Capernian brought Karen to Kael'thas's bedroom, where Kael'thas was already waiting.
Capernian left after bringing Karen in, and Karen dispelled the Orb of Deception's effects.
"Brother."
"All right, sit down.
Though I don't know why you didn't want to come back, I imagine you have your own reasons.
You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, and I won't blame you. But if you're having any trouble, you must tell me." Kael'thas spoke to Karen gently.
"I understand, brother." Karen then gave Kael'thas a detailed account of what had happened over the past year.
He only said that a chunk of extraterrestrial ice had struck him, triggering the necklace's passive effect.
Once the shield was broken, he'd been teleported onto the teleportation array. Somehow, the array had activated, sending him near Lincoln Town.
At the time, his state of mind had been somewhat troubled, and he'd wanted to find somewhere to withdraw from the world and rest.
So he'd disguised himself as a human and lived there.
Then he'd talked about encountering a band of bandits, wiping them out, founding an academy, joining the Alchemist Association, and so on.
Kael'thas listened quietly. He asked a few questions about the chunk of extraterrestrial ice, but otherwise listened in silence without saying a word.
Or rather, all the other things were trivial. High Elves lived for thousands of years, so the events of a mere year were like a short trip—just a few interesting stories from a long life.
When Karen mentioned advancing to the high level, Kael'thas asked, "Do you know why you couldn't advance before?
Has it been resolved now?
Will it affect your future training?"
Well, the earlier things were trivial. What mattered was anything that affected cultivation.
"I think it might have been a problem with my state of mind.
Once I figured it out, I advanced naturally.
I think I'll be fine from now on." Karen didn't want to bring up the issue with his soul.
Should he say that he wasn't from this world, and that strictly speaking, he wasn't even the younger brother Kael'thas had known before?
That would just be asking for trouble.
So Karen spun a tale about state of mind and inner demons, borrowed from the cultivation novels he'd read in the past.
"By the way, brother, how many talents did you awaken when you advanced to the high level?"
"Let me think. I believe I awakened nine."
"Didn't they say the record for the most talents was six?"
"First, that only counts humans.
Human talents naturally can't compare to those of us High Elves.
Second, that's only what's on record. Anything unrecorded or unknown isn't included.
Take your human friend Antonidas, for example. He advanced to the high level a while ago, and I doubt he has fewer than six talents." Kael'thas sounded contemptuous of that record. He also brought up Antonidas.
"Antonidas advanced too?" Karen asked happily.
"You advanced, so why is it surprising that he did?
Human geniuses progress quickly, but their foundations aren't as solid as those of long-lived races like us.
And your friend is exceptionally talented.
While you were gone, he blamed himself and became somewhat despondent.
He turned down all leisure activities and focused entirely on cultivation and academic research.
Over the past year, he published quite a few more academic papers.
Once he settled his mind and devoted himself to his studies, advancing was only natural." Kael'thas explained.
"Then I'll go see him tomorrow."
"Will you visit him as Drew, the alchemy master, or as Prince Karen?" Kael'thas asked.
"I'll go as myself, but I'll pay him a visit as Drew, the alchemy master. Once we meet, I'll tell him I'm Karen. He'll know I'm all right and can stop worrying."
"What are you planning to do with your identity as Drew, the alchemy master?
I don't know how long you intend to keep it hidden, so only the people around me know about it.
I haven't even told the members of the Kirin Tor Council.
What exactly do you have in mind?" Kael'thas asked curiously.
"Actually, I have no particular reason to hide that identity.
I've made some connections through it, and I plan to keep operating in Stormwind City for a while. That identity will be more convenient.
It would be best to tell a few important people. They might be able to help me with certain matters."
"All right. I'll make sure the right people are informed."
"By the way, brother, how did you get your phoenix, Al'ar?" Karen asked curiously.
"Do you remember the entrance to the Fire Elemental Realm that our family owns?"
"You got it from there?"
"You could say that. That entrance is a passage to the Fire Elemental Realm.
All kinds of fire elementals live in the Fire Elemental Realm, and they vary greatly in strength.
The weakest are only as strong as low-level professionals, while the strongest lords have reached demigod level.
Most elementals living in the Elemental Plane have little intelligence and act on instinct.
The few intelligent elementals are those that have existed for an incredibly long time. Every one of them is at least a hero.
You could say that not every hero-level elemental is intelligent, but every intelligent elemental is a hero.
Mages can use special summoning methods to form contracts with unintelligent elementals and have them fight for them.
But that method doesn't work with intelligent elementals.
My phoenix, Al'ar, is an exceptionally unique fire elemental. He has intelligence, which makes him a hero-level fire elemental."
"Then how did you form a contract with him and make him your partner?"
"Normally, he couldn't be contracted. But Al'ar has a special trait: whenever he reaches a certain stage of growth, he must undergo rebirth through a cycle of flames.
At that point, he has to grow all over again, starting as the weakest kind of low-level elemental.
I was extremely lucky to encounter him while traveling through the Fire Elemental Realm to explore and gain insight into fire magic, back when I was still a master.
He had just undergone rebirth, and his strength was only at the intermediate level."
"Then you contracted him?"
"It wasn't that simple. Let me finish.
If intelligent elementals like him could be forcibly contracted,
then wouldn't someone be able to contract an injured intelligent elemental?
There wouldn't be only one elemental partner like Al'ar in the world."
"You mean no one else has an intelligent elemental partner besides you?"
"As far as I know, that's right. If there are any others, they must be extremely rare." Kael'thas said proudly.
"Then how did you form a voluntary contract with him?" Karen asked curiously.
"That brings us to one of my talents. It's called Fire Elemental Affinity.
This talent lets me get close to fire elementals and communicate with them amicably.
I promised Al'ar that I would protect him as he grew after each rebirth. Combined with my talent, which made him feel close to me, that led him to willingly form a contract with me.
And that's how I gained an elemental partner.
Without a talent like this, you can forget about forming a contract with an intelligent elemental partner, even if you're stronger than one or catch it while it's injured.
They'd rather self-destruct and return to their source than give up their freedom."
"Wait a moment, brother. Let me check... I'll look for it... Found it. I have a talent like that too. I think it's called Water Elemental Affinity."
"Once you're strong enough, you can go to the Water Elemental Realm and look around. You might get lucky.
Oh, I forgot to ask. What talents do you have?"
"There are quite a few. Let me count them first."
"Count them? Do you really have to count?"
"One, two, three... nine, ten... twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two. I have twenty-two talents in all. They are..." Kael'thas was already completely dumbfounded.
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