Chapter 4: You're A Sorcerer Menma
12 ADP, Second Day of the Third Moon
Antonidas hummed thoughtfully as he stroked his bearded chin. He reached for his morning tea and took a calming sip. "I see."
Jaina had just finished recalling the past hour's events as well as a bit of Menma's own background that they discussed could be revealed.
Needless to say when the Archmage saw his apprentice flying through the air in the arms of some mysterious teenager he was more than a little curious and was willing to listen to Jaina's tale as soon as they landed on his balcony.
Nodding sagely Antonidas set his cup down and turned towards the black-haired youth who he had cast a basic translation charm on. "Well Menma, I believe I can in fact help you with your language barrier on a temporary basis while you accustom yourself to our language. One moment please."
Standing up he pulled out his wand and aimed it towards the doorway that led down into his tower with a slight flick upwards the master mage summoned up a glowing crystal along with some type of greenish metal ingot.
Setting the items on the table he gave his wand a twirl before pointing it at the metal ingot and watched it melt before their very eyes only to slowly reform into a chain-link necklace of sorts which he offered to Menma "Is the design to your liking or would you prefer something different?"
"Uhh... its fine?" Menma said not really too sure why this mage made some jewelry though.
"Excellent." Was all Antonidas said before aiming his wand at the necklace which soon glowed with a hint of power as it absorbed the crystal's essence before settling down. "Here you are." He said without much preamble before tossing the simple piece of jewelry at Menma.
"Okay?" The nuke-nin didn't really know what was going on but he figured that the mage wanted him to put the thing on. Thankfully he had a hidden clone watching from across the way on another rooftop ready to switch with him at the first sign of foul play.
Menma slipped the necklace on, the metal feeling cool on his bare chest but otherwise not unpleasant. "What next?"
"Nothing." Antonidas said, now returning to his morning tea after magically warming it back up. "I enchanted that necklace with the translation charm. Every word you speak or hear will be translated for you much like the spell I used on you earlier did."
"Oh. Alright then, I was just expecting a little... more." Menma admitted before shrugging, not really caring in the end.
"While the arcane arts are enchanting and mysterious they are also - at times - incredibly convenient." Antonidas responded with a sagely nod. "Now then, the only thing left to decide is what to do with you?"
Menma narrowed his eyes "What do you mean?"
"I sense dark magic in you boy," The Archmage stated before rubbing his bearded chin "While not outlawed here in Dalaran, I must caution against the use of the Dark Arts. They have a way of corrupting the mind and soul both."
"Well, when I start rambling and whispering to myself kindly do me a favor and put me down. Until then however I think I'll keep exploring my Shadow magic." Menma replied rudely.
Antonidas sighed tiredly as if he'd heard this response too many times before. "Impudence and impetuousness has been the fall of many a young scholar but I shall say no more. Dalaran is a place of learning and if your studies lean toward a darker spectrum then that is your choice young Menma."
Menma blinked in surprise. Usually when old foggies like this tried to lure people away from certain things they tried a little harder than that? Maybe this Antonidas guy was alright. Maybe.
"Right, thanks." Menma nodded after his thoughts. "So, I have to ask, is there anything that needs doing around here? I kinda find myself strapped for cash for supplies and living arrangements."
The archmage scratched at his beard once more. "Now that I think of it we have been in need of a courier for some time now, our last one was unfortunately eaten by a Wendigo on his trek back through Alterac. Considering your ability to fly, it should be easy enough for you."
Menma grunted. "Courier huh?" Not exactly a high-paying extermination mission but he wasn't exactly a stranger to them either. Plus this could benefit him in the long run, allowing him to meet important people on the job as well as exploring the world at his own pace with no one questioning why he would need detailed maps of the world. Plus the places he would visit would likely have problems of their own that he could quickly eliminate for some extra cash. "Alright, I suppose I could do that."
