Being a Reporter Isn't So Bad

If brute strength alone were enough to dominate Azeroth, the Gronn of Draenor wouldn't have ended up as the Orcs' transportation.

Blizzard had always been vague about the power system in the world of Azeroth. Besides, for the sake of gameplay, there was always the interference of things like "players," who transcended history.

But Malone knew at least this much: the world had almighty gods like Sargeras and Elune, countless physically powerful beast demigods, and enormous dragons whose claws alone were bigger than his entire body.

Even setting aside powers that surpassed anything on Earth, ordinary mortals included mages and Warlocks who could wield magic, as well as the Holy Light, which could make them immensely powerful.

Having watched plenty of modern movies and read plenty of novels, Malone knew that, much like in the fictional "martial arts world," someone like him, with nothing but brute strength and no combat training, wasn't fit to carry a real Warrior's boots.

"Maicomarlon, did you hear? The Warchief allied with the Trolls, and their leader's in our camp now." Losing the arm-wrestling match didn't seem to have discouraged Teron Gorefiend. He soon found another topic.

"Mm." Malone stood up and began scanning the area farther away. He planned to find a way out of there, perhaps a damaged or low section of the camp's palisade.

"I'm so glad our Horde has more members now. Besides Orcs and Ogres, we've got Trolls, too. It's great! Our ranks are growing stronger by the day. Soon we'll kill all those humans and snap their necks." Teron Gorefiend's rusty-iron voice buzzed in Malone's ear.

Malone said nothing, but his body trembled slightly. He knew the Orc Death Knight meant it—and they really had done something similar in Stormwind.

Savage, cruel, brutal... Malone cursed the Orcs around him with every vile word he could think of. These Orcs had drunk Demon Blood.

Maybe Teron Gorefiend and the other Orcs didn't even know what that green liquid Gul'dan had given them really was. But Malone knew: it was the blood of a demon, the Pit Lord Mannoroth—the source of madness that brought destruction and war.

Malone knew the humans of Azeroth weren't like the humans on Earth. Judging by their customs, the Pandaren of Pandaria were more like the people of his homeland.

Even so, Malone couldn't accept the Orcs' behavior. Teron Gorefiend's words only strengthened his resolve to escape as soon as possible.

"Oh, right, Maicomarlon. Did you know that the Trolls joined the Horde along with their servants—a bunch called Kobolds? How amusing. Do you know what a dog is? I've never heard of one before." Seeing that Malone wasn't responding, Teron Gorefiend continued making conversation, sounding a little lonely.

"Dogs are wolves." Unable to put up with Teron Gorefiend's persistence any longer, Malone forced the words out through clenched teeth. Taking full control of this body seemed convenient; he'd learned Orcish with little effort. It sounded a bit like Russian.

"So Kobolds are humans with wolf heads? Do they cut off humans' heads and sew on wolves' heads? Those Trolls are terrifying!" For some reason, Teron Gorefiend seemed to have a particularly vivid imagination in some rather strange areas.

"..." Malone was at a loss for words.

It did seem that the Orcs' world had no such thing as "dogs." Malone thought back over what he knew.

In theory, the difference between dogs and wolves was that one had been domesticated by humans while the other lived in the wild. Over time, they'd become two similar but distinct species.

On Draenor, the Orcs had domesticated wild wolves and used them as mounts, calling them "Worgs."

Perhaps because they'd been domesticated differently, as far as Malone knew, Worgs had retained almost all of their wild nature. They were even more savage than ordinary wolves.

Maybe that was why there were no dogs on Draenor. The Worgs, which should have become dogs, might need thousands, or even tens of thousands, of years to grow into docile ones.

A portion of Malone's thoughts had been occupied by this pointless bit of biology. When he came back to himself, a question suddenly occurred to him.

"Teron... why are you so... loyal to the Horde—or rather... to Orgrim?" Malone asked the stinking Death Knight leader.

He'd had this question ever since reading the official Warcraft novels. Teron Gorefiend had been killed by Orgrim, and it was Gul'dan who'd given him life. But later, Teron Gorefiend and Gul'dan hadn't gotten along particularly well. Instead, Teron had risked his life for the Horde and was eventually killed by the paladin Meralas Turalyon.

"Why? Because the Warchief is powerful! Look at how strong our Horde is now. The Warchief will surely lead us to victory!" Teron Gorefiend replied.

"But... Orgrim killed you, didn't he? Don't you... hate him at all?" Malone couldn't help wondering.

Malone had only been in control of this body for less than half a day. He hadn't yet experienced much of what it meant to be a Death Knight.

But Teron Gorefiend had been a Death Knight for years! He stank all the time, was despised by the other Orcs, and had to watch his body rot away piece by piece. Surely he must have resented the Orc Warchief who'd killed him, Orgrim Doomhammer?

At that moment, curiosity filled most of Malone's thoughts. He suddenly realized that in this world, he could be like a reporter, interviewing all kinds of people in Azeroth to ask the questions he wanted answered.

Unlike on Earth, where questions like these could only lead to endless arguments with people on forums, Malone realized he could now learn the truth—from the people involved!

"You mean the time the Warchief killed us?" Teron Gorefiend asked, puzzled.

"Uh... right. Us." Malone paused before it sank in. If he hadn't intervened, the original owner of this body, a former Orc Warlock named "Maicomarlon," would also have been one of the Shadow Council members killed by Orgrim, alongside Teron Gorefiend.

"I don't hate him. I hadn't even planned to resist the Warchief back then. But he killed me without listening to what I had to say. It's a real shame, when I think about it." Teron Gorefiend shook his head as he spoke.

"I've always believed that the Horde's interests as a whole come first. I'll support whoever can lead the Horde toward a better future. If the Warchief ever leads the Horde to ruin, I'll be the first to stand up against him." Teron Gorefiend declared solemnly.