Bloodbath Against the Undead Army

Rod gritted his teeth at that old bastard who had stolen Invincible, because he had never managed to farm the Invincible warhorse before being transported here.

That's right! What Rod remembered most about Tirion Fordring was that the man had taken his Invincible warhorse!

Not that classic quote: "I have seen the noblest orcs and the most despicable humans."

His son, Taelan Fordring, was a typical tragic figure. Because of his father, he had faced countless criticisms since childhood. Although he inherited his father's lands after growing up,

he directly handed over his father's hard-won legacy to the Scarlet Crusade, only to be killed in the end by his so-called mentor.

It was as though his entire existence had been meant to bring Tirion Fordring back into the world. To put it bluntly, even the Chronicles had some problems with the stated age.

The Taelan Fordring players encountered in the classic World of Warcraft quest, Of Love and Family, looked like a heavily bearded man in his thirties, perhaps even nearing forty.

Even if Westerners tended to look older and beards did make people seem aged, someone in his early twenties should not have looked like that.

According to certain official materials, Taelan was thirty-four at the time. That was strange!

Tirion Fordring, one of the Five First Paladins, had been exiled by the Alliance shortly after the Second War. Yet in Thrall's storyline, the old orc he rescued met the new Horde's Warchief soon after being captured, and was then saved by Thrall.

If Taelan Fordring truly was thirty-four, then Arthas would not die to the Ashbringer for another two years—and Arthas himself was not even thirty-four at the time. (The Warcraft Chronicles retconned things, so he would go with the classic version where they were in their twenties.)

So the timeline did not match at all. According to calculations by players and Warcraft enthusiasts, Taelan Fordring should have been around seven or eight years younger than Arthas. In classic World of Warcraft, he should have been twenty-one or twenty-two.

The kid was not particularly strong. A paladin who could be killed by a priest was nothing impressive. But his father was the real deal. Tirion Fordring should still be living in seclusion somewhere nearby.

"Lord Rod, watch the sky! Please cast some area spells on the troops!" Arthas interrupted Rod's recollection.

"Got it! Bring me the potions!" Rod shouted to the soldiers responsible for transporting supplies beside him.

The soldiers hurriedly handed over several bottles of mana potion they had gathered. Three were high-quality goods left behind by Jaina, while the others were inferior restorative potions brewed locally in Hearthglen.

Without hesitation, Rod grabbed an inferior potion and downed it. A faint warm current spread through his body, and his mana began to recover.

He cast Arcane Intellect on himself, raising his mana to forty-five points.

"Hold the line! Jaina will return with reinforcements soon! The Knights of the Silver Hand are on their way!" Arthas's roar rang across the battlefield, carrying unquestionable resolve.

However, the undead seemed endless in number.

Arthas and Lordaeron's elite soldiers could still hold the frontal battlefield, but the gargoyles in the sky had begun attacking from above.

"Argh!"

"No!" Piercing screams came from the arrow towers. Quite a few militiamen were snatched into the air by gargoyles and thrown to their deaths.

Others had their heads sliced off by sharp claws. The airborne units had become a massive problem.

"Shield of Protection. Stone Skin." Rod raised his hand and cast two beneficial spells directly on Arthas and the soldiers at the front.

As long as the number of people did not exceed 9,999, Rod's buff spells had no limit.

A massive green divine shield appeared before them, followed by a huge magical net enveloping the front-line soldiers. Two defensive buffs were cast upon them, allowing them to better withstand the undead army.

After casting those two spells, Rod immediately blasted a cluster of gathered gargoyles with Magic Arrow, killing four of them outright.

After witnessing Rod's unusual spell, the gargoyles immediately scattered, giving him no chance to launch another area attack.

Magic Arrow's range was still too small. If he had Chain Lightning or Exploding Fireball, that would have been great. Or better yet, the Undead Slayer spell!

Unfortunately, Undead Slayer did not appear in a Necropolis castle.

Blue-white light flashed across Rod's palm as he cast Frost Arrow, coordinating it with Ice Lance to pick off the gargoyles in the sky.

You little bastards, don't think I can't deal with you!

You think you're so great just because you scattered? My ordinary spells can still pick you off.

Rod's magic eased the pressure on the defenders. The battle continued for an entire night. During that time, Rod fired off two more Magic Arrows, blasting apart two troublesome abominations.

After that, he kept using Frostbolt and Ice Lance to kill the ghouls in the sky.

It was not until the early hours of dawn, when the sky began to brighten, that the undead army finally withdrew.

Arthas stood where he was, gasping for breath. A whole night of fierce fighting had completely drained the young prince's stamina.

The other human soldiers were in even worse shape, slumped limply on the ground. At that moment, even lifting their weapons was difficult for them.

"Soldiers, use the time to rest. Those evil undead will not let this go!

An even more brutal battle awaits us tonight," Arthas said wearily.

His adjutant, Falric, immediately nodded and began directing the elite soldiers to collect the corpses of the fallen. They piled all the dead undead together and burned them.

However, perhaps it was only an illusion, but Falric noticed that the undead forces seemed fewer in number. Some of their corpses appeared to have vanished.

Rod also let out a sigh of relief after the battle. Eagle Eye Tree had not learned any magic in this fight, because the enemy had no spellcasting units, while Arthas had fought in melee from beginning to end, only occasionally using Flash of Light.

Still, there were gains. After a glorious victory, Rod received a full 1,850 experience points. He was about 1,400 experience points away from reaching level four.

Advancing from level three to level four required 3,200 experience points. Level five required 4,600, level six required 6,200, and level seven required 8,000.

Each increase in hero level raised the required experience by 20%. Leveling up would only become harder from here on!

He wondered whether there was any other way to increase his Intelligence attribute. Relying solely on leveling would not be good!

Besides the experience, Rod's Necromancy showed its power once again, summoning a full hundred skeletons. The number of skeleton soldiers had now surpassed four hundred!