Chapter 137

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Chapter 137: One Warlock Is Trouble Enough

"Why, how is that possible?" Jesse looked at the lively crowd over there and casually said, "It would be too easy for you to defeat me, remember how we used to spar outside the city gates?"

"What I mean is you should go all out," Greed added.

Jesse’s gaze turned back, he knew what Greed’s "going all out" meant.

The dwarf continued, "If there’s some distance between us before we start fighting, I don’t think I can stop you from casting your spell before you do it. Once you start chanting your spell, I’ll either lose my direction like that black panther or freeze in place in fear. Either way, you’ll have enough time to strike me with your blade."

"You can throw your axe or sword while I’m chanting my spell," Jesse suggested.

"That’s true," Greed replied. "But it means it’s all up to luck, Jesse. I gave up the chance to swiftly approach you just to have a shot at hitting you with a thrown weapon. If I make a mistake, it’s my failure. Even if it succeeds, it doesn’t mean you fail."

"What does this mean? It means now I can only try to defeat you by taking a risk. Don’t forget, I only have one eye now, so judging distances is a guess. And you’ve always been skilled at evading attacks, whether with a sword or anything else. Even by dwarf standards, I know your level. In this give-and-take situation, I’m not confident in my luck."

Jesse looked at the expression in Greed’s eyes, but he couldn’t read it. However, he had a vague feeling, especially considering Greed’s mention of wanting to study a kind of magic before. Could he be targeting the power of the shadows? Did he want to become a Dark Iron Dwarf?

"I don’t really want to discuss our differences," Jesse said. "How about we eat something?"

"Let’s not bring up other things," Greed said in a low voice. "I didn’t say I don’t like this, Jesse. Your growth has exceeded my expectations, and since you learned Shadow Magic two months ago, I’ve been observing you, but I haven’t noticed any changes. You’re still the same Jesse. Perhaps in this world, there are many who can overcome the corruption brought by Shadow Magic, maybe the legends of Grim Batol were exaggerated from the start…"

"The legends of Grim Batol were not exaggerated," Jesse interrupted dwarf. "I’ve spent a lot of time and effort trying to control the negative effects that the shadows have on me, Greed. Don’t talk about it so lightly. Every day, I spend a long time recalling my previous thoughts, emotions, thinking if it’s necessary to be angry or jealous, or develop unnecessary desires, just because I’m afraid these thoughts aren’t my own but brought by the shadows. If I give in to these things, I might never go back to who I was, which means becoming a Seso you wouldn’t recognize."

He didn’t exaggerate his concerns at all, knowing the consequences of those cautionary tales. He didn’t want to become one of them.

That’s why he could grow through a little training and self-encouragement, even when the black panther was staring at him, muscles tight and ready to pounce, he could stay calm and recite the spell accurately as planned.

He didn’t want to feel fear, anger, anxiousness, or irritation, he just wanted to stay true to himself.

Greed’s eyes flickered and he said, "Look at you, talking as if you know Grim Batol well."

"I might know a bit more than you think," Jesse couldn’t help but say.

Now he felt like Greed was truly being drawn to Shadow Magic, or maybe it was just envy or something simple like that.

Perhaps even scarier, as Jesse had considered, was that his Shadow Power had influenced Greed over time, making him unnaturally crave the power of shadows, hopefully not.

"Alright," Greed said, "I haven’t been to Grim Batol either, to me it’s just a legendary city in the mountains, you can check out the history in Stormwind’s library, you might know more than me. We’ve gotten a bit serious now, haven’t we? We defeated a fierce beast and both came out unhurt, that should be something to celebrate, but here we are talking about gloomy things, it’s just… we’ve run out of wine, I’ll go find someone to buy more, don’t you think it’s a waste of time to chat like this?"

The dwarf chuckled, patted Jesse’s shoulder, stood up, and walked towards the other side of the cabin. When he came back, Jesse cleared his throat and asked, "Do you want to learn Black Magic?"

Greed sighed and said, "I don’t know."

"Darn it," Jesse leaned in and grabbed Greed’s beard to make him look at him. "It’s only one or two years until the war ends, Greed. What kind of world is Azeroth? Here, some people can die but still be alive, some people can be alive but seem dead. Some can destroy a city in minutes just by moving a finger, some can make armies obey them without saying a word. Some can destroy a race or a whole civilization with just a few words. Some can hide deep in the sea or desert for thousands of years, control people’s dreams, or even split a whole planet with a sword!"

"So now that you’ve lost an eye, is it too much to hope for it to be healed in two years? Is it harder to heal this eye than to explode the Kalimdor continent? Maybe there’s a mage in Dalaran who can use magic to make you a new eye? Maybe for him, it’s as simple as making a crab meat sandwich!"

Greed, being pulled by Jesse’s beard, was forced to speak with his lips hitting each other. "I didn’t expect you to hate the shadow so much."

"Maybe I just know a little more about shadows than you do," Jesse continued. "In any case, don’t make life-threatening decisions so casually, Greed. Let’s try to fix your problem first. There are still many possibilities to explore, using magic or elves. Let’s exhaust these safer options before considering those ideas that popped out of nowhere, okay?"

"I went along with you to deal with that panther that almost ripped my throat out. Is it too much to ask for you to listen to me now without any risk?"

Greed nodded vigorously.

Jesse realized he had been too excited. He let go of Greed’s beard, sat back in his seat, took a sip of beer, and the faint taste of alcohol helped him calm down a bit.