Chương 36: Chapter 31

"And here is the cavern that the enclave intends to use for storing food," said Krivax, gesturing towards a massive cavern completely covered with insect-filled webs. While neither Lordaeron nor Dalaran had a shortage of delicious shellfish, it was nice to have access to the insects he'd grown used to over the past few years. Krivax turned to look at the two individuals who Dalaran had sent to evaluate the enclave's ongoing construction.

"I see," said the city's guard captain, a middle-aged human man.

"This is really impressive. It's hard to imagine such large tunnels were dug out in just a month."

"Quite," said his mage companion, an elvish woman responsible for evaluating the nerubian's magical defenses.

"The wards are very well constructed as well, and fall within the agreed upon regulations." While Dalaran didn't mind giving the nerubians their own portion of the city to live in—the high elves already did after all—there were obvious limits to what they could and could not do, which included the construction of certain wards. After all, the first priority of any government would always be its own safety.

"Of course, Magistrix Autumnsinger," Krivax said diplomatically.

"Every part of the enclave's construction falls well within the regulations we agreed upon with the Council of Six." That wasn't even a lie, thankfully. Azjol-Nerub was not currently interested in invading Dalaran and was more than willing to honor the agreements it made… so long as doing so remained in their best interest.

"I'm glad to hear that," said the elvish woman, turning to send an uncomfortable glance at a skitterer as it passed them by.

"Have there been any difficulties building the tunnels around the Underbelly?"

"No, we haven't had any problems with that," Krivax said truthfully as he began walking down the cavern to continue their tour.

"We sent a few of our warriors to properly map out the Underbelly and Worm Handler Crut'zok has done a good job directing the jormungar away from its tunnels. Our people have more than enough experience in such matters, so there's no need to worry."

After the first time there was an accident caused by Dalaran's map of the Underbelly not being completely accurate—something which was blamed on the slum's residents 'illegal tunneling and expansion'—the delegation had decided to scout out the sewer's tunnels themselves. Krivax hadn't hesitated to take advantage of the situation by asking Masruk to learn as much as he could about the slum's residents, and more specifically the local goblins. Krivax was hoping to find someone willing to do some…

discreet work for the right price. Although he had been willing to act more patiently before while Azjol-Nerub solidified its diplomatic ties and he gradually increased his own magical ability, the signs that the Second War was close to entering full swing grew larger and larger by the day. Communication with Khaz Modan was nearly nonexistent by this point, and people were expecting to hear news of refugees fleeing north across the Thandol Span at any moment.

All of this meant that Krivax would need to make preparations if he intended to interfere proactively in the war. The rest of the tour went fairly well, with Krivax showing them every part of the tunnels, including the various sleeping quarters separated by caste, a cavern filled with half-constructed structures which would eventually serve as a site for magical experimentation, a cavern just for the jormungar and other nerubian beasts.

and an exclusive area meant to hold the enclave's local queen and possibly a few… experimental eggs. There were also some more mundane sections such as the main government building representing Azjol-Nerub and a guest area for those non-nerubians who choose to stay overnight in the enclave. There were likely lots of little things he was missing too, but he didn't know the ins and outs of every single room in the enclave; that would be up to those living and working here.

The tunnels running throughout the enclave were lined with arcane lights and glowing fungi for light, along with webs made of silk more solid and inflexible than what Krivax was used to in Azjol-Nerub. This was mostly for the convenience of their non-nerubian guests, who would have found it much more difficult to walk on the silk they usually used. Not to mention the need to make use of fewer non-vertical surfaces since non-nerubians couldn't easily just climb a wall or ceiling to get around.

Eventually, they reached the last part of their tour, which was a large cavern that would eventually house the enclave's ziggurat. However, there wasn't much to see yet, with only a few Weavers and skitterers laying down the building's foundation. It didn't take very long after that before Krivax was waving goodbye to the two inspectors, who were both more than eager to leave the subterranean enclave the moment their work was concluded.

As soon as they were gone, Krivax allowed himself to relax and let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't been wrong to assume that his days were going to grow busier after the opening of the portal to En'kilah, but things had gone surprisingly well so far and Krivax couldn't help but feel glad.

