Observation

The next day,

Kael'thas reached level 16 without trouble, but his plan to investigate the Troll catacombs alone fell through.

Naturally, it was because of Liadrin...

The young High Elf priestess refused to leave Kael'thas no matter what, and after learning of his plans, she grew even more worried and followed him everywhere, never giving him the slightest chance to slip away.

She had even spent the entire night outside Kael'thas's room, afraid her master would leave without telling her.

At a loss, Kael'thas revealed that his mentor was a great Arcane mage who had given him an absolute guarantee of safety, and that no Troll could hurt him.

But Liadrin didn't believe him...

That left Kael'thas stumped. He could complete the task safely on his own using his Disguiser title, but Liadrin didn't have that ability. Since she insisted on staying with him, Kael'thas had no choice but to change part of his plan.

He could only try to complete the task more cautiously...

The cautious approach was simply to discover where the Trolls came from. His task was to find their source, so as long as he found the place they emerged from, he should be able to complete it. For example, if the place the Trolls emerged from really was the Amani Catacombs, then Kael'thas would naturally complete the task once he arrived there.

As for investigating further, he couldn't do that with Liadrin along...

This was reality, not a game. Kael'thas didn't dare take the risk!

So he led Liadrin toward the mountains below Suncrown Village. This was the only continuous mountain range within the Ghostlands, with Suncrown Village to the north, the Sanctum of the Sun to the south, Tranquillien to the west, and a Farstrider camp to the east. The nameless range stood in the middle of all the High Elf settlements. Kael'thas couldn't imagine how dangerous things would become for the High Elves if the Trolls really did have some plot and could emerge from the Amani Catacombs in the mountains to pick them off one by one!

On the other hand, if used well, this place, surrounded by High Elves, was also an excellent strategic location for wiping out the Trolls.

Guided by his somewhat hazy memories from his previous life, Kael'thas carefully led Liadrin to the location of the catacombs.

Before them was an ordinary little cave, sloping slightly downward. Damp, cold air came from the darkness inside, while lush green grass grew outside, without a trace of having been trampled...

Was this really the place?

Kael'thas hid off to one side, a little stunned. He distinctly remembered there being a structure in the game-yes, an impressive-looking catacomb. How could it be a natural formation like this?

Unsure, he took Liadrin and carefully searched the surrounding area for a while, but disappointingly found nothing else. If the Amani Catacombs really existed, they could only be inside this little cave.

"Your Highness?"

Liadrin finally couldn't help asking. She thought the prince, usually so capable, must have remembered the wrong place.

But Kael'thas shook his head. Though he wasn't sure, he gritted his teeth and took the risk in the end, running to the cave entrance to examine it with painstaking care.

This grass...

A High Elf's excellent eyesight soon detected something unusual. Though there appeared to be no signs of trampling on the surface, Kael'thas was shocked to discover an extremely subtle difference between the grass at the cave entrance and the grass beside it. Yes, it was a little drier, a little duller, and even bent a little more...

The differences were truly tiny, but once Kael'thas spotted them, he didn't dare linger for a moment. He hurried back, grabbed Liadrin, and pulled her into hiding.

"Ding..."

"You have completed the task 'Find the source of the Trolls' and gained 3,700 experience!"

Sure enough, the system notification sounded with a ding.

"Could this really be the place?"

Crouching in the grass, Liadrin saw how cautious Kael'thas was and asked in a surprised whisper.

"Yes, someone definitely passed through that cave..." Kael'thas nodded, his ears standing rigid, as though worried someone had just been nearby. "The changes were very slight, but I still noticed them..."

"The grass at the entrance is drier than the grass beside it. Someone should have walked through after the dew fell this morning..."

"And judging by the difference in color, it should have picked up pigment from the Trolls. That isn't something that could change all at once, either. I'd say the Trolls have been doing this for some time..."

Kael'thas's eyes shifted. In these circumstances, they seemed to shine with anticipation instead.

"But the grass is growing well, so there can't be many people passing through. I think only Troll rogues like the ones we met yesterday could possibly have such light footsteps..."

In short, Kael'thas thought he'd gotten lucky. It seemed he could do more...

"Ding..."

"You have received the task 'Kill Trolls.' Area restriction: entrance to the Amani Catacombs. This task can be completed repeatedly!"

A familiar task name, and it was a repeatable task?

Kael'thas was delighted. He had just been thinking that if the new task required him to kill ten Trolls or something, it would take forever. After all, Trolls couldn't keep appearing quickly, and he couldn't grind them endlessly either. But unexpectedly, the task could be completed repeatedly. This was a powerful tool for leveling!

System bro... you're taking such good care of me!

As for the area restriction, Kael'thas understood it completely. Without one, he could spend his whole life leveling by killing Troll rogues close to his own level. How boring would that be? Even more boring than Three Harvests a Year killing low-level players!!

"Your Highness, is there something we can do, then?"

Liadrin asked in a low voice. She had astutely realized that her master wanted to do something.

"Of course. We can wait..." Kael'thas smiled. Looking at the girl before him, he used a phrase she didn't understand: "Wait by the stump for a rabbit..."

Yes, Kael'thas decided to wait by the cave entrance for his prey. He decided to find a way to set a trap there, and then... kill monsters...

If only there were an LR here now...

Kael'thas sorely missed the hunter traps from the game. They were the best tools for exposing rogues. But High Elves didn't yet have anything called hunters, and their rangers couldn't be called true hunters.

But given what His Highness the prince was doing, he couldn't even ask a ranger to help. Right now, the only person at his side who would probably help him with these things was the priestess Liadrin.

Really... how wonderful...

Even so, precisely because of this, Kael'thas decided to proceed cautiously. He wouldn't let Liadrin follow him into any real danger.

So over the next few days, after setting up a little trap that could hardly be called a trap, Kael'thas did nothing more than observe with Liadrin, day after day.

Many days later, they finally figured out how often the Trolls appeared...