After resting at the inn for a while, Vereesa, who was visiting Dalaran for the first time, suggested that Rhonin show the two of them around the city.
With Rhonin as their guide, Aaron and Vereesa had a good look around this city of magic. Here, Aaron truly experienced the atmosphere of another world.
While they wandered through the city, however, Aaron's gaze lingered more often on the passersby, as though he were searching for something.
Vereesa soon noticed his unusual behavior and asked curiously, "Aaron, are you looking for something?"
Rhonin, beside them, was a little puzzled too. Judging by Aaron's behavior, this fellow really was visiting Dalaran for the first time, yet in certain strange respects, he displayed a familiarity that even Rhonin found surprising.
"Yes, I'm looking for... two people, I suppose." Aaron hesitated before saying, "One is a High Elf with three big fireballs circling his head. The other is a little blonde girl, about thirteen or fourteen."
The two people Aaron meant were Kael'thas and Jaina, both figures who would become famous in the future. For now, however, their fame came more from their status than from their own accomplishments.
"Those two don't seem to have much in common, do they? As for the three big fireballs, I do know where that High Elf Archmage is. But a little blonde girl is a rather broad description, even with the age included," Rhonin muttered.
"Well, their names are Kael'thas and Jaina." Aaron simply stated who he was looking for, then explained, "I've heard their names elsewhere before, so I thought I might run into them here or something. Haha, perhaps I was getting ahead of myself."
"We should have just seen Prince Kael'thas, shouldn't we? As for that fourteen-year-old girl, is she a friend of yours, Aaron?" Vereesa turned her gaze toward Aaron, with a hint of scrutiny that left him somewhat at a loss.
It seemed Vereesa had also noticed that Kael'thas was among the Council of Six. After all, back in the Chamber of the Sky, his distinguishing features had been the most obvious of the six.
"Well, I'm hardly qualified to be Jaina's friend. She's the daughter of the Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras. Her social circle should be the upper classes of the seven kingdoms." Aaron shook his head in denial.
Jaina was still an innocent little girl at this point. That scumbag Arthas probably hadn't even taken her first blood and then heartlessly broken up with her right afterward yet.
"Oh?" An unusual gleam flashed through Vereesa's eyes. Aaron vaguely felt that she might have filled in a great many words in her head, but since she hadn't said anything, he had no way to explain. He could only urge Rhonin to lead them to the next sight worth visiting.
There were few pedestrians coming and going in Dalaran. After all, although there were probably several thousand mages, even counting those who served them, the city still seemed very empty.
Because there were so many mages here, however, magical creations of all kinds were widespread throughout the city, giving Dalaran's residents a far more convenient standard of living than those in other cities.
As he walked through the city, Aaron also saw many wondrous sights unique to it: mages struck by their companions' Polymorph spells, occasional explosions caused by failed magical experiments, and experimental creations of necromancy... Something that didn't belong seemed to have slipped in there.
After taking them around the city, Rhonin brought the two of them to a fountain.
Fountains were hardly rare in Dalaran. There was practically one every few meters, mainly to supply residents with water for daily use. Some pools even had a few pretty little fish to adorn them.
Ordinary fountains also had someone guarding them to prevent people from throwing dirty things inside and to clear away fallen leaves, dust, and the like that landed in the pools.
The fountain before the three of them now seemed rather different, however. From a distance, Aaron could see that although there were guards around it, people would occasionally approach the pool and toss something inside, and the guards paid them no mind.
Even from far away, Aaron could make out faint glimmers at the bottom of the pool. Once they drew closer, he could see the assorted gold and silver coins piled there.
"This is..." Aaron knew at a glance what this place was. The sight made his hands itch a little, and he wanted to get a fishing rod and cast a hook into it, even though there were no fish in the pool at all.
Rhonin pointed at the fountain before them and said, "All right, you two, welcome to Dalaran's famous Wishing Well. Although it isn't particularly effective, making a wish here is still quite fun."
"So it really is the Wishing Well?" Aaron's eyes lit up again. He had spent a long time fishing for wishing coins here while doing the fishing artifact quest in the game. "Rhonin, is there anywhere nearby that sells fishing rods?"
"Yes, people often go fishing in Lake Lordamere. But what do you want a fishing rod for right now? Wait, don't tell me you're..." Rhonin seemed to guess what Aaron was thinking and hurriedly stopped him, though Aaron seemed inexplicably excited.
Although Rhonin had stopped him from acting, Aaron continued, "Rhonin, don't you want to know what wishes other people have made here? Don't you want to know?"
"I don't want to know in the slightest. Aaron, calm down."
"Fine, I'll calm down." Aaron let out a breath. It wasn't that he had truly abandoned the idea of fishing for coins here. Rather, it had suddenly occurred to him that, at this point in time, many of the people he knew probably hadn't visited Dalaran yet. His plan to peek into certain people's secret thoughts once again would likely be impossible to carry out.
After confirming that Aaron wouldn't actually run off to buy a fishing rod and come back to fish for coins, Rhonin exchanged a few words with a guard, took two coins from him, and passed them to the pair.
Aaron reached out to take his coin and examined it. It was neither gold nor silver. He weighed it in his hand, then began thinking about how to record his wish on the wishing coin.
Rhonin exchanged a couple more words with the guard and took a pen from him. He told the two of them, "The ink in this pen is specially made. It can write on coins, and it won't wash off even when soaked in water. Of course, you can also carve your wishes into the coins with a small knife."
"Oh, all right. I'll use the pen." Aaron took it, thought for a moment, scribbled a few lines on the coin, and casually tossed it into the fountain.
"That fast? What did you write?" Vereesa was still hesitating over what to write, and seeing Aaron finish so quickly clearly startled her a little.
"I wish for world peace," Aaron said solemnly. Heaven was his witness: that really was what he had written on the coin. After all, the world of Azeroth was far too lacking in peace.
"That's certainly a fitting wish for a Paladin." Rhonin shook his head without commenting further. Beside him, Vereesa finished writing her wish as well and tossed her coin into the fountain.
Just as the three of them were about to leave, Rhonin seemed to spot someone. The smile on his face stiffened for a moment, and he motioned for Aaron and Vereesa to make way for a mage passing by.
For a moment, Aaron was rather baffled. Although Dalaran's mages had a clear hierarchy, surely there was no need to wait at the roadside. Besides, the two of them weren't even from Dalaran. They hadn't been this deferential when they went to meet the Council of Six earlier.
"Master Kel'Thuzad." Rhonin bowed to the man.
At the name, Aaron felt his legs go weak. He hadn't expected this seemingly ordinary middle-aged mage before him to be the famous Kel'Thuzad.
He had only just wished for world peace, and a major figure who would seriously undermine that peace in the future had popped up. This Wishing Well was a little too effective.
Looking closely, he could see that Kel'Thuzad wore a very common Dalaran mage's robe. His hair was a tangled mess, clearly neglected, and his robe wasn't particularly clean either, bearing some very suspicious black stains. He also gave off a faint stench of decay.
At Rhonin's greeting, Kel'Thuzad merely nodded slightly before hurrying past with a contemplative expression, leaving the three of them watching his retreating figure with entirely different looks in their eyes.