Chapter Summaries

Rhode and Lilia traveled to North Gate Town outside Gilneas City, where Rhode overheard Lord Warden falsely boast that he was Rhode’s longtime companion. After Rhode hid his identity and introduced himself as a Magic Apprentice named Rodriguez, Warden offered to take him and Lilia into the Royal Magic Academy the next day.

• Rhode left the school district with Lilia and traveled west toward Gilneas, dressing them as Gilneans and using Glamour to disguise Lilia as a human boy.
• Rhode and Lilia reached North Gate Town and stopped at an inn for dinner.
• At the inn, Rhode overheard Warden exaggerate his supposed history with Rhode and claim he had fought beside him.
• Warden noticed Rhode’s mana and mistook him for a Magic Apprentice, while Rhode gave the false name Rodriguez and pretended he could not cast Fireball.
• Warden offered to bring Rhode and Lilia into the Royal Magic Academy the next day and asked Rhode not to reveal Warden’s boast to Rhode.

Earl Rhode arrived at the Gilneas Royal Magic Academy to teach, where Kandray doubted his reputation and the students split between supporters and skeptics. Rhode began his lesson by summoning a Mage Hand, prompting a hostile student to complain that the spell was too basic.

• Kandray and Falloden waited at the academy with the students and discussed Rhode's impending arrival.
• Warden brought Rhode and Lilia into the academy, unaware that his supposed magic-apprentice visitors were Rhode and his companion.
• Falloden greeted Rhode by name, leaving Warden embarrassed after he realized he had boasted about knowing Rhode to Rhode himself.
• Kandray challenged Rhode to demonstrate his abilities, and Rhode agreed to teach the gathered students.
• Rhode summoned a Mage Hand, and a tall, thin intermediate mage objected that it was too basic to teach.

Rhode silenced the mages’ doubts by demonstrating the overwhelming power of Mage Hand, then introduced Lilia as a warrior instructor and watched her prove her skill. Kandray’s mention of High Elf Rangers left Rhode asking where he had seen them.

• Rhode challenged the mages’ doubts about basic spells and had Warden test Fireball against his Mage Hand, which remained unharmed.
• Godfrey’s stronger Fireball was effortlessly crushed by Rhode’s Mage Hand, prompting more mages to demand a test.
• Rhode summoned a gigantic Mage Hand from the sky and smashed a huge palm print into the stone square, winning the mages’ respect and prompting Kandray to wonder if he was an Archmage.
• King Genn arrived, praised Rhode’s demonstration, and asked whether he knew a teacher for the warriors; Rhode put forward Lilia.
• Lilia revealed herself as a High Elf and used Heroic Leap and Whirlwind to carve a hole into the hard stone inside Rhode’s palm print.
• Kandray remarked that High Elf Rangers were impressive, and Rhode asked him where he had seen them.

Rhode learned that Arugal was holding High Elf rangers captive in Pyrewood Village, and he set out with Lilia to investigate and search for her sister. Before leaving, he entrusted Warden with leading the Magic Academy students in his absence.

• Rhode seized Kandray with a Mage Hand and forced him to reveal that Arugal kept High Elf rangers captive in Pyrewood Village.
• Kandray explained that he had seen a ranger escape her cage before Arugal captured her, and Lilia wondered if she was her sister.
• Rhode declined King Genn's offer of troops and demonstrated his Archmage-level power, convincing Kandray that he and Lilia could go alone.
• Rhode asked General Falloden to hold Kandray under guard and gave the academy mages his Spell Model notes.
• Rhode named Warden his chief assistant and put him in charge of the students while he was away.
• Rhode and Lilia left for Pyrewood Village to find the missing rangers and Lilia's sister.

Rhode and Lilia traveled to Pyrewood Village with Lalinf and Dailiya after learning that Arugal was recruiting students without requiring magical ability. Rhode suspected Arugal had a sinister plan, bribed a guard to get their group inside ahead of the queue, and heard the guard suggest that the eager newcomers were going to their deaths.

• Rhode and Lilia encountered Lalinf and Dailiya on the road, learned they were heading to study under Arugal, and agreed to travel together.
• Lalinf and Dailiya explained that Arugal accepted students without magical foundations but required them to pledge to remain in the village for a year without contacting their families.
• Rhode recalled Arugal's history of summoning worgen and suspected the recruitment was part of a dangerous plan, so he decided to enter the village quickly.
• At Pyrewood Village, Rhode bribed the guard to let their group bypass the registration queue and enter without signing the pledge first.
• As Rhode's group followed an apprentice into the village, he overheard the guard mutter that they were coming there to die.

