black rock is one of the only materials in the truelands that can survive a storm here. That is why it is desired by all the tribes.

  Due to that, it is one of the most popular materials to construct your houses and forts from. The blood tribe is the master of carving, shaping and procuring this black rock.

  Other than that, the blood tribe keeps to themselves. This is to the point that it is supposed to be impossible to see a blood tribe member outside of the bloody city. Most of the time, they don't even tend to visit the council meetings. The only reason that they did this time was due to my master it seems.

  They are also extremely self-reliant, rarely needing to trade with people outside of their tribe. That is another thing that is weird about them. They have an extremely negative view of the other tribes. Most of their encounters end up in conflicts with the other tribes. The reason for this hostility, I don't know. There is a limit to how open Cloak is willing to be, even about the blood tribe.

  (After an hour.)

  "You should be wary, child of the legion.", the voice behind me speaks.

  I guess that I should act surprised, but the man has been studying me for a while now. I quickly turn and I find the representative of the blood tribe behind me.

  "What should I be wary of? I am among allies here, aren't I.", I speak, the challenge in my voice clear.

  "Well, that is true but you seem to be a kid with a good head. You certainly would not like to piss off your only allies now.", he replies, his voice steely calm. "do you think we would not notice how you have been studying our city as if you mean to attack it tomorrow."

  "I am of the black mountain, we study anything and everything.", I reply. I am not too worried about it. If they meant to kill me I would be dead right now. "Unless you mean to kill me for it. I will stop myself barely then."

  "We stay true to our word, kid. We have guaranteed your safety.", he replies. "Anyways, if you need to worry about getting killed by somebody. I would suggest you be wary of Cloak."

  "He has had many opportunities to kill me, lord. I certainly trust him more than your people.", I speak.

  "Well, that is because he has use with your master. We are the only allies of yours that know what we are dealing with though.", he speaks. "Cloak plays a dangerous game. He underestimates what the tattoo tribe will be willing to do. This gambit of his will fail."

  "Well, it is the safest option among many dangerous options according to him.", I reply. "The laws of the winter loop prevent them from trying to get me killed. "

  "Well, that is a truth. It is not the complete truth. The tattoo tribe will try to kill you, however possible. You have hurt their egos. They are the tribe in the council with the least respect for the council. Even we are not as crazy as them on that front. The duel has restricted their chances, but they will try something", he speaks. "You are the disciple of the great wolf. I am sure that this warning should be enough for you to make your preparations."

  "Why are you willing to help me, though.", I ask. "This can't be just because my master has promised you a formation. I have to assume that you have taken quite a bit of risk by sheltering me here."

  "Well, we are taking quite a risk granting you shelter, kid. Let's not speak about it anymore. After all, your master will compensate us for it. Anyway, we need to remind the other four tribes of just how powerful we can be. The bloody city is always ready for war.", he speaks. "I have done my work, kid. My duty was to warn you and let you prepare mentally for the battle. I have done that."

  "Well, what has my master promised you?", I ask the man, as he turns to leave the room.

  "Well, your curiosity can get you killed, lad? That is between your master and us. If he has not told you, he must have his reasons", he speaks.

  "I am sure that you can give me a hint at least.", I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

  "Well, let's just say that the man is providing us with an escape route.", he replies.

  "From what?", I ask.

  "Well, that answer wasn't meant for you, kid. The men who would be reading this log of yours would have understood it.", he replies. "As for you, ask your master, not us."