At the end of January 21, the year of the Dark Portal, the weather was still cold, but even colder came the threat from the Scourge.
Dalaran been Devastation for nearly four months. The combined forces of humans and Dwarves have besieged the Scourge in Gilneas and Deatholme. The Order of the Silver Hand, led by Uther the Lightbringer, have been wiping out the Undead in Hillsbrad Foothills and recaptured Southshore two months ago.
The Alliance forces have deployed troops in this town, but the refugees dare not return. In the past two months, the Scourge has attacked the town more than 10 times. Crypt Fiend emerge from the depths of the earth, Gargoyle and even Frost Wyrm fly over mountains and oceans, and often, eerie warships bring large numbers of Undead.
Although the allied forces repelled attack after attack, no one wanted to live here under such a threat, except for some merchants and adventurers who were willing to take risks for profit.
Because of Earl Nicholas's proposal a few months ago, various human nations have been offering large sums of money to recruit adventurers. Any adventurer can exchange gold and silver coins, even standard military supplies, and more expensive magical items by killing demons or Undead.
A skeleton costs 1 silver coin, a zombie costs 5 silver coins, a Ghoul 1 gold coin, and an Abomination 10 gold coins...
If you have the ability to deal with the Gargoyle or Frost Wyrm in the sky, then you're set for life, because you can use them to exchange for magical items!
As for those elites with names and titles, or even BOSS-level Undead, the prices are even higher. Various countries have directly issued bounty notices with clearly marked prices, such as Death Knight Thassarian, Grand Widow Faerlina, and Noth the Plaguebringer.
Each name on the bounty list represents a large amount of gold coins, precious magical items, and titles or ranks from a country or organization.
The bounty on Arthas is number one.
If you are able to kill him and bring back his head and Frostmourne, you will not only receive a bonus of up to 100,000 gold coins, a complete set of epic magical items from the Sunstrider's Vault and the Dalaran Vault, but you will also receive the title of Marquis of Lordaeron, and a small town in Hillsbrad Foothills, the Eastern and Western Plaguelands, or Tirisfal Glades as your territory!
The irresistible allure attracted countless adventurers. Even from the southern Kingdom of Stormwind, many adventurers and mercenaries came here. Some veterans and knights who had been retired for many years, as well as some fallen nobles, also recruited warriors and formed one adventure team and mercenary group after another to come to the Lordaeron.
To date, more than ten adventurers have received the title of "Knight," several have become "Knights," and one has even been personally conferred a title by Queen Calia, arriving at an abandoned farm in northern Tirisfal Glades with a chest of gold coins and the title of "Baron," which has become his fiefdom!
All of this inspires and intensifies the adventurers who live on the edge.
This world has many fearless warriors, and many poor people who are hungry and cold but willing to fight to the death!
The adventurers discovered upon arriving that it wasn't as dangerous as they had imagined.
Large-scale Undead are naturally countered by the allied forces; adventurers simply need to follow behind and pick off the stragglers. Smaller groups of Undead can be hunted in teams, and as for individual Undead scattered throughout the land, many adventurers can hunt them down on their own!
The Undead are not as scary as you might imagine.
As long as you avoid those terrifying Abomination, Ghoul, or Crypt Fiend Gargoyle gargoyles, ordinary skeletons or zombies are actually quite easy to deal with. Buy a small bottle of holy water for one silver coin from Priest or Paladin, and you can kill a skeleton with a good aim; two or three bottles will kill a zombie. If you pour it on your weapon, you can kill even more!
Even if you accidentally get injured, just pour holy water on the wound, bear with the pain, and you'll be fine. After bandaging it, you'll be a hero again.
The treasures from the Sunstrider's Treasury gave the leaders of various nations ample confidence.
The fight against the Undead is in full swing, and at the current rate, it may continue for another three to five years, or even longer. (Southshore Inn)
Since the Allied Forces recaptured and occupied Southshore, it has become the adventurer center of the entire Hillsbrad Foothills. The Southshore Inn, which was not very big before, has now expanded five times in size, even larger than the town hall, and can accommodate hundreds of adventurers at the same time.
Humans, Dwarves, and even a few Gnomes and Goblin were present. The small inn was filled with guests from all over the world. Even Don Quixote, who saw the business opportunity, brought his newly established " Wind and Moon Faire " here, providing different shows for adventurers every day. These guys who lived on the edge of death were very generous when it came to spending money, without feeling any pain at all.
During this period, the money earned by the " Wind and Moon Faire " has reportedly made the " Darkmoon Faire " envious.
While watching the performance, the adventurers discussed their day's gains, the current battle situation, or other random things.
Today is a little special.
Two messages have reached here from faraway Lordaeron.
"Have you heard? Old Mograine is really something now, a Legendary Paladin!" A human adventurer in tattered armor picked up a cup of cheap barley wine, downed it in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and said mysteriously.
" Jack, you just found out? Hehe, actually I heard the news yesterday. Old Mograine became Legendary Paladin a week ago. They say that night, the entire Tirisfal Monastery was illuminated by Holy Light, and even Hearthglen could see pillars of light reaching the sky!" A small vendor ordered a glass of rum, then raised it to the others. "I just Dalaran!"
" Dalaran? I heard they've already started rebuilding there? Tsk tsk, those mages are really generous. Carlos, you've made a fortune! Don't forget about us when you become a big businessman!" Someone said enviously, with a hint of sourness in their voice.
