WoW story - Chapter 1

The first proper chapter of the WoW story, as I promised. Name still pending.

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‘It’s odd.’ She thought to herself, her breath heavy from exercise, her short legs moving almost by instinct. She loved running, especially in nature. If it could be called that. Both the weather and the flora and fauna in the kingdom were carefully controlled, so there was very little natural about the ‘nature’. That wasn’t what bothered her. As unnatural as it might be, the environment around her was beautiful at least. What bothered her was the peace. She found it both relaxing and unnerving.

She had spent her entire previous life locked in an eternal war. Every peaceful moment was a precious opportunity to rest, snatched from the jaws of countless enemies and costly victories. Unless you were on constant guard, every moment could and would be your last. Even if you were on guard, there was still the constant struggle, war, and battle, and the possibility of sudden and gruesome death. A demon could at any moment tear its way through the fabric of reality, and every shadow could hide a Druchii slaver or a Mon-keigh brute. And the more power and skill you had, the juicier of a target you became.

Here though? Nothing but peace. She should've been feeling relaxed and restful, but instead, she was just waiting for the danger to find her. This place couldn't really be as peaceful as it seemed, could it? Surely there were enemies just waiting to jump her, trying to lull her into a false sense of security? Or at least that’s what her struggle-honed instincts were screaming at her. Except, everything she observed disagreed with those instincts. She was jumping at shadows and overreacting to loud noises, her eyes constantly roving back and forth, spotting all the places a skilled enemy could hide in, but none ever materialized. Only…peace…for several years now. It was unnerving.

Her frequent running wasn't for fitness. At this age it wasn't as important. Fitness was just a side effect. She ran because it allowed her to burn the nervous energy she was constantly filled with. Running allowed her to scope out her surroundings and stay mobile, allowing her to evaluate the terrain and spot defensible positions, as well as satisfying the ingrained instinct that told her that standing still was death. And the exhaustion that followed allowed her to sleep. Otherwise, she’d lie awake at night, jumping at every slight noise that she heard. She still thought enemies were abound, even if that was untrue. It was simply hard to get over the instincts honed over her long, long previous life. And that didn’t even begin to address the nightmares.

The nightmares never ended, and they were varied.

Enemies might not be coming at her, but someone else was, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Uncle Anasterian." She nodded in greeting while leaning down heavily against her knees, panting in exertion.

“You know, most girls your age would smile happily and leap to hug their favorite uncle.” The head of the Sunstrider dynasty joked as he walked closer, wearing a happy smile.

“You’d know I was faking it. Not that I’m not pleased to see you.” She admitted. Anasterian really was much more fun to be around than her conniving mother or her near constantly absent father. She actually liked the guy. It helped that he didn’t treat her like a child.

Her breathing was coming back under control, and the spring breeze wafting through the trees was doing a good job of cooling her down from the run. Unlike her parents, who wanted to be in the political center of Silvermoon City, she enjoyed the peace and nature of Sunstrider Isle. The privacy also helped. As the name implied, the island was mostly for the use of the Sunstrider dynasty, although there were of course guards and servants present. Less than one might think, and most of them tended to keep their distance from her.

“Ah, but I admit it would be balm to my old heart to have you at least smile at me now and then.” Anasterian quipped.

Instead of smiling, she smirked a bit. “Well, if you want to see me smiling, you need to time your arrival better. Catching me at the tail end of my run is hardly the best time to see smiles. Exhaustion and sweat, yes. Smiles? No.” She shot back. “Besides, calling yourself old is just facetious. You’re barely over four hundred. You’ve been a king for little over a decade and barely pass for an adult.”

He grimaced a bit. “While I enjoy visiting my favorite niece, the rigors of court don’t leave me as much freedom or free time as I’d like. And as you mentioned, being a young king doesn’t make things easier.”

With her exhaustion finally under control, they both walked to the nearby stone benches to make themselves more comfortable. “So, what’s worrying you this time? The Convocation giving you trouble again?” She inquired.

