At dawn the next day, two beams of teleportation light streaked across the morning mist by the sea and landed in the Swamp of Sorrows.
The former Onyxia's lair has now become a huge pond, with the crater, spanning hundreds of meters in diameter, filled with rainwater and silt, and there are no tall trees around. The massive explosion even ripped several feet of ground off the surrounding area.
"Clean up the puddle and use the Water Elemental techniques I taught you last time!" Aegwynn took the opportunity to check Jaina's studies.
Jaina raised her staff and began chanting the spell Aegwynn had taught her. Water Elemental in the air gathered joyfully, forming a huge vortex that drained all the water from the pit. Then, the swamp mud receded to the sides as if it were alive, revealing the rock layers at the bottom, molten by the intense heat.
"This is it," Jaina's voice trembled slightly, "The shockwave from the explosion shattered even the windows in Theramore."
Aegwynn cast a levitation spell on herself and landed lightly at the bottom of the pit, her shoes landing on the broken rocks. She bent down, placed her palms on the ground, and closed her eyes to sense the remaining energy fluctuations. Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide, a glint of silver flashing in her pupils.
"A fantastic explosion, the energy concentrated upwards, hitting the Dragon's body almost perfectly," she murmured. "There are traces of Bronze Dragon magic. A little trick of Time Magic, enough to fool many. Deren is very cautious."
After a moment, she opened her eyes in surprise. "But even more effective, oh! It's the flow of ley line energy from the earth. The planet also concealed the time travel afterward." The Guardian stood up and brushed non-existent dust off her skirt. "These are the people favored by fate!" Aegwynn exclaimed.
"How was this incident ultimately explained to the outside world? Such a large explosion must have attracted attention from all sides."
"They say it was an internal power struggle within the Black Dragon family. The explosion was caused by the Black Dragon father, who was, in any case, a destructive tyrant. Then he was ambushed by a junior and seriously injured," Jaina added.
"Oh ha ha—" Aegwynn couldn't help but laugh out loud, "That's hilarious. A perfect excuse. After all, an old father who's been ambushed by a junior wouldn't jump out and say he was injured by an explosion—by a mortal's object. Maybe he still doesn't understand how he got hurt."
"That's right. Judging from the faint message coming from where the old father was hiding, he still doesn't admit that his daughter has the ability to harm him with mortal weapons. Instead, he sent his cannon fodder cultists to cause trouble for Deren. But Deren's defenses were strong, and they didn't succeed. Deren even used goblins to fight back," Jaina told her teacher.
"Goblins? They turned the tables on those mad cultists?" Aegwynn also vaguely knew of the Twilight Madmen's existence.
Jaina then revealed that Deren was exploiting the goblins' greed to begin reaping the Twilight Cultists's money, planning to bankrupt the mad cultists and force them into destitution through financial fraud.
"This, this, that kid is just too clever!" Aegwynn was stunned by Deren's wild imagination. "Never mind, don't worry about Deren anymore."
After pausing for a while, Aegwynn finished inspecting the site and asked about the Fertilizer again.
" Jaina, this makes me curious about what kind of thing this Ammonium Nitrate you mentioned is. How could it possibly harm that old Black Dragon?" Aegwynn finally realized that Deren was indeed terrifying.
"Teacher, let's go back first! There are samples in the lab," Jaina said respectfully.
Aegwynn nodded, and the two quickly disappeared from the spot. The water and mud drained from the crater returned to their original location.
In the laboratory of the Theramore Mage Tower, Jaina carefully took a small packet of white crystals from a lead box. Aegwynn scooped up some Ammonium Nitrate crystals with a spoon and placed them on a specially made Arcane scale.
"Such a small crystal," she tilted her head, "Can release the energy to lift the Deathwing?"
Jaina nodded. "This is also a highly efficient fertilizer that promotes crop growth and increases yields. It's now widely used in farmland around the world. Crucially, the materials are readily available and the cost is relatively low. Fertilizer manufactured in Theramore have become one of our most important export commodities."
She described how she placed the Ammonium Nitrate into a pressure-resistant container, sealed it, and then cast a small fire spell inside the bottle. A moment later, a violent explosion occurred inside the sealed bottle. Fortunately, a shield spell protected it, and the shockwave from the explosion did not destroy the laboratory.
Feeling the power of the explosion, Aegwynn showed interest and used magic to watch the explosion unfold. "It's amazing how such a powerful explosive can be created using only sulfur, Saltpeter, and stench."
Jaina poured out some more Ammonium Nitrate, saying, "The key is that this Ammonium Nitrate is normally very stable. It won't explode during storage or transportation. It only explodes violently under high temperature and pressure."
She then took out several frozen, pale yellow "ice cubes" from another sealed container, saying, "This is Nitroglycerin, a new technology developed in Dalaran. It's very explosive, so it has to be frozen at low temperatures."
Aegwynn snapped her fingers, and three layers of protective barriers instantly deployed. Jaina placed the Nitroglycerin on the experimental table and then began drawing frost energy.
"Boom!"
The explosion of Nitroglycerin was bright and brief, like a small sun; the continuous release of energy even caused cracks to appear in the barrier. Aegwynn's eyes widened, and when the smoke cleared, her expression was more serious than ever before.
" Jaina," she whispered, "The magical age may be coming to an end."
The young mage opened his mouth, the words "We have already stopped Archimonde's summons with High-Altitude Bombing " swirling on his tongue before he swallowed them back down.
After finishing the experiment, Aegwynn stood alone in front of the lab table, gazing at the city view outside, silent for a long time. Soft footsteps sounded behind her, Jaina handed her a cup of hot tea.
"Teacher, are you still thinking about the bomb?"
"Yes, these two types of explosives have clearly ushered in a new era. If this continues, the role of mages will be greatly diminished." Aegwynn had lived a long time and was obviously knowledgeable.
Jaina asked worriedly, "Then, teacher, will you object to these explosives?"
Aegwynn laughed and said, "I'm not old-fashioned. The most important reason I've achieved so much in magic is that I can accept anything different and don't care about worldly opinions."
Jaina breathed a sigh of relief and said to Aegwynn, "Actually, we've been keeping the Ammonium Nitrate explosives a secret from Deren and the others. We haven't told anyone, because Deren doesn't want to escalate the war in Azeroth."
"The formula for Nitroglycerin was also provided by Deren and developed by Dalaran. During the last Scourge attack on Dalaran, the Glyph Bomb thrown by the magic apprentices dealt a heavy blow to the Undead and demons. My teacher, Antonidas, is an expert in this field. Dalaran turned from a magical capital into a city of explosions."
"Oh, haha, is that interesting? My junior brother didn't mention it to me. Send him a message, ask him to come over from Karazhan sometime and chat. That's just the past of magic. The future of magic is in Dalaran." A wistful smile appeared on Aegwynn's young and beautiful face.
Jaina was momentarily stunned. She suddenly wondered what Antonidas's reaction would be if he returned and saw this teacher, who was even more beautiful than herself.
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