Golden Eyes

The next day, when Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider appeared again, Ranger Lord Lothmar Theron and High Priestess Countess Liadrin, who lived with him in the same manor, were both stunned by his golden eyes.

"Prince Tyrel, your eyes?"

"My eyes? What's wrong with my eyes?" Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider himself had not noticed the change in his eyes. After all, he was not particularly fond of looking in mirrors. The only thing he could feel was the fusion of the Holy Light within him.

High Priestess Countess Liadrin directly handed her personal little mirror to Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider. "Prince Tyrel, you should see for yourself."

Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider took the mirror and only then discovered that his eyes had changed from blue to gold.

"How interesting." Rather than panicking over his suddenly golden eyes, Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider smiled and lifted his head to look at the sun in the sky.

Under normal circumstances, staring directly at the sun would inevitably make one's eyes sting. Yet this time, Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider felt no pain at all. On the contrary, his eyes felt incomparably comfortable as he gazed directly at An'she, and he could even see the energy within the sunlight.

As he observed the sun, Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider could also feel the Holy Light within him beginning to grow on its own.

All of this made Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider realize that he had succeeded. He said sincerely, "Praise the sun."

As a High Priestess, Countess Liadrin quickly noticed the qualitative transformation in the Holy Light within Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider. If the Holy Light of human Paladins gave people a sense of piety and resolve, then Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider's Holy Light was blazing and frenzied...

"Prince Tyrel, the Holy Light within you?" Though she could sense the difference, High Priestess Countess Liadrin could not possibly understand at once what Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider had done, so she asked excitedly.

Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider said with some emotion, "This is the sun's energy. Actually, Countess Liadrin, we once had the earliest opportunity to cultivate the Paladin class, but unfortunately, we missed it."

Through their faith in Elune, the Night Elves gave rise to Moon Priests similar to priests.

When the exiled High Elves became High Elves, they began living beneath the sunlight, yet they failed to seize that opportunity to develop a class similar to Paladins through faith in An'she.

The Tauren of Kalimdor, however, managed it. Through their faith in An'she, they developed Sunwalkers.

Ultimately, the greatest reason the High Elves, who possessed the earliest opportunity, failed to produce Paladins or Sunwalkers was their dependence on the Sunwell and arcane magic.

The predecessors of the High Elves were the High Elves, and they had always used the power of the Well of Eternity in the past. After becoming High Elves, although they praised the sun, deep down they still relied more heavily on the Sunwell's arcane power.

If there had been members of the Sisterhood of Elune among the exiled High Elves, and if they had transformed their faith in Elune into faith in An'she, then the first Paladin or Sunwalker would have emerged.

Unfortunately, although some High Elves had once believed in Elune, there were no Moon Priests from the Sisterhood of Elune among them. After establishing the Sunwell, the High Elves became engrossed in arcane magic once more.

"You're right, Prince Tyrel." The Holy Light used by High Priestess Countess Liadrin also came from the faith in the Holy Light spread from the Kingdom of Lordaeron. Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider's discovery delighted Countess Liadrin, but also left her feeling disappointed and guilty.

The High Elves had missed the best opportunity, while High Elf priests like them, who believed in the doctrines of the Holy Light passed down from Lordaeron, had never noticed this either.

Ranger Lord Lothmar Theron saw the disappointment and self-reproach in Countess Liadrin's eyes and spoke up in time. "You don't need to be discouraged, Liadrin. This isn't your fault."

"Thank you, Lothmar." Having become a High Priestess, Countess Liadrin's faith in the doctrines of the Holy Light was naturally steadfast, so she quickly recovered. She herself knew that unless her faith completely shattered before being rebuilt, she could only continue down the path of the Holy Light's doctrines to the very end.

Countess Liadrin suddenly remembered something and said to Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider, "Prince Tyrel, I think it would be best to tell the Sun King about your golden eyes. Although no golden eyes have appeared since the founding of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas.

"However, ancient High Elf records mention two elves with golden eyes: High Elf Queen Azshara and Illidan Stormrage."

The High Elves of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas had been exiled for over ten thousand years, and some ancient historical materials had already vanished. Yet records concerning golden eyes remained. High Priestess Countess Liadrin had seen such records in her family's ancient texts. An elf with such eyes was destined to achieve unparalleled accomplishments in the future.

"Perhaps you are right, but Countess Liadrin, I would like to wait until we train new High Elf Paladins. If my eyes changed because of An'she's power, then every High Elf Paladin after me should possess them as well." Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider had naturally read the relevant ancient texts. His research into ancient history was even more meticulous than that of his mentor, the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas scholar Vortale.

Therefore, Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider understood even more clearly that the golden eyes of both High Elf Queen Azshara and Illidan Stormrage had been inborn, unlike his own.

Ranger Lord Lothmar Theron agreed with Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider. Compared with golden eyes, forming a new legion for the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas was more important.

As for the cause of the eye mutation, they could only wait until a second High Elf Paladin who wielded the Holy Light through An'she's power appeared before reaching a conclusion.

However, Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider added one requirement for recruits to the new legion: they could not be priests who believed in the doctrines of the Holy Light. Ideally, they would be elves with fervent faith in the sun.

Magister Dath'Remar Sunstrider also looked at Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider's order in confusion. Yet after seeing Little Prince Tyrel Sunstrider's eyes change to gold, he too was shocked. But beneath that shock, Dath'Remar Sunstrider also felt jealousy.

The new requirements were quickly put into effect. Most believers in the doctrines of the Holy Light in the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas were priests with their own established organization, so there was naturally not much conflict.

The latter requirement, however, was far more troublesome. Although the High Elves of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas praised the sun, few had taken that reverence to the point of fanaticism.