She’d noticed that Anasterian tended to visit her as a sort of relaxation exercise, mostly when there was something going wrong or bothering him. Sometimes he’d talk about what had him so worried, possibly just to vent. And sometimes he just came to enjoy the peace and quiet, as well as the lack of complications from interacting with someone who didn’t really treat him as a king. Even his sister, her mother, often had political motives behind their interactions. Selessa on the other hand was too young and too disconnected from such things to try and pull him into some scheme, and as a daughter of the Sunstrider dynasty, she wasn’t exactly lacking in things either, so he didn’t have to worry about her fishing for benefits. That and she’d never treated him as anything other than her uncle.

He looked at her with consideration, probably evaluating if the topic was appropriate for a six-year-old, even if he’d long since known she wasn’t a typical example of someone of her age. Still, some topics seemed a bit off-limits. “It’s the trolls again.” He finally admitted.

She nodded. “That topic has been bothering you quite often lately.”

“The Amani are making much more concentrated probes at our borders than what we’re used to.” He admitted. The Amani were the troll tribe to the south of the kingdom of Quel’Thalas, which Anasterian ruled over as king.

War was something she was quite familiar with from her previous life. War was something she knew all too well. And it also showed this place wasn’t as peaceful as her surroundings tried to imply. “You do realize that if you want to realize your dream, one day it’s going to come to a direct confrontation against the Amani, right? You can’t turn our people into an empire with the dagger of the trolls eternally at our back. According to all the books I’ve read, the Amani will not rest until our kind are driven back to the sea either. It’s them or us.” Existential wars were a topic she knew to her core.

The kingdom of Quel’Thalas was built over the old lands of the trolls. What’s worse, they’d built their kingdom right over some of the holiest sites of the trolls due to abundant ley lines. The struggle between the two races had lasted for thousands of years.

“Well, look at you. You’ve been delving into the old history books again.” Anasterian laughed playfully.

“It’s not like there’s anything else to do between mother’s etiquette lessons and my own training.” She grumbled. For a reason. Her body was still too young to train in anything more useful and the System was still locked. Her mother, Selenna, had started giving her lessons on topics like math, reading and writing, and other basic subjects. However, as she already knew all those from her previous life, and didn’t bother to hide that fact, the only basic topics left were history and etiquette. Her teachers mostly thought her a genius, which wasn’t entirely wrong. Psykers tended to be. That or insane. Or both. Both could be true at the same time. She wasn’t allowed near weapons or magic yet either, even if she had been capable of learning.

Oh yes, magic was a thing in this new world. Apparently, her kind, the Quel’dorei or High Elves as they were also called, had been exiled from their old homeland because of their refusal to abandon the practice and study of magic. She had not yet reached the point in her studies to figure out why that had happened or why the topic would be forbidden in the first place. It would seem that was a bit of a sore subject amongst most writers she was allowed access to. In any case, the practice of magic was prevalent in the kingdom, almost as a matter of pride and defiance. Since they were exiled for practicing magic, might as well dedicate themselves to the practice.

“You’re not wrong though. The issue is, we cannot match the trolls when it comes to savagery or numbers. And they can replace their losses far faster than we can. If we wage a devastating war against the trolls, they will recover faster than we will, and the next time we’ll lose.” He laid out the problem.

“If the direct route is blocked, you need to find a way around.” She quoted an old Aeldari saying.

“What was that?” He asked, a little confused.

She decided to rephrase her advice. “There are ways of waging war that are not about direct clash of arms. Do the trolls have other enemies? Can you strike at them without being struck back? Ambushes, traps, misdirection, espionage, sabotage. Magic. We are a people of magic, are we not?" She threw a lot of suggestions out. And those were just the basics. Aeldari were the absolute masters of asymmetric warfare.

“What books have you been reading?” Anasterian asked with amused surprise. “Though not a bad suggestion. We may not think much of them, but the trolls have clashed against other races as well. Having the Convocation approve of an alliance with the other races isn’t likely though.”

“You don’t need to have an official alliance to work against a common enemy. Just a thought.” She prompted.

