Since Jess came to Stormwind, he had never planned to go to Redridge Mountains and the lakeside of Stillwater Lake to do anything.
There are three or four gnoll tribes, countless nagas lurking in the lake, the Black Dragon Legion that may arrive at any time, poisonous spider monsters larger than cows, and the wild mountains and ridges occupied by several orc legions. Taking a wrong step may lead to an inexplicable death on the spot.
However, Redridge Mountains should become like this many years later. According to the current time point, the orc tribe has just been defeated and retreated into Blackrock Mountain. They occupy part of the surface city of the Dark Iron dwarves - Blackrock Spire. Now they should be at war with the Dark Iron dwarves and competing for the control of Blackrock Mountain.
Soon the Blackrock orcs will gain the upper hand. Not because they have more people and are stronger. On the contrary, the Dark Iron dwarves, relying on the underground city of Blackrock Depths as their backing, continuously launch fierce attacks on the invaders on the surface. Within just a few years, they push the orc tribe to a desperate situation and will soon achieve a complete victory.
However, at this moment, a group of uninvited guests arrived. The Black Dragon Legion led by Neltharion, the eldest son of Deathwing the Black Dragon Aspect, descended on Blackrock Mountain and reached a cooperation agreement with the orcs. Soon, they drove the dwarves back underground and completely occupied the surface part of Blackrock Mountain, turning it into the orcs' base.
Neltharion's purpose is to find a new dragon lair and strengthen the power of the Black Dragon Legion. Through this cooperation, he completely enslaved the orcs and turned the tribe in Blackrock Spire into his dragon lair guards.
As a result, the dwarves in the Burning Steppes lost their support from underground and were also defeated one after another by the orcs' attacks. The arrival of the black dragons means that the Blackrock tribe under Neltharion's rule will soon control a large mountainous area and scorched land in the northern part of Redridge Mountains and form a confrontation with the Kingdom of Stormwind.
When will the black dragons arrive? Is it now? Or... a few years later, or has it already happened?
In the seventh year of the Dark Portal, it has only been a year since the current orc chieftain, Orgrim Doomhammer, was captured under Blackrock Spire. The conflict between the orcs and dwarves on Blackrock Spire should not have intensified to the most intense point yet. So the arrival of the black dragons should not have occurred.
Jess conservatively replied, "The Blackrock orcs should be gathering their troops. After all, they have been severely damaged by the alliance army in the Burning Steppes and can't recover for a while."
"Ha, they are much more radical than you think." Marin took a small sip of tea and said, "The defenders in Redridge Mountains have detected their appearance in the area south of Redridge Mountains. The scouts of the Blackrock tribe... have reached this side. According to our spies' reports, the Blackrock orcs are fighting dwarves everywhere in the Burning Steppes and competing for control. Do you think we should let the Blackrock orcs enter Redridge Mountains and let them fight with gnolls so that the kingdom can reap the benefits?"
"The Blackrock orcs are more likely to cooperate with gnolls." Jess said, "These races that like black magic may have more in common. And they won't be stupid enough to kill each other according to our wishes when there is still a common and most powerful enemy."
Marin nodded and said, "It's indeed possible."
After saying that, he sniffed and asked, "Why do I feel there is an ominous decaying smell in the room? Did you bring it in?"
"What..." Jess smelled himself and said, "I can't smell it."
Marin walked around the table, leaned closer and smelled it, and asked, "Have you been near any cemetery or something?"
Since Marin had noticed it, Jess couldn't deny it anymore and had to say, "Yes..."
"Why did you go to the cemetery? Is there a close person buried in Stormwind? But if it's a relative, there's no need to open the coffin to greet them, right?" Marin asked suspiciously.
"No." Jess said, "I went to look for grave moss."
"Ah, so that's it." Marin's expression relaxed a lot. He picked up the cup again and took a sip. Then he asked, "Want to earn some extra money? Is there still grave moss to pick around here? I thought you had to go to South Elwynn to find it. Is this what you were busy with these days?"
"There's no special harvest." Jess said.
"For grave moss to grow, an ordinary grave won't do." Marin said, "A knowledgeable herbalist will definitely not just go into any cemetery they see. It must be a grave deeply affected by necromantic energy... So I guess the large cemetery in the south affected by the explosion of dark power may have it. But never try to go there. Getting infected with corpse poison is very troublesome."
"I know. Thank you for the reminder." Jess nodded and began to wipe the dirtier areas under the bookshelf.
