Maestra

Andy arrived outside the tent and locked eyes with the lead elf; both were stunned for a moment.

"It's you!" Larsen exclaimed, wondering how it could be this brat Andy.

Andy only froze for a second before returning to his usual state, saying indifferently, "I didn't expect it to be you, either."

Larsen gnashed his teeth in secret. When he received the order from Andrebos, the general said he was adding one more person to his team, but he hadn't thought much of it—it turned out to be this kid. Larsen gave Andy a gloomy look, snorted, and turned his head away. If not for the strict order from Andrebos to redeem his past mistakes, he would have loved to go back and turn down this assignment.

"Let's go. How much longer are we going to wait?" Andy curled his lip. He truly couldn't understand why this Larsen fellow, whom he hadn't even known when he first arrived in Darnassus, was constantly finding trouble for him. Was it really fate that someone like this existed just to disgust him every day?

Larsen shouted a command, rode his Sabers forward without another word, and Andy walked right beside him. Andy kept a careful watch; including himself, there were only ten people in the squad. It was more than enough to investigate the cause of last night's incident, but if some emergency occurred, would just the few of them really be of any use?

Larsen and Andy walked side by side at the front, while the eight behind them looked at one another, none daring to speak. The group moved silently toward Maestra.

Just as Andy was traveling, the Orc camp was met by an uninvited guest!

"I want to see Orgrim!" an elderly-looking Orc said bluntly to the camp guards.

"Audacious!" the guard roared. "How dare you address the Warchief by name here!"

"Hmph, so what?" the old Orc replied. "Go and report me at once!"

"Insolent!" the guard raged, shouting toward the gate behind him, "Everyone, come here!"

Orc warriors who had been training in the camp were having a grand time sparring, but upon hearing the guard's roar, they rushed out.

"It's this person! He dared to call the Warchief by name here. Too insolent! Seize him!" the guard pointed at the old Orc and yelled.

"What? Someone like that exists!" The Orcs, being somewhat single-minded, all roared and charged forward with claws bared.

The old Orc watched the circle of Orc warriors closing in, a sinister smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He suddenly raised his hand and quickly chanted something. Afterward, with the old Orc as the center, a ring of flames spread outward like a floral wreath.

The Orcs who had surrounded him were all scorched by the sudden appearance of the fire. The warriors wailed and retreated rapidly, but it was too late. The flames swept over their bodies, and their exposed skin sizzled under the heat, leaving them rolling on the ground in agony.

"A small warning this time. If you are ever disrespectful again, I will kill you on the spot!" the old Orc said, revealing a cruel smile.

"Insolent! Who is causing trouble here?" Orgrim, hearing the commotion from his command post, came out to see what was happening. Seeing the Orcs rolling on the ground, Orgrim asked with anger, "Who exactly are you?"

"What, you don't recognize me?" The old Orc looked up and unfastened his robe, revealing a string of prayer beads made from infant skulls hanging around his neck.

"It's you lot!" Orgrim gasped. He then gestured for a few Orcs to carry away the rolling warriors, sighed helplessly, and made a gesture of invitation to the old Orc, saying, "Come inside and sit."

Andy traveled without a word for three days, sleeping in the open, before finally seeing the edge of the outpost that had been spewing flames.

"We're almost there, move faster!" Larsen suddenly became anxious, and Andy gave him a strange look. What Andy didn't know was that Larsen had sensed something was wrong. Normally, the area around the outpost was within the patrol range of sentries, and at this distance, they should have been spotted. Yet, until now, they hadn't seen a single sentry!

Andy urged his Sabers to keep up with Larsen and the others, noticing that the rest of the team also wore grave expressions.

After running for a few minutes, Larsen and his group reached the edge of the outpost, but the sight before them made the elf scouts' scalps tingle. The surrounding walls had been destroyed—thoroughly—and the watchtowers had been razed to the ground. Even the command hall inside the outpost had been burned to a pile of ash.

"This..." Larsen dismounted in silence and walked slowly into the outpost.

Maestra was located near the other end of Ashenvale, considered the heart of elven territory, so the number of people stationed there was small—only a squadron of about three hundred. From the position of Maestra, one could clearly see the high ground to the south of Ashenvale, where Thunder Bluff was located.

Thunder Bluff was the territory of a low-profile race on this continent. Because they had heads like bulls, they were called Tauren. For thousands of years, the Tauren had lived a life of seclusion, never leaving Thunder Bluff. However, the elves could not afford to take them lightly, so necessary surveillance was required.

Larsen looked at the fire-scorched outpost; it no longer resembled a post at all, but was entirely scorched earth. But where were the elven soldiers?

"How many people were here?" Andy asked, turning his head.

"Three hundred!" Larsen gritted his teeth.

"Three hundred, and now not a single one is left, and the outpost has been burned down!" Andy looked around, helpless.

"Captain, I think you should come see this!" a scout said, emerging from behind a pile of ash.

Larsen looked over in confusion and turned to walk to where the scout had been. But what he saw made him furious, his blood boiling. Behind the pile of ash lay a heap of charred bones; judging by the skeletal structure, they were undoubtedly elves.

"This..." Andy gasped as well. "Who the hell did this!"

Several scouts used their longswords to poke at the pile of bones. There were over a dozen that could be identified, but where were the others?

"It seems this place was attacked!" Larsen said with a gloomy face. "Send word to the camp and report the situation. Tell the General that if necessary, I will act without waiting for further orders!"

A scout agreed, walked outside the outpost, took a messenger owl from his mount, attached a letter to its claw, and released it into the sky.

"It must have been those Tauren from Thunder Bluff!" Larsen said bitterly.

"Tauren?" Andy asked in surprise. "Are Tauren really native to this world?"

Larsen looked at him as if he were a lunatic, and one of the scouts added, "That shouldn't be right. Those Tauren don't easily leave Thunder Bluff!"

"We should get to the bottom of this; we can't jump to conclusions," Andy said.

Larsen glanced toward the direction of Thunder Bluff and said, "Besides them, I can't think of any other possibility! Don't forget, this is the heart of our territory. Who else could pass through so many sentry posts without a sound, run all the way here, and specifically destroy an outpost?"

Hearing Larsen's analysis, Andy also fell into deep thought.