Merith Winterwind and the Sunwell

The people of Stromgarde have been very excited lately.

Those legendary elves are scurrying all over the city, searching for children and youths with magical talent.

Aside from the Nightborne, who look very different in appearance, humans can't tell whether the elves before them are Highborne or High Elves. They only know that these elves seem to have come from that miraculous city in the sky, and rumor has it that their leader is a divine emissary sent to the mortal world by a god. As for why this emissary prefers to appear before the world in human form, no one knows.

But even the elves are quite confused. They've now learned that Hu Feng's appearance has always been that of this newborn race—humans.

Meanwhile, across the Arathor Empire, the Emperor's decree has been issued. All legions have entered a state of readiness, preparing for war. At a single command, humanity's vast army will march north to support the High Elf kingdom of Quel'Thalas and fight the trolls.

Hu Feng is now looking at the extremely nervous young man before him. This youth is the most talented magical prodigy discovered so far.

"Don't be nervous, I don't bite~" Hu Feng said with a smile, patting the boy's thin shoulder. The latter immediately straightened up. "What's your name?"

"Merith, sir. I... I'm Merith. Merith Winterwind." The boy struggled to calm himself.

"Good. Then, Merith, would you like to learn magic from me?"

Merith was even more excited now. "I would! Sir! I would!"

Hu Feng nodded with satisfaction. He could feel the vast, innate magical circuits and resilient spirit within Merith—this was a genius born for magic.

"Then, Merith, what kind of magic do you want to learn?" Hu Feng continued to ask.

Merith clenched his fist and thought for a long time, then looked up at Hu Feng. "I want to learn powerful magic—magic that can protect myself and my country!"

And so Merith became Hu Feng's first magic apprentice. This made all the elves envious and jealous. Learning magic from the God of Magic's own emissary—what incredible luck! What kind of talent did this human boy have, that the emissary himself had taken a liking to him? Emperor Thoradin was even more delighted. The Magic Emissary was personally teaching a human boy!

Soon, the Emperor's royal decree followed. Merith rose from a commoner to the youngest viscount in the Arathor Empire, also serving as the Royal Court Archmage. Though he had no fiefdom, he still became an idol admired by countless commoners.

And Merith did not disappoint Hu Feng. He displayed unparalleled learning talent. Even Elisande admitted that such talent was rare even among elves.

Hu Feng's teaching was comprehensive and brutal. Every day, Merith was either buried in various magical theories or sent into the wilderness alone to hunt beasts, kobolds, and murlocs. Covered in wounds, Merith would drag his broken staff back to Stromgarde, a floating pile of strange creature heads trailing behind him. By now, everyone was used to this scene. The elves privately remarked that Hu Feng's teaching methods were truly peculiar. But they had to admit—this method was the most effective and fastest.

Merith had rapidly transformed from that nervous, shy boy into a mature, wise, and decisive young man. He could now stand on his own. And Merith grew even more respectful toward Hu Feng. Though Hu Feng's training was grueling, exhausting, and injuries were common, he knew it was all for his own good. He could feel his strength advancing by leaps and bounds. When resting, Hu Feng had no airs at all, caring for Merith like a friend.

And Archmage Elisande was as warm and considerate as a mentor's wife, often bringing him medicines and materials for healing and strengthening his spirit. This made Merith, an orphan, feel the warmth of a family. Especially since Teacher Hu Feng had said, "A teacher for a day is a father for life." Merith deeply agreed and silently kept those words in his heart.

Hu Feng himself continued his own cultivation during this time. Aside from the ever-present Void and Fel energies—which had become instinctual abilities for him—he diligently trained his mortal body in the powers of Fire, Frost, and Arcane. Since this body was directly condensed from his Titan Core, its magical circuits had reached the divine level. Paired with his Titan mental strength, cultivating three types of energy simultaneously posed no pressure at all.

However, Hu Feng was somewhat curious about one thing. He discovered an ability derived from Fel energy: Mana Energy. By controlling this power, Hu Feng could summon demons from the Twisting Nether who had signed contracts and were completely obedient to him. Upon further exploration, Hu Feng was surprised to find that this power was also highly adept at manipulating souls. If he wished, he could stuff a soul into a corpse at any time, creating an undying being driven by Mana Energy. Hu Feng instinctively felt this ability was taboo—a disrespect to life itself. So after understanding it, he never used it even once.

Everything was developing in a tense but orderly manner. Soon, the first batch of one hundred human mages had preliminarily mastered the spells needed for war. Half of them were Fire Mages, skilled in casting Fireball, Hellfire, and similar spells. Over twenty were Frost Mages, who balanced defense and offense and enjoyed using Blizzard for mass destruction. The remaining twenty or so were Arcane Mages, who excelled at single-target attacks using mysterious Arcane energy.

This batch of human mages would form the Arathor Royal Mage Corps, led by Merith Winterwind. They were about to set out with Arathor's massive human army, heading north to Quel'Thalas to support the High Elves.

