Val Is Not To Be Trifled With

Taelan Fordring watched as the Dragonkin General abandoned him to charge toward Jaina. He nearly cursed out loud! This world was no game! They were all intelligent! Even a nameless grunt knew that to capture the bandits, one must first capture the ringleader!

Taelan intercepted the Dragonkin General. To be honest, he wanted to run; staying here meant death at any moment. But he knew that if he fled now, he would never be able to stand tall again.

So, he chose to hold his ground. He unleashed another Mortal Strike, and a new round of torment began. The effects of the Blessing of the World Tree made the Dragonkin General start to doubt his own existence. This boy hit him every single time—all his training had been for nothing!

Jaina was truly worthy of becoming a future Archmage of the Kirin Tor. She was no longer as terrified as before. She quickly found a green potion, but she didn't stop there; she kept rummaging. Soon, she held a green potion in each hand and shouted to Taelan, "I found them!"

Taelan Fordring glanced with satisfaction at the two green potions clutched in Jaina's chubby little hands! The Dragonkin General, however, could not comprehend why a princess would be digging through a trash heap. Shouldn't she have abandoned the boy and fled? Taelan Fordring shouted to Jaina, "Quick! Drink it!"

Jaina obediently downed the green liquid. With a pop, a cloud of smoke exploded. A Little Bee flew out from within! Thank goodness he guessed right! At that moment, Taelan Fordring unleashed Hammer of Justice again. The Dragonkin General was shamefully stunned once more, receiving a debuff: World Tree is Watching You.

Taelan Fordring reached out, grabbed the bee-transformed Jaina, snatched the green potion, and bolted for his life. He soon reached a spacious area where iron bars appeared beneath his feet—the entrance to the second level of the sewers. There was no other way in. Taelan pushed Jaina through the gaps in the sewer grate first, then, suppressing his nausea, drank the green liquid and transformed into a Little Bee himself.

Just then, the Dragonkin General came charging in. He threw a vicious punch at the bee that was Taelan Fordring. The Polymorph spell didn't affect Taelan's skills, but it did shrink his size. Like swatting a fly, he was knocked down into the second level of the sewers.

Upon entering the second level, the impact of the Mortal Strike broke the transformation. Taelan Fordring reverted to his true form, blood streaming from his nose and mouth! His life force began to drain away.

Jaina was a clever little girl with great magical talent. Somehow, she managed to break her own transformation as well. The two of them stared at the Dragonkin General through the iron bars. Taelan Fordring secretly rejoiced that this guy wasn't a Warlock wielding shadow magic, or they would have been finished long ago. At the same time, he prayed the enemy wasn't a Hunter.

(This reference comes from I Am MT.)

The Dragonkin General stopped hiding his voice and growled, "Little brat, you're clever and lucky enough. You don't really think I can't destroy these iron bars, do you? Even with enchantments, they won't stop me."

Taelan Fordring's eyelids grew heavy, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto Jaina's princess dress. He felt his life slipping away; if this continued, he would die soon. Jaina hurriedly supported him, seeing his dire condition. She asked, "How are you?"

Taelan replied, "I'm fine, not dead yet." He then summoned his skill tree and added a point to Prayer:

Prayer When activated, slowly restores health to you and your allies. Radius: 20 yards Healing +9 Mana cost: 2.3

Taelan Fordring activated the Prayer Aura. A blue ring immediately appeared beneath his feet, and the resulting mist coalesced around him. Because he was resting, his Holy Light energy began to recover—his mana bar began to grow naturally—barely enough to sustain the cost of the Prayer Aura. (The five-second rule for mana regeneration activates after stopping spellcasting, and humans have a racial trait that improves this effect.)

Jaina, standing beside him, immediately felt her body lighten, and the wounds she had sustained in the sewers began to knit together. A warm Holy Light began to embrace her. She said in surprise, "You're amazing! So you've already mastered a Paladin's class skills. I don't even know your name yet?"

Taelan Fordring said, "I am Taelan Fordring. And you?"

Jaina said, "I am Jaina Proudmoore. You must remember my name."

Outside, the Dragonkin General was fuming. Did this human brat think he was safe just by hiding behind some bars? He sheathed his daggers. The sewers weren't very high, and he had been using daggers for convenience. Now, he pulled a polearm from his magic pocket, preparing to smash through the sewer guardrail.

Taelan Fordring said, "Idiot, you'd better look closely. It's not just you and us two here."

Jaina was startled by Taelan. Was there someone else? She looked back. Two lights were hanging there. Who was so thoughtful as to install magical streetlights in such a remote sewer? But looking closer, they weren't lights at all—they were two eyes!

To be precise, they were the eyes of a gargantuan crocodile, three times the size of the one in the World of Warcraft game.

In her eyes, this crocodile was far more dangerous than the kidnapper outside. She quickly grabbed Taelan Fordring's hand and huddled close to him. Taelan Fordring didn't look afraid at all. The Dragonkin General had already raised his weapon to cleave the bars, but he suddenly noticed the massive crocodile blocking the tunnel and froze in shock, stopping his attack.

The Dragonkin General was stunned. As an intruder, he could clearly see the crocodile drooling at him; a Dragonkin was far more delicious than a scrawny little brat.

This crocodile felt extremely dangerous. Through the innate biological perception of the dragonkin, he knew this was an extraordinary creature. If there were a status bar, it would surely display a large, blood-red skull.

In other words, this crocodile was at least level 58. Taelan, however, knew that when this crocodile appeared in World of Warcraft, it was level 80—a named, max-level silver elite. (Named elites often have unique skills and special loot tables.) From this, he deduced it was at least level 60.

Taelan Fordring switched to his sharp-tongued mode: "Fool, you'd better not anger it, or you're dead." The Dragonkin General retorted, "Little brat, stop spouting nonsense. It didn't attack you, so why would it harm me?" Taelan Fordring said, "Heh! You're the intruder. Would you be polite to someone who tore down your front door? If it were me, I'd make sure their head exploded."

The Dragonkin General hesitated again. No reward was worth his own life.

Just then, an anxious voice came from around the corner, "Taelan, where are you?"

Then a booming voice shouted, "Tirion, you must trust the perception of a child of the sea; both those little ones are still alive."

The Dragonkin General felt that if he didn't leave now, he was done for. The two presences approaching rapidly were incredibly powerful. Having made up his mind, he turned to run. At that moment, Taelan Fordring, inside the second level of the sewers, thoughtfully cast Hammer of Justice. After so much trash-talking, the skill was off cooldown. Aside from the cooldown time, this skill was simply flawless.

Thanks to the World Tree, the Dragonkin General could only stand rooted to the spot, watching as two middle-aged men ran around the corner.

The man in the back wore a captain's hat. As soon as he appeared, he shouted, "Jaina, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Father, I'm fine. Taelan saved me!"

Tirion Fordring nodded at Taelan without a word, but he raised his hammer.

Daelin Proudmoore looked at Taelan and said, "Kid, thank you for saving my daughter."

The two furious men quickly gave the Dragonkin General a brutal beating. Daelin Proudmoore pulled out a magic rope and tied him up like a dumpling. As for why a Grand Admiral would carry magic rope, only heaven knew.

Taelan Fordring briefly explained how they had gotten down there. Tirion Fordring returned to the trash heap to retrieve two more green potions. Then, Taelan Fordring and Jaina transformed into Little Bees and flew out of the sewers.

Although Val, the giant crocodile, hadn't harmed them, it had still scared Jaina half to death.

Two chapters released back-to-back, posted first and edited later!