Alleria and Merith's Beliefs

Dath'Remar watched Hu Feng's expression closely, and when he saw Hu Feng clearly staring at Alleria for a few seconds, he knew his gamble had paid off.

To put it bluntly, Dath'Remar was using a honey trap. The Magic Emissary of the God of Magic was far too important to the High Elves. Even though Hu Feng would eventually return to Kalimdor after the war, as long as these self-exiled High Elves held weight in the Emissary's heart, distance would no longer be an issue.

So the choice of who to send was also a major headache. A genius elven mage? Don't be ridiculous. Not only were the High Elves' magical achievements and glory insignificant compared to the holy city of Suramar and the Council of Truth, but the Archmage Elisande by the Emissary's side had already blocked that path entirely.

Thus, after much deliberation, Dath'Remar decided to approach from the ranger angle, and then thought of the Windrunner Family. This illustrious ranger family had produced countless outstanding genius rangers, up to the current new-generation prodigy, Alleria.

What delighted Dath'Remar was that Alleria had no personal objections to this task. Though a ranger, she had grown up listening to her family elders recount the epic tales of the War of the Ancients. For Hu Feng, the Emissary who had led the Highborne to turn the tide and ultimately repel Sargeras head-on to save the world, Alleria's heart was filled with admiration and the kind of girlish infatuation with a hero. So, a perfect match was struck, and Alleria followed Dath'Remar to find Hu Feng.

Hu Feng snapped out of it, stood up, and straightened his robes, which had been ruffled by the energy radiating from him. "Thank you for your kindness, Dath'Remar. I believe Lady Alleria can keep me well protected, haha." He then nodded and smiled at Alleria, who stood tall and met his gaze directly. "Then, for this period, I'll trouble you to serve as my captain of the guard, Alleria."

The latter gave a salute, her voice crisp and pleasant: "As you command, Emissary."

And then Hu Feng and Alleria lived happily ever after, the end... Bah!

Although Hu Feng also liked Elisande very much, she and Alleria were not the same type. Elisande was a strong woman, capable and powerful. She liked Hu Feng, so she took direct action and pushed him down, without much pretense or hesitation, and afterward always played the role of Hu Feng's head steward. So aside from intimate matters, they rarely talked about feelings.

Alleria was different. She was serious yet full of girlish curiosity. Once she got familiar with Hu Feng and understood his personality, she loosened up a lot, which gave Hu Feng a feeling reminiscent of chasing a girl in his past life.

"Sir, I killed another 12 trolls!" Well, that was Alleria, charging in with her longbow in hand, full of energy.

Hu Feng turned his head at the sound, somewhat helpless: "I've told you, stop calling me 'sir.' Just call me Hu Feng."

Alleria pouted: "Habit. Haven't managed to change it yet."

Hu Feng pointed at a finely crafted longbow on the table, black and red in color, with a sharp purple crystal embedded at each end. The bow's body was regularly adorned with many enchanted feathers flowing with arcane energy, interspersed with countless mysterious magical runes.

"Here, a gift for you. I just made it. Should be much better than what you're using now. How can a Windrunner not have a proper longbow?"

Alleria's eyes locked onto the longbow, instantly blazing with excitement. She dashed over with the speed of a blink, grabbed the bow, and examined it closely. Then she looked at Hu Feng in disbelief: "This is... a divine artifact?" Hu Feng shrugged in confirmation. Upon getting the answer, Alleria was so overjoyed she was practically bubbling, and in a fit of excitement, she hugged Hu Feng and planted several kisses on him.

Hu Feng calmly touched the spot that had been attacked and said, "Miss, while I don't mind, please be mindful of the surroundings, alright?" Hearing this, Alleria suddenly noticed Dath'Remar behind them, who was in a good mood and had come to discuss magic with Hu Feng.

He was currently watching the two of them with an amused expression, then let out a "Ha!" and said, "Mm... I must have taken a wrong turn. You two continue, yes, just like that." With that, he drifted out with a composed look.

Alleria, flustered and angry, snapped: "It's all your fault! All your fault! Using this divine artifact bow to tempt me into making a mistake!"

Hu Feng looked bewildered, then nodded in deep agreement. "Yes, I should never have expected a woman to be reasonable." He was then met with a delicate jade hand twisting his waist a full 180 degrees.

After a bit of a ruckus, they both calmed down. Hu Feng began introducing the newly crafted divine artifact longbow to Alleria: "This bow is called 'Thori'dal, the Star's Fury.' It doesn't require arrows; it automatically constructs arcane, fire, frost, or void magic arrows. Just think of the type you need in your mind when you aim."

Watching Alleria immediately pick up the bow and produce various types of magic arrows on the string, Hu Feng smiled and continued: "Also, it enhances your stealth and running speed. I imagine both are crucial for a ranger. And finally, I've inscribed a magic array on it. When you're in mortal danger, it will automatically trigger, generating a magic shield to protect you, then teleport you to the Tower of Slumber. Oh, the Tower of Slumber is that underwater structure the Night Elves built for me near the World Tree."

Hu Feng deliberately pretended not to notice Alleria's excited expression, continuing his cool act: "As for the other minor features—like never wearing out, or returning to your hand with a mere thought if it's more than five meters away—I won't go into detail. Discover them yourself."

But Alleria eventually calmed down instead. She just stared at Hu Feng, and after a long moment, spoke: "Our entire elven race doesn't have a single divine artifact like this. Once my other sisters find out, they'll be insanely jealous. Why are you so good to me?"

