A Visit

Chapter 28: A Visit

"Congratulations, Lieutenant. Your plan to rebuild the chapter has finally begun." While Roderick and the Astartes were discussing how to formulate the new chapter's codex, Darezzo stepped over with a guilty look on his face. Lacking confidence, he said, "Roderick, my father will be returning from Stormwind City soon. He sent word earlier that our whole family will be moving south to the Kingdom of Stormwind. I didn't mean to..."

"Go without worry, Darezzo. Even when you reach Stormwind City, don't forget the foundations of being a knight." He comforted him.

Watching Darezzo leave uneasily, Roderick thought to himself, That's how it goes. When some people join, others will leave.

Darezzo Folett's family was an emerging merchant-noble household that had built its fortune through maritime trade. Having a youngest son who loved the path of knighthood had caused his family no end of headaches. Though Darezzo, as the youngest son, had little inheritance to speak of, his father certainly would not want his son joining a knightly order that had to face the Undead head-on.

Darezzo came from a wealthy family, spent freely, and was enthusiastic in everything he did. He had always been well liked in the Guard. It was a pity to see him leave, but all they could do in the future was bid Darezzo farewell.

As the others gradually departed and the sky began to brighten, Albert, who had been waiting nearby, said, "It's time for us to leave for Dalaran."

Morning came earlier in Dalaran than in Southshore, and the early-summer air was still cool. It had been nearly two months since Remilia had come here to study. Roderick had long been worried about his most beloved younger sister, and he could finally find the time to visit her.

"How has Remi's studies been going lately?"

"Remilia is a magical genius without equal. The number of spells she can analyze in a day is several times that of an ordinary person like me. What do you think her progress is like?" Albert was somewhat depressed as well. In this world, geniuses simply made no sense.

"You don't need to worry about magic. Starting next month, Archmage Modera will come to the White Tower every week to teach Remi. That's treatment only elite mages like Morris receive, yet Remi is still just an apprentice!"

So that seemingly kind archmage had not deceived him after all. Given her status, for her to treat Remi like this meant Remi's life truly required no concern from him. Roderick quietly raised Mage Modera's priority by one level.

"By the way, Roderick, how come you don't have even a trace of talent for magic? The difference between you two is far too great." Albert had long wanted to ask his friend beside him.

"Albert, there have been rumors in town, though they aren't entirely false. Remi and I aren't biological siblings. She was actually a child my mother found."

"I... I never took those rumors seriously. Do you know who Remi's real parents are?"

"At the time, Stormwind City was on the verge of falling. Every ship was packed with people trying to flee. Amid the chaos of war, many elderly people and children were abandoned. We have no news of Remi's parents either." Roderick's memories were not pleasant ones.

Before long, the two reached their destination and waited patiently beneath the white tower.

"Frost Ray, the simplest water-element spell. It transforms the water elements you sense into a magical ray through spell nodes. When it strikes a target, it causes a certain degree of frostbite. What you need to watch out for is that gathering too many water elements will affect the spell's casting, and may even cause the spell to fail."

Remilia was probably the fastest-improving mage apprentice in the Tower of Stars. Unable to withstand her constant pleading, Morris had decided that once Remilia mastered every cantrip and advanced to a junior mage, he would give her leave and allow her to return to Southshore.

The diligently studying girl did not know that she would already be a qualified mage apprentice once she learned to cast seven cantrips.

Tricked by her mentor, Remi had begun studying early in the morning. At her current pace, she would probably be able to go home once by the end of the month. "Mage Apprentice Remilia, someone is asking to see you beneath the tower. Do you need me to drive them away?" The Tower of Stars' mage golem assistant asked in a dull voice.

Those annoying people again. Remi impatiently watched the projection below the tower, considering whether she should blast them all away. But in the next second, the beautiful mage apprentice cheered and rushed out of the study room, racing excitedly toward the brother she had missed.

As always, the girl leaped toward her brother, savoring his familiar scent. It was just a shame she had not had time to change out of this ugly mage robe. What a pity.

Before his younger sister, Roderick rarely showed his gentle side. Rather than scolding Remi for acting like a child who never grew up, he stroked her head. They had not seen each other for over a month, and her hair had grown so much. What had once been shoulder-length hair was nearly down to her waist.

