Azeroth Monster Manual

PS: Reuploading chapter. All chapters before 219 have been revised.

After three hours of trekking, even the physically impressive Kurdran was exhausted. Skarel had already been sent back, meaning this tracking mission was entirely his responsibility, a torturous prospect for a Mountain King.

Asking a burly warrior to do the work of a rogue or ranger was only something Kurdran would do. Any other hot-tempered legend would have quit long ago.

But fortune favors the bold. Whether the remnants of the Frostmane tribe were weakened by the war, or Kurdran's stealth skills were exceptional, he managed to avoid detection along the way.

Grabbing a handful of snow flecked with grass, Kurdran didn't hesitate, stuffing it into his mouth. He lay prone in the snow, his light gray cloak effectively concealing him, blending him seamlessly into the snowy landscape.

Beneath him was a bearskin, insulating him from the snow and preventing hypothermia. Despite this, the dwarf was still half-frozen by the biting winds of Dun Morogh.

"Wh... wh-what's taking them so long?"

Kurdran reached for the wineskin at his waist, intending to take a swig to ward off the chill, but found it empty. He reluctantly stuck out his tongue, licking the remaining droplets from the opening. His heavy breathing and the twin plumes of white vapor from his nostrils made his rugged face seem almost unreal.

Finally, the Frostmane remnants, who had stopped to rest in the distance, began moving again.

Seeing their figures disappearing, Kurdran quickly jumped up. Ignoring his numb limbs, he immediately gave chase.

…

Another hour passed, and the Frostmane force finally halted. Kurdran, with the speed of an old woman diving under the covers, immediately dropped to the ground.

"Seriously? Less than an hour and they're resting again?"

The dwarf grumbled in dissatisfaction, but this time, things were different. The Frostmane weren't resting, but rather…

…

"Seer, I beg you."

Bartok, supporting two injured soldiers, spoke with a guilty expression to the frail Seer.

Hearing the berserker's words, the Frostmane Seer simply muttered something under his breath. Soon, two Frostmane Headhunters emerged from the main group and headed into the distance.

Seeing one of the Headhunters approaching him, Kurdran nervously shrunk back.

"Damn it, did those blue-skinned trash discover me? No, I need to strike first!"

Kurdran tightened his cloak, his hand already on the two-handed warhammer on his back, ready to end the Headhunter's life as soon as he got close.

Just as Kurdran was poised to strike, the Headhunter approaching him stopped in his tracks. After observing the area for a moment, he turned around and left.

"Phew, that scared the hell out of me."

Kurdran chuckled, stroking his beard, relieved as he watched the Headhunter return to the main group.

As the Headhunter rejoined the others, the other Frostmane Headhunter finished scouting. The two stood before the Frostmane Seer, exchanging words. Then, the Frostmane Seer began to cast a spell, raising his hands and chanting, radiating an ancient and powerful aura.

"Buzz…"

The ground began to tremble slightly. Kurdran stared wide-eyed at the scene in the distance, a gasp of surprise escaping his lips.

The once smooth mountainside suddenly cracked open, revealing a narrow opening. Hundreds of Frostmane remnants quickly entered. Once everyone was inside, the Seer followed. Moments later, the earth trembled again, and the crack in the stone wall vanished, leaving no trace.

"No wonder… no wonder our dim-witted relatives haven't been able to find the Frostmane trolls for so many years. They possess such power!"

Kurdran was so excited he almost shouted. He quickly covered his mouth, only calming down after a long moment. Slapping his forehead, he remembered the important task at hand. He quickly pulled out a sending stone from his pouch, releasing a small amount of magical energy.

…

"Hey, Kurdran, are you drunk and spouting nonsense?"

Hemit, looking doubtful, grabbed Kurdran's arm, sniffing him suspiciously.

"Bullshit, what about my drinking capacity!?"

Kurdran shook off the old dwarf's grip, looking disgusted.

Ten minutes earlier, Aier and his group, resting at the Frost Stone Farm, finally received Kurdran's message. Aier, Romans, Kael'thas, and a team of elite soldiers led by Muradin crossed the short-range portal constructed by Aier, arriving at Kurdran's location.

