The sea was calm and still in the early morning, with soft sunlight dotting the gently rippling waves. In the shimmering golden light, it seemed as if someone was softly chanting a requiem.
Unas was born in an inland city, and he never imagined that he would see the ocean for the first time in Azeroth. The excitement he should have felt was overshadowed by a strange feeling.
The salty sea breeze was refreshing. The two ran along the beach for a while, and after confirming that no one was following them, Gordon led him to a cave at the foot of a cliff.
"Why is no one fishing?" Unas wondered. He hadn't seen a single person along the way. Food was scarce in the Monastery, but the sea was an inexhaustible Granary.
"After our navy was destroyed, an unfriendly Murloc Horde migrated to several small islands nearby. They took over the fishing grounds at this estuary, and we had no warships to drive them away at sea."
Unas recalled the raft they had ridden on at Lordamere Lake; if they had had warships, the vanguard wouldn't have lost seven men at once.
Gordon lit a torch and entered the cave, continuing, "At first, people came to the beach to fish, but after several disappearances, no one dared to come anymore. Playing guerrilla warfare with the Murloc at sea is suicide, so the Monastery has temporarily abandoned this coastline."
"You opportunistic scum," Unas cursed, catching up with Gordon. "We've been running along the beach for a while now. Do you think we might have been spotted by the Murloc?"
"If they dare come ashore, I'll turn them into Murloc." Gordon seemed to have forgotten he was supposed to be a monk; it wasn't appropriate for a monk to speak so cruelly.
The cave wasn't deep, and the two quickly reached the end. Gordon moved a large rock to block the way they had come from and lit several torches for illumination.
This was a relatively flat stone chamber, showing signs of human intervention everywhere. Unas couldn't help but ask, "Where is this place?"
"I don't know either. Maybe someone lived here before. I found it by chance." Gordon cleared a small patch of flat ground, then took out a small bottle of powder and began to draw patterns on the ground.
Unas watched quietly from the side. As time passed, the pattern gradually took shape. The main part was a five-pointed star, with some strange little patterns superimposed on each point. Runes of unknown meaning were written between the lines.
"This is the inheritance Magic Circle of the Fire Ring; you must remember it well," Gordon placed a red gem at each point of the pentagram, then held out his hand to Unas, "Give me the Ring."
The jet-black Ring was placed in the center of the Magic Circle. Following Gordon's instructions, Unas cut his finger, squeezed out a few drops of blood, and let the Ring stain his blood.
"Repeat after me, salamayayi..."
"Wait!" Unas interrupted him hastily, "I'm not ready yet."
The Dreadlord within him has been dormant for a long time, perhaps even asleep? But more likely, it is observing the outside world. It's best not to expose Gordon's family secret to the demon.
He channeled the wisps of Holy Power from between his brows to surround his heart, forming a sealed sphere that enveloped the entire heart. Unas wasn't sure if this would protect him from the demons' prying eyes; he was just seeking peace of mind.
After he finished, he nodded to Gordon then began reciting the incantation, which sounded like Elf.
Gordon said a sentence, Unas repeated it, accompanied by the awkward incantation, and the entire Magic Circle lit up.
The energy within the red gem flowed along the lines on the ground, eventually converging at the center of the Magic Circle, transforming the jet-black Fire Ring into a golden-red color, much like red-hot steel.
As the last syllable of the incantation ended, the golden-red Ring suddenly emitted a strong light and heat. Unas seemed to hear a clear cry, and the scene of blue sky, white clouds, and earth flashed before his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
Gordon's timely question startled him awake. Unas shook his head, dismissing the illusion. "I'm fine. Is the ritual complete?"
Gordon nodded and said, "Try wearing the Ring and see how it feels."
The Fire Ring on the ground turned back to its original black color, and the bloodstains on it disappeared completely. Unas picked up the treasure, tried it on to see the size, and found that only his middle finger fit perfectly.
He slipped the Ring onto the middle finger of his left hand, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He could vaguely feel an inexplicable connection forming between the Ring and himself.
He tried snapping his fingers, and a burst of sparks shot up from his hand. He quickly turned his head to dodge, and the flames turned into sparks and quickly disappeared into the air.
That was close! Luckily he dodged quickly, or his hair would have been on fire.
Gordon didn't blame him; instead, he seemed relieved. "Very good, it seems the inheritance ceremony was successful."
"I feel I can unleash an even stronger beam of fire." Unas's snap just now was merely a test.
"Right now, I don't expect you to unleash extremely intense flames. As you just saw, it's easy to burn yourself if you don't control it properly. My training for you is simply to enhance your control over flames. But before that," Gordon pointed to the pattern on the ground, "You need to memorize this inherited magic Magic Circle."
Unas crouched down and carefully examined the Magic Circle on the ground by the torchlight. The few patterns were easy to understand, but the densely packed runes of various sizes totaled over a hundred characters. Unless one was a genius with a photographic memory, how could one possibly memorize them all in a short time?
Gordon quickly cleared things up for him. "Take out my Libram; I've recorded all these runes in Libram."
It turns out that Gordon was also afraid of forgetting, so he scrambled these runes and mixed them into other spells. Even if someone who didn't know the secret obtained the Libram, it would be difficult for them to piece them together.
Unas took out the Libram, Gordon pointed it out to him one by one. The fragmented runes in the book corresponded to those on the Magic Circle. Now he only needed to remember the page number and line number of each incantation.
Under Gordon's supervision, Unas kept writing and drawing on the ground until he had the ability to complete the Magic Circle on his own according to the Libram.
This shorthand made Unas dizzy, but since it concerned the legacy of the Flame Knight, he couldn't afford to be careless.
Gordon picked up the five rubies, smoothed out all traces on the ground, and said, "My ancestors seemed to have had some unpleasantness with the High Elves when they created this Arcane Artifacts, so they left behind a precept—the ringholder must never allow this Ring to fall into the hands of the High Elves, not even to touch it! I hope you will also abide by this precept."
"Of course, the Elves will never be able to touch my left hand," Unas said sincerely. "If you no longer wish to be a monk, I can return it to you."
Gordon smiled calmly, took out his family heirloom sword from the sword box on his back, and brandished it a couple of times, saying, "And there's Firekiss. It's said that Ruby is one of the main materials used to forge it, so don't show it to Dragonflight, especially Red Dragons, to avoid attracting unnecessary attacks."
What is Ruby?
Gordon, accustomed to his lack of common sense, explained, "The Ruby is the essence that condenses in the throat of an adult Red Dragon; it's like the Red Dragon's second heart. Red Dragon that loses it will quickly weaken and die."
Regardless of how Gordon's ancestors obtained the Ruby, it was essentially trading the life of a Red Dragon for a weapon, and there's no doubt that the one who wields the Firekiss will incur the dragon's wrath.
Unas was very excited about the sword made from such precious materials and asked, "Then what are the effects of Firekiss?"
"Indestructible, the hardness of the Firekiss has reached its peak. Passed down through the ages and through countless battles, it remains flawless," Gordon gently stroked the smooth blade of the crystal sword, as if it were the hand of a lover. "Of course, it can also amplify the power of Fire Elemental. The destructive power of fire magic released through it will be increased by one to five times."
"Whether it's one or five depends on individual talent. If you want to know how talented you are, start practicing now," Gordon moved the boulder blocking his path. "The first step is to aim to control a flame the size of a fingertip..."
A sudden neighing interrupted him; it must have come from the horses tethered outside the cave. The two men exchanged a glance, and Gordon's lips curled into a cold smile, "Looks like we really do have uninvited guests!"