Dalaran

After resting for a few minutes, he immediately stood up. This place was not safe now. If another water elemental appeared, it would all be over. He quickly packed everything up and cleared the battlefield. In truth, there was little to clear away. The water elemental had dropped only one thing, which he knew was called a Water Elemental Heart, the source of a water elemental's magic.

Water Elemental Hearts were not easy to obtain. Many adventurers and mercenaries often found nothing after killing water elementals, because their energy cores usually dissolved into the water upon death, then seeped into the earth with the current. A water elemental had to be alive, its Water Elemental Heart had to be located, and the heart had to be removed without any resistance from the elemental. This was too difficult for many adventurers.

Those capable of doing this were usually so powerful that they no longer cared about such things. As for the Water Elemental Heart in Allen's hand, it was honestly too small, and its magic was almost depleted. More importantly, he had never read about the uses of a Water Elemental Heart. The only book that mentioned it devoted just a few lines to it, with no detailed introduction.

Allen had no time to examine it now. He hurriedly put it into his backpack and immediately left. By evening, he was well away from the Misty Lake Shore and had reached a rise where he made camp. After dinner, he did not immediately begin practicing his cultivation formula as he had before.

Instead, he began reflecting on his actions over the past few days, and only then realized how careless he had been. It was probably because he had spent those days near the border, where the Border City Army had long since cleared out all the monsters and bandits. As a result, he had encountered hardly any monsters along the way and had let down his guard. In the end, he had only reacted after the water elemental ambushed him. Allen let out a long sigh and silently warned himself to remain vigilant, no matter what he was doing.

Allen did not sleep at all that night, cultivating until morning instead. Before this, he had always used his sleeping hours to cultivate, because he could remain alert while cultivating. His senses even grew sharper when he circulated the formula, and the formula imposed no restrictions on time or place. He could practice it anywhere, anytime.

The only regret was that the formula could not replace sleep. Although his current mental power allowed him to go three days and nights without sleep without any problems, he still needed to sleep eventually. As a rule, he only felt comfortable sleeping once he reached a relatively safe place. Aside from his carelessness over the past few days, he had always done so.

The next day, Allen immediately set out, even eating breakfast on the road. He traveled considerably more slowly this time, mainly to guard against anything that might happen along the way.

Finally, a week later, Allen encountered a caravan heading for Dalaran. After obtaining its owner's permission, he temporarily joined the caravan. In return, he was obliged to protect it and help resolve any difficulties it encountered.

Over that week, he encountered many monsters, the most numerous of which were naturally murlocs. To reach Dalaran, Allen inevitably had to pass near Lake Lordamere. The murlocs there usually stayed in the lake and only came ashore when necessary. Generally speaking, as long as people did not venture too close to the lakeside, these murlocs would not go looking for trouble by attacking passing merchants. If they really did that, the nearby human armies would have wiped them out long ago. It would be a mistake to think that humans had no way of dealing with murlocs just because they lived in the lake. Dealing with them would merely take a little more effort.

Besides murlocs, he also encountered some gnolls, but the caravan slipped away without alerting them. He knew that his current strength was not enough to "farm monsters" here. He had never forgotten that his foremost task was to reach Dalaran.

This time, he was lucky. Traveling with the caravan, he encountered nothing like what had happened last time. The journey was fairly uneventful, so although there were some robbers and bandits, they dealt with them all without trouble.

During one battle, Allen was forced to use Wind Blade, and everyone in the caravan treated him as a mage. Although he said he was a mage apprentice, that did nothing to curb their enthusiasm. From then on, he rode in a carriage, eating and sleeping there as well.

Another week passed like this, and Allen and the caravan finally arrived at Dalaran. Dalaran was unlike any city he had ever seen. The first thing that greeted his eyes was a sea of purple and almost countless towers. Those violet towers rose at varying heights in a pleasing arrangement throughout the city, with rings of floating arcane structures around each one. The entire city was nothing short of a miracle, built wholly through arcane magic. Even from so far away, Allen could feel the powerful magic within Dalaran.

