The Odd Shaman: Book 1 Complete

by QuiteSarcastic

Waking up on a beach and suddenly being assaulted by a creature with too much anger for its own good was one way to appear on Azeroth. - I ended up deleting this fic on Webnovel and decided to repost it here instead, once I have started to get further into book 2, I'll repost it there as well. -Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Activision Blizzard.

76. Chapter 77 - Epilogue Book 1

' = Internal dialogue

¨= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-WARNING: Trigger alert: half of this chapter is a plot explanation and one-sided dialogue.

-8700+ Words.

—

—Chapter 77- Epilogue Book 1—

—

All I knew was darkness until I felt my consciousness stirred, making me aware of the fact that I was enshrouded in absolute darkness and aware of precisely that fact.

This made me frantically try to recall the last thing I did before coming here, which took me longer than I'd like to admit as my brain was struggling to process everything.

'I was blasted away by my own magic... magic which had taken physical form without being forcibly converted or taken over by a specific element... then I impacted... something...?'

It was now I realized that the spell I had instinctively formed and managed to pull off did not injure me directly due to my instinctive mastery over the magics within... Instead, all elements joined together in harmony to assist me against my enemy, and as a result, created such a shockwave upon activation that I had been thrown sky air faster than my mind could comprehend.

As I was sitting in the darkness, surrounded by a soothing silence and calm, I toggled my notifications, which, for some odd reason, seemed to work, even when my gut feeling told me that it shouldn't if I were simply unconscious within this... vast darkness.

—

[Felborn Imp (Level 83-98) x430 Slain]

[Ghoul (Level 55-60) x700 Slain]

[Undead Rogue (Level 40-70) x541 Slain]

[Undead Warrior (Level 35-75) x779 Slain]

[Undead Mage (Level 33-77) x433 Slain]

[Abomination (Level 80-97) x172 Slain]

[Shivarra Priestess (Level 110-115) x245 Slain]

[Infernal Construct (Level 98-121) x123 Slain]

[Wrathguard Enforcer (Level 120-144) x393 Slain]

[Doomguard (Level 112-131) x634 Slain]

[Terrorguard (Level 85-118) x812 Slain]

[Felguard (Level 65-107) x991 Slain]

[Fel lord (Level 100-127) x135 Slain]

[Felborne{Night Elf Variety} (Level 45-93) x122 Slain]

[Satyr Felsworn (Level 85-128) x1630 Slain]

[Satyr Soulstealer (Level 70-94) x749 Slain]

[Voidwalker (Level 50-65) x877 Slain]

[Sayaad{Succubus} (Level 35-55) x69 Slain]

— Notable Kill Notifications —

[Khaz'rogal (Level 185) Slain] {Half experience earned}

[Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of The Burning Legion (Level 215) Slain]

[Archimonde The Defiler, General of Sargeras (Level 450) Slain]

—

{PS, the increase of confirmed kills ended up being counted as for when he managed to slay Archimonde and indirectly killed whatever was empowering him, aka, the souls of the beings above + overall casualties before and after that.}

I blinked owlishly in the darkness as I mentally tried to confirm the fact that Archimonde's level was that high. It took quite a bit longer than I was willing to admit to anyone else than myself.

Though soon I managed to go through the kill count of demonic creatures and undead.

I then resumed gazing through the rest of the notifications calmly.

—

—Level Up x52—

-Current Level: 240

—

—Status—

Level: 240

HP: 243.326 / 302,390

MP: 95,191 / 140,140

Strength: 1,011

Agility: 1,250

Stamina: 1,738

Intelligence: 1,245

Spirit: 757

—

-Attunements:

-Fire – 1% [Tier V] –Fire – 35% [Tier VI]

-Water – 69% [Tier IV] –Water 44% [Tier V]

-Earth – 12% [Tier IV] –Earth – 56% [Tier V]

-Air – 12% [Tier IV] –Air – 24% [Tier V]

-Arcane – 15% [Tier V] –Arcane – 69% [Tier VI]

—

'Wow.' I thought as I read over my gains. The sheer number of levels was... insane by any means of the word. 'Could it have been due to the fact that the fall of Archimonde was a significant event in the history of Azeroth?' I pondered to myself.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt my entire body freeze up as if instinctively trying to avoid notice from something approaching from the distant darkness the moment I sensed movement.

Black mist seeped in from all sides, and I could see erratic movement on the opposite side; the hazy black fog that had taken the mist place now thickened and covered the... ground? 'When was I sitting?' I thought with dread. It was indeed now the concept of up and down finally set in.

"SoOO, tHE mAN OF ThE HOuR fINALLY hAS AwOKen FrOM hIS LiTTle bEAuTY slEEEP? I waS GeTtInG tIIIRED oF wAAaitINg..." A million voices came from all sides and, inside my own head, spoke with disdain and apparent hostility.

My mind buzzed as I felt something latch onto my head. A black tentacle smelling of daisies and decay had given me a light tap.

I felt myself stumble forward in my seated position due to the... force? No, it was something else entirely; I blanked out momentarily, and my creeping sense of dread suddenly ceased.

"Ah, finally, I fucking hate vocal cords." A strangely familiar tone spoke from inside my head.

"Who are you?" I asked calmly, hoping this entity, or whatever it was, would not turn out hostile.

