Azeroth Monster Manual

"Commander, did I hear you right!?"

Upon hearing Ell's order, Muradin stood up abruptly, his face filled with disbelief.

Braine quickly stopped the messenger and said loudly:

"Wait, I think the Commander must have misspoke. It's the Glimmering Plateau, not the Frostmane Hold…"

Before Braine could finish speaking, Ell reprimanded loudly:

"Messenger, execute the order!"

"Yes… Yes…"

The messenger, who had been looking bewildered, hurriedly responded upon hearing Ell's command.

"Commander, you?"

"Muradin, Braine, this is the first and last time. As the Commander, I don't want to hear dissenting voices from my subordinates. The most important thing for a soldier isn't strength, but obedience! Do you understand!?"

The two brothers were intimidated by the aura that Ell exuded and immediately wilted. As Magni's younger brothers, they had served in the military for a long time when they were young, so they naturally understood that obeying orders was a soldier's duty.

"Yes, Commander."

The two men spoke respectfully, though their eyes betrayed their anxiety.

Looking at the two restless rough men in front of him, Ell couldn't help but rub his forehead and sigh towards the sky.

He knew that if he didn't explain clearly, these two hotheads would definitely not let it go, so he opened his mouth and said.

"Kurdran, tell us about the intelligence you gathered yesterday."

Kurdran casually tossed a wild rabbit to his good companion, Sky'ree, and said in a deep voice amidst the faint sounds of Sky'ree tearing at the rabbit:

"Commander, according to the intelligence hastily gathered yesterday, I roughly estimated the number of those blue-skinned beasts to be around 50,000 or more!

Their composition is unknown, their troop types are unknown. Due to the high-altitude reconnaissance, I couldn't see their weapon situation clearly, but I can be sure that their equipment (armor) is very crude. Many of the blue skins are even half-naked…"

Listening to Kurdran's report, everyone except the Bronzebeard brothers had a thoughtful expression.

"Finally, I saw them rushing towards Kharanos…"

Kurdran wanted to continue speaking, but Ell waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Time is tight. We already know the rest of the information, so there's no need to say more."

The young man spoke as he brushed off nonexistent snowflakes from his body.

Just then, the old dwarf's strange cry attracted everyone's attention.

"I know! I know!"

Hemet exclaimed, waving a large piece of venison.

"Oh, what do you know? Tell our two princes."

The young man playfully said as he roasted the frozen venison over the fire.

"Haha, such a simple principle, these two idiots don't even know. They're really stupid to… Wuwuwu."

Seeing Muradin and Braine's faces gradually turning black, Kael'thas quickly covered the old dwarf's mouth, constantly offering apologetic smiles.

"Tch, boring."

Hemet finally managed to pry open the prince's hand, then he seemed to think of something and became happy again.

"You're princes, and you don't even understand such a simple principle…"

Listening to the old dwarf's incessant taunts, Braine really wanted to pull out his long-barreled rifle and shoot the bigmouth.

Muradin also suppressed his anger, but he really wanted to know what progress this dissolute member of their race had made over the years, so he didn't lash out and listened quietly.

Perhaps he had enjoyed his scolding, or perhaps he had noticed that the atmosphere was a little off, Hemet finally ended his mental torture and stated his understanding.

"The reason why Ell is not going to the Glimmering Plateau but to the Frostmane Hold is to cut off the trolls' path."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone, including the two brothers, felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.

Kael'thas angrily slapped his thigh. This old dwarf with a brain full of muscles actually thought of the instructor's idea before he did. It's really…

The prince kept competing with himself, and Rommath also looked annoyed. Such a simple principle, he actually needed a crude musclehead to remind him.

