Next, for the sake of a Starflower for Yrel, Robbie and Ironfist struggled to drive off an Elite giant wolf corrupted by Fel, working up a stinking sweat.
As luck would have it, another faint cry for help reached them. To prove she hadn't been hearing things, Yrel quickly put away the Starflower and carefully followed the sound.
A fallen tree lay across a person's chest, leaving only his lower body visible. He seemed to be struggling to breathe, and his cries for help were growing fainter.
"This time, don't tell me I'm hearing things. There's someone right here," Yrel said loudly.
"Where?" Vanessa turned to ask Robbie. "Do you see anyone?"
"No."
Robbie shook his head firmly. "Ironfist, you didn't see anything either, did you? Yrel, you should see a doctor. Look at those big eyes of yours. They're so big, but there's no life in them, and your pupils have vanished."
"Draenei eyes are supposed to look like this," Yrel argued.
Vanessa had always been decisive, never wasting time. She turned and walked away.
Yrel stamped her foot but had no choice but to follow.
Looking at the adventurer under the tree, Robbie shook his head repeatedly. The idiot couldn't even pull off getting a tree to fall on him properly.
Robbie secretly lent a hand, shifting the tree so the man wouldn't actually be crushed to death. The man thanked him gratefully.
After catching up with Vanessa, Robbie asked in a low voice:
"That guy was dual-wielding replica Demon Strikes and wearing a full replica Thorn Assassin set. He had sharp eyes and large knuckles. He should be pretty strong, right?"
"He's decent, but he has a talent called Underwear Thief. I don't like it," Vanessa said.
"If he's an underwear thief, then we definitely can't take him."
"There's something I should add." Vanessa smiled brightly. "He only steals men's underwear."
"What a pervert. Then we definitely can't take him." Robbie shuddered. If he'd known, he wouldn't have saved him.
Yrel was getting more and more outrageous. She deliberately lured over a large pack of forest wolves, and Robbie and Delvar Ironfist hurried to take aggro. They were half dead by the time they wiped out the pack. Then the two of them glared at Yrel as she leisurely skinned the wolves.
Another fallen tree lay on the ground, with a middle-aged man sleeping on it.
Vanessa took a close look and narrowed her eyes. "Heh, we're in luck. We actually ran into this idiot, Weldon Barov."
Robbie sized Weldon up. The man was properly dressed and looked neat and tidy, but he was desperately poor. The only piece of equipment he had was a white-quality dagger.
"The Barov Family has fallen on hard times, but surely not this hard," Robbie said quietly.
"Who knows?" Vanessa pondered. "I heard Med'an recruited Alexi Barov as a follower. I wonder if he had his eye on the Barov Family's fortune."
"Does their family's fortune even count anymore?"
Vanessa said mysteriously, "Hard to say. Everyone knows the Barov Family was wrongly accused. Maybe one day they'll get an explanation." She took out a follower contract, made a few changes, and handed it to Robbie:
"Robbie, get this idiot's fingerprint on it."
Robbie skimmed it. The new clause stated that all Barov Family wealth owned by Weldon Barov, whether past, present, or future, in parallel worlds or other universes, was to be controlled by Commander Vanessa.
Surprisingly, the contract already bore Weldon Barov's signature. All it needed was his fingerprint.
W-would this work?
The two Barov brothers had already cast aside their brotherly bond and become bitter enemies, fighting to the death over title deeds that had long since become worthless.
This was more important to them than their lives. There was no way he would agree.
Robbie scratched his head and thought it over. It seemed he could only resort to force.
"Lumberjacks, there's wood to chop over here."
Several burly lumberjacks came rushing out of the woods, kicked Barov off the tree, and started chopping.
Weldon Barov woke with a start. Robbie rushed forward and, while he was still groggy and dazed, grabbed his hand and pressed his fingerprint onto the contract. Done.
"Good, good. Weldon Barov, congratulations. From now on, we're colleagues. Let me introduce myself. I'm Robbie Capor, also known as Defiler Kapol."
"I'd like to..."
"If you have any questions, let's discuss them back at the garrison."
"I mean..."
"Ha, look, it's getting late. The wine at the garrison inn is quite good," Robbie said, pointing at the sun, which had yet to reach its zenith.
Weldon Barov stared at Robbie and pleaded, "Could you give me something to eat? I haven't eaten in three days."
Robbie took out some bread and dried meat and handed them to him, along with half a bottle of wine. Watching Weldon Barov wolf down the food, he asked curiously:
"What happened to you? Were you robbed?"
Yrel and Ironfist came over too. Seeing so many people watching, Weldon ate even faster, afraid someone might snatch his food. After quite a while, he said:
"I'm the last living member of the Barov Family. I heard the Alliance and the Horde were fighting the Iron Horde, so I wondered if I could pass through Draenor and enter Azeroth as it was thirty-five years ago. The Barov Family was at its peak then. They could spare enough to feed me."
"That's quite an imagination. Very creative thinking. Go on," Robbie urged from the side.