Deciding to leave her uncle to stew with the idea, she hopped up from the bench. “Time for me to finish my workout. Do come back at a better time, and I might grace you with that smile you were hoping for.” She joked over her shoulder before running off again.

She was going to have strained muscles in the morning, wasn’t she?

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As it turned out, her muscles were not in as much pain as she’d expected. Sure, she could tell she’d overdone things yesterday, but there were benefits to a young and growing body. Quick recovery was just one of those. Besides, the Sunwell’s abundant mana helped all Quel’dorei in a myriad of ways. Bit of a cheat really. That wasn’t to say she was feeling great in the morning, but nothing a bit of stretching and a warm bath couldn’t solve. Also…

[You’ve unlocked the Discipline attribute!]

[You’ve unlocked the Commander skill!]

It was only the second attribute to unlock, as well as the second skill. Like Charisma, Discipline was an abstraction of many qualities. Where Charisma was the distillation of social aspects and attractiveness, Discipline was the summation of all things military and tactics. At its simplest, it governed over strategic and tactical acumen, the ability to lead or work as part of a unit, both big and small, the mental fortitude to handle the rigors of military training and war, your ability to not get swayed by emotion, your perseverance, and your ability inspire loyalty in those you were leading. At the more complicated end, it also dealt with things like battle sense. The uncanny ability to just know when something was wrong in a flow of battle. The ability to predict your enemy’s tactics, and so forth.

It wasn’t hard to see why she’d unlocked the attribute and the skill after her talk with her uncle.

The skill Commander dealt with the strategic aspects and leadership on the army level. She realized she’d been given new information during the night, like basics of tactics and strategy such as logistics, but she’d barely noticed because the information wasn’t actually new to her, just like what had happened with Politics. She’d led armies before. It was like the System was trying to teach basic letters to someone who could already read fluently.

That brought up an interesting topic. While something like Charisma was in the eye of the beholder, her previous knowledge pertaining to strategy should place her much higher than the System assigned level one that she’d unlocked. And honestly, she was fairly confident her Charisma and Politics should be at a higher level as well.

She tried querying the System and was surprised to get an answer of sorts, although a vague one. The System information tended to be a bit vague on details for some reason. It would seem that in cases where her natural abilities were higher than the current level of an attribute or skill, they would level much faster and more easily than they would normally, to match her true level. That made sense, even if it made things a little unsatisfying for now. After all, she hadn’t really benefitted from the System so far. Maybe in the future.

Her morning ablutions done, she made her way to the library. The servants she came across scurried out of the way quickly, almost to a person refusing to look her in the eyes. Her eyes seemed to frighten the servants and unsettle the guards. It seemed some things didn’t change. She wasn’t too surprised. They said the eyes were the window to your soul, and she certainly wasn’t a normal child, and she could only imagine the state of her soul. Or what was left of it anyway.

She’d eventually found a mirror and confirmed that she’d inherited the same eyes she’d had in her previous life and to say they stood out would be a gross understatement. It seemed the Sunstriders all had cerulean eyes, except her. Another detail that might upset the servants. Her irises were such pale blue they almost looked silver, with a ring of darker blue at the very edges, which only made her eyes pop even more. Not that they needed help in that regard. She’d heard her eyes called many things in her previous life from haunting, to entrancing, to terror-inducing, and everything in between. Either way, not something you expected to see on a child.

The Sunstrider estates on their little private island were rather well stocked with books on various topics. The Quel’dorei liked building vertically, and the library was divided into several floors, gentle stone slopes leading further up to the next floor, and she had access to the bottom floor only. That meant mostly history, politics, geography, and other topics of a similar nature. If she wanted access to something more complicated, like magic, she would need permission to go to the higher floors. The building was round with bookcases lining the outer wall, with comfortable seating and tables in the center.

In her past life, she could’ve absorbed all the information in the entire building in seconds, but now she couldn’t do that. She did have some advantages though.

