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(A/N: Chapter 129 will soon be on Patreon!)
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"Light fucking damn it, this place is cold!" Rhonin shivered as he gripped his heavy coat.
"And the sun is bright! You aren't the only one freezing their balls off here!" Muradin countered, gritting his teeth against the cold as well.
Rhonin's coat and Muradin's armor were enchanted with heating runes, but Rhonin had underestimated just how fucking cold Northrend would be and had not bothered to instead have stronger runes or enchantments added.
Muradin had actually been here before with Arthas when they came in search of Frostmourne.
However, at that time, it had been summer, and there hadn't been any snow or, worse, frost storms that made the cold even more unbearable.
Oh don't get him wrong even in summer this place was fucking cold!
As for the time he had spent here when he was injured? At that time, he had been kept in a safehouse in Northrend's outer region.
Once he had healed up and regained consciousness, it hadn't taken him long to reach the edge of the continent and leave Northrend to return to Arda.
Because of this, even his enchanted armor couldn't completely protect him from the freezing winds.
Behind them, Alastor and Anduin watched the two with exasperated yet amused expressions. Strangely, unlike the others, they trudged along the snowy landscape without a care in the world.
Meanwhile, in front of the group floated C35, who was leading them toward the main entrance of the World Ring, which was, in fact, located near the middle of the frozen continent.
Fun fact: The closer people got to the center of Northrend, the colder and more inhospitable the temperature and climate became. Even during the summer, the extreme cold generally only affected the outer regions of Northrend, rather than the middle and inner regions.
"You're the one who wanted so badly to get out of Dalaran, Rhonin," Alastor said in amusement.
"Yeah, I did! But if I knew I would be freezing my literal balls off in the coldest place on Azeroth, maybe I would've reconsidered!"
When the time came for the expedition to the World Ring, Anduin was the first to join the team.
Alastor had thought about asking Jaina to be the next member after they arrived at Dalaran, only for Rhonin to all but beg Alastor to take him instead.
For context, after Alastor had given them the news about the new state of the Warp around the planet due to the influence of what was being called the Light of Azeroth, or Azeroth'sLight.
The Magi were excited at first before understanding the implications of what it would mean and the eventual surge of new prospective Magi.
Due to this, Antonidas and the Council of Six, aside from getting to work themselves, also called in every Archmage and high-ranking Magi they had to participate in the creation of new infrastructure.
Not to mention for them all to put their experience and knowledge on paper for the lectures and study materials that would be needed very much in the near future.
This included Jaina and Rhonin.
Not only were the two Archmagi, but they were renowned Archmagi due to their contributions during the Black Dawn. (the official name given to the War.)
Jaina was busier than most. Aside from her royal status, she was also Antonidas's student, a magical research savant, and one of the soon-to-be Queens of Azeroth.
She was naturally seen not only as a valuable Mage but also as a natural leader, both within the Mage community and the wider world.
Thus, she was considered extremely important to helping Dalaran and the other magical institutes prepare themselves for the eventual expansion they would need to accommodate.
Rhonin, while not having such titles, had a résumé that was no less impressive.
The man was the youngest male Archmage, excluding Alastor, and one of the strongest Mages in Dalaran.
During the War, he had demonstrated sharp battlefield awareness and strategic acumen, eventually becoming the de facto leader of the Mage divisions and a premier combat mage.
It was not an exaggeration to say that many of the more combat-oriented Magi considered Rhonin an example of what a combat mage should be.
Which also meant that the Council of Six had all but forced a mountain of work upon him, ranging from paperwork and writing down his experiences, tactics, and tips to giving guest lectures to prospective combat Magi, just to name a few of the things Rhonin was doing.
Suffice it to say, Rhonin.....was going insane!
And when he caught sight of Alastor and heard why he was in Dalaran, he all but dropped to his knees, begging him to take him instead.
To quote him directly...
"PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU! THE PAPERS ARE EVIL! THEY WANT TO KILL ME AND TAKE MY SOUL TO PAPER HELL! DON'T LET THE PAPERS TAKE ME!!!"
Seeing how busy Jaina was and how much she was needed in Dalaran, as well as being genuinely worried by the desperate and maddened look in Rhonin's eyes, Alastor honestly thought it was best to take him with him.
Otherwise, Rhonin might actually snap and jam a pen into his throat just to end the "pain."
Once again, despite the times they bickered, poked fun at each other, or teased one another, Rhonin was his best friend, and the last thing Alastor wanted to see was his friend dying by paper of all things.
And then there was Muradin.
Alastor had actually thought Brann would be the one to join the team as the last member, only for Muradin to take his place, much to his surprise.
And honestly, could anyone blame him?
Alastor had thought Muradin would want to stay home after being gone for quite a while. Not to mention, Northrend was where he had nearly been killed and had witnessed Arthas take Frostmourne.
And he was right. Muradin did not have a good experience or outlook when it came to the Frozen Continent.
But, to quote his reasoning:
"Aye, I have no good feelings for that block of ice everyone calls a continent, but I've been gone for a while. I couldn't do a bloody damn thing in the War. And while I missed Khaz Modan, I'm a bloody hale and hearty warrior."
"There's no frakking way I'm gonna stay back like a prissy craven when there's new frontiers to be seen and discovered. So, if you're gonna go up to that fancy ring, then I'm the dwarf that's gonna go with yah!"
Surprisingly or not, Anduin could sympathize with what the second Bronzebeard brother felt.
He still remembered the start of the War.
When he'd been injured by Grimgor. The feeling of lying in bed after waking up from a coma while his surrogate son and his forces fought that same monster and his ilk had been unbearable.
It'd been so unbearable that, despite still not being completely healed, he had picked up his sword and dragged his battered body to the walls to fight rather than feel useless.
But unlike him, Muradin had been absent from the War in its entirety. Even though no one blamed him, Anduin couldn't imagine the shame a proud dwarven warrior like Muradin might have been feeling.
Because of that, Anduin vouched for him, and Muradin was added to the team instead of the depressed Brann, who was shocked at his brother's "betrayal."
Thankfully, Alastor was able to appease the explorer by promising him that he would be amongst the first to travel up the World Ring after he and his team had checked it out and made sure it was safe.
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The group eventually came across a sizeable cave and used it as a temporary shelter and resting point, especially after they spotted an approaching frost storm heading toward their location.
Unlike snowstorms, frost storms were considered much more dangerous, as they were also infused with residual magic, mainly from the leylines.
This not only made their temperatures much colder but also gave them additional characteristics, such as frost shards, invasive freezing, and even Apparition creation, in which the magic would take the form of ice-like monstrosities or those that had previously died in Northrend.
These creatures were extremely violent and attacked anything living or anything that wasn't like them.
Alastor took some time to set up a barrier at the cave's entrance to keep the cold air out and conceal their body heat and life force, to which Frost Apparitions were particularly sensitive.
Once he was finished, Alastor sat down, and a phoenix aura surrounded him. Very quickly, the cave's interior gained a warm and toasty atmosphere.
Muradin and Rhonin almost moaned in pleasure as they laid out their sleeping bags and sat down on them.
"Thank the bloody Maker....."
"Yeah, it's fucking great to finally feel some heat—!"
Rhonin stopped as a sudden thought occurred to him. He snapped his head toward Alastor, who had also sat down with C35 floating beside him while Anduin rummaged through his bag.
"Wait a bloody damn minute. IS THAT WHY YOU AND ANDUIN WEREN'T FREEZING!?"
Rhonin had just realized that, with Alastor being a humanoid phoenix/demigod, it would have been easy for him to use his Phoenix aura to make sure he and Muradin wouldn't freeze.
That also explained why Alastor, C35, and Anduin had looked completely unaffected by the cold throughout their journey!
Muradin, who had brought out a bottle filled with ale, almost spat it out but managed not to.