Clearly, this was something I was not able to handle in my current condition, as I could not even feel the presence anymore.

The only indication that what I was currently confronting was somewhat talkative was the mocking voice and the clear mental communication within my own head.

"Ah, calm your tits. I couldn't fuckin hurt you even if I wanted to; you can stop pissing yourself already." The entity said with a flat voice, seemingly frustrated and somewhat amused.

"You still didn't answer my question," I said in an annoyed tone with courage I had gained out of the blue... No, wait, black?

"Of course, I didn't answer your fucking question; what do you think I am? A Keeper? Fuck off."

"Then I'm going to take a shot in the dark and ask, are you by any chance just an omnipotent being hell-bent on making my life harder? Because that is what this feels like..." I said until I felt my mouth clamped shut, teeth chatter together, jaw locked, my eyes widened, and my body froze entirely.

Those were not words I had meant to say, but they were said for me... and by the entity's reaction, I was correct.

"Of course! Hadn't you noticed? Except for the fact that I once was close to being an Omnipotent being... You nailed it on the first try, champ!"

"Ah, don't mind bother. I'm here to explain at the behest of an agreement requiring my presence and sliver of mind, I'm not to answer your silly questions." The entity explained as I tried to open my mouth, which was now no longer a possibility as tiny strings appeared and sewed my lips shut. The agony I expected to come never arrived.

"I'm just doing my good deed for the last time... in a while? I think? Nah, sorry bud, I'm here fuck you up with some good news! Alas! Let's get on with it!"

*Ehem*" Let's start with... Did you notice that Fate was being swayed and twisted all around you since your fated arrival in Dustwallow? Regardless of having the fancy so-called Fateless title, poor Chromie had no idea she would be responsible for countless deaths within her Dragonflight just because of that one fateful day she found You." The void-like being said with absolute contempt in its... Voice? Voices? However, I couldn't do anything as I was utterly frozen, and my eyes were the only thing I could move.

"Belmont's timely appearance, Valeera and her parents who were journeying through Hillsbrad at just that exact time."

"Then conveniently meeting Calia Menethil, who surprisingly wanted in on escaping her own kingdom..." The entity explained with glee and increasing amusement upon seeing my eyes widen in realization as it spoke.

"From meeting the Infinite Dragonflight, the timely arrival of aid when it came to saving that bonded dryad of yours, meeting... A deity... Did you think all of this was a coincidence? Then you are a bigger fool than I initially assumed... these weren't controlled by fate but instead facilitated by several circumstances... It was mainly due to that slumbering toddler who wanted to help... and ended up guiding you as a result... per se."

"Though! I have to say, Elune is one feisty woman. Were it not for the fact that she had to compromise and ended up making a losing deal with me... Ahh, what I would do for some of that love and blue kinship... Next time, I'll get my way with her, that's for sure! That lady sure is a feisty one, yummy!"

"Now back to you, little shit... It turns out that the Fateless title is getting more and more shit the further I go on about the concept, huh? Seems that there is nothing that is truly fateless when you can be controlled by someone stronger at their whim, huh?" The void entity mocked.

"Let me tell you a story." *Ehem* "It all started when my dear father apparently decided to intervene with the machination of fate and the concept of power beyond the veil of probability, aka the dimwit realized I was... A dangerous probability in the scheme he was attempting to fabricate behind the scenes." The entity started as I felt space shift around us.

Suddenly, I was in a medieval hall and was promptly placed on a chair while gazing toward the scene in front of me with a large bag of popcorn in my lap.

Lavish red and blue curtains then shot open in front of me with an audible sound as it hit each side.

Three puppets now appeared on the scene, with three rotting tentacles acting as a string above their head. Then, two of the puppets started acting life-like and were having an intense stare-down with the third cloaked one.

Then one of the two puppets who were glaring at the cloaked one started to weave its hand into the air while an intense silent argument was going on between the one at its side and the lone cloaked puppet; then space shuddered, and the cloaked one was bound by chains of blue and slammed onto the ground.

"Visions of my actions had leaked to the machinations of the fates themselves, and it did not take the man who went by the monicker, The Prophet, long to spot several futures where. I. had my chosen vessel ruined, ME, who got fucking thrown into the void by the ones I loved, MY OWN FAMILY!" Then suddenly, the entire space around us shifted once more, and the two puppets, one who looked awfully familiar for some reason, slowly vanished, leaving the lone cloaked figure behind.

Then space shuddered once more, and the remaining puppet's cloak fell off, and its hood vanished, only to reveal a creature that looked like an orc, draenei, and human mixed together, which made me freeze in abject horror when I realized what was going on.

The remaining puppet now slowly sank into a black pool while screaming without sound; the arms flailed wildly while the puppet's eyes radiated so much hate I felt space distort before it.

After an agonizing amount of time, the puppet was absorbed into the blackness, and the curtains closed shut with an audible *BOOM*.

Then I returned to where I sat before as the scenery exploded, but instead of sitting on what I thought was the floor, I was now seated on a stool.

The puppet, which was absorbed by the black liquid from before, now appeared before me with a wet thud, skin turned black, and clothes replaced by tentacles that shifted in and out of reality was flailing from his back, and the moment I met its eyes, I could see the insanity within the emotionless black orb-like eyes as it smiled so widely that the side of its face tore itself apart.