Antonidas smiled underneath his thick beard. "Excellent! The council has been bothering me for some time to find a replacement and you've thankfully solved a dilemma for us both. I will call the council tomorrow to announce your new appointment and show you to your office which coincidentally enough has a live-in suite."
"Coincidentally... right." Menma's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. Could this be this old bastard's way of keeping an eye on him? Probably... then again free bed.
"Master... what about the other requirement?" Jaina finally spoke up.
"Ah yes, that."
Menma raised an eyebrow "That? Would you kindly tell me what that is?"
"As I've mentioned before Dalaran is a place of learning with a steep entrance requirement. Only the most exceptional magic users may study or work here. Even most shop keepers are highly skilled Arcanists in their own rights." The Archmage explained, "While Shadow magic is studied here it is not regularly practiced since the fall of Natalie Seline a few years past."
"Some kind of dark mage I take it?" Menma questioned.
"No actually, Seline was a bishop. During the First War she studied the orc necrolytes and their shadow arts. She delved deeper and deeper into the shadow magics until they consumed her and she began preaching heretical teaching to the towns she would visit during the Second War. We of the Kirin Tor kept an eye on her at the behest of the Archbishop of Stormwind and after her followers turned on her we sealed away her teachings within the Vault." The aged mage informed him.
"I'm actually surprised you told me all of that considering my leaning, one would think you would try to hide that kind of information from me." Menma mused.
"Traditionally speaking the Kirin Tor does not like sealing away knowledge. We are of the belief that knowledge is to be known and being well-informed leads to good decision-making." The head of the Kirin Tor told the boy who nodded along.
"So you telling me that this lady going crazy from staring too deep into the dark and being murdered for it is your way of warning me about doing the same then eh?" Menma chuckled "Fair enough I suppose."
Antonidas' eyes crinkled in a smile "It is quite refreshing to meet such a quick-witted youth. Sadly most students around here are highly intelligent while at the same time possessing the common sense of a gnoll."
"So getting back on track, what was that, again?" Menma asked, bringing them back to their starting point before they went off on another tangent.
"Ah, yes, of course! Apologies, the old mind tends to stray sometimes... what we we're referring to was the Entree Exam. Normally to even enter Dalaran one must pass a rigorous exam... in your case you flew right in, an oversight that I will be bringing up during your interview before the council."
"Alright... and what exactly does this exam entail?" Menma questioned.
"It varies depending on your magic study of choice but once again returning to our tangent, not many practice Shadow magic anymore with the only notable exceptions being Kel'thuzad and his few apprentices so I was thinking of simply asking him to give you the express course during your interview with the council tomorrow, as long as a majority vote is reached in your favor we will allow you to remain within Dalaran to work or study at your leisure." Antonidas finally told him.
"Hmm, well that doesn't sound too bad. Just so I'm clear though, I am allowed to study and use Shadow magic within Dalaran if I'm permitted to stay... right?" Menma asked to which he received a so-so gesture from the wizard.
"Within reason of course, no demon summoning or actual necromantic rituals are allowed within Dalaran. Studying the enemy is fine but once you start using their own tactics, that is when it becomes frowned upon." Antonidas corrected him though Menma made note that the old Mage only mentioned of it being frowned upon inside of Dalaran itself.
"Alright seems simple enough to follow, and this is going to be tomorrow morning right? I guess I should go see if that inn we passed earlier has any vacancy." Menma spoke, more to himself than the others.
"Yes, however I will unfortunately have to ask you to leave Dalaran for tonight seeing as you officially have no right to be here. If you wouldn't mind returning - and using the front gate - tomorrow morning at nine, I'll have the council assembled for your interview then."
"...Can I at least fly out?"
"I would prefer if you didn't."
"But we're at the top of the tallest tower."
"We have stairs for a reason."
"Lame."
000
After being led out of the city by Jaina at Antonidas' request he returned to the lake and unsealed his camping gear before setting out a clone patrol for the night. "Keep an eye out for me boys, I have some frowned upon activities to do."
