The Magic Inn.
At a window-side table on the first floor, this was the seat Jaina had occupied for the past three days.
After class, she would always sit here, watching the crowds pass by outside. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed against the coin pouch hanging at her waist.
Sometimes Antonidas and Krasus taught together. Whenever she saw Allen in class, Jaina would feel genuinely happy. But the moment class ended, Allen would disappear like a gust of wind, vanishing somewhere unknown. No one could ever find him afterward.
She thought he was probably avoiding her. Otherwise, why was it impossible to find him anywhere in all of Dalaran?
"Jaina."
Arthas's voice came from beside her as he sat down across from her with a teacup in hand.
"How was today's History of Magic class? I heard Archmage Antonidas taught it personally. It must've been fascinating."
Jaina pulled her gaze back from the window.
"It was alright."
"Alright?" Arthas smiled faintly. "I've heard Antonidas rarely teaches in person. If the other apprentices heard you say 'alright,' they'd probably chase you down and beat you for it."
Jaina tugged at the corner of her lips in response. Her gaze drifted back outside again.
Arthas lifted his teacup and took a sip, his eyes lingering on her face for a moment.
The firelight from the hearth flickered across her profile, casting shifting shadows over her face. Her lowered lashes left a faint shadow beneath her eyes. Her fingers gripped that old coin pouch tightly.
"The weather should be nice tomorrow." He set the cup down, his tone still casual. "The floating gardens of Dalaran are in full bloom this season. Have you ever been there? I heard the flowers are magically cultivated—one blossom can bloom in several different colors."
"No."
"Then how about I take you there? Fewer people in the morning, and the scenery's at its best—"
"Arthas, you come looking for me every day. Don't you have anything else to do?" Jaina asked softly.
"Hm?"
Arthas froze for a moment.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to realize that all the words he had prepared were now stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
He looked at her.
Her gaze had drifted outside again, like a bird ready to fly away at any moment.
Suddenly, he felt both incredibly close to her and impossibly far away.
Close enough to see the shadows her lashes cast against her cheeks.
Far enough that she seemed as though she didn't belong to this world at all.
His retainers stood outside the inn, their expressions unpleasant.
How dare this woman treat the prince of the Kingdom of Lordaeron like this?
Outside the inn, a man wearing a wizard's hood stopped walking.
After several days of investigation, Kel'Thuzad had confirmed one thing:
There had never been a mage named Ner'zhul in Dalaran.
He had searched through every enrollment record, every visitor registry, even the guest lists of the inns.
Nothing.
There was only one exception—the young man who had arrived in Dalaran several days ago alongside the "princess" of Kul Tiras.
His file had been sealed away. His name appeared in no public records. After arriving in Dalaran, he had seemingly vanished. No one knew where he was. No one knew what he was doing.
Kel'Thuzad suspected that he was Ner'zhul.
That man had destroyed everything he had built.
The organization he had spent so much time and effort establishing had collapsed within days at the hands of that fraud.
The people he had personally recruited.
The people he had patiently persuaded and guided step by step.
After listening to that swindler ramble nonsense for a few nights, they had cast aside their own founder.
They called him "Master Ner'zhul."
They obeyed his every word.
They worshipped him like a god.
And Kel'Thuzad?
His heartfelt warnings and sincere advice had become the bitter jealousy of a pathetic clown in their eyes.
He took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions surging inside him.
Then he lifted his head, his gaze passing through the inn's glass window and settling on the blonde girl inside.
He would destroy what Ner'zhul cared about most.
Kel'Thuzad stepped into the inn.
Arthas was the first to sense something wrong.
He looked up and saw a man in dark robes walking toward them.
There was something deeply unsettling about him.
Arthas rose to his feet and stepped in front of Jaina.
"Who are you?"
Kel'Thuzad stopped walking.
Beneath the hood, his face was half-hidden in shadow. Only a pair of gray-blue eyes could be seen clearly.
Those eyes looked at Arthas, then past him toward Jaina behind him.
"Stay away from her." Arthas's voice turned cold.
Jaina looked up from her book.
She saw Arthas's back blocking her from view and the hooded man standing motionless across from them.
She didn't know what was happening, but her hand had already quietly closed around the staff hanging at her waist.
...
Inside Kel'Thuzad's room, Allen held a wooden raven in his hand.
The object had been carved entirely from some kind of dark wood. The feather patterns were intricate and smooth, every single one carved in meticulous detail.
