The Emotional 'Expert's' Petty Thoughts

Lifeform morphology pattern recognition anomaly...

New root directory created: Talent Specialization...

Talent Specialization:

Fel Combustion: Uses fel energy to reinforce flesh, significantly boosting combat capability while inflicting self-damage. Sacrifices 8% of health to gain +3 Strength and +1 Agility for one minute.

Lanlos knew that Sargeras was constantly monitoring his body, yet he was still somewhat surprised. The fact that a new data entry appeared simply because his instincts triggered a fel sacrifice during a moment of mental distress meant that while the Keystone could identify basic lifeform data, it could not detect internal abilities that had not yet been observed.

However, as time spent with it grew, Lanlos found himself increasingly unable to function without its assistance. The memory archiving and model projection alone were features he couldn't live without, and data recognition allowed him to intuitively compare the gap between himself and his enemies. More importantly, because he had been somewhat disoriented by the sudden ignition of fel energy, he hadn't noticed the specific gains and costs.

Yet, the Keystone had handled all of that.

At least he knew that if necessary, he could maintain Fel Combustion for up to 12 minutes.

A +3 boost to Strength was a significant improvement; he could perfectly parry the black-clad man's cleave with one hand without feeling much pressure. However, the 8% health loss was still tricky. Unlike mana and spirit, which had guaranteed recovery speeds boosted by high intelligence, health recovery was governed by Constitution. As luck would have it, his current body had plenty of issues, and even after being reshaped once by fel energy, his Constitution remained at a mere 10 points.

In other words, his health recovery received no bonuses during combat or movement; like an ordinary person, he could only rely on rest and sleep to replenish it.

Of course, if he used fel energy for life harvesting or similar acts, he wouldn't have to worry about these concerns. But for now, he could only perform fel sacrifices through physical contact, and he couldn't use demonic powers in plain sight. Fine, he'd just have to get some sleep.

Lying on the bed, Lanlos's thoughts gradually calmed, and he entered a state of meditation.

Meditation was also sleep; although it was a shallow sleep where the body relaxed, with Lanlos's level of consciousness, this degree of rest was sufficient.

"You seem a bit distracted today?" Once all the students had left, Alona didn't rush to leave the classroom, instead quietly approaching Lanlos, who was gazing into the distance from the floor-to-ceiling window.

"...Is this an interrogation?" After a brief silence, Lanlos responded jokingly.

"If I were interrogating you, your wages would have been docked long ago, kid."

"Heh, it's just a newcomer getting the hang of things; it's inevitable to lose focus sometimes." Glancing at her mirror-clear eyes, Lanlos felt inexplicably guilty.

"Inevitable?" Taking a look at Lansan, who was still organizing the instruments and materials on the table, a flash of surprise crossed Alona's face. "Lansan is actually helping you with the course records? I really didn't know when you two became so close. What happened between you two when I wasn't looking?"

"What do you mean 'what happened'? That phrasing is very easy to misunderstand." Facing Alona's expectant little gaze, Lanlos's mouth twitched, his face full of wariness. "This just proves that I am friendly, upright, and have acquaintances everywhere."

For some reason, when he said that last part, a flicker of loneliness crossed Lanlos's eyes—a detail he hadn't even noticed himself.

"A man who doesn't understand romance." Alona, of course, wouldn't understand his thoughts, but seeing him so decisively distance their relationship, the fire of gossip in her heart extinguished. "Tell me, what happened?"

"Nothing much, just ran into some problems with arcane studies recently." Sighing, the smile on Lanlos's face appeared somewhat helpless.

"Oh?" Alona paused, and seeing his troubled expression, she seemed to realize something, looking quite surprised. "You kid, you aren't trying to construct a second-ring spell array, are you?"

Lanlos smiled modestly: "The mentor has a keen eye."

"I actually think you're being a bit too hasty." Mentioning academic matters, Alona became serious. "Arcane knowledge is complex and profound, and it is also dangerous. Your enthusiasm for learning is commendable, but when studying the arcane, the most important thing is caution; you must hold a sense of awe toward it."

Progress step by step? That was true for most people. Just as he had been kicked and interrupted by the black-clad man a few days ago, the higher the level of the spell, the greater the leaked mana would be if the array construction failed, and the stronger the impact on the mind. But Lanlos's mental strength far exceeded his physical body, and he had the Keystone; the more precise the operation, the more obvious his advantage became.

Of course, the elves' consistent awe of the arcane was not without reason. For ten thousand years, the High Elf used the Well of Eternity to push arcane glory to its peak, but it was precisely that unrestricted taking and the thirst for great power that eventually invited the Burning Legion's invasion.

If not for the Burning Legion, this current batch of High Elf would likely still be among the rulers of Azeroth. What destroyed their glory was precisely the desire in their hearts and their contempt for the arcane.

And now, disasters caused by a lack of awe for arcane knowledge were still playing out on Azeroth at every moment.

It had only been a little over two thousand years since the Troll Wars, when the High Elf taught magic to the human empire of Arathor. The magic kingdom of Dalaran was established, its ruling class, the Kirin Tor, held a pivotal position across the entire Eastern Kingdoms, and there was the Council of Tirisfal, the Guardians...