Just as he was about to return to his room to reward himself by snacking on a particularly delicious breed of scorpion native to the Howling Fjord, Krivax was suddenly interrupted by a nervous voice coming from behind him, "Vizier Krivax?" Turning quickly at the sound of his name, Krivax relaxed when he saw that it was just one of the Initiates sent by the Circle to learn in Dalaran.

"Yes, Initiate Selmet? How can I help you?" asked Krivax.

"I would like to request your assistance in finding the classroom for my scheduled lesson," said Initiate Selmet as he fidgeted nervously. Krivax knew that most Viziers would never deign to assist an Initiate with something so small, but he had gained a certain reputation for being… different.

"You've been in Dalaran for a while now, why are you still having trouble finding your classes?" Krivax asked patiently.

"I find it difficult to adjust to the surface," said Selmet after a moment of hesitant silence.

"The layout of their city makes no sense to me, and the sun and the sky can be… overwhelming." That was a feeling common to many of the nerubians who had no experience with the surface, much of the delegation was the same at first even though they got over it fast, so Krivax found it hard to blame the Initiate. After all, he knew more than most that getting used to a new situation drastically different from what you were used to before was not easy.

"Of course, Initiate," said Krivax in his best 'patient mentor voice,' ignoring the fact that the Initiate was likely biologically older than him and had probably been studying magic for longer than him as well.

"I was just about to start making my way to Runeweave Square anyway, so you're welcome to join me." That was a lie, but he should probably actually start making his way there given that Krasus' lesson in Advanced Polymorphic Transmutation was scheduled to start soon. Aside from the lesson being an excellent opportunity for him to stalk Krasus back to his lair, he was also quite interested in listening to the Archmage's lesson itself.

Dragons possessed a natural talent for shapeshifting magic, so Krivax wouldn't be surprised if Krasus knew more about the subject than anyone else in the city. With a relieved nod, Selmet skittered to his side and the two of them began making their way up into Dalaran, the surface entrance to the enclave being located near the edge of the city proper.

As Krivax led the Initiate to Runeweave Square, he glanced at the surrounding pedestrians and felt a hint of wonder at how quickly the people of Dalaran were growing used to the giant spider people among them. Most still gave a short stare and shared some quiet whispers when they saw them, but it was growing less and less each day as they simply became a regular sight in the city.

It didn't take very long before Krivax was ushering the Initiate into a classroom in which an elvish mage was giving an introductory lecture on enchanting. Many of the students turned to stare at them, but Krivax ignored them as he waved Selmet goodbye and left to begin making his way to the portion of Runeweaver Square dedicated to more advanced lessons. Let's see… Advanced Elemental Abjuration, Foundational Construct Conjuration, Tangible Illusion Construction… Ah!

Advanced Polymorphic Transmutation by Archmage Krasus Cinderdepth. Krivax paused for a moment as he realized that this was the first time he ever read anything about Krasus having a surname. It wasn't something that he had ever thought about before, simply assuming that the people who wrote Warcraft's lore were too lazy to give last names to all of their characters, but it stood out to him now that it had been brought to his attention. Does Antonidas have a last name? Does Kel'thuzad?

I know Kael'thas and Ansirem have last names… but does everyone else? Is this just some kind of weird mage thing? Krivax forcibly pushed these thoughts away and stepped into the classroom, he could always look into it later when he had the time. While most of the previous classrooms he had seen in Dalaran reminded him of some of the lecture halls he'd seen during college, this one was much smaller in comparison, likely due to the smaller number of mages attending the advanced class.

The students themselves seemed older and more mature than the ones he had seen in Arcanist Flametrail's class or any of the introductory classes he'd seen over the past month. Several of them were likely fully-fledged mages who were simply looking to learn a new skill from an Archmage. Under the assessing gazes of said mages, Krivax found himself a convenient spot near the back of the classroom and folded his legs under himself as he sat down.

It seemed that nobody had remembered to prepare a cushion for the classroom, and none of the chairs were built to accommodate a nerubian. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before the dragon that he wanted to see came walking into the classroom and immediately began drawing out two different arcane glyphs on the board at the front of the class. Unlike runes, arcane glyphs generally served as a visual representation of a particular piece of spellcraft and did not possess any power on their own.

