Intelligent NPC?

Azathoth (the Source of Chaos): "Um—the weather's nice today."

Medivh looked up at the sky and nodded meaningfully. "The weather is indeed nice today." As he spoke, he walked straight past Xiao Yu and went into the tent.

Xiao Yu hurriedly followed him inside.

The tent was empty except for a bed. Elemental creatures don't need chairs, and in fact, they don't even need a bed. But it was something that came with the camp, so it was just a waste to make use of it.

Medivh, however, didn't seem to care. He held a staff in his hand, the top of which was a raven-like statue, which he casually placed aside. Then, he snapped his fingers lightly, and with a snap, a chair appeared out of thin air. He then sat down.

What kind of skill is this? A chair summoning spell? Xiao Yu hadn't heard of such a skill before. He was puzzled. However, what truly surprised him was that Medivh had no icon, no name, and no other information above his head. How did he do that? Was he a GM?

As Xiao Yu pondered this, his gaze kept drifting towards Medivh's head.

"Is this what you want to see?" Medivh suddenly said, snapping his fingers again, and a message suddenly appeared above his head.

Medivh (Astral Traveler), Rank???, Template Rank???, Creature Type???

What?! Xiao Yu was stunned. This Medivh could not only hide and display his personal information, but he also seemed to be able to sense the meaning of this information. Could it be that—

Are you a GM?

Medivh chuckled softly. "Why do people keep asking me this question lately? And every time I ask them what a GM is, they're always vague about it."

Azathoth (Source of Chaos): "This..."

Medivh (Astral Traveler): "Then tell me, what is GM?"

Azathoth (Source of Chaos): "This..."

Medivh (Astral Traveler): "Never mind, I won't trouble you. Merlin said you asked me to open the Dark Portal. Are you planning to go to Outland?"

Xiao Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief; this Medivh seemed a bit eccentric.

Azathoth (the Source of Chaos): "Yes, I need to go there to take care of some things."

Medivh (Astral Traveler): "Are you aiming to become the Elemental King?" Medivh asked, though in a question, his tone was very certain.

Xiao Yu was taken aback, and inwardly complained to himself, "Why am I always being surprised lately?"

Azathoth (the Source of Chaos): "How do you know about the Elemental King?"

Medivh (Astral Traveler): "I know a lot, believe me, more than you can imagine. Perhaps this contains information you're looking for."

Xiao Yu believed this.

Azathoth (the Source of Chaos): "You'd be so kind as to tell me that? (suspiciously)"

Medivh (Astral Traveler): "Actually, I'd prefer to exchange information, trading what you want to know for what I want to know. I think that's fair enough, isn't it?"

Azathoth (the Source of Chaos): "That's certainly fair, but what do you want to know?"

Medivh (Astral Traveler): "--For example, what is a GM?"

Xiao Yu was even more astonished by these words. Was this Medivh a human or an NPC? If he was human, then he was obviously playing a trick on him; everyone knew what a GM was. But if he was an NPC, then things were a bit creepy. To possess such intelligence and ask such a question—could he be the legendary artificial intelligence? An NPC with independent self-awareness?

Although many NPCs in the game Sky World are highly anthropomorphic, giving the impression of being alive, according to the game's official promotional materials, these NPCs are merely anthropomorphic computer programs that react according to the player's reactions; in essence, they are still just sophisticated programs.

For example, if you say words like "player," "GM," or "leveling up by killing monsters" to an NPC, they won't have any questions at all, because these terms are all stored in their database, and they won't feel anything is wrong.

However, Medivh's pursuit of the truth goes far beyond the concept of procedure.

In that instant, countless stories of artificial intelligence from science fiction movies he had seen in the past flashed through his mind: The Matrix, Artificial Intelligence, I, Robot, Terminator—

In a typical science fiction movie, revealing crucial information to this being would obviously have unpredictable consequences, potentially leading to catastrophic events like world destruction and humanity becoming slaves to artificial intelligence. For the sake of world peace and human safety, one should ideally avoid communicating with this being and even immediately contact the game developers to eliminate him. However, on the other hand, this Medivh possesses a vast amount Medivh knowledge and game secrets. If he were a GM, one obviously wouldn't be able to obtain anything, but if he were truly an NPC, then getting some important game-related information from him would be incredibly rewarding.

