Leveling Up

The orb glowed, and damp air mingled with the body odor of Trolls entered Kael'thas's nose.

Frowning, he walked through the cave of the Amani Catacombs, feeling rather uncomfortable.

Kael'thas held a blue orb in both hands. Kael'sala had prepared it for him, and several Arcane mages had cast spells on it, allowing it to deceive the Trolls and monitor his situation.

Kael'thas found it strange that no one was accompanying him.

After following a dirt path about twenty meters into the cave, the space before him finally opened up.

It was a brightly lit tunnel lined with torches on both sides, built from smooth, fitted boulders and a full seven meters or so wide. Though it was now covered in green moss, it still looked very impressive at a glance.

"That moss must have come from the Trolls..."

Kael'thas muttered to himself, sounding a little bitter. If a tunnel this fine had fallen into his hands, he certainly wouldn't have had the heart to let it become covered in moss.

He stepped into the tunnel and felt the wall. It was very thick and sturdy, which left Kael'thas somewhat worried. Just what were the Trolls planning to do with such a large tunnel?

There really is a conspiracy!

He continued forward and soon came to a fork in the road.

Which way should I go?

"Right, Kael'thas... The left should lead to another exit!"

A voice suddenly rang out, startling Kael'thas. "Brother?"

"Yes. The orb in your hands can show us what you see, and we can contact you through it too!"

"So that's how it works..."

No wonder they weren't worried about me...

Understanding dawned on Kael'thas, and he followed the directions to the right.

There were several more forks ahead, and Kael'thas took the correct path at every one, but he grew increasingly worried about the Trolls' conspiracy.

From the look of things, rogues might also be going out through the other cave entrances to scout.

As he was thinking this, Kael'thas suddenly felt himself bump into someone.

Green skin appeared, and Kael'thas's heart skipped a beat. It was a Troll rogue.

The Troll rogue glanced at Kael'thas in puzzlement, then quickly walked away...

Damn it, did you have to use Stealth so early?!!!

You scared me to death!!!

Kael'thas felt like crying but had no tears. The rogue had made no sound at all. He hadn't been scared by the Troll just now, but he had almost thought he'd run into a ghost!!

Calm down! Breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...

Only after making ample preparations did Kael'thas continue forward.

Still, the collision hadn't been entirely without benefit. At least it proved his disguise was working...

"Boo-hoo... Your Highness... You scared me to death just now..."

Kael'thas seemed to hear a woman's voice. He shook his head and told himself not to let his imagination run wild.

The rest of the journey went smoothly. Though he still bumped into some rogues in the same way, Kael'thas wasn't afraid at all anymore.

But for some reason, a voice that seemed increasingly resentful kept drifting in and out of earshot. It worried Kael'thas somewhat, and he decided to find a mage when he got back to see if something was clinging to him...

More than half an hour later, he finally saw two Troll guards holding spears, and behind them... a huge underground plaza...

"Ding..."

"You completed the quest: Investigate the Amani Catacombs. You gained 4,000 experience!"

"Ding..."

"You reached level 20! Experience required for the next level: 20,600!"

"Ding..."

"Your mana lake has expanded. The cost of your current skills has decreased..."

"Ding..."

"You have no skills available to learn..."

"Updating information..."

Name: Kael'thas Sunstrider

Race: High Elf

Title: Disguiser (active: Amani Troll)

Identity: ? (locked)

Class: High Elf Arcane mage

Level: 20 (experience required for next level: 20,600)

Skills: Frostbolt - 2-second cast, costs 3% of total mana. You launch an arrow of ice, damaging an enemy and applying a freezing effect that slows it by 60% for 15 seconds.

Ice Lance - instant cast. You launch a lance of ice, damaging an enemy. Damage is doubled if the enemy is affected by a freezing effect.

Fireball - 2-second cast, costs 3% of total mana. You launch a burning fireball, damaging an enemy and applying a burning effect.

Scorch - 1-second cast. Scorches an enemy, dealing additional damage to enemies affected by a burning effect.

Fire Blast - instant cast, costs 13% of total mana. You blast an enemy with fire, dealing additional damage to enemies affected by a burning effect.

Molten Armor - instant cast. Deals fire damage to enemies when they hit you. Armor lasts 2 hours.

Counterspell - instant cast, costs 8% of total mana. Counters a spell cast by an enemy, preventing it from casting any spells of that school for 7 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

Blink - instant cast, costs 8% of total mana. Teleports the caster 20 yards straight ahead, stopping if an obstacle blocks the path. The teleport removes movement-impairing and stun effects from the caster. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

Frost Nova - instant cast, costs 3% of total mana. Blasts all nearby enemies, dealing a small amount of frost damage and freezing them in place for up to 30 seconds. Damage dealt to frozen targets may interrupt the effect.

Conjure Food - 2.4-second cast, costs 3% of total mana. Magically creates food for you and your allies to eat.

Quest reward: none

??: ?? (damaged)

??: ?? (damaged)

??: ?? (damaged)

??: ?? (damaged)

Traits:

Arcane Torrent - silences all enemies within 10 yards for 6 seconds and restores 1% of your total mana per second. 10-minute cooldown, instant cast.

Magic Resistance - all magic resistances increased by 10 points.

Summon Phoenix - summons 1 phoenix to fight for you.

Master of Flames - your fire damage is permanently increased by 10%.

Lord of Arcane - all your Arcane damage and effects are increased by 10%.

King of Music - your music is beautiful and moving, transcending race.

Arcane Orb (inactive)

As if he had just downed an ice-cold drink on a summer day, Kael'thas felt his mind suddenly expand. The first barrier around his mana lake shattered with a "bang," breaking apart with ease...

His mana had finally increased for the first time! For that instant, everything within a two-meter radius seemed to be directly engraved in Kael'thas's mind!!

But the next second, it vanished without a trace...

Kael'thas wasn't upset. He was already overwhelmed with delight. After reaching level 20, the costs of all his current skills had fallen by 2%, and several even seemed to have no cost at all. How could he not be delighted?!!!

"Ding..."

"You received the quest: Plant an Informant!"