Rhonin's words were incredibly eloquent, but the Blood Elves remained unmoved. However, one person was touched: Helen, who loved hearing heroic tales the most.
Rhonin's already epic experiences, exaggerated and embellished by bards, became one of the most widely circulated stories, Helen naturally admired him greatly.
"Lord Rhonin, may I join your Internal Affairs Inspection Group? I am willing to serve the cause of justice," Helen mustered her courage and stammered her request.
"This..." Rhonin turned to look at the shy girl, reluctant to refuse immediately, but he was looking for elites to assist him, not children who needed to be taken care of.
"What's the problem with that? Helen, of course you can study under Lord Rhonin. He is the greatest mage of this era, and you will definitely benefit greatly from it," Unas suddenly interjected.
He wasn't being sarcastic; Helen's father, Earl Ganis, visited his daughter every few days. Although he no longer forced her to return to the Monastery, it meant he was worried about her.
Dalaran currently free from many external threats and is a very safe place. Helen's trip there will bring many benefits: winning over Count Earl's heart, which is a task assigned by Tyrosus; serving as a liaison between Unas and Rhonin; and most importantly, thriving under Dalaran's systematic magical education.
Although she was very talented, and her spellcasting ability was already at the level of a mid-level mage, a mage's strength sometimes does not lie in whose Fireball is bigger or hotter, but in the reserve of knowledge. At such a young age, Helen was still only at the level of an apprentice in this regard.
There are frequent battles in Unas, which is not good for an immature girl. The Mage Corps losing one or two mid-level mages is not a big problem. After all, Helen is from Lordaeron. Once she has achieved something, she will definitely be helpful to the cause of eliminating the Undead.
"Oh dear! I forgot, I'm also supposed to be Lord Unas's magic advisor!" The impulsive girl suddenly remembered her duties. Actually, the Warden's magic advisor had always been Huoye; she was just a figurehead, so she didn't really have much of a presence.
"It's alright. For a mage, going to Dalaran is undoubtedly a dream. This city is still being rebuilt and needs more passionate young people like you. I hope you can become an Archmage and build your own tower in the future Dalaran."
Only Archmages are qualified to build Mage Towers in the city; it is a symbol of honor and power.
"Yes! I will definitely try my best to learn from Lord Rhonin!" Helen's enthusiasm was completely ignited.
Rhonin remained silent for a long time. He hadn't even agreed yet, and these two had already made their decision on their own, leaving him feeling somewhat trapped. "But I don't have any plans to take on apprentices at this stage. I don't believe I have the qualifications to teach others."
"Haha, don't joke around, Lord Rhonin. If the leader of Dalaran says he's not qualified to teach, how can he lead all the mages?" Unas taunted. "You try to steal my talent, I'll give you a treasure in return."
Looking into Helen's pleading eyes, Rhonin couldn't say no anymore. He could only say, "I don't take on apprentices, but if Miss Helen is willing to learn from me, all my knowledge will be open to you."
"Really? Yay! That's great, I can go to Dalaran!" Helen's childlike spirit burst forth, and she cheered involuntarily, completely oblivious to the disdain of the Blood Elf mages around her.
Rhonin pulled Unas aside. "Sir Knight, I need some capable men. You have plenty of talent here. Could you lend me Archmage Huoye?"
The council approved the establishment of the Inspection Squad, Rhonin wanted to recruit mages from outside the Dalaran system to maintain the organization's independence. Huoye was a perfect choice.
"I have no right to interfere with Mage Huoye's decision to stay or leave; he has complete freedom. However, there's no need to rush, sir. I'd like to recommend someone else to you; he's at the bottom of the lake, but it will take some time before I can hand him over."
Unas was referring to Drake, Gunsel's former assistant who had done him a great favor, practically saving his life, and he naturally wanted to repay the kindness.
Drake is just a low-level wild mage who was kidnapped by the Lich to be his assistant because of his great alchemy talent. If he can Dalaran and work under the Kirin Tor leader, a glorious future is not just a dream.
Hearing that Drake was just a wild mage, Rhonin was disappointed. "I need someone stronger."
"Excuse my bluntness, but if you want to build your own team, you should start from the basics. Strong people are usually not very obedient. Drake is someone you can fully trust and will definitely be a great help to you."
Rhonin thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. Having someone was better than having none, and he hoped to accept the Paladin's goodwill. He wanted to improve his relationship with the paladin.
"I wonder if Lord Unas would be willing to form an alliance with me, so that we can help each other in the future, just like in this incident." Rhonin was now representing himself, not Dalaran.
Unas was naturally more than happy to accept this; according to the game's storyline, it was only a matter of time before Rhonin gained real power over Dalaran.
"No problem, but I hope we can be more than just allies; I hope we can become good friends."
Afterwards Unas took Rhonin to inspect the research institute at the bottom of the lake and introduced Drake to him.
Upon hearing the prospect of becoming a member of the Kirin Tor and working under its leader, even the usually composed Drake was so excited he almost wanted to dance.
However, he still needed to help Rosebayne with her surgery, so he couldn't leave for the time being. After giving him a teleportation scroll, Rhonin left with Helen. They needed to go to the Monastery to meet Earl Ganis first; Rhonin couldn't just take someone else's daughter away without a word.
The Dalaran problem has finally come to a complete end. Of course, there is still a risk of further trouble. According to Rhonin, Modera has sent a group of professionals to the ruins of the Mage Tower, seemingly to search for something there.
Unas wondered if Modera was looking for the Ruby Ring. She was the one who received Merlin's warning, and the two must have a close relationship, so it was normal for her to know about the Ring's existence.
If I were Modera, I would also want to rummage through the ruins; maybe I could find this treasure.
It seems best not to use anything inside the gemstone Ring for a while, lest it give itself away and cause trouble.
This feeling of having a bunch of treasures but not being able to show them off is absolutely awful. If the Mage Corps were equipped with those top-tier Arcane Artifacts and magical artifacts from Merlin's collection, their combat power would immediately take a huge leap forward.
Nothing happened that night, but the next morning, some good or bad news arrived—one of the Little Red Dragon's eggs had hatched.