Azeroth: Starting with Eagle Eye in the Necropolis

Page 27

Some people are able to learn several holy light spells in a short period of time.

"I have personally confirmed this, King Terenas. There is even a Holy Light spell that I only recently developed and have not taught to anyone."

"But after I taught it to Rhodes, he learned it in less than an hour," Uther said.

"In that case, he is indeed a rare talent!" the old king said.

Arthas, that idiot! Such a talented person should have been recruited by all means, and brought into the Alliance, into Lordaeron, to serve the Lordaeron royal family!

Uther was farsighted enough to bring this young man named Rhodes to the palace to meet him.

“Uther, do you think that once Arthas returns, his relationship with Rhodes can be repaired?” the old king asked.

“That should be fine. Hopefully, Arthas, who has returned from Northrend, will be able to change his situation,” Uther said.

If it were Arthas back in Stratholme, that would obviously not work. The other party didn't even respect him as a teacher, let alone an ordinary friend.

But if it were Arthas, who was once incredibly humble and had a warm, sunny personality, that would be fine.

“He will. This time he has only suffered a great blow, but I believe in my son. Arthas is the pride of all Lordaeron and the heir of our Menethil family,” said King Terenas.

"May the Holy Light bless Your Highness, King Terenas," Uther said.

He also hoped that Arthas could return to his former self, and that this lesson wouldn't be too much of a blow to the child.

It is unwise to place all the pressure on yourself.

“Uther! What do you think we should do to bring this young man from Lordaeron into our Lordaeron and make him a member of the Alliance?” the old king asked.

“I tried to invite him to join the Knights of the Silver Hand, but he refused; he preferred to study magic.”

Moreover, in stark contrast to his magical talent, his melee combat skills were extremely poor.

"But I believe that under the baptism of the Holy Light, with rigorous training, he can still become a qualified paladin," Uther said.

Upon hearing this, King Terenas nodded. Having weaknesses is a good thing; if one is too perfect, it will be detrimental to Arthas.

“King Terenas, Rhodes has recently been spending a lot of time with Lady Jaina, the princess of Kul Tiras,” Uther said.

Although Rhodes ignored the female mage along the way, Uther could tell that the princess of Kul Tiras had a very good impression of this young man named Rhodes.

When a beautiful girl takes a liking to a man, that man is basically set in stone; the collision of dry tinder and raging fire is very likely to ignite a great conflagration.

When young people act impulsively, they often cause irreparable disasters.

"Oh! That is indeed a problem." The old king's expression also turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this.

Jaina, the princess of Kul Tiras, was his betrothed to Arthas.

The marriage alliance between Lordaeron and Kul Tiras will further solidify the Menethil family's position.

Both sets of parents were also keen to make this happen. In fact, if it weren't for Arthas's foolish actions a few years ago, Jaina might already be married into the royal family of Lordaeron.

If this princess were to be abducted by a Titan emissary of unknown origin, it would not be a good thing for Lordaeron.

Moreover, although Arthas didn't say it outright, Terenas could tell that his son was quite fond of Jaina.

"Uther, how old is this young man named Rhodes?" King Terenas asked, as if he had just thought of something.

“Your Majesty, Rhodes’ age is roughly the same as Arthas’, not much different!” Uther replied.

After spending time together, Uther concluded that Rhodes was probably not very old.

"Hmm! Do you think he would be willing if I offered him a noble title and then recruited him to be the husband of the princess of Lordaeron?" King Terenas asked tactfully.

Such a talented person would gain the greatest benefit if he could join the Menethil family.

Becoming a nobleman, or becoming Arthas's brother-in-law, or one's own son-in-law, is the best choice.

"??? Your Majesty, as far as I know, Princess Calia... she's already married!"

"Do you have a second daughter?" Uther asked.

As far as he knew, ever since the Highlord Prestor disappeared, the princess had fallen in love with an ordinary guard from Lordaeron and had a daughter with him.

“Alas, my poor daughter, you may not know, but not long ago her husband passed away,” King Terenas sighed.

His daughter's marriage was indeed unhappy, and Lord Prestor was a suitable candidate, but who knew that this great nobleman of Alterac would mysteriously disappear!

Furthermore, based on some of the information gathered by the mage Ronning, he suspected that Lord Prestor's identity was not simple, and that he might even be a black dragon in disguise.

Until a few years ago, when Calia fell in love with a guard in the palace, King Terenas always considered it a royal scandal and therefore did not make it public.

Although she tacitly approved of the relationship between the guard and her daughter, the marriage was not blessed.

The recent outbreak of the undead plague gave this guard hope.

He wanted to make a name for himself in this war and officially become a nobleman of Lordaeron to marry Princess Calia, so he volunteered to go to the front lines. However, news of his death came just a few days ago.

“King Terenas, I cannot judge that. Besides, Her Highness has just lost her husband, and it may not be appropriate for her to remarry at this time,” Uther said.

He could understand King Terenas's thoughts; it would indeed be of great benefit to have Rhodes join the Menethil family, but Princess Calia was clearly not suitable!

Chapter 53: The King Summons Him, and the Nobles are Granted Titles!

Having spent some time with Rhodes, Uther had a general understanding of him.

Although this guy usually appears polite, he is actually quite proud, so it's highly unlikely that he would marry a widow.

He wasn't even particularly fond of Princess Jaina, which was something Uther couldn't understand, since she was clearly very beautiful.

