Aiden was constantly thinking of various idioms to describe his current situation: a winding mountain path leading to a new vista, darkness yielding to light, suppression before elevation, elevating by first suppressing... His persuasive efforts had far exceeded his expectations. He had not only hoodwinked the five councilors but had also successfully infiltrated the highest levels of Dalaran—a truly unexpected surprise!
"I am willing to join!"
"I must remind you that the Kirin Tor Council not only represents power but also heavy responsibilities. We have a duty to organize and collect various magical materials and share them, and we have a responsibility to eliminate the damage and influence of evil magic on our world. Are you sure you can bear such a burden?"
Aiden took a deep breath: "I am sure!"
"Then," Antonidas walked up to him, his staff gently tapping Aiden's chest, "welcome to become one of us, Aiden!"
A sense of consciousness was transmitted from the staff to Aiden's mind. He felt as if he had opened a door to the Violet Hold—originally he was a guest in this city of mages, but now he had become its master. As long as he was willing, he could freely use the city's energy nodes to cast spells, and he could also freely enter and exit many forbidden areas that could only be accessed with the status of a councilor.
However, he was still a little unclear as to why he had suddenly become a member of the Kirin Tor.
He asked his question.
Archmage Antonidas laughed: "Actually, back at Scholomance when we fought side by side, didn't I say that I would recommend you to join the Alliance? The things that happened later made me even more determined in my idea. I came back here and discussed it with everyone. It just so happened that this seat that was vacant in the Council of Six has been unresolved. At that time, we only had such an intention, and we temporarily included you in the scope of candidates for consideration. But frankly speaking, your own power at that time was not enough to be among the ranks of the Archmages. But this time you gave us a surprise, in such a short time, you actually entered this realm! I haven't congratulated you yet, I can sense that you have the same aura as Ms. Kayle!"
"This realm" should refer to the surging power that Aiden felt after the transformation ritual, right?
He remembered that Kayle had told him that he now possessed the power that a hero should have.
It seems that becoming a hero is the minimum standard for the Kirin Tor Council to absorb new members?
After finishing the business, Antonidas extended an invitation to Aiden: "Let's go, I'll take you to the Secret Vault. The thing you want is inside."
Just as they were about to leave, a crow lightly landed on the carpet in the center of the conference room.
Aiden was thinking, "It can't be such a coincidence, right?" Then, the crow miraculously transformed into a wizard wearing a purple cloak in a puff of smoke.
Antonidas, who was equally shocked, also stared at this mysterious wizard. He immediately remembered that the last time he was in the Royal Court of Lordaeron preparing to recommend Varian to join the Alliance, this wizard appeared in front of King Terenas and advised the king to move his people to Kalimdor.
Later, Aiden pointed out the identity of this person—the Guardian Medivh!
Medivh stood in front of the archmages and said, "You rulers of the Kirin Tor, I have come here to tell you a most urgent warning—humanity is in grave danger, the tide of darkness is coming again, and the whole world is on the brink of war!"
His voice was loud and powerful, and his tone was undoubtedly certain.
"I know who you are. You have been to Lordaeron and said the same thing in front of King Terenas." Antonidas smiled, he had already guessed Medivh's intention, but he still asked, "Prophet, what exactly is the danger you are talking about?"
Medivh nodded slightly, obviously the mages here were much easier to communicate with than that stubborn old man Terenas. He was almost kicked out of the throne room back then. That seemingly wise king was already old and muddle-headed and could not listen to good advice.
Sure enough, mages were a more wise group of people. At least they showed a willingness to listen.
He said solemnly the prophecy he saw: "Hellfire will fall from the sky, the dead will be controlled by black magic, and stand up to fight against the living. The entire Azeroth will be destroyed in flames. The only way out is to flee to the ancient Kalimdor, where there will be a place for the people to survive."
"Sounds terrifying." The Archmage nodded, "And we have indeed discovered the evil cult that resurrects the dead into ghouls in your prophecy. However, we do not intend to directly abandon this land that has nurtured us. On the contrary, we will eliminate its root before the real disaster comes—you should know, right? It is the Lich King Ner'zhul on the Icecrown Glacier in Northrend!"
Medivh stared at the Archmage in surprise: "You already know?"
"I know more than you think, Medivh!" Antonidas directly revealed his identity.
Medivh was silent, and after a while, he said painfully: "I know what kind of disaster I have brought to this world. I am also very pleased to see that you are facing the threat of the Scourge. But the future will always lead us on the same path. I am trying to avoid greater disasters for mankind, why do you have to make futile attempts? Believe me, it won't have much effect. What will come, will always come!"