Krivax had studied enough transmutation to know that these particular glyphs represented two similar spells related to the polymorph spell, although he was having trouble understanding the differences between the two. Krasus very quickly finished drawing the two glyphs and turned to address the classroom, nodding an acknowledgment to Krivax before beginning his lecture.

"One of the most difficult challenges mages have when delving into advanced polymorphic transmutations is understanding the difference between polymorphing themselves and polymorphing an external entity," began Krasus, his voice easily carrying throughout the room.

"All of you should understand the four regulations regarding polymorphic magic." Krasus paused for a moment before directing his gaze to a dwarvish man, one of the few that Krivax had seen studying magic in Dalaran.

"Mage Tymor, name these four regulations," said Krasus, causing everyone to turn their attention to the dwarf.

"Y-yes, Archmage," said the dwarf, obviously nervous at being the center of attention.

"The four regulations are the following; do not turn a creature of lesser intelligence into a creature of higher intelligence, only use pre-approved creatures for polymorphs, do not polymorph inanimate objects, and never polymorph anything that is halfway through a portal."

"Correct," said Krasus, returning his focus back to the rest of the class, much to the dwarf's relief.

"Those of you who are more perceptive will note that three of these four regulations are a result of the natural differences between the minds of different creatures or entities, which naturally causes significant difficulties when attempting to transform one entity into another. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the infamous 'mur-elf' incident if you wish for an example of what might happen as a result of these difficulties." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

At Krasus's words, a collective shudder passed through the gathered mages. Krivax wasn't sure what the 'infamous mur-elf incident' was, but he could guess by the name and immediately felt more cautious about experimenting with such magic.

"To be able to safely polymorph oneself necessitates the ability to account for such differences," said Krasus, ignoring the discomfort of the students.

"And a mage capable of doing so is naturally also able to ignore these regulations." With that said, Krasus didn't hesitate to give a demonstration by casting a spell on the piece of chalk in his hand, immediately transforming it into a large snake that began slithering its way up the Archmage's arm.

"Learning how to account for these differences will not be enough if you wish to change your form at will, but it is an important first step," said Krasus, turning the snake back into a piece of chalk with a wave of his hand, much to the amazement of the gathered mages.

"Today, I will teach you what you need to know to take this step if you have the drive to do so." He listened to the lecture with interest as the Archmage explained aspects of transmutation that Krivax had never thought of before. He knew that the ability to mimic the dragon's natural shapeshift was still far from reach, but Krivax couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if he could easily change his form.

He was never the kind of person to dwell on things outside of his control, which was why he put so much effort into adjusting himself to his new body instead of wasting his time mourning his lost humanity. Even back when he had been Sam instead of Krivax, he had always been more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. However, being confronted with the possibility that he might be able to change his form sometime in the future made him feel more than a little conflicted.

He didn't mind being a giant spider person, he even found the fact that he had four arms to be extremely convenient! But… it would be nice to have the ability to shift into a human form every once in a while, at least just so that he could remember what it felt like. Although listening to this lecture, I get the feeling that I'm probably not going to be at that level anytime soon, Krivax thought self-deprecatingly. He decided to push his troublesome thoughts away before he gave himself a case of species dysmorphia.

Krivax listened to the rest of the lecture with rapt attention, making careful notes of things that didn't understand for him to ask Hadix about later. Krasus proved himself to be an able and patient teacher, answering every question asked with clarity. He also gave plenty of warnings about the dangers of experimenting with transmutation magic without proper guidance and shared examples of things that had happened to mages who didn't heed those warnings.

Krivax had no idea why anyone would think that it was a good idea to turn themselves into a chair of all things. Sometimes it seemed like mages just had a tendency to make really… ridiculous decisions. I really hope I don't end up like that, thought Krivax as he tried to banish the image of a meat chair from his mind. The lesson went on for nearly two hours before the Archmage declared it over, causing the gathered mages to begin packing up their things and start making their way to the door.

Krivax was just about to follow their lead and begin making preparations for his dragon-stalking adventure when he was interrupted by the sound of said dragon calling his name.

"Vizier Krivax, if you wouldn't mind sparing a moment of your time, there's a matter that I wish to discuss with you."

"Yes, Archmage? How can I help you?" Krivax asked nervously after approaching the dragon, surprised that he wanted to speak with him. Does he know something? Krivax wondered, quickly examining his mental shields for any signs of intrusion. He knew that it was irrational, but he couldn't help but worry that Archmage somehow knew what he was planning.