"As luck would have it, I ran into my younger brother, Alexi Barov, in Draenor. Somehow that bastard had struck it rich. He was wearing a replica Darkmantle set and wielding Rend's twin blades. I sneaked up on him, used Sap, stripped his equipment, and chopped down a tree to pin him under it. But the bastard turned his misfortune into a blessing. A Horde commander carrying a Legendary staff happened to pass by and recruited him as a follower. I thought, since we're brothers, my luck shouldn't be much worse. So I came to Shadowmoon Valley and chopped down a tree to pin myself under..."
"And you ended up being robbed of everything."
Robbie laughed inwardly. The guy really was an idiot.
Beside them, Yrel was already laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
Weldon whispered to Robbie, "Does our commander have an orange weapon?"
"You think Legendary weapons grow on trees?"
Weldon stole a glance at Vanessa, disappointment written all over his face. He shook his head and muttered, "There are only three Legendary caster weapons, and they all have owners already. Sigh..."
This idiot really didn't understand the rules of the workplace. Vanessa's face was expressionless, but she was surely disgusted with him. Robbie was eager to send him away before he got himself into trouble by saying the wrong thing.
"Weldon, here's the address of our garrison. Hurry back and report in."
"Could you let me see the contract?"
There were two copies of the contract. Robbie shoved one into his hand, then signaled to Yrel and Ironfist and quickly left with Vanessa.
Before long, a pig-like squeal rang out from the woods.
Yrel continued wandering around, gathering herbs, mining, skinning, and getting her teammates into trouble.
Robbie was still catching his breath when he suddenly sensed someone behind him.
He looked back and saw Weldon following them in Stealth.
"What are you doing? Are you unhappy with the contract and planning to take revenge on the commander?"
Weldon shook his head. "I've thought it through. Our commander dared to alter a follower contract without permission and forge a signature. She must be someone important who's not afraid of me filing an appeal, at least a duke's daughter. Alexi's commander only has a Legendary weapon. These days, no matter how powerful your equipment is, it can't compare to power and influence. Having someone like that backing me isn't so bad."
Unexpectedly, this guy could be quite clever at times.
"In that case, why haven't you gone back to the garrison?"
"I... can't find my way," Weldon said quietly.
Vanessa pressed a hand to her forehead and said regretfully, "I made a mistake. I misjudged him. This idiot has no sense of direction."
Although he was a naturally purple-quality, powerful follower with excellent talents, his lack of direction meant he couldn't do missions alone, greatly limiting his development.
"Just follow us. We'll hire a Gryphon when we reach Embaari Village!"
Vanessa gave the order.
Then Robbie noticed another of Weldon's flaws: he stayed in Stealth the entire time he followed them.
Vanessa whispered to Robbie, "An occupational habit of rogues. Just ignore him."
Weldon's equipment was as good as nonexistent, so he couldn't be much help. They let him keep following without showing himself.
After traveling for most of the day, they only made it halfway, to a hunter's camp. Robbie and Ironfist were exhausted, but little-hooved Yrel was delighted, saying she'd gathered more than she usually did in a month.
Quite a few local Draenei greeted Yrel. They saw several friends accompanying her, all wearing splendid equipment, the men handsome and the women beautiful. At a glance, they were clearly no ordinary people. So they all praised Yrel for making something of herself, saying a golden Naaru had come out of Embaari Village.
Robbie thought about it. It was probably much like saying a golden phoenix had flown out of a mountain village.
Yrel was so happy she couldn't stop smiling.
A merchant named Mami also pressed Yrel to repay a debt. Yrel had been about to run, but Robbie saw it wasn't much, only a few dozen copper coins, and paid it for her.
He hadn't expected his meddling to cause trouble.
They had planned to rest briefly before setting off, but Yrel refused to move. With the help of the locals, she actually set up a stall on the spot to sell ore, herbs, leather, and the like.
"Isn't there an auction house?"
"Are you stupid? The auction house charges a fee." Yrel shot Robbie a glare.
Robbie's face darkened. He regretted it terribly.
Vanessa, on the other hand, didn't mind at all. Her expression remained indifferent.
Seeing that Yrel wouldn't finish selling everything anytime soon, Robbie discussed pitching a tent and resting with Vanessa.
Just then, a party of four came over. Their leader was a Dwarf Warrior. When he saw that Vanessa was a young human Priest, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Bounty: Ku'rat's Fangs. We're still short a healer. Human Priest, interested in joining?"
Vanessa tilted her head, unsure how to respond.
In her experience, a bounty quest could be completed alone, so why did they need a party? Seeing this, Robbie hurriedly stepped forward:
"My commander just accepted an escort quest. Sorry."
Yrel chimed in from the side, "It's fine. Go ahead and do your thing. Don't worry about me."
Vanessa tugged on Robbie's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Agree. I want to become the strongest Priest in Lunarfall."
The Dwarf Warrior said, "Don't worry. Our party is very strong. We're all commanders from Lunarfall Camp."
Robbie looked at the other three: a Worgen Druid, an elf hunter, and a Gnome rogue.
"Are you four together?" Robbie asked.
The Dwarf Warrior shook his head. "No, we just formed a party. It's only a small quest."
"Please wait a moment. Let me discuss it with my commander."
Robbie pulled Vanessa aside and said quietly, "There's something strange about those four."
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "Is that so? Tell me."