At present, he was still far too weak. At tier one, he might not even be able to beat the private soldiers maintained by the Frank Family (even with Hearthstone minions to help him, the other side had plenty of tier-one private soldiers; nobles weren't so easy to kill). But Aige believed that, given enough time, this grudge would be like a dish set before him once he had built up enough strength, ready for him to devour whenever he wished...
He was like a stock with potential. Though he was still weak for now, his opponents had little room left to grow! He casually equipped the miner's pick, though he had no intention of learning mining. He was a cloth-wearing caster, after all. Couldn't he have a little professional pride? What kind of life was running around the world mining with a pick?
What he valued was that the thing had a little killing power. At least it was still useful, providing a slight boost to physical attacks. Since he had yet to find a proper staff of his own, it was better than being empty-handed. If an enemy got close before he could cast a spell, a jab with the pick might work wonders. Besides, it was nice to have something to bolster his courage!
Candles had a low drop rate, which was why Kobold Laborers often said when they joined a fight, "You no take candle!"
For Kobolds, who loved mining and had long lived in caves, candles were symbols of status. They wouldn't let one drop even in death... Wasn't that what it meant?
Even now, he still hadn't gathered all the candles needed for the quest. He had, however, unexpectedly gotten a few pieces of copper ore and more rough stones. Copper ore was a basic material for blacksmithing. It could be smelted into copper bars, which could then be forged into copper goods. It could also be smelted with tin bars into bronze, which could be used to make basic bronze swords and the like. On the Azeroth Continent, where iron goods were scarce, there was quite a market for them...
Back when Young Master Ai was a master rogue, he had leveled mining early on to make money. The copper ore he mined could be sold for a high price at the auction house. Other players leveling blacksmithing would generally buy it at a premium. It was a favorite of alts!
Well! He would hold on to it for now and ask about the going rate when he got back, to see whether this stuff was worth anything... Honestly, he wasn't very confident! The high auction-house prices were a bubble economy propped up entirely by players. Would that work on the Azeroth Continent?
Rough stone was one of the most basic materials for engineering. It was a byproduct of mining, produced in large quantities and not worth much. Selling it straight to a shop was even more of a waste! Like copper ore, it was sold to players for profit. He didn't know whether it was worth anything here.
Seeing that it would soon be dark, and that it really wouldn't be suitable for him to act any later, he had to hurry while there was still some evening light. At the very least, he had to finish this quest, or how could he rest easy?
This was a group of five Kobolds, making it quite a difficult fight! Young Master Ai stayed in the back row the whole time, going pew-pew with Frostbolt to cool down and slow the Kobolds. He was a professional at that now, while his three minions held the basic defensive line. The Northshire Priest mainly tanked the monsters. When things got too rough, he also put the human recruit on the front line to absorb damage. The principle was to preserve the wisp as much as possible. After all, the first two would disappear at six in the morning no matter what, while the wisp would remain...
When he had to consider how to maximize his gains, the calm and rational Aige made the optimal decision!
The result was much the same as he had expected. After clearing three more groups of five Kobolds, Comrade Recruit had gloriously laid down his life. The wisp hadn't taken much damage, and the Northshire Priest was at one-third health. That meant she had dropped from three-star health to a dangerous one star. If they kept fighting, she was practically guaranteed to die...
Fortunately, by then he had collected enough quest items from the corpses. A full twelve Kobold candles were more than enough to turn in the quest, with some left over...
As for loot, his net worth had risen by twenty copper coins (Kobolds were undoubtedly broke), bringing him to one silver and forty copper. His Arcane Dust had increased to twenty-two, and most regrettably and sadly of all, he had obtained a one-mana Priest card.
Mind Vision! This was a Priest spell card that had been quite good in the original game: randomly copy a card from your opponent's hand and put it into your hand.
This was a card that could steal a card from the opponent's hand. It looked like no gain at all, just a one-for-one exchange. But in fact, it also had the ability to scout information about the opponent's deck. Sometimes, from the card copied into your hand, you could infer something about how the opponent had built their deck. This was very useful to experts, and it took considerable experience over time to use the card well.
But as mentioned earlier, after the system merged with the laws of the Azeroth Continent, all special card-drawing abilities underwent major adjustments... and not good ones.
Mind Vision: summon a human recruit with one attack and one health for you!
Well! The recruit who had just kicked the bucket would be back tomorrow!
All right, all right! He had known he wasn't destined to be the protagonist! He would just have to bear it! Fortunately, the other loot gave him a little consolation.
