Servant Moroes

Before his transmigration, Orendo had been somewhat puzzled: why had humanity in Azeroth, despite developing for so long before the great catastrophe brought by the Undead Scourge, occupied only one-third of the Eastern Kingdoms?

Yet less than twenty years after the great catastrophe brought by the Undead Scourge, humanity had become the most powerful race in all of Azeroth in one fell swoop. Human kings had even become the High King of the Alliance, leading a group of allies who had once been countless times stronger than humanity and crushing the Horde until it barely had a breath left.

Humanity's rate of development in the twenty years after the Undead Scourge had utterly eclipsed its progress over the preceding millennia.

Setting aside certain mysterious and inexplicable reasons, Orendo had now found a new one—perhaps what had restricted the development of northern human society were these so-called nobles!

After the iron hooves of the Scourge had swept through, northern human society had been utterly destroyed.

Ordinary humans had suffered grievous losses, while human nobles had lost ninety-nine percent of their number. The remaining humans of the North had no choice but to head south and seek refuge in Stormwind. While the remnants of humanity's essence had gathered in the Stormwind Kingdom, the noble class that had once parasitized northern human society had nearly vanished.

Though southern humanity also had nobles, due to its traditions of expansion and savagery, southern nobles could not even compare to northern nobles when it came to indulgence and decadence.

Only after the Stormwind Kingdom had absorbed the remnants of humanity's essence and shed the restrictions and bloodsucking of the old northern nobility did it make that great leap in strength.

None of that had much to do with Orendo now. After chatting with Nielas Aran for a long time and then speaking with Alex Barov for a while, he left the Lordaeron Embassy.

It was already late at night outside.

The area around the embassy was brightly lit, and the expensive magical lamps lining both sides of Violet Avenue kept it illuminated through the night.

Dressed in mage robes, Orendo had nothing to worry about as he walked along the street. The [Severosa Fine Goods] magic shop was not far away, and he planned to rest there tonight before returning to the academy tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, he encountered an acquaintance in the shop, which had already closed for the day.

"Moroes. Long time no see." The mage smiled and greeted him.

"Good evening, Lord Severosa." Moroes was somewhat short and thin-faced, but he wore a smile and spoke with respect. "My mistress instructed me to obey you while she is away."

Orendo raised a brow.

This thin, short young human dressed in black was the unlucky fellow from a year ago—the one Aegwynn had knocked flat with a binding spell and left lying there for three days and three nights without food or water.

He was also Moroes, the future steward of Karazhan from the "original storyline."

This was a young man with an exceptional talent for thievery. What impressed Orendo even more was that during those three days and nights he had lain on the ground, not only had he gone without food or water, but he had somehow not relieved himself either!

His endurance was downright terrifying!

It was only after Orendo had become Aegwynn's disciple that he learned Moroes had earned Aegwynn's favor and been exceptionally taken in as her servant.

With Aegwynn's help, Moroes had subsequently infiltrated Dalaran's gray underworld. He had thrived there, becoming one of the major figures in the Dalaran Sewers and handling certain matters for Aegwynn.

Looking at Moroes before him, Orendo pondered for a moment before speaking. "I really do have something for you to do."

"Mistress said that your orders are her orders." Moroes lowered his head like a servant, utterly respectful. "Please give your instructions."

"Eiro Sadwind, from Brill in Lordaeron, was once an apprentice mage."

Orendo said, "Look into how many people like Eiro there are in Dalaran. I mean former mage apprentices who are unwilling to leave but have no way of becoming mages."

The best servants never asked why their masters wanted something done. They simply did whatever their masters told them to do.

Moroes immediately nodded. "As you will! I'll go at once. Do you have any other orders?"

"No."

Only then did Moroes bow. His entire body gradually faded, leaving only a faint transparent silhouette moving beneath the lamps—Stealth, a talent only advanced rogues could master, capable of bending light and making one difficult to detect with the naked eye.

Moroes left silently.

Orendo sat quietly alone in the reception hall for a while. Several minutes later, he tapped the table.

Jobby soon came over and looked respectfully at his master. "Master, what are your instructions?"

"Bring up some food."

"Yes."

"..."

The next day.

Orendo returned to his mentor's mage tower.

Solarian's mage tower.

Compared with before, Solarian's mage tower had not grown in area or volume. However, its interior was vastly different. Of the money Orendo had earned from the [Severosa Fine Goods] magic shop, one-third had been invested here.

He and his mentor had renovated her mage tower, making it more valuable and better suited for researching the arcane and the truths of magic.

In truth, they had simply thrown money at it—buying all manner of expensive, precious magical materials and devices to make his and Solarian's research more convenient.

The Astromancer's mage tower looked much the same from the outside, but its interior had long since become unrecognizable. The first floor had once held a large reception hall and several dormitories. Now, it had been converted into a vast botanical garden.

As a result, the first floor was now brightly lit. Numerous windows had been opened along the surrounding walls to let sunlight stream inside. At the same time, many valuable magical crystals had been embedded in the ceiling, allowing them to reflect and amplify the sunlight.

Azeroth did indeed have many plants that could grow without photosynthesis, but most plants were ordinary plants. They still needed sunlight to photosynthesize and grow quickly.

When Orendo entered, Solarian was crouching in the middle of the botanical garden, observing a medicinal herb that somewhat resembled an orchid from Earth.

It was a common bruise herb from the Hillsbrad Foothills, often used by ordinary humans to make medicine for injuries. Its name alone made it clear that this was an extremely common herb in Azeroth.

Orendo softened his footsteps as he approached his mentor. Solarian quickly noticed him, glanced at him, then lowered her head again to observe the blooming bruise herb.

Solarian was very slender, as were most elves. Since his mentor was a High Elf, Orendo had seen many High Elves even in Dalaran, yet he had never seen a fat elf.

As for appearances, while not every one of them was as exceptional as Kael'thas or Solarian, none had failed to suit Orendo's tastes.

If looks were scored out of a hundred, Kael'thas would have scored at least ninety among men. Solarian would have scored at least ninety-three. Of the other female elves Orendo had seen, the lowest probably would not have scored below eighty-five.

Orendo said nothing and simply walked up to his mentor before crouching down beside her. While his mentor observed the bruise herb on the ground, he observed his elven mentor.