The smirk from the puppet-like creature faded as it retreated into the darkness like a wraith.

Then, all around where I was seated, black flames raged on top of ancient-looking chandeliers; it felt like the whole space we occupied turned into an oven as the entity suddenly raged, "ME! THE ONE WHO ALWAYS TRIED TO DO WHAT WAS RIGHT! AND FOR FUCKING WHAT!? TO GET THROWN INTO THE VOID LIKE A USED TOOL?!"

Suddenly, the entity calmed as the unending void in the distance outside of the circular area froze. The previous swirling vortex made of black and violet shimmered only to reflect the darkness behind me. With two glowing eyes in the dark, a being of massive proportions stretched its tendril toward my head, and I felt the world around me slow down to a halt.

Then, I felt a notification pop into my vision forcefully.

I then realized that I had lost and gained a passive out of nowhere.

—

Conditions Met: Passive: Revealed: ? = Void Assimilation{CHANGED BY: Administrator:69}.

-Previous Version: Void-Fated Vessel.

—

Passive: Void Assimilation

Description: Your body, created as a Vessel for a being deprived of theirs by: [ERROR]. Has undergone changes that made it impossible for [Entity:Administrator: 69] to take over as host.

-Being deprived of this option, [Entity: Administrator: 69] Broke the connection to the Host-Body and relinquished his hold over it willingly once the window of opportunity to take over was lost.

-New Effect: Void Assimilation: Your body can handle the void of the great beyond and even assimilate the properties of void beings slain by the User.

-New Effect: Void-Corruption Immunity: Your body has been rejuvenated by Great Beyond, resulting in complete immunity to its corruptive nature.

—

Then the entity continued, "Who do you think I am speaking of? Ah, no, you wouldn't know, would you... But want to guess? Here's a hint: Time, probability, and... Pure fucking coincidence. Can you solve it now, little baby?" The entity of the void cooed as if explaining facts to a literal newborn.

"Ahh, fine, fine. It was the one that doomed his own son to this..." Two giant black void-like arms were full of holes stretched out of the void, which warped into existence, making a visceral smell of rotten flesh permeate the area as the sound of a wet squelch of flesh impacted the floor.

The dark entity that looked like a blackened dried grape, dead and alive at the same time, gleamed out with one eye that hung off its face as thousands of teeth surrounded the iris where it hung lazily as if smiling, the entity continued as his words with newfound ferocity, "For all, fucking, eternity, all because he was afraid of my constantly increasing power once we no longer had our big bad to take down after the Void lords fell..."

"A murderhobo version of Azeroth and a Medivh with a planetary-sized ego and a corrupt titan in his mind as luggage went ahead and fucked my customary-remodeled program of reality with the dildo the size of a titan... What got fucked you may ask? It is the so-called thing you call... the System."

"In the process, they may have saved your sorry-looking ass, but they set in motion an event because of the very system when they wanted to screw with in hopes of gaining its secrets."

"Because... you see, the system itself was made by The First Ones as a measure for balance, and when unauthorized beings, the ones without the original key... The ones seeking to play around with the concepts of the universe then start fondling what they have literally zero knowledge in regard to this? Haha, well, what do you think happens if you randomly went into the streets and found the figurative local housewife and then started fondling her breasts as if you own her... You get punched in the face, arrested for assault, and locked down." The entity explained with a burst of horrific laughter, sounding like numerous voices of children, adults, men, and women trying to choke out laughter all at once.

"The system... was my safety web if my plan of occupying my known vessel never came to be under exactly these circumstances of Daddy dearest and the thirsty titan joining hands."

"Though I never expected that instead of the half soul I left with you, another half suddenly intertwined and made an entirely new entity... because if you did not have the luck of the fucking cosmos acting on a fucking whim around you..."

"You'd have died that day on that beach, slobbering about with half the soul and a scrambled brain to match, the moment of your death... your body was supposed to be returned to the void for me to adjust...If only you were killed by a Murloc who hadn't even reached its adolescent stage... Everything would have been just fuckin fine and dandy..." The void entity exclaimed with sadistic glee before continuing.

"I was meant to be the one to crush the delicate balance and grant me my escape... not allowing a goody-two-shoes that turn out to fucking be a caretaker, savior of cities, hero of the innocents, fuck-up of the cosmos, just to waltz free and live out his strange desires." The entity mocked as it calmed. Its rotting one eye dripped black ooze as it stared into the distance.

"You may have been able to give them a solid set-back by driving events so far out of their original events that they no longer have free access into this world, for reasons I do not want to give you because, duh', in the end though, It doesn't matter."

"But... I might as well give you a hint..."

"You can imagine this world of yours as if being some kind of world tree, where different roots have spread underneath and made the timeline for our universe.

Everything you have done so far... is being mirrored across the whole fucking cosmos as we speak, the only exception for these events... Is the titan you met in the End-time event where you and your merry group of misfits went to deal with an amateur ploy of an infinite dragon with absolutely zero survival instinct..." The entity smiled at those words, clearly enjoying taking jabs at me while I could not move or say anything and being able to read my mind and answer questions.

"I'll give you the children's manual on the concept of Fuck around and find out, Inside our so-called universe."

