Antonidas

Half a month later, he came before the king again. The king spoke a few words of concern and gave Karen a spatial ring.

Karen used his mental power to check inside. It was full of Magic Crystals. It seemed the king knew which treasure Karen had chosen and had given him extra ammunition.

To the long-lived High Elves, spending ten years traveling abroad was like a student going on a trip after finishing their college entrance exams.

Spellbreaker Captain Sathis led Karen to the teleportation array. Human magic had been taught by the High Elves, and Dalaran, the holy land of human mages, often exchanged knowledge with them. What was more, Kael'thas was a high-ranking member of Dalaran. The two sides had established a one-way teleportation array, making it very convenient to travel there.

Beside the teleportation array stood a small magical projection device that could contact the array on the other side and handle the necessary formalities. Both sides inserted Magic Crystals into their respective arrays.

Sathis led Karen into the teleportation array. The mages beside it began chanting, but Sathis did not leave. "His Majesty the king ordered me to protect Your Highness," Sathis explained when he saw Karen's puzzled look.

Karen nodded. Sathis was a master-level Spellbreaker at the peak of his rank, and he was invincible against mages below the hero level. With a bodyguard like him, Karen felt completely at ease.

When the teleportation mages finished their incantations, the array began absorbing energy from the Magic Crystals. Its runes started to glow, and under the guidance of the mages' mental power, the crystals' energy formed intricate magical patterns. The entire array was enveloped in magical lines. In an instant, Karen felt weightless and blind. By the time those sensations passed, he had arrived somewhere new.

The teleportation chamber had a style quite different from that of the elves. Several mages who had just finished casting stood nearby. One stepped forward and bowed. "Welcome to Dalaran, Your Highness. Please come with me."

Karen nodded and followed the mage out of the chamber, with Sathis close behind. Outside, a group of High Elves were waiting. At their head stood a man with graceful manners and an extraordinary bearing. He was exceptionally handsome, dressed in a luxurious crimson robe, and had several magical orbs floating above his head, spinning continuously.

Comparing himself to the man, Karen suddenly felt like a filthy beggar. He was ashamed of his own appearance.

He knew this was Kael'thas only because he had seen the original owner's memories. The instant Kael'thas saw Karen, his face blossomed into a warm smile. The sincerity of it moved Karen.

Kael'thas stepped forward and embraced him. "It's been so long, little brother."

Feeling Kael'thas's sincerity, Karen thought of the history of this passionate, gentle, ambitious, responsible, and seemingly perfect brother, whose fate had nonetheless been so tragic. I'm your family, too. I'll change your fate.

"Yes, brother. It's been a long time."

As Kael'thas released Karen, a human mage stepped forward and introduced himself. "Hello, Prince Karen. I'm Staley Green, one of the six members of the Kirin Tor Council. Welcome to Dalaran."

"Greetings, Councilor."

"All right, my brother just arrived. That's enough for today. I'll take him back now. Please excuse us." Kael'thas gave a slight bow.

"Of course. Make yourself at home here and don't feel constrained," Staley said to Karen before leading the other humans away.

Kael'thas led Karen and Sathis to his Mage Tower and into his room. "That's enough for today. You may all go about your business. Caponia, find Sathis a room."

"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone bowed to the two princes and took their leave.

"I heard you tried again and suffered mental backlash. How are you now?"

"I'm fine now."

"Don't try again for a while. Relax and take it easy while you're here. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it all."

"I just came here to clear my head." What Karen was really thinking was that Kael'thas always took everything on himself, and that was why things had turned out the way they did. This time, I'll make sure I can help you.

"All right. Don't make any plans just yet. I'll show you around tomorrow."

Kael'thas spent a long time talking with Karen that day, constantly reassuring him and showing concern for him.

Karen felt that Kael'thas was far too charming. In just one day, he had won Karen over. No wonder the people supported him so much. Even when he later joined the demons, so many people still followed him.

Kael'thas had promised to show Karen around the next day, but something came up and he had to change his plans. A human took his place as guide. Karen met him that morning.

"Your Highness, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Antonidas. I'm Archmage Staley Green's student, and I'll be your guide."

The young human before him was refined and well-mannered. He looked about twenty, yet was composed and perceptive, with neat short hair. He wasn't particularly handsome—not that many humans looked handsome to High Elves—but his sunny smile was captivating.

