The Murloc Captain

As the morning sun cast its golden light over the treetops, a party of high elves could be clearly seen walking along a path through Eversong Woods in the thin, dewy morning mist. Sunlight reflected off the guards' golden armor, giving them a spirited, imposing appearance.

Kael'thas was already a third of the way through level 14. He had spent half a month on the shore at Sunsail Anchorage, where he had learned several new fire skills from Kael'sala. He was clearly preparing to develop as a fire mage. Now he could handle those murlocs on his own, so it was time to move on to new training...

The details of those skills were:

Frostbolt - 2-second cast, costs 5% of total mana. You launch an arrow of ice, damaging the enemy and applying a freezing effect that slows them by 60% for 15 seconds.

Ice Lance - instant cast, costs 1% of total mana. You launch a lance of ice, damaging the enemy. Damage is doubled if the enemy is affected by freezing.

Fireball - 2-second cast, costs 5% of total mana. You launch a burning fireball, damaging the enemy and applying a burning effect.

Scorch - 1-second cast, costs 2% of total mana. Scorches the enemy, dealing additional damage to enemies affected by burning.

Fire Blast - instant cast, costs 15% of total mana. You blast the enemy with fire, dealing additional damage to enemies affected by burning.

Molten Armor - instant cast, costs 1% of total mana. Deals fire damage to enemies when they hit you. The armor lasts 2 hours.

"Liadrin, what are the Ghostlands like?"

A golden Dragonhawk flew curiously past overhead, and Kael'thas reached out to stroke it gently. The creature was so small and delicate that it was hard to imagine it would become an aerial mount for the high elves once fully grown.

"It's beautiful there too, but not as bright and enchanting as Eversong Woods!"

Liadrin answered with a blink of her large blue eyes. The Ghostlands were the same place as the Ghostlands in the game. The front lines of the Troll Wars now lay below the Ghostlands, but the vast majority of the region remained in high elf hands.

"I think you'll be going there soon too, Your Highness. You'll see for yourself then!" It was a place where novice professionals went to train. Liadrin had reached that rank two days ago, and Kael'thas would probably enter it soon as well.

In fact, the high elves' long lives came with an equally slow rate of cultivation. Generally speaking, high elves began their training at twenty and became novice professionals at thirty. Liadrin had already been exceptionally talented to reach the middle level of the Initial Stage at sixteen, but unexpectedly, she had broken through to the Initial Stage in just half a month.

Liadrin had a vague feeling that it was because of Kael'thas. In truth, Kael'thas didn't know either. The natives had no such thing as experience; they could only improve step by step through accumulation and training. But if they joined his party, they could gain experience and level up by the same standards as him.

Before long, Kael'thas and his party reached the shore again. This time, they weren't going after the thieving murlocs, and an Arcane mage had accompanied them.

"Your Highness, allow me to cast a support spell on you and Miss Liadrin!"

The handsome mage in bright red robes bowed to Kael'thas. After that display of impeccable etiquette, he casually cast the spell on Kael'thas and Liadrin.

Underwater Breathing - you can breathe underwater today!

The spell lasted a whole day, so its rank seemed very high. Kael'thas nodded, then led Liadrin down into the sea, with the guards following close behind.

Quest: The Murloc Mage's Resentment. The resentment of this dead murloc mage clings to you. It is deeply dissatisfied with the murloc guards who hide in their lair, doing nothing but eating and drinking. You must kill 10 murloc guards to comfort its soul!

Quest: Defeat the Murloc Captain. You have done a perfect job protecting the goods on the beach, and now your guards have discovered where these murlocs came from. Their lair is in a cave on the nearby seabed. Go in and kill the murloc captain. If any murlocs block your way, don't hold back. Take them all out!

The seabed off Quel'Thalas's coast also seemed to have been affected by high elf magic. The seaweed here was long and graceful, giving off a bright glow, and colorful fish occasionally swam through it.

Kael'thas soon found the murloc lair. Two large murloc guards stood outside, making it hard to miss.

Murloc guards killed: 1/10!

Murloc guards killed: 2/10!

After he and Liadrin easily dealt with the guards, Kael'thas was about to lead the others inside when a turtle suddenly emerged from the nearby seaweed and blocked their path.

"Your Highness, it saw you deal with those two murloc guards, so it's asking you to rescue its child from the lair. It says the murloc captain took its child inside and wants to eat it."

The Arcane mage walked over and asked the turtle a few questions, then explained to Kael'thas.

Ding...

You have received the quest: Rescue the Baby Turtle.

As the system notification sounded, Kael'thas looked at the turtle in front of him in puzzlement. The Arcane mage had translated its words, but could turtles really talk?

Kael'thas decided not to think about it. Xiao Ao had already rushed inside, and he and Liadrin hurried after him.

The murloc lair was narrow, with many ordinary murlocs and patrolling murloc guards. Perhaps because they had leveled up, Kael'thas and his companions had an easy time of it, quickly fighting their way to the last room on the upper level.

