How awesome is Khadgar?
It's not exactly obvious now, but in the "history of later generations," Khadgar is basically a one-man wrecking crew, a legitimate powerhouse who can instantly teleport hundreds of people, blow up bridges and dams with a snap of his fingers, and master all three elements of ice, fire, and magic! He's not just the king of mages; he's the mage among kings, a bona fide magical gangster!
Maybe he was too awesome and accidentally wiped out countless teammates. Oh, no, let's be fair and objective. We should say that Khadgar's enemies were terrifyingly awesome, Khadgar himself was even more terrifyingly awesome, but his teammates? Well, they were decidedly not awesome, which is why Khadgar always seemed to be the last man standing, while most of his comrades ended up as magical dust.
So, what's this legendary Khadgar doing right now, you ask?
Well, he's currently baking bread for Duke. Yes, you heard that right. The future Archmage of the Kirin Tor, reduced to a ghostly baker.
There was simply no other way around it. The lower two floors of Karazhan had been thoroughly trashed by Windsor's raid, a chaotic brawl with the demon hunter Atumen and the butler Moroes. As a result, most of the food reserves had been utterly annihilated in the crossfire. And let's be honest, Karazhan's food pantry wasn't exactly overflowing to begin with; now it was practically bare.
The only silver lining, the one tiny blessing, was that Khadgar had been stuck here for ages, struggling to survive for what felt like an eternity.
And "struggling to survive" wasn't an exaggeration. Karazhan was so unbelievably massive that the library alone boasted over 1.28 million magic books, and that wasn't even the half of it. After taking over Karazhan, Duke realized that in addition to the magical tomes, there were over 3 million books of all kinds, scattered across three-digit libraries, each the size of a football field.
This led to a rather dark, very cold joke: Khadgar once almost got lost and starved to death in the library because Moroes's servants couldn't find him and apparently didn't have time to deliver a sandwich.
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.
Khadgar was forced to develop a unique, almost supernatural skill: the art of stashing wheat, tableware, and freshly baked bread everywhere. As a library, coupled with Karazhan's bizarre spatial structure, every room was miraculously ventilated and dry. Khadgar actually managed to wander around a few times and unearth uncontaminated food that was enough to keep Duke from starving for several months.
But there was no salt. No oil. Which made Duke want to tear his hair out.
"How many months have you been eating this?!" Duke demanded, gesturing wildly at the bland, unseasoned concoctions that could generously be called "food."
"No, I've forgotten how long I've been eating it, Master," replied the ghostly servant Khadgar, completely unfazed. "Anyway, I can read and fill my stomach. That's all that matters."
Duke's face fell, a picture of utter despair.
"As for you, Master Duke, I truly don't understand you. Why are you so effortlessly brilliant in so many areas that mortals can't even dream of, yet you constantly trip over the simplest mistakes that even a mage apprentice wouldn't make?" Khadgar muttered, expertly sliding a fresh loaf of bread into the oven he'd found, all while watching Duke tinker with the massive golem. "And yes, why on earth do you insist on calling this golem 'The Curator'?"
"This is called sentimentality! Sentiment, young man! Do you even understand the concept?!" Duke huffed, throwing his hands up.
"What kind of library would have such a fierce director..." Khadgar murmured softly, shaking his translucent head.
There were so many things Khadgar couldn't wrap his spectral mind around. First and foremost, he couldn't fathom how Duke had managed to snatch control of 'The Curator' right under Medivh's nose. For him, wresting a special golem from a more skilled wizard was simply beyond belief.
But Duke couldn't exactly explain to Khadgar that he was a time traveler, could he?
How do you explain the principle of automatic control to a medieval wizard?
How do you explain a NAND gate?
These weren't concepts that could be grasped with a simple explanation. Just as Duke himself hadn't yet fully grasped the basic theories of magic in Azeroth, Duke was equally incapable of explaining to Khadgar this complex web of professional theories, rooted in modern mathematics and basic electronics.
Forget Khadgar; most people not in that line of work hadn't even heard of these terms before Duke's time travel adventure.
So, in Duke's eyes, the anti-control seal that Medivh had placed on 'The Curator' was a complete joke. At the time, Duke was in a soul state and didn't need to bother with the highest control system. He only needed to tweak a few feedback loops and basic control magic circuits to bypass Medivh entirely and directly control 'The Curator'.
This, naturally, led to the director's rather dramatic defection at the most critical moment.
Similarly, the incredibly complex magical network and energy line system in Karazhan, which looked like an impenetrable spaghetti monster to Khadgar, was just something that would take a bit of time to sort out in Duke's capable hands.
In the original history, Karazhan had been plunged into eternal darkness due to the loss of its master's will, Medivh. The Tower of Karazhan sealed itself off, cutting all contact with the outside world, becoming a silent, haunted monument.
