Reforged Chapter 45: The Pearl

Hundred-Handed Death God Hujia?

An incredibly unfamiliar name. Vara didn't know which prominent figure in the human kingdom would have such a title. However, seeing the hundred-plus mage hands still hovering around Duke, Vara felt that the title was quite fitting.

Since Duke had given his name, Vara inexplicably felt more at ease, as if this influential person had no intention of wiping them out.

Vara bowed deeply once more, displaying her understanding.

"Consider yourselves fortunate, Vara. I have plans for you and your kind. Pledge your absolute loyalty to me, along with those under your command. As a reward for your loyalty, you'll be granted a vast refuge. The entire western coast of Westfall will become the territory of your clan, and all murlocs here will obey you. As for the humans... with me around, humans won't be a problem."

Duke's words were arrogant and extremely conceited, but Vara didn't find them exaggerated. Murlocs feared the naga and had willingly served them for the past ten thousand years. They only recognized whoever had the most arms as the boss, and had a preconceived notion about it.

Even though she knew Duke's hands were magical constructs, such lifelike and flexible hands were definitely not something an ordinary mage could accomplish. Sensing the astonishing magical remnants from Duke's defeat of the naga leader Nuruk, Vara was secretly alarmed.

She was well aware that Duke was not an opponent she could contend with.

So, she decided to pledge her loyalty, even if only temporarily.

"I, Vara Wrathscale Avis, on behalf of the Wrathscale sub-tribe, am more than willing to serve you, my lord." Vara gestured and spoke a few words in the naga language to the thirty-plus members of her tribe, and all the naga immediately prostrated themselves before Duke.

"Rise." As Duke spoke arrogantly, twice as many mage hands supported their elbows, helping them stand.

For a moment, all the naga's faces changed.

They had not witnessed Duke's full strength firsthand, but the numerous murlocs willing to be driven by him and the corpse of Nuruk, who had pursued them, served as irrefutable evidence.

Yet at this moment, the overwhelming power of the mage hands left them trembling.

These magically-created hands possessed such strength, which could be used to help them stand or strangle them by their necks...

The naga's reverence for Duke deepened.

Having established their master-servant relationship, Duke felt something was missing. He suddenly remembered the soul mark that Medivh had branded on his chest.

"System sprite, can I create something similar to Medivh's soul mark?"

"After calculations, your magical power is insufficient to brand a mark in a resisting state. Relatively, if the target does not resist, the mage mark is just a trivial 0-level spell for you."

"Can I add something to it?"

The system sprite instantly understood Duke's idea: "You can."

At that moment, a cold white glow illuminated Duke's right index finger, the magical radiance of frost energy.

"Vara, open your mind. I have something to bestow upon you."

Now, of course, Duke had the final say. Vara didn't dare to resist, and swayed her long serpent tail as she approached Duke.

.

Despite Duke's actions appearing full of flaws to Vala, even lacking the most basic mage shield, she felt that she could easily kill this human who was about to enslave her with a single strike. However, Vala dared not.

The mage hands floating around Duke were so elusive that she had no idea how powerful they truly were.

She approached respectfully, closed her eyes, and allowed Duke's fingers to touch her brow.

As the white light shone through her eyelids, growing brighter to almost unbearable levels, a refreshing coolness seeped into Vala's soul from her brow.

"Uhm..." The sensation of icy comfort was so intense it nearly melted Vala's mind.

Vala immediately realized that this was no ordinary mage's mark.

It not only invaded her soul but also adhered to all of her magical circuits.

It was over! Now she really had to serve this diminutive human until death.

At that moment, Vala finally extinguished the last bit of her rebellious spirit.

As if responding to Vala's newfound loyalty, she suddenly felt a sense of clarity. She could clearly feel that her frost magic had been significantly enhanced. It was not the kind of forced power increase that would leave side effects, but rather a more perfect simplified model for using frost magic, branded into her soul.

As time passed and her strength grew, the power of her frost magic would increase proportionally.

This great power...

Looking at Duke's youthful face, Vala couldn't believe that this was his doing. Duke had actually bestowed upon her the legendary expertise in superior magic that could only be comprehended by oneself!

Looking back at her reflection in the water, Vala saw the bright emblem on her forehead – a black emblem with a hooded Grim Reaper's skull in the center, surrounded by numerous faintly visible mage hands.

It was indeed the emblem of the Hundred-Handed Reaper!

Vala had no other thoughts, and bowed deeply again: "Master, what are your instructions now?"

"Which naga clan was chasing you?"

"That was the Greyfin clan from the Southern Savage Coast of Stranglethorn Vale, but since you killed their strongest warrior, they probably won't dare to come here before they find strong reinforcements. Also, it takes at least two months for them to travel between the Stranglethorn Vale and here, so we should not have to worry about the Greyfin clan in the short term."

"Alright." Duke pointed to the one-eyed murloc: "For the next month, besides settling your tribe, you will bring Old Blind Eye with you and bring all the murlocs on the coast of the Southern Savage Coast under my control. I will personally demonstrate my power to the leaders of all the murloc tribes then."

"Anything else?"

"I want pearls! Large and small pearls, the more beautiful the better. Have the Spearfin tribe take care of it. I will come back here to collect the goods in a week." It was not until this moment that Duke finally revealed what he was after.

Yes! Pearls!

In the world of Azeroth, unlike the world where Duke had traveled from, pearls were not cultivated. Pearls were rare luxuries in all seven human kingdoms and even among the elves of Quel'Thalas.

It was simple; all pearls were in the sea, and the ocean was the domain of the murlocs and naga.

Humans could build powerful warships to conquer any target on the sea surface, but they were powerless against the ocean floor. It's not that no humans had ever coveted the naga, but the naga's lairs were usually at the bottom of the sea. Who would be like Duke, wiping out an entire small tribe in one fell swoop?

By the way, Duke had only planned to deal with the murloc tribe initially.

Hearing Duke's request, Vala secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With different races came different values, and pearls were really not a big deal for the naga.