Reforged Chapter 36: Hogger

Duke's life... wasn't worth much!

Duke's integrity... was worth even less.

But Duke's oath still carried some weight.

Duke felt a tremor emanating from the depths of his heart. Upon entering the world of Azeroth, he once again felt the mockery of fate: the Windrunner sisters were already a stretch. Now even the magical system seemed to have a strong cross-boundary feeling.

But magic was magic.

Almost the instant Duke opened the note, he deeply sensed the mysterious resonance between himself and these spells.

It was like a sense of recognition, a more comprehensive way of thinking that entered his mind. At that moment, it seemed as if the definition of 'mage' in the game had undergone a dazzling chemical reaction.

Once, in Duke's mind, a mage represented only high-powered ranged artillery and the strongest crowd control profession. But in this moment, a bright light seemed to illuminate his mental sea, and within that light, a door opened—

It was as if he had passed through this door and saw many things beyond his mental framework.

Unconsciously, a spell list appeared in his mind.

All the magic was reclassified:

Protection, Curse, Divination, Enchantment, Shaping, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation, and General - a total of nine categories.

Among them, most of the categories were still shrouded in darkness.

But this represented more possibilities.

This wasn't just a fleeting illusion that vanished immediately, but a breakthrough that defied the rules of magic in Azeroth. Along with this magical classification, the system sprite could repeatedly call it up in his field of vision.

Duke also discovered something: whether it was the initial Pyroblast and Frostbolt, or the current Darsson's Chilling Chamber and other spells, they seemed to be greatly enhanced, even if they were only related to the spells before his transmigration.

Regarding fire and ice spells, there were a bunch of thermodynamic formulas in the system prompt.

Even the Mage Hand spell, which should have been classified as a 0-level—trick—was greatly enhanced.

The reason for the enhancement left Duke speechless.

"Detecting a large amount of motion capture technology in the host's memory, inputting and improving corresponding rules... a mental transmission node has been preset in the Mage Hand spell, estimating a 180% increase in flexibility and a 230% increase in strength. Your Mage Hand spell has advanced... Rank unknown, estimated to be above 2nd level..."

The so-called motion capture technology was widely known in Duke's previous world for its use in filming. By attaching dozens of trackers to key points on an actor's face, facial muscle movements could be converted into computer-processable data such as dimension measurements, object positioning, and orientation determination in physical space.

Unexpectedly, even this could be reverse-applied by the system sprite.

Right in front of Marco, Duke snapped his fingers.

With a "snap," a magical palm the size of a human hand, emitting a faint blue glow, appeared out of thin air in front of a mercenary.

The strange sight startled the mercenaries, and though frightened, they quickly raised their swords.

However, they soon sobered up and found the source of their mental tremors—because the floating 'ghost hand' moved in perfect sync with Duke's right hand. .

They finally understood that this was the work of Duke.

A gentle smile bloomed on Duke's face, "Marco, thank you for your generous gift. I owe you a favor."

Marco quickly recovered from his shock, "No, no, no, esteemed Lord Marcus, for me, my son is my priceless treasure. Your satisfaction with my return gift is the greatest comfort to me."

The so-called exchange of favors often works like this.

After this exchange, the initially cold and distant relationship between employer and employee warmed up quickly due to this small interlude.

At Duke's insistence, Marco agreed to drop the formal address and call Duke "Marcus" in private settings.

Unknowingly, night fell.

Since arriving in this world, Duke still had various things he wasn't used to. Everything here was so primitive, and after nightfall, there was hardly any light.

With no moonlight, one could only vaguely see the dim yellow of the Westfall wilderness under the fire's glow.

The caravan set up camp in the lee of a small hill. After dinner, only one or two bonfires to ward off wild animals and the night watchmen remained in the makeshift camp, and everyone else fell asleep.

In the quiet, dark environment, Duke should have fallen asleep quickly, but the surreal surroundings kept him awake.

Duke began to review the few spells he knew.

At that moment, Duke suddenly heard a conversation between two night watchmen.

"Karon? Did you hear that sound?"

"It seems like something is approaching."

Almost simultaneously, Duke heard the system sprite's warning.

"Host! Detection of a large number of life signals classified as dangerous... Enemy identified as gnolls! Numbers... fifty, sixty... one hundred... one hundred and seventy..."

In the distant darkness, countless small shadows silently and swiftly approached.

"Enemy attack—" The night watchman's sharp, resounding cry awakened all the sleeping mercenaries.

"Oh—damn, it's Hogger—"

"God, it really is Hogger!"

The name Hogger seemed to have a terrifying, chilling power.

People who grew up in Elwynn Forest were often awakened by the howling of gnolls, for no matter how strong humans had become, or whether they had truly become the masters of Elwynn Forest, they could not forget the "Nightmare of Elwynn Forest"—Hogger.

This massive gnoll that wandered south of the Westbrooke Garrison brought them dark memories. It was said that the name "Hogger" was merely a code that humans assigned to this, or this line of gnolls. People didn't know the lifespan of gnolls, but the people of Elwynn Forest would always call the largest gnoll chieftain Hogger.

In legend, Hogger was twice the size of an ordinary gnoll. His claws were said to be able to easily tear a foot soldier's shield in half, and his powerful legs could effortlessly catch up with fleeing adventurers.

But these were just legends because no one could face Hogger and live to tell the tale.

If you were to list the most famous and dangerous villains near Stormwind, Hogger had long dominated the headlines of Stormwind's bulletin board. Nearly all adventurers tempted by the bounties set by Stormwind died at his feet.

Now, Hogger had come, leading his gnoll army!