Now, Duke had meticulously sorted out the countless, unknown magic network energy lines that converged here, one painstaking step at a time. So, as long as Duke wanted, it was only a matter of time before Karazhan saw the light of day again, literally.
Duke also knew that the battle outside was raging fiercely, and he was itching to get out there and lend a hand. However, if Karazhan wasn't properly secured, it would be a major catastrophe if the Burning Legion managed to build a portal here. That would be like leaving the back door open for the apocalypse.
So Duke could only plan his next moves while systematically cleaning up Karazhan, one dusty, magical room at a time.
On this particular day, the system wizard finally chimed in with a welcome message:
"Congratulations, host. This system has re-stabilized the first and second layers of Karazhan based on your latest spatial knowledge. You can now initiate a cleanup operation on these two layers."
"Alright!" Duke straightened up, a determined glint in his eye. "Khadgar, time to get to work!"
"Work?" Khadgar blinked his translucent eyes.
"I've stabilized the first and second floors. It's time to clean up the riff-raff."
"Really?!" Khadgar's eyes lit up, practically glowing.
Unlike the serious and rather old-fashioned Teleporter, Khadgar seemed remarkably bright and studious. When he had a book in his hands, he could be as quiet as a mouse. But when he wasn't buried in ancient texts, Khadgar was surprisingly lively, almost bouncy.
Khadgar had grown a little bored with being confined to just the library and the workshop. He immediately dropped the book in his hand and eagerly followed Duke and the massive 'Curator' golem.
Passing through a shimmering blue portal that looked like an illusory mirror, and after a brief, familiar sensation of weightlessness, a man, a ghost, and a golem arrived on the first floor of Karazhan.
"Sir Edmund?!" A whisper of a soul suddenly drifted from the oppressive darkness.
"Huh?" Duke was slightly taken aback. You see, in Duke's memory, the first floor was Karazhan's stable. When players in "history" came to the stable, they'd encounter ghostly grooms and spectral horses. No one would ever call Duke by name.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Duke understood.
It was a translucent soul, its spectral body clad in the iconic Stormwind armor, clutching a lion-head emblem shield and a standard longsword.
Apparently, he was one of Lothar's best soldiers who had tragically fallen in Karazhan.
"You are... I remember you, Michael."
"Yes! That's fantastic, Your Excellency, you still remember me! I am Michael Jonathan!" Michael seemed overjoyed, his spectral form practically vibrating. "Yes, I feel a sensation coming from Your Excellency... uh, it seems to be my master's feeling... What happened? Am I dead? Where is Medivh? Where is Sargeras?"
Michael rattled off questions like a machine gun, and Duke, surprisingly, patiently answered them one by one.
"Ah, we won. Then I have no regrets. It's a pity that it turned out like this..." Michael's situation triggered a wave of sadness in Khadgar, and the two ghosts exchanged mournful glances, a silent understanding passing between them as fellow wanderers in the spectral realm.
"I don't know if a ghost will be reborn as a baby after being decomposed," Duke mused aloud, a mischievous glint in his eye, "but if you think this existence is torture, I should be able to erase your soul, no questions asked."
For some reason, a 3D model of Karazhan appeared in Duke's system prompt. In the clearly displayed first layer, Michael's name was prominently listed. In Michael's notes, in addition to the ominous statement "Cannot leave Karazhan," it also clearly stated an option to "Erase the Soul."
For some, existing in the world as a ghost might indeed be a living nightmare, so Duke, ever the pragmatist, offered Michael a choice.
Michael looked at Khadgar, who was also a ghost standing beside Duke, and asked, "What about you? I've seen you, Mage Khadgar. Why do you choose to continue existing in this world?"
Khadgar was momentarily stunned, then replied: "I feel that I haven't lived enough. There are still too many new and strange things in this world that I haven't seen, and as long as I'm allowed to browse the books in Karazhan, then being a servant of Master Duke isn't such a bad deal."
Duke secretly groaned: No wonder you're willing to listen to me, you bookworm. Turns out books are your real masters!
Michael pondered for a moment, then turned to Duke and saluted. "Well, if there's no need for me, then I won't miss sacrificing my life to defend Stormwind and Azeroth, so I..."
At this precise moment, the system suddenly blared a shrill alarm in Duke's mind:
"ALERT! ALERT! Based on your latest knowledge of Space Theory, it is detected that a space channel will be forcibly opened in 72 hours! After calculation, it is 92.7% consistent with the demon army summoned by Sargeras before! According to the energy level of the space channel, it is expected that there will be more than 100 low-level demons and no more than 5 mid-level demons attacking!"
Immediately, an unusually bright red countdown timer appeared above Duke's retina, ticking down ominously.
