Warcraft story - Chapter 7

Author's note: This is a rather pivotal chapter, and another chunky one. Almost 10k words in fact.

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"Come on, Selessa! You know you want to!" Talanas begged in an obviously fake, desperate tone.

“No. I know it’s out of gratitude and an honor, but you’re not naming your firstborn after me.” She retorted. “Look, it might be ok if I were older, but I’m only twelve myself. Assuming your daughter is born on schedule, I’d be only thirteen years older than her, and it would become confusing if there was another girl close to my age with a similar name.”

“You’ve been avoiding my gratitude for almost six months now.” Talanas’ tone got a bit more serious. He wasn’t wrong. He’d tried offering everything from money to allegiance to make up for saving his wife. “Your father didn’t explain what happened, but he did tell me only you could’ve managed what you did, and you obviously paid a price for it. You were confined to the infirmary for two weeks afterwards.”

She hadn’t even known it was possible to strain herself magically so badly, but it had happened. It wasn’t all that of a big deal, just forcing her to rest for a time. Something she’d explained to Talanas several times before. “It wasn’t that bad. I was fine after those two weeks. I’d say an easy trade for the life and sanity of your wife.”

“Except I know how difficult just staying still is for you. Two weeks would’ve been torture and a strain on your sanity.” Talanas wasn’t giving up. They’d had this conversation several times before, although naming his firstborn after her was new.

“Look, father and uncle both brought me books, and I was asleep for the first three days anyway.” Truthfully, she had been terribly bored and anxious, meditation could only carry you so far, but she wasn’t about to admit it. And that had been months ago. “If you really want to repay me, teach me how to use bows.” She decided to throw a bone to the man, just to get the latest idiocy out of his head. She really didn’t need another Selessa running around. With her luck, it would be some Daemon in disguise.

“You didn’t shoot a bow in your previous life? I thought you were a warrior of sorts? From what I heard, you seem like a master with the blade.” He pointed out.

“We didn’t use bows where I came from. We had…more advanced weapons that achieved the same goal. I can shoot those, but it’s not the same thing.” She explained. “Besides, even then I preferred melee weapons.”

“Alright. It hardly seems like enough as recompense, but let’s go with that for now.” He relented.

“Lessons from the Ranger-General not enough? And I don’t mean one or two lessons. I mean enough to make me good with the bow.” She upped the ante.

“I suppose…” He finally seemed to accept. It had only taken months to come to an agreement. “Well, let’s go then. Might as well start right away.”

-----

“Wow. You suck.” Talanas stated brutally. It was almost refreshing to see Selessa not excel at something.

“Thanks.” She responded sarcastically. “I told you I’ve never even held a bow before.”

“Yeah, but I kind of expected you to at least hit the wall behind the target.” Talanas pointed out. “It’s not a small wall.”

“What’s on the other side?” Selessa asked, slightly concerned.

“Oh, nothing you need to worry about. Even if you suck, the range was built with that in mind. You aren’t the only sucky shot we’ve had to train. I just…your stance was great, and you held the bow correctly. You even seemed to aim correctly. You seemed to have the basics down, and yet, somehow, you still managed to completely fuck it up.” Talanas was almost impressed at how bad the shot had been.

“Well, I have a great memory, and I tried to copy you, hence the stance. I also know how to use other weapons, so the concept of kinesthetics isn’t new to me.” She explained.

"Well. It seems I certainly have some work ahead of me to whip you into shape. I've never seen someone be so good and so monumentally bad at the same time.” He couldn’t help smiling. It was fun finally being able to teach the girl something. He was supposed to be the adult after all.

“Just keep in mind that I have training with Thelion as well. He’s finally had enough of getting smacked around by me and has decided it’s time for me to learn to use a shield. Personally, I think it’s just an excuse for him to finally try and hit me without me having the ability to retaliate.” She complained good-naturedly.

“Can I watch?” Talanas asked hopefully.

------

As it turns out, blocking attacks from a larger and stronger opponent with a shield was a wee bit more complicated than just standing there and putting a piece of metal or wood in front of the incoming piece of metal.

"Come on, Selessa! You can do it!" Talanas cheered as she was thrown back by another blow from Thelion, who was clearly enjoying this training more than he should, judging by the slight cathartic smile on his face.

“He’s right. You can do better.” Thelion commented, casually flourishing his sword. A dull sword, as there was really very little point in using a sharp one for this training. It would only get dull from repeatedly striking the shield. “And by the time we’re done, you will do better.”

"I'm going to remember this the next time we spar with swords." She threatened venomously while reviewing what she was likely doing wrong.

She’d never used a physical shield before. She’d also never fought against anyone using a physical shield. Void shields and psionic barriers, yes, physical shields no. She wasn’t stupid though, and had a wealth of experience fighting everything else, including much stronger and larger enemies. Some things carried over. Parry, don’t block. Angle your shield so that the enemy’s blade slides along the surface of your shield, instead of trying to just stop the attack dead in its tracks. Keep your shield-hand flexible and ready to give some ground to throw off the point of impact and bleed off some of the force. Step into your enemy’s attack to block before the weapon reaches the optimal striking point and to force your enemy’s hand into a weird position. Alternatively, take a step back and force your opponent to overextend.

Most of these were things she did instinctually with a sword. Or at least used to, as her muscle memory had still not returned for the most part, despite all her training. However, knowing something and actually executing it correctly were not the same thing. Just because you knew to do something and how it was supposed to be done didn't mean you could execute flawlessly. She was still being thrown off by the difference in size and strength when compared to her old body. Her relentless training helped some, but the fact that she was a growing girl didn’t help. It was hard to get used to a body that kept constantly changing.

So, now she was being tortured by Thelion, who had some repressed issues to work through.

