Since the case with Jessie, Strahnbrad sported an awkward atmosphere.

It was clearly the acolytes who spread rumors about Trina that the people were apologizing to the bereaved young couple. Had it been Jessie she'd have been quickly pointed at when the goal was she gets to drug Trina more.

Richter's mage sister also created Arcane Towers to keep the cultists from trying from recruiting again in their town!

But it cannot prevent from hearing 'an old man's voice' that urges them to do evil, offer his help in exchange for their lives.

This was the Archmage who was banished from Lordaeron, Kel'thuzad for experimenting on evil magic and creating the Cult of the Damned. Those like Jessie, are vulnerable to hearing his voice.

Those who listen to him is to be immediately executed as a cult member for the safety of Lordaeron as a whole.

'But still Instructor, your sister's a real beauty...good looks run in the family huh?' the Barracks Headmaster Barty asked him while doing paperwork in the faculty room.

'It does, but we think nothing of it.' said Richter. 'A pretty face's only use in life is to help one's odds in courting the one they like. Character and personality counts more than looks because one cannot fall for a rose without getting pricked by thorns under that one must get past the prickly rose to reach a flower that doesn't prick. Its why I fell for Trina. Its how my family rolls...we choose spouses based on personality and character. So we're really picky.'

'What defines a flower that pricks anyway?'

Richter's expression went stony.

'Jessie.' Richter scowled. 'Pretty outside but killer inside for stupid reasons.' The other instructors and Headmaster exchanged awkward looks.


Sierra left Strahnbrad going further south.

It'll be Alterac, a defunct country since the wars. Due to what it's royalty and nobles did, it became a defunt country, its treasuries added to the rest of the other six alliances to finance the war against the Orcs.

So its peasantry now considers Lordaeron its lord now.

But that might be only in outward appearances only to survive. The citizens were horribly neglected by officials responsible for them since the Alliance took over. Starvation and Disease were rife that anger and discontent brews. And Alterac turned to 'pretty much anything' to get by, physically and mentally. They all deteriorated that even children learned how to be wicked to live. They don't know what righteousness or justice means.

It was horrible.

But now? She had to send a report of her findings down south.

The remnants of Alterac's nobility formed The Syndicate, becoming bandits, a far cry from what they used to be and she had to help the peasantry out on the sly by killing these bandits and countryside monsters. Especially as the defunct nation is now occupied by the Horde and Ogre Tribes which she avoids as hey, she's only one person...she is a normal human now, all alone with no backup. Sure she can mop a military settlement by herself, but what after that, huh? If she ran out of mana and stamina, she's a sitting duck.

And being Archer who got betrayed by his ideals is a no-go here.

Banditry aside, the Horde and the Ogre Tribes are killing each other off but in a deadlock situation. The peasants suffered resource raids to sustain these conflicts and are enslaved. Labor, exploitation and abuse turned most of them insane.

Her reports are written. Job done!

During her journey, she also got a worried letter from her mentor who promised her that the situation will definitely be discussed about. It took resources, time and effort to purge the cult, and they're starting again?! He also expressed relief that by the blessings of light, she was made to visit her brother to save him and his wife by a guiding hand just in time from a sinister plot over something so stupid.

That, and she was to get out of Alterac fast, out of worry and she's done enough, and should focus on her journey for knowledge for promotion instead. Let the law deal with what she found out, and his majesty the King is NOT happy with the officials he trusted with governing Alterac. All are punished as this went on for years since the Second War ended!

Pretty much stripped of everything as punishment. As for Sierra, her identity was classified to protect her and her family from retaliation when Kael'thas appealed to the rejuvenated King who agreed as he had gotten fond of 'their little trouble-sniffer'. To be fair she finds work for the idle who are getting bored as of late.

Past Alterac and Stromgarde, is the southern nations of the Dwarves and Gnomes.

It was the closest she can get anyhow, to modern-day tech. The gnomes were way ahead of their time in their technology, even knowing Molecular Gastronomy in their food.

...the taste needs some work though.

