Shadow Trails in Azeroth

“The so-called Wilderness Trial is very similar to your Shadow Trial as an assassin.

It is a ritual performed by novices in order to prove their perception and understanding of the way of hunting after they have mastered the basic hunting skills. "

At midnight in Tol Barad, in the center of the island's North Island, in the dark serpent forest, Lyleissa Windrunner was conducting the first ranger training on Black.

She is still dressed as the high elf ranger general, but because she left the Nagfar, her ghost form became weak and transparent.

But the cursed elf gold coin hanging around her neck gave her the ability to leave the ghost ship for a short period of time.

In this dead forest, Blake was wearing a leather armor that was easy to move around, and he had no other equipment on him. He only had a hurricane hunting bow and a bag of snake-man bone arrows at hand.

He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, following Lilesa's instructions and sensing the breath of life around him.

The ranger general stood on the stone beside the ranger, her tone cold and stern, as if she had returned to the scene when she was training the elite recruits of the Farstriders in the Tower of Windrunner.

She said to the long-breathing pirate:

"Many novice rangers like you will think that the symbolic meaning of wilderness rituals is greater than the actual meaning. This is an extremely wrong understanding!

Just like you have learned many skills of the ranger, but you have not understood the true power of the ranger's way.

Is our power only to draw the bow and shoot an arrow, or to load the lead bullet into the chamber and pull the trigger? No, any kid can do this.

But a child holding a bow and arrow has no right to call himself a ranger or hunter.

You have excellent hunting talent, which may come from your training and killing as an assassin, but you still need to learn. In the next period of time, I will provide you with intensive training.

Start by truly understanding the art of hunting.

The first thing you have to remember is that our strength comes from the ground beneath our feet, from the environment you are in, and from the lives that help you fight or are against you. "

Lilesa paused. She observed Blake's current state and was very satisfied with his concentration and calmness at this time.

She continued:

“In Kaldorei culture, hunters and druids are the two professions closest to nature. The only difference is that the former maintains the balance of nature through killing, while the latter makes good use of the power of nature.

The power of the hunter is not as brilliant as the druid as a spellcaster, but while the power of the hunter is not lacking in edge, it is the foundation that supports the prosperity of the Luna Kingdom for thousands of years.

The first half of the way of the Ranger depends on your skills and talents, but after entering the high level, the test is your harmony and closeness with nature.

You must understand this, you must respect nature and life, and they will help you in turn.

The best hunters of the Sentinel Legion, legendary rangers like Shandris Feathermoon, will naturally assist her when hunting. Of course, she cannot sneak like an assassin.

But she doesn't need to wear the shadow suit.

With your current skills, once you are targeted by the legendary hunter, even if the shadow tries its best to protect you, you will only end up dead. "

"That's really disappointing."

The pirate with his eyes closed replied dryly. He kept sharpening his senses and asked again:

"So what about the wilderness trial? Can you give me a detailed introduction? Master Mentor."

"Of course, I'm about to say this, you have to listen carefully."

The ghost of the Ranger General touched the cursed gold coin hanging around her neck. She felt the various sounds in the forest and the various changes in the environment.

She adjusted her breathing as she did when she was alive and said:

"There are many schools of the hunter's way, each of which is good at different combat methods. Unlike the assassin's trial to get close to the secrets of the shadow, another significance of the wilderness trial is that this trial will determine the power you want to pursue in the future. style."

"Power style? Like the loner Windrunner?"

Blake asked rhetorically:

"I heard from a friend that the rangers of the Windrunner family trust the bows and arrows in their hands more than the bonds of beasts?"

"Indeed."

Lilesa nodded and explained:

“But it’s more than that.

The reason why the Windrunner family has specialized in archery for generations is because of the legendary war bow ‘Sarados’ held by our ancestor, Taranas Windrunner, the first ranger general of Silvermoon City.

It was a war bow made for my ancestors by the great Majesty Dath'Rema Sunstrider when Silvermoon City was first established. He devoted all the efforts of the country to it.

It means ‘the courage of the forest’, and it was born to protect the land where the tribesmen live.

That is also the eternal mission of the Windrunner family.

But it is precisely because of the power of the legendary battle bow that each generation of Windrunners must undergo years of rigorous training and devote all their energy to the study of archery in order to unleash the full power of that sacred object.

The Windrunners gave up their insistence on the bond of the wilderness because they were helpless due to their mission. "

As she spoke, Windrunner's mother's eyes fell on the claws of the soul beast patrolling in the snake forest not far away. She said with a tone of appreciation and regret:

"On the other hand, before the Windrunner family followed His Majesty Dath'Remar Sunstrider and traveled to Quel'Thalas, my family also had a tradition of finding noble beasts to form bonds with.

After all, the heritage of the Windrunner family can be traced back to the ancient Elf Empire, and my ancestors were once the best royal hunters under Queen Azshara.

Unfortunately, since the establishment of the Sunwell, magic has seeped into Quel'Thalas, making my country prosperous but also making it difficult for the beasts there to receive the blessings of nature.

The art of animal taming inherited from the family has been lost for thousands of years.

This has to be said, it is a pity.

You are truly lucky, my disciple Black, to have been favored by such a noble beast while you were still weak. "

"Is it noble? Is it lucky? I don't think so. It almost pisses me off."

With a Versailles-like superiority, Blake complained in a low voice:

"It doesn't listen to my orders and ignores my instructions. That's all. It's also greedy and has very high requirements for food. It's even comparable to the desire of warlocks for precious souls.

