Azeroth Monster Manual

After three hours of trekking, even Kurdran, with his amazing physique, was exhausted. Skarel had already been sent back, meaning this tracking mission was entirely his responsibility. For a King of the Hills, this was pure torture.

To make a rough-and-tumble warrior do the work of a rogue or ranger was only something Kurdran would do. Any other hot-tempered legend would have quit long ago.

But hard work pays off. Whether it was that the Frostmane remnants had their bodies worn down by the war, or that Kurdran's stealth skills were exceptional, he hadn't been discovered along the way.

Grabbing a handful of snow covered in grass clippings, Kurdran didn't hesitate and shoved it into his mouth. He lay prone in the snow, his light gray cloak effectively concealing his movements, allowing him to blend completely with the snowfield.

Beneath him was a bearskin rug, which effectively separated the snow from his body, preventing him from losing too much heat. But even so, the dwarf was half-frozen by the biting winds of Dun Morogh.

"Wh-wh-what's taking them so long?"

Kurdran took down his wineskin, intending to take a couple of swigs to ward off the cold, but found it was already empty. He reluctantly stuck out his tongue, licking the remaining liquid from the opening. His heavy breathing and the two plumes of white air from his nostrils made his rugged face seem unreal.

Finally, the Frostmane remnants who had stopped to rest in the distance started moving again.

Seeing their figures disappearing, Kurdran quickly jumped up. Ignoring his numb limbs, he immediately gave chase.

......

Another hour later, the Frostmane remnants finally stopped. Kurdran dropped to the ground with the speed of an old woman diving under the covers.

"No way, they've only walked for less than an hour and they're resting again?"

The dwarf muttered in dissatisfaction, but this time he was in for a surprise. The Frostmane remnants weren't resting, but rather...

......

"Seer, I'm counting on you."

Bartok supported two injured warriors, and said with a look of guilt to the frail Seer.

Hearing the berserker's words, the Frostmane Seer didn't say much, only muttered something. Soon after, two Frostmane Headhunters emerged from the main group and headed off into the distance.

Seeing one of the Headhunters heading towards him, Kurdran couldn't help but nervously shrink back.

"Damn it, did those blue-skinned bastards find me? No, I have to strike first!"

Kurdran tightened his cloak, one hand already on the two-handed warhammer on his back, ready to end the Headhunter's life as soon as he got close.

Just as Kurdran was gathering his strength, preparing to go all out, the Headhunter heading towards Kurdran stopped in his tracks. After observing for a moment, he actually turned around and left.

"Phew, scared me half to death."

Kurdran rubbed his beard with a wry smile, finally breathing a sigh of relief as he watched the Headhunter return to the main group.

At the same time as the Headhunter returned to the main group, the other Frostmane Headhunter also finished scouting. The two Headhunters stood before the Frostmane Seer, saying something. Immediately after, the Frostmane Seer began to cast a spell. He raised his hands, chanting, emanating an ancient and powerful aura.

"Buzz..."

The ground began to tremble slightly. Kurdran stared wide-eyed at the scene in the distance, unconsciously uttering a surprised whisper.

The previously smooth mountain wall suddenly cracked open, revealing a gap wide enough for one person to pass through. Hundreds of Frostmane remnants quickly walked inside. After everyone had entered, the Seer finally walked in. After a short while, the cracked stone wall returned to its original state with another tremor, leaving no trace behind.

"No wonder... no wonder our stupid relatives haven't been able to find the Frostmane trolls all these years. So... so they possess such great power!"

Kurdran was so excited he almost shouted. He quickly covered his mouth, only calming down after a long while. Slapping his head, he remembered that there was still important business to attend to, so he quickly pulled out a sending stone from his pocket, releasing the meager magic within his body.

......

"Hey, Kurdran, you're not just drunk and talking nonsense, are you?"

Hemet grabbed Kurdran's arm with a suspicious look, sniffing him up and down.

"Bullshit, what about my drinking capacity!?"

Kurdran shook off the old dwarf's grip, saying with a look of disgust.

Ten minutes earlier, Ayr and his party, who were resting at the Coldridge Valley, finally received Kurdran's message. So Ayr, Rommath, Kael'thas, and a team of elite soldiers led by Muradin crossed the short-range portal constructed by Ayr, arriving at Kurdran's location.

