Point of View: Sylvanas
Today is the day.
I was in my home, preparing breakfast. I didn't need it. My body no longer depended on something as simple as food… but the taste comforted me. It reminded me that I was still myself.
Even so, my hands trembled slightly.
I was nervous.
Then the message appeared in front of me.
[Congratulations! You are eligible to enter Dalaran.]
[If you wish to enter, simply say: Take me to Dalaran.]
[To leave and return, say: Return.]
[You are free to ask anything you need.]
I took a deep breath.
This is what I agreed to.
"Take me to Dalaran."
The world warped.
A second later, I was standing in the plaza again.
But it was no longer empty.
Creatures of all kinds filled the place—beasts of every shape and primordial beings crowded the square. They looked around with the same mixture of wonder and caution.
I understood them.
I felt the same.
I walked toward the edge of the plaza. Space bent strangely around me; distances weren't real here. What seemed far away was only a few steps apart.
I looked back, amazed.
"If only Arcadia had something like this…"
This kind of transportation would change everything.
I stepped into the void.
A path of light formed beneath my feet.
I climbed it carefully.
"To the Guardian's office."
The path shot toward a floating island in the center of the city.
From afar it looked almost nonexistent, as if reality itself refused to acknowledge it. Only those who were permitted could see it.
As I traveled along the glowing path, I watched countless beings exploring the city below.
"These next days will be… interesting."
The path stopped on the floating island.
I stepped down.
Then I looked around.
"No one noticed me."
The place wasn't large. Just a mansion standing at the center.
And it wasn't luxurious.
It was simple.
Strangely ordinary.
Some homes in Arcadia were far more extravagant.
"How curious… that someone so powerful would choose something so simple."
I entered.
I wasn't alone.
Inside the hall sat Rangar, Xyra, and Lysera.
The silence was thick.
No one spoke.
I took a seat.
A door opened.
The Guardian appeared.
He was smiling.
"Good morning."
No one responded.
His smile faded slightly.
"It seems you're not very polite."
Then his expression changed.
Serious.
Heavy.
"This is your last opportunity. Are you sure?"
No one stepped back.
He nodded.
A screen appeared in front of us.
[The Guardian wishes to invite you to the Prometheus Project.]
[Do you accept?]
I didn't hesitate.
I accepted.
The others did the same.
The air changed.
"Good," he said in a deeper voice. "Now you will understand what you are getting involved in."
He snapped his fingers.
The room disappeared.
We appeared in a star-filled void.
It was immense.
Overwhelming.
"This is only an illusion," he said. "Do not be deceived by what you see."
Lysera frowned.
"Why show us this?"
The Guardian looked at each of us in turn.
"Because I am using you."
His blunt honesty struck like a blow.
"But I don't do it without reason. And I don't do it without offering something in return."
Rangar spoke.
"Then be clear. What do you gain? And what do we gain?"
The Guardian remained silent for a few seconds.
"You will be pieces… in something far greater than you can imagine."
He didn't explain further.
He didn't need to.
The tension in the air became almost tangible.
Xyra spoke calmly.
"That doesn't sound reassuring."
The Guardian snapped his fingers again.
Images appeared before us.
Primordials in chains.
Powerful beings reduced to livestock.
Strange creatures dominating others as if they were mere resources.
He snapped again.
The scene changed.
This time… it was us.
Lysera and I were chained.
Our clothes torn.
Humiliated.
Rangar had been reduced to a mount.
Xyra… fragmented.
My stomach twisted.
Rangar spoke with defiance.
"That will never happen to me. I'd kill myself first."
Snap.
My body froze.
My energy locked in place.
My mind… could barely move.
The Guardian stared directly at Rangar.
His voice was cold.
"When you face something that completely surpasses you… death stops being a choice."
The fear didn't come from the images.
It came from that truth.
Then he looked at all of us.
"You are weak."
It wasn't an insult.
It was a fact.
"And if everything collapses… your goals, your dreams… will never come true."
Silence.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
The images vanished.
We were back in the room.
I could move again.
My heart was pounding violently in my chest.
The Guardian walked slowly in front of us.
"I will guide you so you can reach the summit."
He stopped.
"But I will give you nothing."
His gaze sharpened.
"Every fragment of power… you will rip from the world with your own hands."
There was no compassion in his voice.
Only determination.
"The Prometheus Project is not a gift. It is a forge. A trial. A path where weakness will be crushed."
He observed us in silence.
"Any questions?"
No one spoke.
"Then we will begin the first lesson."