"You said you wanted to catch a mount earlier. Don't tell me it's these giant spiders?"
After breakfast, he called everyone together, packed their gear, and left Goldshire, heading south back into the forest. It didn't take long before they encountered something rather unpleasant.
"Of course, it couldn't be something like this."
During breakfast, Ethan had casually mentioned that he might consider catching a mount. The one he had in mind wasn't easy to catch. He had only said it on a whim, recalling the bridle he had once wanted but couldn't obtain. Now, however, it seemed like there was a real chance of capturing the actual creature.
Unfortunately, wanting something and actually doing it were completely different matters. He wouldn't invest too much effort until he was confident enough. For now, Ethan needed to complete the current task and establish a connection with Marshal Dughan. If possible, it would be ideal to connect with some people in Stormwind City through Dughan, which would be helpful for his future plans.
Of course, even if Dughan couldn't do that, Ethan didn't mind. He had now basically confirmed the timeline and knew what the biggest crisis in Stormwind City was. If he wanted to truly integrate into the Kingdom of Stormwind, the simplest way would be to find Varian Wrynn, the one known as the "Wolf King." What could be a better option than establishing a connection with the king himself?
After swiftly and efficiently eliminating the giant spiders, Ethan and his team continued without delay and quickly reached the Fargodeep Mine.
"Our mission is just reconnaissance?"
"Yes, reconnaissance."
Without any attempt at concealment, they headed to higher ground. After killing a few ugly kobolds loitering near the entrance of the mine, Ethan and Logan stood on a high point overlooking the area.
Whether it was due to low intelligence or poor eyesight, none of the kobolds below noticed them, despite how obviously they were standing there.
"Although there are quite a few, they're spread out. Their alertness and combat strength are so poor that we could completely clear these kobolds one by one."
As a seasoned veteran, Logan naturally had solid reconnaissance skills. In fact, if he had enough weapons and ammunition, he could easily clear out all the kobolds below.
"It's called reconnaissance, but we can do a more thorough sweep."
Logan understood what Ethan meant. These kobolds posed no threat. Ethan was too lazy to report back only to return again for the actual fight. He preferred to solve the entire matter in one go, clearing out the kobolds in Fargodeep Mine.
"I don't need to lift a finger for this kind of thing, right?"
Loki had been standing nearby. Opponents like this couldn't even pique his interest, let alone make him want to crawl into that dark and dirty mine. He'd much rather stay outside.
"Indeed, you don't need to. So, what do you want to do?"
"I heard there's a city nearby. I want to check it out."
"We'll go later. No need to be impatient."
Loki looked at Ethan. "Why can't I go 'reconnoiter' by myself first? Are you worried?"
"I am worried." Ethan wasn't trying to make things difficult for Loki. Even Loki understood what Ethan was concerned about. "There's a very dangerous individual in Stormwind City right now, and I don't want to provoke her."
Onyxia, the Black Dragonflight matriarch, was currently active in Stormwind City under the guise of Katrana Prestor. At this point in time, much of the power within the Kingdom of Stormwind was secretly under her control. The calm and prosperous surface of the kingdom was hiding dangerous undercurrents, all orchestrated by this dragoness.
According to Ethan's plan, he would have to face her eventually, but that didn't mean he needed to disturb her now.
As an adventurer with unclear origins and no background, he was naturally at a disadvantage in terms of credibility. Confronting the Black Dragonflight matriarch head-on right now would only turn him and his group into enemies of the Kingdom of Stormwind. That dragoness would be all too happy to create an enemy like Loki for the kingdom. In the end, regardless of who lived or died, she'd be the ultimate winner.
Ethan didn't hide these things from his teammates. While clearing out the kobolds in the mine and collecting some gold and silver for expenses, they also listened to Ethan tell gossip and rumors about Stormwind City.
"This world is really unsafe."
Although he had long known that this world wasn't simple, Logan hadn't expected a legendary black dragon—one intelligent, magical, and able to take human form—to be lurking so close by.