"*Ehem*, imagine this: your actions, decisions, and interactions are all being mirrored to a certain degree in ALL worlds that are connected to the origin, and in this case...

The origin is your world if you haven't realized by now...and you... acting like a wildcard, to waltz around and do what you want without consequence...Which is... simply not feasible in the long run."

"You would ultimately perish upon the moment of your arrival; at best, you'd be hunted down by odd circumstances until your ultimate demise as that is one of the fail-saves the universe of ours has in place for the invaders... that is IF, you did not have the system."

"So instead, imagine you doing all this without consequence; what do you think is the firewall's reaction toward a virus it can't get rid of? Eh, mostly curiosity as she is still an ancient toddler in a deep sleep... hence the fancy constellation on your arm."

"Which acts more like a direct link to her in an attempt to keep you in line, subtly influencing how you behave, react, plan, fuck, and fight when it comes to simply destroying what you know as the known plot, but to which extent I cannot tell you.

But what I can tell you about that increasingly horrific realization taking root in your tiny brain... It's that it's still your own; what has been achieved thus far is all you. All Azeroth can do... is guide, choices and free will... is just a matter of perspective. "

"Ah! that reminds me... Your meddling with major events is fine, but results need to have consequences."

"Which you have clearly shown by now... is not feasible, and let me tell you one thing that is on the horizon as an example... And that is the night elves' immortality is still active, so they must lose something equivalent to that in due time... with or without your assistance, that is simply going to happen whether you like it or not, fuckin deal with it."

"Ah, don't get me wrong, your dear slumbering baby titan has no idea about this; it's just her instinct to do so, even if I'd like her to simply eject you into orbit..." The void entity mumbled.

"So now you are currently walking on a tightrope. Once or IF both father dearest and the Azeroth with the munchies gain access to it that key of yours, you're screwed."

"And no, I'm not telling you about Daddy dearest and the invading Azeroth's reasons for all this... That's for me to know and you to find out, you plot-carried piece of shit."

Then I felt the focus of the void-like being shift for a moment as I could almost feel the grim smile hiding in the distant void direct itself at me as it continued, "And after this meeting... your list of enemies has lessened. Though I will warn you, keep your loved ones close. Your enemies are waaaaay closer and much more prepared than you are led to believe."

"Ah, don't look at me like that. I'll blush." The void entity explained while its grotesque eyes were blinking coyly like an anime schoolgirl accepting praise.

Then, as if that never happened, its tone changed to a serious one, "You, as well as I do, know that being a good guy or bad guy doesn't matter. Alas, dear father masked himself as your world's Medivh until around... Eh, I can't remember, but it was due to some time fuckery."

"You might say he did the ol' switcheroo for some time, but as a result of that breach... his access to your world is limited."

"Ahh, his surprise was hilarious when you found him in Ashenvale forest; never before have I seen that man be as bamboozled as that moment... And yes, he recognized you, as he is quite immune to the effects of the chronomancy used by the time-fuckery dragons, and he has been looking for you for quite a long time, unknowingly at the behest of Sargeras, up until recently."

"Since you of this world was gone... specifically due to precautions of denying me from using the system in the worst-case scenario of me finding a body to inherit... Jepp, you heard me; the reason for your lack of an existing counterpart here is that THEY, the Bronze Dragonflight of the "Past," made it so."

"Here's the real kicker, you were born... but the bronze flight opened an end-time event that intertwined with the real timeline with the help of what they thought... was the native titan in order to take you out of the equation by inserting placing you in The Beyond, because why the fuck not? The tablets of Tyr deemed it necessary to do so, or at least that was the guise that convinced the bronze."

"Of course, the bronze dragons that did this were permanently removed from existence and all memory of them removed, as they were shoved under the figurative rug by their flight due to the intervention of father dearest."

"Luckily, you had me." "... A near Omnipotent being turned fuckin' cosmic plot armor..." The void pouted like a wronged child before continuing.

"... Sadly, with my failure of taking your body and failing to whisk out the other half soul that took my intended place... you completed the tutorial without dying... and as a result of that..."

"I did you a big fucking favor by pulling you back with the set of memories that would slowly make you who you are today, albeit different due to that fucking soul..."

"What I did was that I copied my life experiences up until shit started derailing. Then by sheer force of fucking will, this foreign soul latches onto your corpse like a parasite and utterly denies me of my own fucking body... almost like the universe wanted it here, quite suspicious, hm?"

"You were dead, a stone-cold rotting corpse, hovering around the great Beyond until you reached the void, where me and my... new friends preserved your body and half a soul for an eternity..."

"Aaaaand that's all you get out of me, you will be able to puzzle the pieces together with this, and if you don't... then screw you, I'm not your fucking babysitter, you twat." Then, the void-like being turned silent before I felt its eye looking into the dark void-like atmosphere above as it continued its unending charade of words.

"But no matter, the pieces on the board are shifting, constantly changing... and you... are currently a mere fly in a soup of shit you don't belong in... you're welcome to try to stop them."

"I don't care; I'm mainly doing this out of spite, as my cycled ending will come in mere moments.

Then, after a long pause, the void entity went silent until an arm, much like my own, appeared right in front of me, clenching and unclenching its fist as something formed in its palm. That was when the entity continued speaking.