"Whatever." One of the clones replied dismissively before a kunai caught it in the eye. The second clone snorted seeing his comrade die for his lip. "Heh, dumbass."
Menma ventured deep into the woods and found a nice clearing he could use. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to sink into the Void, "Servant, bound in blood, heed my call. I summon thee, Kar'Zekul!" The shadow user chanted in demonic, hands glowing a sickly violet before finishing the chant and allowing a small rift of open.
"Bro!" The imp called as he jumped through the rift in space. "I was getting kinda worried there after the first week of nothing."
"Nether-time." Was all Menma said to that which the imp nodded to "More importantly KZ, we're here, Azeroth."
"Oh I know, the moment I stepped through I could literally taste the magic in the air. Hell just a bit that way is a massive fountain of it!" The imp exclaimed excitedly.
"That's Dalaran." Menma stated, seeing what the imp was pointing towards. "I'll be living there for the foreseeable future."
"Great-"
"Sadly demons aren't allowed in Dalaran so I doubt they'd let you in." Menma said with a fake apologetic smile.
"That racist." KZ spat in disgust.
"Moving right along... I have a mission for you. I need you to learn as much as possible about this world, who runs it, and how I can best de-stabilize it. Start with the capital city of Lordaeron to the north." Menma ordered, his more relaxed tone now all but gone which KZ had picked up on.
"Right, business as usual then. Scout out the world, learn what I can, figure out how to conquer it. Got it Boss, you can count of me!" KZ announced with a salute.
"Good. Get to it, I'll be keeping the connection open so just send me anything interesting you discover telepathically. Go." With that the imp scampered away, it's form flickering away as it partially phased into the Nether.
After that Menma returned to his camp and bedded down for the night. Come morning he took a quick bath in the freezing lake to wake himself up and flew back Dalaran only this time landing near the main gate where he spotted Jaina.
Said girl also began walking towards him, having caught sight of the shinobi in the sky. "I bid you a good morrow Menma."
Menma smiled roguishly "Morning beautiful, did you miss me so much that you felt the need to wait out here for me?"
Jaina flushed brightly at his words before smacking his arm "Must you be so shameless this early in the morning?"
"Only if gets me a smile from a pretty girl." Despite herself Jaina did just that as she looked down but not without the corners of her lips curling slightly. "You really are unused to flirting aren't you? You must not have been kidding about that age disparity thing."
Jaina turned around, sticking her chin up high "E-Enough tomfoolery! We must report to the council tower at once."
Menma laughed. "Lead the way Beautiful." As if storming away Jaina set a quick path towards the other end of the city, entirely unaware that her quick and jerky movements were giving the shinobi a pleasant view as her bubbly butt bounced with each step of her heels.
He did however take glances at his surroundings noting the streets they took and the stalls that were opening up. Menma took note that they passed what look like a trade center with a weapons shop that he'd like to visit some time later if possible.
"By the way-" Jaina had been telling him bits and pieces of information about the streets and the quarters as they walked towards the large tower she pointed at earlier as being their destination. She stopped by a two-story building and gestured to it, "Should you be granted the courier position this will be your office. Master asked that I show you it on our way to the Violet Citadel."
"Good to know." He responded in a slightly bored tone.
Seeing that Menma was rather indifferent on the matter Jaina continued walking, making sure to keep her face stone cold after his teasing this morning. Honestly, that man is far too talented at lowering my guard and I've known him less than a full day!
"We're approaching the citadel now." Jaina spoke up after a few more minutes of walking though the giant tower was still a few streets away. "Master asked that I lead you to the Chamber of Air and sit in on your interview."
"That's fine with me..." Menma said before thinking about it for a moment "You're not going to tell them about my habitual flirting will you?"
Jaina allowed a small smile to flit across her lips, "Perhaps I could be convinced to not speak against your lecherous nature."