"Alright, coward Marin! I'll only earn a few gold coins on this trip. You're a recognized low-level Warrior by the Alliance. If you really risk it, you can easily earn more by killing a few Undead than I do!" Carlos took the rum from the waiter, took a sip, muttered under his breath, "It's watered down again," and then shook his head, saying, "I also brought some other news: Young Mograine has passed the internal test and become a High-Ranking Paladin. I heard he's already the designated next Highlord of Tirisfal Monastery!"
" Young Mograine? You mean Renault? I heard Old Mograine treated him terribly, yet he became High-Ranking Paladin? Is that true?" someone else questioned.
"Amazing! Their family is amazing!" Jack chuckled, then suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Have you heard about the bet between Earl Nicholas and Old Mograine?"
"A bet? Jack, you're out of touch! We already knew about this!" Marin, seemingly determined to prove he wasn't cowardly at all, shouted, "What do you know! Let me tell you, very few people knew about this bet before; it was only circulated within the Order of the Silver Hand. Old Mograine strictly forbade it from being revealed! Now it's suddenly out in the open, making it seem like the whole world knows. Someone must have deliberately spread it!"
"Who spread it?" Jack, who had been drinking, slammed his fist on the table and shouted, not to be outdone.
"Heh heh! Who else could it be!" Marin sneered. "Besides that guy Renault, who else could it be!"
Renault!
The eldest son of House Mograine, the first in line to inherit that ancient family!
Actually, everyone's smart enough to understand. Once this news broke, coupled with the fact that Old Mograine had advanced to Legendary and Renault had become High-Ranking Paladin, anyone with a discerning eye could see what was going on.
It's definitely Renault!
He always felt he was better than his brother Darion, but Old Mograine doted on his brother, which would upset anyone.
Now his younger brother has gone to Kalimdor, his fate unknown, while he has become a high-ranking Druid. Clearly, he is the future of the Mograine family, and he has finally achieved some success. Moreover, the Old Mograine has recently been valuing him more, so he is no longer as cautious as before and has become bolder.
Actually, this is nothing; it's just sending people to spread rumors and stir up some public opinion, all to create momentum for themselves.
Everyone knows that after the Allied Forces recaptured Southshore, Lord Uther the Lightbringer was summoned back to Lordaeron by Queen Calia, and now the one representing the Order of the Silver Hand in Southshore is Renault, who was strongly recommended by Old Mograine.
He's just a newly High-Ranking Paladin; his status and prestige aren't high enough yet. It's normal for him to use his brother, whose fate is unknown, to gain momentum. Everyone understands this, so there's nothing more to say.
So everyone just smiled and didn't say anything about what Marin said.
The merchant Carlos shook his head, glanced at a person in a corner not far away, and felt something was off.
The man was wearing tattered armor, but he didn't even have a weapon; he only had a pair of decent-looking gauntlets, which he had taken off and placed aside.
He arrived here half an hour ago, ordered a glass of rum, and has been hiding in the innermost, darkest corner ever since, but the rum hasn't been touched.
If you don't want to drink, what are you doing here?
Seeing that no one cared about what he was saying, Marin got excited and raised his voice, shouting that Renault was being unfair.
It's fine to want to promote yourself, but why step on your own younger brother?
And he even trampled on the respected Earl Nicholas; his character is terrible!
Bang!
Suddenly, the inn door was kicked open, Eviscerate cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed towards them. Everyone turned to look, then immediately fell silent.
Because the visitor was a Paladin!
The Paladin's sharp gaze fixed on Marin, Marin immediately shrank back, all the effects of the alcohol gone, his legs trembling.
"Dare to slander Lord Renault behind his back? I think you're courting death!" In the next moment, the Paladin rushed in front of Marin, and his knee, encased in heavy steel armor, slammed into Marin, sending Marin flying!
Poor Marin fell to the ground, smashing a table and two chairs. He clutched his stomach, enduring the pain, with beads of sweat on his face, but he didn't utter a sound!
"Hmph! Lord Renault has been in office for two months and has personally killed over five hundred Undead! That includes five Crypt Fiend, seven Ghoul, and two Abomination! He's already a knight of the kingdom and will soon be made a baron! Darion? What is he? A minor! His six-month term is almost up, and Darion has only killed a few Undead?"
The Paladin strode forward, staring at Marin, his voice icy. "If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know respect! I won't kill you, but I'll at least leave you with a mark you'll never forget!"
The next moment, he swung his greatsword and slashed at Marin's right arm!
Merchant Carlos felt a pang of reluctance, thinking it was wrong, but even though he had only just arrived in Southshore, he had heard that Renault was extremely domineering and extreme, and that several people who had offended him had already been punished, so it was best to remain silent.
He thought no one would speak, but suddenly he saw a hand.
A hand suddenly rose, flashing past in a blur, and gripped the downward-pointing sword blade tightly. The steel-like arm remained motionless, not a drop of blood fell. Could a mortal body actually withstand the finely forged steel greatsword crafted by Dwarves artisan?
How could that be!
"To sever someone's arm over a single sentence? Have the Paladin of today forgotten the Silver Hand's code?" The owner of the hand raised his head, revealing a young yet weathered face. "Or are you an exception?"