The warm moment between Remi and Roderick did not last long. The strange group that suddenly appeared in the plaza left Roderick at a loss for words.

There was a sleazy-looking human male mage, a fat High Elf whose profession could not even be identified, and finally a goblin with a face full of wrinkles.

This strange group had the tall, fat elf holding an enormous sign bearing only four words: Goddess Remi. The male mage kept setting off magical fireworks to add grandeur to the sign, while the goblin sprayed spit into a large megaphone.

"Put down my goddess, you pretty boy who sullies purity!"

"A brute in armor like you? I could take on ten of you."

"Remi! Remi! You are Dalaran's most beautiful goddess!"

"Albert, what... what is this? Some new organization in Dalaran?" Roderick's eye began to twitch.

"I'm not entirely sure either. I only know there's some fan club that worships Remi." Albert wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as well.

At that moment, Remilia truly wanted to give this idiotic group a Greater Sunfire Blast. Why did they have to interrupt her reunion with her brother now? Angrily, she summoned Little White, then thought for a moment and kissed her brother on the cheek.

"This is absolutely unforgivable! Draw your sword, brute!"

"You stole the goddess's first kiss! Eat my Great Fireball!"

The High Elf holding the sign burst into tears, like a member of an animal protection group whose kitten or puppy had been abandoned.

The bizarre group attempting to attack was quickly punished by the spell golem that appeared. Humanoid Immobilization Spell, followed by a Sonic Boom. The human mage and the elf were frozen in place, while the goblin plunged headfirst to the ground. After Little White cleared the area, Dalaran returned to normal.

"The Little White you summoned has decent combat strength. Is it specifically meant to protect you?"

"What are you talking about? Every time Little White knocks people unconscious, it just leaves them there. Why doesn't it break their legs so they won't come back?" Remilia said unhappily.

Albert suddenly felt life had lost all meaning. Dalaran's advanced weapon of war could crush all mages of the same rank on a frontal battlefield. Its entire body was made of mithril, and the gold it cost could buy half of Southshore. Yet now, its combat ability was being despised by a little girl. Geniuses and protagonists charged down the roads they were meant to walk, leaving no road for NPCs. Fine, this was very Azeroth.

Remi told Roderick about her life in Dalaran over the past months: Mage Morris's gentle yet strict teaching, the happy times she had spent shopping with Kindi, and most of all, the monotonous days of studying magic.

"Have you been happy here?"

"It's actually been pretty good. My mentor treats me very well. It's just that those mages from noble families are more annoying than the last. They're driving me crazy." According to Remi, it was actually those apprentices banding together to exclude mage apprentices of low birth.

Remi had Morris looking after her, with Modera as a powerful patron behind her, and other high-ranking members of the council were watching this little girl as well. As a result, Remi acted even more domineering in Dalaran than the children of dukes and counts, then wore an innocent expression and said, "I didn't notice you."

Roderick smiled. To still play the game of judging people by their birth in Dalaran, those people were probably not very capable.

Albert explained quietly from beside him: mages required far too many resources to grow. They were not like warrior cannon fodder who could simply pick up swords, shields, and charge onto the battlefield. Every high-ranking mage was built from countless magical materials and precious herbs, and that required vast sums of money.

Thus, a mage's background was extremely important. Mages from ordinary backgrounds basically reached their limit upon attaining the intermediate rank. Only mages from royal families and high nobility formed their own circles, while some mages of ordinary birth sought patronage to gain the other side's resource support.

Roderick, who did not know much about the inner workings of mages, understood after a moment's thought. People like him, descendants of nobles, had enough resources to train a knight. Naturally, they formed circles, while commoner warriors, unless they were exceptionally talented, had to draw close to those circles if they wanted room to advance further.

Almost all the leaders of knightly orders in Northrend came from great noble families, with few exceptions. After all that, was Roderick himself not the same? The only difference was that his family could at most be considered minor nobility, and his knightly order was pitifully small.

Remilia did not need to worry about any of this. Her days in Dalaran were carefree beyond measure. A genius like her could no longer be judged by birth. Rumors were circulating that Remilia was the illegitimate daughter of some archmage, and the storytellers spoke with complete certainty. Otherwise, why would the Kirin Tor Council value a commoner mage apprentice so highly? To many people in Dalaran, an ordinary knightly family was no different from commoners.