"Paired with Thorium, you say..."
Andreas lowered his head in deep thought for a moment. "I will notify our Tauren allies to increase the mining output of the Thorium veins in the Stonetalon Mountains. Alan, do you know how to construct Arcane Golems?"
Alan, an individual of Highborne descent, spoke with a troubled expression. "I know the theory, but the problem lies in the power source."
"Without the infinite energy of the Well of Eternity as a backstop, relying solely on Arcanists to manually charge them is far too inefficient."
Alan hesitated for a while before finally hardening his resolve to offer his professional advice as a technician.
"Lord Andreas, if it's just a small-scale production, it wouldn't hurt; using them to guard the Lord's Palace could free up considerable manpower. But I wouldn't recommend mass-producing these... decorative vases in the current era."
Alan's courageous suggestion did not annoy Andreas; he was not so foolish as to be incapable of accepting sound advice.
"Thank you for the suggestion, Alan."
Patting the technician firmly on the shoulder, Andreas encouraged him with a smile. "Don't worry about me getting angry. As long as the advice is correct, I will adopt it."
"However..."
Seeing the look of relief on Alan's face, Andreas asked with a light chuckle, "What if I could find a suitable power source?"
The technical geek Alan froze for a moment, then scratched his head blankly. "If there were an infinite power source as a backstop, these Arcane Golems—which can currently only serve as vases—would become true instruments of war. But..."
Without waiting for Alan to ask further, Andreas waved his hand to bid him farewell.
"That is my problem to solve. For now, just focus on restoring the Arcane Golem technology of the Night Empire. I will certainly have a use for it in the future."
"Yes..."
Leaving the Weapon Research Department, a beautiful blonde woman waiting outside the door immediately stepped forward to greet him.
"Uncle Andreas, what was the result?"
Andreas nodded. "It is indeed Mithril with a standard purity. As long as we can maintain dominance in Tanaris and secure sufficient mining volume, it should provide a steady stream of minerals for Moonshadow's Rest in the future."
This blonde girl was none other than Celeste Sunstrider, who had been sent to Moonshadow's Rest by Dath'Remar over a hundred years ago.
When Dath'Remar sent his daughter, he entrusted Andreas with arranging a stable clerical job or something similar for Celeste, just enough for her to support herself.
However, Andreas did not intend to be so dismissive. She was, after all, a descendant of the Sunstrider family; he didn't believe the child would lack Arcane talent.
With Celeste showing a somewhat hesitant yet accepting attitude, Delier, the leader of the Moon Guard, arranged for a female Arcanist under his command to conduct an examination on Celeste.
The results were astonishing. The child already possessed a respectable amount of Arcane energy within her; clearly, she was not as mediocre in talent as Dath'Remar had claimed.
Although her father had instructed her to keep a low profile, the young Celeste was not yet capable of the same stoic indifference to honor or disgrace as Dath'Remar.
Though she was sensible enough to follow her father's arrangements and move away from Astranaar to Moonshadow's Rest, the idea of working hard to improve herself so she might help her father's cause in the future remained in her heart.
Andreas himself did not know any Arcane spells. After a long talk with Celeste, he handed this exceptionally talented Sunstrider descendant over to the Moon Guard for training.
The Moon Guard was the mage guard unit of Zin-Azshari personally appointed by Queen Azshara. This army was full of talent and possessed deep heritage.
Even after enduring a devastating war, the lineage of the Moon Guard had never been severed.
When Celeste was at home, she only occasionally received personal guidance from the busy Dath'Remar. Considering Dath'Remar's workload as the leader of the Highborne, the quality of education she received can be imagined.
Ever since she began receiving orthodox training from a magical military unit, Celeste's progress had been rapid—one could even describe it as a meteoric rise.
Celeste had met Andreas when she was a child, though at that time, Andreas presented himself in the form of a crow.
After reuniting with her childhood friend Leticia—whom she had known since they were little—she learned the truth about why she had suddenly fallen into a deep sleep in the garden all those years ago from that big-mouthed girl.
Under the leadership of the mischievous Leticia, who considered herself the "big sister," Celeste's cautious and timid attitude from when she first arrived at Moonshadow's Rest improved significantly.
Because Andreas was of the same generation as her father, Dath'Remar, and shared a good relationship with him, Celeste began to call him by a title that made Andreas feel quite awkward.
"Uncle."
For the immortal Night Elves, the issue of seniority between different families was usually treated lightly; friendships across generations were not uncommon.
Andreas had tried many times to get Celeste to call him by his name, just as Leticia did, but he never succeeded.
This somewhat mischievous girl seemed to hold a slight grudge against Andreas for putting her to sleep without permission during her childhood, deliberately using this form of address as a small act of revenge.
After many failed attempts at persuasion, Andreas could only resign himself to it.
Shandris liked the well-behaved and sensible Celeste very much. However, being busy with military affairs, she couldn't stay in Moonshadow's Rest for long and lacked the "visual fortune" to see the other side of Celeste hidden beneath her obedient exterior.
Although he arranged for Celeste to receive formal training from the Moon Guard in private, Andreas still kept his promise to Dath'Remar and did not expose Celeste' true strength to the public eye.
On the surface, Celeste' job was as one of Andreas's secretaries. Due to her somewhat scatterbrained personality, her work competence was... in short, difficult to describe.
However, everyone in the secretary pool knew that this young girl was a "connected hire" brought in by an old friend of the Lord. They understood that the Lord was simply helping a friend look after her as she grew up, so no one gossiped about this colleague who was so blatantly slacking off.
Upon learning that Moonshadow's Rest had found a source of Mithril, Celes was even more excited than Andreas. She hurriedly dragged a helpless "Uncle Andreas" to the Weapon Research Department to inquire about the identification results.
"Phew~"
Upon learning that Mithril could be mined in large quantities, Celeste patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
The shaking of her "great evil" caused Andreas's eyes to involuntarily shift down two inches.
The nutrition is truly excellent; by comparison...
Thinking of his own apprentice's regrettable proportions, a look of pity appeared on Andreas's face.
When Celeste looked up, she happened to notice Andreas's gaze. A fleeting, mischievous grin appeared on that deceptive, delicate baby face.
"Uncle Andreas, does it look good?"
"Uh..."
Andreas's face stiffened. He scratched his head and shifted the topic. "Ahem~ Let's talk business. Why are you so concerned about the mining of Mithril? It's not like there are new instructions from Dath'Remar's side, is there?"
Celeste knew when to stop. She smiled and led the way with her hands behind her back.
"No. Every time Father contacts me, it's just idle chatter about home life. He never mentions the current situation in Astranaar, nor does he allow me to return to the capital. I'm just personally interested in Mithril ore."
"After all... this mineral was a critical military resource during the era of the Night Empire."
Andreas's eyes grew a bit deeper as he looked at Celeste with a meaningful smile.
"It seems Delier and the others have educated you well; they even told you about this."
"Hehe~"
Seeing the trademark silly grin on Celeste' face, Andreas sighed inwardly. This child really hasn't given up on her plan to return to Astranaar to help Dath'Remar...