Rhode exposed Arugal’s village as a site for Worgen experiments and began searching for the captive High Elves. After rescuing the people in the tents from concealment, he faced the gathered Magic Apprentices and challenged them to attack together.

• Rhode recognized that the potion and cages in the tent were part of Worgen experiments, but Lalinf and Dailiya drank the potion before he could stop them.
• Rhode restrained the Magic Apprentice with Mage Hand and demanded to know where the High Elves were being held.
• Rhode broke the soundproofing barriers and tore open the tents, revealing people trapped in cages and suffering Worgen transformations.
• Rhode sent Reconnaissance Robots to search the village and Arugal’s Magic Tower while the exposed experiments threw the clearing into chaos.
• Half-Eyebrow rallied the gathered Magic Apprentices against Rhode, but Rhode killed him with a blast of fire and invited the others to attack together.

Rhode confronted Arugal over the captured High Elves and the Worgen experiments at Pyrewood Village. After Rhode overwhelmed Arugal’s mages, he raised a Blue Barrier to protect Lilia, Lalinf, Dailiya, and the other students from their combined attack.

• Arugal explained that he was testing new Worgen potions to create stronger Worgen who could transform at will, and that he had reserved the captured High Elf Rangers for the finished potion.
• A Magic Apprentice reported that Rhode had arrived with a child and was wrecking the testing grounds, so Arugal led his mages down from the tower.
• Rhode revealed Lilia’s identity, and Arugal admitted capturing the High Elves before a black-robed High Magic User attacked Lilia with a Fireball.
• Rhode crushed the Fireball with Mage Hand and killed the black-robed mage with a rapid barrage of Fireballs.
• Arugal ordered nearly a hundred mages to attack Rhode, but Rhode raised a Blue Barrier that stopped their spells and protected everyone behind him.

Rhode and Lilia overwhelmed Arugal’s Mages, and Rhode used an experimental Pyroblast to defeat the gray-robed Mage and many others. Arugal tried to bargain for his life by offering the location of the captured High Elf Rangers, but Rhode revealed that he had already found them.

• Rhode held off the Mages’ barrage with a Mana Shield while charging a Pyroblast, and Lilia killed two Intermediate Mages who tried to flank him.
• Rhode’s Pyroblast pierced the gray-robed Mage’s Dragon’s Breath, killed him, and scattered into fireballs that struck dozens of Mages.
• After most of Arugal’s forces stopped attacking, Rhode dismissed his shield and confronted Arugal, who conceded defeat and apologized.
• Rhode refused to forgive Arugal for abducting Lilia’s sister, and Arugal offered to reveal where the High Elf Rangers were imprisoned.
• Rhode summoned a miniature arcane golem that projected an image of the caged High Elf Rangers, showing that he had already found them.

Rhode defeated Arugal, took control of his surviving mages, and rescued the imprisoned High Elves. Lilia reunited with her sister Galinde Summerdrake, who was astonished that Rhode and Lilia had overcome Arugal’s forces without an army.

• Rhode questioned Arugal about felweed, the Worgen Potion, and Milhouse Manastorm, then killed him with an exploding reconnaissance robot when Arugal tried to escape.
• Rhode ordered Rechigor and the surviving mages to tend to the wounded and captured worgen, while falsely claiming he had placed tracking spells on them.
• Rhode and Lilia entered the basement, freed the imprisoned High Elves, and found Galinde and the ranger captains locked in a separate room.
• Lilia unlocked Galinde’s cage and embraced her sister, and they exchanged apologies and spoke about Lilia’s growth and new skills.
• Galinde learned that Rhode and Lilia had rescued her without an army and wondered who Rhode was.

Rhode arranged for Galinder and the high elf rangers to stay in Hillsbrad Foothills while he researched a cure for the Worgen Potion. As villagers who had taken the potion feared for their lives, Rhode arrived to promise he would save them.

• Lilia introduced Galinder to Rhode, who offered to help the rangers remain near Southshore and train the Alliance army while they continued their secret mission.
• Rhode sent a letter to the Sun King requesting approval for the rangers to stay, then said he would research how to cure the potion’s effects or preserve the victims’ humanity.
• Dailiya and Lalinf collapsed after drinking the Worgen Potion, while villagers from Pyrewood Village realized that rumors of people transforming into worgen were true.
• Lalinf tried to reassure Dailiya that Rhode would save them, and Rhode called out to the gathered victims, promising to rescue them.

Rhode tried to develop a treatment that would preserve the minds of people transformed by Arugal’s Worgen potions, using Lalinf and Dailiya as test subjects. After days of unstable results, he found that adding wintersbite kept them sane and able to transform freely, though the chapter did not establish whether the treatment was ready for everyone else.