Creating a cross-dimensional portal required Aier a significant amount of time and materials. However, a short-range portal didn't need such extensive preparations. Aier could create one in just a few minutes without using runestones.

But the drawbacks were obvious. First was stability. A large portal (one-time use) could operate stably for several hours, even over ten hours, but a short-range portal only lasted a few minutes.

Second was the distance. A cross-dimensional portal could even connect to another continent (Kalimdor), while a short-range portal could only cross a few thousand kilometers (considered a small map here).

This significantly reduced the scalability and large-scale applicability of short-range portals. However, every disadvantage has its advantage. Short-range portals could produce unexpected results when used in small-scale reconnaissance, infiltration, and other special military operations. This was one of the reasons Aier favored short-range portals.

Kael'thas and Romans continuously scanned the surrounding environment for humanoid lifeforms but found nothing. Kurdran, seeing the doubtful expressions on everyone's faces, was about to burst with anger. He was about to loudly protest when Aier interrupted.

"Kurdran is not lying. I sense an unusual presence from the earth's aura. It's normal not to detect the Frostmane trolls; their Seer has erased their scent and tracks."

The youth closed his eyes, patiently sensing everything around him. Just as everyone was feeling confused and wondering what he was doing, Aier finally opened his eyes.

His originally azure eyes instantly became vacant, and then the empty pupils were suddenly filled with strands of dark brown lines.

At that moment, the youth seemed possessed by a god. His lips parted slightly, and he murmured:

"Spirits of the earth, heed my call…"

"Rumble…"

A subtle tremor echoed from the ground beneath their feet. Hemit jumped back dramatically, hugging Kael'thas's leg in astonishment.

Normally, the prince would have kicked him away, but he was so captivated by the spectacle before him that he didn't even notice the anomaly on his leg.

A flicker of brown light flashed in Muradin's pupils, but it disappeared in a few seconds. A long-lost sense of excitement trembled in his heart, unable to calm down.

"This… this is…"

The last time I felt this kind of palpitation was when my bloodline awakened and I comprehended the mysteries of the Mountain King. But at this moment, this palpitation resounded once more. Muradin felt his blood flowing faster.

As the Bronzebeard Prince, the power of the earth within his bloodline was more abundant than any other dwarf, even surpassing his elder brother, Magni Bronzebeard (this is based on the Frostborn dwarf questline in Northrend and the Mountain King in WAR3, showcasing Muradin's strong talent).

At this moment, he felt it… the earth was calling.

Just as Muradin was in shock, the originally flat terrain underwent earth-shattering changes.

Boulders rose up, and countless frozen earth was transformed into fine gravel by an invisible force. As the young man's call resounded once more, an earthy-yellow energy completely took shape.

“Respected Guardian, the spirit of the earth of Dun Morogh answers your call.”

Looking at the strange earth elemental composed of granite in front of him, Aier couldn't help but reveal a playful smile.

This earth elemental, or rather, the spirit of the earth, was composed of light yellow granite. A huge rock formed its head, with two 'eyes' like flames on its head. Two large elemental rings were embedded in its thick arms. The lower body was composed of countless gravel of varying sizes, constantly changing shape in the cold wind.

Feeling the aura emanating from the elemental spirit in front of him, Aier understood.

“An epic-tier elemental? It seems the application of earth power needs to be developed.”

At this time, everyone looked at the earth elemental in front of them, which was like a small mountain, or rather, was a small mountain, and they all involuntarily opened their mouths wide.

It's no wonder their reactions were so exaggerated, because in this period of Azeroth, apart from the trolls and the tauren far away in Kalimdor, there had never been a legendary profession like shaman. (Dwarves came much later; the earliest shamans were trolls, then orcs, and finally dwarves and draenei.)

Although elements are not unfamiliar to mages, and powerful mages can even sign contracts with the most docile water elementals, this does not mean that mages can sign contracts with other elements.

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The explosive fire elementals, the steady as a mountain but inert earth elementals, and the capricious and unpredictable wind elementals, these elements have never signed elemental contracts with any mortals from ancient times to the present, let alone being enslaved.

