A carriage drawn by four hawkstriders slowly made its way from Silvermoon City toward Fairbreeze Village.
Aside from the goblin driver, six people rode in the carriage: four High Elves, a human dressed as a merchant, and a plump dwarf... Karin strongly suspected that the dwarf was largely responsible for their slow pace.
His previous poor hawkstrider had met a grisly end at the hands of Duen, a mage of the Morningwind family, and Karin was already planning to find a new mount.
The other passengers were all ordinary elves or people of other races... At the sight of Karin's red robe and the staff in his hand, they instinctively gave him some space.
Mages were indeed common in Quel'Thalas. Roughly one in every ten elves was a mage of the first ring or higher... Yet their formidable power and innate air of mystery kept elven commoners and those of other races at a respectful distance.
Karin was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet, taking the opportunity to discuss what he had learned lately with the All-Knowing Eye.
"Have you been studying alchemy these past few days, host?" Fearing discovery by Silvermoon City's high-ranking mages, the All-Knowing Eye had remained tucked away in Karin's mind all this time, unaware of what had happened outside.
"Yes. I borrowed some books on alchemy and made a few preliminary attempts at it!" Karin answered honestly.
"So you truly intend to learn how to brew clarity potions and rid yourself of your magic addiction altogether?" the All-Knowing Eye asked, somewhat puzzled. "But your addiction is not particularly severe. Even if something were to happen, it would not cause you much trouble, so there is no need to go to such lengths..."
Karin nodded without answering.
His own magic addiction was indeed mild. Even when the day came that the Sunwell was destroyed, he would not end up as miserable as the Blood Elves of the future... But throughout Quel'Thalas, far too many elves were deeply dependent on magic! Once the Sunwell was destroyed, what awaited them might well be a descent into the ranks of the wretched or the withered!
Karin did not consider himself a saint, but if there was something within his power to do, he would naturally make an effort!
The All-Knowing Eye did not dwell on the matter.
"Do you have any thoughts on the direction of your future development, host?" the All-Knowing Eye continued.
"My future development?" Karin frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The arcane system is divided into eight distinct schools: abjuration, conjuration, enchantment, transmutation, divination, necromancy, evocation, and illusion!"
Karin nodded. Kirkland, the instructor at the apprentice gathering, had mentioned this before.
"The eight schools are actually interconnected rather than mutually exclusive. However, mages below the sixth ring are advised to specialize in no more than two schools, with spells from the remaining schools serving as supplementary studies. This is more beneficial to their future development!" the All-Knowing Eye explained.
"Schools to specialize in... What would you suggest?"
"First, the All-Knowing Eye strongly recommends that you specialize in abjuration! A mage's body is relatively fragile, and on the battlefield, mages are easily subjected to concentrated enemy attacks... Thus, abjuration spells are the most essential spells of all. They directly concern a mage's survival!"
Karin agreed. Staying alive clearly came first, especially for a fragile class like a mage. Besides, many famous mages in Azeroth had chosen abjuration as their specialty. Antonidas of the Kirin Tor, for instance, would construct a protective barrier around Dalaran during the Scourge's future invasion that left Arthas at a loss for a time. Then there was Prince Kael'thas of the High Elves. Although his mastery of the various schools was fairly balanced, Karin remembered reading accounts in his previous life that said Kael'thas had also specialized in abjuration.
"And the other specialty?"
"The All-Knowing Eye recommends conjuration. It is an extremely versatile school, well suited to..."
Before the All-Knowing Eye could finish, Karin interrupted, "No, I choose evocation!"
"Evocation?"
"Yes. What kind of mage can't even conjure up a fireball?"
"Evocation spells manipulate energy or draw upon unknown sources of power to produce the desired result, almost as though creating something from nothing. They can produce spectacular effects while also inflicting terrifying damage!" the All-Knowing Eye explained. "For example, the Fireball spell you mentioned gathers the free-floating fire elements in the surrounding air, compresses them into a single point, and then launches them!"
"I just had an idea!" Karin said. "If Fireball is created by concentrating the fire elements in the air, could we increase their concentration in the air to make the spell more powerful?"
The All-Knowing Eye pondered for a moment. "An excellent idea. None of the All-Knowing Eye's previous hosts ever raised this point. Do you have any specific suggestions?"
"While working on alchemy, I came across a formula called 'black powder.' Essentially, it produces a high concentration of fire elements!" Karin offered his idea.
"Black powder? A mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter? Feyrun has this alchemical product as well, though alchemists have paid it little attention!"
"Yes. What if we first used black powder to increase the concentration of fire elements in the surrounding air, then used that to cast a fireball?" Karin proposed.
"It would have some effect, but the All-Knowing Eye believes it has little practical value!" the All-Knowing Eye replied. "Black powder is simply too weak. If you cast Fireball using this method, its power would only increase by about 20-30%!"
"A twenty- to thirty-percent increase-isn't that pretty good?" Karin asked, puzzled.
"That is only because you are a first-ring mage, host. That is why you would see a 20-30% increase. Once you advance to the fourth or fifth ring, the increase might be only 2-3%!" the All-Knowing Eye explained.
"I see!" Karin felt briefly discouraged. Then an even more terrifying idea suddenly occurred to him.
"Then... All-Knowing Eye, hear me out on a hypothetical... Suppose there were an alchemical product with the same properties as black powder, but tens or even hundreds of millions of times more powerful. How powerful would a Fireball cast using it be?" Karin asked tentatively.
"Tens or even hundreds of millions of times more powerful... If such a terrifying alchemical product truly existed..." The All-Knowing Eye's voice grew exceedingly solemn. "A Fireball cast with it as a medium could easily slay a god!"