Hu Feng and Elisande had already left Stromgarde ahead of time, arriving first at Silvermoon City, the capital of Quel'Thalas. They were now being warmly hosted by Dath'Remar *Sunstrider. Though the war against the trolls had been raging for a long time, Silvermoon seemed unaffected. The entire Quel'Thalas had been magically altered, its climate fixed at a comfortable, unchanging spring. The golden leaves of Eversong Woods adorned the entire kingdom. Mage towers and magical lecterns were everywhere, truly earning this land the name "Kingdom of Magic."

Dath'Remar was as happy as a child right now. "Emissary, Archmage Elisande, to see you both again on this land makes me happier than I've been since the victory in the War of the Ancients. Ah, and beautiful Suramar—I thought I'd never see that great city again in my life!"

Dath'Remar's eyes were moist as he looked up at Suramar City floating above Silvermoon. As for Silvermoon itself, it had already turned into a sea of celebration. Everywhere, High Elves were either pulling Highborne around to show off their city or lining up to teleport to Suramar to visit their homeland.

Hu Feng coughed. "We've come to help you deal with those filthy trolls. Even if you chose self-exile, you are still part of the Night Elves."

Dath'Remar nodded vigorously with gratitude, then wore a nostalgic expression. "Night Elves... such a familiar yet unfamiliar title. How long has it been since we Sunstrider line called ourselves Night Elves?" He quickly snapped out of his reverie and raised his wine glass. "Elisande, seeing you again today, your strength has grown to such a level. It seems our emissary has taken good care of you, haha."

The latter blushed and shot Dath'Remar a fierce glare.

"Don't rush to leave this time, you two. After we wipe out the trolls, stay for a while and experience the charm of our new home, Quel'Thalas. Oh, right—come, let me take you to visit our holy land, the source of the High Elves' power: the Sunwell!"

The first time Hu Feng saw the Sunwell—a massive golden disc radiating golden energy light—he thought of the Well of Eternity. No surprise there. The Sunwell was a miniature Well of Eternity created from a single vial of its water. Around the well, groups of High Elves were absorbing its mana, and Hu Feng frowned at the sight.

"Dath'Remar, using the Sunwell like this will create Mana Addiction, just like the old Well of Eternity."

The latter smiled bitterly. "Of course I know. But there's no choice—it's our only way to obtain mana right now. Unless..." Dath'Remar's eyes lit up. "Unless the emissary communicates with the God of Magic and transforms the Sunwell into a Ley Network like Suramar's!"

Hu Feng shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to—it's impossible. Suramar's Ley Network is connected to the God of Magic's divine realm, forming an independent space. Unless you lift Silvermoon into the sky like Suramar, the land of Quel'Thalas will be completely Arcane-ified, becoming barren. All plants and buildings will turn into Arcane crystals."

Hu Feng paused, closed his eyes, and put on a constipated expression. Elisande found it amusing to watch him act.

After a moment, Hu Feng continued. "The God tells me that unless the High Elves return to the Kalimdor Continent, for now, they can only mitigate the effects of Mana Addiction. But that's suppression, not eradication. Just like the addiction from the Well of Eternity—unless the Sunwell is destroyed and the God rebuilds the Ley Network, it cannot be rooted out."

Dath'Remar was disappointed but quickly calmed down. Even if the addiction couldn't be eradicated, at least it could be alleviated—that was worth celebrating. But then Hu Feng spoke again. "However, the God is willing to grant you a blessing. I'll slightly modify the Sunwell to create a path of ascension. All High Elves who die or lose their will to Mana Addiction will have their souls guided to the God of Magic's divine realm, or remain forever around the Sunwell as eternal guardians."

Dath'Remar's emotions were on a roller coaster. Just recovering from disappointment, he was now stunned by this sudden joy, grinning foolishly and nodding repeatedly. "Thank the God of Magic for this blessing! Thank you, Emissary!"

In the following days, Hu Feng worked on modifying the Sunwell while waiting for the human army to arrive. His Nightborne subordinates had it rough, though. The old scholars in Silvermoon treated them like rare animals, snatching them back and forth. The Nightborne's magically transformed bodies, coexisting with magic, drove these High Elf academics crazy. If Hu Feng hadn't strictly forbidden it, these old geezers might have even considered dissecting a few Nightborne.

One day, Dath'Remar came running over to Hu Feng again, but this time he was followed by a female High Elf. Unlike most High Elves in robes and hoods, this elf lady wore a sharp, form-fitting leather armor. Her long legs were perfectly toned without a trace of fat, and a finely crafted longbow on her back shimmered with enchantment light.

Though Hu Feng had grown used to all elf ladies being stunningly beautiful—and as an emissary with picky tastes, he had no intention of collecting quantity over quality or opening a harem, which was why only Elisande, outstanding in both looks and power among elves, had caught his eye—this fair-skinned High Elf made his heart skip a beat.

"Lord Hu Feng, as a powerful mage, I know your strength leaves you in no danger. But I believe every warrior needs a companion to share the burden in battle, don't you agree? So allow me to introduce you—this is the most outstanding High Ranger in our Ranger Corps: Alleria *Windrunner!"