The biting grip of winter usually left most folks with nothing but idle hands and a severe case of cabin fever, but Duke, bless his perpetually busy soul, wasn't about to let a single precious moment go to waste. In the cavernous, creaking wooden halls of Hillsbrad Foothills, the grizzled veterans, those who'd stared the Orcish Horde in the face and lived to tell the tale, might have been sporting more scars than a battle-worn shield, their bodies too broken for the front lines. But their voices? Their wisdom? Those were still sharp as a freshly honed axe. They taught the greenhorn recruits not just how to swing a sword, but how to face down an Orc with the grim determination of a man who'd seen too much.
And as if that wasn't enough, Duke's personal contingent of Nagas, those slithery, serpentine terrors, were put back to work. They didn't just drill the soldiers; they ran them through mock battles so realistic, so utterly brutal, that the recruits probably had nightmares in Naga. It was like a living, breathing, scales-and-steel boot camp.
Meanwhile, back in the spectral halls of Karazhan, Duke finally managed to squeeze in a visit. And the moment he stepped through the shimmering portal, Khadgar, the resident spectral drama queen, burst into a fit of theatrical sobs that would make a banshee blush.
"Master! Oh, Master! I missed you so much! I've been so bored!" Khadgar wailed, his ethereal form practically vibrating with existential ennui.
Duke, with the practiced ease of a man swatting a particularly annoying gnat, almost instinctively put up a hand to ward off the spectral embrace. "By the Light, Khadgar, get a grip! And you're a ghost, for crying out loud! You're not exactly alone here. Where's Michael? What about all those other heroic warriors? They're practically tripping over each other!"
"Pfft! Muscle men!" Khadgar scoffed, his translucent hands on his hips, a picture of disdain. "I have absolutely nothing to talk about with those meatheads! And I truly, truly don't understand why they insist on running and exercising every single day when they're already, you know, Heroic Spirits! What's the point of having an afterlife if you still have to hit the gym?!"
Duke blinked, speechless for a moment. He hadn't quite considered the existential dread of eternal fitness. "Well," he finally managed, "if they're not fighting demons, what else are they supposed to do? Play checkers?"
A sudden, chilling realization dawned on Duke. This was it. This was why the upper crust of the High Elves had gone so spectacularly, gloriously decadent. When you had infinite vitality, when boredom was the only enemy, a life of endless leisure was the fastest way to corrode the very soul. It was a slow, agonizing death by sheer comfort.
"Alright, alright, get your spectral self ready," Duke commanded, snapping back to business. "I've got a whole herd of apprentices heading your way. Living ones, mind you. Not the kind who complain about push-ups." He then filled Khadgar in on his little 'recruitment drive' in Dalaran, a tale of charming (or perhaps, 'abducting') a whole new batch of mages.
"Oh, splendid, my Master!" Khadgar chirped, a flicker of genuine excitement in his spectral eyes. "I'll have Michael and the others polish the spectral furniture immediately!"
"Well, actually, I'm not planning on letting them squat in Karazhan for too long," Duke clarified, rubbing his chin. "After all, this place is currently doing a pretty good impression of a time-space anomaly, and I'm not entirely sure if prolonged exposure to… that… will turn their insides into a bowl of arcane jelly. So, the plan is, they swing by the library three times a week to borrow and return books. You just need to be a good, responsible librarian. And only open up the book collection area below the Adept level, alright? Don't want them getting too big for their britches just yet."
Khadgar's spirit, ever the dramatic, placed his hands on his hips. "Well, at least I won't be so utterly, soul-crushingly lonely."
The mages who had signed up for Duke's 'Karazhan Experience' weren't the high-and-mighty Archmages of Dalaran. Oh no. These were the scrappy, down-on-their-luck mages, the ones who came from backgrounds so poor they probably thought a copper piece was a king's ransom. They couldn't afford a fancy mentor like Krasus, nor could they cough up the eye-watering tuition fees that Dalaran demanded. You see, in Dalaran, everything was a quid pro quo. Even if you sold your soul (or at least, your services) to the Dalaran Mage Corps, the meager coin you earned would only grant you access to a paltry handful of arcane texts. How could that possibly compare to the all-you-can-read buffet of forbidden knowledge that was the Karazhan Library? Plus, they got Duke's lectures in the Hillsbrad classroom three times a week. It was a no-brainer.