She pulled out a book on the ancient history of the kingdom and laid it down on the table. She had no need to actually open and read the book though. If someone had been observing her, they would’ve simply seen her lay a palm on top of the book, and maybe noticed her eyes moving rapidly behind her closed eyelids if they’d been paying close attention. Extracting the information from the book didn’t take long, but assimilating and understanding it took longer. In this case, it took several minutes, which was dreadfully slow when compared to the past, but after those minutes, she could’ve quoted the entire book or summarized the contents in a few short sentences. A definite advantage when compared to those who needed to do things the old-fashioned way.

Two more books later, and she was frowning at what she’d found. Or more specifically what she hadn’t found. Those three were supposed to have the information she sought, but it seemed the time before Quel’thalas was created really was a tightly controlled topic. Finding information was more difficult than she’d assumed. She knew they’d been exiled, but from where and by whom?

“Selessa!” Her mother’s voice called out from the outside.

With a small frown, she made her way outside. “Mother. I see you’re back from Silvermoon.” She greeted the gorgeous woman politely even if not enthusiastically, as she stepped outside into the spring sunlight. She had to admit that even by her old universe's standards, her mother was a very attractive woman. That seemed to be a common feature among their entire race but held true for her mother especially. Though she suspected magic might have something to do with it.

“And I see you’re being diligent in your studies.” Her mother led her back inside the library. What had been the point of calling her outside if her mother was going to come inside anyway? The pair took a seat on the comfy red sofas in the middle of the room. Quel’dorei really liked red and gold. “What have you been reading lately.”

Sensing an opportunity, she pointed at the books she’d just absorbed. “I’ve been trying to learn more about what happened before the kingdom was founded. Though it would seem that if the information is available, it's well hidden." She tried to make her voice sound a bit sullen and didn't even need to fake too much.

Her mother made an exasperated sound. “Yes, I suppose you’d be smart enough to realize that something with our history is missing. I did similar research while younger. If you do not know your history, you can’t tell what kind of ghosts can come back to haunt you.” Not exactly how she’d heard things put before, but it worked.

“So, what did happen?” She asked.

“This isn’t widely taught, but there used to be a large empire that we were part of, known as the Kaldorei Empire. We weren’t always what we are, and only became thus because of the influence of the Sunwell. Back then, we were all collectively known as Kaldorei or Night Elves. The current Quel’dorei were known as the Highborne, as the name implies, but the name referred to a social class, not to a race. Our skill over Arcane magic granted us an advantage over the other races, and the Highborne were able to rise to a prominent position due to our mastery of said magic.” She was quiet for a brief time, likely thinking about how to summarize things. She wasn’t a patient woman and didn’t often bother giving lectures.

“Long story short, our queen at the time, as well as some of the Highborne along with her, used a fount of power similar to the Sunwell to reach out to a higher power. They didn’t really consider things properly, as not all higher powers are benevolent. They wanted to attain some sort of divinity themselves and were blinded by that goal. Well, they succeeded in making contact and ended up summoning the demons of the Burning Legion to our world. There was a devastating war that sundered the world, breaking continents apart, involving dragons and all sorts of things. By the end of it, the Kaldorei didn’t have a very good impression of arcane magic, even though it in large part helped us win the war. The current Quel’dorei are those Highborne that rebelled against the Queen and her mad plans. Anyway, the Kaldorei wanted to ban the use of arcane magic, we didn’t agree, they exiled us, and here we are.” Her mother summarized what Selessa assumed was a huge chunk of a very complicated history.

Perhaps due to being an awfully shortened version, it raised some questions. “Why did they want to ban magic, if it was the queen and this fount of power that summoned the demons?”

Her mother gave a sigh. “Well, it is somewhat true that rampant use of magic can attract demons. Not the whole Burning Legion, but individual demons. Banning magic as a whole was a foolish panic reaction by some extremists, but they weren’t really willing to listen to reason after all the devastation and while they were still burying their loved ones. Better to throw the whole thing out than take any risks in their minds. Besides, they’d just discovered a new source of power, druidic magic, which they considered a safer option. Incidentally, Quel’thalas has wardstones that hide our magic from both demons and all outsiders anyway. If you want more details, you’re going to have to wait until you can go to the higher floors.” She pointed upwards.