Hu Feng paused, then smiled at Alleria: "No particular reason. I just really like you. And once the war here is over, I'll be returning to Kalimdor. Consider this longbow a farewell gift."

Alleria quietly held Hu Feng's gaze, then, as if unable to bear the ambiguous and complex eye contact, looked away, tucking her golden hair behind her ear: "The great hero of the War of the Ancients, the savior of the elves, the powerful Magic Emissary actually likes me. I'm truly honored and happy. If you want me to go back with you, to Kalimdor, I think Dath'Remar would certainly agree."

Hu Feng laughed heartily at that, stood up, brushed the non-existent dust off his black robes, and looked at Alleria. "But you don't want that, do you? You belong to Quel'Thalas, to the Silvermoon Forest. I could forcibly take you away; I have that power. No elf could refuse me, and no one would dare. But I know that strength and power can make one lose themselves and hurt countless others. So I won't force an elf to do something she doesn't want to do."

With that, he touched Alleria's exquisite face, laughed loudly, and walked out. Behind him, a pair of eyes watched him until he disappeared beyond the door, filled with gratitude, reluctance, and some indescribable emotions.

Hu Feng was a bit annoyed at himself for overplaying the cool act, but he didn't regret it. Elven lives were incredibly long, nearly immortal. Rather than forcibly taking Alleria away, it was better to let her slowly come to accept it or gradually let it fade.

After sighing to himself, Hu Feng blinked and appeared at the encampment of the human army of Arathor. The humans had just arrived yesterday, and now the generals were taking advantage of the army's rest to discuss attack strategies with the elven commanders. Hu Feng couldn't be bothered to attend; he wasn't skilled in leading troops. He was just wandering around out of boredom.

Just then, a surprised voice sounded behind Hu Feng: "Teacher!?" Hu Feng brightened up at the sound, turned around, and saw Merith Winterwind, his face full of excitement, blinking in a series of short-range teleports to appear before him.

Hu Feng punched Merith in the chest: "Not bad. Haven't seen you for a while, and your strength has improved greatly. Keep it up, don't get cocky. What's the iron law I taught you?"

"Power has no good or evil; it is merely a tool. Strengthen yourself, protect yourself, master power, and do not be mastered by power!" Merith immediately straightened up and said solemnly.

"A very good motto, little human boy."

Alleria had somehow followed him out. Rangers excelled at silent movement, and Hu Feng hadn't been on guard, so he only realized Alleria was there when he heard her voice. He clicked his tongue but didn't acknowledge her.

"Good. On your way here, did anything important happen?"

"Uh... no, Teacher. Just ran into a few troll warbands." Merith could joke and laugh with Hu Feng normally, but when faced with a teacher's questioning, his expression was all seriousness and respect.

"How's the study of the manuscripts and books I gave you?"

"Going well. I've now mastered silent casting and multi-casting. My understanding of the arcane, frost, and fire schools has also reached the requirements you set when you left."

"Is that so, Merith? I think you've learned quite well. A little too well, in fact. So well that the fel energy radiating from you shocks me." Hu Feng's voice suddenly turned cold, and Merith and Alleria instantly felt a bone-chilling cold permeate the air around them.

"T-teacher... I just got interested and lost control. Please, calm your anger!" Merith hastily knelt on one knee, head bowed, explaining, his voice already trembling with fear.

Hu Feng took a deep breath. He had originally planned to teach Merith, this genius, the three schools of arcane, fire, and frost magic. The manuscript on fel energy was just something he'd written for fun, only a few pages. He never expected this genius to take such a strong interest in fel energy and then, through those few shallow, scattered notes, begin his own exploration.

"Tell me, Merith. Why do you want to learn fel energy? You're extremely talented; you can't possibly be blind to its dangers. This isn't a matter of right or wrong. You could very easily fall because of it and become a demon."

Merith let out a huge sigh of relief at this, feeling dizzy. But he knew his teacher had already cooled down. As for the reason, he didn't want to deceive his teacher. "Teacher, I just want to master the power to forcibly keep a soul within a body after death."

Alleria, standing nearby and watching the teacher-student exchange with curiosity, felt a chill run down her spine. Meddling with the dead and souls was the ultimate taboo. What kind of chaotic nonsense was this bastard Hu Feng teaching his student?

"Go on."

"Yes, Teacher. I want to master this power because I'm afraid that if I die in this war, or in future wars, I won't be able to protect my family or my country anymore. So, if I'm ever about to die, I want to use this power to keep myself in this world, to stay in this body, until I turn to ashes, or until there is no more war."

Alleria was truly stunned. As an elf, she couldn't comprehend the conviction and mindset of this human at all. Madman! He was an absolute madman!

Hu Feng said nothing. His eyes suddenly blazed with brilliant light; his pupils vanished, replaced by a silvery-white starry sky and energy streams like spider silk. Alleria and Merith stared at Hu Feng in amazement. In that moment, they felt as if the person before them wasn't the Emissary Hu Feng, but a Titan God.

Hu Feng used foresight for the first time. His eyes pierced through the endless sands of time, searching for Merith's future. This forbidden art of time manipulation he had instinctively avoided before, because having an endless stream of futures laid out before one's eyes could easily drive a person to madness.

But at this moment, Hu Feng was tired of the uncertainty and longing for the future. As an ordinary person in his past life, he had deliberately avoided topics about the future. After becoming a Titan, he hadn't reacted in time, still thinking with his old habits.

But now, he suddenly had an epiphany.

I am a Titan. I am meant to grasp the endless possibilities of the future.

I will never fail again.