Meryl Winterstorm

With no other choice, Shawn hid in the warehouse and silently converted the ore and mine carts he had obtained from Jangolode Mine into Garrison Resources.

1 point, 2 points, 3 points...

During that time, Shawn went back for lunch, then returned to the warehouse.

As dusk fell, Shawn had accumulated enough Garrison Resources by noon to complete this journey through time.

But Shawn did not begin immediately.

Before that, he needed a good night's sleep and to restore his energy. Who knew what would happen after passing through the Portal of Time and Space?

After returning for dinner, Shawn went back to his room and slept soundly. It was not until midnight that he set up the Portal of Time and Space.

"Stromgarde (2,800 years before the Dark Portal)."

"Enter?"

"Yes/No?"

Shawn chose "Yes."

The next moment, his vision went black, and Shawn vanished.

He did not know how long had passed before Shawn woke from his stupor.

Before he even opened his eyes, Shawn heard a string of shouts.

"Shawn, Shawn! Come look, come look! Elves, elves!"

Who was calling me?

Shawn hurriedly opened his eyes and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

It was a crude bedroom, its walls and foundation formed from sharply edged stone. An old wooden door was suddenly pushed open, and a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy appeared before him, his face full of delight as he shouted.

"Shawn, Shawn! The elves from the legends have come—they've come to Stromgarde! What do you think the elves are here for? I heard elves are all incredibly good-looking. The men are handsome, the women are beautiful, and they have amazing figures! Their ears are pointy too! Shawn, Shawn, they're kind of like your ears, except much pointier!"

Shawn looked toward the voice.

The boy was somewhat thin and frail, with a build comparable to his own. Who exactly was he, and how did he know Shawn's name? How strange.

But from what he said, it seemed Shawn had arrived in Stromgarde? Stromgarde from 2,800 years ago?

And now, a group of elves had come to Stromgarde? What were they here for?

At this moment, the elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas was under attack from the Troll Amani Empire. The few High Elves could not withstand the frenzied Trolls, so Anasterian Sunstrider, king of the High Elves, had no choice but to seek aid from the humans, who were still weak but vastly numerous.

At this time, the humans had formed a great empire: the Arathor Empire, centered around Stromgarde.

Anasterian believed that humans were numerous. Though they had never come into contact with magic, they possessed tremendous potential. With training, they would surely prove useful.

So he proposed a mad plan.

He dispatched several ambassadors, who traveled day and night to Stromgarde and met with Thoradin, ruler of the Arathor Empire.

Though Thoradin was surprised, he still received them with due courtesy. He had heard enough rumors to understand the elves' plight, but he had never believed the Trolls could pose a true threat to his kingdom. The weary elves warned the king of the severity of the situation. Once Quel'Thalas fell, the Trolls would undoubtedly make Arathor their next target.

Though many remained skeptical of magic, Thoradin had to admit that the elven ambassadors were right. When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. The logic was obvious.

So he agreed to the elves' request.

Very soon, elven Mages arrived in Stromgarde and began teaching humans the ways of magic.

Which raised a question.

Were the elves arriving in Stromgarde now the first elven ambassadors, or the elven Mages who came later?

In other words, would the first arcane training session begin only after some time, or was it about to start?

The lack of information left him with a blind spot in his judgment. Shawn chose the simplest way to resolve it.

He hurriedly climbed out of bed and left the bedroom with the boy, arriving on the street.

Whether they were elven ambassadors or elven Mages, one look would tell.

There were quite a few elves. Unhurriedly, they walked from Stromgarde's gates toward the king's palace. They were not riding horses, and they did not move quickly, but every one of them looked noble and elegant. Their luxurious robes and exquisite Staffs revealed their identities.

"They're elven Mages. Looks like the show is about to begin," Shawn sighed.

They're not giving me any time to prepare at all!

He had no idea what sort of people the elven Mages would teach. What if there was some sort of selection process first? What if he got eliminated? Wouldn't that be a disaster? He needed to think this through carefully.

This was why time travelers always had great fortune.

At that moment, the boy beside him clenched his fists and swore with a solemn expression, "I, Meryl Winterstorm, will definitely earn lots and lots of money, buy lots of beautiful clothes, and dress even more nobly and beautifully than they do!"

Upon hearing that, Shawn nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Pointing at the boy, he stammered, "Y-you, what did you say? Y-you are... you're Meryl Winterstorm?"

In that instant, the image in Shawn's mind of Meryl Winterstorm—the human race's oldest Mage, the first Necromancer, a legendary Mage with countless legends to his name, the last Guardian of Tirisfal's guardian and mentor, and a righteous man who would eventually combine the powers of Mage and Warlock—was utterly shattered.

They say meeting someone is worse than remembering them, and seeing them is worse than hearing of them! Who would have thought Meryl Winterstorm was actually a money grubber? After seeing the elven Mages, his vow wasn't to become a great Mage, but to earn lots of money?

Ten thousand wild alpacas trampled through Shawn's heart, but immediately afterward, a wave of secret delight surged within him.

Meryl Winterstorm was the most famous of the first hundred human Mages. He was destined to participate in the first arcane training. As long as Shawn stuck close to him, he definitely would not miss this first arcane training session.

The war between the High Elves and the Zul'Aman Trolls was raging fiercely, and the situation at the front was rapidly worsening. The High Elves did not have even one second to waste. After briefly meeting Thoradin, the elven Mages immediately began the arcane training.

Unlike what Shawn had expected, the elven Mages did not impose all kinds of requirements. Though they knew that training too many human Mages posed a potential threat to Quel'Thalas in the future, Quel'Thalas now faced the danger of annihilation and could not afford to worry about such things.

Besides, the proud High Elves had never believed that weak humans possessed magical talent surpassing their own.

In their view, even if every human in Stromgarde came to study magic, it would already be impressive if a hundred of them ultimately became Mages.