Just then, Ell's roasted venison became hot again. He tore at the venison while making "hissing" sounds, and his fair cheeks visibly turned rosy. He pointed to the location marked [Glimmering Plateau] on the map in Dwarvish and said softly:

"From the known information, we can conclude that this troll force numbers over 50,000, their equipment is very poor, and the reason why Kharanos fell is because the town is open. Although there are 3,000 guards, they cannot effectively stop the trolls pouring in from all directions in the snowfield, even if these blue-skinned trash are half-naked…"

Listening to Ell's explanation, the two brothers showed expressions of realization.

Seeing Muradin and Braine's reactions, Ell nodded knowingly, then continued:

"You're blinded by being in the thick of it. There's nothing wrong with you being concerned about the safety of Ironforge, but your minds are already clouded…

Ironforge is such a magnificent city, can it be taken down by a bunch of blue skins who can't even gather enough equipment? Forget 50,000, even 500,000 can't do anything to Ironforge!" (During the Second Orcish War, the orcs did send out an army of hundreds of thousands. Although they captured the entire Khaz Modan and occupied the dwarves' lifeline, the mines, they could do nothing to the dwarves hiding in Ironforge, so this statement is tenable.)

Hearing Ell's "lecture," the two men lowered their heads in shame. As princes of a nation, they actually needed others to remind them of such a simple principle, which made them somewhat embarrassed.

"Braine just mentioned the Glimmering Plateau, which is a well-defended town with 8,000 well-equipped guards stationed there.

Imagine, not to mention whether they can break through this military stronghold, how long would it take for these 50,000 stragglers to take it down if they could? And how long would it take for Ironforge's reinforcements to arrive?

You need to know that the Glimmering Plateau is less than 700 miles away from Ironforge. If they travel day and night, Ironforge's vanguard can arrive in about 2 days. And do you really think these blue skins can take down the Glimmering Plateau in two days?"

Everyone shivered, and the doubts in their minds gradually became clear.

"Let's make a bold assumption. If these blue skins can't take down the Glimmering Plateau, where will they go? To the Tinker Town of Gnomeregan?

No, there's nothing to gain there except for some machinery. To Anvilmar? Also impossible, after all, there are two lines of defense there that are no weaker than the Glimmering Plateau."

Downing the remaining strong liquor in one gulp, the young man hiccuped contentedly. As if chatting casually, he continued in a relaxed tone:

“Muradin once said that in his 200-plus years since birth, he had never seen such a large-scale looting operation. This also shows that this huge troll army has ambitions, or rather, they have a clear understanding and definite plans. Let's be even bolder, what exactly do they want to do?”

Aier's face was frighteningly red, the rouge-like color spreading across his exquisite face. Unfortunately, everyone present was a man. If Lianda and the little maid saw the young man's drunken state, they would definitely scream and faint.

“Could their target be Ironforge? No, no.”

Brann took off his iconic brown wide-brimmed hat, beads of sweat covering his forehead, wiping them away incessantly. But no matter how he guessed, he couldn't get the young man to nod in satisfaction.

“These blue skins have mobilized so many people, are they just trying to plunder food?”

Muradin asked tentatively. This time, Aier didn't shake his head, but he didn't nod either, just smiling noncommittally.

Just as Aier was about to reveal the answer, Kael'thas, who had been silent all along, finally spoke:

“Food is only part of it. They want a lot more: slaves, gunpowder, weapons and equipment…”

“Clap, clap, clap…”

Crisp applause sounded, followed by the young man's magnetic voice:

“Well said, but still not bold enough.”

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Aier shook his head gently and finally said the answer.

“It's ore. I speculate that their ultimate goal is ore.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. In just a moment, the originally slightly deserted "command tent" exploded.

“How could I not have thought of that? These blue skins are not unable to take Glittering Ridge, but their goal is simply not the hard-to-crack and unprofitable military town.”

“That's right, as long as you take Frostmane Hold, behind it are the completely undefended Gol'Bolar Quarry and the Stonefield Farm!”

“Damn it, so attacking Kharanos was just to attract all of our main force's attention to Glittering Ridge?”

