Kings Altar:
Resurrect Archmage - Gandalf
Cost: 55,000 gold
Holy crap! That's excessive! It used to cost only 550 gold to resurrect a level 10 hero! A hundredfold increase! What does this mean? I just swindled 100,000 gold from Kael'thas, and this will eat up nearly 30,000 of it. Is the Heart of Origin trying to sabotage my profits? 55,000 gold... enough to train over four hundred infantrymen. My heart aches!*
But Gandalf is my friend. I grit my teeth and make the decision! I respect the heroes summoned from the Kings Altar, treating them as friends, not subordinates. Gandalf, especially, is someone I rely on a lot. He's like an elder, a scapegoat... very dependable. Besides the King's Summon, he's my greatest support. With him around, I feel confident.
With his tall stature and white-bearded face, Gandalf reminds me of a certain dual-wielding melee mage from a movie in my previous life, often making me nostalgic.
"Do you want to resurrect the Archmage?"
"Yes!"
I unhesitatingly confirm the command to the Heart of Origin.
As Gandalf's resurrection progress bar slowly fills, I examine the Kings Altar. Besides Gandalf's progress, the first page shows a holographic projection of an elven mage. I had the chance to collect Baelor's spirit in Karazhan, but I chose to rescue him instead. I couldn't sell out my teammates. In a competitive game, I'd be very experienced at that, but this is the real world. Dead teammates don't respawn! Besides, Kael'thas brought them at my invitation. I couldn't just watch them die, morally or rationally. I'll have to look for other opportunities in the future. The Sunstrider family has more than just Kael'thas and his father; there are collateral bloodlines as well.
But the three-tiered castle is far from the one million population needed to upgrade, so summoning the fourth hero will take a long time.
The second page of the Kings Altar contains several divine skills: the soul-devouring power of the Kings, the power of the King's Way to accumulate strength, and the King's Summon for emergencies.
Scrolling down, the third interface displays dozens of soul cards, divided into four tiers. The top one is a new orange card. I've never seen it before.
Fragment of Sargeras' Soul Essence:
Extracted from the soul of a bronze titan, containing powerful soul energy essence.
Current 1000 / 1000
Energy Infusion: This essence can be used for infusion, to enhance the strength of a unit or as an aid in forging orange items.
Energy Conversion: Directly convert the soul essence into gold.
When Sargeras' soul was expelled from Medivh, the Kings Altar tried to collect it, but the titan's power was too great. Even for a soul clone, the Altar failed, retaining only a fragment.
But I'm satisfied. Even a small part contains a thousand units of soul energy. I once decomposed Nimar the Tormentor, a ninth level troll from the Blasted Lands, and got only ninety-four points of secondary soul energy.
The second row contains Medivh, Durotan, Draka, and a faint purple Nielas Aran.
Medivh's Soul:
Summon: Summons the current spirit to the real plane. This spirit possesses the memories and combat power of its lifetime. Consumes the spirit's soul energy after summoning; consumption increases during combat and can be replenished.
Decompose: Decompose the current spirit into six hundred points of soul energy.
Durotan can be decomposed into one hundred and twenty points of soul energy, and Draka only has ninety-two. A strong epic-tier expert probably has more than a hundred points. Draka, a half-step legendary, having only ninety-two is normal.
The guardians of the past were said to be comparable to demigods in combat power. These six hundred points of soul energy are significant, six times more than Durotan's. But Sargeras is even more impressive; a fragment of his soul clone has a thousand points!
A thousand points of soul energy is equivalent to the soul energy of ten newly entered epic-level experts. If used for energy infusion, wouldn't it be possible to artificially create ten legendary tiers? With so many legendaries, even the ancient night elf empire would have to be cautious!
However, I decide to be careful with Sargeras's energy. Ordinary soul essence is enough to improve Omar and the others.
I suspect that soul energy can directly help users break through to the legendary tier, while ordinary secondary soul energy can only reach the peak of the ninth tier.
Leaving behind the four purple soul cards of Medivh, Durotan, Draka, and Aran, as well as Zalas Whispernail's blue card, I decompose the remaining dozens of ordinary elite blue cards into secondary soul energy. I'll find opportunities to give it to Omar and the others to help them reach the peak of the ninth tier.
I try to summon Medivh. He appears from the Kings Altar in the Land of Origin. The Heart of Origin indicates that summoned spirits can't leave a hundred-kilometer radius of the Kings Altar!
I almost forgot about that. My original idea was to use high-level spirits as garrison officers for sub-bases. In the future, I can build a Kings Altar in each sub-base and summon large numbers of high-level spirits to help defend it. The thought excites me.
A burst of white light flashes, and I arrive in the Land of Origin, the valley where I first established the town hall. I haven't been here personally in years, managing everything remotely through the Heart of Origin.
Medivh, seeing the white light, immediately casts a magic shield. When the light dissipates and reveals me, he's surprised.
"Galen?"
Given his power, his soul should have gone to the astral realm, wandering until the power of time eroded his soul force, before drifting to the final resting place. He didn't expect to wake up and see me. Then, he feels a sense of dizziness as the rules of the Heart of Origin flood his mind, and he understands his situation.
"I didn't expect you to save my soul with such power, Galen!" Medivh exclaims. After expelling the dark soul, he knew he was dying and had to leave the orc problem to Lothar and King Llane, regretting that he couldn't personally rectify his mistakes. He never imagined I would save his soul and bring him back!
