Thanks to the inaction of the Alliance camp NPCs in the Burning Steppes, who turned a blind eye to Horde players entering and killing Alliance players, Lakeshire in Redridge Mountains became the de facto forward base for Alliance players on disadvantaged servers heading to Blackrock Spire, much like Kargath in the Badlands for the Horde.
At this stage, most players were around level 10–15, with Human players mainly gathered in Westfall. Even the lowest-level tarantulas in Redridge were level 14, and many mobs were above level 20. There were also far more elites than in Westfall. Low-level players coming here were basically asking to die.
Gabryell left Stormwind, passed through Goldshire, went by Eastvale Logging Camp, and entered Redridge Mountains. Along the way, he only saw a few scattered players near the border between Elwynn Forest and Redridge, fighting tarantulas and Great Goretusks.
First, he unlocked the Redridge flight path, then bound his Hearthstone at the Lakeshire inn. After that, he picked up two of the simplest quests that didn't require killing anything. Hilary's Necklace and Missing Tools.
For Alliance Mages, the first true solo AoE grinding spot was the gnoll camps in Redridge. There were plenty of melee mobs there, making them ideal for pulling and AoEing camps around your level.
Gabryell had a wager with Dreamshade. Dreamshade had already reached level 22 and even arranged for someone to level his character 24/7. If Gabryell wanted to win the race to level 45, he had to rely on his future knowledge. AoE grinding was the only way.
Before leaving Stormwind, he had reset his talents. He gave up Improved Frostbolt and instead took Frost Barrier, Elemental Focus, Improved Frost Nova, and Permafrost, then quickly maxed out Improved Blizzard at level 22.
"Let's knock out some easy non-combat quests first. I'll do the rest with the others later."
Without Improved Frostbolt, Gabryell didn't want to solo Redridge mobs recklessly—especially with how many elite quests and elite mobs there were. One mistake, and it would be a corpse run.
He started with Hilary's Necklace, diving into Lake Everstill and searching for Glinting Mud based on his past-life memory.
Blizzard's quest descriptions were as terrible as ever. Hilary lost her necklace. It might be in the lake. There are scary creatures underwater. Could you help her find it?
Without addons, most players would assume the necklace dropped from a mob in the lake and would start killing Murlocs. Only after wiping out all the Murlocs in Lake Everstill would they realize the necklace wasn't on any of them. It actually came from randomly spawning mud piles.
In the past, Gabryell had done plenty of dumb things like that. Killing everything in sight only to realize the quest item had been right next to him the whole time.
The Murlocs in the lake were level 19–20 and had related quests, but Gabryell didn't want to deal with them right now. He carefully avoided them while searching for the Glinting Mud.
He was the only one in the lake, so there was no need to wait for respawns. After checking just two spots, he found the Glinting Mud and obtained Hilary's Necklace.
He didn't go turn it in immediately. Instead, he surfaced for air, filled his breath, then swam straight toward the center of the lake, preparing to dive to the deepest part to retrieve the lost toolbox.
At the bottom of Lake Everstill lurked a level 25 elite. The Lake Everstill plesiosaur. Gabryell couldn't solo it, so he descended cautiously, keeping an eye out to avoid crossing paths with it.
He still hadn't died once. He had no intention of losing that streak here.
Fortunately, the plesiosaur wasn't near the toolbox. Gabryell immediately clicked to loot it.
You have obtained: Oslo's Toolbox.
Just as the system message appeared, a private message from David popped up.
"Hey ogabs, we'll hit level 20 this afternoon. Have you uploaded the full Deadmines clear video yet?"
Gabryell opened his friends list. David, SevenDays, DontPanicHealz, and Susie had all reached level 18.
David's message reminded him. He had completely forgotten to edit yesterday's Deadmines full clear into a guide video and upload it to the guild's TS server.
"How far are you guys from 20?"
David and his group were among the top players in the guild. Gabryell intended to train them as core members.
"Level 18, 78%."
Fast leveling. Not just grinders—they had the time too. Perfect candidates for a progression team.
"Who's your fifth?"
"MushroomHunter."
Gabryell checked the guild list. A Night Elf Druid, level 17.
"Two Warriors, one Druid, one Priest, one Paladin… that comp is terrible for dungeons."
It was the classic mistake of new players. Picking classes based on preference instead of understanding roles. In Vanilla, Druids, Priests, and Paladins were best suited for healing in dungeons.
Three healers in a five-man party. What, planning to heal the boss to death?
"You guys don't have enough DPS. I suggest splitting into two groups. You and Susie each tank a group. Each group brings either a Priest or Paladin. The Druid can pair with the Paladin to make up for the Paladin's weaker group healing."
David sounded miserable. "Ogabs… there are only five of us."
"There are over a hundred people in the guild. You can group up with others."
Gabryell wanted guild members to level and run dungeons together. It would build relationships and improve coordination for future raids.
He checked the roster again. Among the hundred-plus members, aside from David's group, there were seven level 18 players and one level 19 player.
The level 18s were: DesertWanderer, OneShotCrit, FirstDate, OliveDrab, DeathScum, TwinBleeds, Intriguing
The level 19 player was Milo.
Wait.
Something clicked.
"Milo… is a Gnome?"
Gabryell suddenly realized. The Mage named Milo he had added in Stormwind wasn't Human. He was a Gnome.
He remembered Milo had been around level 7 when he joined. The highest among the first batch of recruits.
Being able to take the Deeprun Tram from Ironforge to Stormwind at level 7 meant Milo was likely a beta player. But why had he gone there?
And more importantly… Milo had never spoken in guild chat.
Gabryell thought it over carefully. Since joining, Milo had indeed never said a single word. That raised suspicion. Was he a spy from another guild?
"Are you there?"
Gabryell sent him a private message.
"Yeah."
Milo replied immediately.
"Were you a beta player?"
"Yes."
Cold, minimal answers.
"You're a Gnome. Why did you come to Stormwind at level 7?"
Milo's reply was unexpected.
"I saw someone in a game TS server. A Human player on the same server didn't know how to do a quest at Northshire Abbey. So I took the tram over to help."
Gabryell fell silent.
Level 7. Traveling from Ironforge to Stormwind. Just to go to Northshire Abbey and help a complete stranger with a low-level quest?
"A saint… or full of crap?"
Gabryell knew himself. He wouldn't do that.
He didn't press further. Milo didn't say anything else either. After thinking for a long time, Gabryell closed the guild panel.
Whether Milo was telling the truth or not, he wouldn't kick him.
Time would tell.
A fox always shows its tail. A saint eventually proves themselves.
"Fuck."
Gabryell snapped back to his character. The screen had turned black and white.
His Mage had drowned at the bottom of Lake Everstill.
"My first death… just like that?"
He couldn't believe it. His new life in WoW, and his first death wasn't to a mob—but to drowning.
Even good swimmers drown.
A veteran with fifteen years of experience, wiped out by a lake.
"Susie and I talked. We're going to split into two groups."
David messaged again. "Help us find some high-level DPS in the guild to run Deadmines."
Gabryell released his spirit. Standing in the graveyard near the flight path, he suddenly had a strong urge to grab David's head and dunk it underwater.