Selessa nodded in thanks. At least she now knew something, and how to find out more. “You were looking for me for a reason?”

“Yes. In light of your obvious intellect and the end of your other lessons, it has been decided that you should be spending your time on things other than idling and running around. Thus, you will begin your lessons in magic. Your father is the best magister around, but he’s too busy to teach you the basics himself, so he found you someone to teach you some of the theoretical knowledge required for actually casting magic. Even if it’s a bit soon for you to be casting spells, you can still learn the theory. The teacher is going to arrive in a week. You’re not to attempt to cast any magic without supervision, is that understood? Good. Your father will take over once you have the basics covered.”

Huh. That sounded interesting at least.

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Her new tutor had wanted to meet her at the shrine to the first king of Quel’thalas, Dath’Remar Sunstrider. The shrine itself wasn’t anything too fancy. A simple pillar made of white stone, with the symbol of Quel’thalas emblazoned at the top. The base held some carvings listing the deeds of the first king, though much of the writing had worn down to near illegibility. A flat and wide platform of the same stone was placed in front of the shrine, ornate but empty. The shrine was surrounded by small hills and the beautiful magical trees, Eversong trees, that seemed to be everywhere in Quel’thalas.

Her morning runs often took her by the simple shrine, so she was quite familiar with the area. She was the first to arrive, but only barely. She heard approaching footsteps almost as soon as she’d given the place an instinctual look-over in case of danger or lurking enemies. She turned to see a tall and quite youthful Quel’dorei man with the usual blond hair and handsome if somewhat effeminate features so common in their people. He looked quite similar to her uncle, only younger. Which, considering Anasterian wasn’t all that old himself, made the man very young indeed. She estimated him to be less than a hundred years old. He also had the cerulean eyes of a Sunstrider.

The man smiled at her warmly. “You must be Selessa. I’m sure my aunt didn’t bother making introductions, so I should probably rectify that. I’m your cousin Nallorath Sunstrider.” His eyes flicked to hers and there was an almost imperceptible and sudden understanding in his eyes.

“That would make you the crown prince, would it not?” She asked, remembering the family tree she’d spotted in a book at one point. Her mother had been quite insistent on the importance of learning such things.

The man nodded. “That it would. At least in theory.” Ok, good to know if there was some ambiguity.

“I have to admit, the only reason I even know about you is that mother seems obsessed with all things to do with power. I’m not blaming you or anything, but I am a little surprised I haven’t met you before now. Or know anything about your mother, come to think of it.” Her face scrunched a bit at that. It was a little weird how few people she had contact with on a regular basis. Part of that was her own fault for staying on the Sunstrider Isle, but aside from servants and guards, she barely saw anyone other than her uncle. And he was the king, so what were the others doing?

The man nodded in mutual understanding. “And I must admit you’re a lot younger than I expected. I only knew I had a cousin from my father, and when your mother mentioned you were ready to begin learning about magic, I admit that I expected a girl in her early teens at least. Personally, I’ve been held up by my duties as an apprentice magister. Not a great excuse, I admit, but the studies really do keep me rather busy. Magic is just one of the things a true magister needs to master.” His tone was quite warm, even if it was a little apologetic as well. She also noted that he had avoided the topic of his mother, either on purpose or by accident. She suspected the former.

“If that is the case, I’m surprised mother managed to convince you to use that time to teach me.” She pointed out.

“Ah, that’s actually a bit of good fortune for both of us. Part of becoming an officially recognized magister is a duty to teach others. It's proof of our own mastery to successfully teach others. I only recently reached that point in my training, and then your mother happened to make the offer. I must admit, the prospect of teaching my cousin, who my father has praised for her maturity and intellect, instead of some brat from the noble houses was something of a relief.” His tone was half joking, though it clearly held a lot of truth as well. He glanced at her eyes again, momentarily getting lost in them. “And I think I might see some of what my father sees.”

“In that case, I’m glad to be of assistance. Though out of curiosity, how old were you when you started learning magic?” She asked.

