' = Internal dialogue
ยจ= Normal speech
* = Sounds / Etc
-Chapter 44 Start-
As the bright blue light of the portal finally passes, I feel weightless for a moment and feel myself dive at high speeds. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was falling head-first into what looked like a circular looking temple without a ceiling.
Yet I did not have more time to consider this anymore as I willed my magic to levitate me, but something else seemed to pull me down. This resulted in me preparing for the inevitable fall into the temple floor, giving me a strange feeling of Deja-Vu.
*BOOOM* The entire structure shook for a moment, and so did my whole world, but the small hole I lay in was indeed comfortable for the brief time I lay there. After a moment, I heard a rumbling voice sound out toward me.
"Hail, tiny creature. What brings you to the Temple of Storms?" Said the voice calmly, but I could hear a sense of amusement in the question.
"One moment!" I said as I lifted myself out of the small hole I made and finally saw who was speaking.
It was a massive giant... No... Keeper, the one known as Thorim had made himself known.
Looking at me, slightly amused, but behind that amusement was a mighty warrior.
"Sorry, my name is Medan, and I am a professional sky-diver, thanks to the bronze dragonflight," I said with mirth.
Thorim looked even more amused at my response.
'Damn, Aegwynn was right, we ended up being split up.' I thought as I reached for my chest pocket and held the petite tablet that, by some miracle, did not break.
One white dot pointed toward the southwest, and one pointed to the south.
'So, we actually got split up all across the entire damn continent? That's just great...' I was put out of my thoughtful mood as Thorium spoke with curiosity.
"You are far from home, are you not? You feel like one of us... But not entirely. Are you one of these adventurers that prowl these lands like rabid animals?"
For the first time, I looked directly at the Keeper. I noticed he was missing an eye, as a long scar went all the way from his forehead and past his mouth, his earthly skin crumbling slightly as he spoke.
His entire torso was covered in wounds, his once majestic armor torn to shreds, as he sat down on his throne while grasping his weapon that was crackling with mighty thunder just waiting to be unleashed.
"No, I am not... Can I ask what is going on around here?" I questioned as I saw his eyes losing the previously hidden intensity.
"...These... pests going by the ridiculous notion of being adventurers are looting everything they can across the peaks, even after I gave them quests that were very important for the region but ended up being ignored... their greed is being utilized as a weapon for evil..."
Then the keeper looked so resigned I could have sworn I saw a tear coming down his damaged face as he continued, "They even exterminated the Sons of Hodir just to get their hands on the components their bodies contained while also cooperating with my brother... Loken..."
'This feels like what the game would have been like if the players could do whatever they wanted... Still, this sounds like a clusterfuck I want no part of...'
"It appears I have visitors," Thorim said as he pulled me away from my thoughts.
Hearing him say that, I looked toward where he had his gaze and saw five people approaching. Four had Wind Rider mounts, while the fifth had a Green Proto-Drake, clearly the leader among them.
Thorim rose to his feet, towering above me as he slowly made his way toward the center of the large platform on top of the mountain we were on. It was an open area with pillars in a circle and a large throne. I recalled this being the Temple of Storms.
Thorim stepped over the hole I made with my fall and continued toward the edge. The group of five did not stop. They reached the platform's edge before Thorim did and dismounted, their mounts disappearing into nothingness as the familiar sound of dismounting could be heard.
'Ah hell no, these aren't adventurers, these are fucking players! What kind of hell timeline have I arrived in?!' I considered briefly before I was brought out of my thoughts.
"WHAT DO YOU SCAVANGERS WANT NOW!? HAVE YOU NOT TAKEN ENOUGH FROM THESE MOUNTAINS!?" Thorim roared with barely contained fury.
The leader of the party, a fully geared warrior with two large fancy-looking swords on his back, lifted up his visor and revealed a smirk. It was a large green orc with a scar-riddled face.
"I don't think so. Our guild has been trying to take you down for months, and I think this is it. So, ready to die, Keeper?" The orc said, but suddenly, he turned to me, and his eyes lit up. He looked back to his party and said, "Can you guys see this thing level? Cuz I can't."
'That confirms it. I am in a horror version of Azeroth.' I thought
A hunched woman came forward and looked at me for a moment before turning back to the orc, "No, I have never seen an icon like that before... Is it a new rarity mob, maybe? In that case, he must have good loot!" She said with a hoarse, excited voice.
