Goblin

Three days passed, and at the first light of the fourth dawn, Matt Hardwood returned from the outside.

Hearing the commotion inside, Kalei quickly rose to prepare some fresh bread, cheese, and a pot of Morning Dew Wine for his teacher.

Matt thanked Kalei and sat at the dining table, chatting about recent events while he ate.

Seeing that his teacher had been away for several days, Kalei was curious about what had kept him busy.

Matt Hardwood told him that the Druids of the Cenarion Circle had discovered a short, green-skinned race near the Stagnant Oasis in the southern Barrens.

This race was incredibly cunning; they were wreaking havoc throughout the Barrens, felling rare trees and mining underground deposits without any regard for the balance of nature.

The Cenarion Circle had sent him to gather intelligence on this race and assess their impact on the local ecosystem.

A short, green-skinned race—weren't those Goblins? Kalei felt a jolt in his heart. He remembered that the Goblin race had already appeared before the War of the Ancients. After the war, influenced by the Great Sundering, the Goblins had fled to a large island known as Kezan Island.

Later, these Goblins were enslaved by the Zandalari Troll, who were neighbors to Kezan Island, and it wasn't until 100 years before the opening of the Dark Portal that the Goblins overthrew the Zandalari Troll rule and gained their freedom.

Although these Goblins were physically weak, they possessed peculiar technologies that allowed them to build ships capable of crossing the ocean to go on adventures.

Some of these Goblins had sailed to the Kalimdor Continent, and these mad Goblins later established two major cities in Kalimdor: Ratchet and Gadgetzan.

Based on the information Kalei had gathered so far, he was certain the Dark Portal had not yet opened, but the fact that these cunning Goblins were appearing on the Kalimdor Continent meant that the opening of the Dark Portal was not far off.

Thinking of the relentless disasters that would follow the opening of the Dark Portal, an unprecedented sense of urgency surged within him.

He wanted to learn more from Matt, such as the scale of the Goblins, their technological level, and their specific activities in the Barrens, but unfortunately, Matt's knowledge was limited and he could not provide the answers he sought.

He could only suppress his restlessness and try not to think about it for the time being.

Matt asked him about the details of his recent mission.

He handed Matt the report he had already written.

This report generally recorded the events of the Furbolg incident. Some parts were deliberately concealed by Kalei, such as the highly private and important matters of him obtaining the Life Gem and the Seed of the Soul Ancient.

Other parts were heavily emphasized by Kalei, who went to great lengths to describe the specific manifestations of the evil power affecting the Furbolg, even going so far as to label this power as the Power of Nightmare, hoping to draw the Cenarion Circle's attention to this evil force.

Matt spent a moment browsing the report and nodded with great satisfaction: "Good, you have done very well and have not failed the hopes I placed in you."

"I will write your application to join the Cenarion Circle for you. I will submit it to the Council along with this report, so just wait patiently for the results."

In fact, Kalei's performance during this Furbolg incident had far exceeded his expectations.

Before he had even returned, the story of the Furbolg incident at Bristlelimb Village had been turned into a tale, spreading around Maestra through the songs of bards.

The names of the heroes in the story were mentioned repeatedly, causing Kalei's reputation to begin circulating in Maestra.

This undoubtedly made Matt, as his teacher, feel proud. He solemnly put away Kalei's report and asked him about the Magic Tree.

Kalei recounted what he had heard from the old village chief Bebo regarding the Magic Tree, then handed him the Arcane Scroll related to it.

Matt put down his fork in surprise, took the Arcane Scroll, carefully opened it, and glanced roughly at the contents.

Then, he let out a long sigh of relief and looked at Kalei: "Kalei, you have surprised me once again. This scroll is extremely important to the Night Elf, and I will submit it to the Council very soon."

"I originally thought that with your background, even after completing the mission regarding the Furbolg crisis, there would still be some hurdles to joining the Council. But with this scroll, the possibility of you joining has increased significantly."

Kalei smiled: "Is that so? That's great. However, I must clarify that obtaining this scroll was not my achievement alone; it was also thanks to my adventuring companions, Arenia and the others."

Matt said: "I understand. I will provide a detailed explanation of the information regarding this matter to ensure that the contributions of every participant are properly recognized."

Kalei said: "That is good, teacher. I wonder when the Council will have a result?"

Matt said: "It will take at least half a month, perhaps a month. You should know the habits of those old fellows; they always drag out simple matters for a long time."

Kalei said: "Is that so? Then may I take this time to go home? I have been training outside for these past few years and have rarely been home to accompany my mother. I have decided to go back and spend some time with her."

Matt said: "Of course, Kalei. You have finished your apprenticeship now; you can do whatever you wish and do not need to report every little thing to me."

Kalei nodded: "I understand, teacher. I still have some questions to ask you."

Matt said: "Oh, are these questions about your studies? Please, speak!"

Kalei shook his head: "It is not about my studies. Take a look at this." He opened his hand, revealing a bright red gem.

Matt's gaze fell upon the gem, and his eyes lit up instantly. He reached out to pick up the gem, examining it closely, and said in surprise: "This is... the Life Gem! And it contains the wrathful power of Ursoc! Kalei, where did you get this?"

Kalei recounted the process of obtaining the gem.

As he listened, Matt gently rubbed the gem with his fingertips, feeling the power contained within, and clicked his tongue in wonder: "This gem contains a dense amount of life force, which is of great benefit to a Druid's cultivation. However, to utilize the life force within, one must purge the wrathful will of Ursoc inside it. This is no easy task."

Kalei said: "Does teacher know of any way?"

Matt thought for a moment, returned the gem to him, and said: "The only methods I can think of at the moment are two: one is to ask a legendary Druid to intervene and forcibly separate the life force within; the second is to use the artifact, the Tears of Elune, to purify the wrathful will of Ursoc."

Kalei was stunned. As far as he knew, on the entire Azeroth Continent, besides the demigod Cenarius, there were only two Druids who had reached the legendary level: Malfurion Stormrage and his disciple, Fandral Staghelm.

Malfurion Stormrage was kind and easy to talk to, but unfortunately, he was a recluse who often slept in the Emerald Dream, making him very difficult to meet.

Fandral Staghelm was quite active, but the man was suspected of being corrupted, and Kalei did not want to contact him until he had figured out his status.

In this way, the first path was clearly a dead end. As for the second path, Kalei did know that the Tears of Elune were hidden in the Druid sanctuary of Val'sharah, but the problem was that he was currently just a young Druid who hadn't even joined the Cenarion Circle yet; wanting to use an artifact was simply a fantasy.

After thinking it over, Kalei understood that it would be impossible to use this gem in the short term.

Matt Hardwood clearly knew that neither of these methods was easy, so he didn't dwell on it, merely urging Kalei to keep the gem safe and find a way later.

Kalei expressed his gratitude, then asked about the Seed of the Soul Ancient.

Matt Hardwood had heard of soul pets, but he had never heard of plant-based soul pets, let alone how to activate their seeds. He couldn't think of a good way either and could only tell Kalei to explore it himself.

Helpless, Kalei cleared the table, told his teacher to get some rest, and began planning his journey home.