The Elven Clans' Surnames

The elven mage was quite satisfied with the speed of Shawn and Merry.

Even when she had first begun her own magical studies, she had not progressed this quickly. Truly, the great King of Quel'Thalas was right: while humans lacked eternal lifespans, they possessed an extraordinary capacity for learning.

"I've finished," Shawn nodded, then extended his left hand, where a faint gathering of water elementals coalesced in his palm.

The elven mage's eyes widened instantly, and she fell into a three-second stupor before suddenly shrieking, "What! You can already summon water elementals!"

Her exclamation startled the other four mages. One male mage, who was in the middle of enchanting a knight's longsword, jerked his hand at the sound. His runic wand slipped, ruining the enchantment and drawing a roar of fury from the sword's owner.

Yet, the male mage ignored the high-ranking royal knight entirely, rushing over to Shawn. He stared fixedly at the water elemental in Shawn's palm, shaking his head and whispering in denial, "Impossible, this is impossible! This simply cannot be! How could a human possess such powerful magical talent? It is impossible!"

The elven mage also shook her head in disbelief. "If you were an adult High Elf with a powerful spirit, it might be understandable; after all, strong spiritual power is a great aid in learning arcane magic. But you are just a child, a half-elf not yet fifteen... how can this be!"

Yet, the reality stood right before them.

Shawn would never tell them that while the body he currently inhabited was less than fifteen years old, his soul was the sum of at least two people: the fifteen-year-old Shawn of this world, and the twenty-something Shawn from Earth.

The fusion of two souls was not as simple as one plus one. Shawn's powerful soul had resulted in a Spirit stat as high as 18 points. With such formidable mental strength, he was already approaching the level of an intermediate mage. Being able to summon a water elemental was not entirely incomprehensible.

After a long while, the elven mage recovered from her shock. She instructed the other mages to continue their work and led Shawn and Merry to her private quarters.

Motioning for Shawn and Merry to sit, the elven mage said softly, "Over these past few days, I have consulted various books and found your surname in ancient records. Feathermoon—a surname of the ancient Night Elf nobility, the so-called 'Highborne.' Perhaps it is the bloodline of this name that has granted you such incomparable magical talent, allowing you to learn to summon a water elemental in a mere ten days."

She paused, sighing with emotion, "It is a truly enviable surname. Unlike my own, Morningdew—a surname of the commoner class."

In the earliest days, elven surnames were ordered according to the natural world from top to bottom; the higher the position in nature, the higher the status.

At the very bottom of society were surnames containing words like water, earth, grass, or dew, such as Morningdew, Winterdew, or Blacksoil.

Wind, tree, and mountain represented the middle class, such as Stormrage, Whisperwind, Sunstrider, Oak, and Volcano. The Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage and the elven priestess Tyrande Whisperwind were both nobles born ten thousand years ago.

Cloud, rain, snow, raven, and eagle represented the higher strata, such as Raven-shadow and Mist.

The highest level of society, standing above all others, included words like star and moon, such as Starwhisper, Morningstar, Feathermoon, and Sunstrider.

The Feathermoon clan was clearly one of the most noble surnames among the elves.

However, the High Elves had been separated from the Night Elves for eight thousand years, and they had gradually forgotten the ancient surnames. Perhaps the only Highborne surname they remembered clearly was the one belonging to the King of Quel'Thalas... Sunstrider.

At the mention of "Feathermoon," Shawn immediately thought of a name he had been guessing at for a long time: "Feathermoon? Shandris Feathermoon?"

The elven mage was clearly surprised that Shawn would bring up that name, and she exclaimed again, "You actually know that name? I only learned it by scouring the archives. Shandris Feathermoon, according to ancient records, was a standout of the younger generation of the Feathermoon family, a powerful Light-warden, and one of the few survivors of the War of the Ancients."

Survivor?

One of the few?

Shawn was visibly stunned.

He did not have much knowledge of the history of the World of Warcraft, and the true Azeroth seemed not entirely consistent with the games and novels of his past life. Regarding the Feathermoon family, aside from a vague memory of Shandris Feathermoon, Shawn had no further impressions.

If General Shandris Feathermoon was one of the few survivors of the Feathermoon family, did that mean there was some intimate connection between Shawn and that legendary sentinel general?

The elven mage clearly lacked a penchant for gossip; she only cared about Shawn's progress in magic.

She interrupted Shawn's thoughts and asked, "Shawn, Conjuration is the study of summoning magic and is one of the first types of magic mages encounter. We summon earth, fire, water, and wind, making the elements serve us. But every mage has their own inclination. Everyone has a different affinity for the elements. For instance, I have a greater affinity for water elementals. Only a few geniuses have a high affinity for all elements. Shawn, you learned to summon a water elemental first, which proves you have a strong affinity for water, but I do not know how your affinity for other elements fares."

Elemental affinity was crucial.

If the fire elementals disliked you, you could exhaust all your strength and only summon a tiny spark, not even hot enough to light a candle.

If the water elementals had an affinity for you, a single thought might bring a Sea Giant to kneel before you, complete with a crowd of minions.

Although Shawn could already summon a water elemental, his degree of affinity still required testing.

The elven mage extended her hands, blue light flickering from one and red from the other. She explained, "Of the four elements—earth, fire, water, and wind—earth is heavy and wind is illusory; both are difficult to control. Only water and fire are favored by mages. While I have a greater affinity for water, my affinity for fire is also decent. Now that I have summoned both, you two should feel them."

The elven mage raised her hands, and the water and fire elementals filled the air, intermingling yet remaining distinct—a display of the skill of a veteran high-ranking mage.

Shawn and Merry were surrounded by the two elements, immersing themselves in the sensation.

If a mage had a high affinity for fire, they would become a fire mage, commonly known as a "Fire Mage," like the Blood Elf prince Kael'thas.

If a mage had a high affinity for water, they would become a frost mage, commonly known as a "Frost Mage," like the eternal heroine Jaina.

If a mage had no affinity for either fire or water, they could only focus on the arcane energy itself, becoming a pure arcane mage, commonly known as an "Arcane Mage," like... the legendary mage Antonidas? Well, surely that great mage couldn't have had poor elemental affinity...