“Oh, I think I was around twenty and I was considered young at the time. Hence my surprise at your age. There’s no set timing to start. Some people never get the opportunity to learn. You might be among the youngest I’ve heard of though. There are always rumors, but it’s rare to see them become real right in front of you.” His tone got more serious. “That said, the subject of arcane magic is a very serious one, and not one to be toyed with. You are not to cast any spells without supervision, is that clear?”

“Crystal. Mother gave the same warning.” She nodded.

“Good. We might as well begin. To start with, you need to realize that Arcane is the manifestation of the cosmic force of Order. Its use requires intense precision and concentration. It has been described as the “base fabric” of the world, but I’m not advanced enough in my studies to either confirm or deny that. In general, arcane magic can be used to do almost anything, and is mostly limited only by our imagination. It can take any form, from chucking a simple fireball to creating food and drink from thin air.”

Nallorath suddenly conjured three orbs. One was made of fire and radiated heat, one of ice that radiated cold, and a purple orb that crackled with power. “The most commonly used elements are fire, frost, and base arcane, though those are not hard limitations. Eventually, we'll test your aptitude for different types of magic, but that is for the future."

He continued. “There are four issues all wielders of Arcane magic need to deal with when they continue down this path. First, magic is powerful. This might seem obvious, but the effects it has on you might not be. Magic can often be the difference between a king and a slave. That tends to lead those practicing magic to become drunk on power.

“Secondly, and following from the first, magic is corrupting. If we allow it, magic can easily corrupt the soul. Magic breeds pride and arrogance, and can have a corrupting effect on the body as well. Mortal races, in their nascent attempts at magic, often find themselves aging faster. Although we do not suffer from this issue, we are in turn more affected by the third problem, namely, magic is an addiction. When one feels the power of an arcane spell coursing through their body, resisting the urge to cast it again is difficult. Frequent use leads to a desire for more, and eventually, the temptation to reach for forbidden knowledge. As we live such long lives, the addiction has the chance to grow stronger.

“The fourth problem is that magic can attract the denizens of the Twisting Nether, the demons of the Burning Legion. Here, in Quel’thalas, we are safe behind our wards, but if you go outside, there is always the possibility of your spells calling for a stray demon. This is something you need to always keep in mind.”

The warnings sounded eerily familiar to Selessa. Namely, the issues seemed quite similar to those associated with the use of the Warp. As an Aeldari, there was no one more familiar with dealing with the perils and the denizens of the Warp than her. All in all, the use of arcane magic sounded like the easier and less dangerous version of her previous abilities. That said, she also knew that it was thinking like that which always led to problems. She had confidence in her own willpower, but she would not be arrogant enough to dismiss the warnings of someone more experienced just because she thought she had things handled.

“Tell me more.” She eagerly leaned forward, her eyes flashing.

“I will, but before I do, we’ll have to start with the basics. Meditation and gaining access to your mana. Mana is the fuel behind all our spells. Every spell consumes a portion of our mana reserves and once we run out, we will have to wait for that mana to recover. Meditation, potions, and certain items are just some of the ways to help us recover that mana, but we'll get into those later. We can grow our mana reserves with regular meditation, which is why it will be a regular part of your daily schedule from henceforth. First, we'll need you to be able to touch the mana inside you, after which we’ll train you in bringing it forth.” Nallorath explained, at the same time directing her to take a meditative pose.

She was very, very familiar with meditation from her previous life, and she almost slipped into her old deep meditation right away out of habit. Instead, she carefully listened to Nallorath’s instructions when it came to reaching inside herself in an attempt to find her source of power. This too was something she’d done countless times. The source of power was different from what she was used to, but it was almost the same. It only took her seconds to find her mana, as it existed deep within her soul just like her Warp-based power. Where her psionic appeared to her as a star, one that was very small and dimmed at the moment, her mana appeared as a body of water. Her figure appeared levitating above that body of water, her toe barely touching the liquid, sending tiny waves out from the point of contact. She couldn’t really estimate the size of the body of water as she had no frame of reference but it reached as far as she could see from her current vantage point.

