Since their last contact, Andreas had not received any further instructions from Elune. Recalling the terrifying conjectures he had once made, Andreas had refrained from actively attempting to contact Elune for a long time.
However, after several years of contemplation, he gradually came to a realization. As long as Elune truly harbored no ill intent toward Azeroth and did not threaten the safety of himself or his people, then regardless of what her true form might be, she was a true deity worthy of faith.
No one knew when Elune began to watch over Azeroth. At least within the known timeline—and even the ten thousand years of the future Andreas knew through his transmigrator abilities—Elune had never displayed any harmful threat to the world.
As a favored one of Elune, if Andreas could establish contact with this true deity, he might gain important revelations from her. But judging from his "casual" (Zen-like) faith over the past five years, the probability of Elune appearing of her own accord was slim; mortals would have to find a way to communicate with her instead.
According to Shandris, Tyrande had also failed to contact Elune during these five-plus years.
Reflecting on this, Vashj's act of building a statue of Azshara sparked a train of thought in Andreas. He thought back to the first time he had directly conversed with Elune.
"I remember, besides using the Eye of Elune as a conduit, there was a massive statue of Elune at the scene, wasn't there? Even if the face was blurry..."
Raising the tip of his staff, he looked at the inactive Tear of Elune, which still floated and slowly rotated atop the Staff of G'Hanir.
"Let's give it a try."
During these five years, after the establishment of the Shadow of the Dark Moon sect, Andreas had mostly adopted a "hands-off" management style. He did not intend to emphasize his status or presence within the sect as heavily as Tyrande did; instead, he low-key delegated power to other priests to carry out their missionary work.
As the saying goes, "those below follow the example of those above." Since Andreas himself—the favored of the Moon Goddess—was so casual, the priests of the Shadow of the Dark Moon were not particularly aggressive either.
Holding a "miracle" like the Moonwell, Moonshadow's Rest had naturally drawn the town's Elune-believing residents into this emerging sect over the years. After all, the supreme faith of the Shadow of the Dark Moon was still Elune; it was simply that their interpretation of her power forms and authority was completely different from the Sisterhood of Elune led by Tyrande.
According to the description by the sect's Shadow High Priest, Andreas, Elune was not as recorded by the Sisterhood for ten thousand years—possessing only a radiant side. The dark side of the moon was equally a part of her lunar phases.
As a symbol of the dark side's power, the Void—or Shadow energy—held by Andreas and the priests of the Shadow of the Dark Moon served as clear evidence.
In Andreas's prior impression, Shadow energy was a niche energy that was difficult to master. Being the opposite of the Light, prolonged use of Shadow was thought to easily cause mental erosion, thereby affecting the user's sanity.
However, facts proved that this was an outright prejudice.
Power is, after all, just power. Whether it be Nature, Light, Shadow, or even Fel, the power itself does not possess any inherent bias; it ultimately depends on the person using it.
Fel is widely considered the most destructive and easily uncontrollable energy, yet according to Andreas's understanding, ever since Illidan obtained Fel energy, the power within his body had never gone out of control even once. This proved a point: as long as one possesses a firm will, even a demonized energy like Fel can be perfectly mastered.
When he first began proselytizing, Andreas had spent a period anxiously monitoring the Elune priestesses who had switched to Shadow power. But five years had passed, and not a single person—from the sect's priests to the followers who joined the Shadow of the Dark Moon—had shown any signs of mental erosion or abnormality.
Initially, while Andreas felt relieved, he also harbored some doubts. He had been prepared to help out-of-control priests suppress the Shadow energy in their bodies at any moment. After discussions with the priests and Xal'atath, Andreas finally reached a conclusion.
Most people in his memories who lost control using Shadow energy were influenced by the Void Lords or the Old Gods. As masters of Void power, the Old Gods used Shadow spells with immense mental influence, supplemented by their omnipresent, terrifying whispers; it was simply too easy for them to tempt mortals into corruption.
But the followers of the Moon Goddess protected by Elune were different. It was virtually impossible for the Old Gods to permeate their influence into a church that believed in a true deity.
Through several years of diligent research, Andreas discovered that the characteristics of Shadow power were not only strong in mental spells. Under Xal'atath's guidance in recent years, Andreas had developed many direct-attack Shadow spells, including the "Guillotine" and "Shadow Claw" he had used previously in Highmountain.
If explained in scientific terms, Shadow energy should be considered a form of anti-matter energy. How to utilize this energy depended on the user's own comprehension and habits. Mental attacks were only one part of Shadow power's properties; there were many more unknown uses waiting for Andreas and the priests of the Shadow of the Dark Moon to discover.
...
"You didn't find them?" Andreas looked at Feron before him in disbelief. "Are you sure? You're not joking with me, are you?"
Feron scratched his head with a wry smile. "At least, that is the conclusion we reached after a careful search."
"There is definitely some kind of creature lurking deep within Felwood Forest, but the other party seems to have no intention of being exposed."
"We ventured deep into the forest several times to explore and found many traces of intelligent beings living there, but the other party never showed themselves before us, nor did they actively attack us."
Andreas grimaced. "Then that's a bit troublesome."
"An enemy hiding in the shadows is the most terrifying. These cunning fellows are likely wary of your numbers; they suppressed their urge to attack only because they lacked a guarantee of victory."
Feron nodded solemnly. "I thought so too. During the final stage of exploration, I ordered the Druids to split up in pairs to search, but even that failed to lure them out."
Shandris frowned deeply. "In that case, this is a cunning and highly intelligent race. I don't recall Felwood Forest having such indigenous inhabitants."
A cold gleam flashed in Andreas' eyes. "Maybe they aren't indigenous, but 'familiar strangers' we once knew."
Shandris: "???"
"What do you mean by 'familiar strangers'?"
Currently, there was no evidence to corroborate the existence of Satyrs, and Andreas wasn't as thick-skinned as Tyrande, using the name of Elune's divine revelation all day long.
"I just have a premonition."
Pulling back his thoughts, Andreas turned to look at Shandris.
"In any case, we must increase our vigilance against this unknown creature. Shandris, since Tyrande wants the Sentinel units to gain actual combat experience, you should personally lead a Sentinel detachment to be permanently stationed in Felwood Forest."
"If they truly harbor hostility toward our race, they will eventually be unable to resist showing their faces. When that time comes... the war Tyrande expects might truly arrive."
Though the scale of this war will certainly not be within her expectations...