"Little bastard! You made my sister misunderstand so much! I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!" Alleria Windrunner was enraged with embarrassment. Her chest heaved up and down like the peaks of Mount Hyjal, and Duke couldn't even bear to look at her directly.
Arguing with an angry woman was pointless and foolish.
Duke unleashed his ultimate skill.
"Does your leg still hurt?" Doctor Duke held Alleria's foot in his right hand while his left hand stroked her calf muscle.
A tingling sensation spread through her leg, like an electric current, wave after wave crashing into Alleria's mind. The unusual touch sent shivers down the sister of the Future Banshee Queen.
"It doesn't seem to hurt much anymore," she admitted truthfully.
"Good." Duke the Miracle Healer solemnly put down Alleria's leg, then took out a few tendons from his storage bag. He sliced them into thin strands in front of her, fashioning a makeshift knee brace, and placed it over Alleria's knee.
Duke then conjured ice granules with frost magic and filled a wax paper bag, placing it on Alleria's knee.
"Hisss—so cold."
"This is called ice therapy. Apply the ice five times a day—morning, noon, afternoon, evening, and before bed. It will speed up the healing process of your knee injury," Duke the Miracle Healer explained seriously.
Ice therapy was effective in treating knee joint injuries and sprains. Duke knew this because, before he crossed over, one of his dorm-mates was a football player. The guy had sustained a severe injury, and that was how Duke learned.
"Will these measures really help?" Alleria hesitated.
A sincere smile crossed Duke's face: "Stick with it for three days. If there's no effect, feel free to come after me with a knife."
After completing his treatment, Duke walked away nonchalantly.
Alleria sat on a large rock, lost in thought for a long time before suddenly realizing, "Wait, I was just angry. What was I angry about?"
When the ice had melted and the numbing cold sensation had passed, she moved her leg and discovered that the pain in her knee had indeed lessened significantly.
Windrunners were known for their agility, unlike those Orc warriors who were used to taking hits and declaring, "Scars are the medals of an Orc!" They were acutely aware of any changes in their bodies.
Even if she didn't want to admit it, Alleria had to acknowledge that her injury had improved considerably.
But then, in the afternoon, a problem arose.
It was November, and although autumn was in full swing, where could she find ice?
Without a mage to create ice, the only place with ice was the Alterac Mountains, more than a hundred kilometers away. Was she supposed to abandon her team and go to Alterac to recuperate? Or ask her sister to make five round trips every day?
There were many mages among the high elves, but this was a ranger team of the Windrunner family. Where could they find a mage? She wasn't familiar with any human mages. In the end, when Alleria was about to bite the bullet and find Duke, his personal attendant Vanessa appeared.
As if she had perfectly calculated the distance, the ice granules hadn't melted when Vanessa arrived.
Vanessa VanCleef didn't give Alleria a friendly look: "My master is very busy. For the sake of your injury, I suggest you stay closer to him."
.
For some reason, Vanessa harbored a faint hostility towards Alleria.
Alleria, unwilling to squabble with a human teenager, silently accepted the cold treatment.
Duke was truly busy.
At the moment, the Alliance was nothing more than a ragtag group. Although Lothar appeared to follow King Llane, receiving higher education and being both literate and martially skilled, in reality, Lothar's political abilities were... zero.
Even if Terenas generously lent Duke fifteen political officers, the truth was that all logistical and miscellaneous tasks still ended up on Duke's plate, with him as the deputy commander making the final decisions.
Lothar?
Even if Lothar were to become a human stamp, Duke wouldn't let Lothar off easily. As close friends, they would share the same fate, whether it was good or bad!
How could he let himself be the only one toiling away?
Heh heh!
Thus, Lothar had a tough time. In addition to stamping, he was also dispatched by Duke to visit the various legions to comfort wounded soldiers and the families of the fallen.
This great victory at Southshore had undoubtedly disrupted the Horde's attack plans.
For a long time, there were no reports of a large number of peons constructing new ships. Both the Alliance and the Horde knew that maintaining an offensive during the coming winter was impossible, making this the final major battle before winter.
If the Horde had successfully landed at Hillsbrad Foothills, the Alliance wouldn't have had an easy time during the winter. Dalaran, Gilneas, Alterac, and Stromgarde would all be under the threat of the Horde's military.
Instead, the Alliance achieved a great victory, ensuring a more peaceful winter.
The statistics from the battle were as follows:
During the naval battle, more than 1,500 small and medium-sized transport ships and 80 large transport ships carrying a thousand troops each were destroyed. The Horde's casualties were conservatively estimated to be around 100,000, but their composition was unknown.
During the beachhead battle, the Horde lost 67,000 peons and 59,000 regular soldiers, including over 15,000 casualties from the Warsong clan.
However, the majority of the powerful Warsong clan had withdrawn through the eastern beach.
Out of the 200,000 Horde members, even if the majority were lowly peons, it was still a shocking victory.
In contrast, the human casualties were genuinely few.
The heaviest casualties were on the western coast, where the people of Lordaeron paid a heavy price with 15,000 dead.
The eastern coast, part of Stormwind, fared better, but still suffered 7,000 casualties.
With other losses, the Alliance had over 31,000 dead and nearly 20,000 permanently disabled soldiers.
What was even more disgusting was that the Horde, being a bunch of deadbeats, had no spoils of war. Even after achieving victory, there were no substantial benefits.
Well, Duke ordered the corpses to be pushed into the sea, providing a feast for the equally devastated and unscrupulous murlocs. This might stimulate their breeding activities.
The only consolation was that the Horde's aggressive attacks demonstrated their ambition to conquer the entire world. The display of tens of thousands of orc heads in each capital city provided enough evidence for each kingdom to proclaim this a great victory.
Winter was approaching, and the legions that had gone to battle were a black hole devouring resources. Duke sent almost all the troops from each kingdom back to their respective countries. Basically, the entire Southshore defensive line was left with only Stormwind's troops, Mograine's legion, the Silver Hand, and a Lordaeron cavalry brigade.
In the increasingly chilly autumn wind, Duke stood facing the breeze, "It seems we'll have a peaceful winter."
...