• Rhode told the villagers their transformations were irreversible and asked for volunteers to test a treatment; Lalinf and Dailiya agreed.
• Rhode ordered Rechigor to cage everyone who had taken the potion and began experiments on the couple.
• Rhode’s first mixtures made Lalinf stronger but mindless and left Dailiya dangerously docile, while later doses restored their awareness but caused violent relapses.
• Rhode observed that their condition seemed to worsen in warm weather and improve in cool weather, then added wintersbite to their treatment.
• Rhode recorded that Lalinf and Dailiya remained normal despite sunny weather and declared the experiment successful.

Rhode returned to Gilneas Royal Magic Academy with Lalinf and Dailiya, while Lilia stayed behind to manage Pyrewood Village. When Warden challenged Rhode’s companions to spar, Lalinf and Dailiya revealed their Worgen forms and quickly forced Warden to surrender.

• Rhode left Lilia in charge of Pyrewood Village, with Galinder helping her manage its residents and factions.
• Lalinf and Dailiya asked to serve Rhode and travel with him, and he agreed to take them along.
• At the academy, Rhode’s students praised his Spell Model learning method, and Warden’s rapid improvement impressed them.
• When the Mages asked Rhode to demonstrate his strength, he invited them all to try breaking his magic shield, then agreed to let Warden spar with Lalinf and Dailiya instead.
• Lalinf and Dailiya transformed into Worgen and attacked Warden, with Dailiya shattering his Ice Armor and clawing his shoulder until he surrendered.

Rhode prepared to help Gilneas fight a large gnoll force, but discovered that the gnolls worshipped Lalinf and Dailiya as their Wolf God and Wolf Queen. He used their beliefs to end the threat without a battle and set out to make the gnolls peaceful allies of the humans.

• Lalinf and Dailiya defeated Warden, and Genn asked Rhode to lead an expedition against thousands of gnolls near Windvale Village.
• Rhode agreed to bring the mages along for practical training, learned Kandray had escaped, and ordered the troops to prepare for the expedition.
• The army found the gnolls kneeling and singing hymns to the Wolf God and Wolf Queen, whom they believed were Lalinf and Dailiya.
• Rhode introduced himself as the Wolf God's servant and convinced the Sea Claw Tribe that humans were fellow believers whom they must not attack.
• Rhode explained that Lalinf and Dailiya could command the gnolls, then asked them to tell the tribe to help the humans instead.

Rhode learned new spells in Gilneas before accepting Ravenholdt’s mission to hunt Duke Foulcrest and traveling alone to the manor. There, he discovered Kandray had posted a two-thousand-gold bounty on Rhode himself.

• Rhode mastered Polymorph, Mirror Image, Ice Block, and Shockwave while studying at the Gilneas Royal Magic Library.
• Hakkar told Rhode that Duke Jorach had organized a hunt for Duke Foulcrest and raised the bounty to four thousand gold, and Rhode agreed to join for a ten-percent cut.
• Rhode left Gilneas alone, teleported to Southshore, and rode to Ravenholdt Manor to take the mission.
• Rhode found Kandray waiting in the manor’s new reception building and posed as the assassin Darkforge Stinger.
• Kandray offered two thousand gold for Rhode’s head, and Rhode learned that he was the target.

Rhode discovered that Kandray had hired Ravenholdt assassins to kill him, but the assassins recognized Rhode as their Master and helped him deal with Kandray. After learning that Duke Foulcrest was hiding near Lake Lordamere, Rhode set out to find him and reached the lakeshore, where he found signs that assassins had already confronted the Syndicate boss.

• Kandray recognized Rhode and revealed that he had summoned Darkforge Stinger and Windstrike to assassinate him, but both Senior Assassins greeted Rhode as their Master.
• Rhode accused Kandray of owing him money and left him with Darkforge Stinger and Windstrike, who poisoned him and prepared to collect the supposed debt.
• Windstrike told Rhode that assassins were already pursuing Duke Foulcrest, whose followers had betrayed his location, and that he was hiding at a farm by Lake Lordamere.
• Rhode learned that Duke Jorach had opened the bounty to anyone who killed Foulcrest, then teleported to Alterac Keep and rode north toward the lakeside farm.
• Rhode found two dead Ravenholdt assassins by Lake Lordamere and followed the footprints onward, determined to destroy the Syndicate.

Rhode watched Duke Foulcrest defeat several Ravenholdt Manor assassins, including One-Sword Terminator, while the Green-Scarf Assassin explained the fighters and their reputation. Duke Foulcrest challenged Ronaldo to show himself, and Rhode answered from within the crowd.