“Have you found it?” Nallorath’s voice cut through her thoughts. “It’s extremely common that finding your source can take time, and it takes a different form for everyone. For me, it appears as a crystal that glows with different levels of brightness depending on how much mana I have access to.”

“I found it.” She replied simply.

"That was quick. Promising. I was expecting this to take the rest of the day actually. Well, we can try using that mana a bit. This is often another long process. Touch your source and try to channel some of that mana. Don’t try to cast a spell. Simply try to draw it out, guide it through your body and into your hand.” His almost hypnotic voice guided her.

Channeling mana was both similar and vastly different to channeling her psionic might. Where the Warp-based power was a raging torrent that had to be wrestled and fought every step of the way, mana was a playful but mostly orderly force almost eager to please. It seemed to have a mind of its own, but it also seemed very willing to cooperate. This was both good and very dangerous. This docility was likely the reason why the mages of this world so often fell. If they had to struggle for every scrap of power, they’d have a healthy respect for it, but dealing with something easy and docile like this likely made them feel superior. Invincible.

She opened her eyes when she heard Nallorath’s gasp. A small glowing spark of power was floating above her open palm. It seemed to cycle through different elements and even types of power. "Interesting," Nallorath muttered.

"What is?" She asked, her focus mainly on the power flickering at her fingertips. She tried to divide the stream of power, and now there was a spark of power above every finger, all of them still cycling through the different elements.

“A person’s first manifestation of magic usually coincides with their most favored element. This bodes well for your future flexibility as a caster.” Nallorath explained.

“Hmm.” She made a sound. Was this the effect of the System perhaps? She’d likely have a new attribute and skill in the morning. Perhaps her current flexibility was due to the fact that she hadn’t yet picked any skills to specialize in.

“You know what? I think this calls for a reward. You’ve done well.” Nallorath got up. “Follow me.”

Selessa soon figured they were headed for the library, and she guessed they would be going to the second floor or higher. “How are you faring on the island?” Nallorath suddenly asked. “I remember spending as little time here as possible as a child, even if it was serene.”

The question came as a slight surprise so she had to think about the answer for a moment. “It’s not too bad. I’m not really lacking for anything, except maybe company. It is a bit boring when I’m not training.”

He glanced towards her. “Yes, I suppose it would be. Your parents are almost never around, and there are no other kids.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing. He could see the way her eyes scanned the area, constantly vigilant. He’d seen something similar, but couldn’t place where. “Although, I get the sense that it’s not really the company of other kids you’re missing.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I haven’t had any contact with other kids since mother brought me here, and not too much before, but from what I understand, I would appreciate more grown company. Your father visits occasionally, but he’s busy with being a king. Becoming a king I should say. The teachers kept me entertained for a short time, but their subjects were a bit too easy.”

He chuckled at that. "Yes, your mother did brag about your intelligence. I hope that I'll be able to capture your imagination for longer than the others." They arrived at the library as he spoke.

He took her up the ramp towards the second floor of the library. The runes on the doorway flashed as he approached and went inert, making no effort to prevent them from proceeding. When she’d tried in the past, she’d run into an invisible barrier of some sort.

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the higher the floor of the library, the more limited the access. This isn’t just to hoard information, but to also protect anyone visiting. Some of the information in the books can be dangerous if proper care is not taken. Some information will also be pointless without the theoretical knowledge gained from the earlier floors.” He gestured with his hand towards a particular table with several tomes placed on display. “These are the beginner introductions to the different elements and specialties.”

Three of the tomes were obvious in their nature. One had a bright flame on the cover, the other one had an icicle, and the third one had a purple glowing star. The others were less obvious. One had a staff, a sword, and a blade crossed. Another one had a vial of some kind of liquid. A third one had a glyph, and a fourth one had a tree. None of them had names on the covers or spines. The last one drew her eyes, as it had a very tall but thin red shield, along with a blade cutting through a spark.

“I’ll be returning tomorrow to teach you more, but as your reward, I’d like you to pick one of these tomes. You’ll read all of them eventually, but the first one you pick will give some direction to our next few lessons, as you familiarize yourself with the contents. I know, I’m rewarding you with homework, but I get the sense that you won’t mind.” Nallorath prompted.