"Thank you for staying behind, Vizier Krivax," Krasus said kindly, offering him a polite smile.

"I just wanted to take the opportunity to ask again about your delegation's intentions to share more information about Northrend." Krivax felt some of the tension leave his shoulders as he realized that the dragon just wanted to probe him again about what information they intended to share with the Eastern Kingdoms. He most likely wanted to know how much Azjol-Nerub knew about the dragons and Wyrmrest Temple.

"While I'm afraid that I can't personally share much about Northrend yet, I can tell you that Azjol-Nerub intends to share more information soon," Krivax said truthfully.

"Oh? On what topic?" asked Krasus, the picture of polite curiosity. If Krivax didn't know that this was a topic that the Archmage had a personal interest in, he would almost certainly have believed that he was only mildly curious.

"High King Anub'arak has given our delegation permission to explain why we have forbidden entry to certain portions of Northrend's surface," said Krivax, causing the tiny amount of tension that had entered the dragon's expression to dissipate. Azjol-Nerub had finally secured the vrykul's resting places enough that even the most conservative of nerubians found there to be little threat in sharing information about them with the humans.

"I'm sure many of our scholars will be glad to hear that. Some of them have been very… enthusiastic in their speculation," said Krasus, chuckling softly.

"When do you intend to share that information?"

"We haven't really decided the best time to do so, but I imagine it will be sometime soon," said Krivax.

"There's no particular reason to wait after all."

"That's certainly true. Do you have intentions of sharing before you leave Dalaran? If the information is important enough to require the approval of your High King before you can share it, then I imagine it must be quite interesting," said Krasus enthusiastically.

"I admit, I'm looking forward to seeing how the scholars react to what you wish to share." Krivax knew that he probably was looking forward to it, especially since the dragon likely already knew that they intended to share information about the vrykul.

"I can bring the suggestion forward to the rest of the delegation, Archmage, but we haven't made a decision yet on the topic."

"I appreciate it, but there's no need to go out of your way to indulge me for such a small thing," said Krasus, shaking his head and smiling at him with good nature before quickly changing the subject.

"How did you enjoy my lessons? Did you have any problems understanding anything?" At the Archmage's question, Krivax's expression immediately lit up and he quickly retrieved his notebook from his spatial bag, "Actually, yes there were. If you wouldn't mind answering a few questions, there are a few things that I could use some help understanding."

"Of course," said Krasus, smiling gently.

"I wouldn't mind at all." Krivax didn't hesitate to question the Archmage about everything that confused him about transmutation. Krasus was just as patient answering his questions in a private setting as he was during the lecture, and Krivax could feel his admiration for the dragon grow the longer he spoke with him.

A part of him wanted to just come out and tell Krasus everything that he knew about Deathwing and the many threats that Azeroth would face in the future, but Krivax knew that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do so. Even if Krivax considered himself to be a relatively kind and empathetic person, he knew that he was not a trusting one.

It had taken him several years before he had even considered sharing his metaknowledge with his closest friend, so there wasn't much chance of him spilling his guts to a relative stranger. Even as kind as Krasus seemed to be, Krivax simply didn't know him well enough to extend that kind of trust if other options were available to him.

But as long as Khaz Modan had still not yet fallen and Alexstrasza was not in immediate danger, he still felt like he had enough time to share information with Krasus in a way that would hide his identity. Was it paranoia? Most likely, but considering how he was technically a part of a secret organization that had hidden in the shadows for thousands of years that is probably a good quality to have.

"Are you sure that there's nothing else you need me to explain?" asked Krasus after Krivax finished running through every question written down in his notebook.

"Yes, Archmage," Krivax said gratefully.

"Thank you for your time. This has done a lot to help me understand some of the more difficult parts of the polymorph spell." And it was true. Although Krivax had already had a bit of success in learning how to cast polymorph, the spell was incredibly nuanced and there was a lot about it that he still had to learn.

"I'm glad that I could be of assistance," said Krasus.

"Your people have done a lot to breathe a breath of fresh air into this city. For many reasons, Dalaran has a tendency to stagnate, so the introduction of new magic and ideas into the city is far more valuable than a few moments of my time." Krivax thanked the man again for his time and began making his way out of the classroom while checking through his telepathic connection that the flyer he had brought with him to Runeweaver Square was still where he left it.

