Duke suddenly, understood why. For the Sun King, if Kael'thas, who was supposedly tall, rich, and handsome (and presumably not entirely useless), was unable to create two integrated magic circuits of Arcane Fire in one go despite such thorough, complete, and royally expensive preparations, it could only prove one of two things: either Kael'thas was an utter, spectacular waste of arcane talent, or the very idea of constructing such a general-purpose magic circuit without the constant, intravenous drip of the Sunwell's pure magic was simply not feasible.
It was entirely natural that the Sun King, in his infinite, fiery rage, would issue such an emotionally charged, password-like command. "Shit! Do we still have to rely on the Sunwell?!" was probably his daily morning affirmation.
However, after the protection measure was triggered, Duke found himself in a new, even more precarious kind of trouble. This wasn't just his problem; it was quickly becoming everyone's problem.
Fire, most of the time, is not a gentle, cuddly, or particularly good thing. It has a nasty habit of consuming things.
The Sun King's Arcane Fire secret technique, a legacy of ancient elven might, not only represented glory, power, and dazzling explosions, but also embodied destruction, tyranny, and an absolute disregard for property values. Duke certainly hoped that his body would tremble with kingly power, that a tyrannical aura would burst forth, making the very elements of heaven and earth submit to his will, preferably with a polite bow.
The reality, however, was...
Oh my god—
The Flame Circuit had decided to make a dramatic guest appearance as a very rude, very efficient robber.
If its own, nascent energy reserves weren't enough, it decided, quite literally, to make up for it by simply robbing other sources. Duke and his perpetually unbothered System AI had absolutely no chance to refute this aggressive business model. The Flame Circuit transformed, right before Duke's terrified mental eyes, into the most ruthless, most unrepentant robber imaginable. Countless tiny, fiery flame spirit lines extended from the circuit, spreading in all directions at high speed, like hungry, glowing tentacles, rushing towards all places with magical energy.
"Puff!" Duke almost coughed up a lung, or perhaps a small, flaming kidney. He certainly felt like it. This wasn't a suggestion; it was an ultimatum.
If you don't rob, you will die! The silent, internal command thundered through him. If you rob someone, you can just clean up the messy, fiery aftermath slowly later! Probably with a very large bucket of water, and an even larger bribe for the academy's insurance plan!
Duke gritted his teeth, a desperate glint in his eye. He decided: either not grab it at all and face an inglorious, self-immolating demise, or grab the biggest, juiciest magical meal he could find. Seeing how utterly ferocious the Flame Circuit was, how could an ordinary, paltry source of magic power possibly satisfy its insatiable, fiery hunger? It was a gourmet, not a dumpster diver.
Knowing very well that the "hometowns" of those little wizards around were like bank counters – full of small change, but without much real money – Duke simply, with a surge of desperate genius, ordered his newly formed, evil black hands of arcane fire to extend directly to the most valuable, most enticing vault in Duke's eyes... Medivh's very own wizard tower!
Yes, Medivh's real lair, his grand cosmic abode, was deep within the shadowy depths of Karazhan. But as the illustrious court archmage of Stormwind Kingdom, Medivh, ever the showman, also maintained a very fancy, very conspicuous wizard tower right here in Stormwind City as his convenient urban base, probably for quick trips to the magical dry cleaner.
Medivh was evil! Medivh was the ultimate boss! Defeat the boss and share the equipment! Isn't this the natural order of the universe for any aspiring hero?! Duke's warped logic, fueled by imminent arcane exhaustion, was perfectly clear.
Unconsciously, Duke had gone a little bit, delightfully, tragically, absolutely mad. He had no idea that he was in a state of severe moral rearrangement, his ethical bottom line dropping faster than a lead balloon in a vacuum. The side effects of this lowered moral bottom line had already affected him invisibly, turning him into an arcane kleptomaniac.
Entering another wizard's tower without permission is the cardinal sin of declaring war on that wizard, young man! The phantom voice of Norton's earlier lecture echoed in his mind, only to be promptly silenced by the roaring flames.
In spite of! Taking the Sun King's magic circuit secret book is already a colossal mess! Now he is still practicing it and attacking Medivh's magic tower?! The most powerful, most temperamental wizard in the kingdom?! A tiny, sane part of his brain screamed.
Ignore! Duke's manic self replied. Who cares!
If the demon lord Sargeras, who currently inhabits Medivh, really loses face and refuses to let Medivh be a good role model of a righteous elder and is unwilling to "magnanimously" forgive Duke, then Medivh, whose wizard tower was just violently attacked, has every reason to personally kill Duke, slowly and painfully, probably with a very large, very pointy stick! The sane voice persisted, but it was weakening.
So what?! It's none of my business! Future Duke's problem! Duke's internal monologue had officially devolved into pure, unadulterated chaos.
Duke was like a madman, a furious, arcane-fueled lunatic, and he directly directed the flame circuit, a nascent entity of pure fire and larceny, to attack Medivh's wizard tower fifty meters away. He pictured himself as a very tiny, very powerful magical commando, launching a psychic raid.
But fate, being the mischievous, unpredictable trickster that it is, seemed to play a very peculiar joke on Duke.
