"What are you, some kind of mastermind?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Dreamshade looked completely confused.
"I was just wondering when you'd finally cave and ask if we cleared The Deadmines—and right then, you sent me a whisper," Gabryell said.
Dreamshade fell silent for a few seconds. Sharp as he was, it didn't take long to piece it together.
"Congratulations on becoming the first team in the world to clear The Deadmines in open beta."
"Feeling the pressure? Not sure how this ends? Don't stress—we'll accept your surrender," Gabryell replied.
"Maraudon isn't The Deadmines. Who wins is still up in the air."
He ended the whisper. The guy was probably pulling an all-nighter grinding to catch up.
"Backtrack. We grind to 20 before we leave."
He didn't take them through the back exit. That would mean re-entering from Moonbrook with everything respawned, forcing them to clear the entire path again just to reach the entrance. Not worth it.
They retraced their route, cleared a few respawned patrols, exited through the main gate, reset the instance, and went back in.
With one full clear under their belt, the second run went much smoother—fifteen minutes faster than the first.
Lunatori's luck held. The second run was packed with drops. Trash alone yielded ten greens, including Blackened Defias Gloves. Hugo's set was now just one piece short—the Blackened Defias Belt from Captain Greenskin.
With upgraded gear, their power spiked. By the third run, they were even faster, bringing the clear time down to around an hour.
"Hahaha—"
"Let's go! That's the last piece!"
On the fourth run, Captain Greenskin finally "cooperated," dropping the long-awaited Blackened Defias Belt.
With all five pieces complete, Hugo was brimming with confidence. "Igor, let's duel—flag up."
Igor couldn't stand the provocation. "Bring it. I'll beat the crap out of you."
"If you want to duel, go to the Ironforge gates," Gabryell said. "That's where Alliance duels are gonna be."
Alliance players dueled at Ironforge. Stormwind gates were basically empty. For Horde, it was Orgrimmar—Undercity saw almost no action.
Carlos, who loved PvP, chimed in. "Igor, Hugo—both of you at once. Let big bro show you how it's done."
Seeing their enthusiasm—and that they were about to hit 20—he added, "It's almost 11 PM. Let's hearth, turn in quests, and hit 20 first. If you still want to duel, go mess around at Stormwind gates."
The remaining quest XP would be enough.
After a full night in Deadmines, the excitement had faded. Their gear was already maxed for this dungeon—no point staying longer.
"Loser buys dinner for the whole dorm tomorrow."
Igor sounded confident. A Paladin who could heal, tank, and deal damage wasn't about to lose to classes without self-healing.
"Don't cry when you lose," Carlos shot back. "Better be ready to treat us to a proper meal."
"I'm going to log off and sleep. I'll play tomorrow," Lunatori said.
"Go ahead. Get some rest. No need to rush—health comes first," Gabryell replied.
Keeping up with four guys grinding all day wasn't easy.
Lunatori hearthstoned back to Sentinel Hill and logged off.
Watching her name go dim, he said, "Let's hearth too and turn in quests. You three can duel after—I'm heading to Ironforge."
At level 20, mages could learn Teleport. He learned Teleport: Stormwind first, then took the Deeprun Tram to Ironforge and picked up Teleport: Ironforge.
With Teleport, a mage could bind their Hearthstone anywhere. Getting back to a city only cost a rune—no cooldown, total freedom.
Level 20 was a big power spike: Blink, Evocation, and Blizzard. Mobility, sustain, and AoE all jumped.
"At 23, I'll start AoE grinding."
He didn't follow the later AoE meta. Instead of rushing Improved Frostbolt, he went for Ice Barrier and Elemental Focus, planning to pick up Improved Blizzard at 22 for AoE.
This was 2005, not Classic. Skipping Improved Frostbolt would hurt group play.
His build covered both sides:
5 points in Frostbolt, 3 in Elemental Focus for hit chance, 3 in Frostbite for stronger slows—setting up synergy with Improved Blizzard for kiting and AoE.
He had to make full use of his advantage as a "reborn" mage.
"At 42, I'll solo Zul'Farrak graves and push to 45."
With 15 years of mage experience, there was no way he'd mess that up.
"In 2005… Blizzard didn't have a slow delay, right?"
It had been too long. Before Classic launched, most people believed Blizzard had no delay at 60. Later, it was nerfed because AoE farming was too strong.
"If there's no delay, AoE farming is going to be insanely easy."
"Blizzard probably never expected someone to AoE farm the whole world on day one."
This was too important—he had to test it himself.
Leaving the Arcane District, he headed toward the commons, but stopped at the Auction House first.
Before testing Blizzard, he wanted to make some gold.
Cloth, leather, ore, herbs—anything listed below vendor price, he bought.
Then gear—same rule.
Then recipes—anything with value, he snapped up. Even junk, as long as it was cheaper than vendor price.
The Auction House already had plenty of level 10+ greens—priced absurdly high.
"Am I crazy, or are they? Level 15 green sword—10 gold starting bid, 15 buyout?"
He shook his head. On day one, almost no one had that kind of gold—maybe a few beta players, and even they wouldn't throw it away like that.
After flipping a few bargains, he listed the extra BoE greens from Deadmines, including the Recipe: Elixir of Minor Agility.
The most expensive listings were the Blackened Defias Boots and Leggings—any Rogue with gold would want those.
After that, he checked his mail, stored valuables in the bank, and vendored the rest.
Total profit: 53 gold.
Combined with his previous 35—88 gold in total.
A nice number.
In real terms, that was already enough to cover a level 40 mount.
Making that much in a single day would've been unthinkable before.
Now, he'd done it in one.
"If Dreamshade knew I had 88 gold, he'd lose his mind."
He was probably the richest player in the game right now.
Normally, a level 20 player would have just a few gold left after training skills—maybe ten at most.
Satisfied, he left Ironforge.
Outside the gates, players were already dueling everywhere.
He had no interest in stomping newbies and moved to take a shortcut down the cliff.
Clang—
A duel flag dropped beside him.
"NoobSlayer has challenged you to a duel."
He paused.
Someone actually dared challenge a level 20 mage?
He moved his cursor… and accepted.