Trial Day

Neither Duke nor Alleria knew that after they left, a third group had found the boar.

"Isn't this 'Prince'?" a servant cried out in surprise.

"Prince?" A young man dressed like a nobleman snorted disdainfully.

The servant immediately bowed and scraped. "Uh, esteemed master, that's only a nickname. The Brackwell family has an award-winning pig named 'Princess.' This sow is enormous, and she often sneaks into Stonefield's farm to steal vegetables! Somehow, this Princess hooked up with an even larger murderous boar. Three farmers have already died to that boar. That's why the bounty notice calls it 'Prince'!"

The young nobleman's interest was piqued.

"Hm? If I bring this 'Prince' back, won't that add to my prestige?"

The servants were all sycophants. The moment they heard that, they understood.

The current king was a highly wise ruler. To preserve the nobles' drive to improve themselves, he had even laid down an iron rule: noble descendants had to earn merits before they could inherit their fathers' titles.

Unfortunately, every policy had its countermeasure. In this era without large-scale wars, people's lives were relatively stable, and there were not many thieves or bandits either. The only things that could count as enemies of humanity were the beasts, magical beasts, and demi-human races scattered across the land.

If humanity wished to expand its territory, it had to seize land from other creatures and open up new frontiers. Therefore, killing monsters listed on bounty notices could also count as merit.

"Yes, yes, exactly. Young master, if you use your magic to kill 'Prince,' a level-one bounty target in town, in a dazzling fashion, Lord Viscount will surely be pleased."

Seeing how perceptive the servants were, the young nobleman smiled smugly.

Duke knew nothing of the chain of events unfolding behind him.

He was still struggling bitterly to survive. After great difficulty, he crawled out of the slightly swift river, only to realize in astonishment that he had been swept a long way downstream.

He lay on the riverbank, gulping down air as he felt the sunlight on his back.

The system suddenly spoke.

Dear host, this system spirit feels obligated to remind you: with your constitution, the probability of catching a cold if this continues is 68.3%.

Duke bared his teeth, but ultimately accepted it.

Almost struggling, he stripped off his coarse linen clothes and pants, spread them over a relatively dry boulder by the river, then collapsed onto it like a dead dog himself.

This was awful. As expected, transmigration was both physically demanding and technically challenging.

Such a primitive natural environment was indeed extremely difficult for a college student who complained even during military training.

His mind was a mess as Duke recalled everything he knew about Azeroth.

Then he gave a bitter smile. Before transmigrating, he had complained every day that being born in **** meant starting on hell difficulty. Compared to Azeroth, that did not even count as hell's gate. There was a saying—people living in any era of war often did not make it past forty.

Rubbing his forehead, Duke muttered, "There's still too little information. The only thing I know is that if Alleria is still around, then this must be a very early point in Azeroth's timeline. In World of Warcraft, Alleria should have gone on an expedition to Outland with Turalyon, been besieged, and vanished completely."

Once he had finally caught his breath, Duke stood up, put his clothes back on, and looked around. At last, he found what he had been searching for—cooking smoke.

Where there was fire, there were humans... or, at the very least, humanoid creatures.

With both hope and unease, Duke headed toward the rising smoke in the distance.

Half an hour later, following the stream downstream, Duke finally found what he wanted—a human settlement.

Several brick-and-timber buildings, fully four stories tall, broke through the canopy's blockade and proudly declared the presence of human civilization to nature.

For some reason, seeing those utterly ordinary gabled roofs gave Duke the urge to cry. Deep down, he felt like he had found his people. At least he had found a human town, rather than an ogre barbecue party featuring human flesh.

Filled with excitement, Duke quickened his pace. Soon, he found a dirt-and-stone road. It was covered in gravel, leaving almost no room for anything but grass to grow. It still could not compare with the sidewalks from before his transmigration, but it was far better than the forest's uneven and treacherous terrain.

In the distance, vast stretches of trees had been felled, clearing out an enormous open space. Farmland lay everywhere near the forest, while the town at the center of the fields bustled with people coming and going.

