Joy Turns to Sorrow

Gogri the Great was quite clever, and he was satisfied with that Gnoll Warden. At the very least, it hadn't wasted its precious skill immediately.

He had barely finished feeling pleased when he swung his staff, preparing to land a blow on Taelan. The reason Taelan Fordring had charged at Gogri the Great was that, unlike other Gnolls who used meteor hammers, this one carried a staff topped with a crescent moon—he would recognize it even if it were burned to ash! Wasn't that the Three-Seven Staff?

The Three-Seven Staff was the legendary Crescent Staff! It was famous for adding seven points each to intellect, spirit, and stamina! It had been an incredibly popular weapon back in the vanilla era!

Crescent Staff

Two-Handed

Quality: Fine

41-71 Damage, Speed 2.9

(DPS 20.3)

+7 Intellect

+7 Spirit

+7 Stamina

Durability: 90/90

He had suspected this fellow was a Gnoll with aspirations like Hogger and would surely use spells. It had appeared in his Energy Perception, but seeing it now, clutching its staff like a club to bash him, he actually felt relieved.

Enduring the numbness from the electric orb, he turned his attack toward the Gnoll Warden! This creature possessed a powerful Shaman spell: Purify. This magic could remove beneficial spells from a target; in early versions, it could even deal 400 damage to summoned creatures! At the same time, it slowed the target for 5 seconds, making it the bane of human Archmages.

(The reason human Archmages were often chosen as a first hero was their ability to summon Water Elementals, their strong early-game leveling capability, and the fact that their Brilliance Aura synergized with Sorceresses and Priests. This Warden could kill an Archmage's summoned Water Elemental very quickly.)

However, because its race was naturally low in intelligence and incapable of learning occultism, the cooldown for this magic was agonizingly long! It could be used at most twice in a single battle. Consequently, it drew immense aggro and rarely lived long enough to exhaust its mana.

Taelan Fordring skillfully used his shield to block attacks, then launched a Charge, following up with a Shield Bash combo against the Warden. He then hacked fiercely at the creature. By this time, Jaina and Janice had approached the camp, watching Taelan fight five enemies at once. The two immediately unleashed their strongest attacks; Jaina cast Frostbolt, while Jandice fired a Fireball—a mid-level spell that only a few advanced apprentice mages could master.

Their magical attacks were amplified by Taelan's Aura of Might. The Gnoll Warden was first slowed by the Frostbolt and then struck by the Fireball, dying instantly! Purify was indeed a taunt skill!

Gogri the Great cursed inwardly: "That idiot, it died before it could even cast Purify! What if this brat had a buff on him?" He had completely forgotten his earlier praise and good mood! Taelan Fordring had no time to worry about Purify; he used his shield to deflect Gogri's staff strikes. He fired six consecutive Holy Bolts; thanks to the powerful intellect bonus from the Eye of Violet, his mana pool remained ample. If things got desperate, he could always activate his dual trinkets. He stuck to his Shield Bash tactics, ramming until the enemy died, and if they didn't, he would finish them with Zeal!

However, Tirion Fordring often taught him that as a Paladin, one must always keep an ace up their sleeve—whether it be talents like Blessing of Freedom or Every Man for Himself, or some unknown, powerful skill. One must always have a backup plan to prevent emergencies!

Gogri the Great had initially thought victory was certain, but the situation had turned sharply; the human brat was incredibly tough! Furthermore, he had summoned two young women. One could cast ice, the other played with fire, and in the blink of an eye, they had burned his lieutenant to ash! He immediately ordered his three remaining dim-witted subordinates to fire at Jaina! Frostbolt was clearly more infuriating than Fireball!

Indeed, Tirion Fordring was right: as a warrior commanding a battle, one must keep a reserve. Otherwise, one would have to master the warrior's Challenging Shout, even if that skill could only protect teammates for 10 seconds.

Taelan Fordring cast Power Word: Shield on Jaina. Jaina was immediately encased in a translucent, milky-white barrier. This shield possessed astonishing defensive power; the three arrows only caused ripples on the surface before falling to the ground. Gogri stared in disbelief! He had seen Priests use this skill before, but never with such potency! Wasn't this just a cub?