She was an undead. Her jaw had been re-attached by a small nail seemingly slammed into her jaw, resulting in the jaw becoming slightly uneven. When I looked at the other members, I saw a thin-looking undead attempting to hide himself behind a pillar, or at least that was before he noticed my look his way.
The rest of the group was a blood elf paladin and a tauren shaman; if I assumed what they were wearing was correct, the entire group looked like rabid animals as they all gazed in my direction, giving me goosebumps.
'So this is what raid bosses feel like...' I considered as Thorim grasped his large hammer, which had a glowing blue core and intricate runes around the handle, and then assumed a combat stance.
This alerted the group as I could see them buff up and the paladin running in front of his teammates sealed up and ready.
"Fuckin' die already, you gigantic thunder puppet!" The orc shouted as he lunged toward Thorim. The paladin had also started his sprint toward the Keeper; the rogue had vanished, and the shaman cast something like an orb of earth that hovered around the shield-wearing blood elf.
The priest, however, had become clad in shadows as she laughed hysterically while channeling a black cloud of curse magic that raced toward the Keeper. At the same time, whispers could be heard from it.
However, when Thunder-Lord swung his weapon, the air around the entire pillar shook as lightning thundered in the sky above.
His large hammer hummed briefly before it lit up as white thunderbolts surrounded it.
The humming now was like a thunderous roar as he slugged the hammer in a sideway motion toward the orc who came swinging at him with his two large swords, with a wide, bloodthirsty grin on his ugly scar-riddled face.
The next thing that happened was the orc being sent away like a missile out of the temple, and soon was only a black dot in the distant clouds surrounding the region. Then the spells hit Thorim, and black smoke started slithering around his chest area, almost like a snake ensnaring its next meal.
The Thunder-Lord groaned as he got hit by the next attack. I could only presume it to be a judgment spell from the paladin as the light appeared on Thorim's forehead with a clang.
I didn't just stay around to watch this scene unfold as I dashed for the rogue, who probably thought himself to be a genius, and jumped toward the wounded Keeper; just as he was going to stab at Thorim's neck, I punched him right in the gut with a lightning encased fist, which ended up with the rogue flying the opposite direction from his orc friend who was probably still falling through the air.
"It's a wipe! Fucking hell Daniel, who said you should pull before the goddamn tank!?" The shaman spoke out loud as if speaking to someone we couldn't see.
"What do you mean you haven't hit the fucking ground yet!?" He continued, now I truly believed they were talking to the warrior from earlier.
"Wait, what!? The other NPC fuckin' KO'd you through your cloak of shadows with a magic attack!?" The shaman shouted as he gazed in my direction with... Even more excitement? This situation was creeping me out on so many levels.
Just as he was going to say something to his teammates, I dashed toward the priest, who managed to react by turning herself into a dark mist. Too bad the black fog was shaped around her body, making her body visible, even if barely.
Still resulted in her getting kicked right in the gut as she flew out of the temple in another direction than the two others.
At the same time, Thorim had made short work of the shaman by throwing an orb of lightning at him, blasting him off the plateau. This was honestly getting slightly fun. Punting other players off the edges was always one of my favorite things to do when playing game.
The paladin just stared at us, all alone. He sighed as a bubble appeared around him, and then his hands shone green while holding a small stone, which I assumed was a hearthstone.
'Hah, so the typical bubble hearthstone trick, huh? Well, let's see about that.'
I rushed toward the paladin, who looked at me with disdain and greed.
I grabbed the area he stood on and ripped it off the ground, interrupting the paladin's hearthstone channel. However, he was still encased in a yellow bubble and now distressed.
Then I gave him a smirk and threw the paladin with all the force I could muster, the small platform acting as a launch pad, flying after the blood elf as he disappeared down through the clouds underneath the temple.
The last thing I heard was a feminine scream from where the paladin was falling. I just shrugged and turned back to face Thorim.
He looked haggard and exhausted as his one remaining eye scanned the temple.
"I don't appreciate you destroying my home like this tiny one, but I will allow it, for now." He said calmly, then looked in the direction the orc had been tossed earlier and sighed, "This is the tenth time in the last two days these unkillable abominations have come here. It will not be long until I perish." Thorim said with resignation in his voice.
'Wait... Aw shit, these are the undying player variant... I hope Jaina will be alright. Aegwynn will blast them to kingdom come regardless, so worrying about her is probably the last thing I will do...'