Duke was absolutely ready to rob the place blind! At worst, he could just change his appearance, pretend he was a very confused, very innocent peasant, and run away to a very remote, very peaceful farm somewhere! He already had the pearls, after all!
Who would have known that the thin, greedy thread of mental power from his flame circuit would just gracefully circle outside Medivh's wizard tower, then casually leave, and come back silently, practically burping with a full, satisfied stomach, without having triggered a single alarm?
It did not trigger any magical restrictions of the wizard tower at all! No flashing lights, no ear-splitting alarms, not even a grumpy magical guardian. Just... nothing.
What in the blazes was going on?! Duke, who had miraculously calmed down from his fiery mania, was now about to explode with pure, unadulterated curiosity. This defied all logic, all common sense, all expectations of angry archmages.
The System AI, ever the professional, cut through his confusion with its usual dry efficiency: "Host! After extensive testing, the flame circuit triggered the resonance of 38 mana emeralds and 112 mana topazes. These mana gems seem to... actively provide energy for the flame circuit without triggering the magic protection of the magic tower. They appear to be volunteering their energy. Fascinating."
Duke was utterly dumbfounded: "Fuck, this is possible?! Did I just mug a bunch of magic rocks, and they liked it?!"
Duke knew that "Magic Gemology" was a unique, highly specialized subject in the world of Azeroth, bordering on a niche fetish. Mages, being inherently paranoid, liked to store their daily excess mana in a series of specially made gems that could harmlessly store mana, so that they could absorb the mana from the gems at a critical moment and save their lives, or at least avoid a very embarrassing arcane fizzle.
This was the same principle as ordinary people storing dry food for emergencies, except less edible and far more explosive.
The mana stored in gems would also slowly decay over time, like very expensive, very magical cheese. This was a very long process, usually several months. High-quality gems could preserve most of the mana for several years without dissipating, making them highly sought after by hoarders.
"Host, after scanning, it seems that these gems have Elven carvings on them," the System AI added, with what Duke suspected was a subtle, digital smirk.
Duke instantly understood, and a chill went down his spine, followed by a surge of perverse glee. Sun King, no, this should be the ultimate backdoor, the secret contingency that the entire elves secretly left for their own people. If humans and elves fell out at a critical moment, then it would be a disaster for any human wizard reliant on elven magic. A hidden kill switch, but for mana.
Well, at least now there won't be any evidence left if I steal all of Medivh's stored mana rations, Duke mused, a dangerous glint in his eye. His moral compass had officially spun off its axis and landed in a very dark, very profitable place.
Is stealing things from the evil camp's super boss considered stealing?
Of course not—
It's called enjoying the spoils of war! Even if the war hasn't officially started, and the "spoils" are just fancy magical batteries.
You know what, Duke really, really enjoyed the process of sharing the spoils without actually having to defeat the boss. It was like getting a free, ridiculously overpowered loot drop.
All right! The proud, violent, and now thoroughly stuffed Flame Magic circuit was full and started working with renewed vigor. Comparing it with the ethereal flame magic circuit under the guidance of mental power, a new, fiery ring was forming at a high speed in Duke's body, humming with power.
Like an iron chain, the flame circuit and the arcane circuit were inextricably linked, intertwined in a dance of cosmic power. The flame circuit was derived from the arcane circuit, its fiery offspring, but was very different from the arcane circuit, possessing its own unique, destructive personality.
The arcane circuit was like the earth that supports everything, firm and solid, a foundation of pure power. While the fire circuit was like a sprawling, chaotic house built on that earth, a typical, highly volatile superstructure.
After the mild, serene mana was transferred from the arcane circuit to the fire circuit, the mana would circulate in the fire circuit at a faster, more furious speed than the arcane circuit. In this process, the mana was rapidly polarized, agitated, and became more suitable for use in fire magic, transforming into a pure, concentrated essence of destruction.
System prompt: " Flame Circuit Completed. Congratulations to the host, the creation of the Arcane Fire magic circuit has been officially completed, and the host's magic ability has been greatly improved. From now on, the host's mana consumption for arcane magic is 65% of the theoretical value in the book, and the mana consumption for flame magic is 80% of the theoretical value. All offensive magic damage of arcane and flame magic will automatically take the extreme value, because why settle for less than total annihilation?"
"After further testing, since the mana absorbed this time only reaches the minimum value for constructing the Flame Magic Circuit, there is still room for significant improvement in this circuit. I hope the host can further improve it in the future, possibly by robbing more people."
"Since the host can now automatically absorb free arcane and fire energy within a 30-meter radius around the body, like a very hungry, very magical sponge, the simple mana calculation formula is no longer applicable. The host is requested to figure out the specific situation on his own, perhaps with a lot of trial and error and spontaneous explosions."
After reading the prompts in one breath, his mind buzzing with newfound power, and looking at the two closely linked, furiously humming circular magic circuits in his spiritual world, Duke discovered that it was just as the system prompts said, the Flame Magic Circuit was not yet complete.
Although the two loops were the same size, visually identical in scope, it was easy to see that the arcane circuit was full to bursting with pure arcane energy, with countless arcane streams filling the entire circuit, a cosmic river. While in the flame circuit, only half of the space had flames flowing through it, a promising but incomplete inferno. It seemed Duke still had more "spoils" to acquire.