Jaina, initially startled, regained her composure and immediately began focusing fire with Jandice on the Gnoll Archer Taelan was attacking. Soon, another lackey was taken down. Gogri grew desperate! He ignored the human cub attacking him and charged directly at the unprotected Jandice. It seemed the so-called aggro system in World of Warcraft was completely useless! Monsters had brains too; they could distinguish which target posed a greater threat and which enemy offered a higher return on investment!

Taelan Fordring knew that while mages had immense offensive power, they were undeniably fragile. Moreover, neither of them knew Ice Barrier. At least Jaina didn't; she hadn't undergone systematic training, and the magic circuits formed by her Ysera Dream Meditation were only suited for manipulating natural energy and soul power, leaving her helpless against elements. She lacked a meditation technique, and such techniques were the absolute secrets of spellcasters, passed down only between master and apprentice.

Recently, he had been learning from Solarian and had gained much new knowledge. A mage without magical protection could even be harmed by mortals, and rage was also a form of transcendent power. Furthermore, the world of Azeroth differed from his original world; its power levels were extremely high. Even ordinary creatures contained different energies within their bodies, which would appear in active Energy Detection skills, though the intensity varied.

Some powers were incredibly bizarre; for instance, he had awakened Energy Perception. This ability was the foundation for becoming a legendary spellcaster. Energy Detection was an active ability that could be learned, while Energy Perception was a passive ability that could not be learned and relied entirely on mutation. Therefore, one could never underestimate any creature!

Taelan Fordring dared not take any chances and quickly launched a Charge to intercept Gogri, and the man and the Gnoll clashed once more! Several consecutive Mortal Strikes left Gogri with no time to command his two remaining lackeys. They were quickly brought to their knees by Jaina and Jandice's magical attacks. This earned Taelan a significant amount of experience; as long as he killed this Gnoll Overseer, he should reach level 13. He resisted the urge to activate his trinkets to unleash Zeal and a barrage of Holy Bolts, letting the two women provide the damage while he focused on control and protection. A powerful Hammer of Justice left Gogri severely wounded!

Gogri had lost his lackeys and was now being besieged! Although his strength was indeed far greater than this human cub's—after all, he possessed the strength of a Warlord!—this cub was truly thick-skinned! Watching himself get hit repeatedly by Frostbolts, he realized the little mage apprentice still hadn't run out of mana! If Taelan knew his thoughts, he would only say: "You really are a genius!"

Future hero units were no joke! Jaina's natural mana pool was surely several times his own, and she would eventually awaken Brilliance Aura! Her mana regeneration speed was astonishing. If he wanted to wait for her to exhaust her mana, he might as well give up!

Gogri felt his strength waning; between the bleeding, the slowing effect of the Frostbolts, and the explosions of the Fireballs, he felt he couldn't wait any longer. He raised the Crescent Staff in his right hand, and green light suddenly erupted from his left. Taelan Fordring and the two women immediately felt the soil beneath their feet soften, and their bodies began to sink. Oh no, Entangling Roots! This was a nature spell, a unique ability.

As the battle progressed, the instinct to seek protection caused Jandice to move closer to Taelan. Now, all of them were trapped by the Entangling Roots.

It turned out that Gogri's desire to become a Warlord wasn't entirely delusional. He had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Seeing that he had trapped the three human cubs with Entangling Roots, Gogri turned and ran toward a pile of trash, digging out a green scroll. He then began chanting in broken Thalassian toward the trees at the camp entrance.

As the scroll in Gogri's hand vanished, to the trio's astonishment, several large trees disappeared, replaced by three towering Treants standing in their place.

Now things had gotten serious; this Gnoll was actually a Druid.

"Ah, my leg!"

The battles will become increasingly difficult to write because, as strength increases, the number of new spell abilities will grow. If I forget certain spells, everything will fall into chaos. Yet, it is impossible to account for every single situation.

Also, please try not to view certain settings entirely through the lens of real life; after all, this is a game-oriented, other-world-oriented story. For example, looting corpses. It can't be exactly like reality where, once a monster is killed, all its belongings belong to you. If Archimonde died and resurrected on Argus, would he have to come out naked? If Sargeras wiped out the Titans, the equipment in his hands would surely be god-tier.

Additionally, thank you all for your recommendation votes. Thank you all.