Setting Out

Yes, Challenge Level. It was a new attribute on Shawn's stats screen, appearing after he completed the Mage class quest. It was an overall assessment of an individual's combat power.

The assessment was complicated. Shawn couldn't make heads or tails of it, since it took so many factors into account: attributes, class, skills, equipment, knowledge, experience, and personality, among others. Only the shameless, all-knowing, omnipotent Space Garrison could come up with a rating like that.

Still, if he thought about the Space Garrison's ratings carefully, they made sense.

Old Saldean was a level 4 Warrior, and his Challenge Level was 5. That was understandable.

As a newly promoted level 1 Mage who knew only one skill, Fireball, with a casting time of 20 seconds, Shawn should have had a Challenge Level of, at most, 2 or 3. But he was decked out in a mix of blue and green gear, which bumped up his rating considerably. That was how he'd barely made it to level 6.

In other words, if they actually fought, Old Saldean wouldn't stand a chance against Shawn. Neither would the Kobold Shaman Wizard in the Kobold Den.

In other words, Shawn, who used to be weaker than even a five-out-of-ten fighter, had gotten stronger. He was now a more formidable... six-out-of-ten weakling!

All right, back to the point.

No matter how sharp Old Saldean's instincts were, he couldn't have guessed that Shawn had changed so much overnight. And he certainly couldn't have imagined that someone had spent a month in Stromgarde 2,800 years in the past.

So he'd only asked out of curiosity, then immediately gone back to his work.

Shawn was a little bored, so he wandered around, using Eye of Insight on everyone he saw to practice... Unfortunately, skills that couldn't be upgraded didn't have proficiency levels.

That gave him a clear idea of the combat strength of ordinary people in this world.

For example, all the underage boys and girls, ordinary farmers who'd just come of age, and elderly, weak, or injured drifters had a Challenge Level of 1.

Some pigs, cows, and sheep Old Saldean kept were level 1, too.

Some drifters had once been soldiers, Hunters, or members of other combat classes. Their Challenge Levels were 2 or 3.

Bloodfang Boars and Wild Dire Wolves, which often appeared in Westfall, had Challenge Levels of at least 2.

Harvest Golems had a Challenge Level as high as 5. If their resistance to Fire Elementals were any lower, their rating might have been even higher.

In short, Shawn hadn't seen anything above level 5 so far. There was no way a little place like Saldean Farm could have anything too powerful... or how else could Old Saldean keep things under control?

After breakfast, Old Saldean's caravan finally set out.

The people traveling with them were:

Caravan leader and owner of Saldean Farm: Old Saldean.

Caravan deputy and secret accompanying Mage: Shawn Feathermoon, the Half-Elf orphan Old Saldean had adopted.

Caravan bodyguard, recruited from among the drifters: Thornas, a level 4 Warrior and former guard of Moonbrook.

Caravan scout, recruited from among the drifters: Rick, a middle-aged man who claimed to be from Stormwind City, and a level 3 Rogue.

Then there were two kids—both orphans Old Saldean had adopted, and about Shawn's age. One was named Heller, the other Paul.

Thornas, the level 4 Warrior, looked imposing and was a true Warrior through and through. According to him, he'd served as a guard in Moonbrook for ten years. After the town was destroyed, he'd wandered around until he'd recently arrived at Saldean Farm.

Thornas and Old Saldean went way back. Apparently, when Old Saldean was young, he and Thornas had fought together. Old Saldean considered him very reliable.

Rick, the level 3 Rogue, had mooched off Saldean Farm for three months. He was smooth and eloquent, and had chatted with everyone. They all had a good impression of him. He claimed to be from Stormwind City and said he was on good terms with a Mage in Elwynn Forest. But when Shawn used Eye of Insight on him, he discovered the man was full of lies.

"Name: Rick."

"Attributes: Strength 12, Agility 17, Stamina 13, Intellect 12, Spirit 11."

"Class: Novice Rogue (level 4), Novice Warrior (level 2)."

"Skills: Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, Pick Lock, Pick Pocket, Sprint, Kick, Ambush."

"Challenge Level: 5."

This smooth-talking middle-aged Rogue wasn't level 3 at all, but level 4. And he wasn't just a Rogue—he was also a Novice Warrior. He knew as many as seven Rogue skills. His Challenge Level was higher than Thornas's and Old Saldean's, second only to Shawn's.

This guy...

Looks like I'll have to watch my back around him!

As for the two little brats, Heller and Paul, each had inherited different skills from Old Saldean. Heller liked farming, while Paul loved trading. One was a future farmer, the other a future merchant. This was Heller's first long trip with Old Saldean, while Paul had already gone once before.

Along the way, Paul grabbed Shawn and Heller and chattered on and on about his first trip with Old Saldean to Goldshire. Heller listened with shining eyes, while Shawn grew drowsy.

"This Paul... How come he's nothing like Old Saldean, who's so honest? At least nine and a half out of every ten things he says are exaggerated—then exaggerated some more!"

Sitting in the wagon, Shawn slowly considered his plans.

During his month in Stromgarde, Shawn had converted all the ore and mining carts he'd gotten from Jangolode Mine into Garrison Resources. He'd gained 20 units of stone, 10 units of gold, and 15 units of iron.

At that rate, the Town Hall still seemed impossibly far away!

But that was all right. Shawn had a plan of his own.

He still hadn't returned the Shredder he'd borrowed from Fablon. After he got back from Goldshire, he planned to cut down a lot of trees and stockpile lumber.

There were quite a few professional Hunters in Goldshire, and they should have plenty of leather for sale. Shawn planned to sell the Kobold Shaman Wizard Staff and the Dalaran Apprentice Robe. They ought to fetch a good price. Besides buying leather, he could also buy some stone at the quarry. Then the Town Hall should be within reach.

Once the Town Hall was finished, he'd be able to build all sorts of structures, like a Mage Tower, a Golem Factory, and an Alchemy Lab...

But that was all for later.

For now, Shawn needed to improve his own strength.

Although he'd advanced to level 1 Mage, he still knew only one spell: Fireball. What's more, it took a full 20 seconds to cast. Luckily, his equipment gave him +4 casting speed, cutting the time needed to cast Fireball to under 10 seconds, but that was still a long time.

By the time he launched a Fireball, the battle would probably already be over.

There was nothing he could do about that. He'd just have to practice for a long time. But Shawn hadn't had the chance to practice.

Shawn decided to calm down, study the nature of the Arcane, and learn another skill.