The gentle sun peeked out from behind the mountains, and the cool, fresh air was invigorating. Early in the morning, Unas led his guards to the training ground for a run. The young men shouted slogans with high spirits, not caring at all about disturbing the sleep of others.
As the new day began, after finishing his morning exercises, Unas had Raphael lead his personal guards in continued drills, while he himself went to the gate of the stronghold to personally escort the logging team out. He assured the workers that he would ensure their safe work and safe return home, and of course, he wanted to show them how much he valued them on the first day.
The Druids had already marked several areas on the map where logging could take place. Unas and a team of soldiers led the logging team to a nearby location, only to discover that Oakleaf had even sent Nightmoon to make a familiar crescent mark on the bark of each tree.
Seeing how much effort the Druids had put into this, Unas immediately issued a strict order forbidding indiscriminate logging, after all, Master Oakleaf was the last person they should offend.
One by one, the dead trees were sawed down, loaded onto carts, and hauled back to the stronghold by obedient Orcs. Finally, they were shredded into sawdust to be used as substrate for growing wood mushrooms.
Unas, Unas took on the role of overseer, responsible for escorting the fully loaded wagons back to camp. During a rest stop, he called over a seemingly clever Orcs and asked, "What's your name? Which clan are you from, Warsong Clan or Frostwolf Clan?"
Warsong Clan and Frostwolf Clan are two well-known clans among the Orcs. In the earliest two battlefields in the game— Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley — the Alliance fought against them respectively.
The emaciated Orcs shrank back in fear, head bowed, avoiding Unas's eyes, and stammered in awkward Common, "Carlos, Stone... Stone Black."
"It must be the Blackrock Clan," Unas said, pointing to a few Orcs around him. "What about the others? Are they all like you?"
"Yes, we are all Lord Naj'entus's servants."
Naj'entus must be one of those seventeen Orcs Warriors who refused to do hard labor. Unas provoked, "I heard that you all have to share the food you get from your hard work with him. That doesn't seem fair, does it? He just sits in his cage all day doing nothing."
"Lord Naj'entus didn't do nothing; without his protection, our food would have been stolen Orcs other orc clans."
So that's how it is. The Orcs aren't a monolithic group. Unas had previously considered executing all the useless Orcs Warriors, but now it seems that this simple and brutal method would likely cause the peons, without a check on them, to turn on each other and kill one another.
Unas wanted to tell them to pledge allegiance to him and that he would protect them, but then he thought, why should these Orcs trust a human who enslaved them? So he said nothing more, got up, cracked his whip, and urged them to hurry on their way.
The steep, zigzag slope in front of the stronghold was a major obstacle. The Orcs tried their best, but the fully loaded wagons could only move forward at a snail's pace. Unas had to cast Blessing of Might he had just learned on them before the wagons were finally pushed up the hill in one go.
As soon as he reached the gate, a soldier rushed towards Unas, "Warden, a female Priest who arrived at the stronghold this morning wishes to see you."
Natasha has finally appeared! Unas hurriedly handed over the task of escorting the Orcs to the captain of the gate guards and told the messenger to hurry up and lead the way, as this was the time when the Shadow Priests were needed.
A female Priest in a white robe waited at the entrance of the military camp. Two strands of her brown hair fell from her neck. A large hood and mask covered most of her face, revealing only her deep, dark eyes.
Unas quickly led her into the main tent, dismissed the guards, and asked, "Natasha?"
"It's me." Even through the veil, the Priest's voice remained clear and crisp.
"Great, you've come at just the right time. I have two favors to ask you."
Natasha nodded, Unas continued, "First, there's a kid in my personal guard named Evan who's a bit loose-lipped. I'd like you to make him a tight-lipped person."
Unas explained Evan's betrayal of Holiya to her, and the Priest's voice turned cold. "Leave this traitor to me. I'll make him a happy idiot."
"There's no need to be so ruthless. Erasing a portion of his memories will suffice, and we can put that aside for now," Unas didn't want to push things too far. "The second matter is the most urgent. I need you to control the mind of an Undead Mage, and even break through a Lich's memory protection. Can you do that?"
"It's very difficult," Natasha frowned. "Take me to see that Undead Mage."
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Unas ordered a horse to be prepared for Natasha, and the two quickly arrived at the cave where the Undead Mage was. Fortunately, Haikesi hadn't gone out to wander around. Unas ordered him to take the Overlord Spiders out to guard the cave. The Troll a little surprised to see a strange female Priest, but he didn't dare to ask any questions and obediently rolled out of the cave.
Without a word, Natasha cradled the Undead Mage's head in her hands, forehead to forehead. Black flames began to dance around the Priest, quickly turning her into a pure black shadow.
This was a transformation into Shadowform, and dense incantations began to echo in the cave. Perhaps with a hypnotic effect, Unas found himself drowsy.
After an unknown amount of time, a sudden flash of black light appeared, and Natasha groaned as she forcefully threw her head to the ground. She then staggered a few steps, clutching her forehead, and nearly collapsed.
Upon seeing this, Unas immediately snapped out of his daze and rushed forward to support the Priest's waist. "Are you alright?"
Natasha steadied herself, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes Meditation before letting out a sigh of relief. "I failed."
Unas picked up the head and saw that the Undead Mage's eyes were closed and his face was slack, as if he had fallen into a coma. "How did it fail? Did you fail to control him or failed to break through his memories?"
"We failed together. His spirit is very strong. My 'Mind Control' could only control him for a short time. I wanted to use this time to break the memory seal with him, but the Lich's spell was exceptionally powerful, and the backlash injured us all."
"I understand, you should get some rest." Unas was extremely disappointed, but at the same time, he felt a sense of fear towards the Lich behind the Undead Mage. It seemed that he had offended an enemy he shouldn't have. Should he destroy the evidence and burn the Overlord Spider and the Undead Mage together? He immediately dismissed the idea. No matter how he tried to escape, offending this Lich was a foregone conclusion. He might as well think about how to deal with it head-on.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you. I can try again once I've recovered." Natasha actually apologized; perhaps it was due to her mental exhaustion?
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Unas raised his hand to cast a few Holy Light on her, but Natasha quickly stopped him, saying, "I'm in Shadow form; Holy Light won't work on me."
He patted his forehead and gave a wry smile, "The Blessing of Kings shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Please do as you wish." Natasha closed her eyes again and entered a Meditation state once more.