The Necklace

"Y-you've reached the middle stage of the junior professional?"

Mephistes's eyes widened. He looked at Kael'thas nodding and was nearly struck speechless.

As a mentor, he had only just been summoned by his own disciple, and he was already shocked by his progress...

This... was such a failure!!

It seemed he had underestimated his talent after all...

This was taking place in a room in Windrunner Spire, somewhere Sylvanas had once lived in the game.

Kael'thas didn't know whether Windrunner Spire had been named after Sylvanas's surname in the game, but that clearly wasn't the case in this world, since he still hadn't heard of Sylvanas at Windrunner Spire.

"What's with that sword?"

Mephistes noticed the red runesword in his disciple's hand and asked about it.

"Lord Revil Kost gave it to me..."

Kael'thas hurriedly handed him the sword.

"Revil Kost? That traitor?"

Mephistes took the sword, ran his hand lightly over it, and examined it. "This sword suits you, at least. That fellow finally showed some sense of loyalty to his race..."

Though he had some grievances with Revil Kost, compared with that ill-intentioned fellow Dar'Khan, Revil Kost was much better.

"It suits me?"

Kael'thas looked at the sword in confusion. "But I'm an Arcane mage. What do I need a sword for?"

No way. Do I have to charge into battle like a Warrior?

"Other Arcane mages can do without one..."

"But you're different..." Mephistes returned the sword to Kael'thas and explained, "Your Highness, you have great talent for Arcane magic, but you're too weak in close combat. That's why I require you to learn some Warrior skills to defend yourself..."

The main reason was his surname, but Mephistes had no intention of spelling that out.

"Of course, your magic hasn't matured yet, so there's no hurry..."

He continued speaking to Kael'thas.

"So, did you call me here this time because you want to learn new magic skills?"

"Mm..."

Kael'thas nodded. "I have too few skills I can use right now. I'm too much on the defensive when I fight enemies!"

"Your Highness, do you know why you have so few skills?"

Mephistes crouched down and asked, looking at Kael'thas.

"I do..."

Kael'thas nodded, and Mephistes earnestly reminded him once again, "I taught Your Highness the fundamentals for many years because I hoped you could become a powerful Arcane mage, free from constraints and able to create and cast your own magic as you pleased. That's why I deliberately kept you from learning too many skills."

"That's because it's easy to become dependent on skills. They're simple to learn, but their fixed combinations will influence you and do you no good when it comes to creating magic."

That was the reason. Mephistes had placed the greatest hopes in Kael'thas, hoping to see the dawn of a new era of Arcane magic. He had taken particular care in shaping Kael'thas; even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he didn't want his disciple's talent to be suppressed.

"Still, it is dangerous for you to be like this right now..."

"How is your understanding of Fireball coming along?"

Mephistes frowned and asked another question.

Kael'thas said nothing. He silently recited the incantation, and a red sphere radiating red light appeared in his hand. It burned and spun fiercely, making faint popping sounds, and looked immensely powerful.

Of course, Mephistes didn't care about its power at all. The power of the same spell would increase as its caster grew stronger. He reached out and took the Fireball without hesitation. Miraculously, it didn't explode.

"Hmm... very good. You actually changed its combination?"

"About half of it. I added a lighting effect, but I didn't dare make too many changes to the basic combination..."

Kael'thas nodded a little awkwardly. He didn't know whether that progress was good enough.

"Half is enough..." Mephistes nodded with satisfaction. At least Kael'thas hadn't stopped learning. He flicked his fingers, and the fireball silently turned to smoke and dispersed.

"Then let's do this. I'll offer you a choice of several fairly suitable skills, but... for every one you choose, you must also let me take back your memory of one skill you haven't analyzed. You can choose which skills those are!"

Learning a skill meant using a unique incantation devised by a caster with sufficient qualifications and strength. If Kael'thas hadn't analyzed it, he couldn't possibly grasp the combination of its basic elements.

So as long as Kael'thas agreed not to resist, Mephistes could eliminate the skills by making him forget those incantations.

He also believed that his disciple wouldn't secretly go and relearn them behind his back.

"Frostbolt, Fireball, Ice Lance, Scorch, Fire Blast, Molten Armor, Counterspell, Blink, Frost Nova, Conjure Food."

Those were the ten skills Kael'thas currently possessed. He thought carefully. He had the system, a unique thing, and didn't know whether Mephistes could really make him forget skills.

Of those skills, he had already analyzed Fireball and couldn't give it up. Counterspell and Blink could also play an important role in a crisis, and Conjure Food was even more indispensable.

