Kel'Thuzad and the Cat

"On the first night after entering Violet Academy, he stayed in the library until he fell asleep."

"On the first day, he did not even attend the public lecture."

"On the second day, he attended the public lecture. But he fell asleep right in class and demonstrated excellent proficiency with basic arcane runes."

"On the third day, he attended the public lecture."

"On the fourth day, he attended the public lecture."

"From the fifth day until now, it has been ten days since he came to Violet Academy. He attended the public lecture only three times. Other than sleeping and eating, he spent all his remaining time in the Great Magic Library."

"..."

Kael'thas Sunstrider looked at the sheet of paper in his hand and flicked it. It spontaneously combusted without wind and vanished.

"I went twice. He was absent both times," said Rommath, the prince's close companion and magister, softly.

"He is not one to follow the rules." Prince Kael'thas smiled and shook his head. "This is not your fault, my dear Rommath."

"Then..." Rommath hesitated, looking at the prince he respected most. "Should I keep going? He does not seem to intend to attend the public lectures. Judging from his skilled command of the ten basic arcane runes, he should have already embarked upon the path of arcane magic."

"No need. Observe him for now," the prince said after some thought.

"But send someone to make contact with him and see what kind of personality he truly has..."

"By your command."

"Send Solarian. She used to be quite close with Lianda."

"Very well."

"..."

Because of the bloodline in half his body, Orendo had drawn the attention of the magical kingdom in the north of the continent long before he even realized it.

On the afternoon of his tenth day in Dalaran, he walked out of the Great Magic Library with his head spinning.

The first floor of Dalaran's Great Magic Library contained a total of 31,656 books. More than ninety percent concerned mysticism and spellcasting, while the rest were other general knowledge useful to mages.

He had read them all.

Orendo felt utterly exhausted.

In truth, he had not needed to use his mind to read those books. He had merely provided the eyes and body; the Eye of Truth was the one analyzing and recording those texts.

But he would still get tired from flipping through books nonstop! After all, in terms of physical age, he was only thirteen this year.

So when the dizzy thirteen-year-old Orendo emerged from the library, he was surprised to see Kel'Thuzad, who stood a head taller than him, with a cat again.

Unlike last time, when he had seen Kel'Thuzad feeding a large group of library work cats, this time the aloof youth was teasing a kitten.

The cold young mage crouched on the ground, his long mage robe spread across the floor without any concern for dirt. He held a fuzzy ball of yarn in his hand and dangled it enticingly before the kitten.

The kitten found the fuzzy ball on the ground novel, apparently. It reached out with a paw and lightly batted it. Under Kel'Thuzad's control, the ball began to roll, and the kitten became more and more engrossed in playing with it.

The kitten wore a serious expression as it played, and Kel'Thuzad's icy face was equally serious. It was as if he were not teasing a cat, but conducting some profound arcane experiment!

Orendo truly could not imagine what sort of distortion Kel'Thuzad's heart would suffer in the future to bring about such an enormous change.

A change so great that it would turn him from someone who seemed cold on the surface but actually loved small animals into Azeroth's first lich.

"It's so cute..." Orendo could not help murmuring from a short distance away.

Only then did the fully absorbed Kel'Thuzad notice someone else's arrival. He casually looked up at Orendo but said nothing.

"I mean, this kitten is very cute. No, I should say..." Orendo recalled the three tabby cats he had raised in the library in his previous life to catch mice, and his heart softened. "Cats. They are all cute."

Kel'Thuzad tossed the fuzzy ball to the kitten. The adorable little cat immediately pounced on it and clamped down hard, as if it were a huge rat.

The expressionless young mage stood and looked at Orendo. "Shouldn't you be in the library at this hour?"

Orendo shrugged. "I have finished all the books on the first floor, and I cannot get to the second floor. There is no point staying inside."

"Finished them?" It was the first time Orendo had seen an expression on his face—one of slight surprise. "There are 31,656 books in total. You read all of them?"

Orendo nodded.

The surprise disappeared from Kel'Thuzad's face, returning it to its usual poker-faced look. "Even I have not finished them."

"I did," Orendo said indifferently.

Kel'Thuzad looked at him, then suddenly spoke quickly. "Page thirteen, section three of Alodi's Lesser Herbalism. What does it say?"

"Are you testing me? Haha." Orendo laughed.

"But the passage you mentioned says: 'May my enemies never obtain this information. May I live to see the light of arcane magic shine upon all of Azeroth.'"

"Last section of page twenty-eight in Emergency Magic 101: An Expert's Advice. What does it say?"

"Even if your opponent is a creature of flame, you can still subdue it with Fireball. Go ahead and fire a Fireball at it! The result may leave you greatly surprised!"

"Page one, section one of Schools of Arcane Magic."

"Magic in all its dazzling variety can be used to accomplish many purposes. Researchers of magic have discovered that the simplest and most effective way to gain a deep understanding of magic's fundamental principles is to divide this mysterious discipline into eight kinds..."

"Page thirty-one, section three of Ancient Herbalism."

"He also came to understand a third matter and regarded it as an agreement with the deity that bestowed Shaskag Grass upon us. Thus, Togus would gather vast quantities of Shaskag Grass and bind them into offerings..."

"..."

Kel'Thuzad rapidly and steadily recited the names and exact sections of many books from the first floor of the Great Magic Library, while Orendo recited their contents even faster and more steadily.

After naming the sixth book, Kel'Thuzad finally stopped and stared blankly at Orendo.

Viscount Severosa raised a brow and said with a light laugh, "You cannot possibly think I spent all these days in the library sleeping, can you?"

Yet Kel'Thuzad did not answer. Instead, he said, "It took me half a year to read twenty thousand books on the first floor that were closely related to magic. There are many whose contents I have already forgotten."

"Mm-hmm." Orendo did not particularly care. "You are you, and I am me. Every sentient individual is different because we all possess different souls."

"Correct." Kel'Thuzad seemed to agree strongly with that view. "Every individual is different! Every soul has its own captivating qualities. Greetings... Orendo Severosa."

For the first time, the cold young mage introduced himself to him. "My name is Kel'Thuzad."

It was completely different from last time.

Orendo raised a brow again.

It seemed this counted as their formal introduction.

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