If it were an interdimensional portal, Ayr would need a certain amount of time and sufficient materials to complete its construction, but a short-range portal didn't require such a fuss. In just a few minutes, Ayr could release it without using runestones.

But the price was also obvious. First was stability. A large portal (one-time use) could work stably for several hours, or even more than ten hours, but a short-range portal only lasted a few minutes.

Second was the distance issue. An interdimensional portal could even connect to another continent (Kalimdor), while a short-range portal could only cross a distance of several thousand kilometers (here set as a small map).

This also greatly reduced the scalability and large-scale applicability of short-range portals. But with disadvantages come advantages. Short-range portals could produce unexpected results when used in small-scale reconnaissance, infiltration, and other special military activities. This was also one of the reasons why Ayr favored short-range portals.

Kael'thas and Rommath repeatedly probed the surrounding environment with detect humanoid, but to no avail. Seeing everyone showing suspicious expressions, Kurdran almost jumped in anger. He was about to argue loudly when Ayr's voice interrupted him.

"Kurdran is not lying. I sensed an unusual aura from the earth. It's normal not to detect the Frostmane troll's aura. Their seer has erased their scent and traces."

The boy closed his eyes, patiently sensing everything around him. Just as everyone was feeling puzzled, wondering what he was doing, Ayr finally opened his eyes.

His originally azure eyes instantly became empty, and then the empty pupils were instantly filled with strands of black-brown lines.

At this moment, the boy seemed to be possessed by a god. His lips parted slightly, and he murmured:

"Spirits of the earth, heed my call..."

"Rumble..."

A faint tremor resounded from the ground beneath everyone's feet. Hemet jumped back exaggeratedly, holding onto Kael'thas's calf in shock.

If it were normal, the prince would have kicked him away, but at this moment he was already captivated by the spectacle before him, completely unaware of the abnormality on his calf.

A trace of brown light flashed in Muradin's pupils, but it disappeared in just a few seconds. A long-lost tremor vibrated in his heart, unable to calm down for a long time.

"Th-this is..."

The last time I felt this kind of throbbing was when my bloodline awakened, when I comprehended the mysteries of the Mountain King. But at this moment, this throbbing rang out once more, and Muradin felt the flow of his blood quicken.

As the Bronzebeard Prince, the power of the earth within his bloodline was more abundant than any other dwarf, even surpassing his elder brother Magni Bronzebeard (this is based on the Frostborn dwarf questline in Northrend and the Mountain King in WAR3, which both demonstrate Muradin's immense talent).

At this moment, he felt it... the earth was calling.

Just as Muradin was shocked, the originally flat terrain underwent earth-shattering changes.

Boulders rose, and countless frozen earth was transformed into streams of fragmented gravel by an invisible force. As the boy's call rang out once more, an earthy yellow energy completely took shape.

"Respected Guardian, the spirit of the earth of Dun Morogh answers your call."

Looking at the peculiar earth elemental composed of granite in front of him, Aier couldn't help but reveal a playful smile.

This earth elemental, or rather, the spirit of the earth, was entirely composed of light yellow granite. A huge rock formed its head, with two 'eyes' like flames on it. Two large elemental rings were embedded in its thick arms. The lower body was composed of countless pebbles of varying sizes, constantly changing shape in the cold wind.

Feeling the aura emanating from the elemental spirit in front of him, Aier understood.

"An epic-tier elemental? It seems the use of earth power needs to be developed."

At this time, everyone looked at the earth elemental in front of them, which was like a small mountain, or rather, was a small mountain, and their mouths couldn't help but grow wide.

It's no wonder their reactions were so exaggerated, because in this time period of Azeroth, apart from the trolls and the tauren far away in Kalimdor, the legendary profession of shaman had not yet appeared. (Dwarves came much later. The earliest shamans were trolls, then orcs, and finally dwarves and draenei.)

Although elements are not unfamiliar to mages, and powerful mages can even sign contracts with the most docile water elementals, this does not mean that mages can sign contracts with other elements.

The explosive fire element, the stable as a mountain but inert earth element, and the capricious and unpredictable wind element, these elements have never signed elemental contracts with any mortals from ancient times to the present, let alone being enslaved.

