Joining

With a formidable enemy before them, Alleria had set up her command post inside the East Sanctum. The mage tower had now become a command center.

Inside the tower, the Farstriders were rushed off their feet, while the mages were constructing defensive barriers. Until she understood the Trolls' intentions, Alleria focused primarily on defense.

The East Sanctum stood right beside the Life Forest, facing the Troll tribe of Zeb'Watha across the woods. The Trolls of Zul'Aman were forest Trolls who lived year-round in dense forests, sustaining themselves through hunting and gathering fruits and vegetables. Trolls depended on nature and lived as part of it.

Although the Trolls' way of life could not have been more primitive, they revered voodoo and worshipped the Animal Gods of nature. They knew jungle warfare inside out, which was also the main reason Alleria remained within the town on the defensive.

Patrick entered the Eastern Sanctum Tower. Seeing the Fifth Ring badge on his chest, the guards let him through without much obstruction.

"General Alleria?" Patrick said in surprise.

"Mage Cabrolon? Ah, no, Arcanist Cabrolon?" Alleria made out who had arrived.

Alleria was astonished. The last time they handed over supplies at Farstriders Camp, Patrick had only been a lowly Fourth-Circle Mage. In just a few short months, he had grown into a Fifth Ring arcanist. Looking at Patrick's eyes, which occasionally overflowed with arcane energy, Alleria found it rather incredible.

"I didn't expect Lady Alleria to remember me. I'm planning to head to the human city of Stratholme. Since I was passing through the East Sanctum, I came to pick up some spellcasting materials and supplies," Patrick said with a smile.

"The combat supplies you escorted to Farstriders Camp last time, Master Cabrolon, were undoubtedly a godsend for the Farstriders' outpost. Allow me to thank you on behalf of Lieutenant Darn Farstrider and Lady Saleni Dawnlight."

"You're too kind, Lady Alleria. I was merely transporting supplies on the council's orders. With the fighting at the front so urgent, it was only what I ought to do. Also, if you don't mind, my lady, just call me Patrick."

"Then, Patrick, the East Sanctum is now on a war footing. Some time ago, the sentries discovered Trolls spying on their posts, possibly gathering intelligence for the Troll forces. Although the Trolls have only been observing from outside the sentry posts and haven't attacked, no one can afford to let their guard down now," Alleria explained to Patrick.

"These Trolls are behaving rather strangely. If they want to attack, why keep spying from outside? And even if they do attack, why choose the Sun Temple? Trolls excel at jungle warfare, not assaults on fortified positions.

"Besides, the East Sanctum lies in Twin Mountain Pass. The mage tower occupies high ground, and there's no large forest nearby for them to hide in. Only the distant Life Forest faces the watchtower. With the kingdom's Thalassian Pass at its back, supplies and reinforcements can reach it easily. Are these Trolls trying to get themselves killed?"

Patrick's words were exactly what Alleria had been thinking. There had to be a particular significance to the Trolls' unusual behavior.

Alleria looked at Patrick. Rather than answer his question directly, she said, "I just heard you say you wanted to go to Stratholme. Do you have time to spare?"

Patrick paused, then said in puzzlement, "I'm planning to go to Dalaran to learn about arcane magic in the human world. I don't have a deadline." Some elves from Quel'Thalas went to Dalaran in search of opportunities to advance, so Patrick's explanation was perfectly reasonable.

"I'd like to ask you to serve temporarily as a tactical adviser to our forces, Arcanist Patrick, and help us deal with this Troll attack."

Patrick's expression changed. "I'm afraid I can't! I have no combat experience, much less any experience fighting Trolls. I can't accept being made a tactical adviser when I have no combat experience whatsoever."

The corners of Alleria's mouth lifted slightly, and she chuckled. "Just look at what you said earlier. Without any military intelligence or experience in large-scale battles, you immediately worked out a line of reasoning. With such keen insight and tactical analytical ability, you would have no problem serving as an adviser for this operation.

"Besides, it's only a temporary appointment. It won't affect your plans to go to Dalaran afterward." "Uh," Patrick said, breaking into a cold sweat. "I was just tossing out a few thoughts off the cuff, and you actually believe me?"

"What you just said was perfectly reasonable and well supported," said one of Alleria's aides beside her.

With that said, Patrick could hardly refuse. He had wanted to travel to gain some credentials and arcane experience in the first place. Gaining experience with the Farstriders would also provide much greater assurance of his safety.

Serving as a tactical adviser made him somewhat nervous and afraid, because Patrick had no combat experience before transmigrating. In the twenty-odd years of his previous life, as someone from ZG, he had never experienced combat. He had gotten into fights as a child, but that could not count as combat experience.

Here and now, a tactical adviser was someone who had to take responsibility for a war. Perhaps every man harbored a dream of becoming a general sweeping across the battlefield. But real war was cruel. Weighing on the imposing shoulders of every general and commander was the heavy burden of responsibility.

Making an ordinary person like me a tactical adviser-you really know how to come up with ideas. I could at least shout a few orders during military training. But fighting a war? Ha, Patrick thought.

The next day, Patrick moved from the tavern into the East Sanctum, formally beginning his duties.

Things remained the same as in the preceding days. The sentries still spotted Trolls gazing at the East Sanctum from afar, but they showed no intention of attacking and simply watched from a distance. Rather than the elves keeping watch, it seemed more as though the Trolls were monitoring the high elves' movements. Patrick found this quite strange.

At other times, Alleria held routine meetings with her subordinates, who reported the day's military developments and so forth. Little else was different. Patrick continued training his Spiritual Power and stockpiling magic in the mage tower.

Ever since discovering that Ellen was a mana pool, Patrick had been accumulating mana to prepare for unexpected needs. Unlike ordinary elves, who directly absorbed energy from the Sunwell and then used it, Patrick absorbed a portion of its energy, blended it with the mana he recovered through meditation, and then stored it in his mental world.

One reason for doing this was to lessen his craving for the Sunwell's energy and reduce the effects that magical addiction would have on his body later. However, eliminating that craving to consume magic was impossible; he could only proceed gradually.

The second reason was that it made it easier to supply energy to Ellen Moonsaint's spirit, while Ellen Moonsaint could also help Patrick train his mental world.

"Reporting, General!" A messenger entered. "An urgent military dispatch from Lieutenant Darn Farstrider."

The magical letter was opened. Lieutenant Darn Farstrider at Farstriders Camp reported the military developments of the past few days. Since their surprise attack had been repelled last time, the Trolls had fallen back to positions in front of Allendar Falls and remained in a standoff with their forces, rather than retreating to Tor'Watha.

Why are both groups of Trolls behaving so strangely? Why stay stationed at the front after a failed attack? Are they preparing another attack? Or looking for an opportunity? Patrick thought.