She was getting better though. Slowly, yes, but she was getting better. While her status as a psyker improved her ability to learn, it was less useful for purely physical activities like this. It still helped, but not as much. She wasn’t untalented when it came to such things either. She had endless experience in related fields, and she was actually quite gifted in picking up such things, but she wasn't one of those weird geniuses who had to see something physical done only once to successfully and perfectly replicate it.

“Always angle your shield!” Thelion shouted. “Not just vertically but horizontally as well!”

He wasn’t just wailing on her with a sword. He was making a genuine effort to teach her. This was simply something that needed to be beaten into your body through repetition and experience. Every block she made was a little better. She reacted just a bit faster and was pushed back just a bit less. Her ability to predict his attacks was perfect, so there was that at least. Now, if only she could apply that knowledge properly.

“Keep your stance wide! Stay mobile, and use your knees to make quick adjustments when necessary! Don’t be stationary!” He shouted again.

“By Khaine, I know!” She finally retorted. “I know exactly what I should do. It’s the execution I’m having trouble with!”

Thelion finally lowered his weapon with a satisfied smile. “I guess that’s good enough for the first lesson. A bit of theory then. Why are our shields so tall and narrow?”

Unsurprisingly, the shields the Spellbreakers used were red and gold, usually with a sun or wing motif. Sometimes both. Sometimes they even had little wing shapes on the sides. Either way, they were all also almost as tall as an adult Quel’dorei, and only barely wide enough to cover someone standing sideways. “Because aesthetics?” She guessed, shaking her aching shield-arm now freed of the shield. The whole hand was tingling, and she was pretty sure there were microfractures in her bones. The Sunwell would help those heal quickly.

Both Thelion and Talanas chuckled at that. "That too, I suppose. We tend to be a rather vain people.” Thelion admitted shamelessly. “However, there’s another reason besides that. It’s actually rather logical when you think about it. Spellbreaker shields are meant to be used for a different purpose than most other shields. We fight rogue magic users, usually one at a time, not large numbers of trolls chucking spears at us. Our shields are not meant to protect us from attacks coming at us from the sides. Most of the time, our targets are going to chuck a fireball directly towards us, not attacking from wild angles.”

“Although that can happen too. I’ve seen mages use arcane missiles in creative ways.” Talanas interjected.

“True, which is why our shields are just one method of resisting magical attacks. Which brings me to the next point. Our shields are usually specialized to resist magical effects and confer some of that resistance to us. It’s not as effective as blocking the fireball with the shield, but if one slips past your shield, you’re not entirely without protection. Now I can already see your next question. Why not make them wider anyway? Because the damn slabs of metal are already pretty heavy, and we also need to be able to move quickly to get in close with our targets. Making our shields wider would make them impossible to move quickly with and limit our vision.” Thelion explained.

“Makes sense, I suppose.” She nodded in understanding. The shield she was practicing with was rather heavy, even if it was smaller than normal due to her being smaller as well. You built your tools to match the job.

"This has been an interesting day. We got to teach two new things to her! How refreshing!” Talanas said cheerily, leaning back on the stone bench he had been sitting on through the whole training.

“Well, why not make it three, though not necessarily today.” She suggested.

“I’m listening.” This got Thelion interested as well.

“I need to learn to ride, and then to fight while mounted.” She revealed.

“Oh, this is going to be hilarious.” Talanas grinned.

-----

“Why are you suddenly good at this? You were supposed to suck!” Thelion complained. They had just finished riding along a track running through the forests around Silvermoon.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you gave me a good mount.” Selessa protested playfully and patted her mount’s head affectionately.

Ba-kaw The black and red hawkstrider she was riding squawked as if in agreement.

In fact, it was partially her fault. Specifically, the fault of the Perk she’d picked up, which allowed her to form a connection with her mount, and for them to wordlessly understand each other. As her Soldier skill was still at the first level, the connection was only tenuous and in its first stages, but it still made things easier. “Besides, it’s not like I’ve never ridden anything before. Just not a hawkstrider.” She clarified.

“You know, if you can ride to a decent level, I could take you along for one of my patrols. Could teach you a lot about being a Farstrider and a ranger, as well as riding in less optimal terrain. You’d also get a better look at things outside Silvermoon.” Talanas suggested.

“I’d need to get my uncle’s say-so, but in general I’m not opposed.” She nodded.

Thelion grunted. "The king would likely ask me to send someone with you, just to help keep you safe. I don't think he'd be ok with just the two of you jaunting around Eversong Woods with troll hunters skulking around.”

Talanas nodded along. "As much as I'd like to say I could protect you, Selessa, and I know you're not helpless either, we should not underestimate the Amani.”

"I'll talk with Uncle the next time I see him." She agreed. She hadn't gotten this far by underestimating her enemies, and she was far from being strong enough for her own tastes, so careful it was.

-----

[You’ve unlocked the Durability skill!]

Selessa glared at the announcement as if it had personally offended her.

The skill was tied to the Body attribute, unsurprisingly, and dealt with all things that made her harder to kill. It improved her ability to utilize armor and shields, her body’s ability to take and survive damage, regenerate, resist diseases and poisons, the sturdiness of her bones, and a myriad of other things. Like all skills related to the Body attribute, the skill was light on knowledge and heavy on performance. Every level and Perk here would make her harder to kill. And after her shield training the previous day, it wasn’t hard to see why the skill had unlocked. Incidentally, it also affected her life span along with the Body attribute.

It also stood in opposition to everything that Aeldari represented. Being an Aeldari was all about avoidance, deception, and misdirection. All the means and ways to avoid getting hit and taking losses. As an Aeldari, if you or your companions were hit, you had already failed. You were not supposed to be in a position to be hit in the first place, and if that failed, you should be avoiding and dodging any blows, not sustaining and surviving them.

