"You are our Commander, and a leader cannot shed tears under his command. You must always remember your current role." Leylin said with concern.
Alleria wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her slender fingers. She stared blankly at Leylin and said, "Forget what I just said. I am the leader now. A Commander cannot cry, nor can he complain."
Leylin didn't know what Alleria was thinking, but he still agreed. He calmly nodded and said, "I understand."
Receiving this reply, Alleria couldn't help but feel a slight pain in her heart. This was not the result she wanted. If she hadn't experienced this war, she wouldn't have said such words, nor would she have felt so distressed.
She didn't continue speaking, but silently looked at Leylin's face. She wanted to know what Leylin was thinking, but she couldn't ask; she could only guess from his expression.
Leylin maintained a calm expression, from which Alleria gleaned nothing.
The sun shone warmly, and the spire-like houses of Tarren Mill were filled with human soldiers. Lacking sufficient food supplies, everyone remained quiet to conserve their strength.
Leylin, Alleria, and the elven troops were all staying in a small inn. Tyr'ganal found a barrel of wine there.
It was rich and flavorful, but no one drank it.
"I'd rather find a chest of dry bread here than this wine." Tyr'ganal grumbled, patting the barrel's lid.
"Let's wait a little longer. Supplies from the rear will arrive soon. We didn't die in Southshore, and we won't starve here in Tarren Mill." Leylin reassured Tyr'ganal.
Jumping down from the barrel, Tyr'ganal leaned weakly against the empty wine cabinet, squinting his eyes as if taking a nap.
Leylin didn't share Tyr'ganal's leisurely mood; he continued to train and absorb magical energy from the surroundings.
Leylin continued to train while waiting for their supplies. And if some situations can't be helped, he would have to check his [Space Backpack] whether he had hidden some supplies there or were they just all materials he needed for experimentations.
Soon an hour had passed, with nothing to do but rest, he calmly checked if some of them are critically injured. Fortunately, the elven troops only suffered minor injuries from the skirmish.
Due to the vibrations, Leylin sensed an army and wagons approaching from the northwest. The wagons were loaded with plenty of bread and some meat. Besides these, Leylin also sensed the presence of another mage; a powerful mage had also arrived in Tarren Mill.
Soon, the wagons carrying the food arrived. Leylin was still in good physical condition, so he brought the food belonging to his elven troops back to the inn.
After distributing it, Leylin nudged the Ranger Captain huddled in the corner.
"The food's here, let's eat." Leylin took a few pieces of bread and a piece of dried meat and sat down near Alleria.
Alleria took the food, splitting the piece of jerky in half with her dagger and placing each half between two pieces of bread. She handed one piece to Leylin, eating the other herself.
"I can manage myself; you can have all this." Leylin didn't touch the jerky; he simply ate his bread.
Alleria's elegant and kind demeanor vanished; she looked coldly at Leylin and said, "I've told you before, don't be so nice to me. I don't need it."
"Suit yourself." Leylin quickly finished his bread and left the inn.
He still hadn't touched the jerky, leaving it on the bread next to Alleria. The stubborn Alleria refused Leylin's offer, placing the dried jerky in her magical pouch.
"Ranger Captain, Sir Lothar invites you to the church to the north to discuss the next steps," a human soldier said, standing at the inn's door.
"I'll be there immediately."
One after the other, the Ranger Captain and the mage emerged from the inn. The atmosphere was clearly a bit off. Tyr'ganal, sitting atop a barrel of wine with bread in hand, exchanged bewildered glances with the rangers and soldiers.
He shook his hand dismissively, saying, "This doesn't seem to concern us."
Outside the inn, Leylin saw Khadgar and the mages who had come with the supply corps. They were talking by the fountain in the square of Tarren Mill.
Khadgar, seeing Leylin arrive, introduced his friend to the unfamiliar mage: "This is Leylin, a human mage from Quel'Thalas."
The middle-aged mage, dressed in Kirin Tor purple robes, warmly extended his left hand in a gesture of friendship: "Hello, Leylin, My name is Kel'Thuzad, an Archmage from Dalaran."
Humble, wise, and rational—that was Leylin's assessment of the mage.
"Hello," Leylin shook hands with Kel'Thuzad, showing his friendliness.
Mages never lacked topics of conversation, and Kel'Thuzad immediately found a new topic: he sensed an unusual aura around Leylin.
With a flick of his wrist, Kel'Thuzad channeled a wisp of arcane magic, peeling a trace of dark green aura from Leylin's clothes. "I need your cooperation, Sir Leylin. I hope you'll remain still."
Retrieving a magical crystal ball from his sleeve, Kel'Thuzad stored the necrotic aura he had extracted from Leylin into a magical container.
Khadgar asked, "You've studied in Dalaran long enough; do you understand what kind of aura this is?"
Kel'Thuzad carefully examined the aura floating in the bottle, his brow furrowed as he pondered within his own magical understanding.
But it was clear that these auras were different from those within the tomes of magic he had studied. These auras were not magic, nor did they belong to the arcane school.
"I can't be sure where these auras come from, but I'm certain they're not arcane magic; they don't belong to any school of magic." Kel'Thuzad replied.
Leylin agreed with Kel'Thuzad's point. Based on his own perception of these peculiar energies, he said, "I've personally felt these energies. They certainly aren't magic, but they are still a form of energy. Like the Holy Light of Uther and Turalyon, this energy stands in opposition to the Holy Light."
When Khadgar was a mage apprentice in Dalaran, he believed that magic was the primal force of this world. Since going to Karazhan, this concept had been dispelled by the abundant knowledge there and the guidance of his mentor.
The world of Azeroth has many unknown forces, not just magic and arcane, but also elemental forces and forces yet to be seen.
"These auras seem to carry decay and fear, something only the souls of the dead can produce." Kel'Thuzad said, quite insightful.
"You're right, Kel'Thuzad." Leylin said meaningfully.