"Ah, anyway! I have one last little gift for you, though... if you deem it a gift, it is up to you; anyhow, this is from your little misadventure in the void.

And it is not really something I am giving you; it's more like... I'm unlocking something that has been there since... before you had your stay in the Great Beyond.

Consider this a parting gift of mine, no matter how much I despise you for what has happened... you and I are still the same... Almost." Then, the hand tapped my forehead. I felt excruciating pain envelop my being as the notification tab was forcefully opened.

—

[Hidden Requirement Met] Third Class Slot Unlocked:

-Choose one below.

-1/1

-[Harbinger of Chaos]- {Forcibly Selected}

[Class: Harbinger of Chaos: +2 Strength, +1 Agility + 3 Spirit Per Level]

-Description: Harbingers are the ones who indicate the coming of a great change, and in this case, Chaos, for whom there is no way of knowing, but one thing is for certain.

There will be Chaos.

-This class is primarily focused on channeling the User's will through magic in order to amplify both physical and magical strength, with its primary focus on physical power.

-[This trait's effectiveness is primarily based on [Spirit]]

-Resistances against mental magics have been increased and are primarily based on [Spirit]

-User who has been granted: Class [Harbinger of Chaos] by the Entity:[ERROR] and Entity: Administrator: 69 has been allowed access to utilize User's full potential, regardless of consequences that follow.

{-Innate Light Attunement Unlocked}

{-Innate Void Attunement Unlocked}

–Light Attunement Gained:[Tier V]

-Void Attunement Gained: [Tier: VI]

—

—Due to complications in the User's body—

-Fel Attunement [Tier: II] Has been added.

-Note: This Attunement is non-corruptive, effectively nullifying the attunement of inborn corruption into a harmless state, and as a result, it will be extremely difficult to increase.

—

–Attunements:

–Fire – 35% [Tier VI]

–Water 44% [Tier V]

–Earth – 56% [Tier V]

–Air – 24% [Tier V]

–Arcane – 69% [Tier VI]

–Void – 0% [Tier VI]

–Light – 0% [Tier V]

–Fel – 0% [Tier II]

—

—

The entity now seemed content with himself for some reason as the arm disappeared.

"I refused to be a slave to their whims, and you can see where that led me."

Then all sounds ceased except for a low child-like cackle in the darkness behind me, as shadows writhed about violently.

Then suddenly, I felt a cold hand on my shoulder, and all the tendrils and shadows around me stilled before retreating into nothingness; all the while, a menacing cackle resounded throughout my mind.

"The question is... Do You?"

Those were the void-entity's last words before an agonizing alien wail, almost like a million dying voices screaming to the top of their lungs into the void, struck me while I clutched my head without realizing I could move when the ear-piercing wail finally registered, and then everything turned white.

—

Suddenly, I was back in my bed, sweating like I had been out running a marathon for days.

'Wait, bed?' I thought in surprise. Which almost made me jump to my feet, but then I felt a scorching pain emanating from my left eye and inhaled sharply when my hand touched the flesh around it.

It was not only my eye that made me react but the fact that my skin was red and sensitive to the extreme, as if a fresh layer of skin had recently formed and nerves had been reconnected... which was most likely the case.

As my hand carefully touched, a burning hot scar from the top of the eyebrow down to my jawline, directly over the eyelid, which miraculously wasn't flayed apart to reveal the eye underneath but was instead just a thin layer of skin.

I grunted when I felt the eye underneath shift; something akin to someone jabbing a poker of pure anguish into my eyeball followed, and then I felt a trickle of blood flow down my cheek from the eye.

I couldn't open my left eye no matter what until the bleeding stopped, and I reached toward my side, where a mirror was placed on a nightstand and brought it in front of my face. I then tried to heal it with a layer of ice, but to no avail; it would not heal, no matter what.

'So Archimonde managed to get the final laugh, huh...' I thought to myself as the scar was a dark green line as wide as my thumb, but the worst part was the eye itself.

The iris were colored putrid fel green, with a black sclera and an utterly void-like pupil. [Picture in the comment]

Then I felt the eye strain and closed it, just in time, too, as I heard movement outside the room.

When the door opened, I was brought out of my musings, and Jaina came running. Before I knew it, she was in front of me and pushed me down as she hugged me.

Due to the surprise and recent events, I was simply bamboozled by this and stiffened before finally reciprocating the hug.

Then suddenly, I felt her tense up briefly before she sat herself up slowly and looked at me with tears running down her face, and out of nowhere, and shouted, "You said you'd be fine! This is not the definition of fine!"

I felt her palm touch my cheek as she carefully touched the scar that ran all the way from my eyebrow to my chin.

"Ouch... I guess I deserved that one. I'm sorry," I replied in a soothing tone that made her tense shoulders shake as she once more made eye contact before laying down in Jaina's steel vice while I held her in comfort.

And with a barely audible whisper, I heard, "I wouldn't be able to handle it if even you left me behind..."

I just sighed as we held each other in silence.

—

-20 Minutes later-

—

My sudden movement made Jaina shift about uncomfortably as I decided we needed to get up, "Jaina, we need to get going... I would also like to hear what is going on..." Jaina sighed dramatically to her own amusement and replied, "Fine..."

As I finally noticed the state of my body when I removed the blanket, I blinked.