The Mon-keigh endured hits! The brutes were not quick or smart enough to avoid them, so they had to evolve both biologically and technologically to sustain them, but the Aeldari were different. Better! And yet, if she wanted to continue her shield training, the accursed skill would also grow. Mocking her. Demeaning her. Well, hopefully, the benefits from the Perks would outweigh the humiliation. Having access to passive regeneration from injuries sounded useful, as did the improved lifespan.

Incidentally, she'd also gotten some hints from the System about her Reflex attribute and Light Weapons skill. Despite training with a bow, the attribute and the skill had not gone up, mostly because she genuinely sucked. Unlike with many other skills, she had never used bows and was not training with light melee weapons, so the skill got no bonus for leveling from previous experience. If she used her sword one-handed, that problem would quickly be rectified, but as long as she was training with just bows, she’d be waiting for a while. Especially since leveling the Reflexes attribute via a single skill with no bonuses wasn’t doing her any favors either. Unlike many other attributes, and much like Body, Reflexes was almost entirely physical, and her previous experience did very little to help. She was also young and still growing, resulting in the attribute’s growth being throttled.

She wasn’t just wasting her time pouting, though. She was also packing her saddlebags as they were going out on patrol. She had enough experience to pack light, mostly provisions, and threw the bags over her shoulder as she walked out of her home. She was wearing simple leather armor and a heavy cloak that was mostly against the weather, and worked decently as camouflage, as the elven ranger cloaks usually were magical.

Her hawkstrider was waiting outside, taken care of and saddled by the servants. "There you are, Onyx." She greeted happily, getting closer to the same mount she'd ridden yesterday. As this was supposed to be a light patrol, the hawkstrider wore no armor. Apparently, the birds had very powerful legs, and due to their shape, had a limited area that needed armoring, so armoring them heavily wasn't uncommon.

Ba-kaw The hawkstrider cheerily squawked and nodded her way as if in greeting, before getting on the ground so that she'd have an easier time setting her bags on his back and mounting him. As soon as she was on his back, the hawkstrider stood back up and started quickly running towards the bridge leading towards Silvermoon. The hawkstrider required no directions or guidance from the reins to do so either, thanks to the Perk.

Their connection wasn’t to the point where she could guide Onyx with just her thoughts, and wouldn’t be for a long time, but the bird was surprisingly intelligent, and there were limited directions they could go. He decided to take the most obvious option and knew that she’d tell him otherwise if she wanted to go somewhere else. Clearly much smarter than the usual animals. Whether that was natural talent or the result of the Perk was not entirely clear. Maybe a combination of both.

Talanas had given her a location where they would gather, and the very early morning streets of Silvermoon were thankfully sparsely populated, so she could ride through the city while maintaining a decent speed. The hawkstriders really were quite fast as well. Apparently, the Quel’dorei had bred them for improved speed and stamina over the long years with great results. She’d looked down on them as mounts, but she was beginning to change her mind. They didn’t have the mass usually required of heavy cavalry, but they had their advantages.

The gathering point was just outside the main gates of the city, where she could already see the Ranger-General waiting. Him and a dozen other rangers that she suspected to be Farstriders just by bearing. She could easily tell that these people had seen real combat more than a few times. They’d spent more time hunting trolls than guiding lost travelers in the last years.

“Princess Selessa.” Talanas nodded with a slight grin, his use of her title clearly meant as a jibe.

“Ranger-General.” She replied frostily, while glancing at the people gathered. “I was under the impression this was to be a light patrol, not a strike force on a mission.” Her words caused a few of the rangers to chuckle in apparent agreement.

“Yes, well, your uncle was rather insistent. This is what I managed to haggle things down to. Your mother wanted a whole regiment to go with you, while the king would’ve sent at least a couple squads of Spellbreakers and elite guards along. I was rather insistent on the fact that such a heavy group would be more likely to get attacked and would rather defeat the whole point of this exercise.” Talanas explained.

She nodded in agreement. “Still a bit of a waste of manpower.” Up close, she noted the clasps holding back the enchanted capes on all the rangers. “Farstriders, all of them. Overkill. There would be so many other useful things they could all be doing.” That too got an approving murmur from the others.

“Officially speaking, all of us are on leave. A relaxing jaunt in the forest is not something any of us mind.” One of the Farstriders helpfully explained. “The illustrious Ranger-General here made sure to only take volunteers. Oh, beg your pardon, ma’am, I’m Lirath, this one’s more handsome brother.” He gestured towards Talanas.

The similarities in their appearance were rather obvious. Both had a bit of ruggedness to them that most Quel’dorei lacked, while still maintaining the long blond hair and refined features endemic to their race. Talanas seemed to be a bit older than this brother of his.

“Now you’ve jinxed it.” One of the others, one with darker and more serious features, joked.

“Well, better keep your eyes open then Dath’ron.” Lirath shot back.

Talanas decided to ignore the two. “The good news is that not all of them will be along for the entire patrol. Some of them will be departing on missions through our patrol. Which reminds me. I wanted us to gather here for a reason.” He gestured towards the impressive gates flanked by two stone towers and the city walls. “This is the first of the two elfgates, or Ban’dinoriel as they are officially called. They are magical gates that protect our kingdom with the power of the ley lines. The other gate to the south marks the border between inner and outer Quel’thalas, as well as the border between northern and southern Eversong Woods. That border runs along the length of Elrendar River, and to the east, Lake Elrendar.”

The gates themselves shone bright in her magic sight. Despite the magical knowledge she'd gathered so far, the enchantments on the gate were far beyond her ability to understand. A couple of things stood out, though. The gates drew power from the ley lines over time and stored it until it was necessary. And since these gates had existed for thousands of years, the power they’d gathered was rather staggering. The gates weren’t unbreakable, but the magic protecting them would need to be exhausted before they could be damaged. The downside was that if they made a new gate, such as the one they planned for the Thalassian Pass, that one would not have the same level of protection for a very long time.