“No, according to the latest intelligence, only the corpses of some old, weak, women, and children were found in the ruins of Kharanos. However, the corpses of the prime-age male dwarves in the town were not found.

I originally thought that all these young and strong dwarves were captured back as slaves, but after Aier's analysis, I realized that these young and strong dwarves must have been driven by those blue-skinned bastards as cannon fodder!”

“It is also possible that these young men are helping them mine ore…”

…

In this way, everyone discussed one after another, and soon completely figured out the rudimentary form of the Frostmane trolls' plan.

“Clap clap…”

Crisp applause sounded again, along with the gradually dissipating faint purple protective barrier.

Snow and wind swept in, and except for the three Archmages, everyone shivered, and their eyes couldn't help but focus on Aier.

“Alright, thirty minutes is almost up, it's time for us to set off.”

Several hexagonal snowflakes swirled towards the flame shield outside Aier's body, and before they could get close, they turned into a few undetectable drops of water, instantly evaporating into a wisp of faint heat and dissipating in the wind.

The young man looked up at the sky, observing the misty sky. After a long time, he said:

“It seems that God is still on our side. This snowstorm is estimated to stop soon, and those Frostmane trolls without a large amount of cold-weather equipment will soon be overtaken by us.”

After hearing Aier's words, everyone was shaken, and then began to act under the young man's orders.

…

The army had been marching for three hours, and as the snowstorm stopped, the sky gradually darkened.

But who was Aier? He didn't stop the army from advancing, but took out hundreds of crystal bottles and began to cast spells under the confused gazes of Kael'thas and Rommath.

The faint blue arcane magic gradually turned into a brilliant gold color under the transformation of the spell. With a wave of the young man's hand, a beam of light brighter than the sun was sealed in the crystal bottle.

Watching the young man's miraculous performance, Kael'thas and Rommath couldn't help but open their mouths wide.

“That's… Light spell!?”

“But, this is too bright, and the Light spell cast by the mentor can actually be sealed in a crystal bottle, this is too… too that, right?”

Aier ignored the whispers of the two "older" apprentices and continued to cast spells meticulously.

Soon, hundreds of crystal bottles like small suns were completed, but Aier was obviously not satisfied, and continued to cast spells.

This time, the spell cast was not the obviously "over-the-top" Light spell, but the Levitation spell.

In an instant, small suns floated into the air, and then flew towards the huge, dragon-like team behind them in the unbelievable eyes of everyone.

A "small sun" stayed above a musketeer squad. Just as these dwarves were curiously observing this strange magical creation above their heads, one small sun after another roared past their heads.

One, two, three… five hundred, until all the squads organized with a hundred men were flashing with small suns that could illuminate a hundred meters above their heads, Aier breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew, not bad.”

The young man looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction, but little did he know that when you are looking at the scenery, you have become the scenery in the eyes of others.

Everyone opened their mouths wide, looking at the hundreds of brightly glowing "small suns" with a look of intoxication.

“It's so beautiful…”

Brann looked at the spectacle behind him with blurred eyes. For dwarves who love adventure, isn't such a scene an alternative experience?

Under the hazy night, hundreds of bright lights shone golden light above the heads of the armored dwarves, illuminating their way forward. The dark scenery around them highlighted the magnificence of this "golden dragon."

But the knowledgeable Kael'thas and Rommath didn't think so. In their opinion, this was simply a miracle.

“Splitting mental power into 500 parts… is there really such a mage?”

Kael'thas murmured to himself.

Rommath on the side said with a complicated expression:

“Your Highness, His Majesty he…”

In a trance, the prince understood the implication of Rommath's words, but he did not beat around the bush, but said decisively:

“If the Sunwell is not taken into account, the mentor's strength has far surpassed Father, no, I am not even sure whether Father can actually… under the blessing of the Sunwell…”

Speaking of this, Kael'thas seemed to think of something, and immediately stopped talking, and Rommath also retreated silently behind the prince with great tact.