I was covered in bandages from top to toe.

When I gazed toward a stool with a bundle of clothes on top of it, I sighed, 'Well, rest in pieces...' I thought when I saw the state of the gear, drenched with blood and torn at the seams, utterly destroyed.

One thing was salvageable, luckily, and that was the bag containing my stuff.

I stood up with slight difficulty and took the bag, made my way toward the large wardrobe beside the bed, started picking out the necessary clothing, and asked, "So, how long was I out?"

That question was met with a slight silence before she answered, "A month..." I stiffened for a moment before continuing my shuffle through the wardrobe and asked another question as I picked out a shirt, "So... Anything noticeable happening while I was in this month-long coma?"

This time, Jaina answered as calmly as she could, "Well, after you left with Archimonde, the undead forces increased their assault but were quickly dealt with by Cenarius, me, and the night elf leadership that had secured their people within the world tree..." Then Jaina paused before she continued, "And just when we were done dealing with the majority of the undead forces... the horizon toward the ocean lit up the sky with a bright white flash, blinding hundreds due to its intensity.

Then the shockwave came..." I closed my one functioning eye and sighed, 'Of course...' I thought before she continued the recollection of events.

"So I did what I had to do... I used the hearthstone back to Sanctum just in time to see Nessie frantically tear down the south-eastern wall of the city gates with your limp body in her maw... and... I almost lost it... If it weren't for Aegwynn and Calia, I would have broken down and let the tsunami destroy everything in the surroundings..." Jaina explained shakily before continuing.

"Calia kept healing you to the point she collapsed of exhaustion. Aegwynn also worked to keep you alive until your natural healing kicked in... as your body shut down constantly over the next days.

While I... I dealt with the hundred-meter-tall wave of death closing in from all sides... Except for that, there have been minimal changes in the city.

The old woman from Stormwind retired as the leader of SI:7. She is currently mentoring Deylia after signing a non-disclosure magical contract..." Jaina added wryly.

"Also... Belmont and Pained have shown signs of improvement, and the infection in Belmont's body has faded; all that is needed is to cancel their stasis." She explained with a sigh of relief.

'That's... good, Elune did as she promised...' I thought with an undercurrent of anger, which was honestly directed at the situation and not the deity herself. Still, soon, I let that feeling of surging anger fade as I inhaled and exhaled and then continued to browse the wardrobe.

A dark mageweave shirt, a pair of leather leggings made of a draconic creature's hide ribbed free of scales, a pair of dark leather shoes the nobles of Lordaeron used, and a black dragon scale jacket.

All in all, it was what Jaina and Aegwynn had come together and fixed, as my wardrobe choices in the past had been questionable at best; there had even been a rumor of me being the poorest city ruler in Azeroth.

As I was finally done dressing up, I turned back toward the bed, where Jaina looked at me appreciatively with her eyes.

"Also, do you have any advice if I should find something to cover this?" I asked her while pointing toward my scar and then opened my fel-tinted eye with visible strain.

Her eyes widened, and she paused before nodding slowly and came closer to study the transformed eye.

"Oh, Aegwynn is going to freak out..." Jaina said in a slightly strained voice as she studied the eye intently.

"Do you feel anything wrong with it?" She asked, and this time, it was my turn to pause. 'Do I?' I thought, squinting the eye while gazing toward her.

Then, all of a sudden, Jaina's figure was covered in a green-tinted outline, with a barely visible green line around her, as if it was confirming that this was her true form and the fact she was friendly. "Aha... Well, yes, but for now, I find it difficult to keep it open..." I replied truthfully.

"Well... I will find something for you later to cover it up then; how does a see-through enchanted eye patch sound like?" Jaina said with a smile.

"See-through? Wouldn't that defeat its purpose if I want to keep the eye closed?" I replied questioningly.

"Well, no, not really. I can probably find a way to make it so the eyepatch's enchant will activate whenever you open the eye. And change it so when you relax your eye, it will just be acting as a normal cloth while covering it." Jaina said while holding her chin in consideration.

"Alright, I'll leave it up to you then, now, shall we?" I asked with a smile while gesturing for her to join me toward the teleporter in the hallway.

"We shall," She replied with a smile as she tangled her arm around mine as we walked toward the teleporter.

—

Turns out that teleporting to the first floor might have been a bad idea.

Because as soon as I exited the teleportation pad with Jaina, I was assaulted by three bodies that rammed me to the ground.

Of course, I could have just stood my ground, but letting three people close to me get injured due to the heavy resistance did not fit well with me.

Valeera, Lanira, and Tina held me tightly as I let myself fall backward with an audible *Thud*.

"Don't ever do that again... Or I'll... stab you..." Valeera whispered shakily from underneath her hood.

Lanira only sobbed and held on ever tighter; she was probably the only one here who truly knew the amount of damage I actually took and how close I had been to death's door.

Tina wailed loudly while attempting to speak incoherently, something about me being the strongest and saying I should never have been this stupid to get this hurt.

I couldn't do anything but smile wryly and pat their back with comforting pats before saying, "Alright, alright, I apologize. Let's all tidy ourselves and grab something to eat, shall we? I'm starving!"

This made at least two of them stand up while using their hands to clear away the tears before replying, "Mhm." And seemingly made a dash toward the kitchen.

