“This is the Valley of Heroes, the path you’ll walk down as you enter Stormwind City. It is a corridor of heroes with five statues on either side. The five heroes — High General of the Alliance Expedition, Paladin Turalyon; his wife, a High Elven Ranger, Captain Alleria Windrunner; Supreme Commander for the Alliance Expedition, Archmage Khadgar; Dwarf Gryphon Rider, Kurdran; and Sons of Lothar’s Force Commander Danath Trollbane — who traveled through the Dark Portal.
“This is the Trade District, Stormwind City’s trade center. This is one of the biggest centers of commerce in the whole of Azeroth. The outside world can’t possibly imagine how thriving the place is. Banks, auction houses, inns, and a variety of shops. Anything you can think of, they have it.
“On the left is the Mage Quarter. Sean, you would know. The place was once flooded with thousands of Mages, making it the city with the second largest amount of Mages in the world, secondary to the Magical Kingdom of Dalaran. After the destruction of Dalaran, the place became the center of Human Arcane research. However, the Mages here are too absorbed with power and reject Mages who don’t play by their rules. That was why Theocritus left.
“Up ahead, across the river is the Cathedral Square. There stands one of the major churches and the largest cathedral in the world — the Cathedral of Light. The other two churches that are equally famous are Light’s Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands, and Northshire Abbey in Elwynn Forest. The Cathedral of Light is a structure second only to Stormwind Keep in Stormwind City, and a religious hub for the Humans.
“Further ahead is Stormwind Harbor. It is the world’s largest harbor. The large vessels berthed there are capable of reaching most harbors in the world. If we want to travel to Theramore by sea, we’ll have to take a ship from there.
“By the Cathedral Square, separated by a river is the Stockade. Oh right, there are two prisons in Stormwind City. The Stockade is for holding regular criminals while the Vault is reserved for special criminals, like Ogre Mages, Gnoll Leaders, and other unknown entities.
“There’s also the Dwarven District, a place for the Dwarves. Yes, there are many Dwarves in Stormwind City because of the close relationship between the city and the Dwarven capital, Ironforge. Did you know that there’s a tram in the Dwarven District that leads straight to Ironforge? Do you know what a tram is? It is a magical means of transportation that is quicker than gryphons!
“Stormwind City’s most important structure is Stormwind Keep, also known as Castle Stormwind. The keep houses not only the royals but many nobles as well. I’ll let you in on something. Stormwind Keep has escape tunnels. If anything were to happen in Stormwind City, the people inside are able to escape using these tunnels… Haha, don’t worry, Stormwind City will never fall!”
Rick talked throughout the entire journey.
With animated expressions, he flaunted the masterpieces he and his partners worked on to Sean and Vanessa.
Although Sean had visited Stormwind City numerous times in the game, the Stormwind City presented before his eyes was different from the game.
The game had shown him a simplified version, the real Stormwind City was way livelier.
Stormwind City! Stormwind City!
This place was the only remaining political, economic, cultural, religious, Arcane research, and long-haul trade center of the Human race. Erected amid land and water, it was Stormwind City that would never fall!
Rick led Sean and Vanessa past the Trade District towards the right end of the city. Past a bridge and across a river, they arrived at a district with a different kind of vibe.
“This place is Old Town, the part of Stormwind City that did not get destroyed. We didn’t rebuild the place. All we had to do was a few repairs to restore its original appearance. This was done to ensure that the people remember the disaster that once befell on Stormwind City. The place we’re heading to, SI:7, is here.”
Rick brought Sean and Vanessa past Old Town. They went out of a city gate and arrived at an ancient-looking house.
“This is SI:7. Bet you never expected that, huh? The famous SI:7 is not in Stormwind City itself but located outside the city, between the city wall and the mountains.”
Rick instructed Sean and Vanessa to wait for a while before walking up to the entrance of SI:7 alone. He was quickly met by a person. It was unknown what their conversation was about but Rick was soon ushered in by the same person. After a brief moment, Rick walked out.
“Follow me.” Rick drew close to Sean and Vanessa. They then strolled along the city wall to another direction.
It was several hundred meters on foot by the time they entered a grove. From afar, Sean saw a middle-aged man in casual wear standing amid the woods with his back facing them.
“That’s Mathias Shaw.” Rick muttered, “He looks the same as before, never changing.”
Sean cast Appraisal Sight on Mathias out of habit. He was not surprised at the lack of information. Mathias’s ability and skills may be a mystery to Sean for now, but despite not knowing, Sean could guess that Mathias was a High Rank Rogue, the kind that was close to a Grandmaster Rank.
Sean decided to say a few words to break the silence.
It was then that Mathias suddenly spoke.
“Sean Saldean, an orphan adopted by Old Saldean, a farmer from Saldean’s Farm in Westfall. Though his background is unknown, he had a sudden extraordinary display a month ago and was considered an Engineering genius. Two weeks ago, he revealed his identity as a Mage. He has a great relationship with Sentinel Hill’s Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle and assisted Gryan in wiping out the Kobolds and Murlocs in Westfall. He began building his own Mage Tower a week ago.
“Vanessa VanCleef, daughter of the Defias Brotherhood’s leader, Edwin VanCleef. She was brought out of the Deadmines by Rick a week ago and has since resided in Saldean’s Farm.
“Rick, why have you brought these two to come meet me?”
With that, Mathias Shaw slowly turned around. He swept a glance at the trio with a pair of clear eyes that seemingly saw through everything.
However…
Sean sneered inwardly.
Trying to one-up him?
Did he think he was all that?
Sean bet that Mathias was unaware that although Sean was adopted by Old Saldean, his last name was Feathermoon, rather than Saldean.
Mathias had gathered some incorrect intel yet he still put on an act. All he did was embarrass himself.
Sean cleared his throat and answered, “Mathias Shaw, the current leader of Stormwind’s SI:7. His grandmother, Pathonia Shaw was the founder of SI:7. His mother was a First Finger Assassin and died on a mission. He was brought up by Pathonia from the age of four and was made a Fourth Finger by the age of 10. He became the youngest member in the guild.
“Mathias slowly climbed up the ladder, spending much more time at every level than most. When he was 30 years old, Pathonia handed the reins over to him. Mathias attempted to make improvements on her organizational structure, but after a few months, he came to accept that her structure was flawless, and all he needed to do was run the already well-oiled machine.
“He has deep brown eyes, is rather diminutive, and doesn’t have an imposing stature, very unassuming for a guild leader of Assassins. His first successful kill was the target his mother failed to eliminate.
“His teacher is Wolfson Fullmore, a Grandmaster Rank Rogue.”
Sean gently lifted his head with a smile. He was filled with a sense of delight to see Mathias Shaw surprised. He continued. “I wonder, compared to the legendary Assassin, Garona Halforcen, how do you fare?”