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And everything in front of them completely subverted everyone's perception. An earth elemental, an earth elemental who called himself the spirit of the elements, an earth elemental with an epic tier, was now showing an unusually respectful demeanor, and he was facing only an 'ordinary' mortal.

Kael'thas, who had regained his senses, smiled self-deprecatingly, and the shocking emotions in his heart gradually dissipated.

'That's right, the mentor is not an ordinary mortal, even... even gods have become the mentor's spoils of war.'

After psychological construction, His Royal Highness the Prince quickly calmed down.

"Ahem, very good, what's your name?"

Aier coughed lightly, using this to cover up the joy in his heart.

"Respected Guardian, my name is Sabraal..."

The earth elemental's deep synthesized voice rumbled, and the unique elemental language was automatically translated into the common language familiar to everyone under the effect of arcane language.

"Sabraal, can you help me find the traces of those Frostmane trolls? It's that kind of..."

Aier was just about to say some physical characteristics of the Frostmane trolls, but he didn't expect to be interrupted by the earth elemental's voice.

"Are you talking about those blue-skinned creatures? I have some friendship with their prophet, they are inside the mountain wall of this mountain."

The earth elemental pointed to the mountain that Kurdran had just mentioned with a thick arm made of rock, and said in a muffled voice.

"Oh? Is that so? Their prophet actually has some friendship with you?"

Aier stroked his chin and said softly. On the other hand, Sabraal still maintained his previous demeanor as if he had no reaction. The boy's probing did not have the desired effect at all.

Seeing that the earth elemental had no reaction, Aier tentatively said:

"Sabraal, can you help me shatter that mountain range? I mean, shatter the Frostmane trolls in the mountain range along with it."

"Hiss, Lord Aier is really ruthless."

Hemit shuddered and said playfully.

Hearing Aier's words, Sabraal, who had been indifferent, finally stopped being silent, but began to think very anthropomorphically. After a while, he said:

"Your will, Guardian."

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm kidding."

Seeing that the earth elemental was actually willing to carry out his orders, Aier hurriedly stopped him embarrassedly. He was really afraid that if he was one step slower, this honest earth elemental would raze the distant mountain to the ground, and that was not the result he wanted.

"Just help us open the barrier to this Frostmane Fortress, and we will take care of the rest ourselves."

After thinking for a long time, Aier said this time.

"Your will, Guardian."

The elemental spirit, having received Aier's order, did not hesitate, and streams of earthy yellow energy began to converge. Before long, the distant mountain wall completely cracked open, revealing all the structures inside.

"Do you have any other instructions? Guardian?"

After doing all this, Sabraal continued to say in that heavy and slow voice.

"Thank you for your help, Sabraal."

Just like that, under the gaze of everyone, Sabraal turned into a pile of rubble with a loud roar, as if he had never appeared.

Without giving everyone a chance to ask questions, Aier looked at the completely cracked stone wall in front of him and said in a deep voice:

"Let's go, companions, we have work to do."

......

Although the Frostmane trolls put up a fierce resistance, the gap between the two sides was too great. Under the encirclement and suppression of three archmages, a legendary warrior, two epic warriors (Hemit: When did I become a warrior?) and the elite dwarven guards with high-level professionals, the Frostmane trolls, who were only left with the old, weak, sick and disabled, had no power to fight back.

Looking at the three Frostmane legends lying in the pool of blood, a relaxed smile finally appeared on the corner of Aier's mouth.

"Muradin, have you finished the statistics?"

Looking at the dwarven prince walking towards him, Aier asked softly.

"I have already notified my eldest brother to send people here. Apart from 30,000 old, weak, women and children, there are less than 3,000 Frostmane cubs. Commander, these troll cubs really don't..."

Muradin made a throat-cutting gesture, and the meaning was self-evident. If these troll cubs were allowed to live, it would not take a few years for these Frostmane remnants to grow up completely, and Muradin naturally did not want to see this happen.

"It's okay, I already have a good idea. Let's talk about this when we return to Ironforge."

Just as the two were talking, Hemit walked over with a dark, short and stout creature, making a fuss.

"Lord Aier, guess what I found? Ha, it's actually a damned Dark Iron dwarf!"