Only after finally confirming that he was no longer trapped in a nightmare did Aaron struggle to sit up and ask Steven what exactly had happened after he passed out.
From Stephen's explanation, Aaron learned that he had actually been unconscious for three days. During that time, even Steven had woken up.
When Nathanos saw that something was wrong with Aaron, he had acted decisively and knocked him out. But no one had expected Aaron to keep hold of that strange dagger even then, continuously pouring Holy Light into it instead. Even more unexpectedly, this process had lasted three whole days.
As for the Faceless One that the Shadow Priest had transformed into, it had already turned to ash and scattered on the wind before Aaron passed out. The other small-fry Shadow Priests Nathanos and Vereesa had dealt with were also confirmed dead. In short, this utterly pathetic bunch of shadow spellcasters had all bitten the dust.
Compared to those Shadow Priests, Aaron's condition was more worrying. After all, he had kept a tight grip on that strange dagger, and the Holy Light within him had remained constantly active. No matter how they looked at it, something was wrong.
Had Aaron's physical condition not remained stable throughout, Vereesa would probably have asked Stephen to take her to Lordaeron or Holy Light's Hope to find a Priest or Paladin well versed in the Holy Light to come examine him.
After Aaron managed to drink a bowl of porridge, Steven eagerly expressed his admiration. According to him, even in the Order of the Silver Hand, very few people could wield the Holy Light continuously the way Aaron had.
Steven also rather secretively asked whether Aaron was concealing his name while carrying out some special mission. Aaron could only laugh it off and dodge the question. Only when Nathanos drove Steven out on the grounds that Aaron needed rest did Aaron finally get a little peace.
"Just where did you come from?" Aaron opened the book within his consciousness and murmured as he looked at the Protection Paladin skills displayed inside.
From his earlier experiment, Aaron could smoothly direct the Holy Light within him again, even far more smoothly than before. Yet the earlier loss of control over it still left him shaken.
Although this behind-the-scenes being had shown Aaron no ill will so far, and was even protecting him, being unable to control or understand the situation still left him somewhat at a loss. A faint worry lingered in his heart: What if the Holy Light stops obeying me completely one day, or even tries to erase my consciousness? What would I do then?
It was hardly persecution paranoia for Aaron to think this way. In the game, the Naaru Xe'ra, known as the Mother of Holy Light, had once tried to forcibly convert the power within Illidan into Holy Light. Although that mumbo-jumbo-spouting tangram had failed to transform Illidan completely and was later simply blasted apart by one of his Eye Beams, that did not stop Aaron from becoming wary of the power known as the Holy Light.
Especially since, without the power of the Holy Light, Aaron was currently nothing more than a physically inept good-for-nothing. If the Holy Light within him ran wild, he would have no power to resist. He could hardly afford not to be cautious.
Although Aaron had entertained the somewhat defeatist idea that, since he could not resist, he might as well enjoy it, the knot in his heart remained despite knowing he was powerless to fight back. Until he figured out just what the being that had given him the power of the Holy Light was planning, he would never feel at ease.
"Maybe you know something? Hey, Xal'atath, stop playing dead. Say something." Muttering, Aaron looked down at the dagger clenched in his hand, only to see something that stunned him: Xal'atath, the dagger supposedly forged from the limb of an Old God... had broken.
"What the hell is this thing?" Aaron raised the dagger, now nothing but a hilt, before his eyes and examined it closely. He discovered that the weapon, once brimming with shadow power, had changed completely.
The blade at the front of the dagger had long since vanished. Aaron looked over the bed but saw no fragments, leaving him unsure whether they had disappeared outright or been lost outside. Meanwhile, the remaining hilt had changed from its obviously sinister black and purple to gold and white. It felt warm and familiar in his hand, with none of the feeling the Blade of the Black Empire had given him before.
Aaron did know how the Ashbringer had been forged. First, a group of Paladins had worked together to pour Holy Light into a fragment of some unnamed Naaru's corpse, producing a highly pure Holy Light crystal. Then Magni, Azeroth's finest mortal blacksmith, had forged that legendary artifact while grieving for his brother, who had died at the hands of the Scourge.
But Aaron had never imagined that even an Old God's corpse could undergo such a transformation. Taking that line of thought a little further, could the three still-living Old Gods be infused into Holy Light Old Gods someday?
"But how did it break?" Aaron examined the dagger, now reduced to its hilt and semicircular guard, over and over. Looking at the spikes on the guard, he made a few gestures and muttered, "Do I use it as brass knuckles from now on? Does that mean I should find some way to get Old Chen to teach me a few drunken boxing moves?"
When it came to weapons like brass knuckles, Pandaren Monks were certainly the experts. Thinking he should not let it go to waste, Aaron considered whether he should simply find a Monk and learn some hand-to-hand combat, lest he lose the power of the Holy Light someday and become a complete and utter loser.
As far as Aaron knew, although Pandaria was still shrouded in mist at this time, not all Pandaren lived there. Some lived on the back of the giant turtle Shen-zin Su. These Pandaren, represented by Chen Stormstout, could not return to their homeland because of the mists either, so they had been riding Shen-zin Su around the world in search of Pandaria. If Aaron wanted to find Old Chen and learn some boxing, it would depend on whether fate brought him together with these Pandaren.
"Come on, let's see whether you have any affinity with the Holy Light." Muttering, Aaron began directing the Holy Light within him into the dagger hilt, which would probably only serve as brass knuckles from now on.
After waking this time, Aaron had discovered that he could use the Holy Light more flexibly, without having to confine himself to skills. Although he was still somewhat unpracticed at simply directing the Holy Light like this, he could now do it successfully.
"Wait, you..." The moment Aaron poured Holy Light into the dagger, he felt that familiar loss of control. Fortunately, the sensation passed in an instant, and the Holy Light within him stopped flowing. The hilt in his hand, however, changed once again.
After receiving Aaron's infusion of Holy Light, the front of the hilt, where it joined the dagger's blade, began extending a slender blade of Holy Light. It only stopped growing after reaching over half a meter in length. Even after Aaron stopped pouring in power, the translucent blade formed purely of Holy Light did not dissipate, instead gradually stabilizing.
"Now that's interesting." Aaron struggled to get out of bed and tried swinging the slender Holy Light rapier a few times. Its blade was long and narrow, sharpened on both sides, with a slender, needle-like point, and it felt light in his hand. After a few swings, Aaron found it remarkably easy to handle. He even had the illusion that he and the sword were one.
"Aaron, why are you up?" Just as Aaron was swinging the sword and striking the various fencing poses he had seen before transmigrating, he suddenly heard Vereesa's voice.
"I felt much better, so I got up to move around a little." With Vereesa half supporting and half forcing him, Aaron lay back down on the bed and explained with an awkward laugh.
"You still need to rest properly." Only after seeing Aaron settled in bed did Vereesa smile in satisfaction. Then, naturally, she noticed the rapier in his hand.
After Aaron gave a half-true account of how he had used the Holy Light to destroy the soul residing in this evil weapon and reforged it in the process, some suspicion remained in Vereesa's eyes. Still, she asked no further questions and merely told Aaron to rest properly.
Two days later, after confirming that there was nothing wrong with Aaron's health, the two said goodbye to Nathanos and continued toward Quel'Thalas along the main road connecting Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas.