For the future of the Horde...? Malone looked into Teron Gorefiend's eyes. He couldn't see Teron's pupils, perhaps because his eyeballs had long since rotted away, but he could sense the Death Knight leader's resolve.
Now that he had met Teron Gorefiend, he wondered... What was Orgrim Doomhammer like? The Orc Warchief who had brought the Horde to its greatest heights, then led it to ruin—the only Orc in the camp who hadn't drunk Mannoroth's blood.
Orgrim Doomhammer was a powerful Orc Warrior, and countless heroes had fallen at his hands. The most famous were the first Orc Warchief, The Destroyer Blackhand, and... Sir Anduin Lothar, the greatest warrior and commander among the humans.
Malone shook his head, chasing away his wandering thoughts. For one brief moment, he had even wanted to linger in the Orc camp a little longer, just to meet some of those renowned Orc chieftains.
"Teron, what are those things on your hands...?" Malone suddenly noticed Teron Gorefiend's wrists and arms. Beneath the flaps of his gauntlets, some black markings showed through. They looked like tattoos, but seemed to hold some meaning—Malone's instincts told him they were important to him.
"These?" Teron Gorefiend glanced at his wrists, then grinned proudly. The sight was revolting to Malone: yellowish, rotting slime began dripping from Teron's jaw, which barely stayed closed.
"They're runes, Maicomarlon." Teron Gorefiend pulled back his gauntlet, revealing his entire right arm, covered in black markings. "Though I suppose it's no surprise you don't recognize them. Every Warlock uses different runes."
"Runes?" Malone stared at Teron Gorefiend's arm, forgetting his disgust. Something seemed to click.
"That's right, runes. Don't you remember?" Teron Gorefiend looked at Maicomarlon in surprise. "The runes we used back when we were Warlocks."
Runes. So that was it! As Teron Gorefiend explained, Malone searched the memories of the Warlock called "Maicomarlon" and finally recalled the relevant information.
Before the Orcs had Warlocks, back when the land of Draenor hadn't yet been tainted by Fel, the Orcs' main spellcasters were Shamans.
Later, Gul'dan taught the Orcs to use demonic magic, and many Shamans became even more powerful Warlocks.
But though both were forms of spellcasting, Warlock magic was far more complex than the Shaman spells that simply communed with the Elemental Spirits. Many Orc Warlocks couldn't use those spells proficiently.
To help Orc Warlocks grow stronger more quickly, some of them discovered a convenient method: tattoos.
Of course, they weren't like tattoos on Earth... The Orcs had always had an ancient tradition of tattooing patterns on their bodies. They believed that some designs—some depicting animals, others having no meaning at all—could make them stronger in battle.
In a sense, this was true for Warlocks. They began tattooing specific runes on various parts of their bodies, mainly their hands and faces, to strengthen their spellcasting.
"Well, what do you think? Am I clever or what?" Teron Gorefiend said proudly to Malone. "Of course, I became a Death Knight long before you did, so it's only natural I figured out this trick before you."
"After we took over these human bodies, we found that even though they were physically stronger, casting spells was difficult. These human bodies simply weren't suited for it. So I tattooed the runes I'd used as a Warlock onto this body. That made it much easier to wield the power of shadow!"
Teron Gorefiend seemed delighted that Malone had asked him a question, and he kept talking.
"Listen, Maicomarlon, maybe you should try it too. I don't know if this body of yours is suited to spellcasting, but a quick shortcut like runes can only help..." Teron Gorefiend grabbed Malone's arm and rolled up his sleeve. Then he froze.
"You've already learned this trick?" Teron Gorefiend cried in astonishment.
Malone looked at his left arm. Beneath his wrist, dense black markings, like earthworms, covered his skin. He didn't know what language they were written in, but he could read them.
"Death... Grip... Anti-Magic... Shell, Blood... Presence?" Malone slowly read the meaning of the runes. Shock filled his face—and his heart.
"What are you talking about?" Teron Gorefiend looked at Malone in confusion, but the latter didn't hear him at all.
"Good grief... So this is the power I got..." Malone murmured. "Isn't this cheat ability a little too overpowered...?"
The runes on Malone's arm were all skills belonging to the Death Knight class in the game World of Warcraft.
Malone had originally thought that the Azeroth he'd arrived in was a world entirely separate from his own. He'd never imagined he would bring elements from the game into this world—and in such a simple, heavy-handed way.
"How to use the runes..." Malone could hardly wait to try out this "starter pack" he'd received.
Soon, Malone found the memories explaining how to use the runes. He stood up and focused his attention on his left wrist, following Maicomarlon's memories as he faced the ground beneath his feet.
Before long, Malone felt something moving through his blood, like a living thing. Then a short stretch of runes on his left wrist suddenly lit up, and a dark green wave shot from his left palm, slamming into the ground some distance away.
With a loud boom, the not-so-solid ground of the Burning Steppes erupted into a crater. A great cloud of black volcanic ash billowed into the air, and Malone had to cover his nose with his sleeve to keep from breathing it in.
The boom drew the attention of the other Orc Death Knights. They stopped talking and turned to look at Malone. Seeing the smoke and dust billowing into the air—and Teron Gorefiend standing beside Malone, staring blankly at him—they all went back to what they'd been doing. An Orc who had died once wouldn't meddle in other people's business.
"Maicomarlon, that was incredible! How did you do it? Can you teach me?" Teron Gorefiend asked excitedly.
But Malone didn't answer. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he was distracted by a voice that had suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Class unlocked: Death Knight. Current level: 55. Repeating. Repeating. Class unlocked: Death Knight. Current level: 55." The voice was utterly devoid of emotion or inflection.
Before you continue