Chapter Seventy-Five: Seven Rings (Part Two)

Seeing the elven decorations around him, Patrick finally relaxed, reassured that they were safe. “You’ve really worked hard these past two days,” he said, his tone apologetic.

Aurelia replied with a gentle smile.

Patrick released his arcane energy, enveloping them both, allowing himself to savor this rare moment of quiet and serenity.

After a long silence, Aurelia spoke. “Congratulations, Patrick! Reaching the Seventh Circle means you’re now eligible to become a Silvermoon Councilor. It seems the Cabron family is destined to rise and become a pillar of Silvermoon City in the future.” Her voice was casual, with no hint of deliberate authority.

With just Patrick and Aurelia present, there was no need for pretense. “Joining the Seventh Circle only makes me an ordinary councilor in the Silvermoon Council. We still don’t have any real power. Even the Windrunners’ old patriarch is a councilor, isn’t he? We might have voting rights, but we’re neither part of the majority party nor part of the executive board; our actual influence is negligible.”

Patrick’s words were candid, and Aurelia could not refute them. “To become an executive councilor, one must advance to the Eighth Circle. Never mind how long it usually takes a mage to reach that level—just consider the five great families: Sunwing, Dawnblade, Morningstrider, Star of Dawn, and Morning Breeze. They control all the kingdom’s resources and have no intention of yielding their arcane assets so easily.”

“Still, joining the council will elevate your family’s status tremendously. Your connections and influence throughout the kingdom will grow as well. Becoming a councilor always brings more advantages than disadvantages, because you’ll have one foot in the highest echelons of power in Quel’Thalas.”

It was true; after joining the council, the family’s rise in influence would be incomparable to their previous state. To obtain significant resources in Quel’Thalas, one had to secure a firm foothold in the council—there was simply no other way.

Consider why so many high elves gathered in Dalaran. Was it because they truly loved the city? Even after Quel’Thalas was destroyed and the Sunwell shattered, many high elves remained there rather than returning home to aid their kin.

Why was this? In Quel’Thalas, how could anyone feel a sense of belonging? Everything depended on the whims of the ancient noble houses. For an ordinary family to rise in Silvermoon was nearly impossible; the moment the powerful sensed even the slightest threat to their influence, they would restrict your access to resources under the guise of helping, seeking to co-opt or swallow up smaller forces. Such events had happened far more than once in Quel’Thalas. The mass exodus of high elves was at least fifteen percent the fault of the great houses.

Even Patrick, a transmigrator, had once considered seeking opportunities in Dalaran, rather than spending his whole life in his father’s tower, brewing potions, dabbling in arcane arts, marrying an elven woman, raising a few children—and then waiting idly for Arthas to break through the gates of Silvermoon. In his previous life, passively awaiting disaster was never the way for the people of his homeland.

The Silvermoon Council had indeed enacted many policies: free food distribution, allocation of social resources. Outwardly, the elves lived in comfort and elegance. Yet, despite a life free from want, the high elves had grown ever more decadent and empty. Their days were spent at endless gatherings and parties, or in fleeting affairs, yet such pleasures inevitably grew stale.

Some elves did pursue mastery in the arcane arts, but as members of lesser houses, they were ostracized, denied resources commensurate with their abilities, and found no path upward. Pressured and helpless, they left Quel’Thalas to seek development among humans. Decades later, those who had left had established deep roots and prospered, and naturally were unwilling to return.

(Of course, this was not the root cause of the later betrayal by the Silver Covenant; their issues stemmed from the suspect motives of their supporters in Stormwind, Kirin Tor, and others who backed Vereesa.)

“It seems my journey along the arcane path has only just begun,” Patrick said, his words startling Aurelia.

But Aurelia simply smiled. With Patrick’s talent, advancement to the Eighth or even Ninth Circle was only a matter of time. An archmage would always command respect in Quel’Thalas.

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Returning to Sunspire Tower, Quelinthys and Anida immediately sensed a different kind of power as Patrick emerged from the brilliance of teleportation. Seventh Circle—this marked the threshold of extraordinary power, and both Quelinthys and Anida were visibly astonished.

“Seventh Circle? Chief Patrick, congratulations,” Quelinthys offered his heartfelt praise.

“Congratulations, Chief Patrick—ah, or should I say, Councilor Patrick from now on?” Anida added with a smile.

Generally, any mage who achieved distinction at the Sunwell Sanctuary would seek to return to Silvermoon City, for it was the true heart of Quel’Thalas.

Quelinthys was both a competent steward and a dedicated mage. During Patrick’s two-month expedition with Ithonis and Candiris to the troll lands, Sunspire Tower had continued to run smoothly. Every detail—from daily occurrences to mana supplies to the taxation of passing merchants—was meticulously recorded.

The entire sanctuary operated in perfect order, with no trace of the fierce battles raging at the front lines. Quelinthys’s own strength had grown considerably, a testament to his diligence in honing his arcane skills even during Patrick’s absence.

Anida, too, was a steady mage, though compared to other female spellcasters like Liadrin and Thalysta, she was more easily distracted—whether by the arrival of a handsome elf or the latest in cosmetics. Her arcane progress was noticeably slower than Quelinthys’s.

As for Ithonis and Candiris, they were the practical sort—hardworking and persistent. Though their innate arcane gifts were average, they devoted themselves fully, never fearing failure. Their magical proficiency had risen swiftly, with both showing promise of soon advancing to the Sixth Circle.

No wonder, then, that in the future, Ithonis, Candiris, and a few others would band together to wage the Ghost Wars, collaborating with unofficial forces to eradicate the Scourge stronghold at Deatholme and bring the traitor Dar’Khan to justice, preserving the stability of Quel’Thalas and removing a grave threat to the kingdom. By then, they had all reached the level of Magister—possessing both great power and rich combat experience, true representatives of the new generation of pragmatic masters.