He realized that the change in his arcane energy should have been an effect of his advancement. The once narrow stream of arcane energy within him had widened somewhat, and his maximum mana had increased considerably.
Yet even after his mana reached saturation, he was still drawing in arcane energy, with no sign of stopping. The arcane energy he absorbed maintained a dynamic balance, merely keeping him at saturation.
"What's going on? Why is the arcane energy I absorb disappearing?" Patrick was thoroughly puzzled. His energy was already approaching saturation, yet he was still drawing in arcane ions, while the arcane energy he absorbed inexplicably "vanished."
"Ah! Finally, I'm awake!" A clear female voice rang out.
"Someone's here? Who?" Patrick started in surprise. He was clearly alone in the study room. How could there be a stranger inside his family's mage tower?
"Don't be nervous!" The female voice spoke again.
Telepathy? Spiritual Power capable of breaking through the mage tower's active defenses had to belong to at least a magus or a grand mage. Why would someone so important go to such lengths to contact a minor mage like him through Spiritual Power?
"Stop letting your imagination run wild. I'm inside your consciousness," the female voice said. "The arcane energy you just absorbed woke me."
"Then who are you? Why are you in my mind?" Patrick remained outwardly motionless, but quietly began gathering arcane energy in his hands, preparing to strike when the right opportunity arose.
"Don't be nervous. I mean you no harm. I'm Ellen Moonsaint, formerly a transcendent grand archmage, a member of the Well of Eternity Arcane Research Team within Azshara's Highborne Royal Magical Research Society."
"Then how did you get into my mind?"
"To answer that, we have to go back to the War of the Ancients. The explosion of the Well of Eternity sent vast amounts of arcane energy out of control and also created many spatial turbulences. I used those spatial turbulences to break through the spatial barrier and escape the blast. Although I escaped the explosion, my body was swallowed by the spatial turbulence. Only my soul reached your home planet, Earth, where I temporarily took up residence in you."
"..."
"After spending some time on Earth, I forcibly opened the spatial barrier, hoping to return to Azeroth. I just never expected to bring your soul along too." Ellen Moonsaint sounded a little embarrassed.
"So it really was all your fault. Do you have a way to send me back?"
"Yes. If the Well of Eternity explodes again, the energy released will be enough for me to send you back to Earth and then return here," Ellen Moonsaint said with complete seriousness.
"The Well of Eternity exploding again? Why don't you just say the world has to be destroyed?" Patrick felt some resentment. It turned out someone had been meddling behind his transmigration all along; even coming here had been something he had been "volunteered" for.
Yet there was nothing he could do. When he first transmigrated, he had withdrawn into himself for a long time, almost unable to move past leaving his loved ones and close friends behind. "Then, great Grand Magus Ellen Moonsaint, when do you intend to leave my mind?"
"Well, um, my body was already swallowed by spatial turbulence. I only exist in soul form."
"So it looks like you can't leave. Still, having someone else constantly peeping into my memories and thoughts is pretty unpleasant. Since you're a grand archmage, you must be quite good at arcane research, right?"
"There's no question about that!" Speaking of the arcane, Ellen Moonsaint sounded a little smug. "Without my help, that Arcane Mimicry experiment you figured out last time wouldn't have succeeded so easily. Simulating elemental forms with arcane energy requires at least a high-ranking magus. With your current arcane abilities alone, you can only use Spiritual Power to cast fire and frost magic directly. You can't produce the manifestation effects of Arcane Mimicry."
No wonder the game divided mage talents into three types: arcane, frost, and fire. The skills for arcane talents also differed from those for frost and fire. For example, at level 10, arcane mage skills were Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Missiles,
while frost and fire mage skills were Fireball, Pyroblast, and Fire Blast. Moreover, the core principles behind talents such as Arcane Charge and Overpowered all revolved around mana. But arcane mages differed from mages of other schools in that they could manipulate energy of other attributes through Arcane Magic alone.
"Ms. Ellen, do you have any good suggestions for my arcane studies at this stage?" Patrick asked.
"Right now, most of your studies remain confined to theoretical research. You lack the ability to apply the arcane. Mere armchair theorizing does nothing for your arcane studies," Ellen said seriously. "Exploring the mysteries of the arcane isn't limited to magical formulas and skills. More than that, it's a search for truth."
Indeed, accumulating extensive combat experience would bring a qualitative change to his own improvement. Although a solid foundation could serve as the groundwork for his training, all sorts of things could happen in actual combat, and too many factors affected victory. Having substantial practical combat experience would give him another measure of security during Azeroth's future upheavals.
After the first year of the Dark Portal, Azeroth had been plagued by constant warfare: the orc wars, the Scourge, the War of the Nightmare, the War of the Shifting Sands, the Cataclysm, and the Twilight's Hammer-all of them threatened to destroy the world (Azeroth had always been beset by disasters; any villain who popped up wanted to destroy the world).
Patrick immersed himself in arcane studies, diligently researching new arcane skills and the simulation effects of Arcane Mimicry. Improving his control over the arcane also helped him command frost and fire elements.
Every day, he lived like a high school student, studying in the morning and afternoon, with evening study sessions as well. But instead of dull mathematics and language classes, his arcane studies were intensive yet lively, and he gained a great deal of arcane knowledge.
That evening, at the family dinner.
"Pat," Phil Cabrolon said solemnly, "there's a shipment of supplies that needs to be delivered to Dath'Remar's Mage Tower in eastern Silvermoon City soon. The supplies include various enchanting materials, gems such as malachite and tigerseye, as well as magic dust, strange dust, Arcane Crystals, bloodthistle flowers, peacebloom, and so on."
"They need considerably more supplies this time. Has something happened on the Azurebreeze Coast in the east?"
"No. Dath'Remar's Mage Tower doesn't just monitor the Azurebreeze Coast in eastern Silvermoon City. It also manages the magical energy field and serves as the logistical transfer hub for Farstrider Lodge. Recently, the trolls of Tor'Watha and Zeb'Watha have been active, and the front lines are under pressure, so they need far more supplies, especially military equipment, medicines, mana gems, and the like," Phil-Cabrolon instructed. "You'll be responsible for transporting our alchemical potions, raw materials, and so on this time. I've already discussed it with Arcanist Thas'wether. He has considerable accomplishments in arcane magic, so you can also study in his mage tower for a while and learn about the arcane."
Patrick had a feeling his father was deliberately sending him out to study. There weren't many arcane research findings in the Cabrolon family library. Although the family's mage tower occupied a central location in the eastern district, right beside the Silvermoon Council Hall, the family's important achievements were all in alchemy. Perhaps going elsewhere to study would be a good opportunity.
Thas'wether's Tower was the only mage tower in eastern Silvermoon City, as well as a large floating tower. In the later World of Warcraft, the blood elf quest required players to first find Archmage Thas'wether, then locate the Orb of Translocation to teleport inside the tower, clear out Etherals, Mana Serpents, Wretched, and so on, and shut down the energy crystals. At present, Thas'wether's Tower was still Silvermoon City's animal hub and a supply station for the Farstriders Camp, while Thas'wether himself was still only a mid-ranking arcanist.
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