And everything in front of them completely subverted everyone's understanding. An earth elemental, an earth elemental who called himself the spirit of the elements, an earth elemental with an epic tier, was showing an unusually respectful attitude at this time, and the one he was facing was just an 'ordinary' mortal.

Having come to his senses, Kael'thas smiled self-deprecatingly, and the shocking emotions in his heart gradually dissipated.

‘That's right, the mentor is not an ordinary mortal, even… even the gods have become the mentor's spoils of war.’

After psychological construction, His Royal Highness the Prince quickly calmed down.

“Ahem, very good, what's your name?”

Aier coughed lightly, using this to cover up the joy in his heart.

“Respected Guardian, my name is Sabraal…”

The earth elemental's deep, synthesized voice rumbled, and the unique elemental language was automatically translated into the common language familiar to everyone under the effect of arcane language.

“Sabraal, can you help me find the traces of those Frostmane trolls? The kind that are…”

Aier was just about to say something about the physical characteristics of the Frostmane trolls, but he was interrupted by the earth elemental's voice.

“Are you talking about those blue-skinned creatures? I have some friendship with their prophet; they are inside the mountain wall of this mountain.”

The earth elemental pointed to the mountain that Kurdran had just mentioned with a thick arm made of rock, and said in a muffled voice.

“Oh? Is that so? Their prophet actually has some friendship with you?”

Aier stroked his chin and said softly, while Sabraal was still doing what he was told as if he had no reaction. The young man's probing did not have the desired effect at all.

Seeing that the earth elemental had no reaction, Aier tentatively said:

“Sabraal, can you help me shatter that mountain range? I mean, shatter the Frostmane trolls in the mountain range along with it.”

“Hiss, Lord Aier is really ruthless.”

Hemit shuddered and said playfully.

Hearing Aier's words, the originally indifferent Sabraal finally stopped being silent, but began to think very anthropomorphically. After a while, he said:

“Your will, Guardian.”

“Wait, wait, wait, I'm kidding.”

Seeing that the earth elemental was actually willing to carry out his orders, Aier quickly and awkwardly stopped him, fearing that if he was one step slower, this honest earth elemental would raze the distant mountain to the ground, which was not the result he wanted.

“Just help us open the barrier to this Frostmane fortress. We'll take care of the rest ourselves.”

After thinking for a long time, Aier said this time.

“Your will, Guardian.”

The elemental spirit, having received Aier's order, no longer hesitated. Earthy-yellow energy began to gather. Before long, the distant mountain wall completely cracked open, revealing all the structures inside.

“Do you have any other instructions, Guardian?”

After doing all this, Sabraal continued to say in that heavy, slow voice.

“Thank you for your help, Sabraal.”

Just like that, under everyone's gaze, Sabraal turned into a pile of rubble with a loud roar, as if he had never appeared.

Without giving everyone a chance to ask questions, Aier looked at the completely cracked stone wall in front of him and said in a deep voice:

“Let's go, comrades, we have work to do.”

……

Although the Frostmane trolls put up a fierce resistance, the gap between the two sides was too great. Under the encirclement and suppression of three archmages, a legendary warrior, two epic warriors (Hemit: When did I become a warrior?) and elite dwarven guards, each of whom was a high-level professional, the Frostmane trolls, who only had the old, weak, sick and disabled, had no power to fight back.

Looking at the three Frostmane legends lying in the pool of blood, a relaxed smile finally appeared on the corner of Aier's mouth.

“Muradin, how is it? Have you finished the statistics?”

Looking at the dwarven prince walking towards him, Aier asked softly.

“Thirty thousand old, weak, women and children. I have already notified my elder brother to send someone over. There are also less than three thousand Frostmane teenagers. Commander, these troll teenagers really don't…”

Muradin made a throat-cutting gesture, the meaning of which was self-evident. If these troll teenagers were allowed to live, it would not take a few years for these Frostmane remnants to grow up completely. Muradin naturally did not want to see such a situation happen.

“It doesn't matter. I already have a good idea. Let's talk about this after we return to Ironforge.”

At this moment, Hemit walked over, carrying a pitch-black, short, and stout creature, making a fuss.

“Lord Aier, guess what I found? Ha, it's actually a damned Dark Iron dwarf!”