And here's the kicker: Duke wasn't just blowing smoke. The fire element magic formulas he'd 'simplified' (with a little 'help' from his 'system elves,' of course) were pure gold. They were arcane cheat codes, guaranteed to supercharge their magical prowess. The simplest example? After just a few weeks of Duke's rigorous training, every single formal mage was pleasantly surprised to discover they were suddenly mastering two brand-new, game-changing super magic specialties: Enhanced Fireball and Flame Throwing. The former shaved precious seconds off their Fireball spell-casting time, while the latter turned their humble Fireball into a long-range, scorching projectile. For ordinary mages, the kind with qualifications as mediocre as a goblin's cooking, this alone was enough to make them sign away three years of their lives without a second thought. It was like getting a free ride to the big leagues.
With the newly recruited mages finally settled into their routines, Duke, at long last, turned his attention to a far more personal, and far more chilling, project: building his very own ice circuit. Not just any ice circuit, mind you. He was aiming for the big one: Ice Crown. The signature, core magic circuit of Archmage Antonidas himself.
In this era, apart from the recently deceased Medivh – a true demigod-level mage who had mastered all three arcane disciplines – the remaining two supreme magical beings had very distinct preferences. Anasterian Sunstrider, the Sun King, was all about fire. Antonidas? He was the undisputed Ice King. The real head-scratcher, though, was whether the signature magic circuits of these two arcane titans could actually be integrated, connected, without blowing Duke's brains out. Because both of their signature routes were, to put it mildly, domineering. They didn't play well with others.
Duke's current Arcane Fire Circuit wasn't just any old circuit. After using it for a while, a sudden, startling realization hit him: it should really be called the "Arcane" Flame Circuit. What was "Arcane" about it, you ask? "Arcane" was the Phoenix that Kael'thas had been keeping under wraps! The Arcane Fire Circuit, passed down through the Sunstrider family for generations, was actually the Phoenix Flame. This begged a very serious question: Why did the Sun King only slap Alleria with a three-month prison sentence, a mere slap on the wrist, even though she'd managed to lose the training method for the legendary Phoenix Flame magic circuit? And why, for the love of all that was holy, did Antonidas just give away the top-tier Icecrown magic circuit model? Was Ilucia Barov truly that powerful, that influential?
Duke had chewed on these questions like a particularly tough piece of jerky. And then, recently, his ever-helpful 'System AI' finally coughed up the answer. There was nothing inherently wrong with either of those magic circuit models. No hidden flaws, no secret booby traps. As foundational circuits, they were, in fact, the absolute best ice and fire circuits a mage could ask for. The real catch? When you wanted to ascend to a higher level, you needed something very specific. A core item. Something that would allow for the further, glorious sublimation of fire or ice elements. In layman's terms, you needed a fire essence comparable to Kael'thas's legendary Phoenix 'Ao,' or an equally powerful ice essence. Without it, promotion to Master level was the absolute ceiling for these circuits. Duke might be able to outmaneuver a few 'Brilliant Moon' mages with the System's help, but he'd never be able to go toe-to-toe with a true 'Sunny Sun' powerhouse.
Duke suddenly cracked a bitter smile. "Those sly old dogs," he muttered to himself. "They really know how to play the long game."
Antonidas hadn't given Duke an arcane magic circuit, but that was a minor detail. The original Phoenix Flame also came with an arcane circuit model. As a fire magic with more explosive damage output than a goblin's dynamite factory, it naturally demanded stronger mana support from the arcane system. So, the arcane model of the Phoenix Flame was still a force to be reckoned with. The system had already crunched the numbers: unless Duke was planning on upgrading to a 'Brilliant Moon Mage' (whatever that was), this arcane model was more than enough for the Master level. But if he ever tried to cram a Phoenix Fire Elemental Source, or some such thing, onto the Phoenix Flame Circuit, that Flame Circuit would squeeze Duke's Arcane Circuit like a lemon in a vice. At that point, a brand-new Arcane Magic Source would become a necessity, not just a luxury.
"Well," Duke sighed, "one step at a time, I suppose."
In the highest, most secluded reaches of Karazhan, Duke meticulously wove a complex web of protective magic circles. These were all arcane secrets he'd painstakingly gleaned from the ancient tomes within Karazhan's very walls. They weren't enough to fend off a true Grand Master, but for a mere Master, they were more than sufficient. And considering Karazhan's own inherent, mind-bending defenses, Duke felt pretty safe.
Then came the System's voice, a calm, dispassionate hum in his mind:
"Detecting extensive refrigeration expertise in host. Importing relevant knowledge… Thermal engineering basics, fluid mechanics pumps and fans, refrigeration principles and equipment, air conditioning principles and equipment, refrigeration process design, refrigeration and air conditioning automation, refrigeration and air conditioning engineering… Knowledge import complete. Optimizing Ice Crown magic circuit model… Optimization complete."
The next moment, Duke felt as if he'd been plucked from a cozy, warm fireside and plunged headfirst into the very heart of an icy, unforgiving hell.