Dath'Remar watched Hu Feng's expression. When he saw Hu Feng staring blankly at Alleria for several seconds, he knew he had won his bet.
To put it bluntly, Dath'Remar was using a honey trap. The God of Magic's Divine Emissary was simply too important to the High Elves. Although Hu Feng would return to Kalimdor after the war, as long as these self-exiled High Elves held weight in the Divine Emissary's heart, distance would not be a problem.
Choosing the candidate had also been difficult. A genius elven mage? Don't be ridiculous. Not only were the High Elves' magical accomplishments and former glory not worth mentioning before the holy city of Suramar and the Council of Truth, but Archmage Elisande by the Divine Emissary's side had already blocked that path.
After much consideration, Dath'Remar decided to start with a ranger. That led him to the Windrunner Family, that illustrious ranger family which had produced countless exceptional prodigies, including the current generation's genius, Alleria.
What pleased Dath'Remar was that Alleria had no personal objections to the assignment. Though she was a ranger, she had grown up listening to the elders of her family recount the epic tales of the War of the Ancients. Her heart was filled with admiration and a young girl's affection for a hero toward Hu Feng, the Divine Emissary who had led the Highborne in turning the tide, directly repelled Sargeras in the end, and saved the world. Thus, they hit it off at once, and Alleria followed Dath'Remar to find Hu Feng.
Hu Feng came to his senses, stood, and straightened the clothes that had been mussed by the energy radiating from his body. "Thank you for your kindness, Dath'Remar. I trust Lady Alleria will protect me very well, haha." Then he nodded and smiled at Alleria, who stood tall and met his gaze directly. "Then, during this time, I'll have to trouble you to serve as my guard captain, Alleria."
She bowed, her voice crisp and pleasant. "As you command, Divine Emissary."
And then Hu Feng and Alleria lived happily ever after. The end... pfft!
Although Hu Feng liked Elisande very much as well, she and Alleria were not the same type. Elisande was a powerful woman, capable and formidable. Since she liked Hu Feng, she took direct action and pushed him down, without all those disguises and inner struggles. Afterward, she had always played the role of Hu Feng's chief steward, so aside from embarrassing matters, they rarely spoke of feelings.
Alleria was different. She was serious, yet filled with a girl's curiosity. After growing familiar with Hu Feng and understanding his personality, she gradually relaxed a great deal. That gave Hu Feng the feeling of courting a girl in his previous life.
"Sir, I killed another twelve trolls!" Yes, that was Alleria, charging in with her longbow in hand.
Hearing that, Hu Feng turned his head helplessly. "I've told you not to call me sir anymore. Just call me Hu Feng."
Alleria pursed her lips. "I'm used to it. I didn't change it right away."
Hu Feng pointed to an exquisite black-and-red longbow on the table. A sharp purple crystal was set into each end, while the bow's body was decorated with many enchanted feathers flowing with Arcane energy, interspersed with countless mysterious magical runes.
"Here, a gift for you. I just made it. It should be much better than the one you're using now. How can a Windrunner not have a proper longbow?"
Alleria's eyes fell upon the bow and instantly burned with excitement. She rushed over with teleport-like speed, grabbed the longbow, and examined it carefully. Then she looked at Hu Feng in disbelief. "This is... an artifact?" Hu Feng shrugged, confirming it. Having received her answer, Alleria was so happy she practically bubbled over. In her excitement, she hugged Hu Feng and gave him several fierce kisses.
Hu Feng calmly touched the places that had been attacked. "Miss, while I quite enjoyed that, could you please mind the setting?" At his words, Alleria immediately noticed Dath'Remar behind her, who was in a good mood and had come to discuss magic with Hu Feng because he had nothing better to do.
He was watching the two of them with the expression of someone enjoying a performance. Then he laughed. "Hmm... wrong room. You carry on. Yes, just like that." With that, he drifted out with a perfectly composed expression.
Alleria flew into embarrassed rage. "It's all your fault! You used that artifact bow to tempt me into making a mistake!"
Hu Feng looked utterly baffled, then nodded in deep agreement. "Yes, I shouldn't have expected women to be reasonable." Immediately afterward, a fair, jade-like hand viciously twisted the flesh at his waist one hundred and eighty degrees.
After fooling around for a while, the two calmed down. Hu Feng began introducing Alleria to the newly forged Artifact Longbow. "This bow is called Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury. It doesn't require arrows. It automatically forms Arcane, fire, frost, or Void magic arrows. You only need to think of the type you want while aiming."
Watching Alleria immediately pick up the bow as various types of magical arrows appeared on the string, Hu Feng smiled and continued, "It also enhances your stealth and running speed. I imagine those are both the most important things for a ranger. Of course, there's one final feature. I enchanted it with a magic array that automatically triggers when your life is in danger, creating a magical shield to protect you before automatically teleporting you to the Tower of Slumber. Oh, the Tower of Slumber is that underwater building the Night Elves constructed for me beside the World Tree."
Hu Feng deliberately pretended not to see Alleria's excited expression and continued showing off. "As for the other minor features, like never wearing down, or automatically returning to your hand with a thought if it goes more than five meters away, I won't go into those. Discover them yourself."
Yet Alleria calmed down instead. She merely stared at Hu Feng, only speaking after a long while. "Our entire elven race doesn't have even one artifact like this. If my other sisters found out, they would go mad with envy. Why are you so good to me?"
