One Year Later Part One

One year later.

Northwest of the Hillsbrad Foothills.

Dalaran.

In the bright, spotless arcane laboratory, where the temperature and lighting remained constant, Orendo set down his scalpel and removed his blue dragonhide gloves.

"The seventh experiment of Arcane Wyrm Embryo Transplantation is complete." Beside him, Solarian, dressed in crimson-and-gold mage robes, lowered her head to examine her magical notes and spoke softly. "Experiment process: First, extracted the spell-property fragments responsible for the Arcane Wyrm's levitation trait, reverse-transcribed biological base vessels compatible with an unaligned proto-dragon, and injected them into the Arcane Wyrm embryo—successful."

"Second process: One mechanical hour after the first process concluded, the embryo and base vessels completed fusion. No rejection was observed—successful."

"Third process: Under the enhancement of the nutrient solution, the surface of the Arcane Wyrm embryo's eggshell became smooth and beautiful. The embryo survived—successful."

"Dragon-type magical creature experiment—Arcane Wyrm Embryo Transplantation—first stage successful."

"Whew..." Listening to his beautiful mentor's report, Orendo let out a quiet breath. Smiling at Solarian, he said, "We finally succeeded. Next, we'll observe whether it can develop properly, and whether it inherits the traits of both magical creatures after hatching."

Solarian closed her experiment notes, then looked tenderly at both her student and distant nephew. "I think you should rest now. You haven't slept for a full day and night."

Orendo nodded.

"Then I'll go get some rest?" he asked.

"Mhm." Solarian nodded gently. "Go on. I'll keep watch here."

"Alright. Thank you, Mentor." Orendo left the laboratory with a smile, but rather than leaving his mentor's mage tower, he went directly up to its forbidden area—the fifth floor, Solarian's bedroom.

Without even taking off his clothes, he threw himself onto his mentor's soft velvet bed, took several deep breaths, and fell asleep.

When he woke up, darkness had fallen outside, with only Elune still casting down Her silver radiance.

By Elune's grace, Orendo saw his mentor, Solarian, standing before the bedroom's enormous floor-to-ceiling window. Her arms were folded as she leaned against the wall and gazed up at Elune.

The sound of him getting up seemed to disturb her. Solarian turned her head toward him, her eyes as captivating as though stars dwelled within them.

"You're awake?"

"I'm awake."

Orendo climbed out of bed, jumped to the floor, and walked barefoot across a rug made from precious tanned mountain lion hide toward his mentor. Then he sat down beside her.

Young people grew quickly. A year ago, he had only reached his mentor's shoulders. A year later, he was already as tall as she was.

Looking out from the windowsill, most of the lights at Violet Academy had gone out. It must have been very late. Seeing his mentor standing with her arms folded, Orendo asked Solarian, "Cold? Want to borrow my warm embrace for a while?"

Solarian glanced at him. A tender smile curled at the corner of her lips, but she said nothing. She shifted a little closer to him, though she did not lean against him.

One year was a short time.

One year was also a long time.

Long enough for many things to change, long enough for many relationships to deteriorate.

Like Orendo's height, and like the relationship between Solarian and her student-distant nephew.

"Go back to sleep." Orendo pointed toward the velvet bed behind them and extended a hand to his mentor. "It's still a long way until dawn."

Solarian did not brush aside his outstretched hand. Letting him pull her to her feet, she only looked at him and stressed, "Only... sleeping!"

"Of course we're sleeping!"

"What else could it be?"

Her student made the promise with utter nonchalance.

Though Solarian knew his promises in this regard were as fake as an egg hatching into a true dragon, she still let him lead her toward the velvet bed.

There had already been a first time, a second, a third... What use was there in stopping the tenth or twentieth time?

One year.

It was not only the relationship between student and mentor that had changed.

This year was 2750 on the Thoradin Calendar.

The Thoradin Calendar was the calendar used by humans. Along with the Gnome Gear Calendar, the Dwarven Ale Calendar, the High Elf Solar Calendar, and others, it was a system of timekeeping passed down among intelligent races to record history.

The Thoradin Calendar was named after the only emperor in human history—Emperor Thoradin. It was said to have begun when the Emperor unified the human tribes and established a kingdom.

Dalaran also used the Thoradin Calendar, since its primary inhabitants were humans as well.

Legend said that Dalaran had once wanted to introduce its own magical calendar, distinguishing itself from ordinary humans who used the Thoradin Calendar and proving that mages stood above them.

However, the proposal met opposition from every human kingdom. A great many mages within Dalaran opposed it as well, and the High Elf mages who led Dalaran at the time did not support it either. Compared to Dalaran's mages, the elves were more willing to honor Emperor Thoradin, who had aided them long ago.