Murloc guards killed: 10/10!

Ding...

You have completed the quest: The Murloc Mage's Resentment. You gained 3,000 experience!

Surprisingly, there was no water in the last room. A pot stood in the dry room, and the purplish-red murloc captain was tending a fire beneath it. Kael'thas looked over and saw that there really was a baby turtle tied up beside it.

It was true...

Kael'thas studied the murloc captain. It held a huge axe in one hand and was probably a warrior, but its constantly darting eyes suggested it was fairly intelligent.

"Xiao Ao, go!"

Since it was a melee fighter, there probably wasn't much to worry about. The easy battles up to this point had also made Kael'thas forget how intelligent this monster was. He gave Xiao Ao the order, and they deployed in their usual formation.

Fire Blast!

Xiao Ao ran over and hit the murloc captain with a Fire Blast. The murloc captain froze, then turned its head and looked around, spotting Kael'thas and the others off to its side.

"Wah wah wah!"

It grinned viciously, suddenly threw down its axe, and raised its hands to cast a spell at Kael'thas.

Fuck... It actually knows to attack me!? And you're a fucking mage!?

An Arcane orb shot toward Kael'thas. Fortunately, Liadrin reacted in time, putting a shield on him that blocked it. Then sparks flashed across the murloc captain as Kael'thas's Molten Armor reflected the attack. This murloc captain was clearly different from ordinary murlocs; it already knew how to pick its target!!

"Liadrin, protect me!" There was no helping it; he would have to fight it with firepower. Kael'thas gritted his teeth and quickly began casting Fireball.

"Arcane Torrent!"

The murloc mage's second Arcane orb failed to go off. Liadrin had cleverly run over to it and silenced its spellcasting.

Well done!

Kael'thas gave Liadrin an appreciative glance, then quickly joined Xiao Ao in attacking during the six seconds of silence. He cast a Fireball, immediately followed by several Scorches! With the burning effect from Fireball, Scorch was clearly more effective than Fireball!

But the six seconds quickly passed, and unexpectedly, the murloc captain waved a hand, producing a purple shield around itself!

This is going to be troublesome!

Kael'thas cast several Scorches, but the shield showed no sign of breaking. By contrast, two of the murloc captain's Arcane orbs could break Kael'thas's shield and damage him.

Kael'thas ran forward, intending to hit the murloc captain with an Arcane Torrent.

But the murloc captain was unusually smart. He started running too, never letting Kael'thas get close.

It even threw Frostbolts while running. What a ridiculous pain in the ass!!

Kael'thas was getting anxious. At this rate, the murloc captain would kite him to death sooner or later. The beginner stage wasn't supposed to be this difficult, was it? There had to be a trick to it... He examined the room carefully, but there was no sign of any mechanism.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up when he saw the bound baby turtle.

He had felt that something was off all along, and now he finally understood. Why had the murloc captain tied the baby turtle up with rope instead of putting it in a cage? Turtles were obviously not suited to being tied up with rope!!!

And that older turtle had been far too out of place too...

With that thought, Kael'thas raised his hand and fired a Fire Blast. This time, however, his target wasn't the murloc captain, but the baby turtle!

With a crack, the rope binding the baby turtle burned through and snapped. The baby turtle stood up.

"Hm?" It looked around in confusion, then suddenly spotted the murloc captain running around the room. Its eyes lit up, and it kicked off with its hind legs, launching itself at the murloc captain with a whoosh!

Ding...

You have completed the quest: Rescue the Baby Turtle. You gained 3,000 experience!

Kael'thas stopped. Just now, the baby turtle had smashed through the murloc captain's shield and rammed it so hard that its head spun and it passed out.

It called out to Kael'thas and the others a few times in a friendly manner, then ran out at top speed.

They couldn't miss this chance!! Kael'thas and the others hurried to kill the murloc captain while it was unconscious.

Ding...

You have completed the quest: Defeat the Murloc Captain. You gained 3,000 experience!

Ding...

You have reached level 15. Experience required for next level: 13,500.

"Congratulations, Your Highness! I think you're capable of killing higher-level murlocs now!" The Arcane mage looted the corpse, but didn't seem to find anything good. He turned back and smiled at Kael'thas.

Ding...

You have received the quest: Defeat the Murloc King.

Kael'thas sat on the ground drinking water and slowly shook his head. "No, I'm not going..."

He raised his eyebrows and continued, "I think it's time I went to see the Ghostlands!"

Ding...

You have abandoned the quest: Defeat the Murloc King!

Ignoring the guards' shock, Kael'thas looked around the dry cave and came to a conclusion.

It had been made with high elf magic.

There was no way the murlocs could have cast such a difficult spell. Kael'thas was certain that all the beginner training grounds in Quel'Thalas had been deliberately arranged by the high elves.

No matter who was undergoing the training, someone was sure to be protecting them in secret.

Kael'thas could understand that. After all, the high elves' birth rate was far too low...