Perplexed

"I need to establish a trade route between my city and Gadgetzan. I need goblin engineering, but I mean for my people to become your students... Oh, right, I also need you to help me recruit some gnomes. I need them to teach my people as well."

"My goodness! I can't believe someone actually wants to use gnomish technology! Absolutely, absolutely impossible! Gnomes are our business rivals! But then again, nothing is absolute... If—if, I mean, you're willing to offer a good price, we could consider it!"

"I need some mages. They don't have to be high-level, but they must be highly knowledgeable about magic. Likewise, I don't need them to fight for me. I only need them as teachers!"

"Hmm... That's a steep request! Getting those bookworms involved costs a pretty penny. But if you have the money, we'd certainly be happy to help! Oh, right—do you have money?"

"..."

The business negotiations lasted a long time.

For the entire morning, Tonatiuh negotiated with the trade representatives sent by Gadgetzan. The outcome was encouraging. The goblins were very interested in the goods the trolls of Zutona had put forward—interested enough to send trade representatives from so far away!

Zutona could provide Gadgetzan's goblins with all kinds of high-quality hides, including premium Devilsaur leather, a prized commodity sought after by professionals everywhere. There were also all sorts of top-grade herbs from Un'Goro Crater, and, most importantly, the product that had attracted Gadgetzan enough to send goblin representatives here—enchanted weapons and equipment.

As everyone knew, arms dealing was one of the most lucrative industries on Earth. That was even more true in Azeroth, a fantasy world where countless races stood side by side and war had never ceased.

Among the many kinds of weaponry in Azeroth, magical equipment had always been the most popular. In truth, magical equipment was simply quality gear that had been enchanted. Ordinary soldiers could never afford such equipment. It usually belonged to officers, elites, and nobles within each race's armies. Only such important figures could pay the price.

A dagger enchanted with [Sharpness], [Destruction], or [Indestructibility], when wielded by a professional, could easily slice through plate armor forged from refined steel!

An enchanted wand contained enough magic to allow even ordinary people incapable of using magic to fire magic missiles, fireballs, or shadow bolts at their enemies!

The goods presented by the troll caravan representatives who had visited Gadgetzan last time included a batch of enchanted equipment. At the same time, they had declared, "We can mass-produce these!"

In reality,

these were the products of the [Enchanting Hut], a reward Tonatiuh had received from the system and placed under heavy guard. This magical hut could produce an enchanted item within seconds as long as the materials were brought inside. The limitation was that it could only perform fifty enchantments per day; any more would consume faith power.

After most of Zutona's army had been equipped with enchanted gear, Tonatiuh turned the Enchanting Hut's surplus output into profit, then used that profit to acquire what the trolls needed. That was when he approached Azeroth's most ubiquitous merchant group: the Goblin Cartel.

Because of distance and geography, the first place he approached was, of course, Gadgetzan in Tanaris. He intended to establish a trade route with these goblins, selling Zutona's surplus goods for profit and using these money-loving, life-disregarding fellows to buy what he wanted.

If Zutona was to develop, it needed far too many supplies. Though the system could offer significant assistance, it was powerless when it came to certain things native to Azeroth.

For example, magical knowledge.

Trolls actually possessed great talent in intelligence and spirit. The clearest example was how dark trolls had evolved into Kaldorei merely by living beside the Well of Eternity. Even a random wild troll settlement could easily produce many special professionals capable of wielding supernatural powers, such as witch doctors and priests.

The system could upgrade troll fanatics. For example, an ordinary troll berserker could be upgraded into a Loa divine warrior with faith power. An ordinary troll archer could likewise be upgraded into a voodoo shooter capable of using witch doctor spells. It could now even transform the troll-specific profession of witch doctor into a Loa priest who wielded voodoo potions, voodoo spells, and divine magic.

However, the original Sandblood Tribe had been completely barren in the field of arcane magic, leaving the system with nothing it could upgrade. System upgrades were based on the target's original profession; it could not create an entirely new profession out of thin air.

Tonatiuh wanted to bring a proper arcane and mage system into Zutona, allowing the trolls to truly possess magical power of their own. He planned to accomplish this through the goblins. Though he knew goblins were unreliable, who else could he rely on right now?

And not just arcane magic.

He intended to introduce every kind of supernatural power into Zutona—nature, elements, shadow, and more. The same went for warriors and other professions.

Tonatiuh Academy had been established for this very purpose.

It was just that everything was still primitive. The academy did not look like an academy at all. Instead, it resembled an impoverished rural elementary school in the mountains back on Earth.

The reason Tonatiuh did this was simple:

For the public good—he was the trolls' leader. The stronger these trolls became, the stronger the force at his disposal would be.

For personal reasons—this was the main reason. The more numerous and powerful the trolls became, the more faith power they could provide, as long as they were devout enough. Faith power was Tonatiuh's greatest reliance, since he could not use any supernatural power himself!

That was right.

More than a year after his rebirth,

Tonatiuh had sorrowfully discovered that he, a transmigrator, could not use even the slightest bit of Azeroth's supernatural power.

Holy Light, arcane magic, elemental power, nature—even troll voodoo spells and potions—none of them worked for him! He just had not tried fel or Twilight power yet!

After seeing off the goblins, who would be staying for several more days to continue the negotiations, Tonatiuh waited until no trolls remained in the conference room before quietly taking out three wands.

"Fireball..."

"Arcane Orb!"

"Shadow Orb!"

"..."

He tried each enchanted wand in turn, attempting to release the magic stored within them, but just as before, there was no effect at all!

Any other troll, even a troll child, could use these wands to hurl magical attacks. Yet he, a powerful troll warrior, could not. In his hands, these wands might as well have turned into wooden sticks and fire pokers, completely unresponsive.

Other powerful troll warriors could use them, so why couldn't he? Was a warrior scrub unworthy of using magic? But other warriors could...

This was something Tonatiuh had never been able to figure out.