With Lanira and Tina gone, Valeera still refused to let go, so I stood up to my full height while she was wrapped around my side like a koala.

Jaina just giggled from the side as we made our way toward the living room, where the dining table was.

—

After a refreshing dinner and constant reminder of how stupid I was, all the while, Jaina had just laughed in amusement at the antics of the three.

We enjoyed the comforting atmosphere and the food; I even got a large mug of Jaina's homebrew, which I, unfortunately, spilled due to Valeera's insistence she should taste it first to check for poison.

It was poisoned alright, but not with the kind she was checking for, which she undoubtedly knew.

It was refreshing to see her act childishly for once.

After insisting that we had to do some errands, we were let go from the dining room, with Valeera leading the way toward the secure area where Belmont and Pained were contained as if meat in a freezer.

As we walked into Sanctum's buzzing, busy streets, I noticed a thin layer of snow covering the houses and streets.

As we made our way toward the church, I felt the inhabitants of the city's eyes on me, and what was in that gaze was shock, awe, and worry, 'Clearly, someone had informed the local populace about the situation by now...' I thought with a sigh but smiled and waved back as they called out to me as we passed.

As we finally reached the safe house, I walked through the door while leaning down to fit through the passageway and was met by two Peacekeepers standing in front of locked down double doors.

One of them was a Tauren female wearing tribal armor with a mace hanging from her side and a shield on her back, and the other was a high elf male with a robe who held a large staff with a blue gem on the shaft.

The squad of Peacekeepers also had a rogue hidden in the shadows of both the shaman and mage.

"Halt! Identification!" The Tauren female requested as she took a few steps forward and held her hand out toward me with a smile on her face.

I then pulled out my token and handed it over. After a brief moment, the Tauren female ran the enchantment she had authority over through said token and gave it back, then nodded and waved her hand.

"We will be waiting outside, Lord." She stated in a no-nonsense tone.

I smiled and said, "There is no need. The ones inside will be out of confinement today; here, get the three small brats you have at home something good to eat today." I then reached for my bag and took out a piece of gold for each Peacekeeper stationed and threw it in their direction one at a time.

"As you wish, Lord." The Tauren female replied with an even broader smile, then added, "Glad you made it out of that situation with your humor intact at least, and scars are reminders of overconfidence! You hear me? Don't scare us like that again." Tauna Skychaser said before she gave me a brief hug, then waved at her squad to move out before turning back to me and said, "Tigor is taking care of the bakery for a few weeks; remember to visit, alright?"

"Will do, Miss Skychaser; say hi for me, will you?" I replied with a smile and a wave as they exited the building.

I sighed as I gazed at the door in front of me. The one that entered first was Valeera, who I followed close behind, and as we walked into the room, there they were, in the middle on a sickbed each. Belmont was frozen in time and with an agonized expression, while Pained had a similar one.

"Time to make these two lovebirds make amends for trying to do everything on their own, huh?" I said out loud and directed at no one.

Then I snapped my fingers as the ice melted into the floor and evaporated into nothingness soon after.

"MOTHERFU- BASTARD, I'M GOING TO TEAR THE MANHOOD OF THAT FUCKING BAT AND SCREW HIS BAT MOTHER!" Belmont yelled with rage as he flew up into a seated position.

"Wait... What? Where am I? Oh, hey there, Medan, how ya' doin' nice sca...scar? What the fu-" *Crunch* And that's how long it took for my fist to meet his nose that would most likely be crooked in the future. Belmont then tumbled out of the bed and sat up, looking utterly furious.

"Oy! What the fuck was that for!? Belmont said as he tried to keep the nosebleed from staining his torn shirt.

"That was for the fact you went ahead with Pained and a mage into enemy fucking territory. Leaving your apprentice to lead the entire spymaster business without proper preparations! Then got yourself fucking infected by... what sounded like a Dreadlord..." I explained with anger before sighing towards the end.

"Ah, that...' Belmont murmured helpfully as Valeera took a handkerchief from somewhere and handed it to him. "Thanks, brat, though, Medan, are you sure it's not because you love me?" Belmont said in a sing-along tone before wincing back as I stood before him with my hand, ready to finish his nose and transform it into the look of a particular nose-less bastard.

"Let that bastard have it. If you don't kick his ass, I will!" Pained shouted from the side, which interrupted me. She unsheathed her sword from her side and stood out of the sickbed while trying to balance herself.

"Honey... I can explain..." Belmont pleaded as he stood shakily and backed off toward the wall.

Turns out he could not explain.

—

Short story short, Belmont and Pained had some... talking to do, and I would only later get to know that Belmont had gone into a base filled with undead after confirming a rumor about a Dreadlord being nearby.

It turns out that Belmont attempted to steal the Skull of Gul'dan directly in front of the nose of a Dreadlord named Anetheron.

He had made the wrong choice of a lifetime when he had overheard said Dreadlord talk to a crystal orb about Tichondrius's fall and that he was currently waiting in the specified area, something about a death knight that would appear within a specific timetable and was to prepare a defensible location before his arrival, just in case of complications.

{3D Chess everyone, blame the Jailer.}

—

As I got back to the war chamber in the tower, I was left to my own devices while gazing over documents and acting as a City Lord should.