I considered asking Thorim for assistance in dealing with Malygos. Still, I hesitated slightly after looking at his current condition.
The Keeper then continued, "After defeating the evil within Ulduar, these creatures who are being hailed as heroes, turned to us who had helped them with their self-assigned mission to vanquish evil, are being hunted down for no other reason than what they call... Epic Loot..." He said with apparent disgust in his voice.
'That means... Thorim has been inside Ulduar already, and Yogg-Saron the Old God has been defeated...' This news gave me a good idea of what was happening. The *Players* were focused on Icecrown Citadel while some tried to get... Gear elsewhere.
"Keeper, are you by any chance willing to join me? There is no future for a being like you here... Anymore, and honestly, I'd feel bad if I just left after what I have seen so far." I said calmly while looking up at Thorim.
The Keeper's eye became conflicted as he pondered my question silently while walking toward the platform's edge.
After a few minutes of consideration, he slowly turned toward me. He answered, "I have duties regarding this world, tiny one. As long as you do not deny me of what those duties imply, I will join you, if only for a while."
Then he paused for a moment more before continuing.
"I am Thorim, the Lord of Thunder, Keeper of Ulduar. You are right. Nothing is left for me here, only a reminder of what could have been... What is your name, tiny one?"
I smiled and replied, "Even though I introduced myself earlier, let me do it properly this time. The name is Medan Magna, Sorcerer-Shaman, City lord of an unnamed city..."
Then I reached with my right hand upward toward the twenty-meter-tall moving statue. Thorim just looked at me for a moment until I realized if he returned the gesture, I probably wouldn't have much of a hand left, so I pulled my arm back and then asked.
Do you have something akin to a mount? As I had asked that question, I saw a hint of sorrow in his eye until he nodded and whistled with such force that it almost ruptured my eardrums.
After a moment, he looked back at me and said, "Yes, after I lost my trusted friend to the corruption within Ulduar, his mate sought me out. She has since then been my companion."
Thorim soon gazed to the edge as a gigantic blue Proto-dragon with red eyes and armored reins ascended rapidly toward the temple while slamming into the smaller drakes on her way.
'Well, that's one impressive mount.'
With a roar of happiness, the Proto-dragon landed beside us and nuzzled up to the Keeper, who pet her head fondly, while the dragon herself looked at me warily before sniffing the air in my direction before coming closer.
Then out of nowhere, the enormous Proto-dragon booped me with her nose, as Thorim said, "She likes you. Only my friend Mimiron has been accepted by her. This makes you the third." He said stoically while looking like he was looking back to the past as more sorrow reflected through his one remaining eye.
[Jaina PoV Back when all three entered through the End Point entrance.]
When the blue light finally made me able to see again, I found myself on a familiar-looking pad, which made me freeze up when I realized why it was so familiar.
'I'm... In Dalaran...' I thought as my mind was processing this while walking out toward the street, and when I finally arrived outside, I was put out of my thoughts by a shrill voice.
"Hey! Look at this! It's Jaina Proudmoore!" the voice, who turned out to be a small gnome male, stared at me like I was a piece of meat.
Just now I realized where I was standing was in the middle of the busy streets, filled to the brim with mounted figures wearing varying fancy-looking armor, guards who looked like they were done with life, and several patrolling mages who wore the robes of the Kirin Tor.
Just as the voice of the gnome in front of me registered in the minds of the masses, they all turned to me like a predator would when spotting pray, which gave me goosebumps and every instinct I had warned me to get out of sight as fast as possible.
'What kind of nightmare have I arrived in!?' I thought in panic, the attention these people gave me was... Unnatural, predatory, and... Hungry?
Some of them were... Salivating further freaking me out, 'No, this isn't some sort of nightmare; this is hell!'
Several of the people had even started making their way toward me with their weapons drawn, which brought even more attention my way, so I ran past the masses of people until I reached the fountain, where I always experimented with my water magic. It stood there still, as pristine as I saw it last.
People had chased me all the way here, their numbers in the hundreds, and their faces displayed varying emotions. Some seemed to want to open me up to see if I contained treasure, while others... Kept salivating while studying... Eww.
So I did what any reasonable mage being hunted by... Any sort of predator would do. Throw sharp lances of ice in their direction, freezing the ground underneath them while fleeing the scene of horror.
