Chapter 338

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Chapter 338: Ancestral Connection

The next day, Jesse arrived early at the gates of Stormwind Keep. He had never come to see the king on his own before and didn’t know the protocol to follow. So he simply mingled among the people wanting to see the king.

After waiting in line for who knows how long, the line of people wanting to see the king was endless. Jesse somehow got pushed to the back, and some people shouted a few times, and then they were taken in, as if they had made an appointment in advance. He had no idea how else to make an appointment.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Mr. Seso, is that you?"

Jesse turned around and saw a familiar face looking at him from outside the line. Wasn’t that the relative of Queen Tiffin?

What was his name… Jesse only remembered that he was a baron.

"Your Excellency, Baron…"

A man approached and said, "Are you also planning to see the king, Mr. Seso?"

Hearing his tone, Jesse immediately thought of his name, Gray Alleyan.

Jesse said, "I heard something about the war refugees from Booty Bay. Do you know about this?"

"Ah," Baron nodded and said, "I… well, I have some understanding. There is little news of those who fled south during the war returning."

Jesse said, "Now that the war is over, they rely solely on a priest for support, making life very difficult for them."

"A priest?" Alleyan sighed and said, "Look at the situation of those refugees outside the city walls, my Mr. Seso. Do you think their lives can be better than those in Booty Bay? At least they have a priest."

"Of course, the king wants to bring back all the citizens who were displaced by the war, but for now… since they can still manage to survive where they are, returning may not necessarily improve their situation."

"It’s hard for ordinary people to live well in Booty Bay, your Excellency, Baron." Jesse said, "Many of them were farmers, hunters, or miners from Moonbrook or Sentinel Hill before the war, finding it difficult to adapt there. And now, their homeland needs them, doesn’t it? Otherwise, there might be more pirates among them."

"What you said makes sense, Mr. Seso. We all have our reasons," Baron said helplessly.

"Then at least let the king know about this, let him make the decision," Jesse said. "Maybe I am thinking too simply, Baron, you consider things more carefully. But letting the king know… is always right, right? He can also listen to more people’s opinions."

"Alright, I will go and tell him," Baron said. "Even if I don’t say it, the king will see you again sooner or later, and you will definitely seize that opportunity to speak, right?"

"Thank you, Baron," Jesse said. "The people there really want to go home, they will thank you."

"Honestly, few people in this world really know what they want," Baron said with a slight bow, "But don’t worry, Mr. Seso, I will deliver your message to the king."

Jesse nodded, watching the other person hurriedly enter the gates of the palace.

It was almost noon, and he was starting to feel a bit hungry.

Walking along the walls of Stormwind Keep into the gates of Old Town, through the crowded streets to the Pig and Whistle Tavern.

Looking at the sign hanging nearby for a moment, he suddenly noticed the familiar figure sitting underneath the sign.

"Hello, Greed!"

"Hmm!?" The dwarf raised his head with a piece of bread in one hand and when he saw Jesse, his face twisted into a mix of anger and happiness.

"Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere."

"I went to Booty Bay," Jesse said.

"Booty Bay?!" Greed asked with a laugh, "Was it fun?"

Jesse cleared his throat and said, "Can we talk inside?"

Greed jumped down the steps to Jesse, grabbed him tightly around the waist, making Jesse almost out of breath. Jesse coughed twice and said, "I missed you too, Greed."

"You rascal," Greed said, "It’s been so long, you even smell different now!"

Jesse chuckled and said, "Considering everything I’ve been through in the past few months, a change in scent is nothing."

"I heard a bit of news." Greed walked into the crowded tavern with a smile and said, "A young mage in Stormwind killed Teron Gorefiend. Even King Bronzebeard knows about it. I didn’t even have to guess it was you. I knew the incident in Dalaran wasn’t over yet."

"Especially when I heard about another Windrunner… it confirmed my suspicions even more. You couldn’t escape the grasp of that elf in the end, right?"

Jesse followed him to a corner and said, "The elves paid me well, so why would I need to escape?"

Greed sat down with a smile and said, "Even if I hadn’t heard this news, I could still tell you’ve been through a lot, Jesse. Not only has your scent changed, but you also look different!"

"Is that so?" Jesse said, "I couldn’t tell at all."

The dwarf raised an eyebrow and asked, "Tell me about what happened in Booty Bay. Why did you go there?"

"To find a remedy," Jesse admitted, "Teron Gorefiend left me a curse that’s not easy to deal with before he died. After searching everywhere, I heard that the goblins in Booty Bay sell a medicine from Kalimdor that can help me with my issue."

Greed’s face fell when he heard about the antidote.

"Darn it, what curse? Did you solve it? Did the medicine work?"

