The Difficulties of Reality

Old Norton sighed and blew out another smoke ring. "Once you've formally learned spells, you might be able to scrape together money by exploring ruins, joining mercenary groups for missions, and so on. But before that, either you do what Duke did and obtain one of no more than three annual scholarships personally funded by Court Archmage Medivh, or you display your talent at the pre-enrollment gathering, pledge yourself to a noble family, and receive that family's full support during your studies in exchange for becoming their noble mage after graduation."

After a pause, the old man gave an example. "To start with, even a copied edition of the academy's apprentice textbooks costs a full gold coin. Of course, that assumes you're fully literate. Without textbooks, you can't learn anything. On top of that, you need to acquire spellcasting materials for practice."

After the old man finished speaking, Daniel and Itana went completely pale.

Both came from commoner families. Before passing the exam, they had never imagined there would be so many problems. What did one gold coin mean? Their families could go without food or drink for who knew how many years and still not save that much. Now, because of a momentary burst of pride, they had carelessly driven themselves into a dead end.

Anyone could tell without thinking that, before the situation became clear, no noble family would dare invest in them.

The tall Daniel was somewhat stubborn. Even in the face of hardship, he merely pressed his lips together, his back still ramrod straight.

But the somewhat timid Itana was different. Her body gradually curled in on itself, her hands clutching the hem of her skirt over her knees. Her face looked so miserable that she seemed on the verge of tears, her eyes already red.

Seeing their reactions, old Norton let out a deep sigh as well.

Perhaps this was what it meant for a single copper coin to stymie a hero.

At that moment, Duke pulled a small booklet from his clothes. "Excuse me, may I lend this to Daniel and Itana?"

"This is..." Old Norton's previously clouded eyes instantly cleared. No, they practically lit up like bulbs. "Damn it! Where did you get the [High Elf Mage Apprentice's Introductory Handbook]?"

"Uh, is it that valuable?" Seeing the old man's enormous reaction, Duke was a little dumbfounded.

"Obviously! Human magic was taught by the high elves. When it comes to spells, the high elves are humanity's ancestors. Don't underestimate this as merely an introductory handbook. So many old men in Dalaran want an original copy and can't get one." As he looked through it, old Norton sharply inhaled. "By the God of Magic, are you actually not human, but a descendant of the high elves? No, are you the Sun King's illegitimate son?"

At the old man's words, Duke immediately felt four gazes fixed on his face, making his cheeks burn. Duke himself wore an utterly bewildered expression.

"How so?"

The old man flipped to the inside back cover of the handbook and pointed at a signature that looked almost like meaningless scribbles to Duke and the other two. "Do you know what this says?"

The three youngsters shook their heads in unison.

The old man excitedly waved his hands and roared in a nearly shouting tone, "Kael'thas Sunstrider! This is the apprentice handbook used by Kael'thas, the current High Elf Prince!! Damn it, anything from the Sunstrider royal family, even an introductory handbook for spell apprentices, is premium goods in the eyes of human mages! Tell me, Duke, where did you get this? If this goes wrong, it could bring you enormous trouble."

After the old man finished, Duke was no longer afraid.

"Uh, this thing... its origins should be fine. It was given to me by an extremely bored High Elf ranger-general from Quel'Thalas who happened to be passing by."

"I see." Old Norton and Daniel both immediately relaxed.

But just then, Duke suddenly heard a voice drifting in on the wind from outside the window.

"Hmph, hmph!"

Damn it... Alleria, just how bored are you? You actually followed me!?

Dense forests lined both sides of the road. Honestly, the carriage was not moving slowly. One could imagine that Alleria could run through the forest faster than the carriage traveled.

However, Alleria did not voice any obvious objection, which gave Duke a new idea.

"Respected Mage Norton, if I let you make a copy of this [High Elf Mage Apprentice's Introductory Handbook], how much could I exchange it for, including two sets of [Stormwind Academy of Magic Apprentice Introductory Handbooks]? Oh, for about one month. After one month, I would also like a translated edition in Common."

Old Norton froze. From the two faces beside him, now pure and ecstatic, he understood—this prodigy Duke had succeeded.

Damn it, he was not transferring it at all. He was merely lending it to him for one look and demanding benefits in return. And that was not all—he had even roped him in as a translator!

This kid was shrewd as hell!

Well, whether for public or private reasons, he could not cheat Duke.

"You win, kid." Old Norton helplessly shrugged. "You'll get what you want. Since I find you pleasing to the eye, I'll value it at twenty percent above market price. Once we get there, I'll calculate the details for you properly."

Old Norton's promise let Duke see a golden thigh rising before him.

It took three days to travel from Northshire Abbey to Stormwind.

Duke only learned that after setting out. Although, based on the information currently available, the world's geography was basically consistent with the game's, its actual land area had clearly been expanded by an unknown number of times.

That night, Duke was "ambushed at night."

He woke from a sharp pain in his ear. When he opened his eyes, he was nearly scared to death, because what he saw was not the roof of a tent, but a strangely dazzling starry sky.

The next instant, he saw those somewhat familiar Mount Hyjal peaks beneath green inner armor, and calmed down again.

High elves were a very perceptive race.

"You... you recognize people by their breasts?" Alleria's low, angry curse sounded beside his ear.

"I'm just this tall!"

That was right! Duke painfully discovered that, although he had crossed over, his body was still his own. Yet perhaps because he was only thirteen after crossing over, his body had shrunk. Having not yet entered puberty, when he looked toward Alleria, his eye level happened to be right at her chest...

Alleria gritted her teeth in anger, but there was no way she could discuss such a pointless topic with a child.

"I'm asking you, why did you lend the [High Elf Mage Apprentice's Introductory Handbook] I gave you to that old man?"

So that was it. Duke had thought Alleria had come to call him to account over something major.

Shrugging, Duke put on a helpless expression. "I had no choice."

After thinking about it, Alleria seemed to feel that was indeed the case. She planted her hands on her hips and stared at Duke for a long while before finally softening her attitude.

"Fine. You pass."

"Then... you dragged me out in the middle of the night just for this?"

"I came to say goodbye."