Menma's face scrunched up into a foxy grin after hearing her rebuttal "Oh? And what can I and my lecherous nature do to you - I mean for you - pardon my slip of the tongue. Unless of course you would prefer me doing a bit of slipping of the tongue?" He asked, whispering that last part into her ear before giving her lobe a light flick with said tongue.
If he wasn't sure that Jaina would react badly Menma would have laughed uproariously at her entire face turning five shades of red to the tips of her ears and her movements becoming somewhat shaken, he would have feared her knees would buckle under her own weight if she wasn't held up by the staff in her hands that he hadn't seen yesterday.
Speaking of ears and things he hadn't seen yesterday. "Hey Jaina... what's up with the people with glowing eyes and long ears?" He asked catching the eye of a particular elf that was accompanied by her young daughter that looked to be around twelve.
Oddly enough it was the little girl who caught his interest because if you squinted at just the right angle she almost resembled Jaina in a way. Only she had black hair and glowing blue eyes and carried a wooden sword strapped across her back.
Odd indeed. Dalaran was definitely a strange place.
Jaina, thankful for a reprieve from his insufferable teasing, turned and caught sight of the backs of the two elves that had caught Menma's attention. "They are high-elves of Quel-thalas, ruled by their High-King Anasterian Sunstrider. Dalaran has been in alliance with the elves of Silvermoon city for over two-thousand years and as I'm sure you've noticed, quite a few of them live, study and work here."
"Elves huh..." If I recall correctly the elves were the ones that pushed the Legion back during their last invasion. "Guess I'll need to read up on the world's races while i'm here."
"If you're allowed to stay here." Jaina corrected as they began walking up the stairs of the Violet Citadel.
They were shown to the portal that led to the Chamber of Air where he was suspended in mid-air while Jaina was magically pulled towards her Master. Menma almost laughed at the attempt to unsettle him by suspending him hundreds of feet above Dalaran. "Neat trick, shame I can fly so floating doesn't really bother me." He demonstrated by doing a few lazy flips in the air before moving towards the edge of the platform.
Antonidas chuckled "As I mentioned before young Menma would be wholly unimpressed by the chamber."
His voice and the fact that Jaina was stood next to him was the only thing that told him that this was Antonidas as the robes he wore completely obscured his face. Taking a look around he noticed that the other six members also had their faces obscured but two of them had holes cut into their hood to allow their ears to poke through and the last person stood out in dark robes with what looked like a bull skull on his head. Two elves seemingly male, two women and two men from what I can tell.
Antonidas took off his hood given that Menma already knew his identity. "I believe we should start with introductions? As you know I am the Grand Magus of Dalaran, Antonidas and these are my colleagues the Council of Six and my old friend Kel'Thuzad who will be conducting your test." He began before motioning for Menma to go next.
Menma gave an annoyed grunt but figured it couldn't hurt since he came from an entirely different planet anyway. "Menma Uzumaki, mercenary."
"You brought us a mercenary?" An older female voice asked incredulously.
"More like he just... dropped in." Antonidas responded mischievously.
"I assume this is our aerial visitor from yesterday then?" A deep voice came from one of the elves. "Not many magic users outside of dragons and druids ever get to experience true flight."
"It's alright." Menma said with a shrug before decided to change topics. "So I'm here to take some sort of magic test right?"
"Yes," The man to Antonidas' right answered, he looked about the same age as Antonidas with an equally large grey beard to match.
He took a few measured steps forward and peered deeply into Menma's eyes before nodding. "My name is Kel'thuzad. Antonidas here told tale of a young Shadow user that suddenly appeared in the city in need of a Trial and asked that I test you myself."
"Ok see I could practically hear the punctuation in Trial so I'm guessing this is less show and tell and more..." His hands began glowing a dark sickly purple "practical."
Kel'thuzad smiled thinly "He also mentioned you were quick on the uptake. Good." The mage's hand suddenly show forward and black bolt of darkness shot towards the teen.