Coarse cloth bracers, cloth armor that could slightly increase armor. He equipped them; they were better than nothing!
Some copper ore, some rough stones, and four pieces of linen cloth!
Uh... Though they looked like dogs, they were definitely humanoid monsters! After killing so many Kobolds, four pieces of linen cloth had dropped. He immediately made them into four linen bandages, gaining a few points of first aid experience...
The next step was crucial. "Priest, come over here and let me try something!"
She looked at him warily. "What is it? Do you want me to share your bed? I'm not that kind of woman..."
Damn it, you must be the kind who stops being human once she gets going! Of course, he didn't dare say it aloud and only grumbled inwardly.
Aige wiped the nearly invisible cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly explained, "I want to see if I can put a bandage on you!" Only then did she obediently come closer.
It worked! And the effect was pretty good. After about six seconds of applying a linen bandage, the Priest's health rose from one star to around one and a half stars. That meant one bandage of the lowest grade restored roughly half a star of health. It didn't look like much, but don't forget that bandages could be applied repeatedly, with only that one-minute restriction. In principle, he could bandage the same minion dozens or even hundreds of times. At that moment, Young Master Ai grew excited. His half-baked Lesser Heal was finally under less pressure.
Of course, he also noticed a problem. Although he had restored a little of the Priest's health and there had been healing, it hadn't triggered her special ability. In other words, no new recruit had been summoned!
That was to be expected. If one really had been summoned, that would have been heaven-defying! Apparently, the Hearthstone System only recognized healing effects caused by Hearthstone classes and spells... This was a very important restriction, but it was also perfectly reasonable! Otherwise, as long as the Northshire b*tch...
Oh, no! As long as the Northshire girl was there, they could casually find a few Priests from the continent to spam heals and have a whole bunch of recruits join them. What the hell would that be?
Although Aige currently had twenty-two Arcane Dust in his Book of Hearthstone, enough to craft a basic card himself, his understanding of the system was still incomplete, with many things unknown. To be cautious, and since he really hadn't reached a point where he had no other choice, he decided to save it for now. If he needed to craft a necessary card later and had no Arcane Dust, wouldn't that be tragic?
As he currently understood it, there was no downside to saving Arcane Dust. It could be exchanged directly for any card he wanted, without any restrictions, and even took effect instantly. The other way around, however, exchanging a card for Arcane Dust was a huge loss. Crafting a common card cost forty Arcane Dust, while disenchanting it yielded only five. That was an absolutely terrible deal...
So he reached a very wise decision: he had to save his Arcane Dust and generally wouldn't craft cards unless he had no other choice! This decision would also apply later on!
At the Northshire Eastern Outpost, Aige finally arrived before the gates closed. Captain Claude, who had been busy all day and was preparing to go to sleep, received him in the outpost's most luxurious office...
"Master Mage Aige! It seems I did indeed underestimate your strength, and I apologize for that! I never expected you to complete this task in such a short time. Your strength has truly shocked me. You should know that even an ordinary mercenary squad of several people wouldn't be this efficient. In my initial estimation, I thought you would need at least until tomorrow to finish the task. To express my apologies for looking down on you, please allow me to arrange your lodging for tonight. I insist that you don't refuse!"
Claude knew how to handle people. He had clearly seen that it was late and Aige would surely have nowhere to stay, yet he offered him lodging this way, as though to express his apologies. Young Master Ai was touched, warmth filling his heart... and his resolve to leave this place grew firmer. Claude clearly hadn't given up on recruiting him, and he certainly wouldn't join the army. He had to get out of here quickly!
"Here is the reward I promised you earlier: fifty copper coins and a fine one-handed sword. Please accept them! Chloe, find a bed for this distinguished mage, provide him with the necessary food and hot water, and get some rest yourself after you've shown him down. Thank you again for your service to the empire, Master Mage Aige!"
Claude gave a military salute, and at the same time the system notified Aige that he had gained some Stormwind City reputation and some experience... His level rose to three. Although he hadn't unlocked a new spell, his attributes had improved, which was another way of strengthening him. Didn't every increase in strength come from moving forward one step at a time? Who could get fat in a single bite?
"Master Mage Aige! Please follow me. In accordance with the captain's instructions, I will provide you with a bed for the night and the necessary hot water and food! Life in the military is austere, so please be understanding!"
Sergeant Chloe held a round tray bearing two pieces of coarse-grain bread and a cup of hot water, and respectfully nodded to Aige...