Advancement

Back home, with Silvermoon City's arcane particles permeating the air, Patrick sighed. No wonder the high elves suffered from such severe Mana addiction. After Silvermoon City fell, its entire western side was full of the Wretched.

On the desk were the same books he had been reading before, "Intermediate Runology" and "Mana Flow and Arcane Node Optimization." Before going to Thas'wether's Tower, Patrick had still been studying runology and enchanting.

It's been a long time since I did any hands-on work. I can get back to practicing runology, Patrick thought.

Patrick chose two rune combinations: the Fortitude Rune for armor and the Energy-Saving Rune for clothing. They were considerably more difficult than the runology he had studied before.

The Fortitude Rune consisted of the El Rune + Sol Rune + Dol Rune + Lo Rune, while the Energy-Saving Rune consisted of the Tal Rune + Shael Rune + Ort Rune + Amn Rune. The four runes were independent of one another on the clothing, yet closely linked by 83 common nodes and 1,713 arcane circuits.

Two fingers on one hand began gathering an inscription beam, while his other hand picked up an apprentice's robe. There was nothing special about the robe; it counted as the sort of gray-quality equipment that would be automatically sold in later times.

The beam between his hands shifted slowly, like the robotic arms that manufactured integrated circuits in his previous life. Its rhythm was steady, following its own operating path, as more and more densely packed patterns appeared on the robe.

Inscribing equipment consumed a great deal of arcane energy. Whenever Patrick exhausted his mana, he recovered in the laboratory, then resumed inscribing once his mana was full again. Only when he was mentally exhausted did he stop. Even so, over an entire day, Patrick could only finish inscribing one rune and the common nodes connected to it.

The two rune combinations took Patrick almost ten days. Each day, he exhausted his mana, then immediately meditated to restore it. Every day, he absorbed large quantities of the Sunwell's energy, using meditation and Ellen's help to quickly return to his optimal state, brimming with mana.

On the tenth day, after tracing the final arcane circuit, Patrick sat down to meditate and began absorbing Sunwell Arcane Energy to recover. He felt a warm current enter his sea of consciousness, surrounding, soothing, and nourishing his mind. He absorbed more and more arcane energy, and his maximum mana began to rise.

His consciousness began extending outward. Patrick sensed the arcane currents around him, the arcane particles drifting through the air on the wind as though he were seeing them with his own eyes. At that moment, he seemed to have touched the boundary of arcane truth.

Vast amounts of arcane energy nourished his mind, and Patrick's Spiritual Power began to leap forward. His mind projected outward, then returned, telling him of the towers outside with their white walls, golden windows, and red roofs, and of the golden magical trees rustling in the wind.

The fifth circle. Patrick had officially entered the fifth circle. The world perceived by his fifth-circle mental power was clearer now, and the membrane between his mental world and the outside world began to connect. Patrick opened his eyes, and, like those of other intermediate Arcanists, they began to spill faint arcane energy.

With his advancement complete, arcane energy gathered before Patrick, forming a pale blue Arcane Orb. He prepared to cast the fourth-circle conjuration spell, Force Orb.

The Arcane Orb spun before him. Patrick sent out threads of mental power to constrain its shape and control its volume, then used Arcane Mimicry to make the arcane energy begin imitating the form of earth element.

Patrick increased the energy flowing into the Arcane Orb. The mental threads maintained the constraint on its volume, and Arcane Mimicry took effect.

The Arcane Orb began to darken, then gradually turned yellow, deepening until it was a dark brownish yellow. Patrick continued increasing his output of arcane energy. The Arcane Orb had almost completely transformed into an Earth Element sphere, and sweat began dripping from his forehead. The elemental sphere desperately tried to burst through his mental restraints, and the immense pressure placed a heavy burden on his Spiritual Power. Even his distinctively long elven Long Ears trembled slightly.

*Ellen,

I need your help. Strengthen the mental restraints on the elemental sphere,* Patrick said inwardly. [It would be best for you to complete arcane verification independently. Relying on others will not benefit your future path in the arcane. I will keep observing from within your mental world. You will not be in any danger, so you can do what you wish without worry.] That was Ellen's reply.

Since that was the case, he could only rely on himself. Sweating more and more, Patrick gritted his teeth and controlled the elemental sphere, making it collapse inward. Its volume shrank rapidly. By reducing its volume and increasing its mass, Patrick increased the elemental sphere's density, hoping to achieve the effect of creating an Astral Star.

Patrick felt his mana nearing exhaustion. As the elemental sphere shrank to a critical point, he noticed that the arcane particles around it had changed from drifting freely and chaotically to moving in an orderly fashion, as though the elemental sphere were pulling them along.

It had worked. Although this Astral Star had not generated powerful gravity that drew in the surrounding objects, it had successfully verified Patrick's earlier idea.

When arcane energy imitated other elemental states, it could perfectly inherit all the properties of that element, including its physical properties. Gravity was one of those physical properties.

Arcane energy might count as a higher-order energy. He remembered that, in the game in his previous life, arcane energy had been unaffected by the reflected damage from a Shaman's Lightning Shield, even though Lightning Shield's reflected damage worked even against ranged attacks. There was also the function of the Well of Eternity to consider.

Then it was certain that arcane energy and the force of nature were both higher-order energies. The force of nature could likewise imitate other elemental forms, such as Tranquility taking the form of a water element and lightning taking the form of an Air Elemental. It seemed that, to understand and master the uses of the arcane and decipher the mysteries of Azeroth's Titans' power, he would have to scale the heights of arcane mastery.

After completing the arcane experiment, Patrick was so exhausted that he could hardly bring himself to move a finger. Lady Ellen sustained the Arcane Orb, controlling it as it dissipated into the air.

[You were too impatient. An arcane experiment like this is very difficult. You should have waited until after reaching the seventh circle to verify it,] Ellen's voice said.

"Seriously? You didn't say anything when I started the experiment, and now you tell me it's very difficult? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

[I saw how eagerly you were gathering arcane energy and did not want to spoil your enthusiasm.]

"..." Forget it. At least you helped me finish up. I can't be bothered to argue with you.

Spider Hall, Azjol-Nerub Kingdom, Northrend, at the North Pole

"I have sensed that our kingdom will face a catastrophe in the future, my brothers," Anub'serhan said. "The World's Veil has woven fragments of images. They tell me that the kingdom will face a war in the future."

"Everything our enemies have will end in pain and death." Anub'Rekhan extended his enormous mouthparts. "Perhaps we will have some little snacks to enjoy again."

"No, brother. Creation's Veil would not reveal fragments of images without reason. Brother Anub'serhan, this may be a warning. We must prevent or withstand this catastrophe," Anub'arak said.

"Yes, my brothers. This time, I will enter the Weaving Realm to seek answers. I hope the World's Veil can give a complete answer. Anub'arak, my brother, from this moment on, you are the new king of the Azjol-Nerub Kingdom. May you protect our people until I return."

"I will, my brother. I will faithfully fulfill the duty you have entrusted to me," Anub'arak said. "I will fight for the insect people to my last drop of blood."