Sierra enjoyed herself immensely in Gnomeregan, doing Gourmet Cuisine Research here. Gnomes figured that for the sake of health to keep working, they extracted nutrients within food and created what's basically ready-to-eat-by-hand space food crafted from molecular gastronomy. Other than that, it's processed food with so much additives and preservatives that while Gnomes are OK with it, will kill Human Diners in five years. OD on vitamins and minerals aside, the stuff in processed foods form a sheer lethal toxic formula that gave humans a short lifespan, if they ate Gnome Cuisine for five years straight.

But certain things are in-demand in the alliance like some confectioneries. Ice Cream, Military MREs, and stuff out of movies and anime she's watched years ago. Yet miraculously enough, these Gnomes thought of these and are a millennia-ahead of this world in terms of gastronomy.

She had to tweak things her way for her research.

Remembering anime she watched, it was her inspiration. And her land farms soybeans and rice, yes...?

She was able to create War Rations in the form of Magic-Style Instant Vegetarian Porridge, just add hot water, and recreated fruity sour-sweet-flavored Soyjoy, injected with vitamins and minerals enough for human body without compromising taste through size.

The size of Instant Gruel was enough to fill a bowl of stew. Filling while packed with flavor and spice kick as its basically dehydrated, preserved and freeze-dried food. Its vegetables, spices and mushrooms reconstituted in the ten-minute wait for the food to cook.

Soyjoy is good breakfast material in war, giving you enough nutrition and protein to function and amounts as much as two rice balls in substance, while the gruel can be eaten during lunch and dinner. Finally, War Beverage Lumps. Square pieces of chocolate, milk and sugar pressed tightly into square lumps the size of Turkish Delight. Drop one in hot water, and you only need to stir it with a spoon. There's also Black Coffee variant. Drop one in a mug and you get a perfect hot instant drink!

When this research came out, the Frankland Clan face-palmed as one when the research was published.

'...my sister loves food too much, but she's still slim, slender and beautiful.' Zachary Frankland would say during social events when he was approached about it. 'She'll discover new tastes with sheer tunnel vision about it, bring them home and we farm it for sale.' and that, is why their family is richer again. Good thing their domain is 'insanely fortified' that they never fear anything. That, and in their domain is farmlands of food and medicine. And they constantly stay in shape.

Siege? What Siege?

Once the methods how was known, each of Lordaeron's Alliance began making their own rations for stock with help from Gnomeregan. But for this to be possible, they have to start farming the rice crop. Frankland is the only human nation that farms rice and beans that seeds were purchased from Zachary for nations to start their own fields for war rations production. For contributing for future war efforts, she was awarded 20000 gold as 'services for the country' alongside her intelligence on Alterac that gave the alliance an idea on Horde numbers and what became of the nobility of the traitorous nation.

Dalaran took the lead for the Beverage Lumps production considering they were cultivating chocolate and coffee!

For daily life, powdered drinks are still used. The Beverage War Lumps are stored away FOR war marching and missions only.

Sierra's food research isn't exactly magical. It's more scientific befitting its nature but she came prepared.

Due to said war, bringing around glass vials of potions are inconvenient due to fears of breakage and wasted wares during the trip that she sought to make pill variants of potions. Square chewy pills, just chew and swallow them. Yucky but has 5% more potency than liquid variant and easier to carry and store away! This is an alchemy field that is actually a mystical credit to Dalaran.

She magically creates the pills through a process of Refining Technique with magic. And she has to make a presentation like defending a thesis when she went back via teleport on annual Discussion Conference.

It's not enough to get her promoted, but its her first accomplishment as a Mage. The rest, was her first published thesis based on her journey that actually made her go rank up that she was not a Magician, but classified as Sage, an alternate-class but of the same rank. So her annual salary now went up to 20000 gold.

Her initial annual salary is 10000 gold coins. The higher you go, additional 10000 gold. Until all the way to Archmage.

Given the price of food, if you focus on cheap goods costing coppers and the lowest silver price you can get, 10000 gold can satisfy one person.

25 copper for bread for one person for all three meals a day. It's already 1 silver for four days' worth of bread. Most cheap vegetables fall into this price range too. In short, spending a day for one person, totals 2 silver a day due to ingredients for a day's meal at the cheapest. And it's 100 silver to a gold coin. 2 silver a day is 50 days' worth of food expenses for a person, even if you're a child, totaling 2 gold coins per head for 100 days on the cheap. Then there's clothing costing 3-5 silvers but that's occasionally. Lastly, taxes of 10 gold a year for a commoner per working individual. Children only gets charged annual taxes when they came of age at 12.

