Hu Feng had been in Stormwind City for some time now. As the largest city on the southern continent, it possessed a charm all its own.
The morning bells rang slowly. The sea breeze blowing in from the harbor left a faint salty tang in the fresh air, and people began another day of rushing about.
Large numbers of laborers gradually gathered at the harbor docks. Many mobile vendors had already been waiting nearby, forming a small market selling all kinds of breakfasts and drinks. For just a few copper coins, the laborers could buy simple, rough food that would fill their stomachs. Some of it was less-than-fresh fried sea fish; some was leftover wolf steak and roasted boar legs discarded by The Pig and Whistle Inn.
The foremen had more money in their hands. They usually kept apart from the laborers, gathering in small groups on the other side of the docks, where the vendors sold food of a much higher grade. Every day, these vendors bought overnight leftovers from the most luxurious Gilded Rose Inn in Stormwind City—perhaps tender beefsteak, perhaps pork mixed with okra, along with a cup of fine leftover ale. The foremen ate with great relish as well.
Once the sun had fully risen, the priests of Stormwind Cathedral began their morning hymns on schedule. The voices of hundreds of priests singing in unison spread throughout the entire cathedral district. Nobles of more devout faith arrived early by carriage and waited in the square before the cathedral, quietly discussing the previous night's banquet or amusing stories about certain families with acquaintances nearby.
The young noblemen had no desire to suffer through church every day. They preferred riding tall horses out of the city with a whole entourage of guards for leisure trips. Though many places in the vast and beautiful Elwynn Forest concealed danger, at least the areas around Stormwind City and its towns were safe. Mirror Lake Orchard and Goldshire were their favorite destinations.
Because several successive Kings of Stormwind Kingdom had been relatively wise, these noble offspring did not dare commit such melodramatic acts as oppressing commoners or forcibly abducting women. In truth, aside from the eternally unchanging pursuit of gold coins, what human nobles in the World of Azeroth sought was becoming professionals. Talented nobles spent vast sums learning all manner of combat techniques and skills. An even smaller number discovered they possessed talent for magic, and their paths were far broader. The path of magic was a path that burned money.
This world was very realistic. There were few stories of commoners turning their lives around and soaring to the heavens to become powerful figures. Becoming a powerful warrior or mage was not something one could accomplish by hiding somewhere quiet, clutching a spellbook or combat manual, and training diligently. You needed to spend enormous amounts of gold to hire teachers, purchase all kinds of armor or magical materials, and keep burning money in order to keep growing stronger.
As for some commoner encountering a mysterious white-bearded old master who, without a word, forced an unrivaled secret manual into your hands and tearfully begged you to practice it—requiring no materials or assistance whatsoever—after which you relied on your own talent and effort to finally become a legendary powerhouse... such things did exist. You only needed to buy a popular novel from any roadside general store to make them happen.
Other than peerless geniuses like Aegwynn, who had been born commoners yet had every major kingdom scrambling to pay for and sponsor them, everyone else had to honestly accept reality. If a commoner discovered that they possessed talent, they had two choices. The first was to go to Stormwind Keep and apply for royal sponsorship. Once approved, they received basic monthly expenses. If they wanted a better life, they could take missions to earn gold. The timid ones could work as assistants for teachers or academies. After completing their studies and becoming an entry-level warrior or mage, they had to serve Stormwind Kingdom for ten years—warriors joined the military, while mages entered the court.
The second path was to seek noble sponsorship. Nobles were often far more generous, but accordingly, the returns they demanded were much greater. You might spend most of your life as a private guard, or become an adventurer under a noble's command.
Of course, if you had the talent of a priest and were good at comprehending the Holy Light, then congratulations—you belonged to the easiest group. The Holy Light Cathedral of Stormwind City would reimburse all your expenses and guide your studies for free. Once you completed your training, you would become a cathedral priest and earn the respect of others.
Thus, the large number of human adventurers could actually be divided into two types. One consisted of retired professionals who had fulfilled their ten-year agreement but did not wish to remain in the military or court, so they became free adventurers.
The other consisted of adventurers under noble command. They were responsible for bringing nobles all kinds of rare treasures, and half the gold they earned had to be handed over to their patrons. However, they usually received supplies and equipment support from the nobles, something free adventurers did not have.
Every morning, these adventurers left the city in droves to take on missions in various places. They earned gold countless times faster than the law-abiding commoners in the city, but the price was the constant possibility of death. For example, the mission issued by Westfall Keep to kill Hogger, King of the Gnolls, remained uncompleted to this day. Preliminary estimates put the number of adventurers killed by Hogger and his gnoll underlings at no fewer than eight hundred, perhaps even a thousand.
As time passed, although Hogger's bounty had risen to a hundred gold coins, no one had ever completed it. Naturally, this was due to polarization. European Emperor adventurers who had the strength to complete the mission disdained such a paltry hundred gold coins and could not be bothered with the effort. African Chief adventurers who wanted to complete the mission and claim the hundred gold coins simply lacked the strength.
A small number of driven and lucky European Emperor adventurers returned home from the Kalimdor Continent. Their Orange Legendary equipment produced in Suramar drove everyone mad with envy. These few adventurers were immediately fought over by nobles eager to recruit them, while the European Emperors, accustomed to freedom, began establishing their own adventurer guilds and recruiting subordinates. No matter which path they chose, these European Emperors who had struck it rich earned at least several thousand gold coins a day. They had no desire whatsoever to take small missions like ordinary adventurers anymore.
African Chief adventurers could only join the adventurer guilds of European Emperors and get by under them. A few African Chief adventurers did return home with one or two pieces of Suramar equipment unsuitable for their own use, selling them for a great deal of gold before returning to the city to marry a wife and farm or do business. But such examples were far too rare, so most of them simply followed the European Emperors to make a living.
Hu Feng sat in a corner of The Pig and Whistle Inn's main hall. A black hood concealed his face; he did not want anyone to recognize him.
Sitting in the noisy tavern, watching adventurers come and go as they struggled to make a living, along with the occasional quarrels and scuffles, Hu Feng found a trace of long-lost familiarity here.
It was no different from Earth in his previous life. The only difference was that, beyond gold coins—the eternal truth unchanged no matter where one went—Azeroth's human society pursued somewhat different things.
Perhaps if he set aside his identity and the mission pressing upon his shoulders, he was still the ordinary young man from his previous life. Perhaps that was the indestructible nature of humanity.
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