[Monster Compendium: Firelord activated] [Your Fire spells are 10% more effective] [Your teaching materials +1] [Your brain development has increased by 1%] [You have learned Partial Elementalization-Fire Elemental]
Al looked at his ice-blue left hand and blazing-white right hand with satisfaction. When he clasped them together, they sizzled loudly, and steam billowed until it quickly swallowed the boy's figure.
Feeling his stamina drain away, Al let out a long sigh.
"A skill this cool burns stamina? I haven't even eaten a Devil Fruit. Isn't Arcane power better? Isn't mana better? Forget it. I'll just squeeze more out of Salorian when I get back to Quel'Thalas."
Salorian Dawnseeker: Read more books, read more newspapers, eat fewer snacks, sleep more, and your stamina will naturally improve.
"Akainu is badly wounded, Aokiji has minor injuries, and my clothes are just a little dirty..."
Al hummed a nonsense rhyme as he flew through the sky.
"Nablya said the secrets of the Titans were in Fire Plume Ridge, but I've flown around the whole place ten times and still haven't found the slightest trace of any ruins..."
The boy hovered in midair, feeling a little tired-not physically, but mentally. Anyone who worked diligently at something for a long time without getting results would grow restless. Al was no different.
"Wait, I'm such an idiot."
The boy slapped his forehead, and a deep blue glint flashed in his pupils.
[Hyperthymesia] activated!
"Not here, not here. The Fire Elementals here are a little strange. Well, maybe I'm just overthinking it."
Al rubbed his smooth hair irritably. Under the effects of Hyperthymesia, memories were gradually being dredged up in his mind, and a 3D model of Fire Plume Ridge slowly took shape.
Time passed slowly. Just as the boy was about to give up, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he seemed to realize something.
"Of course. The hardest things to find are right under your nose. That damn Firelord really set me up..."
Al was annoyed, but there was a hint of delight in his voice as he quickly flew toward the mountaintop.
A certain Firelord who wished to remain anonymous: How is that my fault?
Deep-red lava bubbled, while winding black lines floated across the "lake" radiating incredible heat. They were volcanic ash left behind by the last eruption.
Al eyed the lava below him, hesitating.
"Forget it, I'll treat it like a bath. Too bad there's no one here to scrub my back. Otherwise, I'd have another chance to make some dirt dumplings..."
Al gave a self-deprecating smile and began chanting a lengthy spell.
Supermagic Technique: [Trinity Shield] activated.
A blazing-white shield of fire formed the outermost layer, with an Arcane shield radiating a purple glow in the middle and a thick, ice-blue Ice Barrier on the innermost layer. The three in one-Al named the spell Trinity Shield.
With a powerful dive, the boy plunged into the lava. Like a nimble fish, he swam through the lake, soon nearing the bottom.
"How is that possible? This makes no sense!"
As time passed, Al grew increasingly anxious. Even though he kept replenishing the shield, the outermost fire shield grew thinner and thinner, until it finally disappeared.
The pale-purple Arcane shield was now exposed to the lava. Bubbles rose in great numbers from the shield and floated toward the surface.
A moment later, the Arcane shield was depleted too, leaving only the innermost Protection from Ice.
Looking at his rapidly melting Ice Barrier, Al gritted his teeth and prepared to use Teleport.
Just then, a small patch of shadow on the lakebed caught his eye.
"Wait, is that... a socket?"
Al cast Blink and appeared beside the patch of shadow.
"What a cryptic bastard. You even left me a lock with a password..."
Staring at the circular indentation on the lakebed, its color clearly different from its surroundings, Al scratched his head helplessly.
"Why does this shape seem familiar? Forget it. I'll try it and see. Go, Pikachu."
Al seemed to have thought of something. He pulled the Lesser Titan-forged Core he had pried off the Stone Guardian from his spatial bag.
His right arm grew scorching hot, and in an instant, he completed Partial Elementalization. Without worrying whether the core might melt, Al thrust his elementalized right hand through the shield in a blur and shoved the golden-glowing core into the socket.
The circular socket was filled instantly. Just as the Ice Barrier was about to end, a white teleportation circle appeared beneath Al's feet. The boy's expression froze in place, and then he vanished in an instant.
After shaking the lava clinging to his shield, Al looked around in bewilderment.
He was in a sealed chamber. A giant bronze-colored face was carved into the ceiling.
Al studied the face closely but couldn't make out anything about it. Neither in his previous life's game nor in this life had he ever seen a figure like this.
"Looks a little like a Vrykul, but something feels off. Could this be another Titan-forged creation, or... is he a Titan himself?"
