Duke suddenly sighed, a profound, almost reverent sigh. Alleria was truly his benefactor! She had, unknowingly, given him the keys to a magical kingdom, and perhaps, a way to avoid a very embarrassing arcane addiction. He might just have to send her a very large, very expensive pearl as a thank you, perhaps with a note that read, "Thanks for the universe-altering cheat code, hope you're not addicted to anything!"
Old man Norton, with the air of a triumphant, slightly mad scientist, handed over Kael'thas's wizard apprentice's codex, a book that now felt less like a dusty tome and more like a ticking arcane time bomb.
"Duke," Norton rasped, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, "put your hand on it. Do not resist the illusion given to you inside. This will be a very precious inheritance. It might feel like your brain is being rewired with very sparkly, very painful wires, but trust me, it's worth it."
Duke, ever the brave (or perhaps just foolish) adventurer, gently placed his hand on the codex. The system prompt, ever the harbinger of impending weirdness, came immediately.
"Host, unknown nervous system transmission detected. After extensive testing, the danger is less than 3%. Do you want to accept the transmission? Warning: May cause temporary existential confusion and an uncontrollable urge to hum arcane melodies."
"Yes!" Duke mentally shouted, ignoring the 3% danger. Three percent was practically zero when you were dealing with literal magic.
As the old man injected a strange, shimmering blue arcane energy into the last page, the elven words on the page that had looked like ghostly scribbles suddenly, horrifyingly, came alive. They twisted and turned on the page, writhing like sentient arcane worms, and then began to combine and shuttle with each other, forming new, complex, and utterly mesmerizing arcane patterns. It was like watching a cosmic ballet of pure energy.
"A new way of constructing magic circuits has been detected. Function: Enhanced arcane energy absorption. After testing... it will greatly increase the host's absorption of arcane energy in the two branches of the evocation system, arcane and fire. It is recommended that the host synchronize the polarization of his own arcane circuits for optimal performance and minimal spontaneous combustion." The System AI, ever the faithful, if slightly detached, servant, still dutifully performed its duties, offering helpful advice even as Duke's reality began to warp.
Duke's vision was completely replaced, utterly consumed by the incoming data. An illusion of a vast, swirling, impossibly beautiful starry sky appeared before his eyes, stretching into infinity. Even Duke's own physical existence seemed to dissolve, to disappear, and he no longer needed to breathe or think. He was just... being. A consciousness adrift in a sea of pure magic.
He felt as if his entire body had transformed into thousands upon thousands of shimmering, ethereal spiritual threads, each one a conduit of pure thought. He could clearly feel that his spirit was being stimulated by an inexplicable, yet utterly exhilarating force, and it was cheering for joy, like a million tiny, excited arcane cheerleaders. In each spiritual thread, there was magic power surging like a tide, a cosmic current of raw energy.
Then, countless spiritual lines, with a silent, impossible grace, began to intertwine, weaving themselves together, forming a bunch of braid-like things, like luminous, ethereal dreadlocks. And these braids, in turn, entangled into a larger, more substantial strip. The barriers between the spiritual lines, those flimsy boundaries of self, melted away at some point, dissolving into nothingness, and the tiny thin lines became small, glowing tubes, and then the small tubes merged into larger, more robust tubes.
As the tube became increasingly thicker in Duke's field of vision, expanding with a silent, impossible growth, the slender tube eventually formed a closed circle, a perfect, self-sustaining loop that connected its ends, a cosmic ouroboros of arcane power.
Duke could clearly see that the raw, blinding radiance of arcane energy was surging in the huge tube, a river of pure magic, and they kept impacting and slapping the scab-like barrier at the head and tail of the tube that had been combined into one piece. It was like watching a cosmic pressure cooker, building up to an inevitable explosion.
It seemed that the arcane energy in the tube was not quite enough to break through the final, stubborn barrier, but at the last, critical moment, an indescribable external mental fluctuation rose again, a surge of pure, unadulterated power. It was just like after climbing to the highest peak of a mountain, only for an illusory, even higher peak to suddenly appear, shimmering in the clouds, raising Duke's imaginary understanding of power by more than one level. It was the ultimate "there's always a bigger fish" moment, but with mountains and magic.
No, this method of elevating oneself to the higher ground by saying there is always a mountain higher than the one you are on is definitely not an ordinary technique. This was a technique designed to break minds, to shatter limitations, to make one question the very nature of reality.
Duke not only felt the old man's immense power, but also a strange and mysterious power that was filled with a gentle, almost paternal heat. It was comforting, yet utterly overwhelming.
Suddenly, with a jolt of dawning realization, Duke knew... this might be the spiritual power, the very essence of the High Elf Sun King Anasterian, left behind, a final, desperate gift to his son.
Duke didn't know whether Kael'thas had ever enjoyed this particular, mind-bending benefit, but anyway, all this immense, ancient mental power now belonged to Duke. He was the proud new owner of a dead king's psychic residue.
A huge, perfectly circular magic circuit model appeared in the spiritual sea of his mind, shimmering with impossible light. At this moment, Duke's physical body was like a cosmic 3D printer, perfectly matching this ethereal model and starting to replicate itself, layer by layer, just like a projection.