Back during the conversation that he had with Hadix right before his first meeting with Trixie in Moa'ki Harbor, the Vizier had mentioned that a flyer had been surveilling the village for signs of visitors from the Eastern Kingdom. At the time, Krivax had wondered how the Vizier had been able to find out what the flyer saw so quickly, but he had saved his questions until later. He didn't get a straight answer on the matter until after he officially joined the Order and learned exactly what magic they had used.

Krivax didn't pause as he cast the spell which would split a part of his mind to look through the perspective of the flyer hiding on top of one of the roofs in Runeweaver Square, waiting for Krasus to appear. Aside from being relatively small and hard to spot, the flyer was also being hidden from notice by a lesser version of the same spell that Hadix usually used to sneak around, an Abjuration based spell that caused people not to pay attention to things under its notice.

Given that it was a spell cast by Krivax, it would naturally not do much against a mage as powerful as Krasus if he was being vigilant, but it didn't need to. All it needed to do was make sure that none of the other pedestrians noticed the flyer as it followed the dragon back to his lair. Krasus had no reason to be particularly worried that someone would be following him, so as long as nobody was pointing and screaming at the flying spider bat, then it was unlikely that he would notice a thing.

Krivax calmly started walking back to the enclave as the flyer began stalking the dragon once he left the classroom. It would really make my life much easier if an Archmage's address was public information. Please just go home, Mr. Dragon. I really don't want to follow you all day as you do your chores. As Krasus failed to make his way to the residential area and instead started heading to the section of the city that held the Violet Citadel, Krivax felt his hopes start to fall.

The Archmage did indeed go to several locations that were obviously not his home as Krivax immediately isolated himself in his room the moment he reached the enclave. At least the magic is doing its job. A part of him had expected to immediately fail, resulting in him being confronted by an angry dragon wizard, but Krasus had not shown any signs of noticing that he was being followed. Of course, that didn't exactly guarantee that the dragon hadn't actually noticed, but Krivax was choosing to be optimistic.

The flyer continued to follow Krasus for the next thirty minutes until he eventually reached a nondescript house near the edge of the district. Feeling curious, Krivax extended his magical senses through the flyer to inspect the building, only for him to feel as if his heart jumped out of his chest after noticing that Krasus immediately stopped moving once he did so. Fuck! Did I just reveal myself? I've never heard anything from Hadix about mages being able to notice another mage's magical senses!

Krivax felt himself stop breathing as he waited for an angry wizard to teleport right next to him and ask him why he was following him. After what felt like an eternity, but was more likely just a few tense moments, Krasus began moving again as if nothing was wrong and calmly entered the building. The moment the Archmage was out of sight, he quickly directed the flyer away from the building and instructed it to fly back to the enclave. Only then did Krivax allow himself to start breathing again.

Although his quest to find out where Krasus lived was seemingly successful, he wasn't completely sure how to feel. A part of him was convinced that the dragon had noticed… something, but if so then why didn't he do anything about it? After spending a few minutes thinking over the matter, Krivax decided that he didn't know enough about Krasus to come up with an answer. I hope that it was just my imagination.

Still, now that he knew where the Archmage lived, it wouldn't be particularly difficult to arrange for a letter to be sent anonymously to the location. Even if the wards made it impossible for someone like Krivax to approach the building undetected, a little bit of gold to serve as motivation and a few clever uses of magic to hide his identity would be enough to make the arrangements.

Feeling cautiously optimistic, Krivax plucked a Howling Fjord scorpion from the Frostweave in the corner of his room and rewarded himself for a job semi-well done. Just as he was finishing his meal and was about to begin planning out exactly what he intended to write in the letter, Krivax was interrupted by a skitterer frantically running into his room and delivering a letter before immediately running back out. Not hesitating to push aside his previous plans, Krivax opened the letter and began reading.

Although the letter was short and the details it contained were sparse, its contents were enough to completely change many of his plans. After all, now that most of Khaz Modan had been conquered by the Horde and what refugees that had successfully fled the region were saying about Ironforge and Gnomeregan being under siege… he didn't have very much time left to wait. It was now or never.