The Path of a Mage Begins with Reading

A Half-Elf... what was that?

Was that an insult?

The speaker might not have meant it that way, but it sure sounded like an insult, didn't it?

Shawn immediately snapped, "Half-Elves aren't things! No, Half-Elves are things! No, that's not right..."

Merry Winterstorm was clearly thoroughly confused by Shawn's words. He stared at him with wide eyes. "So are Half-Elves things or not?"

The exchange between the two minors even made the usually elegant and gentle High Elf laugh.

The High Elf mage tried to stifle his laughter for a while before composing himself and explaining, "A Half-Elf is a special race, the offspring of an Elf and a member of another race. They have two different bloodlines, so they're of mixed heritage. Young man, forgive me for asking, but what's your name? I mean your full name, including your given name and surname."

Shawn immediately realized that he was being asked for his family background.

In this world, surnames were considered very important because they represented one's bloodline. When introducing themselves, many people included their surname and the name of an elder in their family.

For example, if Medivh introduced himself, he would say, "I'm Medivh Nielas Aran, son of Nielas Aran." Though he was more likely to mention his mother than his father, since she was more powerful and famous.

The High Elf mage wanted to learn about Shawn's origins from his surname. Elves had never been numerous, so there weren't many Elf surnames either. Any adult Elf knew them all by heart.

Shawn had no intention of lying.

In fact, he also wanted to figure out what was going on with the inexplicable surname he had somehow acquired and his equally inexplicable Half-Elf identity.

So Shawn hesitated only briefly before answering readily, "My name is Shawn. Shawn Feathermoon."

Shawn Feathermoon?

The Elf mages exchanged glances, perplexity in their eyes.

They couldn't remember any Elf with the surname Feathermoon.

Perhaps it's a fallen surname? Or a newly established one? the mages wondered.

Elf surnames weren't set in stone.

For example, the surname of the king of Quel'Thalas, the great Anasterian Sunstrider, had only been given to him after the High Elves had split from the Night Elves.

Perhaps Feathermoon had come about the same way?

The Elf mages didn't dwell on it and soon forgot the small matter. The High Elf mage smiled at Shawn and asked, "Shawn, you said earlier that you wanted us to give you two special lessons. What does that mean?"

Shawn quickly replied, "Wise mage, it's like this: special lessons mean private instruction. We got so absorbed in the lecture earlier that we wanted to ask you to teach us a little more. We were wondering if you'd be willing."

Shawn lowered his voice and began to act cute and plead.

He knew how to read the room.

He was only putting on a little charm because the High Elf mage before him was a beautiful woman. If the mage had been a man, Shawn would have made himself sick first! Shawn was straight, not gay, and had not the slightest interest in men.

Though the High Elves no longer lived forever after leaving the Well of Eternity, they were still a long-lived race. Living for hundreds or even thousands of years was no problem. So to a High Elf, Shawn, who was only fifteen or sixteen, wasn't even a teenager yet—at most, he was a child... even considering that he wasn't a pure Elf, but a Half-Elf.

The High Elf mage could understand Shawn's pleading and attempts to act cute.

Perhaps because Shawn was a Half-Elf, the High Elf mage warmed to him at once and quickly agreed to his request.

As honored guests of Stromgarde, the High Elves were staying not far from the king's palace. Led by the Elf Sorceress, Shawn and Merry entered a room.

It was much like a library, with books filling the shelves. Most of them belonged to the Arathor royal collection. Only a few radiated strong Arcane Energy; those were the spellbooks the Elf mages had brought with them.

Every spellbook was extremely precious.

Every mage was a scholar. Their powerful magic was the result of relentless study and research.

Once she had confirmed that Shawn and Merry could both read, the Elf Sorceress took a large stack of books from the shelf and set them in front of the two boys. Then she left them with a single instruction, picked up another book, and began to read.

"Read them from top to bottom and make sure you understand them. Then come find me."

Shawn loved reading, whether on Earth or on Azeroth.

The stack of books the Elf Sorceress had placed before him weren't spellbooks, but books about magic. The two terms differed by only one word, but there was a world of difference between them.

Spellbooks didn't just record all kinds of spells; with a certain amount of magical power, the spells could be cast directly. They were no different from spells that a mage prepared for a long time before casting. Spellbooks were also essential tools for mages, and could be worth even more than a staff.

A mage holding a spellbook might well be stronger than one with only a staff, provided they were of the same level.

Books about magic, on the other hand, were ordinary books that merely recorded magical knowledge. As vessels for knowledge, they were in a completely different league from spellbooks.

The books weren't made of ordinary paper, but of special plant fibers produced by the High Elves. Those fibers naturally had some resistance to magic and could withstand both water and fire. As a result, books made from them shared those qualities. This meant the books could be preserved much longer—even for thousands of years.

Their only drawback was that the pages were too thick. A book as thick as a brick might have only thirty or fifty pages, so it couldn't contain much.

The books in the stack before him probably held less text than a single middle school Chinese textbook.

The text in these books wasn't written in the Elf script, but in the human language—the Common of later generations. Scholars in Quel'Thalas had written them specifically before the trip to Stromgarde so that humans could read them.

Shawn opened the first book and was soon engrossed.

These books about magic didn't cover any fully developed spells. They dealt only with the most basic magical knowledge: the origins of magic, the elements required for spellcasting, the composition of the world's matter, earth, fire, water, and air, the differences between the elements, how to meditate, and what meditation was for.

It might all seem basic, but it was vital for a beginner. If you didn't read these books and study the experience accumulated by generations of mages over countless years, then you could never set foot on the path of a mage.