"Don’t worry, it works, nothing’s wrong now."

"Okay." Greed sighed and said, "I feel bad enough for not being able to help you against that Death Knight. If you get into more trouble and I can’t help, it’s better for me not to go to Ironforge at all."

"What are you talking about…" Jesse sighed and said, "It’s like I can’t go on without you. Tell me, about the…the event of the god coming to earth, any clues?"

Greed whispered, "This journey is probably going to be much more boring for me than you, Jesse."

"In short, the god coming to earth is not a spell that can be learned. I asked many dwarves in Ironforge who tried to walk this path or witnessed the process of Mountain Kings exploring, I basically figured out how to train oneself to gain such powerful ability."

"Remember when I told you, our ancestors were creatures from beneath the earth? And the gods created these Earthens in the temples where they lived. According to researchers in those museums, these temples still contain the power of our bloodline."

"If a dwarf wants to reclaim those powers that belonged to our ancestors, they must return to those temples, feel the connection of bloodline, until they are sure they’ve found that connection, and return to the earth again. By then, they can keep training their body like an Earthen ancestor, strengthening their power until they become as hard and tall as a real statue."

"Honestly, I don’t understand." Jesse said.

"What part don’t you understand?" Greed asked.

"Let’s start by feeling the connection in our bloodline." Jesse said, "How do we feel it? What do we feel… I’m confused, let alone fighting like the Earthen ancestors afterwards. Are you saying we should directly become an Earthen? Or just temporarily turn into Earthen? Would you still be considered a dwarf then?"

"It’s hard to explain to you since you’re not a dwarf…" Greed sighed, "Okay, I admit I don’t understand it either. Even the Ironforge dwarfs seem confused about it. But I’ve tried my best to talk to everyone in Dun Morogh who knows about it, I just need to go directly to King Magni."

"Anyway, all the Mountain Kings have gone through this stage, right?" Jesse asked, "Did they all go to temples to search for the connection in their bloodline?"

"There’s a temple ruin in Menethil Harbor, a few in Dun Morogh and Loch Modan as well. Ironforge dwarfs mentioned that these ruins were buried with ancient powers when excavation began. But now it’s almost all excavated, the ruins inside, Sacred Tools… have been almost all found. Those Bronzebeard Dwarfs like me who want to find the power of the ancestors, say that they can’t feel the connection of the ancestors in these ruins at all. I actually visited the Ironband Excavation Site in Loch Modan for a few days, to be honest, I didn’t feel anything."

"Did the previous Mountain Kings train themselves in these ruins?"

"According to what they told me." the dwarf said, "So, it’s been a long time since a dwarf has gained the power of the ancestors."

"It sounds like some kind of myth or legend, seems unreliable no matter how you think about it." Jesse shook her head.

"Whether it’s a myth or legend, I have to try." Greed said, "I must find a lost, undiscovered temple ruin area before I can give up, Jesse. Even if I have to go to Kalimdor, even if I have to go to Northrend… it’s the same."

Jesse knew that there are many unexplored lost temples in Azeroth, and many instances in the game involve exploring such temples.

For example, places like Ulduar in Northrend or the ancient ruins of Uldum in the southern desert of Kalimdor are all sacred temples left by the Titans when the world was created, guarded by Titan Guardians.

But after many thousands of years, those places have all encountered some problems, either corrupted by ancient gods or inhabited by strange creatures of all kinds.

Anyway, for him and Greed now, going to those places is like a fairy tale.

What about Uldaman?

Uldaman is also a Titan temple, just much smaller in scale compared to Ulduar and Uldum, and in the game, it’s also a relatively low-level 5-player dungeon. This temple ruins are located in the Badlands… the desert depths where he and Vereesa were planning to go but never made it to.

Just now talking with Greed, Jesse felt like Uldaman should have been excavated due to the inertia of the game, but considering this is still over a decade ago in the game, maybe it’s still an untouched place?

"Are there ruins in the desolate land to the south of Loch Modan?" Jesse asked tentatively.

"I heard there are, and it seems like they are already being excavated," Greed said, "But that area belongs to the Dark Iron Dwarves, Jesse, we don’t know what they are up to."

So they started excavating even this early? But even after over a decade, the depths of Uldaman have not been fully explored by the Dark Iron Dwarves, so their progress must not be very fast.

So, is this an undiscovered temple?

"Do you know what’s inside that ruins?" Jesse asked again.

"I…" Greed hesitated and said, "I have no idea, neither do those Bronzebeard Dwarves it seems."

"Don’t you want to go check it out, Greed?" Jesse said, "It’s not far off compared to the temple we haven’t found yet!"