“Incidentally, there are practically no trolls on this side of the southern gate, while the area south of the gate is contested between us and the trolls. Any cities and villages south of the gates are in constant danger of being attacked by the Amani, and the closer you get to Zul’Aman, the more trolls you can expect to run into.” Lirath added helpfully.

While she knew all this in theory, it was better to get to experience it in practice and actually see the things she’d read about. “My understanding is that we’re only patrolling through the inner Quel’thalas this time?” She questioned.

“That is the plan, yes. Although sometimes there are changes to the plan. We should theoretically be safe, but sometimes trolls manage to slip over the river and through the deep forests past the gates. It is difficult, and practically impossible to do in large numbers, but some trolls do manage in small numbers. It is one of the main reasons for our patrols after all." Talanas confirmed. "Now, the southern gate is four days' ride from here, if we were going directly, but as we’re not, this patrol will naturally take longer. Like the name implies, we’re patrolling, not just traveling directly from gate to gate. Mainly, we’ll be gathering information from the rangers stationed in the towns, villages, and outposts to watch over the land, and reacting if there’s any trouble.”

“So how long are we expecting this trip to take?” She asked in confirmation. Talanas had been sparse on the details. “I didn’t pack enough provisions for weeks.”

Lirath nodded in approval of the smart question. "You don't have to worry too much about provisions, as we'll be stopping at settlements to restock and gather the reports. The expected time is three weeks. If all goes well.”

“And nothing ever goes perfectly to plan, so expect at least four weeks.” The dark-haired elf named Dath’ron added.

As the rangers all mounted and started taking some distance from the city, Selessa aligned her mount with Talanas. "What sort of threats do we need to keep our eyes peeled for?"

The Ranger-General nodded in approval again. "In the inner Quel'thalas, you're most likely to run into some wildlife and creatures born of the abundant mana due to proximity with the Sunwell. Lynxes and wild dragonhawks are the most dangerous wildlife. Mana wyrms and treants are the most likely mana creatures to run into, and are generally rather peaceful, but sometimes more aggressive creatures or elementals can spawn as well.”

"And of course trolls." Lirath, who was riding nearby, added.

“And obviously trolls.” Talanas echoed in agreement. “Even if their presence is unlikely, they are the most dangerous foe we might run into. Intelligent foes are always the most dangerous. Local hunters and rangers usually take care of aggressive wildlife, while local magisters deal with the mana creatures. In addition to such dangers, we’ll need to keep our eyes open for any anomalous tracks and growths. I wouldn’t put it past the trolls to try and poison our water sources, just to name an example.”

“In case this whole patrol turns out to be a boring affair, an unlikely danger I know, we can give you lessons in tracking and herbalism. The local herbalists usually handle gathering plants, but it’s useful to be able to identify any useful and dangerous plants from the rest.” Lirath promised.

That’s how the first week of their patrol proceeded. All of the gathered rangers were experienced veterans and were more than happy to show their craft to an attentive young girl like her, not to mention a princess. She knew many of the things they were teaching her, especially when it came to tracking and moving in nature, but she accepted the lessons in good grace. It was useful to get her more futuristic knowledge updated to a world like this. Besides, not all that they were teaching her was familiar. They also all gathered to laugh at her skill with a bow, and tried their best to help her improve, with limited success.

They didn’t push too hard, as it was more important to be thorough and careful than it was to be fast, which left them plenty of time for training. They usually slept in inns at many of the towns and villages they passed through or used one of the ranger lodges between settlements. Unsurprisingly, since most of their race felt safe within the protection of the elfgates, the inner Quel’thalas had a rather high population density, and the distance between them was usually less than a day’s walk, which mostly meant the lodges were a rare choice.

The towns and villages themselves were like miniature versions of Silvermoon. It was obvious the inhabitants had tried emulating the shining city in their architecture. The buildings were round and tall, and almost all were structurally unsound enough to rely on reinforcing magic. The towns tended to be overpopulated, but that wasn’t much of a problem due to the efficient agriculture of the Quel’dorei. Like with everything else, magic was a large crop multiplier for farmers, who were getting rather staggering yields from relatively small plots of land. Part of that was the eternal spring, which made it so crops could be grown all year round, and the abundant mana allowed the land to recover and even flourish despite the heavy use. The climate was also strictly controlled, making it so there was never too little or too much water, and always enough sun. While Arcane magic wasn’t as great at improving the growth of plants as she assumed Life magic to be, it was still quite useful.

Selessa quickly realized that the Quel’dorei could really use more territory to spread out to, which, considering their lifespan, wasn’t a huge surprise. Even if the elves didn’t procreate often, the mere fact that they could live for thousands of years meant that families could get fairly large if they wanted to. It was to a point where, currently, families seemed to intentionally limit the number of kids they had to prevent overpopulation, and even then the towns were full. If they managed to drive the Amani away from Zul’Aman and the lower Eversong, much of that pressure would be reduced. Assuming they didn’t suffer prohibitive losses during the war. That was also partially why so many were eagerly joining the army. Prospects could be rather slim in these towns and villages, as you needed only so many smiths and weavers, and those already present had potentially thousands of years to hone their craft.

“What do you think?” Talanas asked as their group was resting on a hill near a rather large city, and the hill overlooked the training grounds where hundreds of elves in armor were training for the upcoming war.

She ran a judgmental look over those training. "As expected, the craftsmen have done a great job. Their equipment is of excellent quality. The trainees are also putting in decent effort." It was clear that a sort of martial fascination had taken hold in the Quel’dorei. They all knew this war was for survival. She’d noticed an increase in the number of armored and armed individuals in Silvermoon as well, although that could be just a fad.

“But…?” Talanas noticed she had more to say.

"The training methods aren't exactly the most efficient. It's understandable with the time constraints we're working with, but it's clear that our people don't have a lot of experience with war." She sighed with a bit of resignation.