Aiden listened to the "fatalistic" argument in these words, and then thought about his efforts during this period. Many histories have already been effectively changed, so how could what Medivh affirmed necessarily happen?
Therefore, he retorted, "Since you say so, Archmage Medivh, then you should know that what you're doing now is a waste of breath, isn't it? Could it be that the real purpose of everything you're doing is to make someone you truly need to guide believe that your previous prophecies have all come true, and that she needs to follow your guidance to find a true path?"
Medivh turned his gaze, scrutinizing him: "You said 'she,' so you also know?"
In the common language of humans, "he" and "she" are, of course, two different pronunciations.
"Yes, I also know," Aiden readily admitted.
"Then why do you still—"
"Still choose to directly confront it?" Aiden answered himself, "Because I truly realize that the future is not immutable. And in my understanding, cause and effect do not mean that once the result is destined, it cannot be resisted. The future is constantly changing, and countless thoughts we generate will lead to different causes and effects. Perhaps on a certain timeline, I didn't come to Azeroth. The future here wouldn't have a force representing Valoran; and on another timeline, perhaps King Terenas listened to your advice, leading his people westward, preserving more of the flame of life and establishing a new human kingdom there; perhaps there's also a timeline where humanity is completely destroyed, and the world is truly shrouded in darkness."
"So I believe that when everything hasn't happened yet, everything is possible. We need to strive for a better outcome, rather than passively accepting whatever comes our way." Aiden looked at Medivh, who was also staring intently at him, "Prophecy has blinded you, Prophet!"
Medivh revealed an incredulous expression: "I can't see your future, this is impossible!"
"But aren't I standing right in front of you?" Aiden smiled, "It just so happens that I have something very important to ask you!"
The secret vault of Dalaran stored various precious items obtained by generations of mages over the past millennia. Some were used by previous mages, while others were obtained through other means and couldn't be used.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if a certain force possessed a large number of top-tier combatants but lacked powerful weapons, this secret vault could definitely arm them.
Back then, when Turalyon crossed the Dark Portal to wage war on Draenor, the orcish chieftain Ner'zhul dispatched the death knight Teron Gorefiend to infiltrate Dalaran's secret vault and steal—or rather, seize—the artifact Eye of Dalaran. At the time, the mages were very grateful that if the death knight had swept the entire vault clean, the orcs would definitely have been able to organize a powerful force capable of destroying the entire human world.
However, the fact that the vault had been easily infiltrated also led them to relocate it, making it more hidden and more difficult to breach.
Moreover, recently, due to Aiden's reminder, the city of mages had begun to redeploy key defensive arrays—because the traitor Kel'Thuzad, as a former member of the Kirin Tor, was very aware of the key points throughout Dalaran. If he were to come with an army of the dead one day, then he would definitely exploit the weak points in the defense to easily break through the magical barriers.
On the way to the secret vault, Medivh showed particular interest in Aiden, naturally asking how Aiden had foreseen those future threats.
Aiden had no choice but to bring up Blizzard again, letting the prophet Bricewood make his appearance.
After listening, Medivh pondered: "This prophet can actually see through the river of time—then is it also he who told you that view? That the future is not constant."
"More or less." Aiden thought, having fabricated this prophet Bricewood, he had to attribute everything he thought of to him. After all, his own origins were too difficult to explain.
Aiden's conclusion of this view was actually not difficult. First of all, after he came to this world, he had already tangibly changed many things. Then, it could also be seen from his previous understanding of the Warcraft world—the most exaggerated example being a plot point that appeared during the "Siege of Orgrimmar" when Garrosh was judged: Kairozdormu summoned a large group of helpers from other timelines, including the bloodthirsty Jaina, the crazed Kalecgos, Thrall who had not escaped and helped Blackmoore overthrow the Alliance, and the weak puppet king Anduin, etc., to delay time and rescue Garrosh.
Here, a strange phenomenon appeared, which was the branching of timelines.
On the timeline that Aiden was familiar with, after Garrosh used the Focusing Iris to destroy Theramore, the Queen of Theramore, Jaina, was preparing to summon the elemental tides to flood Orgrimmar in retaliation. However, she was stopped. Then the bloodthirsty Jaina was naturally a Jaina from another timeline who hadn't been stopped.
Thrall, Kalecgos, and so on were the same.
Aiden had always felt that his arrival was equivalent to causing Azeroth to produce a fork in the road at the moment of his descent: the one without him continued to advance along the original trajectory, while the one with him headed in another unknown direction.
However, such speculation could only be proven when he summoned Zilean's will next time.