It would certainly have been a lie to say Xiao'en had no interest at all in Sylvanas, with her exquisite beauty and alluring, slender figure.
He even imagined attracting this beauty's attention through his outstanding performance in battle against the Trolls.
Although she was only a ranger of common birth, given Sylvanas's position as the next Ranger-General, a marriage alliance with her would greatly benefit his family.
Though these noble families from Silvermoon City lacked common sense in certain areas, their children were taught political awareness from an early age.
The Windrunner family had held the position of Ranger-General for generations, commanding most of the high elves' ranger forces. Any family that won them over would undoubtedly gain a powerful ally.
Xiao'en was already imagining how winning over the Windrunner family would greatly increase his say within his own family, making him the heir, letting him marry a rich beauty, and taking him to the pinnacle of life. Just thinking about it made him a little excited.
Had Sylvanas known his naive thoughts, she would probably have spat at him in disdain. But since this mage from the Morningstrider family had readily agreed, she had no intention of probing his thoughts.
After the meeting ended, Sylvanas took Skarren out first to arrange work throughout the camp, and Charlemagne took the opportunity to ask Yawen for advice on a few technical matters.
"I see. So you've already reached this point? It looks like you're not far from advancing."
Yawen smiled with gratification after hearing Charlemagne's questions.
This time, Charlemagne's questions concerned controlling his focus. Lately, he had felt that his total focus seemed to be showing signs of a breakthrough, and the changes in his focus had made the techniques he was already familiar with feel somewhat awkward.
"Since your focus is still growing rapidly, don't worry about changing your technique for now. Just act as though these changes don't exist, and consider changing your damage rotation after you've fully broken through."
After all, they were still on the front lines, with little time for Charlemagne to experiment leisurely with changes to his damage rotation. Waiting until his focus stabilized after his breakthrough before considering it was a sound approach.
"All right, Uncle Yawen. Thank you for your guidance."
Yawen patted Charlemagne's shoulder with a gratified smile. "No need to thank me. Once the second young lady breaks through to advanced rank too, it'll be about time for me to retire. The faster you youngsters improve, the more at ease I'll feel."
The high elves now seemed to have entered another era of burgeoning talent. Prince Kael'thas had already reached the seventh circle and was reportedly not far from the eighth.
Charlemagne and Alleria were both on the verge of breaking through to advanced rank, while the young Liadrin had already reached the upper level of intermediate rank. Others, such as Lor'themar and Vereesa, were also exceptionally talented.
Yet as this crop of rising talents emerged, the experienced Yawen also sensed the approach of a storm.
The last time so many rising stars appeared was during the Troll Wars, wasn't it? I hope things won't turn out as I fear...
As Farstriders Camp gradually settled down, a new round of fighting had already begun on Lireesa's main front.
Although they could not see the battlefield near the Sanctum of the Sun for themselves, according to the scouts delivering reports, Lireesa's main force seemed to have gained something of an advantage.
However, the elves' persistent lack of frontline troops made it difficult to turn an advantage into a decisive victory.
After temporarily driving the Trolls back, Lireesa dared not pursue too far without vanguard troops. If they were ambushed in the dense forest, the consequences would be unthinkable for the high elves, whose forces consisted entirely of ranged troops.
The Amani Trolls were also experts at forest warfare. In the war ten years earlier, the previous Ranger-General had underestimated the enemy and fallen into an ambush, leaving the rangers so badly depleted that they had yet to recover fully even now.
From the scouts' reports, Charlemagne learned who was leading the Trolls on the main battlefield.
"Nalorakk..."
If he remembered correctly, this Troll was apparently a follower of the Spirit of the Great Bear. However, it seemed he had not yet usurped the power of the nature spirit and was merely an ordinary advanced-rank Warrior.
The Troll commander near Farstriders Camp had also been identified: an advanced-rank Troll Warrior named Halazzi, who worshipped the lynx spirit.
On the third day after fighting began on the main front, the Trolls outside Farstriders Camp once again launched a probing attack against the high elves.
Sylvanas had to remain in camp to command, so the task of meeting the enemy was given to Yawen and Charlemagne.
Liadrin's group of Priests and the mages led by Xiao'en also formed up behind the rangers.
Under Halazzi's direction, more than eighty Trolls split into two wings to attack both sides of the camp.
"Charlemagne, the left is yours. There aren't many Trolls, so they shouldn't be able to inflict too many casualties on us, but watch out for the few headhunters among them."
Since the enemy had divided its forces, the defending high elves could only respond accordingly.
Yawen put Charlemagne in charge of the left flank, with more than fifty rangers and three mages, while he defended the right flank with the same number of rangers and the other two mages. Liadrin's Priests stayed slightly farther back, ready to heal the wounded at any time.
"Leave it to me. But Uncle Yawen, shouldn't you have another mage assigned to your side?"
Yawen drew the longbow from his back and smiled confidently.
"Haha, you don't need to worry about these old bones. Go on! Don't let the Trolls break through."
As he spoke, he nocked an arrow and began aiming at the steadily approaching Trolls. Seeing Yawen prepare for battle, Charlemagne hurried to the left flank and deployed his formation.
"Eight hundred meters! Rangers, prepare for arcing fire! Mages, ready your spells!"
As the Trolls before them gradually picked up speed, Charlemagne also drew his longbow and began aiming, shouting orders to the rangers and mages behind him.
"Tch... Having to take orders from this peasant is so irritating..."
Needless to say, the disgruntled mage was Xiao'en, who had been assigned to Charlemagne's side. Still, he at least knew what took priority and immediately began giving orders to the two mages under him.
"Prepare Blizzard! Target the Trolls in front and begin casting once they're within five hundred meters!"
As the Trolls approached, the rangers fired their first volley on Charlemagne's orders. Well trained, they did not stop to check the results, instead drawing a second arrow from their backs and beginning to fire at will.
However, aside from a few unlucky Trolls in front who were struck in vital spots, most of the thick-skinned Trolls raised crude wooden shields to block the arrows and continued forward under the orders of a relatively large squad leader.
"Five hundred meters! Direct fire! Mages, begin casting!"
Xiao'en, who had long since run out of patience, immediately led the two mages in activating the magical circuits throughout their bodies and began casting.
"Hehe, Trolls, feel the power of magic! Blizzard!"
Thanks to reader Lingren for the tip and support.
(End of chapter)