"Well done, Mr. Sesuo." Marin took out his pocket watch and put on his glasses to look at it. He said, "I hope you can finish your cleaning work before 8 o'clock every day from now on. I will arrive here around 8:30. Don't leave here in the morning. I hope you can be available at any time. You can get off work at 11:30. What do you think? During this period, you can read my books casually. There are some more in the next room. If you feel really bored, I can bring you a few novels of Amy's to read."
"No problem, Master." Jess looked up at the bookshelf here. Most of the books were about history and natural history, covering a wide range. It would be good to take this opportunity to understand the world of Azeroth in detail.
"I usually have classes in the afternoon. At other times, if you want to find me, you can go to the green crystal building in the south of the mage district to find me. I live on the second floor. My name is written on the doorplate."
Jess had seen the place called Green Crystal. The walls were covered with gorgeous flowers and plants attracted by arcane magic. There was a violet-colored eaves. The whole building was like a villa. Downstairs was a beautiful small square with a stone carving fountain in the middle.
Those who live in it must be the highest-ranking professors and scholars in the mage district.
If one day you can live in such a building, you must have a very high status in Stormwind, right?
"Do you have any other questions?" Marin asked.
"I want to learn a language in my spare time." Jess said, "For example, Elvish, Dwarvish, or Orcish."
Hearing Orcish, Marin asked curiously, "Elvish and Dwarvish are understandable. Why do you want to learn Orcish?"
Jess looked at the old mage. His brain was spinning rapidly, vowing to find a reasonable explanation within a few seconds. He had no energy to condemn himself for not thinking of a good reason before coming.
"I think... In the future, we may have to accept the fact that we live in the same world as the orcs. I want to learn the language of this race in advance. Maybe there will be more opportunities then. Generally speaking, I want to be more useful."
"Ah..." Marin raised his eyebrows and nodded continuously. "You are looking quite far ahead. Have you heard the content of the letter that King Terenas II wrote to other kings? It seems that Lordaeron has relaxed its attitude towards the orcs. They have set up orc internment camps and provided some jobs that the orcs can do within the camps... I think Terenas II may have the same view of the future as you. Maybe it has something to do with you both being from Lordaeron."
He flipped through a stack of files next to him and pulled out a piece of paper with a dense list written on it. He pressed his finger on an item on it and said, "If I remember correctly, the Wizard's Sanctum started preparing Orcish language courses a few years ago. Now this course has been offered for half a year. There are not many students. Are you interested in taking a look?"
Jess asked, "The course has been offered for half a year. Will I be unable to keep up?"
"You don't have to worry about this." Marin pointed at the words on that item with his finger and said, "The current Orcish language course is completely different from other language courses. In fact, the teacher is not much stronger than the students. They are also searching everywhere for Orcish characters, communicating with captured orcs and slaves who survived from the Horde, collecting the accurate pronunciation of characters and the meaning of words... and making some guesses. Saying it's an Orcish language course is actually a process of exploration together by students and teachers."
Jess said, "I understand. What about Elvish language courses?"
"As for Elvish language, I don't agree with learning it at the Wizard's Sanctum. We don't have elven teachers here, and the level of human teachers is not high either. After all, the courses here are just to train some diplomats and serve the royal family. The purpose is to achieve communication and mutual understanding. But in fact, in most diplomatic occasions now, Common is spoken. The so-called diplomatic Elvish is basically just to leave a good impression on the elves. For example, saying hello at the beginning, your clothes are really beautiful, the weather is really nice today and other innocuous greetings. You can imagine how good the level is. So, if you want to learn real Elvish language, you can go to Dalaran in the future. Of course, the best place is undoubtedly Quel'Thalas. If you learn there, you can become the first human to settle in Silvermoon City by the way."
After saying that, Marin smiled and said, "By the way, do you want me to help you contact Mr. Carlo Duchamp, the teacher of Orcish language?"
Jess quickly replied, "If possible, thank you very much."
"Don't be in a hurry to wait for the result." Marin said, "I don't usually see him. Of course, I won't write to him either. Otherwise, it would seem like I'm begging him to let you into his class."
Jess nodded. He didn't expect it to be so easy to find an opportunity to learn Orcish language. And Marin was so willing to help. If he could learn it as soon as possible, then the progress of studying warlock magic would be much faster. Then it would be easier for him to beat those amateurs in the Slaughtered Lamb basement.
Now he could only pray that the book with two sets of languages is really an Orcish version of a demonic language textbook. This is almost like opening up a shortcut - without being discovered by the Wizard's Sanctum.