Xiao Yu was so certain that Medivh possessed such knowledge for a reason; after all, Medivh was Astral Archmage and the Last Guardian.

This requires explaining what this 'Guardian' actually is, and the origins of Medivh.

In the Sky World, due to the abuse of magic by mages, Abyss demons, Void demons, and other strange creatures are often summoned to this world to wreak havoc. Furthermore, many powerful demon lords intend to destroy or rule the entire world.

In response to these constant invasions, the Council of Tirisfal —a supreme mage organization comprised of the Violet Council, the Kirin Tor Council, and the Sunreavers Council —launched Guardian Project. This project involved uniting all the mages of the Council of Tirisfal to inject an unprecedentedly powerful energy into a single, powerful mage, who would then be known as Guardian —essentially an ultimate humanoid magical weapon.

The Guardian Project was a great success. In the thousands of years since the Guardian appeared, all the demons, Undead, elemental creatures, Celestial Realm beings, and other random things that dared to invade the Sky World have been blasted to dust by the Guardian. The Guardian are practically a symbol of Invincible.

Before retiring, each Guardian transfers their energy to the next Guardian. The selection of the next Guardian is usually decided by the Council of Tirisfal, thus ensuring that there are always Guardian protecting the world.

However, a problem arose when this process was passed down to the previous Guardian, Aegwynn. Aegwynn was unwilling to be manipulated by the Council of Tirisfal, nor was she willing to pass on the power of the Guardian to someone else. So she found a man and got pregnant with his child, deciding to pass on the power of the Guardian to her child.

At this time, the Great Demon King Sargeras was about to invade the Sky World. This time, the Sargeras, an unprecedentedly powerful demon who used his immense power to defeat all the Pit Lord, unify the entire Abyssal Hell, and become the first Demon King. He then assembled the demons of the Abyss into an incredibly vast army— the Burning Legion —and led Burning Legion to invade the Sky World. There, they encountered the Guardian Aegwynn, and a great battle ensued between Sargeras and the Guardian.

In the end, even the Demon King was no match for the Guardian and was blasted into dust by Aegwynn. However, the Demon King was no ordinary being. Although his physical body was destroyed, his soul did not dissipate but instead secretly entered Aegwynn's body.

When Aegwynn gave birth to her child, Sargeras's spirit also Possession the child, who was Medivh.

Later, Aegwynn passed on the power of the Guardian to her son Medivh. The Council of Tirisfal dared not speak out, for fear of the Guardian's immense power, and could only acquiesce to this.

Medivh showed no signs of wrongdoing after reaching adulthood. Sargeras's soul lay dormant, waiting for its opportunity. It wasn't until the Orcs launched a massive invasion that Sargeras finally awoke, corrupting Medivh. The combination of the Demon King's soul and the Guardian's power was incredibly powerful. Sargeras used the Guardian's power to easily and secretly purge the entire Council of Tirisfal and colluded with the Orcs in an attempt to destroy or rule the entire Sky World —and almost succeeded.

However, just like the standard ending of all stories where good triumphs over evil, the incredibly powerful Medivh was ultimately killed by a coalition of the Alliance heroes. Sargeras's soul was banished back to the Abyss, while Medivh's soul drifted to the Astral Plane. Medivh's soul, freed from the clutches of demons, wandered in the Astral Plane Plane for many years until he was resurrected by his mother, Aegwynn, using her remaining power. He became a good person again and later helped the Alliance and the Horde fight against another attack by the Burning Legion, doing many good deeds and successfully redeeming himself.

Due to the destruction of his physical body, Medivh's Guardian power could not be passed on, thus Medivh became the last Guardian.

Although he lost the power of the Guardian, Medivh remained a powerful mage, and after experiencing so much, the knowledge in his mind remained. Some even speculate that he may have retained Sargeras's knowledge—those powerful demonic spells.

On one hand, it could lead to the destruction of the world and the extinction of humanity; on the other hand, it involves hidden secrets related to the game. Therefore, Xiao Yu's choice is self-evident.