Thus, the promotion of Dalaran's magical calendar ultimately came to nothing. It was never officially adopted, and Dalaran continued to use the same method of historical recordkeeping as the other human kingdoms.

July of 2750 on the Thoradin Calendar, the Month of Water and Fire—the hottest and rainiest month of the year across most human settlements.

The latest issue of Kirin Tor Monthly had been printed. The fifteen thousand copies sold out in a rush outside the Violet Citadel as soon as they appeared. Each new issue of Kirin Tor Monthly contained only a little over thirty thin pages, yet it had always sold for ten Dalaran gold coins.

Every human kingdom had its own gold coins, and Dalaran was no exception. Among the forces humans could influence throughout the human world, the most widely circulated currency was the new gold coin introduced by Lordaeron ten years ago. Yet the most recognized and most valuable currency had always been the gold coins officially minted by Dalaran.

In the past, each issue of Kirin Tor Monthly generally printed only two to three thousand copies. Only when there was a paper or scholarly article by a particularly renowned mage would its print run be increased to five thousand.

Starting half a year ago, every monthly issue of Kirin Tor Monthly had sold more than ten thousand copies.

Three months ago, an issue of Kirin Tor Monthly had even set a record for the highest sales in history—19,534 copies sold!

The reason for all this was simply that, beginning half a year ago, every issue of Kirin Tor Monthly had featured a mage named "Orendo Seferosa," publishing his magical theories and academic papers.

Just like this issue.

With a bag of cat food he had bought for a friend tucked under his arm, Ansirem Ruin held the latest issue of the monthly magazine in his hands. He walked while reading it with his head lowered.

He skipped over the academic papers by several mages at the front and flipped straight to the end. Spanning several pages was an arcane academic paper titled The Beauty of Constructing Magical Biodiversity.

Author: Orendo Seferosa.

The first paragraph of the paper immediately made Ansirem Ruin's eyes light up—

"The wonders of nature extend far beyond the boundaries mages can reach or imagine. Even today, when magical theory shines brilliantly, mages repeatedly run into walls before nature's profound complexity."

"Mages often focus only on spellcasting itself. Few mages notice the substantial beauty of every living thing around us."

"Few mages analyze, from a professional perspective, every small element that forms harmonious wholes. Mediocre mages merely rely on macro-level components that seem holistically connected, pursuing arcane harmony through reasonable composition and structure in an attempt to bridge the gulf between different spells."

"..."

Upon reaching the fascinating parts, Ansirem Ruin simply stopped by the roadside and set the cat food he had brought for his friend on the ground. Squatting down, he began to read with great care.

It was a discussion of the feasibility of having mages seek out the reasons why magical creatures—and even ordinary creatures—found in nature were so harmonious, then finding ways to apply that harmony to their own path as mages.

For instance, why could ordinary birds fly, and how should mages draw knowledge from flying birds to make flight spells more logical and easier to use?

Moving from the simple to the profound, the latter part of the paper even discussed the feasibility of somehow granting intelligence to magical carpets, flying discs, and similar flying constructs commonly used by mages, allowing them to become helpful companions for travel.

Ansirem Ruin read it again and again, striving to absorb whatever nourishment from the paper might benefit him. The young mage was utterly engrossed and failed to notice someone approaching beside him.

"Ansirem. Where's my cat food? Beeg and Voss are starving, and they won't eat dried fish... Oh, there it is." A voice reached Ansirem Ruin's ears. Then a figure bent over in front of him and picked up the cat food he had carelessly set on the ground.

"Oh! Sorry, Kel'Thuzad. I forgot to bring the cat food back. It's all Orendo Seferosa's fault—his paper was too engrossing." Ansirem Ruin hurriedly stood and sincerely apologized to his friend, looking rather embarrassed.

He had to be sincere. Ansirem Ruin had always hoped to meet the mage whose few papers alone had utterly fascinated him, through his friend's introduction.

"They only went hungry for a little while. I don't think Beeg and Voss will hold it against you." Kel'Thuzad gave Ansirem Ruin an expressionless glance, then noticed the brand-new Kirin Tor Monthly in his hands.

"The newest issue of the magic monthly?" Kel'Thuzad asked.

Ansirem Ruin nodded honestly and raised the booklet in his hand. "I've already read it once. Do you want to take a look?"

"No. I read his newest paper two days ago." Kel'Thuzad declined.

"Heh... I really envy you. You get to be his friend and encounter his new ideas before anyone else every time," Ansirem Ruin said enviously.

Kel'Thuzad did not respond to his fellow disciple's remark. In a cool voice, he said, "Ansirem, our mentor wants us back. He has something to announce."

"Alright."