Menma spun in place, guiding the Shadowbolt along his hand, enhancing it even further until it became pitch-black before finishing his turn and sending the Voidbolt back at Kel'thuzad.
The aged Archmage's eyes lit up in surprise before his iron discipline kicked in and he summoned a black barrier before him. "Shadow Ward." He intoned deeply to invoke the most powerful shadow ward he knew.
Even then the Voidbolt slammed into the magical barrier and nearly destroyed it judging from the cracks forming along the shadowy barrier. "Impressive." Kel'Thuzad said with a respectful nod at the young Shadow wielder. "Most impressive. Shall we continue?"
"My turn then?" Menma asked with a bit of edge to his voice, tendrils of black smoke beginning to rise from his shoulders which wrapped around the Shinobi until he was fully enveloped in the dark mist. "Shadowform."
Kel'Thuzad's mouth gaped slightly at the pure power he could feel radiating from the boy. He stared for a moment longer before letting out a raspy chuckle "To think one so young has reached this level... truly astounding. Perhaps it is I that shall be learning something today? Shadowform."
"I'm surprised you have access to this form as well. From what I learned, you have to accept the Void and what it truly means for it to aid you to this degree." For Menma this came naturally, having already had access to his Cosmic Cloak and then being literally plunged into the Void itself but for someone so far from the Twisting Nether to unlock it? This guy must be either more powerful than he first thought or he had more darkness in his heart than a goth Uchiha after their cat dies.
Kel'thuzad chuckled once more, his voice coming out echoed and eerie much like Menma's. "The surprised one is I, Menma. Simply seeing you activate that cloak would be enough for me to admit that your mastery of the Shadow arts is far beyond a mere student's dabbling. I must admit though... I feel a certain excitement in these old bones."
The old man grinned in a way that sent shivers down the other Councilor's spines, the Archmage's eyes were filled with nothing but madness and glee as he faced the shinobi.
Menma's eyes narrowed and he allowed a matching grin to settled on his lips, his teeth gleaming a fluorescent white among the otherwise shadowy mist. "Then let's give them a show... SHADOW CRASH! Pain!" The massive bolt of shadow energy coalesced above Menma, instantly forgotten about as he instead locked eyes with Kel'thuzad and sent a mental command to the aged wizard's pain receptors to flare uncontrollably.
"Ghuh-" Kel'thuzad grunted in pain but fought past it and sent back his own salvo of spells. "Mind Spike!" Taking advantage of their already locked eyes the older mage sent back his own mental assault which made the boy flinch opening up for a follow-up "Mind Blast!"
Much to his surprise however the boy suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke. His first thought was that Menma had used Dispersion but that proved false as all traces of the young man were gone. Aside from the sudden yelp of pain from a corner of the chamber.
"Shadowfury!"All eyes turned towards a shadowy figure crouched in the rafters holding his head. "Note to self, much like memories, mental pain is also transferred by Shadow Clones. Holy hell..."
Kel'thuzad found himself slammed to the floor by the surprise attack followed by the shadow crash exploding beside him launching the archmage a few feet away. He grunted in pain after his body stopped rolling and slowly rose to his feet "When did you have time to replace yourself with a clone?" Kel'thuzad questioned, holding his clearly broken arm but the malicious blood-stained grin on his face let the others know that he didn't even remotely care.
Menma smirked faintly, jumping down to join Kel'thuzad on the platform once more. "Everyone was so focused on me twirling around like a little ballerina when I re-directed your shadowbolt that no one noticed I formed a clone and switched myself the moment you flinched from my Pain. Shall we continue?"
"If the last two wars have taught me anything, young man, it's to know when to back down and live to fight another day." Kel'thuzad allowed the shadows that had enveloped his body to disperse and gave Menma a nod of respect. "As much as I would like to continue our little bout I could feel myself getting a little too excited, the spirit is willing but alas the body is old and broken."