From Ethan's description, the strength of the Black Dragonflight matriarch matched her status as a major villain. Even Loki could tell this was a formidable opponent. He wondered whether his still-unfamiliar frost powers could defeat her.
"A black dragon?"
Logan placed the firearm in his hand back into the backpack behind him. Using a weapon like that in such a confined space was almost guaranteed to destroy his hearing. He chose to use his wolf claws to handle the nimble kobolds instead.
In contrast, Selene performed even better. Agility and speed were her specialties, and this dark environment didn't hinder her at all. She had been accustomed to this kind of space for centuries. Almost every strike hit a kobold's vital point. Yes, Selene had also abandoned using firearms—shooting in the mine was just too painful.
She was now using two short swords, very ordinary ones taken from the standard weaponry aboard the Dawn. They didn't have any special properties, nor were they indestructible.
Yet, in Selene's experienced hands, these short swords showed impressive combat effectiveness. After prolonged use, since she had been targeting only the kobolds' softest and most vulnerable parts, the blades hadn't suffered any damage. A simple wipe left them looking as good as new.
"Fast, agile, and battle-hardened. If she learned some Death Knight skills, I wonder how much stronger Selene could become."
Stopping and moving along intermittently, Ethan meticulously recorded everything that happened in Fargodeep Mine, including how many kobolds were eliminated.
He suddenly realized something—ever since arriving in Azeroth, he hadn't encountered any language issues. Because everything had felt so natural and smooth, he hadn't noticed it until now.
He also remembered feeling dizzy during his arrival. It seemed that wasn't due to being seasick from the boat after all.
During this time, he hadn't participated in the fighting. Aside from recording, he was checking his own condition and organizing his knowledge. Eventually, he confirmed that he had received a portion of knowledge.
It wasn't much, just the common language of Azeroth, with fluent comprehension and writing. Besides that, there were no language packs for Elvish or Orcish.
After fully sorting everything out and once Fargodeep Mine had been completely cleared, Ethan finally spoke up about his discovery.
Everyone had already noticed this situation. They hadn't thought much of it at first, assuming Ethan had done something. But surprisingly, it wasn't actually because of him?
"So, the reason we understand the language and writing here isn't because of you?"
"It's still probably because of me."
Ethan glanced at his left hand. He sensed that his magic circle had changed again, though he hadn't figured out the specifics until now. He was now certain that a language pack for this world had been added.
He didn't know whether this was good or bad. Thinking back, if this had happened a few years earlier, gaining new language knowledge wouldn't have just made him dizzy, it might've caused days of headaches.
"Was this change due to my recent progress in space-time energy or magic? Or was it triggered because my teammates reached a certain threshold, automatically activating this ability?"
Ethan quickly ruled out the latter. When he was alone before, he had never received a language pack, which meant the situation must have been triggered by improvements in his own magic level, affecting the space-time magic circle.
By the time they left the mine, the trip from Goldshire to the mine had taken quite a while, but clearing the mine had been quick. They had entered around noon and finished before nightfall.
"It's a shame this world doesn't have experience points. Otherwise, we could just grind for a bit in suitable places."
After roughly figuring out the matter of the language pack, Ethan led the group back. Unlike the trip there, where they had to be cautious about getting lost, the return to Goldshire was faster. When Ethan and his group returned to town, the sun had just dipped below the horizon, and Marshal Dughan was making his usual patrol before nightfall.
"It's good to see you back safe and sound."
Marshal Dughan saw Ethan and the people with him. Upon seeing this "team," he felt more at ease. He hadn't known before that Ethan had so many companions.
"Here is my reconnaissance report on Fargodeep Mine." Ethan handed over the report, and Dughan's expression turned strange after glancing at it.
"You call this... a reconnaissance report?"
It definitely wasn't. A battle report would've been more fitting. Dughan hadn't expected Ethan and his group to not only thoroughly reconnoiter the mine but also clear out all the kobolds inside, collect a large amount of gold dust, and even retrieve a lost necklace.
(To be continued.)
***
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