It's good that for a commoner, they get paid monthly, no? 20 gold a month, can feed a family of 4 with full bellies and clothe them with change left over. But that'll take years of saving up to buy a House and Lot, that commoners really have to marry late in life, and have kids way late in life too.

Her salary is huge to justify her annual spending as being a mage isn't cheap. Materials needed to advance in rank, is expensive as well as buying equipment.

As far as her family financially supporting her, their last act of financial support is buying her a house and lot in Dalaran WHEN she finally settles down. Until then, she's living on her own paycheck from Dalaran! She can still come and go being a dual citizen but she cannot rely on the family for money any longer.

Well, at least before she graduated, she managed to get a Truesilver Bow and Sword from her father. Both of which, NOT cheap.

She had her fill of Lordaeron and Azeroth(the continent) in one year, that she's now 23 years old.

'Sierra.' Kael'thas approached her. 'Good work on today's presentation.' he praised her, proud of her as a former student and the fact he had eyes on her as a woman. For someone who was 23, she remained youthful in glow in her beauty. As if she was still in her maidenhood.

'Oh! Thanks master!' Sierra beamed happily. Her bright smile was like that of the sun's, though as precaution he activated all anti-charm and anti-allure spells. None as usual. 'It's still a long stairway upstairs though, so I'll keep traveling! I'm thinking of going West. No human has gone there yet.'

'Kalimdor, huh?' Kael'thas chuckled. 'I've never been there before myself. My father...hasn't anything nice to say about the natives there.' he stated crisply. 'He was a child when the elves came to be here in the east. I'm rather curious myself and I want to know the ancestral lands of my forefathers. But with good reason, we had to leave.' he said. 'And to this day none of us children ever know why were we forced to leave.'

'Awww...well, I guess I'll know if I went west...' said Sierra with a pout. 'I already sent my family a letter and just waiting for Laundry Service to be done before I can go west.'

'Then I'll travel with you.' said Kael'thas. 'I too, am curious about the land my kin once call home...and why we left it.'

'Alright. Pack for travel OK? No fancy stuff, just stuff you won't miss if wrecked during fights!' Sierra never imagined her teacher decided to come with her on the fly!

Before packing, Kael'thas sent letters to needed people with his personal seal that he'll be traveling for quite a while, to west, so he's officially on Leave. Official Documentation included to be sure, and happily went with his Disciple via Goblin Zeppelin.

'To the western continent huh? There be no human there lassie, nor any gold-haired elf!' said the Goblin Cashier when they stated where they were going as he gave a pointed look at Kael'thas. 'Uncharted waters. Uncivilized tribes. Yes there be elves too but they're blue-haired and pink-skinned...and savages! Yer on yer own if stuff happens, we warn you now!'

'Worry not, we know what we're getting into when we decided this.' said Kael'thas. Or at least, he hoped Sierra did. He has years of experience to bank on, but Sierra is just taking her first steps!

'I packed a lot of travel and healing wares, as well as food, we'll be alright.' said Sierra, unknowingly answering her teacher's hopes.

'It's about one day of travel due to considerable Long-Cut to avoid the nasty Maelstrom in the middle of the Ocean.' said the Cashier. 'We be making a pit-stop in Pandaria for a Fuel Resupply, before traveling to Central Kalimdor!'

'Er what about the South?' Sierra asked him.

The cashier sputtered.

'Hah! A baby has a better chance of survival in a cesspit!' the Cashier choked out. The two mages did a double-take with the goblin's horror. 'Southern Kalimdor is literal monster-vale! Everything that lives there, even plants are equipped to kill anybody, race-be-damned! Unstoppable killing machines made flesh and flora, they are!' he exclaimed.

'We goblins travel anywhere fer the sake of profit, but even we gave up on that shithole after 37564 deaths of Goblin Explorers and even then we mapped 1% of it past the shore and waged war with the local critters just to claim what territory we could and only managed to keep that tiny 1%! It'll take another 50 years of repopulation to expand what we've got there and we're crowded there as it is. So no Zeppelin Routes there, and the next Zeppelin Port is in Dustwallow Marsh. Still safe there. But the natives there are strong as warrior tribes.'