Menma returned the nod and dispelled his own Shadowform. "Fair enough, in all honesty if we had kept going I likely would have started using more lethal spells in my own... excitement." He said, sharing a knowing look with the old wizard. Madness had a way of ramping up and going out of control very quickly and every second you spent in the Void's embrace was like a ticking time-bomb.
Returning to his post Kel'thuzad gave his report to the council. "I, Archmage Kel'thuzad, former member of the Six find Menma Uzumaki at not only an acceptable level to study in Dalaran but in my professional opinion someone of exceptional skill in the Shadow Arts and do hereby endorse his entree in to Dalaran as a full sorcerer."
"Then we shall put it a vote, I say aye." Antonidas said with a smile towards the shinobi.
"I second." A surprisingly young voice came from the woman on the left.
"Aye." The elf that originally spoke up gave the third positive vote followed by the other elf next to him giving him a majority vote already.
"Aye." The older woman voiced from the right.
The last two hooded members shared a look before one shrugged passively "Aye." He said, mimicked by the last one a moment later.
Antonidas clapped his hands excitedly "Excellent! Congratulations Menma, welcome to Dalaran." He paused allowing the council to give a round of light clapping.
"Menma here has agreed to take up the position of Official Courier to Dalaran, as was pointed out Menma has the ability of flight and with it, should make his job easier and allow for messages to be received sooner." Antonidas announces after the claps ended.
Krasus, the elf that mentioned it decided to pull off his hood "Yes, the power of flight does make travel convenient does it not?" The elf had platinum blonde hair and glowing sea-green eyes. "Krasus, by the way, a pleasure."
Menma gave the elf an odd look before nodding slowly "Yeah, greetings and all that."
"Flight you say?" The second elf asked, intrigued. "I've always dreamt of flying on my own power, perhaps we could trade knowledge at another time?"
"My method is directly tied to my Shadow abilities but I can still tell you how I manage it if you want..." Menma leaned forward questioningly.
The elf looked confused for a moment before smiling in embarrassment and sliding off his hood. "A thousand pardons, It seems I have forgotten my manners during my stay away from court. Kael'Thas Sunstrider of Quel'Thalas, at your service." He finished with a slight bow.
Menma raised an eyebrow "Sunstrider?" He turned towards Jaina "Didn't you say the ruler of elves was something Sunstrider?"
"High-King Anasterian Sunstrider, yes." Krasus answered for her. "Our dear prince here sometimes forgets his station while slumming it with us commoners." The elf joked good-naturedly.
Kael'thas huffed in annoyance while the rest of the council smiled at the age-old ribbing. "As I've stated before, I simply enjoy being able to interact with my fellow mages and converse about magic without the needless posturing my title brings."
"Huh," A noble that wasn't a piece of shit. That was rare. "Well I can respect that. We can talk later if that's cool with you? Is that all?" Menma asked Antonidas.
Kael'thas gave the newcomer a grateful nod as he forced a change of topics from the jesting at his expense. Dalaran's leader shook his head "There is one more item. Our new courier has brought to my attention a glaring issue in our defenses."
One of the men that hadn't spoken before snorted in amusement "You mean how he could just fly right into the city unopposed?"
Antonidas nodded "That's it exactly. We have been fortunate in that the orcs have not reached this far west but should they bring their dragons then we will be defenseless against an aerial assault aside from our own individual spells and even then that is dependent on us actually being able to hit them at a reasonable distance before they circle the city."
"What do you suggest?" The older woman questioned. "I suppose we could build automated guard towers using High-elven technowizardry but even then we would require funding we don't have to spare?"
"Why not just set up a barrier in the meantime?" Menma questioned, thinking back on the old sensory dome that covered Konoha and most of its surrounding area and air space. "Like some giant magic dome, ya'll got plenty of magic to go around, right?"
One of the previously silent mages gave the newcomer a considering look beneath the cover of his hood before stroking his chin "The idea... has merit. It is not infeasible."