"Actually, Aegwynn can resurrect you," I say, deciding to be honest. I'll have to meet her eventually, so honesty is the best policy.
"No! The price is too high. My resurrection would trigger a death countdown for my mother!" Medivh rejects the idea. He can't accept sacrificing his own mother.
"If we purify the fel energy from your body and repair the damage, could you still be resurrected?" Even though Aegwynn purged the fel energy, Aragorn's resurrection spell is no longer viable.
And despite owning the Origin Heart, I don't know if the Altar of Kings' heroic spirits can be revived. Theoretically, it should be possible. After all, Gandalf and Aragorn were also captured by the Altar and given new bodies. But I don't know how to do it.
Medivh ponders, then his eyes light up. (I don't know how he makes his eyes shine in soul form. It reminds me of sparkling background music!)
"Perhaps I could try the Soul Domination spell. I got it from a Dreadlord's soul, and after modifying it, I think I can use it. Perfect synchronization of my body and soul might work!"
"If that works, wouldn't it be much simpler?" I ask. I want Medivh, and I also want to recruit Aegwynn. Aren's soul is badly damaged, and I don't know if it can be restored, but that won't stop me from trying to get Medivh's whole family to work for me.
"Yes, it would be much simpler. We'd only need to repair the body and use arcane energy to restore its magical circuits!"
Medivh's answer satisfies me. I can acquire arcane energy. This way, Aegwynn won't suffer from losing her magic.
I plan to build the Altar of Kings in Crusader Fortress and have Medivh guard it. As for Amor, I'll recall him to lead the Scarlet Flame Legion to Stormwind to assist Lothar, as previously discussed.
Ten days from now, by the human calendar, the fourth year of the Dark Portal will begin!
I receive two pieces of good news that day. First, Gandalf is successfully resurrected!
Second, I've broken through to the early stage of Legendary!
By the end of last year, my bases' population reached 350,000. This year, I've occupied the resource-rich Northern Barrens and built Six-Army Castle, Crusader Fortress, Valor Keep, and Triumph Bastion!
Including Galenport, Friendship Hold, a city of human and tauren, and Red Cloud Mesa's mineral resources, this year has been very productive. I've expanded into Kalimdor and gained the Tauren as powerful allies!
Six-Army Castle has a Town Hall and four Barracks, defending the coast of the Northern Barrens and the Denal Sea. Galenport blocks enemy ships from the Thirsting River. The two sub-bases support each other, preventing naval invasions.
Valor Keep guards the Northern Barrens and the Stonetalon Mountains. It has a Town Hall and two Barracks for footmen and riflemen, plus many arrow towers and gun emplacements. To the west is the Tauren's Hunter's Hill camp, making it impregnable. No centaur can pass this narrow mountain path!
Triumph Bastion, still under construction, will compress the Razormane quilboar and guard the eastern passage to Dustwallow Marsh. Once completed, the Barrens' defenses will be essentially complete.
Crusader Fortress, the capital of the Northern Barrens, is located at the crossroads of the Golden Road, the transportation hub of the region. It connects the Eastern Barrens and Garrosh's Landing to the east, Ashenvale to the north, Valor Keep to the west, and the Tauren territory to the south.
As a military fortress, it can deploy troops to any location. It has a Town Hall, four Barracks for high-ranking knights, four Gryphon Aviaries, and four Arcane Sanctums for mages and priests.
The Kalimdor colonies and my Eastern Kingdoms territories have added 160,000 farmers and 8,700 sprites to my population, thanks to eighteen Town Halls and one Tree of Life.
Half of the thirty Barracks train footmen and riflemen, adding 80,000, or ten legions, to my reserves. But I'm no longer planning new main battle legions, only auxiliary ones for sub-base defense.
The remaining fifteen Barracks train high-ranking knights, adding over 3,600 this year, enough for another heavy knight order! Varok's First Knight Order is well-supplied.
The gryphon knights have increased by 2,200, totaling 3,800. At this size, a gryphon knight order is feasible!
The number of wizards has increased by 3,000, reaching 8,800. I plan to suspend wizard training at 10,000 and focus on priests.
The number of priests is almost 5,600. Besides accompanying the army, I'll spread them to the human kingdoms after the Alliance is established!
This increase of nearly 260,000 people has pushed my Kingly Power from the peak of Rank 9 to Legendary!
The day before the New Year, Garrosh, Aragorn, and Durin wait at the Altar of Kings. When Gandalf's progress bar reaches 100%, a burst of golden light erupts from the center of the Altar.
"Congratulations, Master Gandalf, on your resurrection! Hahaha!" I hug Gandalf as he emerges from the altar.
Durin and Aragorn also congratulate him.
Finally, I hand Gandalf a white mage robe. "Gandalf, after your rebirth, you should wear white, symbolizing purity and a new beginning!"
Gandalf senses my mischief. He knows I'm planning something strange. After being around me for so long, he can usually guess, but the white robe?
Feeling the arcane energy radiating from the robe, Gandalf can't refuse the gesture and exchanges his old robe for the white one I offer!
"Congratulations, Gandalf! Promoted to Gandalf the White! Applause!"
Aragorn and Durin, though confused, clap along!
In this joyful atmosphere, the third year of the Dark Portal ends!