No wonder Dalaran was called the most dazzling jewel on the continent of Lordaeron. Allen could not help marveling. Even the skyscrapers he had seen in his previous life could not compare. In this medieval-like world, Dalaran seemed utterly out of place. It could easily have been a paradise on earth.

Perhaps this was the power of magic. Allen could not help yearning for it. He soon came back to his senses, and the caravan leader beside him said, "This is your first visit to Dalaran, isn't it, Mr. Allen? I was just like you the first time I came. Dalaran is truly the stuff of myths."

"I think I'll never forget this sight," Allen said with feeling. "Yes, no one could forget a sight like this. Mr. Allen, I think it's time we entered the city. This is our caravan's Membership Card. If you ever need anything, the address is on it, and you'll receive a ten-percent discount. Consider it our caravan's payment to you."

Allen accepted the Membership Card, thinking, These merchants really know how to do business. At the city gates, the caravan leader began chatting with the captain guarding the entrance. They clearly knew each other. After the caravan leader discreetly slipped some silver coins into the captain's hand, the entire group was allowed through.

After entering the city and saying goodbye to the caravan, Allen walked out onto the street alone. Dalaran was clearly much larger than any city he had seen before, and livelier too. Mages were everywhere, walking through the streets in colorful robes and carrying all manner of strange staves.

There were also all kinds of races here. Humans were naturally the most numerous, followed by elves. Elves were born mages, with magical talent far surpassing that of humans. They had even been humanity's teachers in magic. However, most of the elves on the streets wore hoods, revealing only their two pointed ears, so their faces could not be seen clearly. Allen guessed that this was probably to avoid being stared at by others.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Allen finally found a decent-looking inn. He went inside and immediately asked the owner for a room, but he was shocked to hear that a three-day stay cost 100 silver coins. That was a full ten times the price in other cities. Although this inn looked better than those he had stayed at before, the price was outrageous. Still, he was not foolish enough to argue. He paid the 100 silver coins and moved in.

Before long, an attendant knocked on his door. "Sir, your lunch." Allen looked at him in surprise. "I didn't order any food. Could you have brought it to the wrong room?" The attendant smiled at him. "This is your first visit, isn't it, sir? This is all part of the inn's service. Once you've paid for your room, we provide three meals every day. As you know, this is Dalaran. Many mages are often so busy that they forget to come downstairs to eat. The inn does this to better serve our esteemed mages. I'll leave your lunch here, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Allen thought it over and felt that what the attendant said made sense. He turned and told him he needed nothing for now and that he could return to his work. Then, after closing the door, he looked at the dishes and suddenly felt that the service he received for those hundred silver coins was well worth it.

After thoroughly enjoying his lunch, Allen felt it was still early and decided to visit Dalaran's library. If any place had the most books, it had to be Dalaran's library. Even Lordaeron's great library fell far short. All mages hungered for knowledge, and books were the easiest way to obtain it. Those mages had practically emptied the continent of every book they could find.

This was the main reason Allen had come to Dalaran. Dalaran's library was very easy to locate. Allen found it after spending just a few minutes on the streets.

"Welcome, young mage. Is there anything I can help you with?" The attendant was tall, well-built, and very handsome. Allen answered honestly, "I'm not quite a mage yet. But may I read the books here?"

"Of course. Any human, elf, or dwarf may read the books on the first floor, provided you can afford the fee: 80 silver coins an hour. If you're a citizen of Dalaran, you don't even need to pay half a Copper Nat." The attendant gave him a charming smile.

Hearing that he would not have to pay, Allen could not help asking how to join Dalaran, but the attendant said he was not quite sure either. Allen sighed and handed over the money. The attendant then gave him a card, explaining that this was his Reading Card. How long he could use it depended on how much he paid. Once it stopped working, he would have to add more money.

To protect the books and prevent anyone from maliciously damaging them, Dalaran's mages had placed magical protections on all the library's books. The Reading Card could only take out one book at a time, and another could only be taken out after the first was returned. It sounded troublesome, but it was still a good way to manage a library.