This clash sent the already delicate relationship between Karin and Vereesa Windrunner and her Ranger Squad plunging to freezing point.
Still, it was not entirely bad. One thing Karin could be grateful for was that no one would come looking for trouble with him now! Even the two Rangers, Morgan and Brew, moved out of the common room, leaving Karin a space all to himself.
As an "instructor mage," Karin led a fairly leisurely life during this period.
An "instructor mage" was someone tasked with guiding these Rangers and teaching them a few essential spells for fighting Trolls... Of course, the most important spell was Melf's Acid Arrow, whose patent belonged to him!
Every High Elf was a born spellcaster! Even High Elves with no affinity for arcane magic whatsoever would not be utterly ignorant of magic after so many years beneath the Sunwell's radiance!
Of course, High Elves with little affinity for arcane magic-or no magical talent at all-would struggle to get very far if they truly pursued the path of a mage! But at least, after a period of study and training, they would have little trouble casting some simple first-ring and second-ring spells.
That was where the greatest significance of Melf's Acid Arrow lay.
After years of confrontation with the Amani Trolls, no Elven mage was unfamiliar with the Trolls' formidable ability to recover...
Everyone knew how terrifying the Trolls' regeneration was! Even if an adult Troll lost an arm in battle, it could slowly grow back over a few months. A grievous injury that would leave an excellent Ranger unconscious for a long time would only require an adult Troll to rest for an hour or two before becoming as vigorous as ever!
Over thousands of years, research papers on the Trolls' healing abilities had accumulated enough to fill an entire library, and who knew how many spells had been invented or developed to counter those abilities!
For example, the fourth-ring evocation spell Scorching Burn could forcibly burn wounds, greatly weakening a Troll's ability to heal itself. The fifth-ring conjuration spell Corruption could achieve the same effect!
There were countless spells like these!
Yet these spells were largely of little use in actual combat, because every one of them required a relatively advanced mage to cast it!
Although the High Elves of Quel'Thalas possessed an innate affinity for arcane magic, aided by the radiance of the Sunwell... Across all of Quel'Thalas, there were still far too few mages who met that requirement!
They might form the backbone of their respective families, hold positions in the Royal Court or the Council that were not especially important yet remained indispensable, or already own substantial assets of their own. Neither the Royal Court, the Council, nor the great families would be willing to send these mages to the battlefields of the Ghostlands... And few of the mages themselves, long accustomed to the easy, comfortable life in Silvermoon City, would likely be willing either!
By contrast, there were far too many Amani forest Trolls... Although they had remained largely dormant in the jungles of Zul'Aman for nearly a thousand years, leaving the true state of their people unknown, some scholar-mages estimated that they numbered at least thirty thousand! And for a people who lived by fishing and hunting, like the Trolls, even young or female Trolls could serve as passable warriors.
Melf's Acid Arrow was different from those spells... It was a second-ring spell, and a remarkably simple one at that. Commoners could learn and use it, and so could Rangers! The nearly ten thousand Rangers stationed in the Ghostlands had always been the backbone of the fight against the Trolls!
Karin confirmed this through his actual work.
His duties as an "instructor mage" began... But not every Ranger in the squad took part.
The two Rangers named Morgan and Brew hurried away whenever they saw him, so naturally they did not attend his magic lessons. Vereesa Windrunner also instinctively kept a considerable distance from him...
But the other Rangers were quite happy to learn a few simple spells from him! Karin could even sense that several young female Rangers were very enthusiastic toward him, even a little admiring, thanks to the considerable strength he had demonstrated a few days earlier.
Looks like not everyone in this little squad dances to Vereesa's tune! Karin mused.
Although these Rangers were enthusiastic about learning magic, their results were not particularly good... Many of them had been away from magic for hundreds of years and had forgotten nearly all the fundamentals of spellcasting!
No wonder Silvermoon City had gone out of its way to send so many "instructor mages" for such a simple spell!
Besides studying magic, the Rangers naturally had their own daily routines! Compared with the indolent atmosphere of Silvermoon City, the Rangers in the Ghostlands undeniably led much fuller lives... In addition to their regular scouting and patrols, every Ranger had to undergo three to four hours of comprehensive training!
To the surprise of the dozen or so Rangers, Karin Sunfury, an "instructor mage" who was not required to shoulder that burden, voluntarily joined their training. Nor did he merely turn up now and then... He stuck with it all the way.
Even Vereesa was surprised. At first, she thought Karin's enthusiasm would soon fade, and she secretly increased the training load a little on purpose... Yet, to her surprise, Karin really did persevere every day for over a month, showing even more enthusiasm than most of the Rangers.
A young Ranger named Orisha once quietly asked Karin about this during a magic lesson.
As she put it, why would a mage-and one with such a bright future-put himself through such grueling Ranger training when it would be of little use to his future?
Karin did not know how to explain it either. He merely said that he wanted to properly strengthen the naturally frail body of a mage.
"Mr. Karin, if you had been born not into the Sunfury family, but into a family like the Windrunners, Brightwings, or Dawnstriders... I'm sure you could become an outstanding Ranger Lord, or even a Ranger-General!" That was Orisha's assessment of Karin.
For Karin, however, there was only one thing he knew clearly in his heart:
Holing up in a Mage Tower every day, conducting all manner of experiments and publishing all manner of papers... That was not his ideal life as a mage.
Nor was moving among adventuring bands and dungeons, mastering lockpicking and invisibility while serving as the team's powerful magical artillery... That was not his ideal life as a mage either.
With a sword in hand, cut down a Ringwraith; with a staff raised, vanquish a Balrog! That was Karin's idea of the perfect mage.