• Rhode joined the assassins watching Duke Foulcrest fight and learned they were taking turns to claim the bounty rather than attacking together.
• Duke Foulcrest killed the Yellow-Scarf Assassin with a kick after overwhelming him with a flurry of attacks.
• The Green-Scarf Assassin told Rhode about the Peerless Pair and warned him to leave before he got killed.
• One-Sword Terminator attacked Duke Foulcrest, but Duke Foulcrest evaded his strike and killed him with a crushing stomp.
• Duke Foulcrest called for Ronaldo to come out, and Rhode spoke up from the crowd: "Are you looking for me?"

Rhode revealed himself as the Master Assassin Ronaldo and confronted Duke Foulcrest, who recognized him as the man behind the losses at Tarren Mill and Stromgarde. After Rhode blocked Foulcrest’s attacks and overwhelmed him with magic, Foulcrest fled but was struck down by Rhode’s fireball.

• Rhode identified himself as Ronaldo, stunning the assassins and confirming his identity with details of the Tarren Mill battle.
• Rhode taunted Duke Foulcrest about his dead men and his brothers, prompting Foulcrest to recognize him and attack in fury.
• Rhode blocked Foulcrest’s twin-sword strike with Ice Block, then used Shockwave and Magic Walls to counter his assault.
• When Foulcrest feinted with his swords and kicked, Rhode stopped him with Mage Hand and blasted a crater into Lake Lordamere.
• Foulcrest retreated and tried to escape with Sprint, but Rhode’s fireball caught him and sent him crashing to the ground.

Rhode defeated and killed Duke Foulcrest at Ravenholdt Manor, discovering that the rogue had been carrying a book for Kel'Thuzad in Tirisfal Glades. Duke Foulcrest identified Rhode's three gemstones as the legendary Moon Crystal, leaving Rhode to wonder whether to return them to their rightful owner.

• Duke Foulcrest survived Rhode's first attack and used Veil of Concealment to try to escape, but Rhode exposed him with a freezing spell and trapped him in ice.
• Rhode questioned Duke Foulcrest about Kel'Thuzad and tricked him into revealing his reaction to the claim that Kel'Thuzad's plans in Tirisfal Glades had been discovered.
• Rhode searched Duke Foulcrest's frozen body with Mage Hand and found the book Advanced Gemstone Enchantment Techniques, but Duke Foulcrest broke free and ran toward the lake.
• Rhode stopped Duke Foulcrest with a barrage of Mage Hand punches, and Duke Foulcrest recognized Rhode's three gemstones as the Moon Crystal before dying.
• The Ravenholdt assassins cheered Rhode's victory, while Rhode recalled the Moon Crystal's history and wondered whether he should return the gemstones.

Rhode enchanted the Thought Acceleration Gemstone, turning it into a yellow Fire Orb that could merge with his body and reappear at will. After Lilia and Galinder returned, Rhode persuaded Galinder to delay a scouting expedition into Tirisfal Glades for several days while he prepared to confront Kel'Thuzad.

• Rhode studied Advanced Gemstone Enchantment Techniques and used runes and a catalyst made from his Ruby pendant and Ruby Necklace to enchant the Thought Acceleration Gemstone.
• The gemstone released a yellow flame that enveloped Rhode, improved his physical strength and clarity of thought, and became a Fire Orb floating above his shoulder.
• Rhode accidentally set his recliner alight, then discovered he could make the Fire Orb disappear by controlling his mental energy.
• Lilia and Galinder returned, and Rhode concealed the Fire Orb by claiming it was a magic trick after Galinder suspected it came from a powerful gemstone.
• Rhode told Galinder that Kel'Thuzad might be hiding in Tirisfal Glades and plotting against Lordaeron City, then convinced him to wait several days before leading a scouting expedition.
• Lilia decided to find Teacher Thrall and learn more powerful moves while Galinder agreed to wait for Rhode's word.

Rhode led a reconnaissance mission into Whispering Forest and discovered a Plague Cauldron tended by zombies and a half-lich, confirming that the Scourge was active in Tirisfal Glades. As Rhode prepared to withdraw, powerful mana surges approached and a woman’s voice announced that he had come to his death.

• Rhode sent Galinder, Major Drake, and two mage teams to search Tirisfal Glades, but their first searches found no sign of Kel'Thuzad.
• Rhode led the group west into Whispering Forest, where they found a Plague Cauldron and zombies feeding it corpse parts.
• Rhode recognized the figure tending the cauldron as a half-lich and concluded that the Scourge was present.
• Rhode decided to retreat rather than risk an attack without knowing the enemy’s strength, but he sensed powerful mana surges nearby.
• A shrill female voice called out that Rhode had finally come to his death.