“What do you mean?” Talanas asked.

“It’s obvious you’re all lacking a lot of knowledge that only comes from bitter experience. There’s a difference between fighting skirmishes and raiding parties when compared to fighting a war. If I had a hundred years and the full support of the Convocation and Anasterian, I could show you how it’s really done. I could build you a real army.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “We’re creating soldiers at best, militia at worst. Not warriors. Many of these people will not be coming back if the trolls are half as savage as you’re telling me. They lack discipline and grit.”

“Can you give me an example?” Talanas prompted, frowning heavily. “Of how you’d do things differently, I mean.”

“All of those people are learning to swing a sword, which is fine, but they’re not learning to work as a unit. Their choice of weapons is also faulty. It’s a logical choice for an individual fighter, and we’re agile and quick as a people, which lends to the use of weapons like that. However, we’re fighting a foe numerically superior and more savage than us, while we have magical and ranged superiority. Sword is not the right weapon. Spears and bows are. Swords are great when you’re fighting as an individual, less so when fighting in formation. It takes a lot less discipline and skill to point a sharp and pointy stick towards the enemy than it does to duel him with a sword. Mobility is also important. They need to learn to move as a unit. Teach them how to dig ditches.” She listed the most obvious things.

“Dig ditches?” Talanas frowned.

She launched into an explanation. “Think about it. The most likely scenario, assuming a pitched battle, is the trolls charging us while we pepper them with arrows and spells. Now, what better way to slow them down than to dig a ditch in front of our lines? Or better yet, multiple ditches, so we can pull back behind more obstacles while the trolls are trying to get over the first one? And that’s assuming we’re taking a pitched battle in the first place. If our goal is to match the trolls man to man in a fair fight, we're doing it wrong. Strike and fade, quick skirmishes to pull groups of the enemy into traps, outmaneuver, and defeat in detail. These are just the basics, and to do any of that, we need to teach our soldiers to move as units and with as little instruction and oversight as possible. Unit leaders need to be able to make decisions on the fly to quickly react to dangers and opportunities.”

“That…sounds reasonable. We’ve actually been practicing some of that with the asymmetric warfare you helped us develop among the rangers. This is just the same on a larger scale.” Talanas was quick on the uptake.

"Exactly. Eventually, we'll have to take direct battles, but those should be the last resort, and we should only take such battles when it’s advantageous for us. The best battles are those that we’ve won before the first blow is struck.” That was the basis of Aeldari doctrine after all.

"And what if you were made the king and had free rein to develop our forces? What would you do?" Talanas was clearly intrigued. As the Ranger-General, this would likely be his job, assuming he survived the war.

“Well, the improvements in martial spirit are a great start, but it needs to be reinforced. Quel’dorei can live thousands of years. There’s no reason why everyone isn’t trained for war. I’d make it mandatory for all young elves to spend at least ten years in the service of the army. That could be rangers, rank-and-file soldiers, combat engineers, mounted units, the navy, or even as mages, depending on their talents. Not magisters, but combat mages. This would give everyone a base of martial ability to work off of. Then they’d do a refresher every X years. Not a huge sacrifice when you consider what you’d gain. It would also help reinforce some discipline in our people. I can’t help but notice that our kind can be a bit…lackadaisical? Lazy? Complacent? They spend more time gossiping and scheming or in frivolous pursuits than bettering themselves.” She struggled for the right description.

She knew this to be a sin of long-lived races. Aeldari would’ve been the same otherwise, but they abhorred boredom, and most importantly, a constant state of war for your survival didn’t leave much room for layabouts and slackers. If you weren’t constantly doing something, you were wasting time, and most likely lives. Everyone had to give maximum effort. Saying that, even then, the Aeldari were not exactly quick at adapting to new things and developing new ideas. They lacked the drive. Personal improvement was valued, but societal and technological improvement were less so.

“That’s…not an unfair characterization. We aren't as active as we could be as a people." Talanas admitted. The Quel’dorei had been forced to become more active in the last years due to the troll threat, but generally they were standoffish, smug, and conceited, and those were the more pleasant qualities they possessed.

“Second thing. Reinforce the idea of the honor of martial disciplines. In Quel’thalas, we elevate magisters, and for a good reason. Magic is our strength, and we should elevate and celebrate that. As a result, magisters are what most people aspire to be, though not everyone has the talent. I think we should do something similar to martial disciplines. Not at the expense of magisters, but as an alternative. Having a strong standing army of professional and trained populace ready to serve if and when necessary should be a great basis for whatever we choose to do next. Those are the first two things I'd do. After that, we'd go into turning our soldiers into warriors and our people into something more formidable. Honestly, there's a lot I would do differently, but I come from a different reality. A much crueler one. One where such laxity means death.” Much of what she was saying was something the Aeldari did in her previous life.

"That certainly gives me a lot to think about." Talanas knew implementing such changes would be difficult, but he could also see the benefits.

The rest of the rangers quietly listening in were at first confused about why their leader was asking the princess for her opinion, but during this patrol, they'd all figured out there was a lot more to her than was immediately obvious, and the more she spoke, the more convinced they too became. Suddenly, it wasn't so odd for Talanas to ask her such questions. They didn't know why she had such knowledge, but they didn't need to know. As Farstriders, they were used to working with only what they needed to know. The talk of different realities was weird, though.

-----

[You’ve unlocked the Subtlety skill!]

[You’ve unlocked the Nervous System skill!]

[Your Reflexes attribute has increased from 1 to 2! Reflexes Perk point gained.]

It was perhaps inevitable that with all the new experiences she was having on the patrol, she'd also unlock new skills. As both were tied to the Reflexes attribute, it also made sense for that to go up.

