In Valoran, the number of Minotaurs is very small compared to humans. The three thousand Minotaurs that Aiden summoned in Durnholde Keep some time ago accounted for half of their entire population. Among these three thousand Minotaurs, seventeen hundred strong Minotaur warriors will travel with the fleet to Kalimdor to rescue their 'compatriots' in Azeroth.
Accompanying them are two thousand human soldiers, most of whom are marine corps from Noxus, as they have experience in landing operations.
To transport a force of nearly four thousand people at once, Aiden also summoned almost the entire Bilgewater "Free League Fleet"—which was essentially the naval fleet organized by pirates near Bilgewater to resist other city-states and forces. A total of more than sixty sea vessels, large and small, sailed downriver and entered the sea from Southshore pier.
Even though Southshore is usually bustling with ships, people had not seen such a massive fleet in many years—before this, only Kul Tiras could mobilize so many warships.
The flagship of this fleet was a bizarre three-masted sailing battleship. Its bow was a huge and terrifying skull. It was larger than all the other ships, with a hull length exceeding one hundred and fifty feet. Moreover, it had no exposed oars and did not seem to rely on manpower for propulsion. It had two layers of gun decks on both sides, totaling 64 gun emplacements. The gleaming gun barrels reflected a cold light, sending chills down one's spine.
This ship could provide four times the firepower of ordinary warships. Even Kul Tiras, a naval power, did not seem to have such a warship.
The people of Southshore were very curious about the origin of this ship—if there were people from Valoran present, they would surely tell these people of Azeroth: this is the infamous pirate ship "The Dead Pool"! The warship that Gangplank, the scourge of the seas, "inherited" from his father, Vincent the Shadow. It is also the most powerful battleship in Valoran!
Gangplank, holding a bottle of rum, looked at the surrounding warships and laughed: "The sea is where I belong!"
The Minotaur Alistar grunted sullenly: "Get the ship moving, you little whelp!"
Gangplank glared at him, then he thought of the unbearable drinking agreement from before. Enduring his anger, he signaled the flagman to send the signal:
Raise the sails, set sail!
In the best cabin of The Dead Pool, there were three special passengers:
Karthus, the Deathsinger, removed his disguise and revealed his true form. Now anyone who saw him would know that this was a genuine Lich. He continued to absorb the power from the Soul Stealer's Scroll, and in another ten days or so, he would be complete.
Another was Hecarim, the Shadow of War. He paced tirelessly in the cabin, as if patrolling his territory. His image was very similar to a Centaur, a ghost from the Shadow Isles—every hero with a Shadow Isles background was not simple. Aiden summoned Hecarim precisely because he saw the similarity between Hecarim's appearance and the Centaurs of Azeroth.
The last one was Fizz, the Tidal Trickster, who was riding backward on a chair, listlessly twirling his Seastone Trident, appearing somewhat dispirited.
"You guys are so boring—" Fizz complained, looking at Hecarim circling around and Karthus reading quietly.
Fortunately, Fizz sensed that the ship was finally moving slowly. He jumped up excitedly, as long as he left the coastal area, he could return to the sea!
The ocean was his favorite place!
The reason Aiden summoned Fizz was to have him escort the fleet. Fizz was also very confident that he could do it!
—
This trip to Quel'Thalas did not involve any danger. Aiden only brought Kayle, plus Jaina who was already in Durnholde, and the three of them headed directly north, arriving at Stratholme as scheduled. They met Uther at the headquarters of the Silver Hand. Then, escorted by a team of paladins and high elf rangers, they passed through the Ghostlands.
However, before entering Eversong Woods, their party was stopped.
Uther stepped forward to state their purpose, but the ranger-general who stopped them replied stiffly: "I know your identities, but His Majesty the King has already ordered a ban on contact with you humans. Please return!"
Uther frowned, he had to raise his voice: "Please be sure to convey the message to His Majesty Anasterian that we are here on behalf of the Alliance. This is a major event concerning the survival of the High Elf kingdom, are you sure your king doesn't want to hear it?"
The ranger hesitated.
At this time, the ranger of the "Silver Covenant" high elf volunteers who was escorting Aiden and the others came out and said to his compatriot: "Aedry Sunshadow, please believe me, the king needs to see them. Silvermoon City must be warned! I have personally seen some terrible things. Even if nothing else, you should trust me, your kinsman, right?"