'Centaurs are cannibalistic bastards, avoid em'. Trolls there don't know Orcs here so they're no buddies, but has a weird code o' honor. But their sorcery is curse-based, don't get em' mad at you. The Tauren are nature-worshippers and hospitable lot, again, don't offend them or lose a reliable ally. Think of em' as cows on legs. Quillboars there are much more ferocious than on Kul Tiras. Now that you're fully-briefed, that's 600 gold each of you. Fuel ain't cheap, tax included!' Kael'thas and Sierra exchanged long-suffering looks and paid up.


'If you ask me we got totally ripped off back there.' Kael'thas grumbled as they boarded their Zeppelin for first-class travel. '600 gold!' he moaned. 'I could buy a week's worth of materials!'

A week's materials for archmagi, that is! Materials for one like her is way cheaper than that, Sierra thought.

'Well, that sneaky guy didn't just charge for fuel, but information too. Information we didn't have on the mysterious western lands. Information on the natives alone will help us get by as it is.' said Sierra. 'For goblins, anything is for sale.' she snorted. 'Even your life. Unscrupulous, but easy to sway with the right price. Winning the bid is key.'

'A bid huh,' Kael'thas huffed.

'Greedy people are easy to deal with. Especially if they commit crimes, like what happened to my brother and his wife, and a woman my sister-in-law once thought as a best friend.' said Sierra gloomily. 'My brother and his wife are on the path to recovery...while perhaps, swearing to be better judges of characters when scoping out friends next time.'

'But by dealing with the new modus, Kel'thuzad will most likely seek other troubled souls for rebuilding the cult.' said Kael'thas anxiously. 'By your reports, Alterac is ripe for picking given how the people is pushed to the brink of madness and hatred.'

'Sadly yes...well, I gave intelligence, its up to the country if they make use of gold or let it rust uselessly.' Sierra sighed. 'Just that they better not trouble the people if they decide to be lazy while we're gone.'

And so, travel began once fuel's loaded up.

And soon, they were over the ocean.

Meanwhile...

Anasterian Sunstrider shook while reading his son's letter.

There's a damn good reason they left Kalimdor! He's heard tales of grief, guilt and shame that he inherited from his father that Kael has yet to inherit when he retires!

'That fool of a boy! I'll get that brat home as soon as I get the right people for the job!' he exploded in anger borne of worry.


Days later...Pandaria...

Very, VERY asian, but the only familiar things were Torii Gates. But the buildings are notably chinese. Culture somewhat chinese in terms of buildings and roads. All else, a stew of various bits of 'all else'.

But writings on a stone they found...is chinese. She can read it. Its about a song about flowering trees by the vale.

'Hey, what language is this?' Sierra asked a nearby pandaren, pointing at the stone.

'That is our lost language, now known as language of emperors and scholars but even then they know little...so much of our culture is lost, when the Mogu enslaved us in the past.' said the pandaren sadly. 'Now that the Mogu are gone, we seek ways to restore what was destroyed. We haven't much progress though, and its been centuries then. Our ancestors pass down their dream to their children and we continue working, until we restore the Pandaria of old.'

'Some things don't change...war, oppression, destruction of identity and culture by oppressors until the flame of revolution is sparked, kindling the flames of rebellion to make way for freedom.' Kael'thas shook his head morosely.

'Damn straight.' said the unhappy pandaren. 'I'm very old, so my children and grandkids are pursuing our age-old dreams. To regain our identity as a race and culture back. These days I'm mostly a Brewmaster now. Usually, we sing when we share wine.'

'Oh, I'm a decent singer.' Sierra joked. 'Is it a good price to pay for drink?'

'H-Hey Sierra, we're still traveling...' Kael'thas sweatdropped. 'Don't get drunk out here!'

'Don't worry master, it's just one cup, not a bottle!'

'Ohoho! Sing first missy, before I pour you a drink!'

Challenge accepted buddy!

Sierra caused chinese words to appear as she sang in the language, but also has common translation, making the old panda's jaws drop.

She sang Wuji, from a popular chinese BL anime that became a hit in Archer's later years before he died. There was a Live Action made where Wuji came from that suits where she is now, in Pandaria. Other Modao Zushi songs are good, but the lyrics need changing just to suit the culture here!

