Reading a book a hundred times reveals its meaning; the same principle applies to the hammer of khaz'goroth—the more it is used, the better it is understood.
His previous thoughts were clearly misled by Yogg-Saron, which caused him to shift his focus to crafting artifacts.
After several artifacts were upgraded, Gale gained a certain understanding of the hammer of khaz'goroth's subjective function. This hammer is like a "Room of Requirement"; whatever effect you desire, it will provide.
This is interesting!
To test how strong the "Room of Requirement" effect was, Gale decided to forge another weapon.
He currently uses many pieces of equipment: Nash's Fang, the eternal holy grail, Aggramar's Shield, Reaver's Scythe, and devourer of gods. devourer of gods has been re-sealed by him, Nash's Fang is an Ice Mage artifact, and Reaver's Scythe is a Soul artifact, only used in large-scale army battles and when attacking powerful individuals. The eternal holy grail is also magic-oriented, and it's used in too many places, so sometimes he doesn't carry it with him.
Gale had wanted a melee weapon for a long time but had never crafted one. The hammer of khaz'goroth could be used as a weapon, but Gale was afraid of damaging it, so he only used it as a forging hammer.
Melee weapons that could be paired with Aggramar's Shield were limited to swords, axes, hammers, and spears. Axes and hammers clearly didn't fit the Kaldorei aesthetic, and swords, relative to his current size, seemed a bit small.
As his strength grew, Gale's size had exceeded 3 yards; even a one-and-a-half-yard sword would appear delicate in his hand. A long spear, however, was very suitable for his current needs. Not only was it long enough, but it would also save him the trouble of switching weapons once he mounted a steed.
He selected the spine of Hydra Nash, infused it with Adamantite and Hakkar's blood divine power, and hammered it with the hammer of khaz'goroth. The Adamantite and Nash's spine merged into the shape of a spear. The blood divine power made the spear bloodthirsty; as long as it wounded enemies, it would continuously absorb their blood.
After it was forged, Gale was somewhat dissatisfied.
It was his first time using blood divine power to forge a weapon, and he hadn't properly grasped its characteristics. During the hammering, much of the divine power was wasted, resulting in a less-than-satisfactory lifesteal effect.
This also meant the spear did not reach legendary status, although its power was stronger than most epic-grade weapons, and it could even rival artifacts made from enchanted thorium ingots. For a practice piece, reaching this level was already quite good, as Gale had not yet fully mastered the hammer of khaz'goroth.
The two sides of the spear's tip were like axe blades, with a serpent with an open maw poised to strike attached to each blade face.
Gale crafted the spear in the likeness of the Greed Hydra from the Alliance, so its name was naturally Greed Hydra.
The Greed Hydra was very heavy; even Draksa, a warrior, could only wield it with two hands. But Gale could swing it with one hand; his current strength was no different from a Tauren, so the Greed Hydra could serve as a training weapon.
As early as when he fought Ulgineis, Gale had observed how Tauren used spears. After the battle, he compiled a book specifically documenting spear usage methods.
Now, he used the Greed Hydra to practice the contents of that book.
In a magical world, martial arts were not very significant. Only the application of energy was the foundation of all professions. This is why melee professions all have energy bars; although the energy is called differently across professions—rogues call it energy, warriors call it rage—they all lead to the same destination, ultimately returning to the magic side.
Gale's dedication to melee techniques was due to the high mana consumption during his spellcasting. After the Burning Legion descends, it will sever the connection between the Well of Eternity and the Mages, making mana replenishment extremely difficult. By then, even the eternal holy grail will run dry, and relying solely on internal mana reserves would probably only be enough for one Extreme Cold Storm.
Although he could still use Holy Light and Natural spells, the reserves of these two energies were even less than Arcane, and they probably wouldn't last much longer.
Without becoming a Druid, he would not gain nature's recognition and could only rely on plundering natural energy to replenish his life force. This practice goes against the laws of nature and might even lead to nature's rejection.
And Holy Light is even more difficult to replenish. Even with a Naaru present, it couldn't withstand endless demons. Not to mention, the Holy Light within Gale was merely the legacy of Tyr's death, the surplus from Solidan killing Zakajz.
Gale was not very skilled in archery, so close-quarters combat was the most energy-efficient approach.
Every morning, Gale would first temper his body with energy. He would use Natural energy to strengthen his muscles and bones, then use Arcane to expand his meridians, and finally use Holy Light to cleanse his body. He had to break free from the Kaldorei's nocturnal constraints; demons would not only attack at night.
By noon, he would pick up the Greed Hydra for training and continue until sunset.
After nightfall, Gale picked up paper and pen and began designing new artifacts. He needed artifacts to store energy, especially Holy Light and Nature.
He didn't know much about Holy Light, and Gale had no research direction yet, so he decided to create a Natural artifact. Gale also lacked armor, and he got some inspiration from the Alliance's Madman's Armor and Natural Force.
Madman's Armor was made of tree vines; it had no defense but increased health. Natural Force also had no physical defense but had magic resistance and increased health regeneration.
Both pieces of equipment were suitable for Natural energy, especially the Madman's Armor.
Gale decided to ask Shaladrassil for some branches to make the Madman's Armor, but the name would be Natural Force. To be honest, when he first played Alliance, he suspected that the Madman's Armor was misnamed or mistranslated. He couldn't see anything "mad" about its stats; without defense, what was mad about it?
Until later, it was given a "Madman's Heart" skill...
The Madman's Heart skill also gave Gale an idea: as long as he wasn't attacked for a certain period, he could automatically absorb Natural energy to repair damage, heal injuries, and store energy.
With this skill, the Madman's Armor, renamed Natural Force, would undoubtedly be an artifact.
Acting on his thoughts, Gale spent half a month designing the armor's blueprints. Then he selected oak branches for experimentation and created a simplified version of the armor. After testing it, its physical defense capabilities were indeed not great; one slash from a Hydra would create a hole. However, its defense against arrows was better; epic-grade arrows had difficulty piercing it.
Like rattan armor, it was very afraid of fire. Therefore, Gale set up frost runes on it for fire suppression.
The Natural Force rune set quickly absorbed Natural energy to repair the armor. Aside from its epic quality, every effect met Gale's expectations.
After testing, he gave the simplified Natural Force to Nalarex.
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