Faced with Metri's challenge, Alodi once again recited the Guardian's admonition, passed down for a thousand years.
"A Guardian is called a Guardian not because the inheritance power grants you strength, but because your state of mind is strong enough to keep that power in check. Otherwise, any High Archmage would qualify to become a Guardian. Do you understand?" Alodi repeated the familiar lesson, trying to bring Metri back to the right path.
The modules around Metri's body returned to their normal operating speed. His mentor's admonition had not moved him.
Metri searched his conscience. On Azeroth, he had perfectly fulfilled his duties as both a living man and a Guardian.
Otherwise, he would never have come to Ascension in the Shadowlands.
"Yes! You're right, Mentor. But many of our successors are still imprisoned in the Halls of Valor. They were able to come here precisely because they gave everything on Azeroth while they lived. I crave that power because I want to save them. You know Ascension isn't a place that redeems souls. The ranks of the Ascended merely allow us to keep living here in another form." As Metri spoke, he quietly put more distance between himself and Alodi's group.
Alodi nodded slightly, noticing Metri's movement at the same time.
"But saving our brethren and successors cannot come at the cost of crushing their wills. Guardians are trained from childhood not to develop their talent or their strength, but their state of mind. You trained new Guardians yourself. Surely you understand that."
Even as he spoke, Alodi still held out hope for Metri. Memories of life were a tremendous treasure in the Shadowlands.
There were countless souls of high-level spellcasters in the Shadowlands, but very few possessed a Guardian's sense of purpose.
Powerful Archmages cultivated their abilities; Guardians