The texture in his palm felt warm and solid, like holding a small fragment of ancient power frozen in time.
This should be the top fragment of Atiesh.
So it was you who stole it.
No wonder, in the future game, the top fragment of Atiesh would drop from the Naxxramas raid, where Kel'Thuzad served as the final boss. It seemed he had always intended to reassemble Atiesh.
Allen turned the fragment over several times in his hand, then secretly glanced at Emmy.
Her attention wasn't on him at all.
Seeing that Emmy wasn't looking, Allen calmly slipped the item into his pocket without changing expression.
Wait a second. Why was he acting all sneaky?
This wasn't fur or anything. Antonidas and Krasus had personally asked him to recover all the fragments of Atiesh.
Stella accidentally caught sight of the scene and immediately turned her head away, pretending she had seen nothing.
[Side Quest: The Magical Branch (Completed)]
[Objective: Collect more fragments of the magical wooden branch: 3/3]
[Reward: Drawing 1 random mid-circle spell, 2 free attribute points distributed, class level increased by 1…]
[…]
[Draw successful. Congratulations, you have obtained the spell: Locate Creature]
[Locate Creature]
[Circle: 4th Circle]
[Effect: Name or describe a creature familiar to you. As long as the creature is within 1,000 meters of you, you will sense its direction. If the creature is moving, you will also know the direction in which it is traveling.]
[Sorcerer Level 3 → Sorcerer Level 4]
[Unlocked a new feat, 1 first-circle spell, 1 second-circle spell, 1 cantrip, and gained 2 attribute points]
What a harvest.
Standing before the bookshelf, Allen carefully picked through his choices.
[Detect Thoughts]
[Circle: 2nd Circle]
[Effect: Select a creature and force a Wisdom saving throw. If the saving throw fails, you may read its thoughts.]
[Mage Hand]
[Circle: Cantrip]
[Effect: Create a spectral hand capable of interacting with objects.]
Mage Hand.
Allen looked at the description, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
He really was too much of a mage. Even his cantrip was the proper, textbook Mage Hand.
Who would still dare say he wasn't a mage?
[Feat: Lucky]
[Effect: Once per day, you may reroll a dice roll.]
Allen instantly took a liking to the Lucky feat.
One chance each day to do things over again.
That was more precious than any spell.
Easy choice.
[Side Quest Triggered: The Legendary Staff (III)]
[You can tell this is a staff. It constantly calls out to its remaining fragments. Gather them all and claim the legend!]
[Objective: Collect all fragments of the legendary staff: 3/10]
[Reward: Random 9th-circle spell x1, 10 free attribute points, unlock 1 class sequence]
Afterward, Allen continued pretending to search through the room. Eventually, he found another small bundle of letters tied together with a black ribbon.
He untied the ribbon and read through them one by one.
The first letter's handwriting was messy and urgent:
[Lord Kel'Thuzad, although Master Ner'zhul's teachings differ from yours, he has brought entirely new perspectives. We cannot reject him simply because we disagree with his views. Please calm down and give Master Ner'zhul another chance.]
The second letter carried an even harsher tone:
[Kel'Thuzad, this is jealousy. Only after Master Ner'zhul arrived did the cult gain true unity. Look at the knowledge he brought us, and those profound shadow theories. You never taught us such things before. If you truly care about the cult, then you should support Master Ner'zhul instead of opposing him at every turn.]
The third. The fourth. The fifth.
Every letter tried to persuade him.
Every letter spoke in defense of "Master Ner'zhul."
Every letter questioned his motives.
The lines dripped with fanaticism and worship. Any respect for him, the founder himself, had already vanished completely.
The final letter had no recipient.
Nor had it ever been sent.
At the center of the page was only a single sentence, written in gaunt, withered handwriting:
[I will remember this day.]
No wonder.
He himself hadn't come, yet he also hadn't warned the other members not to come.
More accurately, he had warned them.
But no one believed him.
He could only protect himself. He didn't even dare return to his own home.
So what exactly was he doing now?
Allen continued flipping through the documents.
He found excerpts from Dalaran's visitor registry and Jaina's class schedule.
Beneath that was a hand-drawn map marked with the guard post locations and shift rotations along the route to the Magic Inn.
The final sheet of paper contained only a single line, written in the center of the page.
[She waits for him every day. She's waiting for him.]
Oh no.
Jaina, you're in danger!
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