To be honest, these feats of humanity left the Quel'dorei astonished; even the elf prince Kael'thas currently served on Dalaran's Council of Six. But such feats were bought at the cost of countless bloody lessons.

Human spellcasters did not have the long lifespans of the High Elf; in their study of arcane knowledge, they were passionate and hungry. So much so that when they learned that the Twisting Nether and the Astral Plane held vast amounts of mana, many lost their way. Going to the Astral Plane was as difficult as ascending to heaven, while the Twisting Nether was relatively much simpler—as long as one established a connection with a demon, one could touch that endless power...

Later, because demonic incidents occurred one after another, Dalaran formed the Council of Tirisfal, tasked with combating demons, and the Council of Tirisfal later even created human demigods—Guardians—whose strength surpassed legends. In the days that followed, the demons wandering Azeroth were slaughtered to the last.

And the previous Guardian, Magna Aegwynn, even achieved the feat of slaying the avatar of the Dark Titan.

Of course, as for what happened after defeating the avatar of Sargeras, at least for now, besides Lanlos and the Bronze Dragon, no one in this world knew.

Looking at it this way, although humans had made mistakes, they had patched the leaks in time and even achieved things the High Elf had failed to do. In just two thousand years, the radiance of the violet had grown vigorously in the Eastern Kingdoms, little by little catching up to the footsteps of Quel'Thalas. From Lanlos's perspective, he still admired the achievements of human spellcasters.

After all, the danger of the arcane was not in the arcane itself, but more in the danger within the hearts of those who could not resist temptation.

Lanlos was destined not to be someone who stopped moving forward for fear of making mistakes.

"But even though you usually seem kind and easygoing, when it comes to critical issues, you should be more willing to trust yourself, right?" Alona stared at him, looking him up and down as if inspecting a piece of merchandise. "Looking at you, it must be 'qi deficiency' caused by an inability to adapt to the power of mana input while constructing the spell model, right?"

Qi deficiency? That sounded so awkward.

"Y-yeah, I guess so." Lanlos fought the urge to think of something else. "Is, is there any solution?"

Damn it, it's getting more and more wrong...

Alona revealed an encouraging smile, her face carrying a teasing expression as she gently patted his shoulder: "A man's problem, can't it be solved by asking another man?"

Hiss~ This isn't just about being awkward anymore!

Alona walked out after dropping that line, but as she passed by Lansan, she gave him a meaningful glance. Seeing the latter repeatedly wiping the glassware, a smile uncontrollably appeared on her face.

Once Alona was far away, Lanlos looked leisurely at his senior, but didn't rush to ask what that last sentence meant: "Wow, you didn't talk in your sleep and let her hear you, did you?"

Lansan was stunned for a moment, then his old face turned red: "I don't sleep with Alona."

Is that the point?

Lanlos rolled his eyes helplessly: "I think she seems to know exactly what's going on."

"After all, time is running short. It's only natural she'd notice our sudden change in behavior these past few days." Lansan seemed completely oblivious to his own guilelessness, unilaterally assuming it was simply because Alona was too clever. "But once this is over, you'll have to handle your own work again."

"It's not like I forced you to do it." Lanlos shrugged indifferently.

It wasn't really a big deal; he had just found this guy sitting alone in a corner looking miserable a few days ago. Upon asking, he learned that Alona's birthday was approaching, and Lansan was fretting over what kind of gift to give her. Although Lanlos had wanted to pretend he hadn't heard anything and walk away, the guy had clung to him like a drowning man grabbing a straw, refusing to let go.

Realizing he was about to lose money, Lanlos had been eager to escape and tossed a few random ideas from his memory at him. Cakes, fireworks, arranging some surprises—anything to make it romantic. Immersing himself in the scenarios, Lansan had instantly perked up, looking so tearfully grateful he practically wanted to apprentice himself on the spot.

And so, it eventually developed into Lanlos coming up with the ideas while Lansan footed the bill. To free up time for Lansan to brainstorm, Lanlos even took over his workload.

Left with no choice, Lanlos had agreed. After all, as long as he didn't have to spend his own money, everything was negotiable. Besides, this senior was currently his biggest creditor.

The relationship between the two wasn't exactly harmonious, but Lanlos was cunning, often using the excuse, "We're colleagues, you can't just watch me die, can you?" Lansan, despite having his grievances, was unexpectedly honest and simple-minded. Consequently, he had basically become Lanlos's personal ATM.

"Right, about what Alona said just now... cough, what do you think?" Recalling the conversation that had made his skin crawl, Lanlos suppressed his discomfort and looked at the other man.

Hmm, he is an elf, after all; this old guy isn't bad-looking. Wait? Why did I just get a chill down my spine?

"If you're talking about the issue of insufficient magic output, I can certainly offer you some advice." The honest man, naturally unaware he had just walked along the edge of an abyss of sin, replied, "There's a job at the Western Temple in a few days. If you're free, you might want to check it out."