The more Al thought about it, the more alarmed he became. So he gave up trying to figure it out and continued forward.
The chamber was small. After walking for less than a few minutes, he reached the end.
When he saw the huge furnace and the Stone Guardians lined up neatly in the corner, Al stumbled and nearly fell over.
Carefully, he crept up to the Stone Guardian at the front and gingerly tapped its shoulder.
A moment later, the boy let out a long breath and began to examine the scene before him.
"These Stone Guardians... don't seem to have any Creation Cores?"
Al scrutinized the Stone Guardian's empty chest and fell into thought. Then he walked toward the structure in the distance that looked like a furnace.
"It's gone out? That makes sense, considering Nablya said Khaz'goroth left Azeroth over thirty thousand years ago..."
"The answer is already clear. So this is a workshop where the Titans made lesser guardians."
Al could hardly hide his shock. Since arriving at the proving grounds and meeting Nablya, this was the thing he had found most unbelievable.
Looking up at the bronze-colored giant face with its eyes shut, Al smiled bitterly.
"You're Khaz'goroth, aren't you? This has become quite the entanglement. Is it still in time for me to run away?"
Al rubbed the complex machinery in the workshop, his thoughts in turmoil.
He didn't know whether fate truly existed, but ever since the boy had set foot on this wild land, an invisible hand had begun to guide him.
"Nablya, you've really given me a problem..."
Al sighed and sat down on the ground. He didn't mind the dirt; he simply stared without blinking at the giant face on the ceiling.
"Khaz'goroth, you're already dead. Can't you just rest in peace?"
Al raised his middle finger.
"Hey, you wanna pick a fight with me? Pah, shameless."
The boy sat on the ground, now pulling a long face, now grinning, acting out a one-man show.
After a long while, he began counting on his fingers, muttering something unintelligible.
"Trolls... the arcane addiction... Medivh... Ner'zhul..."
Al murmured something in a voice only he could hear, his words muddled and unclear.
"Damn it, even when you play Red Alert against eight terrifying enemies, you can still use superweapons. Azeroth has way more than eight enemies. It's practically on Hell difficulty..."
With a groan, Al sat up.
He wiped his face and finally accepted reality. In this perilous world, going with the flow and running from reality wouldn't get him anywhere. He would have to rely on himself.
"Fine, I'll show you all that an old dog still has a few teeth!
Huh? Who said that line again? Something about it doesn't seem right..."
P.S. I finally got this typed up before midnight. I worked overtime all day, and working overtime on a Sunday is downright insane.
One more thing: the Un'Goro Crater storyline is almost over, and it'll take no more than five chapters (if it does, pretend I never said that). The next storyline should be the kind of thing you readers enjoy.
There are still plenty of stories to tell in Un'Goro Crater, like the portal that can transport you to Sholazar Basin. That's a bit of foreshadowing; I'll explain it later.
There's also the questline for Link, who has lost his memory, and Dandaga, the Kodo Beast that only eats Bloodpetal. These are all pretty classic quests, and some are very touching.
For example, Dandaga, who only eats Bloodpetal. After the Cataclysm, this goofy Kodo Beast didn't survive the disaster and now sleeps forever at Marshal's Refuge.
Her gravestone reads: "No need to bring flowers. Just bring some Bloodpetal Sprouts."
These ordinary NPCs might not draw much attention from players as they pass by. But after time has changed everything and we set foot on this familiar land once again, we can no longer see those familiar faces. All that remains is a gravestone strewn with Bloodpetal.
I don't know if these little details that reveal a hint of sadness can affect anyone else, but they really move the author. Maybe that's the charm of Azeroth. (Blizzard is just a garbage game company. What do they know about Warcraft?)
The reason I'm not writing these stories isn't because I want to respect the original and avoid getting stabbed in the back. It's because if I presented every one of these stories to you readers, this book probably wouldn't be finished even after ten million words. It would be bloated, far too sprawling, and it wouldn't be fan fiction anymore-it would become some kind of alternative chronicle.
This is the author's first time writing, and I'm incredibly honored to have earned all your support. I don't know what kind of plot you readers like best: battles, adventures, or these heartwarming little stories. I'm not sure, so if there's a plot you'd like to see, leave a comment in the reviews. I can add some of them at my discretion, as long as they don't interfere with the main storyline.
I've rambled on for so long, not because I'm trying to pad the word count, but because I want to see how readers respond. After all, writing to an empty room can be pretty painful.
Finally, while the new book is being recommended, I'm begging you readers to give it some recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.
Many thanks~