The area stilled before erupting into utter chaos. Others, still unsure what was happening, finally realized what was happening.
The mages of Kirin Tor stood by, not intervening in the least. Their eyes were utterly devoid of emotion as they gazed toward the masses of people gathering at my location.
I realized I had killed plenty of these people just on pure reflex. I had no further time to ponder as I saw dozens of spellcasters start charging their spells while gazing in my direction.
That is when I did what my mentor had taught me once I was surrounded by many spellcasters, and escaping was the priority. I motioned with a wave of my hand as a giant wall of ice appeared in front of me.
For some reason, it seemed they needed to be in line of sight, luckily for me.
The area turned silent as an uproar happened, the people in front of me looking... Happier?
'What in the world is going on!?' I thought as I could have sworn that they loudly shouted something like: "An NPC cosplaying as Jaina Proudmoore must have super rare loot!"
This confused me even more, but then I realized that streets I could recall with such detail were filled to the brim with monsters in the form of people. However, the undead were already monsters in my book.
My nonchalant attitude in this situation was quite surprising. I would be impressed with myself if I looked away from how these monsters gave me constant goosebumps for some reason. 'Have I just developed a phobia?'
'This has to be Medan's constant influence on me. There is no other explanation... not that I mind.' I thought as my nonchalance of what was happening before me faded when I saw who was approaching me.
The one who was making her way toward me... Was me... To be exact, me of the future. She looked at me oddly for a moment before I could feel the magic around me... No, her, explode into action, and the air around us grew heavy.
Two water elementals spring into existence at her side, and the green staff Atonidas had given me pointed my direction as a large bolt of ice appeared in front of it and flew like a missile toward my location.
'Wait, I'm attacking me?' I thought before I realized the situation was getting out of hand.
I then blinked to one of the ceilings far away in haste, then I took the small tablet out of my pocket and studied it for a moment; one dot was pointing north, and one was pointing to the west.
'I hope Medan is alright...' I thought as I reached into my robe pocket, took out a beautiful blue carpet, gently put it on the ground, and reached out to it with my magic as it grew larger and larger. Finally, the magical carpet's edges brimmed with blue-colored seams, indicating it was ready for use.
One of the negatives about the white tablet that displayed the others' directions was the fact we had no idea who was who, so I made my way toward the west as it felt closer, and every sense I had told me that I should meet up with either Medan or Aegwynn as soon as possible.
Especially after what I had just seen, I had never before cared about people looking at me. However, the situation terrified me more than it had any right to, especially seeing an older version of myself preparing to fight me...
Then I stepped on the magic carpet and sped off toward the west, feeling so many eyes on me as I flew over the city that my goosebumps came back in full force.
'No, no, no, no, get me the hell out of here!' were my briefly panicked thoughts as I flew as fast as I possibly could toward the west, in hopes that these... Monsters wouldn't follow me.
[Jaina PoV End]
[Aegwynn PoV Back when all three entered through the End Point.]
As my apprentice, my grandson, and I entered through the blue temporal entrance, I felt my passive mana shield being impacted numerous times before I could even see.
When I finally could see what was impacting my shield, I was slightly set back. Giant war machines with advanced-looking engines on outward display were coming in my direction as hundreds of geared humanoid creatures looked at me curiously. In contrast, a few even looked like they recognized me. This stupified me to some degree, but I ignored it.
The people shouted so much gibberish over all the large sounds and chaos that was going on around us. As I saw wherever I was, towers were being assaulted by similar attacks that had just struck me head-on. Still, before I could do anything or say anything, dozens rushed at me with their weapons out, with manic grins on their faces.
'If only they knew what they were throwing themselves into.' I smiled.
I spread my arms outward, and then the air around me shook. The ones rushing in stopped in their tracks.
Then I disintegrated a thin and sickly-looking man who had started casting something related to fel, as his hands shone sickly green.
And then turned back to the dozen people making their way toward me in slow motion.
'It seems that my slow time has been amplified as well. I might as well experiment on these ruffians. Oh, how long it has been, the feeling of utterly trampling over my opponents, sensing their dread and fear, making them realize how pointless their struggle is in vain... Ahhh, I must thank young Medan for this opportunity to let loose like this once again!'
Then chaos ensued, and I decided not to stop before this battlefield was rid of every hostile creature.
-Chapter 44 End-