You don't waste good ale!
He then gave Alastor a similarly shocked look.
"You didn't ask," Alastor shrugged, but the shit-eating grin on his face already made it obvious that he had definitely done this on purpose.
"FUCK YOU!" Rhonin and Muradin glared at him as Alastor only laughed harder, incensing them even further.
Anduin shook his head as he looked at three of the greatest heroes on the planet like a tired parent.
"C35, how much farther are we from our destination?"
When the other three heard what Anduin said, they stopped their roughhousing and also looked at the floating sphere.
"Not much farther. Approximately two hours and nine minutes of estimated travel time, taking into account the current travel speed."
Muradin sighed in relief.
"Good. That means we only need to endure this blasted cold for a little more than two hours after this Frost Storm passes."
"Don't you two worry. For the rest of the journey, I'll cover you both in my Phoenix aura so the cold doesn't bother you during the last stretch."
Hearing that, Muradin and Rhonin perked up, and their earlier frustration quickly dissipated.
"Hey, speaking of which, Al, can't you just—I don't know—scatter the storm with your Phoenix powers?" Rhonin curiously asked, only for Alastor to shake his head.
"Not how it works, Rhonin. For one, if I did something like that, I don't know what effect an opposing elemental power would have on the Northrend leylines."
Rhonin gulped at that, since even apprentice Magi knew that tampering with leylines was extremely risky and something only specialized high-ranking Magi or Archmagi could attempt.
Best-case scenario, you explode.
"Secondly, what I did previously on Azeroth and in the Realms of Chaos was when the Phoenix Force pseudo-possessed me. The power I displayed was a very small fraction of her power that she was able to transfer into our universe when she first made contact with it."
Muradin looked at him like he was mad.
"Small fraction!? You literally forced those Chaos cunts to run and then awoke the planet!"
"Yes." Alastor didn't deny it as he gave him a serious look. "That was a small fraction of the Phoenix Force's power."
Alastor still remembered what he had felt when his and the Phoenix's minds had melded together. In that moment, he had gotten a brief glimpse of the sheer might of the being who had chosen him.
The closest thing Alastor could compare the power he had felt at the end of their connection to was an endless ocean of fiery, cosmic power—power capable of creating, destroying, and remaking creation and life itself.
And because he had felt it, Alastor knew that the power he had exercised to defeat the Chaos Gods and awaken Azeroth's World Soul had truly been just a fraction of it.
Even then, the fact that he had been able to wield that power as effectively as he did was because the Phoenix had been actively helping him.
"I still have a connection with her, but since she's not a native of our plane of reality, much less our universe, she can't transfer power to me normally. At least, not without significant effort and possibly some consequences on her part."
Which led to Alastor's unique arrangement as her progeny. In fact, the incident was also a way to show Alastor what the power of the Phoenix could be capable of.
Alastor had to admit it was a nice incentive. While he would have to train his own powers to one day reach such levels, the payoff would be worth it.
(A/N: Sorry. Due to it being some time, I forgot if I mentioned this or not. In short, the "cheats" Alastor had were, in fact, his Phoenix powers, which manifested in such ways, with his Primarch nature also playing a part. The Phoenix purposely gave him a false memory of meeting an unknown god who gave him these abilities. This was done to add another possible failsafe, so other beings couldn't discover his true nature before the time came for the Phoenix to have her meeting with him.)
Nodding, the others shifted the conversation.
"I'm surprised you didn't invite your other lovers on this expedition. It's not exactly a simple thing."
Alastor sighed as he leaned back against the cave wall.
"It's not like I didn't want to, Muradin, but the thing is that, like the others, they aren't exactly free and have a lot of things to do in their own kingdoms and factions."
Rhonin coughed as he scratched his head.
"You can say that again. As busy as I was, from what I saw, Jaina was even more swamped with work than I was. Considering how Antonidas and the others were planning to restructure things, I can somewhat understand."
"Wait, restructuring?" Alastor looked at Rhonin in confusion.
