What made a person?
Dick did not know, but he knew plenty of ways to kill a person easily.
A longsword drawn across the throat, for instance. A trap that suddenly exploded. A poisoned arrow shot from the bushes. A blade emerging from the shadows. Or the two trolls that had suddenly appeared before him now. These green monsters, easily over two and a half meters tall, with tusks and bodies covered in muscle, could easily kill an adult.
Dick suddenly realized that he seemed to have underestimated Kel'Thuzad's power. Especially after joining forces with the lord of Stratholme and gaining control over the murlocs and trolls, finding someone in Eastweald could hardly have been easier.
He was a fallen Archmage, after all, reportedly even a member of the Council of Six of the Kirin Tor, the mage organization of the magical city of Dalaran. He was a truly important figure who stood at the pinnacle of human mages. Dick knew every step of this great figure's fall. He even knew the tangled history that would unfold between Kel'Thuzad and Arthas in the future.
But those memories could not change one fact: he was being hunted.
His whereabouts had somehow been discovered. From the day he left Darrowshire until today, Dick had already dealt with three rogues, two groups of murlocs, and five ghouls on his way to Andorhal. He was covered in wounds now. Had he not bought enough antidotes and healing potions before setting out, he would have died halfway there.
After struggling to skirt Lake Darrowmere, which had almost been occupied by murlocs, Dick was only a day's journey from Andorhal. But whether he could survive that day was a question well worth considering.
"Mossflayer Troll" "Humanoid" "Strength 30, agility 15, stamina 40, arcane power 0" "Assessment: I think you should know that trolls have another name: 'rookie killers.'"
He was outclassed across the board. Apart from their slightly lower agility, Dick had almost no advantage over these two monsters. Of course, a fight was not simply a comparison of numbers. Under normal circumstances, Dick could risk killing one troll, but if he faced two trolls with extraordinary regenerative abilities, his best option was to run for his life.
These were no longer enemies he could handle.
Dick looked past the trolls at the forest behind them. He knew that beyond the forest stood the distant gateway supported by yellow earthen walls.
In two years, this place would be called "The Bulwark." It was a major passage from West Darrowmere to Eastweald. By then, the fanatical Scarlet Crusade and the exiled descendants of the Barov Family would be stationed there.
But right now, the Order of the Silver Hand was stationed there, and it was his last hope.
Dick drew the Glimmering Longsword from its sheath. This green-quality longsword was already pitted all over, corroded by ghoul saliva. His other hand gripped the loaded Dwarven Rifle tightly. Without this gun's knockback effect, Dick would have been doomed yesterday when he encountered the ghouls rushing out of a tomb.
"Timmy, you little rascal, let's hope your father's rifle brings me luck one more time!"
Dick took a deep breath and charged, launching himself toward the two trolls. He had to find a way past their blockade and escape into the forest, then find a way to approach The Bulwark. Although he might not be as fast as the trolls in the forest, this was his last way out of the predicament.
The Mossflayer Trolls were native to Zul'Mashar. They were descendants of the Amani Trolls driven into human lands by the high elves of Quel'Thalas. Zul'Mashar lay in a steep mountain hollow in Eastweald. If Dick was not mistaken, it should also be the Cult of the Damned's current headquarters.
These trolls met a terrible end.
Kel'Thuzad turned their entire tribe into undead creatures. But that did not stop them from thriving now. With the Cult of the Damned's support, even two lowly soldiers sent out to die could have full suits of decent chainmail, wear fearsome helms, and carry executioner's axes as tall as Dick. They were armed to the teeth.
As Dick charged, the trolls charged too, hurtling straight toward him like two moving hills. Dick pushed hard with his legs and leaped from the ground, slashing the Glimmering Longsword at the neck of the troll on the left. The blade whistled toward him, but the troll merely held his axe in front of himself without a care. The already battered longsword snapped.
The Dwarven Rifle in Dick's other hand, however, was not as fragile as that axe. The instant Dick went airborne, its twin barrels pointed straight at the other troll's face.
Bang!
Dick pulled the trigger. Although the troll on the right raised a hand over his eyes in time, this was still a piece of blue equipment, with an increased-damage effect to boot. In any case, after the shot rang out, the troll fell to the ground clutching his face and rolled in agony.
Although such damage posed no threat to the life of a troll with such powerful regenerative abilities, his badly injured eyes had temporarily put him out of the fight.
Dick had successfully landed a critical hit, but his luck ended there.
"Atakoma!"
The troll on the left roared. The war axe held across his body whistled through a circle in the air and smashed into Dick's waist while he had no way to push off anything. The blow struck Dick hard, sending his body flying faster toward the forest. Although he had achieved his goal, under the circumstances, he would very likely be unable to move at all after landing.
Thud.
Dick's body slammed into a tree in the forest, and he tumbled unceremoniously to the ground. The good news was that he landed on his backside, so he did not need to worry about a concussion. The bad news was that his premonition had come true. Any movement below his waist caused excruciating pain. He could not move his body at all.
All he could do was watch the troll draw closer, step by step.
"Cough, cough... was this as far as I got?"
Dick reached up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He did not know why he was risking his life so desperately for a quest. Was he unwilling to remain ordinary, or did he intend to stake his life to enter the game? After all, knowing history, there was no reason to remain an ordinary person, was there?
At what might very well be the final moment of his life, the fellow neither hung his head in despair nor threw up his hands and cursed. Instead, he leaned calmly against the tree trunk and watched the troll raise his axe.
At that moment, a completely absurd thought flashed through his mind.
If I had a cigarette, I'd have no regrets.
Dick closed his eyes, intending to wait quietly for death to come.
Ten seconds, thirty seconds, one minute.
Dick frowned. Was this troll planning to admire the way I died? And why did it suddenly feel a little cold?
Just then, a clear voice reached Dick's ears, jolting him awake.
"Hey, if you don't get up, I'm leaving!"
Dick opened his eyes. A slender figure blocked the sunlight before him. It should have been a woman. Yes, a woman with quite a nice figure. She held a short staff in one hand and pressed down the pointed hat on her head with the other. The breeze through the forest gently stirred her long skirt.
It was an extraordinarily beautiful scene, especially with the troll now sealed inside a block of ice. It was simply the most beautiful sight Dick had ever seen, in this life or his previous one.
"Can't you talk? Or were you scared senseless?"
The figure bent down and crouched before Dick in a very ladylike manner. Only now did he get a clear look at her face: golden hair, blue eyes, a pointed chin, a neck like a white swan's, and those fully developed... ahem. In short, she was a very beautiful woman.
Perhaps because he was looking too intently, the woman's information also appeared before Dick's eyes.
"Jaina Proudmoore" "Lord" "Human template" "Strength 15, agility 80, stamina 780, arcane power 800" "Assessment: The most gifted Archmage in human history, though right now, she has less than a third of her full strength."
"Phew..."
Dick took a deep breath and smiled in relief.
"Milady, I will repay you."
"What?"
Jaina was not yet the ruler of a nation she would later become, nor was she the war witch driven mad. In short, she was still in the best years of her life, a very innocent, beautiful mage. So Dick's answer left her struggling not to laugh.
If she was not mistaken, this disheveled human with blood still on his face probably did not even have the strength of an advanced warrior. At most, he was a little rookie who had just reached the intermediate level. He said he would repay her? Hahahaha.
Jaina laughed rather unkindly. But as a princess of the Kingdom of Kul Tiras, the education she had received since childhood did not permit her to behave improperly before the opposite sex. So she merely covered her mouth and chuckled, then asked with a perfectly straight face,
"Ahem. Hello, I'm Jaina, a mage from Dalaran. Who are you, then? What are you doing here? And why were these two trolls hunting you?"
At that question, Dick's expression immediately turned serious.
"I'm Dick Tang, former corporal of the Third Reconnaissance Squad of the Fourth Legion of Lordaeron. I have something extremely important to report to Prince Arthas."
After glancing at Jaina's expression, Dick added,
"It's intelligence concerning the plague currently sweeping through the kingdom!"
"Is that so?"
Jaina's expression grew serious too. To be precise, she was actually the one who had come to investigate the plague, while Arthas had been assigned by King Terenas to protect her. Of course, that was only a pretext. On the one hand, the old king wanted his son to share in the glory of dealing with the plague. On the other, he hoped Arthas could win over the princess of Kul Tiras and bolster Lordaeron's weak naval fleet.
Kul Tiras was one of the greatest naval powers in all of Azeroth.
And as far as Dick knew, Arthas did indeed live up to his father's high expectations, winning Jaina over before leaving for the mysterious continent of Northrend. The problem was that when he returned, he would destroy Lordaeron with his own hands.
"Can you still move?"
Jaina asked.
Dick shook his head, glanced again at the frozen troll, and lowered his voice.
"If I were you, Lady Jaina, I'd summon the Order of the Silver Hand from The Bulwark as quickly as possible. The masterminds behind this plague can command far greater forces than you imagine."
Jaina said nothing. She gestured for Dick to stay seated where he was, then shifted, her whole body enveloped in pale blue light. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from his sight.
"So that's 'Blink'? That's how she got here before, right?"
Dick looked at the block of ice before him and casually questioned the troll who had already lost his life. Naturally, the troll could not answer, but Dick did not need his answer either.
He rested his head against the tree trunk and watched the sunlight shining into the forest. His gaze was gentle and calm, but the fist at his side had already clenched tightly.
"I survived... next time, next time I definitely won't end up in such a sorry state."