Planned in Advance?
Boom!
With the last Fireball exploding against the murloc, Kael'thas and his companions finally killed their first murloc.
Ding... You killed a murloc and gained 150 experience!
Kael'thas was very pleased with the reward in the system notification. He had used two Frostbolts and four Fireballs to kill the murloc, not counting Xiao Ao's several Fire Blasts and Liadrin's single Smite.
Kael'thas and the murloc weren't far apart in strength, and going from level 11 to 12 required 8,700 experience. All in all, the experience he'd gotten was pretty good.
After all, he had a teammate with him.
Still, the fight just now had been far too messy. Kael'thas concentrated on coming up with a more thorough strategy. Although this world was real, its entry-level mobs seemed unbelievably stupid. They seemed capable of attacking only one target at a time, blindly going after whoever hurt them the most. Kael'thas had gotten a vague sense of this from the earlier fights.
The murloc had stabbed him once just now, too. Luckily, its wooden spike had turned out to be a magical item, so his high elf magic resistance had prevented it from causing bleeding damage. Of course, the pain had been unavoidable!
He soon came up with a perfect plan. He would have Xiao Ao pull the mobs and draw their attention. Xiao Ao had no skill cooldowns or mana restrictions, could attack while running, and had plenty of health, so Xiao Ao could build up damage the fastest. Liadrin would focus on healing Xiao Ao, while Kael'thas dealt damage intermittently from behind.
The strategy took some getting used to at first, with Xiao Ao constantly running all over the place. But Xiao Ao soon got smarter, happily leading the murlocs around in circles while Liadrin and Kael'thas stood comfortably to the side, dealing damage.
It was a strange sight. At least, the high elves here had never seen anything quite so bizarre. Watching Xiao Ao wiggle his backside and excitedly cry "Ribbit, ribbit," with two elves casting spells at their leisure nearby, they didn't know what expression to make.
At first, Kael'thas would still occasionally draw a murloc's attacks by dealing too much damage. But after some testing, he confirmed that if Xiao Ao used six Fire Blasts for every Fireball he cast, the mob would never focus its attention on him. Liadrin had an even easier time. Since Xiao Ao attacked while running, and ran very quickly, she hardly needed any healing skills. All she had to do was cast a shield.
The remaining murlocs were slowly killed off this way, leaving Kael'thas only 7,000 experience short of leveling up.
Ding... You completed the quest "The Thieving Murlocs of Sunsail Anchorage" and gained 2,000 experience!
All right, he needed only a little over 5,000 more to level up.
"Liadrin, go loot the corpses!"
Kael'thas gave the order, and Liadrin went without complaint, looking expectant.
Unfortunately, everything that dropped was useless junk.
"What is this?"
Kael'thas pointed at a cylindrical object Liadrin was holding and asked in confusion.
Liadrin shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.
Kael'thas took it and turned it over, spotting a cord underneath. Without thinking, he pulled it out by reflex.
"Pshhh!"
A signal flare shot into the sky.
Ding... You received the quest "Defeat the Murloc Reinforcements."
Kael'thas froze. Suddenly, bubbles rose from the sea before him.
"Your Highness?" Liadrin immediately moved cautiously closer. Kael'thas smiled faintly. "Looks like it isn't over yet..."
More experience coming my way...
Three identical murlocs walked onto the beach, followed closely by a purple murloc carrying a staff.
A mage!?
Kael'thas narrowed his eyes. Don't tell me they're linked mobs?
He decided to test it. After carefully moving off to one side, Kael'thas pointed at the ordinary murloc on the far edge and ordered Xiao Ao to attack.
Xiao Ao ran off happily.
Once within range, Xiao Ao expertly puffed up his cheeks, spat a Fire Blast at the murloc, then turned and ran.
"Wah wah wah!"
The murloc shouted some incomprehensible words and gave chase. Kael'thas watched the remaining mobs carefully. Sure enough, they didn't notice and showed no reaction, making him breathe a sigh of relief.
"Liadrin, let's go!" Seeing Xiao Ao leading the murloc in circles nearby again, Kael'thas hurriedly called to Liadrin, who still hadn't fully caught on.
"Huh? Yes, Your Highness!!"
Liadrin blushed and hurried after him.
And so, after they had eliminated the three ordinary murlocs, only the somewhat dopey-looking murloc mage remained on the beach.
How should we fight this one? The murloc mage's range should be forty meters. Xiao Ao doesn't have magic resistance and might not be able to take it...
Kael'thas held back the eager Xiao Ao and carefully considered a new strategy.
"Liadrin, do you have Psychic Scream?"
Kael'thas asked. It was a very important skill for a priest, and he didn't know whether Liadrin had learned it.
"I'm very sorry, Your Highness! Only beginner professionals can learn that skill..." Liadrin shook her head and apologized, blushing a little.
