High Elves

The history of the High Elves could be traced back ten thousand years, when they were part of the Night Elves.

Ten thousand years ago, the Night Elves lived on the ancient continent of Kalimdor. They drew immense magical power from the Well of Eternity, a well filled with magical energy at the center of the continent. But under the leadership of Queen Azshara and the Highborne who served her, they used magical energy without restraint, ultimately drawing the invasion of the Burning Legion.

After a terrible explosion, the Well of Eternity was destroyed, and the surviving Night Elves began new lives under the leadership of the druids. But they decided never to use magic again. The surviving Highborne, however, were not content with this. They launched a rebellion in an attempt to lift the ban on magic, but they failed. As punishment, the archdruids exiled them.

Four thousand years ago, the exiled Highborne came to the eastern continent of Lordaeron under their leader, Dath'Remar Sunstrider. In the region of Quel'Thalas in the continent's northeast, they established a new magical kingdom of their own-Quel'Thalas. To distinguish themselves from the Night Elves they had once been, they called themselves "High Elves."

In the heart of Quel'Thalas, the High Elves recreated a great fountain of magical energy, the Sunwell. With its endless supply of magic, they gradually grew stronger and established a glorious magical civili...

Their survival, however, was far from smooth. From the moment they landed on the continent, they faced a most terrible threat: the greedy and cunning Forest Trolls.

These Trolls, their skin covered in moss, could not only regenerate severed limbs but also heal quickly from severe wounds. Their behavior, however, showed that they were still a savage and evil race. Their empire covered most of northern Lordaeron, and the Trolls struck hard at the High Elves who had rashly intruded, intending to drive them from Lordaeron.

The stubborn elves refused to give up the land they had just gained, so they used the magic they had drawn from the Well of Eternity to hold back the savage Trolls' frenzied attacks. Under Dath'Remar's leadership, they defeated an Amani army ten times their number.

But the war between the High Elves and the Trolls continued for thousands of years, with neither side wiping out the other. This state of affairs lasted until the current king, Anasterian, ascended the throne. During his reign, the Trolls launched an unprecedented offensive, threatening Quel'Thalas with destruction. At that time, in the southeastern region of Lordaeron, humans had established the first nation in history, the Empire of Arathor, to fight the Forest Trolls.

Anasterian devised an almost mad plan. He believed that humans must possess a latent talent for magic and, with training, could be of great use in battle. So he proposed an alliance with the Empire of Arathor. Once it agreed, elven mages arrived in Arathor almost instantly and began teaching humans the ways of magic. Humans and High Elves then worked together to win the final victory, and the Trolls never recovered.

The High Elves enjoyed nearly a thousand years of peace. To thank the humans, they swore an oath of loyalty and friendship to Thoradin's bloodline, and humans and High Elves lived peacefully together in the years that followed.

That lasted until two hundred years ago, when the surviving Trolls started a new war...

"..."

Although there were a few discrepancies, it was broadly the same as Warcraft's history...

Bai Jing-or perhaps it would be better to call him Kael'thas from now on-closed the thick history book in his hands. Hiding his worries, he leaned comfortably against the chest of the person behind him.

"Brother, where are we going today?"

His voice was soft and sweet, full of childish innocence, and even Kael'sala, his brother (sister?) of over two hundred years, could not help feeling soothed.

High Elves lived long lives, with ordinary ones living to around two thousand. Their growth cycle was peculiar: before fifteen, they were like humans; from fifteen to three hundred, they looked like youths. After three hundred, they grew into mature elves who looked twenty, and their appearances would not change for the next dozen or so centuries. High Elves had no old age. Only in the last five hundred years of their lives did they become middle-aged, looking around forty.

So even after raising Kael'thas for eight years, Kael'sala still looked like the same beautiful youth. He had not come of age, and it seemed the king had never allowed him onto a battlefield.

"We're going to the Western Sanctum..." Kael'sala affectionately stroked Kael'thas's head, holding the Hawkstrider's reins in one hand as he answered.

Hawkstriders were the mounts of the High Elves. These colorful birds were enormous and magnificent, with long tail feathers. The High Elves believed they showed off the beauty of Quel'Thalas.

Both his appearance and the story of his adoption were completely different from what Kael'thas remembered...

Kael'thas sighed and looked at the two rows of lavishly equipped guards following close around them. Their golden armor shone against the golden-yellow forest, making them look imposing.

"Are we going fishing again?"

"Of course..." Kael'sala smiled gently, beautiful enough to topple kingdoms. This trip to the Western Sanctum was for a routine inspection of the runestones, but it was also for fishing. Of course, he would not tell Kael'thas that.