A single, glowing dot. Then a shimmering line. Then a vast, expanding surface. Then a complex, intricate three-dimensional object, slowly projected and slowly shaped, forming within his very being.
Duke could see that this was no longer a simple magic circuit. Oh no. On the magic circuit, there were countless mysterious blue five-pointed star symbols, each one pulsing with faint light. After these symbols took shape, they began to absorb the free arcane energy from the surrounding space like the hungry, insatiable suction cups of an octopus, pulling in every stray wisp of magic.
After being filtered by the five-pointed star on the circuit, the colorful, chaotic light spots entered the circuit again, now utterly pure arcane energy, shimmering with pristine power. Although the light spots absorbed were like thin soap bubbles, fragile and fleeting, they were indeed increasing the total amount of arcane energy in the circuit, building up a vast, internal reservoir.
Not only did it increase energy, it also enhanced the very pulsation in the circuit, making it throb with a deeper, more powerful rhythm.
Different from human blood vessels that simply bear the burden of carrying blood, the arcane energy flowing through at high speed was actually quietly, relentlessly expanding the width of the circuit, making the circuit wider and wider, and the walls of the circuit more elastic and thicker! It was like his very soul was becoming a superhighway for magic.
Duke seemed to hear old man Norton's voice in a trance. The voice was a little blurry, as if it was separated by a thick curtain of water, with an incredible, echoing quality, like a voice from another dimension.
He could still be sure that it was the old man's voice, though it sounded like he was screaming through a pillow.
"You crazy little bastard! I only asked you to learn how to build your own magic circuit! I didn't ask you to do it right away, you impatient, arcane-fueled maniac! You're crazy! You're crazy! You're really, truly, utterly insane!"
Duke knew very well that a huge magic circuit had already taken shape in his body. It was the most basic, yet most fundamental, Arcane Circuit among all the magic circuits.
Just like in the previous games, Arcane is the engine of the wizard's magical energy. The wizard's talent is either arcane plus frost, or arcane plus fire. Without arcane, there is no endurance, and the mana will be used up quickly, like a very thirsty camel in a desert.
He didn't know what level his magic circuit was now, but the private goods that the Sun King had passed on to his beloved son must be of truly exquisite, world-class quality. This wasn't just a circuit; it was a cosmic superhighway.
"Okay, young man, stop being greedy and let's end it," the old man's voice came again, still in a trance, still echoing, but now with a note of desperate urgency.
At this moment, Duke found that he couldn't stop. His body, his mind, his very soul, were locked into the process, an unstoppable force of arcane self-improvement.
A hole, shimmering with raw power, suddenly appeared in the newly formed arcane circuit, and a new batch of mental power lines sprang up like mushrooms after a spring rain, bursting forth with furious energy, hungry for more.
"Damn it!" the old man cursed, his voice now a desperate, choked sound.
The next second, his voice was suddenly, abruptly interrupted, as if he'd been hit by a very large, very silent, magical truck. But the mental power flowing from him did not disappear; it merely intensified, pouring into Duke like a raging river.
Duke had no idea. This was not what he thought. It seemed that the spiritual power left by the Sun King in this notebook was designed to create a huge, interconnected magic circuit in one go, a complete, self-sustaining arcane power plant.
Suddenly, he knew why!
Kael'thas!
In the game, Kael'thas always had several glowing magic balls, mixed with arcane and fire energy, suspended ominously above his head, which was very cool, and very convenient. It was not only a way for him to constantly exercise his magic ability, but also a way to store mana, like a very fancy, very volatile battery pack.
Considering that most of Kael'thas's signature moves were related to fire, explosions, and generally setting things aflame.
Then it was not difficult to guess the magic of the Sun King's lineage. It must be the Arcane Fire with the dual attributes of arcane and fire! A perfect, destructive synergy!
Now that the arcane circuit had been built, Duke would naturally not be allowed to give up halfway and not build the remaining Fire Circuit. The universe, it seemed, demanded completion.
Duke only felt that his mental strength was burning like firewood, consumed in a roaring inferno, and it was a feeling as if his whole body was trapped in a blazing furnace, being forged anew.
His skin was burned by the impossibly high temperature, and it seemed that even the hair on his head was singed, curling and crackling with arcane heat.
What was flowing in every vein of his body was no longer blood, but hot, molten lava, searing his very being. The strong, hot breath dominated his mind, making it impossible for him to suppress the manic, wild feeling surging in his heart. He wanted to scream. He wanted to burn.
To vent!
He had to vent!
"Ah--" Duke didn't know whether he roared out loud, a primal scream of creation and agony. If he was not in the spiritual world but in reality, his roar would probably sound like some violent, ancient beast, tearing through the very fabric of the air, a sound of pure, unadulterated power and pain.
There was no room for rest at all. It was like you had just climbed out from the bottom of the Grand Canyon, gasping for breath, only to be immediately, violently, and without warning, asked to climb to the very top of Mount Hyjal, with a dragon chasing you and a very angry librarian yelling at you.