She hesitated for a moment, before going with her gut and picking the one calling to her. The tome with the shield and the blade felt heavy in her hands. Too bad Nallorath wasn’t going to leave her here for a few hours, as then she could absorb all of them.

“The introduction to Spellbreakers. I should’ve guessed.” Nallorath chuckled a bit. “I suppose it would be that, as it’s the only subject I can’t really teach as it has a heavy martial element, and Spellbreakers and magisters are deliberately trained separately. I still encourage you to read it though the material might be more advanced than the other introductory books. That said, take another one that you can start reading before tomorrow’s lesson. I don’t expect you to finish reading either, but getting some of the basics down would be beneficial.”

With a shrug, she grabbed the one with a flame on the cover. She'd always been adept at wielding pyromancy, which was the fire-controlling set of abilities for psykers. At least she was familiar with the topic if nothing else.

“Fire it is. Very good.” Nallorath knew how to deal with fire. It was his specialty in fact. “Maybe I can encourage father to visit more often. We often have discussions on various topics, and we might as well have them here, with you. That might help a bit with your lack of company.”

“I…would appreciate that. Very much. Thank you.” She wasn’t the most social person ever, and she’d spent decades in solitude in her previous life, but it still grated on her. Especially since this was a new life. A child her age shouldn’t be left so alone, even if her isolation was somewhat self-imposed. She could always go to Silvermoon with her mother, but that would be worse.

"In that case, I bid you good evening, and I hope you enjoy your new reading," Nallorath commented as he led her back outside, the runes around the doorway flaring back to life as he exited.

Once alone, she placed the fire tome on the nearest table and laid a hand on it, absorbing the information inside. As with other books, it took little time to absorb the information, but a fair bit more to actually integrate it with her existing information, especially where it might be contradictory. These Quel’dorei might know a lot about magic, but they didn’t know as much about the properties of fire. And magical fire was different from the normal one, yet some of the same rules applied. Just like when dealing with psionic fire. She knew a million ways to use fire to destroy, create, purify, and a thousand other purposes even before the book. Even if the magical nature of the fire added its own twist.

More than information on magical fire, the interesting part of the book was on spellcasting. Casting spells worked a little differently to how psyker powers did. Your will and imagination still played a large part, but the very nature of Arcane magic as a manifestation of the power of Order necessitated the magic itself to be highly formulaic. To cast a spell, you needed to bring mana from within before feeding it through a magical formula to produce the desired effect. The variables in the formula determined countless factors, such as shape, size, speed, and spin, and those were just some of the factors starting with the letter S. You didn't need to account for every variable with every spell, as every variable seemed to make a spell harder to cast, but precision often improved power and customizability. One of the most important factors for an Arcane caster seemed to be the ability to process those variables quickly and efficiently. Practice helped, but a quick mind would always be an advantage.

The tome held some of the standard formulas for the basic fire spells. It was easy to see the commonalities, as all of the spells were about controlling fire after all. Some similarities were bound to exist. Factors that controlled temperature, how the fire was fueled, and how it was contained or spread once it hit the target. Quite unsurprisingly, most of the basic spells were offensive in nature. The basic function of fire was to burn stuff after all.

The tome had given her a lot to think about. Nevertheless, she decided to absorb the other one as well. The Spellbreaker tome took even longer to assimilate, as most of this information was entirely new. Unlike the fire tome, which was all about casting spells, this tome was the exact opposite. It was all about stopping others from casting magic, and if that failed, making yourself at least resistant, if not immune to it.

The basic idea was to use your own mana to disrupt and contort the magical energies of others. At the very basic level, the abilities would be used to shatter the formulas enemy mages attempted using, while at more advanced levels, the Spellbreaker’s strikes could shatter the mana in other people’s bodies, essentially igniting them from within. Nallorath was right though. Even at base level, these were much more advanced concepts and required training and skill in martial disciplines. It would be interesting to find out more, but for now, she was intrigued.