The ranger leader, Aedry Sunshadow, saw this ranger brother of his; they knew each other. In fact, the high elf population was not large, and their lifespan was long, which meant that most people knew each other. This person was also an excellent ranger, named Danas Starstrider, and they had fought together against the troll enemies in the Ghostlands. They could be said to be trusted comrades.
Aedry Sunshadow waved his hand to have the rangers behind him lower their weapons, and then said to Uther: "How about this, do you have a letter? I will help you submit the letter. If the king is willing to see you after reading the letter, I will naturally not stop you."
"That's acceptable." Uther handed him the letter that had been prepared long ago.
"Danas, you go with him too, perhaps your experiences can move the king."
Even if these two rangers were fast enough, it would take two days to travel back and forth from here to Silvermoon City. Everyone had no choice but to camp here.
Uther's gaze swept over the elves in the ranger camp in the distance who were wary of them: "Even though the high elves withdrew from the Alliance before, they wouldn't treat us so coldly. It seems that something we don't know about has indeed happened within them."
Aiden guessed: "It might be related to Dar'Khan's matter. Even though he has become a necromancer, the high elves still have this attitude."
Jaina said: "If I were their king, I would definitely unite closely around the Alliance now. The Scourge is not a force that can be resisted alone."
Aiden shook his head, "Unfortunately, they are too superstitious about their magical barriers. There has never been a perfect defense in the world, whether it is a city wall or a barrier, it is useless in the face of stronger power."
Jaina looked at him and asked, "You seem to be implying something. I am a little curious, what about the future of the high elves?"
Aiden saw that in his camp, the rangers of the high elf volunteers and the human paladins, although distinct, did not have any barriers between them. This made him sigh:
"If Anasterian continues to be stubborn, I'm afraid no one can save them. What a pity!"
Jaina's heart tightened. In her opinion, Aiden meant that this almost eternal magical kingdom would… perish?
She felt that this conjecture was somewhat absurd, but she remembered the scene during the Hillsbrad Foothills battle: those were only the tip of the iceberg of the Lich King's forces. Even more terrifying was the threat of the Burning Legion.
During this period, Jaina had been cramming her understanding of the Burning Legion, but the more she understood, the more shocked she became: when its demon master appeared in this world, Jaina could not imagine who could stop the Burning Legion from destroying Azeroth?
Then she looked at Aiden: would it be him?
Aiden did not know Jaina's wild thoughts. If he knew, he would tell her that even when the worst outcome occurred, there was still the World Tree that could save this world.
What he was thinking about now was how to find his path of heroism. He no longer thought about merging the three powers of time, holy light, and nature together, but was thinking about how he could find a new path.
The accidental soul projection during that meditation gave him a hint. He couldn't help but think, could the original intention of Medivh leaving him the notebook be to let him master the ability of an astral mage?
Speaking of which, the astral mage is definitely a very powerful path of heroism. Strictly speaking, this is the power possessed by the Guardians of Tirisfal. Aiden did not receive such a heritage, so he should not be able to squeeze into the middle of the Guardians just by learning soul walking—unless Medivh was willing to pass on all his power to him.
But that should be impossible. Because Medivh also has a son, the future savior designated by Blizzard, his child with Garona—Med'an!
According to the original trajectory, Medivh's power was eventually passed on to his son, which was also the key to Med'an's rapid growth.
Thinking of Med'an, the person with the protagonist template, Aiden was a little envious—his birth destined him to be extraordinary. His father was the astral mage Medivh, his mother was the legendary assassin Garona, his great-uncle was the Draenei defender Maraad, his grandmother was Aegwynn, the strongest Guardian in history, his master was the immortal necromancer Meryl Winterstorm, and he also had the genes of the dark titan Sargeras… Anyone who saw this group of names would feel overwhelmed. Moreover, he himself did live up to the four bloodlines: he became the first person to master the ways of shamanism, the holy light, and arcane magic at the same time, that is, a combination of shaman, paladin, and mage.
Wait a minute!
Aiden suddenly thought of something: a combination of shaman, paladin, and mage…
He thought of his own situation: time, holy light, and nature, which was almost similar to Med'an's situation.
"Could this be the path of heroism I am going to take?" Aiden was a little dazed, "Becoming another guardian?"
Spring returns to the earth. He saw a tender bud of a small grass in the crack of the stone struggling to stretch out, greedily absorbing the sunlight scattered in the forest, and then found that the scene in front of him suddenly became clear—a brand new road was paved in front of him, waiting for him to step on his own footprints.