Hu Feng froze for a moment, then smiled at Alleria. "There's no particular reason. It's just because I like you quite a lot. And when the war here ends, I'll be returning to Kalimdor. Consider this longbow a parting gift."
Alleria silently met Hu Feng's eyes. Then, seemingly unable to bear the intimate, complicated exchange any longer, she turned to look elsewhere and gathered her golden hair. "The great hero of the War of the Ancients, the elves' savior, the powerful Magic Emissary likes me. That truly is an honor, and it makes me happy. If you want me to go back with you to Kalimdor, I think Dath'Remar would certainly agree."
Hu Feng laughed several times, stood, and patted nonexistent dust from his black robe as he looked at Alleria. "But you don't want that, do you? You belong to Quel'Thalas. You belong to Silvermoon Forest. I could take you away by force, and I have that right. No elf could refuse me, nor would any dare to. But I know that power and authority can make people lose themselves, and they can 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 beautiful face, laughed loudly, and walked out. Behind him, a pair of eyes watched him disappear beyond the door, filled with gratitude, reluctance, and feelings too difficult to describe.
Though Hu Feng was somewhat annoyed that he had shown off too much, he did not regret it. Elves lived incredibly long lives, nearly eternal ones. Rather than forcibly taking Alleria away, it would be better to let her slowly accept it herself, or slowly let it fade.
After sighing for a while, Hu Feng used a Flash and arrived at the encampment of Arathor's human army. The humans had only arrived yesterday. Now, while the troops rested, the generals were discussing attack strategies with the elven commanders. Hu Feng could not be bothered to join them. He did not understand leading armies into battle, and had merely come over to wander around.
Just then, a delighted voice rang out behind Hu Feng. "Teacher!?" Hearing it, Hu Feng brightened considerably. He turned around to see Merith Winterwind looking excited, using several consecutive short-range Flashes to arrive before him.
Hu Feng punched Merith lightly in the chest. "Not bad. Your strength has improved greatly since I last saw you. Keep working hard, don't get arrogant. What is the iron rule I taught you?"
"Power has no good or evil. It is only a means. Strengthen yourself, protect yourself, master power rather than being mastered by it!" Merith immediately straightened and answered solemnly.
"That's a very good motto, little human brother."
Alleria had emerged at some unknown point. Rangers were best at moving silently, and Hu Feng had not been on guard, so he only realized she had come when he heard her voice. Hu Feng curled his lips and ignored her.
"Very well. Did anything important happen along the way?"
"Uh... no, Teacher. We only encountered several troll units." Merith could joke and laugh with Hu Feng normally, but when faced with his teacher's questions, he was utterly serious and respectful.
"How have you studied the notes and books I gave you?"
"Not bad. This student has now mastered silent casting and multi-casting. My understanding of the three schools of Arcane, frost, and fire has also reached the standards you required when you left."
"Is that so, Merith? I also think you've learned well. A little too well, in fact. So well that the Fel energy around you has shocked even me." Hu Feng's voice suddenly turned cold. Merith and Alleria instantly felt the air around them fill with bone-piercing chill.
"T-Teacher, I was only curious for a moment and failed to control myself. Please calm your anger!" Merith hurriedly dropped to one knee, lowered his head, and explained. His voice had already gone off-key with fear.
Hu Feng took a deep breath. He had intended to teach Merith, this genius, the three schools of Arcane, fire, and frost magic. The notebook on understanding Fel energy had merely been something he wrote for amusement, containing only a few pages. He had not expected this genius to become intensely interested in Fel energy, then begin his own explorations through those few shallow, scattered notes.
"Tell me, Merith. Why do you want to learn Fel energy? Your talent is exceptional. You couldn't possibly fail to see its dangers. This isn't a matter of right or wrong. You could very well fall because of it and become a demon."
Merith immediately let out a great sigh of relief and felt dizzy. But he knew that his teacher's anger had subsided. As for the reason, he did not wish to deceive his teacher. "Teacher, I only want to master the power that can forcibly keep a soul inside its body after death."
Alleria, who had been standing beside them and watching the master and disciple curiously, felt a chill run through her body. Tampering with the dead and souls was taboo among taboos. What kind of 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 one day I must die, I want to use that power to let myself remain in this world, remain in this body, until I turn to ashes, or until there are no more wars."
Alleria was truly stunned. As an elf, she simply could not understand what kind of conviction and mindset this human possessed. A madman! He's completely mad!
Hu Feng said nothing. His eyes suddenly flared with dazzling light. His pupils vanished, replaced by a silver-white starry sky and threads of energy like spider silk. Alleria and Merith stared at Hu Feng in shock. At that moment, they felt as though the person before them was not Hu Feng, the Divine Emissary, but a Titan God.
For the first time, Hu Feng used Prediction. His eyes saw through the endless sands of time, searching for Merith's future. He had instinctively wanted to avoid this forbidden art concerning time, because having endless futures flood before one's eyes all at once could very well drive someone mad.
But Hu Feng had had enough of his confusion and yearning for the future. In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person, so he had deliberately avoided subjects like the future. After becoming a Titan, he had not reacted in time, still considering things with the habits of his former way of thinking.
But at this moment, he suddenly understood.
I am a Titan. I should command the endless possibilities of the future.
I will never fail again.
Before you continue