"Would such a thing really work?" The younger woman asked.
"I don't see why not." The man responded as he pondered how he would go about planning such a thing. "It would require a complex rune matrix inscribed in the four cardinal directions as well as above and below while anchored to the center most point where all runic strings would converge. Needless to say we would need a large foci that could handle the strain of keeping up the barrier for who knows how long while being able to keep its integrity even after multiple re-chargings by any number of people."
He stopped to take a breath, pulling out a small notepad from within his robe with a self-inking quill and began jotting down notes as he spoke. "It would be overall cheaper and easier to set-up than the logistical nightmare of setting up guard towers in the middle of the city, automated or not."
"Yes, well, we shall discuss the finer details in private. For now, Menma welcome once more to Dalaran. Jaina would you be so kind as to lead our new courier to his office?" Antonidas stopped the man from going any further.
"Of course, Master." Jaina said before leading Menma back to the building they passed earlier. "Well here we are Menma, I'm glad you were permitted entry into Dalaran. I hope we can speak again soon?" She said asked with a shy smile.
Menma grinned slyly, he didn't think it would be this easy to entrance Jaina but it seems like her own circumstances are making this particular conquest an easy one. "Of course Jaina, drop by anytime."
"Maybe I will." She said, attempting to be coy before leaving the post office.
Menma chuckled as sat down in his slightly dusty chair. "I think I'm going to like this place."
000
12 ADP, Fourth Day of the Third Moon
Menma had spent most of the day exploring Dalaran after leaving a pair of clones to clean up the office. Jaina hadn't dropped by but he was sure she was busy with her studies and whatnot so he took the chance to see what the city had to offer.
He was just about to bed down for the night before a knock came from the door.
Menma grumbled and threw his coat back on before heading downstairs. He was honestly surprised that no one asked why he walked around shirtless aside from his coat but figured no one actually cared or were bothered enough to ask, hell even Jaina didn't seem to see a problem with it.
"Can't you see the sign? We closed at six!" He called out in annoyance before opening the door.
Much to his surprise he saw one of the elves from the council who smiled grimly at him. "My apologies for bothering you at this time. May I come in?"
Menma sighed and stepped aside. "Is this an official visit or unofficial?"
Krasus sat at the chair in front of Menma's desk. "Unofficial." Menma sat down next and simply raised in eyebrow in question. "A few days ago I sent one of my agents on a priority mission, unfortunately due to prior mishaps and the nature of the mission itself I could only ask him to undertake the quest."
"And?" Menma asked, his patience already beginning to thin.
"I recall you introducing yourself as a mercenary. Are you still available for such work?"
Menma sat back, interested now. "...What's the job?"
"Officially, I will be dropping by tomorrow morning to ask that you deliver a message to one of my apprentices currently investigating an area for me. Unofficially I would like to hire your services in aiding my agent during his mission."
"What's the pay and the mission parameters?" Menma asked, now dropping into full shinobi mode.
Krasus led with "The pay is two-thousand gold, up front."
That caught Menma's attention. He nodded at the unusually buff elf to continue.
"The mission is to rescue the Dragon Queen Alexstrasza." Krasus said solemnly.
Menma grinned. It was dark and full of malice, not at all like his public persona. "Sounds dangerous... I'm in."
AN - Back when I made my outline for this story, before even chapter 1 I knew I wanted to change the magic system to make it more fluid. I never really liked the idea of using WoWs hard-classing as it felt far too restrictive considering that lore-wise multi-classing was pretty wide-spread considering Tyrande was both priest and huntress, Thrall was both a warrior and a shaman and hell even Illidan was a mage and a demonslayer. So I felt that Warcraft's way of handling magic felt more realistic in a world setting than mages only using frost, fire and arcane and that's why I've decided to go down this route.
TL; DR: Expect multi-classing.
Next update will be July 22nd.