"Yeah. You might not have heard about it at first, since it was only talk at that point, but the estimated number of new prospects was such that simply expanding the facilities wouldn't be the best long-term solution. So, a restructuring was agreed upon."
"It's not just them." Muradin also spoke seriously. "The Church has also been going through some major changes. Apparently, Azeroth's awakening affected those who use the Holy Light as well, and that wasn't even considering the Naaru and the effect they had on them."
"Every faction and kingdom on the planet is going through changes. Heck, even the Science Guilds," Anduin chimed in as he detached Quel'Zaram and placed it beside him.
"Whether due to the sudden changes caused by Azeroth's awakening, something else entirely, or simply realizing that they needed to make necessary changes to prepare themselves for the upcoming era and eventual expansion."
"If I may also interject, this is generally a good sign for civilization," C35 chimed in. "Tradition, while providing a grounded aspect to civilization, also requires a certain degree of evolution and adaptability."
"From my observations, the planet's populace, while stable, had been on the cusp of an all-encompassing revolution. With the reserves and resources available, the current state of affairs would lead to a beneficial cultural and technological revolution."
Everyone fell into contemplative silence.
Their world was still the same, but it was changing to accommodate the future they had won.
Anduin glanced outside.
"It's best we rest for now. The Frost Storm doesn't look like it will let up for a while, so we'd better rest our nerves before the storm passes and we finish the final stretch of the journey."
Everyone nodded at that as they all climbed into their enchanted sleeping bags.
You've gotta love magic, especially when it makes sleeping bags as comfortable as sleeping in a comfy bed.
No one had to keep watch, since the barrier would protect them from most possible dangers.
Even if someone tried to bypass or attack it, the barrier would immediately alert them.
Alastor saw C35 lay her spherical body on the cavern floor, ready to temporarily power down, only for him to grab her and put her beside him in his sleeping bag. Her blue optic "blinked" several times in bewilderment.
'For a robot, she has times where she's surprisingly emotional.'
Alastor thought this amusedly, wondering how a sphere could sometimes be so expressive.
"You're a companion. It wouldn't be right for you to lie on the floor when you're already guiding us."
C35 "blinked" up at Alastor, clearly not understanding his reasoning.
"You don't have to worry. My exterior is more than durable enough to withstand any superficial damage caused by the cavern's environment and structure."
"Oh, I know. But, like you, none of us have to worry about any lasting effects if we just lay on the floor. We still make ourselves comfortable."
"Not to mention, you've been helping us out," Rhonin added with a shrug. "No reason for us to act like asses by being indifferent."
"You and your kind saved my life," Muradin bluntly said. "That alone made you and your kin, friends in the eyes of the Dwarves."
"Honor dictates that a debt must be paid and friends treated as such," Anduin said with a nod as Alastor smiled down at her.
"We might not know much about you and your kin, but it's my hope that this will only be temporary and that we'll learn more about you and your kind. In turn, I hope that one day you'll see us as companions too."
After saying his piece, Alastor settled into his sleeping bag with C35 cradled in one of his arms.
Even though Alastor didn't necessarily need to sleep for long periods of time due to his Primarch physiology, he still did.
Not only did it help calm his mind and ease his worries, making him feel human, but it was also a good way to pass the time if nothing else was available.
Soon, Alastor, Anduin, Muradin, and Rhonin closed their eyes letting sleep overtake them.
C35 "blinked" her blue optic at them before looking at Alastor.
'Strange. Logic processes give a different conclusion, yet...'
Strangely, C35 felt unknown "glitches" in her internal parameters. However, she found that they weren't threatening in any way. Still, they were not something that existed within her programming.
Deciding that, since they were not harmful, they were not important enough to devise countermeasures for, she nevertheless decided that she would investigate them in her own time.
Finally, her blue optic dimmed as she entered a hibernation state beside Alastor.
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(Small Spoiler for the next chapter.)
"My lord... my name is Connor."
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