Jaina had joined Calia for some errand and was promptly met by a beaten Belmont, who gave the short story before taking Jaina's homebrew on my desk and retreating home for the night.

Before returning to the tower, I went down to Nessie and thanked her with some flesh directly harvested from Onyxia's corpse.

This, of course, made the hydra ecstatic, and the rest is history, as she went over to Bluey to brag about her achievement.

I also met Hati and Skoll, who howled in happiness and joy while snuggling up to me constantly as I fed them some remnants of the flesh given to Nessie.

This confirmed that the spiritual wolves were separate beings from the original ones. Maybe they were some an echo that once was and had evolved an ego of sorts? I had no idea.

After that, I returned to the tower while pondering something Belmont had mentioned earlier, and unfortunately, directly after... Aegwynn came in the moment I was testing out my new sight, which would have been a total disaster were it not for the fact she was more relieved to see me healthy than an eye reminding her of the most horrible time of her life.

I thought to myself that I felt part of a fictional work with all these goddamn coincidences lately.

As I sat down and looked through what had happened during my coma, I had an epiphany that made me pause.

'Wait a moment... was Anatheron speaking about Arthas? What would he be doing there?' I thought before I felt the figurative lightbulb go off in my mind.

'Illidan... he was ordered to wait there for Illidan... Arthas was just a distraction and an excuse...' Suddenly, things became clear, as if a veil was removed from my sight.

'The opening of the Dark Portal...' I thought, my anger from earlier returning in full. Papers flew to all sides as I clenched my fists, unclenched them soon after, and took a deep breath.

'So this is what he meant... the subtle manipulation...' I thought while gazing at my tattoed arm filled with the dark night sky with stars animately moving about.

'You owe me for this...' I thought and could have sworn I heard an ethereal chuckle from somewhere.

I then walked toward the window and gazed into the distance; the lively city, full of life, was starting to calm as night arrived with the promise of another day.

After another deep sigh, I smiled to myself and slowly made my way toward the desk.

I opened the cabinet underneath, pulled out a fist-sized blue seed that hummed, vibrating as if it was purring like a cat in my hand and put it down gently on the desk even as I felt it cry out in sadness upon leaving my palm.

Considering everything that went down lately, I should have been much more resentful toward beings like Elune or the sassy void-like creature mirroring myself... but then again, where would that lead me? Absolutely nowhere.

As I calmed my turbulent mind, I closed my eyes and thought about the situation from another point of view.

Without them interfering up to now, I would not have the people around me, and strangely enough, I was thankful for what I... No, what WE had accomplished thus far and what it would lead to in the future.

That would not mean I was okay with being subtly manipulated, even to a minor degree.

The main reason for my thoughts calming down, however, was that my gut feeling told me that this would not be a worry for much longer.

Or it might have been the slumbering world soul's affirmation of that thought.

'Only the future will make that clear...' I thought with a wry smile

—Book 1 FIN—

—

—A/N—

—

-Tadaaa, and that's how an author like me redirects my plot away from my own failures, and instead blame convenient circumstances. Nah, I'm kidding.. Or am I.

This was originally somewhat close to what I pictured soon after making the city of "Sanctum" in Azshara, around chapter 22-25 Ish.

-Fun fact: this chapter was thought up in the shower, or at least the first portion of it. Even if I have twisted this and that to my liking as the fic went on up to this point.

It has been one hell of a journey thus far. I have learned so much since I started this fic, and a big portion of my experience thus far has been from the feedback, and for that, I am thankful.

But I have also realized I am sorely lacking in the quality department, as my vocabulary is clearly not up to par or up to the standard I want to be, yet I am taking this as a learning opportunity, even with the fact that Warcraft perhaps wasn't the best place to start out.

The World of Warcraft Universe is just... so tremendously huge. It's so easy to just go full tunnel vision and attempt to forget plots and characters by focusing hard on what I want to do, and as a result, I am not getting to where I want and end up locking myself down.

There's always a plot within a plot. Because the writing team's growing incompetency in making anything original, it has to steal from popular fiction and what seems to be "in and appealing to the broader audience."

Don't get me wrong. I love Warcraft as a story, but the way that the game headed after Wrath of The Lich King and somewhat Cataclysm... was that it had turned into a total time-gating money sink.

(Except for Legion, though, they did redeem themselves by doing so many things right that expansion.)

Regardless of my previous words, I have grown to enjoy my version of my own take on Warcraft.

And I am currently writing the continuation of this as I finished editing the entire fic.

But from here on, Warcraft, as most people know it, will take a drastic change in the upcoming Book 2. Plots will be derailed, major character deaths will occur, factions will be different, enemies will be much stronger, and there will be... confrontations of interest in regard to several important artifacts, items, territory, and greed.

And most importantly of all, I am going to write it in third-person, no more sentences starting with "I" or "Me", well, unless I can avoid it, of course.

So as I have finished rewriting the first 6-7 chapters, I had initially started a full rewrite, but soon realized it was such a large undertaking for such little gain, and instead focused on fixing my worst errors and instead go through the entire fic and remove what I felt did not belong, though if you read this because you already finished the fic, do know that the MC ain't elvish in appearance, but rather closer toward a Mag'har orc and a human, his Draenei traits were replaced by the being of magic he is becoming.

—A/N Rant Over—