This was the outstanding Archmage of the future, the leader of human mages. For now, he was a mid-level mage, just like Karen.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young and wise mage." This was their first meeting. The Antonidas of this time was very different from the man he would become in his later years. He was witty, humorous, erudite, and highly respected in Dalaran.

Karen's many fresh perspectives and insights, thanks to his transmigration, helped Antonidas a great deal. And unlike other High Elves, Karen wasn't arrogant.

The two were drawn to each other and soon became friends. Antonidas quickly relaxed, too.

"Hey, Karen, look. Someone's sneaking a glance at you again."

"Aren't there lots of High Elves here? Why do they seem so surprised by me?"

"Don't you know? There may be plenty of elves here, but you don't see them often. They aren't like you. They don't want to associate with people of lower status like us, let alone ordinary folk."

"Are there a lot of ordinary people here?"

"Of course. This may be a holy land for mages, but mages are still a rare profession. There aren't many of them.

"And we have to eat and have needs of our own.

"So there are plenty of ordinary people here to serve us and trade with us.

"This city is enormous, but there aren't many mages. Even mage apprentices make up only a small part of the population.

"See those Mage Towers? Only high-level mages can have their own towers. Those clusters of Mage Towers are the territory of high-level mages. Low-level mages like us and mage apprentices work for them, and ordinary people aren't allowed into that area.

"The area around the Mage Towers belongs to low-level mages like us. It has facilities such as mage guilds and administrative halls. Farther out is the area for ordinary people. There are markets there, where we go to trade for what we need.

"Let me show you the mage guild first."

"You're the guide, so you decide." The mage guild was a domed building that looked like an opera house. There were no magical runes or anything like that on its surface.

"Why doesn't a building this important have any magical protection?"

"Who would dare damage it here? If anyone did, the mages on patrol would be delighted to invite them for tea."

People were constantly coming and going through the ten-by-five-meter entrance. Antonidas pointed at them. "Everyone who enters here is a mage and has to wear a mage badge. There are magical monitoring devices at the entrance to check." As he spoke, Antonidas pointed to the badge on his chest. It was gold and shimmered with magical energy. Clearly, magic had been infused into it.

"The guild certifies the badge and infuses it with magic. It can't be tampered with or altered. It's proof of your identity.

"Every time you advance a rank, you have to come here to be tested and certified. You can use your badge to collect the benefits for your rank each month.

"Mage badges start with the certification of novice mages. Novice mages get one book, intermediate mages get two, advanced mages get a magic staff, masters get two, and heroes get a magic hat."

"If I don't have a badge, does that mean I can't go in? Do I have to wait outside like them?"

"Not having a badge doesn't mean you can't enter. You'll just be monitored more closely, and I don't think that will be a problem for you.

"The people waiting outside are ordinary folk and independent mage apprentices.

"When a formal mage takes a task here, there are often simple, time-consuming chores involved. Doing them personally would be a waste of time, so they hire these people to do them.

"They're all waiting for jobs."

It felt just like being an extra on a movie set. One of the extras would get a job, go outside and call out, and a whole crowd would come rushing over.

"Independent mage apprentices?"

"Most mage apprentices are students or servants hired by formal mages.

"Independent mage apprentices are people with some magical ability but no teacher or employer.

"On the one hand, they take on simple tasks to support themselves. On the other, they hope a formal mage will take an interest in them and accept them as students or servants." Karen nodded to show that he understood.

Just then, a mage walked up to the crowd. "I've just accepted a task that requires five mage apprentices at level five or above. It involves channeling magic. The pay is five silver coins per person per day."

The ordinary people left disappointed. Some mage apprentices thought it over, then went to stand behind the mage to show they were accepting the task.

"What exactly is a level-five mage apprentice?" Karen asked.

"That's how we humans divide the ranks. It's just a more detailed classification. Each rank is determined by how much magical power you have. See that magical stone in his hand? It's used to test magical power."

Eight mage apprentices came forward. The formal mage took out a black stone divided into ten layers.

One mage apprentice placed a hand on it and channeled magic. The stone lit up layer by layer from the bottom until five layers were glowing. No matter how much magical power the apprentice channeled, the sixth layer wouldn't light up.

"That's enough. You're a level-five mage apprentice. No need to keep testing. Stand behind me." In the end, eight mage apprentices were level five or above, and the mage chose the five with the highest levels before leaving.