I never thought that as a warlock, I would one day compete with my dog ​​for dog food. "

"You need to be patient, Blake."

Windrunner's mother stroked the braid on her chest and said softly:

"This is the basic law of the way of the beast king. Any hunter who embarks on the path of the beast king must regard his animal companions as comrades, companions and family members.

You must learn to use the perception of beasts to help you better understand nature and life. You must trust them, fight side by side with them, help explore their potential, and grow with your own beasts.

This is also a form of wilderness trial.

But it's harsh.

Because once the bond of the wilderness is achieved, it means that both parties will be blessed by life. If the beast or the master dies in battle, the other party will suffer terrible backlash.

That kind of backlash is not only on the physical level, but also on the soul level. Therefore, there are many hunters who can embark on the path of beast king, but there are very few who can persist to the end.

If you want to walk this road, you have to be mentally prepared. "

Windrunner's mother glanced at Blake, who was thoughtful beside her, and finally said:

“Besides Ranger and Beastmaster, there is the most difficult form of Trials of the Wild, which is a style that blends Ranger and Beastmaster.

It's very similar to the way orc hunters hunt. While accompanied by war beasts, he is also good at honing his fighting skills. Good at using various weapons and traps, he is a master of wilderness combat.

He is also a top hunter born from the way of hunting.

Alas, looking at your shining eyes, I know that you are going to choose this most difficult path of trial, right? my disciple. "

"Well, it sounds like it would suit me."

Black grabbed the war bow at hand, stood up, let out a sigh of relief, and said to Lyressa Windrunner:

"Coach. Uh, no, mentor, please teach me to take this wilderness trial path!"

"It's not me teaching you, but you making your own choices in the wilderness trial."

Windrunner's mother shook her head and said in a more serious tone:

“But I want to tell you in advance, my disciple.

The essence of the wilderness trial is to show your tenacity, courage and unyieldingness to the ubiquitous life force. Life is also one of the six forces, and its power is no weaker than arcane or evil energy, or shadow.

It is real but difficult to perceive.

The wilderness trial is a ritual that allows you to clearly perceive the veins of the power of life.

But if you want to choose this difficult path and want to satisfy the life force with your performance during the ceremony, it will be extremely difficult.

As far as I know, in the past history, even the legendary rangers of the night elves have rarely succeeded. Even the most famous of them accomplished this feat with the blessings of many wilderness demigods.

His name is."

"Huon Highmountain!"

Blake snapped his fingers and said:

"I know him, the most powerful legendary hunter in history, a hero among hunters. To be honest, my mentor, that brave tauren, is one of my idols.

Although the stories he handed down have a lot of bragging elements.

But that high-mountain tauren did once bring his legendary beast Airot in the ancient war, and killed the demons until they were defeated and fled.

He has also personally killed more than one legendary demon. "

"Do you still know the name of Hu En Gaoling's battle pet? It seems that you really know a lot of things, my disciple."

Lylitha Windrunner smiled.

Immediately, her expression became serious and she said:

“Since you have made up your mind, I won’t persuade you any more.

Now, let me see your ranger skills. Huh? Who taught you this bow-drawing posture? Full of errors, you are holding a bow and arrow, not a dagger or dagger!

Move your left hand up one centimeter, right hand two centimeters back, feet apart, straight waist, relax your body muscles, look ahead, don't aim with your eyes!

Use your heart, your feelings, and your hunting sense.

The eyes can deceive you.

Maintain this position until your muscles are sore. Your strength may be up to standard, but your foundation is too bad and a complete mess. It seems that we have to learn from scratch. "

——

Under the same dark night, two horses were walking side by side on the inaccessible headwind path near the empty dark mage Takarazhan.

A woman wearing a long hood sat on one horse, and a human mage sat on another horse.

He was wearing a purple robe, had short gray hair, and was wearing gloves. He looked no longer young, and some faint wrinkles could still be seen on his forehead.

He looked like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, but his eyes were very strange, piercing, bright, and seemed to be full of wisdom.

And it looked like a pair of young people's eyes, which formed a very sharp contrast with his old appearance.

"That 'friend' of yours who has great supernatural powers told you that in Karazhan, you might be able to find a way to temporarily suppress your pair of daggers, so you dragged me and ran all the way here.

Do you know how busy I am? Garona.

There is still a war to be fought over there in the Cursed Land. Once Antonidas finds out that I have left, he may become suspicious. "

The mage pulled the reins of his horse and looked at the dark mage tower in the distance on the mountain road that was not easy to walk. A trace of nostalgia and regret flashed across his face, and he turned back to the travelers beside him and said:

"And until now, you are unwilling to tell me who your friends are. This really makes me feel jealous. We were once comrades who fought together."

"I also fought with him, more than once."

On the galloping horse, the hooded half-orc female assassin Garona glanced at the mage beside her who was saying strange things, and she said:

"If you don't want to come, you can refuse, Khadgar, I'm not forcing you."

"I'm worried about you."

The weird human mage laughed, his expression became more serious, and he said:

"MI7 is offering a reward for you. When you touched the camp, I was shocked by you. Do you know how many legends were in the camp at that time?

Once you are discovered, it will be too late for me to save you. "

"I am no longer the person I used to be, Khadgar. Whether it is my control over my mind or my depth into the shadows, nothing can compare to what I used to be."

The orc shook his head and said:

"If I didn't need the key in your hand to enter Karazhan, I wouldn't bother you, Khadgar. Anyway, thank you for coming with me this time.

Um?

No, there is movement in front of you, hurry! Get hidden! "