Kael'thas resumed thinking and soon came up with another plan.
He explained it to Liadrin in detail, but gave Xiao Ao no instructions at all. As Liadrin listened, her eyes soon lit up.
"As you wish, Your Highness!"
Liadrin looked at Kael'thas as if he were a genius, her face glowing red. Kael'thas smiled wryly. It was only a very simple method. Was that expression really necessary?
He let go of Xiao Ao and told him to pull the mob.
This time, Kael'thas and Liadrin followed as well.
Xiao Ao spat a Fire Blast at the murloc mage. Just as Xiao Ao was about to run back, he miraculously discovered that the murloc mage wasn't following. Instead, it began chanting a spell where it stood.
A Frostbolt struck Xiao Ao's shield, shattering it instantly!
Left with no choice, Xiao Ao ran back and fired off several Fire Blasts in quick succession.
"Arcane Torrent!"
Standing beside the murloc mage, Kael'thas immediately activated his racial trait.
The murloc mage's spellcasting was interrupted!
It let out an angry roar, but Kael'thas hadn't dealt any damage, so, like an idiot, it kept its eyes on Xiao Ao. With no other choice, the murloc mage picked up its staff and chased Xiao Ao. During this time, Xiao Ao finally reached six Fire Blasts.
"Fireball!"
"Smite!"
Two flashes of magic struck the murloc mage. It froze and looked back, but Xiao Ao followed up with another Fire Blast that slammed into it. In terrible pain, the murloc mage cried "Wah wah wah" and resumed chasing Xiao Ao, who happily ran and spat Fire Blasts as he went.
"Power Word: Shield!"
"Renew!"
Liadrin cast two healing spells on Xiao Ao, then chased after the murloc mage with Kael'thas.
The six-second silence passed in an instant. In the seventh second, the murloc mage discovered that its spellcasting ability had returned. It stopped with a sinister grin and began chanting Frostbolt.
Xiao Ao was smarter this time, stopping as well and turning to spit Fire Blasts furiously.
Bang!
Xiao Ao's shield was broken again, and the murloc mage began casting a second Frostbolt.
"Fireball!"
"Smite!"
"Liadrin!"
"Yes, Arcane Torrent!"
Liadrin cast Arcane Torrent. The murloc mage had no diminishing returns on crowd control, so it was immediately unable to cast spells for another six seconds.
"Wah wah wah!" It turned around in a few confused circles, shouting, then resumed chasing Xiao Ao.
Low-level mobs really are that stupid, Kael'thas sighed inwardly.
Soon, another six seconds passed. The murloc mage broke Xiao Ao's shield once again and prepared to cast a second Frostbolt.
"Smite!"
"Power Word: Shield!"
"Power Word: Shield!"
"Power Word: Shield!"
"Renew!"
"Renew!"
"Renew!"
A Smite struck the murloc mage, and while it was dazed, Liadrin cast instant, cooldown-free buffs on everyone in one go. At last, the murloc mage realized something was wrong, and its eyes were drawn to her.
It stopped casting, switched targets, and began chanting a spell at Liadrin.
The shield broke, and it began chanting a second Frostbolt...
"Ice Lance!"
"Ice Lance!"
"Ice Lance!"
"Fireball!"
Kael'thas fired off his skills in succession, hitting the murloc mage squarely! It roared and tried to switch targets again, only to fall helplessly to the ground...
Ding... You completed the quest "Defeat the Murloc Reinforcements" and gained 2,000 experience!
With a little over 3,000 experience left to go, Kael'thas lowered his head and looted the murloc mage's corpse.
You picked up the murloc mage's wand. You picked up 30 copper.
His luck with loot really was terrible. Kael'thas looked ruefully at the green wand.
It was probably a beginner's wand, but he couldn't see its stats. That was a major difference from the game.
"You can have it!" After some thought, Kael'thas handed it to Liadrin. He didn't need a wand right now. But priests didn't have many attack skills early on, and the energy balls fired by a wand would be more useful to them.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Liadrin accepted it with a slight bow. She looked very happy, and her etiquette was much more proper than yesterday!
It was evening by then, and the guards came forward to escort them back.
The dim rays of the setting sun shone through the golden leaves, stretching the group's shadows. Kael'thas looked back toward the shore. The sea was calm and waveless, leaving him slightly disappointed.
"Your Highness, will you come again tomorrow?"
The high elf guard holding the Hawkstrider's reins understood Kael'thas's expression and asked softly.
"Will there be more tomorrow?"
Kael'thas asked in confusion. The high elf guard turned his head and said with the hint of a smile, "There are some every day~"
Kael'thas looked at the guard's handsome face, hidden beneath his armor. For the first time, he discovered that high elves could wear an expression like that.
You... did plan this in advance after all?