With G'hnir's Voodoo Mask, Zul'ra overcame his fear of the darkness within souls and cleared away the gloomy thoughts clouding his mind. Then he suddenly realized that his body seemed to have grown again.
When he had first crossed over, Zul'ra had overcome his hunched back, straightening from a stooped height of 1.6 meters to stand two meters tall. Over the two years he had spent in Zandalar, he had shot up to 2.7 meters—a normal height for a Troll.
Now that he stood at a normal height, clearing away the gloomy thoughts in his mind had caused his mental strength to surge. With his mind and body in harmony, he seemed to have undergone another growth spurt, rising from 2.7 meters to three. Even among the physically powerful Nightmare Trolls, only a few reached that height.
Aside from his height, thick eyebrows had sprouted above Zul'ra's eyes. Along with his wild sideburns and jutting chin, his appearance would have made him seem like a valiant, broad-shouldered man to humans—if not for his pale blue skin, the two tusks in his mouth, and his height, which could make most races feel inadequate. Of course, Trolls still thought he was ugly.
By the usual standards of female Trolls, a male's tusks were best when they curved upward, standing straight like a fence in front of his face. A long chin and pointed ears were also considered attractive, as was a strong, powerful physique. Among tribes other than the Zandalari Trolls, a strong, curved back and sturdy legs were considered a bonus.
Aside from being strong enough, everything else about Zul'ra counted against him. Still, he didn't think he had anything to be disappointed about, since female Trolls didn't look especially appealing to him either.
By Troll standards of beauty... well, that could wait. With his greatly enhanced mental strength and his newly acquired ability to see with his mind, Zul'ra visited the various workshops in Zandalar, spying on their warcraft and recipes and secretly recording them.
While carefully stealing knowledge in secret, Zul'ra continued his studies in Zandalar. As his mental strength surged, so too did the magic within him. Building on his affinity for shadow, he began to sense light in the natural world.
The natural world contained countless rays of light, both visible and invisible—starlight, ultraviolet rays, and more than could be counted. Unlike shadow, which represented the mind's immoral urges and aggression, light represented the warmth and humanity within people.
Light and shadow filled the natural world. They were everywhere, intertwined and interdependent, flowing into one another. Light emerged from darkness, while darkness lingered as shadow within the light. When light reached its peak and vanished, everything returned to darkness, where new light would once again be born.
The way light and shadow depended on each other, flowed, and intertwined brought China's traditional philosophy of yin and yang to Zul'ra's mind: the duality, transformation, and unity of all things. As long as one adapted to these changes, one could overcome any obstacle.
His ancestors had left behind a vast philosophical legacy, but it was no use to Zul'ra now. He could sense the existence of light, but the natural rays he felt didn't seem to respond to his thoughts the way shadow did.
Priests and Druids were the most skilled at using light magic. Priests called upon the Light, the embodiment of humanity, through the humanity in their own hearts, using it to heal the sick and wounded. Druids wielded the power of nature, harnessing the light of the sun, moon, and stars to defeat their enemies. But Zul'ra knew neither kind of magic.
Zandalar had a Druidic tradition, but its teachings lacked spells for manipulating the light of the sun, moon, and stars. The Yaungol didn't know those spells either. Their Druids' knowledge only covered the movements of the stars, which they used to keep track of the calendar and aid in farming. Only the Night Elves knew those spells.
Without any related magic to guide him, Zul'ra chose to study light in the most primitive way, just as he had once done with shadow. But unlike shadow, which was tied to the thoughts of living beings, light was different.
No matter what a person's state of mind was, the light of the natural world shone on all people and living things. Taking advantage of this, Zul'ra observed how his body reacted to sunlight and moonlight, and drew on what he remembered learning back on Earth.
When sunlight shone on a person, their blood flow sped up, and the light killed bacteria and mites on their body. They felt drowsy, but too much sun could damage their skin and make them irritable and disoriented.
Compared to sunlight, moonlight brought a sense of peace to the body and made people drift off to sleep without realizing it. When the moon was at its brightest, though, prolonged exposure to moonlight made people feel inexplicably excited. Zul'ra wasn't sure whether this had anything to do with the gravitational pull of the Earth-moon system. After all, Azeroth had two moons.
Zul'ra's study of light went nowhere near as smoothly as his study of shadow. Shadow magic had the benefit of voodoo lore, while all he knew about light came from a few modern scientific ideas. But this world itself was anything but scientific.
Though he hadn't discovered anything, Zul'ra went by the most direct effects he had experienced. He let his body absorb plenty of sunlight, moonlight, and starlight, and regulated his daily routine. The life force within him then grew stronger and stronger, as if he were a monster absorbing the essence of the sun and moon.
On a whim, Zul'ra also practiced a few breathing exercises he'd made up, hoping to absorb some imaginary "spiritual energy." He didn't absorb any spiritual energy, but he unexpectedly discovered that he could use his breath to control the life force within him.
Ever since his thoughts had grown sharper and he had sensed an intangible life force inside himself, Zul'ra had tried to control it. But aside from becoming more or less active when he absorbed sunlight and moonlight, it had remained quiet inside him at all other times.
As he experimented with his breathing exercises, Zul'ra discovered that the life force, which had been sluggish inside him, surged with each breath. It rose along his spine to the back of his head, then flowed down from his crown to circulate through his entire body in a steady rhythm.
As he directed the invisible life force, Zul'ra felt his body grow more sensitive. He could sense the air moving through the pores in his skin and feel his organs shifting. It was as if every tiny force in his body had been laid bare in his mind.
What did it mean to sense every bit of strength in his body with such clarity? Precise control. Using the life force flowing through him, Zul'ra began experimenting and soon discovered the "Dark Force" he had once hoped to master.
Dark Force was really just an exaggerated name for controlling one's strength with precision to increase explosive power. With the life force flowing through his body, Zul'ra could punch through a tree stump as thick around as an adult human's waist with a short-range, one-inch punch. If he applied this ability to weapons, he wouldn't need to wind up and gather strength before fighting someone. He could save time and seize the initiative. It was just...
"Why do I keep developing toward close combat?" Zul'ra organized his abilities and couldn't help scratching his chin. He was clearly a Witch Doctor, a noble spellcaster, so why did all his abilities keep veering toward the physical? It was a little unprofessional. He didn't mind the thrill of close combat, but it was dangerous. Were mages just born to kill with their own hands?
Thanks to Nuan Wo Chu Xin for the reward, and thanks for the support.
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