Tidesage Academy's New Apprentice

Liam felt a sense of responsibility for the situation and was debating whether to intervene when the three boys walked right up to the burly man, whose face practically screamed "I'm a bad guy." The trio showed no fear in the face of the villain, with Flynn Fairwind taking the lead to initiate negotiations.

Liam had no interest in the content of their conversation; he was more concerned that if he hadn't shown up and something happened to Flynn, it might affect the future of Jaina, the protagonist.

At this thought, Liam nervously scanned his surroundings, terrified that a mustard-yellow lizard might suddenly pop up beside him, point a finger at his nose, and declare him an unstable element who had disrupted the timeline and needed to be erased immediately.

Compared to Liam's "idleness," Wilton's efficiency was clearly much higher.

Years of training had allowed Wilton to develop a unique strength—he could always adapt to a new environment with lightning speed.

Of course, this was inseparable from his increasingly proficient mastery of his shapeshifting abilities.

Remaining on the ship, Wilton first blended in with a group of sailors to disembark, then seized the opportunity while they were drinking heavily at the tavern to successfully extract the intelligence he needed.

As for Stormsong Monastery, anyone who had ever visited Kul Tiras would have heard of it. It was the place with the highest concentration of Tidesages in all of Kul Tiras, earning it the nickname "Tidesage Academy," or Tidesage Academy for short.

With such a well-known landmark, gathering information was effortless for Wilton. A little flattery was all it took for the tipsy sailors to spill everything they knew.

Leveraging his "convenient" identity, Wilton forged a set of credentials the very night he entered Boralus. The next morning, he became a new student at Tidesage Academy as a "transfer," beginning yet another chapter of his academic life.

As the least talented freshman in decades, Wilton wasn't turned away by the monastery. However, as a new apprentice who had snuck in through the back door, he naturally received no special treatment and was destined to be marginalized.

Fortunately, Stormsong Monastery was neither a profit-driven institution nor a formal educational organization, and Wilton displayed his finest quality: "piety" toward the sea (which, of course, was feigned). Thus, no one discriminated against him for his lack of talent.

And so, as a background character, Wilton successfully integrated into the monastery and began probing the other apprentices who were equally overlooked, hoping to complete his "mission" as soon as possible so he could leave this place, which he found somewhat eccentric.

While Wilton's progress was smooth, Liam ran into trouble.

Liam, who had just finished scanning his surroundings, nearly laughed at his own actions; his worries were clearly superfluous. Although the Bronze Dragon were often derelict in their duties, preoccupied with trivial matters, they clearly didn't have their eyes on Liam—perhaps their attention was hooked by the "major events" they had caused themselves.

Setting aside the troublemaking Bronze Dragon, Liam realized that if he didn't intervene, these two figures who would influence the next twenty years of Kul Tiras's political landscape might actually meet their end here.

It turned out that in the short time Liam had been distracted, Flynn and his companions had completely broken down, shifting from verbal sparring to physical confrontation. The cause was none other than the little fatty who had insisted on tagging along, Harlan Sweete, who had stirred up trouble.

Despite his young age, the boy was greedy and ruthless. While Flynn was still negotiating with the pirate, he pulled a dagger from behind his back and stabbed it viciously toward the pirate's neck.

Had that strike landed, the pirate's size would have been irrelevant; he would have died on the spot. And in a place like Freehold, the death of an outsider would attract less attention than a local losing a chicken.

The pirate had originally just wanted to extort a few gold coins for travel expenses after his ship was destroyed, never expecting to run into a "hard nut" who valued blood over money and was ready to kill at the drop of a hat.

Unfortunately, the pirate had clearly been guarding against such a move and managed to dodge just as he heard the wind of the blade behind his head. The potentially lethal blow instead struck his shoulder, and blood immediately began to well up along the dull edge of the dagger.

Although the pirate was injured and could only use one arm, dealing with a few children who hadn't even hit their growth spurts was no harder than catching a few chicks.

Just as the pirate was grinning and drawing his cutlass to close in on the three children sprawled on the ground, a dagger appeared abruptly at his throat, followed by a voice.

"If I were you, I wouldn't move."

The pirate froze. He could feel the chilling murderous intent radiating from the blade; its owner had clearly ended many lives for such a thick, palpable bloodlust to cling to it.

Moreover, to be able to hold his life in the balance so silently, the person behind him was certainly no ordinary individual. This old sea dog, seasoned by years on the water, easily assumed the person behind him was the backer of these three little thieves, and he dared not move a muscle.

Liam's hesitation lasted only a moment, as he realized that playing the peacemaker really didn't suit him.

Logically, the pirate was in the right here, even though Liam knew these guys were bandits who robbed passing merchants and had plenty of blood on their hands. Unlike organizations like the Syndicate, which were rotten to the core, Liam knew that some pirates, despite their own internal chaos, could still do the right thing when facing the "external enemies" of Azeroth. Therefore, he couldn't bring himself to "execute without teaching," and as it stood, keeping the man alive might still prove useful.

"Blood or gold—everything has a price. Take this money as compensation for your medical expenses, and let's call the matter of the wine settled. How about it?"

Liam retracted his dagger and tossed two gold coins to the pirate, who turned around in astonishment at his words.

It was his first time acting as a mediator, and his methods were rather crude; all Liam could think to do was throw money at the problem... though he had brandished his blade as well.

The pirate was sensible enough to say nothing; he snatched the two gold coins and turned to run. However, the look he cast at the children before leaving was far from friendly—he clearly held a grudge over that stab wound.

"Now, you owe me two gold coins again."

Liam turned to the three children behind him, smiling at Flynn Fairwind.