Subtlety was a Skill that mixed knowledge and performance. It dealt with many of the skills related to working as a covert operative and a ranger. The Perks were heavily divided into the two categories. The covert operative Perks improved her ability at stealth, assassination, and more subtle weapons such as poisons and thrown weapons. The ranger perks more about tracking and wilderness survival. They included things that would help her survive in harsh conditions, and oddly, about having a pet, which seemed a little out of place. The pet Perks were very obviously different from the mounted Perks from the Soldier Skill, and the two didn’t seem to stack. The skill also covered gathering skills like skinning and mining.

The Nervous System was less of a skill and more of a performance enhancer, and as such, entirely performance-based. It was the one that most drew her attention. It was the skill that he most heavily associated with the attribute Reflexes. Despite the slightly odd name, it dealt with her ability to react to danger and to avoid and dodge attacks aimed at her. Something she was much more familiar with than the Durability Skill in Body. The skill also had another branch of Perks related to perception. Spotting danger and the ability to track fast threats with her eyes.

It was not hard to see why she'd unlocked the two skills. She'd been learning ranger-related knowledge, and she'd also been keeping her eyes peeled for danger. Oddly enough, she'd been watchful ever since she'd awoken in this new body, so it was a little odd that it only unlocked now, but perhaps the System didn't really consider her paranoia to be a valid reason when she was in a safe environment. Surely, now that it had unlocked, it would gain levels quite quickly? Perhaps it required her to be somewhere with danger present?

[Correct! The System does not reward you for your trauma-based behavior. You’ve spent most of your time on the Sunstrider Isle, which is basically a private island housing loyal servants and guards, whatever those servants might have thought about you personally. It also has magical defenses against stray monsters. The Isle of Quel'Danas is the most protected place in the kingdom, so no danger there either. Even while you were in Silvermoon, no one really wanted you dead or harmed. Some might see you generally as an obstacle politically, but only in an abstract sense, and no one hated you enough to want to see you dead. Until now, you haven’t really been in surroundings where you needed to keep wary, hence why you only got the skill now.]

Huh. The System actually answered her. She wasn’t sure she liked the quip about trauma-based behavior, but it wasn’t like that had been wrong.

She quickly placed the Perk point into the Nervous System Perk Keen Eyes, which vastly improved her ability to track fast-moving objects with her senses, especially her eyes. As the Perk was so focused, the effect was much greater as well. Being able to see something was the prerequisite for reacting to it. In her previous life, she could accurately track the movements of Primarchs, Phoenix Lords, and the Greater Daemons. That ability had not gone away entirely, but without her psionic might, it had deteriorated to a lower level. She could track the movements of Quel'dorei, who were agile as a race, but they weren't the fastest beings around, and she doubted she would be able to follow the fastest elves fully as she currently was. Her skills with a blade could compensate for a lot, but not if she couldn't even track her enemies.

So, until she regained some of her abilities, the Perk was a safety net. It also happened to be a prerequisite for other perception-based Perks.

Despite focusing on other things, she’d never for a moment let her awareness of her surroundings falter, and likely never would. As a result, her instincts were suddenly telling her something was wrong. She halted her mount in an attempt to hone in on what exactly had tripped those instincts. There didn’t seem to be any immediate danger, but something was wrong.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one, as no one questioned why she was stopping, and everyone was nervously gazing at the forest around them. "Something's wrong." Dath'ron voiced what many of them were thinking.

"It's not hunting us," Selessa stated immediately, with firm conviction. "But we are being watched."

“What is?” Lirath asked, prompted by the idea of something hunting them.

“Whatever is causing this feeling.” Talanas stated firmly.

As the one with experience with aerial and even orbital surveillance, Selessa was the first one to spot something in the sky. “Talanas, do I recall correctly that the Amani use giant bats as mounts?”

Understanding immediately, Talanas’ eyes snapped to the sky as well. “You’re quite right. A bat rider is watching us. But why?”

"We're close to Lake Elrendar and Noonstar village." Lirath pointed out.

Selessa turned to the nearest ranger and spoke in a demanding voice. “Explain the significance.”

“Lake Elrendar is the largest lake in all of Quel’Thalas, running the length of half the kingdom. We have several settlements on the shores, both in inner and outer Quel’thalas. The only Amani settlement north of the elfgate is on the eastern shore, and it’s questionable if that area is even considered inner or outer Quel’thalas. I think the settlement is called Tor’Watha. We have heavy Farstrider presence both north and south of the trolls, and a small handful of ships patrolling the lake to make sure they don’t make any attacks across.” The ranger obliged.

“Why exactly have we allowed the trolls to settle such a strategic location?” She demanded angrily.

“Well, there haven’t been large enough engagements with the trolls to really justify excising Tor’Watha before now, and remember, we’ve been trying to avoid a war. Or at least we were trying before now. The settlement is entrenched in the mountains, making its removal difficult.” Talanas explained, before continuing. “We need to pick up speed. If there’s a scout here, then he’s here for a reason. And Noonstar is the most likely reason.”

"Keep your eyes peeled, we might be riding into an ambush," Lirath warned, mostly for Selessa's benefit, as the Farstriders were experienced enough to know that without being warned. So was she, but he didn’t know that.

“The scout has spotted us picking up speed and is moving ahead to warn the enemy.” Selessa suddenly warned, having kept an eye on the bat.

Talanas squinted. “Even I can’t shoot that high. He’s keeping his distance on purpose.”

“Permission to try?” Selessa requested.

“You can’t hit a barn from the inside.” Lirath jokingly pointed out.

"Now with a bow, but with magic." Selessa sent a tiny icicle at the man, who dodged easily, even while mounted.

“Take a shot if you think you can.” Talanas approved.

Normally, the enemy would be way out of range to be targeted, let alone hit, but Selessa had reached a point where she could make slight modifications to spells, and targeting someone that was within her vision range was within her abilities. That her vision range had just grown significantly was rather fortunate. And she didn’t really need to aim with arcane missiles, as the projectiles would seek the target under her guidance.