'Lass! You know our ancient tongue?! You're fluent, even! Bloody hell!' he choked. 'Will you leave your knowledge behind?' he asked hopefully in sheer desperate reverence.

'I would, but we're on a Zeppelin Pit Stop...our ship is only here for one hour stop for refueling before we go west to Kalimdor.' said Sierra. 'But you've memorized my song, right?'

'Of course I did! They say there's 3500 words in our lost language, yours was in the 500 words we managed to dig up in hidden records! You probably have the other 3000!'

3000! Kael'thas' mind was swimming. Those complicated lines and dots in patterns are words?!

'Er, I only know 2500 mate.' that's modern chinese know-how. Hanzi known to ancient scholars are long buried in dirt! What she knows is what modern chinese know, and so do these guys, possibly...

'That's already a huge deal! I'll get brush and papers!' and the old panda ran off. Needless to say, Sierra had to enchant the paper at the back, as she wrote all hanzi she knew...including how to pronounce them.

'Sierra...you really knew their language?' Kael'thas was deeply impressed with her. She knows the lost language of Pandaria! And this was because she's wandering around and stumbles on what's treasure to others, yet little to no meaning for others as well. But given her Sage status, she's obliged to amass knowledge!

'Dug it up in Alterac somewhere...the book has seen better days that even as an unusual type of parchment it was falling apart so I rewrote my own copy and used sympathy magic to dive into memories within the book just to know what's lost from page tearing.' said Sierra. 'Smells like bamboo.'

'And where is this Alterac, my friend?' the old panda asked her. 'And yes, we make our paper from bamboo...'

'It's in the Eastern Continent where we're from, across the sea, northeast of here since your Pandaria is way south on Goblin Zeppelin.' said Kael'thas. 'It seems during your people's bad years, there are Pandaren who fled, taking high risks to preserve what they can and bury them in hopes of the future digging them back out and bring them home. And my student stumbled upon said book while wandering around, but lucky it's language which is a great start to understand the rest your fellows may dig out.'

'Again, I only know 2500 that I got in the original book, OK?' Sierra said sheepishly.

'That's already a huge deal for us, lass! Additional 2000 retrieved thanks to you, 1000 more to go!'

Upon leaving behind stacks of paper containing...pandanese, they bade the old panda goodbye who was in tears of joy, and got a keg of wine from him as thanks.

'Wow, I've never had an experience like this.' Sierra marveled. 'It seems they put up with so much indignity and...cultural stripping that regaining their lost tongue back puts them in tears already.'

'You stumble into interesting things somehow.' Kael'thas sighed. 'You ought to wear a sign that says 'hey, I stumble on your lost treasure' or something.'

'Hardy-har-har.'

The wine they got? It was high-grade mirin! They can't drink it!

As for the old panda, he had gone straight to the higher-ups, reporting his lucky meeting with a human, and her elven magic teacher...

Copies were made, and the old studies to master, in order to teach their young with glee.


That night while Sierra sleeps in her room, Kael'thas lay awake, standing by the halls outside their rooms on the ship.

"By morning, we're in Dustwallow Marsh." Kael'thas thought. "Kalimdor. The ancestral lands my people ran away from. All I know is that we were driven away by our own kin due to too much meddling with magic that caused the Sundering of the world, and cursed the name of Azshara that my people are wary of beauties since. Just how deep is the full story?" he wondered. "I wonder how the elves will treat me upon seeing me? Do they have magic addiction like we do?"

He was quite anxious.

He would never have thought of traveling, if he hadn't fallen for his student. She was unlike any female he's met, which was part of her charm.

Girls her age normally look for boys 'worth marrying'-by that, they mean a man who can give them a high-class life, and they snub men who have low income. Nothing wrong with that, as it's a man's duty to provide and support his family, but getting too greedy to the point one is a gold digger is what's wrong. That in turn, said high-earning men are repulsed in turn and seek women like Sierra.

And to Sierra, those same words mean 'a man who would love her and give her a happy home', like how her family is! Such a woman who desires so is worth marrying.

He can easily give what she wants, no? Not that hard!

The hard part? Erasing the boundaries being a teacher and student made. She clearly respects him as a mentor in a paternal way, considering as an elf, he may as well be ancient fossil to her!