Ready for Battle and The Only Apprentice

The banquet's atmosphere reached its peak.

The High Elves who came to Stromgarde were incredibly excited to see their homeland, Suramar, again.

At the same time, they felt a sense of melancholy and sighed.

They had learned from Elisande about the current situation of the Highborne: living in peace with their Night Elf kin, governed by a four-part council.

Furthermore, the Highborne's current source of magic was directly connected to the divine realm of the Divine Lord Sarodar. The Nightwell in Suramar had long been erased, replaced by a massive divine ascension crystal.

This situation was akin to Boss Hu activating a cheat for infinite magic, with an inexhaustible supply of energy generated daily. Bestowing it upon the Highborne to use, and subtly influencing them in the process, was a win-win.

Of course, divine power was still exclusive to a small number of fanatical chosen of the gods. And now, in peacetime, the Night Elves had no enemies, so the chosen of the gods were reluctant to use the divine power bestowed upon them, instead hoarding it like treasures.

Although Titans did not require faith, nor did faith make them more powerful, the chosen of the gods could be considered vessels for nurturing divine power.

This process of reciprocal feeding provided Hu Feng with a continuous and steady supply of divine power, which he used to promote his own development and transfer to Azeroth.

The High Elves were naturally dejected. They did not possess the eternal blessing of the World Tree. Their source of power was merely the Sunwell, and the magic addiction side effect had already begun to manifest, with too many drawbacks.

The next day, the humans in Stromgarde were very excited.

Those elf mages, dressed in magnificent attire, were all over the city, searching for children and youths with magical talent to take on as their magic apprentices.

As for the great city of Suramar, which quietly floated in the sky beside Stromgarde, people marveled at it, calling it the materialized miracle of the Titan gods.

After all, how could a colossal city be made to float in the sky? It was likely something only a god could achieve.

However, no one understood why the Titan Divine Lord liked to appear before mortals in human form. Even the elves were extremely puzzled.

Now they knew the appearance and form the Divine Lord had maintained since the War of the Ancients. It turned out to be this newborn race, humans.

But no one dared to ask, and the Titan Divine Lord seemed unwilling to provide an answer, so it would remain an unsolved mystery.

Meanwhile, throughout the Arathor Empire, the Emperor's command had been issued: all legions were to enter a state of readiness, organize and prepare for war. With a single order, the humans' vast and elite armies would march north in a mighty force to support the High Elf kingdom of Quel'Thalas and confront the Amani Trolls.

General Lothar had already led the first vanguard legion to set off. They would establish an advance camp in the Eversong Woods, awaiting the arrival of the main army.

General Lothar was greatly anticipating and excited about this war.

The reason was simple: Emperor Thoradin intended to grant him a territory, making him the first human lord to be enfeoffed with land.

No matter how great the Emperor was, he was still a mortal and did not have the energy to manage everything.

Therefore, this task fell to his incredibly loyal generals.

The enfeoffed generals would guard their respective regions, bringing prosperity and flourishing to the areas they were responsible for, and continuing to expand the Arathor Empire's territory.

As the most loyal general with the most brilliant military achievements, General Lothar's participation in this war was Emperor Thoradin's stepping stone.

Upon their victorious return, the Menethil family would be granted a piece of barren land, which they would develop and expand for the empire.

The name for the territory had already been decided.

Lordaeron.

The other founding generals were also eager, greatly anticipating the arrival of war so they could contribute to the empire and obtain their own territories.

******

Hu Feng, meanwhile, had found his first young apprentice.

Looking at the young man standing before him, trembling slightly from extreme nervousness, Hu Feng smiled.

Meryl Winterwind, a young human from a commoner background, possessed exceptional talent and potential.

Human talent and potential were very different from elves. Humans learned everything quickly and were highly innovative and creative, with an overall style leaning towards the aggressive and rapid.

Elves, on the other hand, were unhurried. Their long lifespans allowed them to calmly study various immensely complex and vast magical systems, with an overall style leaning towards steadiness and gradual progress.

"Meryl Winterwind, correct?"

"Ah... Reporting to the Divine Lord, yes! I am Meryl, Meryl Winterwind."

The surname had a slight elven flavor, but Meryl was indeed a pure-blooded human.

At this stage, apart from a few founding generals, humans did not have proper clan surnames. Commoners, even more so, gave themselves names haphazardly.

"Don't be so nervous, I don't eat people... So, Meryl, are you willing to learn magic from me?"

Meryl became even more excited: "Yes, my lord! I am willing!"

"Then, what kind of magic do you wish to learn?"

The young human heard this, clenched his fist, and thought carefully for a long time before looking up at Hu Feng.

"I want to learn powerful magic, magic that can protect myself and my country!"

Thus, Meryl became Boss Hu's first and last magic apprentice. After this, the Titan never took on any new disciples.

This made all the elves envious and resentful. Learning magic from the Divine Lord Sarodar was such immense fortune!

What kind of talent did that human boy possess that the Divine Lord took notice of?

Emperor Thoradin was even happier upon hearing this news. The Titan Divine Lord was personally teaching a young human from the commoner class.

Wait... a commoner... This wouldn't do!

Thus, the Emperor's royal decree followed. Meryl Winterwind soared to the heavens, promoted from a commoner in Stromgarde directly to the youngest Viscount of the Arathor Empire, concurrently serving as the Royal Court Archmage.

Even though there was no possibility of a fiefdom, he still became an idol envied by countless commoners.

If only Meryl had any remaining family, he could have put on a show of his whole household ascending to heaven right about now.

During this period, every human mage was a treasure, a darling of society. Furthermore, as the very first generation of mage ancestors, their status in the future would not be any worse.

If he wanted a house, a woman, a title, or gold coins, it was just a matter of saying the word. Emperor Thoradin would absolutely grant any request.

Then, looking at the human magic city of Dalaran in the future, life there was truly arduous.

You, a magic apprentice who hasn't even graduated, want all those things? Get lost! Who do you think you are?

Mages were everywhere, apprentices were as common as dogs. Except for those few famous old geezers and super geniuses, other ordinary mages had to obediently work and earn gold coins to support themselves!

The first batch of human mages during the Arathor Empire not only had excellent treatment but also received a unique magical education.

The spells passed down from the time of the Well of Eternity, even in their weakened and watered-down versions, were far superior to the simplified, quick spells created by human mages in the future.

This was also normal. Could you expect a quick spell that took less than two seconds to cast to be more powerful than the spells from the Well of Eternity era that required several minutes to cast?

In conclusion, the magical era of humans had officially begun.

Recommendation tickets, please~~~ And also, please give me some rewards~~~~!