A large-ish purple magical formation appeared above her hand, and several dozen sharp projectiles shot off towards the bat. The spell lacked some power from this distance, which is why she'd shot so many. The rider noticed the projectiles as they were closing in and tried to evade, but that was the advantage of arcane missiles. Avoiding them would only delay the inevitable, and the inevitable eventually happened. Once the first projectile found its mark, the rest soon followed. As it happened, her missiles had extra oomph thanks to the Massive Spells Perk and tore the bat apart, causing the rider to helplessly plummet towards the ground, where he eventually met his end.

[You’ve gained 250 EXP!]

[Warning! The System is still partially inactive. EXP is stored and will be granted once the relevant part of the System unlocks.]

‘Excuse me?’ Selessa thought to herself. ‘I’m getting some sort of exp? And from kills no less? Oh, this is not good.’ She knew enough about herself that giving her even more reason to be a genocidal bitch was not good for anyone involved.

After twenty minutes of rather hard riding, they crested a hill that allowed them a view of the lake and its surroundings. And what greeted them was a real mess. The village was obviously under attack, with green-skinned trolls running rampant through the streets, with the air thick with war cries and screams from the elves. The town had obviously been home to several hundred people.

On the lake, two sleek elven destroyers fired arrows and spells at the troll war canoes. They’d had some success, with troll bodies floating in the water, and the remains of half a dozen canoes drifting on the surface. On the other hand, there were also the remains of a single destroyer still on fire, and in the process of sinking, while the remaining two were being harried by a large pack of bat riders, only kept at bay by the archers on the ships. Several of the troll canoes were beached in the village, while it seems the trolls were dragging the screaming elves towards them. The attack seemed recent and still very much in progress.

Talanas gave her a quick glance, an obvious struggle warring on his face. Twin duties fighting. He was ordered to keep her safe, but it was also his job as the Ranger-General to protect the people of Quel’thalas.

She solved the dilemma for him. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to intervene. It would be a shame if I had to do it alone."

Talanas grimaced but nodded in understanding. “Lirath, your job is to keep her safe. For Quel’thalas!”

Their hawkstriders quickly started crossing the distance between the hill and the village, and it soon became obvious why Talanas was the Ranger-General. The bow he wielded suddenly glowed with power, and he started firing arcane-infused arrows from a distance that must've been well over a kilometer. Each arrow found its mark, and sometimes wasn’t content with taking a single troll down, penetrating through several. The bow obviously was extremely powerful, and Selessa estimated it to be at least on the level of her sword, which was saying a lot.

The trolls weren’t entirely without response, as after a dozen shots, a large figure of stone and earth dragged its way out of the ground, blocking most of the shots. This was the first genuine earth elemental she had seen, as the Quel’dorei usually used only water and fire elementals, and even those sparingly. That wasn’t to say she had no response to the hulking figure. Spellbreakers were trained to fight such conjured beings, and while she wasn’t an official Spellbreaker yet, that was mostly due to her age and lack of martial training.

She gestured towards the elemental with her hand, taking hold of the mana holding it together, and quite literally tore it away, shattering the elemental in the process. The troll shaman summoning the elemental had likely not expected it, or they would've put up more of a fight. Rare was the troll subjected to the methods of the Spellbreakers. Either way, she could see a hunched, old-looking troll collapse as the backlash hit him.

[You’ve gained 400 EXP!]

[Warning! The System is still partially inactive. EXP is stored and will be granted once the relevant part of the System unlocks.]

'System, can you hold the announcements until after the battle?' She requested, and while she got no response, she got the sense that her request had been approved.

By that point, they’d crossed half the distance, and the rest of the rangers showed their mastery of the bow. She could guess that bowmen of the other races likely wouldn’t even be able to shoot this far, but the enchanted bows of the elves not only reached that far, but also hit what they were aiming at with almost perfect precision.

The trolls were not just standing there taking it though. They had their own ways of countering the elves. Many of the green-skinned humanoids with large tusks jutting from their mouths pulled out shields to cover themselves, and while the trolls didn't have the agility of the elves, that didn't make them wholly unable to dodge arrows shot from such a large distance. Only Talanas' and, surprisingly, Dath’ron’s shots seemed to be fired with such arcane speed and mastery that not only were the trolls completely unable to dodge, but the shields also became useless.

The elves in the town weren’t all going down without resistance either. Even if it was a relatively small village, Noonstar had trained some of their people for battle. Small pockets of armed resistance were pushing back against the trolls with some success. The individual elves were holding their own, but they were vastly outnumbered. A pair of arcane towers stood on the shore, apparently there to protect against such invasions, but Selessa couldn’t tell how much success they’d had because one of them was destroyed, another earth elemental collapsed in the ruins, while the other one was damaged enough to be non-operational.

The trolls had been ahead in the battle, but the sudden arrival of a dozen experienced Farstriders, and especially Talanas, swung the balance heavily in the other direction. The trolls realized this too, as they grabbed whatever elves they could get their hands on and started dragging them towards the shore. “They’re withdrawing.”

With a frown, Selessa created another large spell formation, and another swarm of arcane missiles was shot off, this time flying off in a wide arc, before plummeting through the canoes beached on the shore. "Let's see them escape with holes in their boats." She growled before pulling out her sword.

Instead of using it just as a sword though, she placed the sheath at the base of the pommel, and the two suddenly magically merged, and the sheath extended, leaving her with a weapon that was clearly a polearm of sorts with a slightly curved sword on the other end. To others here, it would've looked odd, but she recognized it as the Executioner Spear of the Aeldari Banshee Exarchs. A weapon she had wielded for so long she’d stopped counting the years. Or at least a version of it. She'd requested this particular enchant herself.