Duke's face instantly changed, a look of exasperation spreading across his features: "Oh my god! I knew there was no such thing as a direct train to becoming a God of Magic without a few bumps in the road!"
Medivh had previously built the Mage Tower in Karazhan for two reasons: on one hand, to facilitate his arcane research, and on the other, to silently guard the world as its protector.
As the price of changing history and inheriting Karazhan, Duke now had to shoulder the daunting task of protecting Karazhan himself. Historically, Karazhan had been self-enclosed, largely preventing monsters from various worlds from waltzing into Azeroth and causing havoc.
The old saying was true: "With great power comes great responsibility." And a whole lot of unexpected headaches, apparently.
Duke's right hand infused with arcane energy, he gently placed it on Michael's shoulder, still in his soul state, and with a righteous glint in his eye, he began to "deceive" him – oh no, he began to preach the power of the Holy Light.
"Michael! If you're looking for the meaning of existence, then right here, right now, there's a very, very important task for you!"
"What?" Michael was a little bewildered. In his mind, since Sargeras had just been killed, there shouldn't be any major enemies lurking around.
Duke's voice suddenly became high-spirited, brimming with surging passion and an incomparable determination. His eyes blazed, and there was even a faint, stirring divine glow radiating from his body.
"Guard this place! Within three days, a group of demons will open a space channel and attempt to occupy Karazhan as a springboard to eventually invade the world of Azeroth, killing our relatives, our friends, and hurting the people we love most! Can we allow all this? No! Absolutely not! We can endure loneliness, we can endure hunger, we can endure fear, but we absolutely cannot endure seeing the people I love and the world we love fall!"
At this point, Duke's voice suddenly rose an octave, echoing like thunder: "Michael Jonathan, are you willing to join me in protecting the world and all mankind?!" The thunder-like voice reverberated throughout the entire first floor of Karazhan.
"In that case, please allow me, Joe Donald, to join!" A voice suddenly boomed from deep within the stable, and another soul, clad in the familiar armor of a Stormwind soldier, stepped out of the darkness.
"Count me in!"
"Count me in, too!"
One by one, the souls of the elite soldiers who had sacrificed themselves in Karazhan stepped out from the oppressive darkness of the first and second layers, their translucent forms coalescing into a spectral army.
Yes, they had sacrificed themselves here for the future of the kingdom's people. Unfortunately, due to the peculiar characteristics of Karazhan, their souls were also bound here, unable to find their way to hell, or heaven, or return to the earth, or even see their loved ones again.
Perhaps this was a kind of eternal torture.
However, at this very moment, they found a new meaning for their existence – to protect Karazhan and, by extension, to protect the world!
Looking at the option in the system prompt: "Do you want to pay 10 points of soul power to transform the souls of 72 elite soldiers into heroic warriors?" Duke decisively clicked "Yes"!
A brilliant silver light shone from Duke's palm, and with a light flick of his wrist in the air, star-like silver motes scattered onto the souls of these elite soldiers.
They were pleasantly surprised to find that their souls, which had become dim and somewhat dissipated, began to solidify at an astonishing speed. The long-lost sense of touch returned to their bodies, and even though their forms still looked a little translucent, at least this was an unexpected and truly surprising change.
There was no heartbeat, yet a strong, vibrant pulse coursed through every corner of their spectral bodies.
No need to breathe, yet they could smell the long-lost fragrance of the world through their nostrils.
Vision, touch, taste, smell, feeling... these things they had once taken for granted, they now realized how incredibly precious they were only after losing them.
A look of profound surprise dawned on every soldier's face.
Then, their facial expressions quickly hardened, becoming firm and resolute, and they swiftly lined up in three perfect rows.
Michael, leading the spectral charge, drew the longsword he had worn in life and roared, "Salute to our new master, the new Guardian, His Excellency Edmund Duke!"
"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!" The swords were drawn in an incredibly orderly manner, making the dim stable light up with dazzling, cold flashes of steel.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!" The heroic warriors struck their shields with their swords, creating a series of high-spirited, rhythmic striking sounds that echoed through the ancient halls.
The entire first floor of Karazhan seemed to vibrate with a low tremor. No, it wasn't a tremor; it was a roaring, ancient groan. It wasn't just the shouting and shield-banging of these elite soldiers. It seemed that every corner, every brick and stone, and every towering pillar of Karazhan emitted a low, ancient sound.
They resonated as one, as if responding to the collective will of the heroic warriors and their unwavering determination to protect the world.
With the same excitement, Duke looked around at these newly formed heroic warriors, a satisfied, almost giddy expression on his face: "Well, brothers, let's do a big job and tell those damn demons that this is the territory of Azeroth, not their personal demon playground!"
"OHHHHH——!" The wild roar echoed throughout the entire Karazhan tower, a promise of hell to come for any demon foolish enough to cross their path.