Farmhouses in a distinctly Western European style filled his vision. One taller, larger building with white walls and black trim stood proudly above the rest.

Colorful banners hung from the old-fashioned brick-and-timber houses everywhere. Even the thatched cottages had been reroofed with fresh, clean straw. The air was filled with noise and cheers.

After crossing the last stretch of dirt-and-stone road between the forest and the town, Duke saw two smiling guards at the town entrance. Their armor was predominantly silver, trimmed in blue, while the tabards over their chests and the shields in their hands bore a lion crest on a blue field edged in gold.

They were Stormwind guards in the most unmistakable style.

Unlike the seamless stainless steel armor from movies, machine-polished and laser-engraved, and certainly unlike the crude handmade armor worn in cosplay, the guards' armor before Duke gave him an overwhelming sense of authenticity.

Looking at the dense forest before him, the only place related to Stormwind that Duke could think of was Elwynn Forest. As the gateway near Stormwind and the main settlement of the Stormwind Kingdom's residents, this place should have been relatively safe, with little fighting.

But what did Duke see?

Armor covered in scars of every size!

There were claw marks, small punctures from sharp weapons, and dents from blunt impacts, yet the armor was still well maintained. Small rusted patches had been ground smooth, while larger breaks had been covered with iron plates and hammered back into shape. Combined with the uneven coloring left by hand carburization, those little details did more than give the armor an unparalleled texture.

They also told Duke one thing—danger!

Even in Elwynn Forest, the most peaceful area in the game, dangers Duke knew nothing about still lurked. For some reason, he thought of the beasts and all the monsters in the beginner zone that he had once looked down on...

No matter what, seeing them still made Duke breathe a long sigh of relief. "Whew!"

In Azeroth, there had once been a powerful human empire called Arathi. But around twelve hundred years before the game's history, the Arathi Empire had split into seven smaller nations: Lordaeron, Dalaran, Alterac, Kul Tiras, Gilneas, Stromgarde, and Stormwind.

Stormwind was the beginner zone for all human players in the game.

Duke did not know whether history here was the same, but from the looks of it, there did not seem to be much difference.

"Hey, kid, are you here for the class trial too? With that scrawny body of yours, you don't look fit to be a Stormwind guard. Hahaha!" The guard on the left teased Duke bluntly when he saw him.

"Maybe he comes from a hunter family and can become an archer?" The guard on the right laughed as well.

"No, no, look at those soft, pale hands. Maybe he's some noble mage, eh? Hahaha!"

Duke did not know what class he could take, but he knew that if he did nothing, then in this world full of war and destruction, he would sooner or later be finished and turn into a ghoul.

But... no matter how down and out I am, it's not your place, you two idiot soldiers, to mock me!

Just as Duke was about to risk everything to punch the two of them, an officer approached. He had golden eyebrows, a square face, and a greatsword at his waist.

"Enough! Shut up, you two idiots."

At the sight of their superior, the two guards immediately shut their mouths and stood at attention. A bead of cold sweat could clearly be seen running down each of their cheeks.

The officer turned to Duke with a gentle smile. "A person's nobility depends on whether they or their ancestors have contributed to humanity's prosperity. Becoming a classed individual and entering the elite ranks is certainly a good thing, but even if you fail, do not lose heart. Stormwind's prosperity requires talent from every walk of life. Young man, do you think I'm right?"

"Uh, yes."

The officer extended his hand to Duke. "My name is Viri. I'm the vice-captain."

"Duke." Duke reached out and shook Viri's hand, and then his palm suffered 100 points of critical damage...

Damn! This guy had one hell of a grip!

"All right, Duke. Welcome to the Northshire Abbey trial grounds. I hope you can become a classed individual. I sincerely hope humanity will have more elites."

And just like that, Duke went in.

Viri watched Duke's retreating back and stroked his chin. "That young man doesn't have what it takes to be a warrior."