The air around her changed as she donned her 'war mask', her eyes glowing with resolve and the promise of doom for her enemies. Nearly everyone on the battlefield could suddenly feel a shiver down their back, as if a predator had suddenly set their eyes on them. “For Quel’thalas!” She called out before their group was among the trolls, and their weapons started reaping lives.

Her System skills might not value her mounted combat abilities highly, and they were somewhat right. She was unused to fighting on top of a living mount. She’d fought countless times on a hoverbike though, and while that was somewhat different, there were still enough similarities.

Lirath struggled to keep ahead of her, but he knew his protections were largely superfluous. There was something in the way Selessa fought that unnerved him. Every strike from her was made to kill. She didn't charge in at the front. She rode in the back of their formation. Silent and deadly, each movement measured. Most of the time, she didn't even engage, letting the rangers clear out any trolls. Every time she did interfere, the fight she interjected herself into ended instantly, her strikes landing with extreme precision. Until they reached the beach, where the troll presence was the heaviest, mixed in with captured elven civilians.

For the first time, she moved up front, jumping off her mount. She moved fast. More quickly than her small body should be able to. Faster than anything Lirath had ever witnessed. Not with the ferocity of a troll berserker or the agility of the rare few elven masters, but with precision and efficiency. Every movement was perfectly measured and meticulous. Calculated. As if following some pattern only she seemed to comprehend. The trolls barely had the presence of mind or time to react. First trolls fell before they even realized someone was attacking them, focusing on Lirath and the Farstriders instead. Their presence almost like a deliberate distraction, a sleight of hand. A distraction they were more than happy to provide, their arrows and swords falling on the trolls.

Those trolls that seemed to understand what was happening were always the first to go, sowing further chaos among their disorganized ranks, their heads silently falling off their shoulders. By the time the trolls might have figured out the danger in their midst, the elven defenders of the village staged a dramatic charge to rescue their kinsmen, another perfect distraction.

By the time it was over, the trolls folded like a house of cards, confusion and disorganization taking the fight out of them. What should've been a difficult battle turned much simpler when every troll that tried to organize a resistance, as well as every possible hostage taker, found themselves silenced. Only those elves that had been captured and were able to witness her in action had any idea what had happened. No troll prisoners were taken, no quarter was given. Every troll on land was executed.

As she walked out of the mess of crying elves and troll bodies, her hair and clothes were covered in blood. Talanas nodded in understanding. “I see now what you mean about distraction.”

“Or at least you’ve caught a brief glimpse of it at least.” She nodded back in approval. She looked at her own blood-soaked form and made an exasperated sound. “This is what I get for being so rusty and weak.”

Once she got close to him, Onyx just gave her a look and stepped away in clear displeasure. “Yeah, fair enough. I’m going to need a bath. Going to need a change of clothes from the saddlebags though. These are not salvageable, even with magic.” She pointed out.

The hawkstrider seemed to consider that for a moment, before finally stepping close enough for him to grab her bags. That was also about the time her battle focus started to wane, as she allowed herself to register all the wails and cries of the people around her.

Children crying over their wounded or dead parents. Other parents in turn crying over their children's bodies. Husbands, wives, friends, family. All kinds of loss. It was always a tragedy, and always something she hated, even if it was something she had grown dull to. Yet, something in the genuine grief of these people struck a chord with her. Unlike the Aeldari, these people were not used to loss. They had not grown dull and accustomed to having their loved ones ripped from their arms. These were not people used to war. And that made their grief even more raw.

Even her heart was moved, wishing she could do something for them. Even if she could not bring back the dead, at least help heal the wounded. She knew she had transferred most of her desire and will to protect her people from the Aeldari to these Quel'dorei. Maybe not the healthiest way to deal with things and cope with her loss, but it was what it was. And that will to protect was growing along with the cries of pain, both physical and emotional, around her.

And then she heard the whispers. Of some beings far away, reaching forward and offering a way. Offering a hand. As a former master of wielding the Warp, she knew the dangers of voices whispering promises, as those voices were almost always daemons. Except, she could feel it was not the case this time. The knowledge granted to her by the Magic attribute told her this was the power of Light.

Light was not an evil power, but it wasn't inherently good either. It tended to be benevolent, but in the same way a supreme authority could be benevolent to those serving under them. A power that saw suffering and death as waste, and a slight against its principles. It was a power that could be used to harm as easily as to heal. It relied on the wielder’s willpower and faith in their abilities and cause, all of which she had in spades. In fact, she wouldn't be here if she hadn't had enough willpower and faith to work as a conduit for a higher power to strike down another. In a way, there was no one more familiar than her when it came to working as such a conduit, and if a power like that promised her a way to protect her new people? Why not.

'And what do you expect in return?' She mentally pushed the question towards the power reaching towards her. She could sense it was a power reaching over the entire creation, searching for those able and willing to channel it.

She could feel the connection between them strengthening every moment, partially because she was used to such communication over stellar distances and channeling such powers. She could sense there was an intelligent mind behind the power reaching towards her, and she got a brief idea of a name. Naaru. She could tell the being was hesitant to answer, unused to such a direct query, but also intrigued by her obvious potential to wield this power.

Finally, she got an answer of sorts. 'Light fights the Void.' With it came an accompanying thought of the servants of the Void wishing ill on all the living.

She didn’t need to form a contract to fight enemies that wanted to undo her and her people. She’d spent her entire previous life fighting the ruinous powers, and would strike them down instinctively even now. If someone wanted to provide her with free power to do so, then who was she to argue? As long as it was clear that she was no one’s minion to order around. This would be a partnership at best. And if they wanted results, let her do her thing.

Apparently, her terms were acceptable as a new power suddenly flowed into her body. Slowly at first, but the trickle was already starting to turn into a stream and would eventually turn into a flood. Apparently, her nature was quite suited to this new power. And the Naaru seemed to approve of her willingness to strike at her enemies and those who endangered her people.