Many people found Kael'sala's upbringing of Kael'thas strange. Until Kael'thas was five, Kael'sala had never let him leave the Sunfury Spire or learn any magic, focusing instead on teaching him literacy and etiquette.

That was reasonable enough, since he was still young. But many people could not understand the three years between the ages of five and eight. Hoping to learn magic skills sooner, Kael'thas had graduated from his lessons in language and etiquette at five. But who could have imagined that what awaited him afterward would be three years of exploring the map and fishing?

I want to learn skills...

Kael'thas wanted to cry but had no tears as he looked at his level of 10 and skill count of 0...

What other transmigrator had it as miserable as him? After eight years, the experience from fishing alone had raised him to level 10, and he could not level any further. He still did not have a single attack skill, let alone the fact that his damaged class had cost him all his talents.

Want to take a quest? Sure. Never mind that none of the quests from later times had appeared; with a crowd of guards following him, who would dare give him one? Want to kill monsters? Sure. Never mind that he did not have a single skill-even if a kitten came within twenty meters of him, the guards would kill it instantly!

Even worse, in party mode, he got no experience from killing monsters!!!~~~

Compared to the beginning, though, Kael'thas was much calmer. Eight years was enough to change a person's character. Perhaps it was Kael'sala's influence, or perhaps his body's bloodline had affected his soul, but Kael'thas now conducted himself as a prince worthy of the name, graceful and quiet.

That was what Kael'sala had hoped for from the start. He believed that for a prince, magic and skills were not the most important things. More important was a heart that could face difficulties calmly.

That was why he had taken Kael'thas fishing since he was little, cultivating a peaceful state of mind.

"Looks like you'll have something tasty again today, Xiao Ao!" Kael'thas smiled. He no longer resisted this activity. He reached out a forefinger to play with the fat chicken perched on the Hawkstrider's head. The phoenix was already about the size of a grown chicken and had grown quite fat over the past few years.

"Caw~ caw~~" Xiao Ao seemed to understand Kael'thas and happily flapped his wings, rubbing his head against Kael'thas's forefinger.

All the elves looked at the phoenix with dark lines on their faces. They had never seen such a down-to-earth phoenix, and he even sounded like a duck when he called out-Kael'thas thought it was a crow. It had always made them doubt whether he was a phoenix at all.

Only Kael'thas had no doubt. As he stroked Xiao Ao, his status window popped up in his mind.

Name: Ao

Race: Phoenix

Level: 10 (juvenile stage; experience needed for next level: 7,600)

Skills: **Fire Blast** - spits a ball of flame from his mouth, dealing damage to enemies and causing a burning effect that lasts ten minutes.

**Nirvana** - passive skill. When the phoenix dies, he turns into an egg with half his health. If the egg remains intact for one minute, the phoenix revives with full health and mana. Note: can revive only once per hour.

Traits:

Loyalty - this phoenix is Kael'thas's unique summoned pet. His loyalty is fixed at 100%, and he voluntarily dies with his master when Kael'thas dies.

Synchronization - this phoenix's level actively synchronizes with Kael'thas's and requires no additional experience.

You nearly scared me back then...

Kael'thas sighed to Xiao Ao. He had almost thought the phoenix was a useless little chick. Who would have expected such a turn of events? The phoenix was practically a bug.

Once Kael'thas grew stronger, wouldn't Xiao Ao defy the heavens?

But growing strong in this world was harder than he had imagined. Kael'thas's half-baked cheat could not show him an opponent's health or level, or even the damage his own skills dealt. Kael'thas had to judge all of it for himself, and he felt enormous pressure.

Moreover, unlike his level system, this world's divisions of strength were not so detailed. After looking into it, Kael'thas had roughly determined the corresponding benchmarks.

Novice professional: someone just starting to learn skills, roughly below level 15 on his own scale.

Junior professional: someone with some skills, roughly level 15 to 30 on his own scale.

Intermediate professional: someone capable of beginning to adventure. Most people were currently at this stage, roughly level 30 to 50 on his own scale.

Advanced professional: a powerful figure among the elite of the various races, roughly level 50 to 70 on his own scale.

As for anything higher, there were no specific divisions yet. Kael'thas figured there would probably be benchmarks by the time the Second War began.

Of course, for figures like Kael'thas's father and the heroes of the various races, who could shake heaven and earth with a wave of their hands, level divisions were no longer necessary. They would rather call it a legendary level. Kael'thas did not yet understand those heights; he would only know once he reached that level himself.

The road ahead is long and far...