Harvest

Kalei had planned to meditate and rest near the Moonwell, hoping to recover his strength as quickly as possible. But when he turned around and saw two wooden-faced sentries staring fixedly at him, he could only awkwardly make his escape.

He rode Big Black away from the Moonwell. They had not gone far when he suddenly heard Linda laugh. "Haha, this little guy's interesting. He's quite handsome, too."

Luna said, "What, have you got your eye on him?"

"He's kind of interesting, but he's too young. You know I never go for younger men. Besides, he's too timid."

"You're the one being so obvious. Why were you staring at the little guy? You scared him off in no time. I was hoping to have a chat with him."

"A chat? Here? Just don't let the squad leader catch you."

"So what if she does? At worst, we'll let her have him. I hear she likes that sort."

"Oh, stop talking nonsense. The squad leader isn't into that. Besides, she still hasn't forgotten that person from the War of the Shifting Sands."

"Ah, the squad leader works herself too hard..."

"Holy crap!" Listening to the conversation behind him, Kalei nearly fell off Big Black. He'd assumed all the sentries were serious and proper, but it turned out they were all a bunch of secret flirts.

Kalei wasn't surprised, though. Although most Night Elves enjoyed a peaceful, elegant life, some were exceptions.

They were tired of their long, tranquil lives and began seeking excitement. They often added fun to their lives through adventures, battles, travel, creation, pleasure, and all sorts of other things.

Kalei had always welcomed people like that. He felt that their enthusiasm brought some life to the Night Elves' still waters.

But too much enthusiasm wasn't a good thing, either. Those women had lived for who knew how long, and every one of them was an old hand. Kalei had no desire to fall into their clutches and get thoroughly devoured.

He patted Big Black on the rump. Big Black gave him a puzzled look, then quickened his pace when it understood what he meant.

Kalei didn't go to the lodging the village had arranged for him. Instead, he rode Big Black to a little stream to rest.

Waist-high shrubs grew thick along the stream, and a thick layer of tender grass carpeted the ground beneath them. It was soft underfoot, like a natural rug. He climbed down from Big Black, found a spot on the grass, and stretched out comfortably.

Big Black circled him, glanced disdainfully at the sunlight overhead, then turned and walked away.

Big Black understood what Kalei had in mind. It didn't want to sit out in the sun with him. It wanted to find a nice place to rest, and it also needed to go to the village to find some food.

Kalei watched Big Black and grinned.

The nice thing about raising a saber was that if you raised one from a cub, it would look after itself. Its owner never had to worry.

He settled into a comfortable position and lay back, resting his head on the soft grass. Bathed in the warm sunshine and the intoxicating breeze, he soon fell into a deep sleep.

After a whole night of traveling and fighting, Kalei slept especially well. By the time he woke, the sun was almost setting.

He got up and gave a big stretch. His entire body felt limber, as if every inch of him had been nourished by the earth. He felt indescribably relaxed and refreshed.

In fact, it wasn't just his imagination. This was what he had gained from the battle.

A Druid's strength ultimately depended on how much they earned nature's approval. To gain that approval, they had to understand nature's principles and do things that benefited its balance.

When Kalei arrived in this region, the surrounding land had been tainted by the shadowy power carried by the Satyrs and Furbolgs. This had undoubtedly disrupted the natural balance of the land and angered the forces of nature.

Kalei had used and guided nature's energy to help defeat a Satyr and numerous Furbolgs. He was bound to earn nature's favor and its reward, which had greatly advanced his Druid cultivation in a short time.

He checked his status panel, and the result was just as he'd expected: his Druid level had gone up by one, reaching level 29.

On top of that, over the past two days he had learned two intermediate class skills: Rejuvenation and Mass Entanglement.

He checked his skill progress:

Rejuvenation (24/100)

Mass Entanglement (14/100)

The progress on both skills was pretty fast, especially in battle. They advanced much faster that way than before, when neither training nor fighting could raise their progress by even a single point over dozens of days.

Kalei tamped down his delight at his growth and began his daily training.

His daily training started with using each skill he had already learned several times.

Next, he tried to learn any skills whose requirements he met and that he could comprehend.

Finally, he worked out and practiced his martial techniques.

Kalei was a mage, so why did he train in martial techniques?

Because he had discovered that although every class in this world seemed powerful, they were all glass cannons in practice.

A glass cannon was someone with formidable abilities but a body as fragile as paper, liable to break at the slightest touch.

Kalei didn't want to become a glass cannon. Once he noticed the problem, he tried to find a way to change that.

Over the years, he had followed his teacher, Matt Hardwood, poring through the Night Elves' collections of ancient texts and continually searching for ways to strengthen his body.

After all that searching, he found that the only path that could strengthen his body, even if only slightly, without serious side effects was a class that practiced Life Force.

Among the known classes on the Azeroth Continent, those that followed the path of Life Force included Druids, Warriors, and Monks.

Kalei was already practicing as a Druid, but Druids could only increase his physical strength so much. So he decided to practice another class that followed the path of Life Force.

He first considered becoming a Monk, but he couldn't find those Pandaren, so he had no choice but to practice as a Warrior.

Following the Night Elves' method of training Warriors, Kalei had trained for decades, yet he still hadn't mastered rage. He simply wasn't cut out to be a Warrior. It was enough to make him want to cry.

Fortunately, all those decades of persistence hadn't been for nothing. At the very least, he had built a strong body and learned plenty of weapon techniques. Even if one day he couldn't use his magic, he could still cut down his enemies with a sword. He wouldn't end up getting stabbed to death by some foot soldier.

As he had done for decades, Kalei trained by the stream for nearly an hour. He didn't head back to the village until the sun had completely set.

He hadn't gone far when he spotted Big Black beneath a large tree. Seeing him, Big Black let out a huge yawn, got up from the ground, and roared at him in greeting.

Kalei laughed. "Big Black, where did you go looking for food last night?"

Big Black roared several times. It meant, "You've got some nerve asking. You didn't prepare any food for me, so I had to find my own."

Kalei teased, "You're all grown up. Do you still expect someone to feed you like when you were little? You should learn to fend for yourself."

Faced with such shameless talk, Big Black couldn't be bothered to respond. It wagged its tail and headed toward the village.

Kalei and Big Black bantered as they made their way into the village. The sentry Luna rode up at a gallop on her saber and stopped beside him. "Kalei, where have you been? The squad leader's been looking for you for ages."

Seeing her reminded Kalei of the uninhibited laughter he'd heard the previous night.

Now, as she stared straight at him, he couldn't help shivering.

Luna looked him up and down and smiled. "What's wrong, Kalei? You haven't gotten yourself into trouble, have you?"

Kalei quickly pulled himself together and answered loudly, "It's nothing. Did something happen that the squad leader needs me for?"

"Priestess Laria sensed the source of the corruption. She wants you to discuss a plan."

Kalei perked up immediately. "Oh, then let's hurry." Without waiting for her reply, he mounted Big Black and galloped toward the temple.

Remembering the strange look Kalei had given her, Luna realized that the little guy must have overheard their conversation. A smile crept across her face.

She ran her tongue over her lips, squeezed her mount with her legs, and followed after Kalei.