Fortunately, Rhodes didn't have any feelings for Jaina, otherwise this matter would have been very difficult to handle.

“I think we can arrange for them to meet first, to see their first impressions. What do you think?” King Terenas said.

He was quite confident in his daughter's appearance; whether it would work or not, they would try and see!

Uther nodded helplessly. Since His Majesty the King had said so, he couldn't say anything more.

"Then let's do it this way! Tonight I will host a private banquet in the palace."

This is to reward Mr. Rhodes in gratitude for his help to Arthas, his rescue in Stratholme, and his contribution in helping you retrieve the Silver Hand Warhammer.

"I will bestow upon him the title of nobleman of Lordaeron and grant him a fitting rank," said King Terenas.

After discussing the details, Uther took his leave to invite Rhodes and Jaina, while King Terenas began arranging the banquet.

After arriving at the post station, Rod first took a nice hot bath, then ate some toast and tender roasted meat, and lay down for a nap.

That afternoon, Uther knocked on the door.

"Rhodes, how was your rest?"

“I’m fine, Lord Uther! I just woke up. Is there anything I can do for you?” Rhodes said.

"I have come on King Terenas's orders to invite you to a banquet at the palace because of your help to Prince Arthas in Andorhal and Hearthglen!"

"And His Majesty the King intends to honor you for accompanying me to the Titan Guardian's Tomb to retrieve the Silver Hand, hence this special banquet," Uther said.

“I am truly flattered! Thank you for the invitation, King Terenas, but Your Excellency Uther, I don’t even have a decent suit.” Rhodes said.

The opportunity has finally arrived. This time, I can find a way to get King Terenas to help me collect some high-grade materials: gems, crystals, sulfur, and mercury.

"Don't worry! I've prepared a suitable dress for you. Go change quickly, and then follow me into the palace," Uther said.

Rhodes nodded, took the clothes Uther handed him, and changed. Uther then invited Jaina over.

Half an hour later, the three met at the entrance of the post station and then headed to the palace under the escort of the Royal Guards of Lordaeron.

Soon, the group entered the Royal Palace of Lordaeron and arrived at a reception hall within the palace.

There were already many maids and servants busy at work. To entertain Rhodes, King Terenas prepared delicious food and fine wine, and ordered the chefs to cook meat dishes with great care.

King Terenas appeared to be an elderly man over 60 years old, with gray hair and many wrinkles around his eyes.

“Greetings, King Terenas.” Rhodes stepped forward and bowed slightly to the King of Lordaeron, following the etiquette that Jaina had taught him.

Western etiquette is quite good; you don't need to kneel when you meet the king. But in the East, you'd have to kneel down to speak to even a county magistrate!

“You’re welcome, young man. I’ve heard about your selfless help to Arthas, without asking for anything in return, and you even distributed the gold coins I gave you to the common people of Stratholme so they could rebuild their homes.”

Later, he even helped Uther obtain the artifact capable of dealing with the Scourge, the Silver Hand Warhammer, the weapon of the Titan Guardians.

"Your noble character deserves respect. The Holy Light will not misjudge people. Come here! The child can sit next to me." King Terenas said very politely as he approached Rhodes, then pulled Rhodes to sit beside him.

Rhodes noticed that, besides King Terenas himself, Jaina, and Uther, there was also a blonde woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties sitting at the side of the banquet.

Her face bore a striking resemblance to Arthas, and she was tall and slender with fair skin, making her almost as beautiful as Jaina.

Jaina, who was next to Rhodes, smiled at the blonde woman and then sat down next to her.

"Hello, Sister Jialiya!"

“Gina, I’m so glad you could come! I heard about what happened to Arthas, and I can’t believe my brother would do something like this!” Calia said.

She could hardly believe that her brother had done the massacre of the entire population of Stratholme.

“This matter is very complicated. In fact, even if Arthas hadn’t done that, those subjects in Stratholme wouldn’t have survived,” Jaina sighed.

Both he and Rhodes rescued a large number of civilians, but more than 7% of them mutated into undead, and most of them lived in the suburbs, so the situation in the city would be even more serious.

“You two are already chatting. Calia, show some manners befitting a princess of the Royal Family of Lordaeron. I haven’t introduced you to the guests yet!” King Terenas said.

Princess Calia immediately rose and gave Rhodes a royal princess's bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Reverend Rhodes."

“Me too, Princess Calia,” Rhodes replied with a smile.

It seems Uther is quite concerned about his identity as a priest or paladin! He definitely doesn't want to be called a mage.

It doesn't matter, anyway, once we get to Dalaran, Rhodes can still call himself a mage.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two sat down.

"Alright, everyone, please sit down! This is a private dinner, children, please don't be shy." King Terenas, as the host, immediately gestured for everyone to enjoy the dinner.

“Young man, tell me your story! I’m very curious about your experiences along the way!” said King Terenas.

“Since Your Majesty wishes to hear, I will certainly tell you everything I know.” Rhodes smiled politely and began to recount his experiences to King Terenas.

Rhodes' account was largely the same as Uther's, but the old king listened very attentively.

Princess Calia, on the other hand, was rather aloof, chatting quietly with Jaina the whole time and not saying a single word to Rhodes.

"Rhodes, you have made tremendous contributions to the Kingdom of Lordaeron and the Alliance. In recognition of your achievements, I hereby formally confer upon you the title of Baron of the Kingdom of Lordaeron." King Terenas suddenly dropped a bombshell.