That made nearly half of them he couldn't discard. Besides, Frost Nova was very useful, and he didn't want to give it up either.

"Can you tell me which skills?"

Kael'thas decided to look at the skills before making a decision.

"Polymorph, Arcane Explosion, Flamestrike, Conjure Mana Gem, Invisibility. Let's count this necklace as well..."

Smiling, Mephistes produced a large pearl. It was strung on a simple green vine with no extra decorations. It looked like the necklace he had mentioned.

"This has a storage space of four cubic meters..."

Nani!! Storage space!!!

Kael'thas's eyes nearly popped out. This was a must-have for home and travel! He had always wanted one, but for some reason, no one had ever given him one.

So my teacher planned this all along!!

He looked a little greedily at the simple, pretty necklace, determined to get it. And the skills Mephistes offered were all incredibly overpowered. Apart from Arcane Explosion, he should trade for the rest!!

1. Polymorph could turn an enemy into a random animal. Although it would help the target recover from injuries, it was still a rare crowd-control skill.

2. Flamestrike was an area-of-effect skill that could create a storm of flames over an area. It was extremely cool, and area-of-effect skills were what Kael'thas lacked most right now.

3. Conjure Mana Gem could store some of his mana and absorb Arcane energy from the air. If he ran short of mana in battle, he could draw mana from the gem three times, greatly improving a mage's staying power.

4. Invisibility. Did that even need explaining? It was essential for fighting and running away!!

It seemed Mephistes had planned this well. He wanted to give Kael'thas all the skills he should learn in one go. These skills would remain extremely useful well into the later stages!

Unless Kael'thas analyzed them, he would never go back to Mephistes for another one-for-one exchange.

Unfortunately, though, there wasn't a single shield spell...

With mixed feelings, Kael'thas told Mephistes what he wanted to trade for.

"You don't want Arcane Explosion?"

"No!"

Under the current circumstances, Arcane Explosion from his previous life was nowhere near as useful as Frost Nova.

"Hmm? This Arcane Explosion can be cast instantly. It releases a circular explosion of pure Arcane energy in every direction, blasting nearby enemies away. Are you sure you don't want it?"

"No... ah! What... it can blast people away?"

Arcane Explosion in his previous life hadn't had that effect. Kael'thas was surprised.

"That's right."

"Then I want it!"

Gritting his teeth, Kael'thas decisively gave up Frost Nova.

That makes you a pure Arcane and fire mage...

Mephistes smiled. Then, with Kael'thas's tacit consent, he used magic to erase his memories of some incantations and began teaching him the new skills.

"Ding..."

"You have forgotten the skills Frostbolt, Ice Lance, Scorch, Fire Blast, Molten Armor, and Frost Nova..."

"Ding..."

"You have learned the skills Polymorph, Arcane Explosion, Flamestrike, Conjure Mana Gem, and Invisibility..."

Unfortunately, the system left no trace of the original skills.

Kael'thas took the necklace from Mephistes and put it on, feeling a little pained.

The necklace was simple rather than dainty, so it didn't look strange on a man. Besides, he always wore robes, and no one would see it if he tucked it inside.

"What if this necklace falls off?"

Kael'thas suddenly thought of that. Mephistes shook his head. "It won't fall off. I put magic on it, and it's also very difficult to destroy."

If even this powerful Arcane mage said it was difficult to destroy, then there probably weren't many people who could destroy it.

"Then how do I use it?"

"I'll teach you the incantation. After you use it for the first time, no one but you will be able to use it!"

Mephistes gave Kael'thas a short incantation.

Put the sword away...

Kael'thas silently recited the incantation, thinking of the sword in his hand. Immediately, after a ripple of Arcane energy, the sword vanished without a trace.

He carefully savored the sensation. The sword had moved from one place to another, and he vaguely understood that this was probably an application of a mage's Teleport taken to its limits.

Once he grew powerful enough, he should be able to make one too.

Come out...

Kael'thas silently recited the words and grasped at empty air. The red runesword appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

A very cool move...

The necklace seemed able to teleport anything inside it to any point within an equivalent four-cubic-meter area around him. Kael'thas thought that was very convenient.

"Can it hold living things?"

A thought flashed through his mind, and Kael'thas asked.

Mephistes smiled. "Anything except Your Highness himself can go inside, but it's a completely sealed space. Even if a living creature didn't starve to death in there, it would quickly suffocate. I don't recommend doing that, Your Highness..."

You could've just said no!

Kael'thas couldn't help rolling his eyes.

But he understood that, with proper timing, he actually could put living things inside.

That greatly increased the necklace's value!