AZO-Azeroth Online 2

"Teach you?" parroted a surprised Kirito, eyebrow quirked in bemused intrigue at the Worgen before him.

"Yeah, I mean, you're one of the beta-testers, right?" The werewolf was dressed in similar Warrior attire to his own, with a few customary additions that Kirito could only assume he'd purchased from the vendor NPCs in the «Trade District». The one that stood out, however, was the red headband cinched tightly across his forehead, mirroring the slight reddish tint of his fur. Because of the height difference, the sight of a ferocious worgen with its head bowed and hands clasped in a pleading manner to a human nearly a head or two shorter than him was quite laughable, though Kirito had the tact not to offer anything more insulting than a subtle smirk.

"Yeah, that's right, why?" The young gamer crossed his arms as the worgen broke his begging posture and placed a hand on his shoulders.

"Then we can help each other out, that's why!" The ginger werewolf flashed him a toothy grin, jerking a thumb at his chest as he did. "You can teach me how to use the new NerveGear... geared, combat engine, and I can show you some of the better hunting spots around here where we can practice 'em! They're great for grinding and getting more XP, especially at our levels just starting out."

Now that got Kirito's attention. He'd been a beta-tester after all, so he should've known where the best spots to level up were in the game. And yet, this guy was saying there were some places he'd overlooked? But that would mean... He took another look at the character name floating over his furred companion's head and his suspicions were confirmed, not to mention his curiosity was piqued. The text was a royal blue, indicating he was one of the veteran Alliance players that had pre-ordered AZO through battle-net and been allowed to port his characters and guild membership over to the virtual edition to Warcraft, albeit with stats at the same level as the new-comers, so there was no real segregation between players. It read:

«Klein»

«Fellowship of the Crimson Fang»

'Hmm... This might be worth checking out.' Kirito pondered Klein's offer for a moment, debating whether or not to humor the ginger-furred Worgen. 'Not only will I get a leg up on the other players and level up faster, but I can dig up some tips I can give Argo for that guidebook she said she was cooking up for the new players back in the beta. Besides,' he glanced back up at the smiling wolfman, that good-nature of his incredibly infectious if the smile on Kirito's own face was any indication, 'He seems like an okay guy. And a little guided tour couldn't hurt, especially if it's by someone who knows the area.'

"Alright, count me in," Kirito agreed, opening his menu to invite Klein into their two-man party, setting the loot divvy up to "free-for-all," just to be fair. If Klein's avatar had a tail, he was almost certain it would be wagging with how happy the guy looked as he accepted the invite and the prompt appeared in their field of vision. Kirito offered his hand and introduced himself to his new friend, and Klein took it in his large paw as he did the same. It took a second for that fact to sink in, but for the first time since the beta began, Kirito had opened himself up to someone other than family. The first had been Argo, and now, his friends list had grown by one name. There was something... Comforting, about that, for some reason.

"Okay, let's get to it then!" Klein headed off in the direction opposite where Kirito had been running earlier when the worgen had stopped him, puzzling the human warrior for a moment before his canine compatriot realized he was lagging behind. "Come on man, hurry it up! The ferry's not gonna wait all day."

Growing more and more confused by the second, Kirito hastily sprinted to catch up with the much faster Klein, who loped ahead of him through throngs of players and NPCs alike. "Ferry? What ferry? To where?"

Klein looked over his shoulder at his fellow warrior, barely keeping up with his lupine stride. "«Darkshore», of course." Another grin full of pointed teeth and a thumbs-up. "The beaches around «Auberdine» spawn crabs like crazy, so it's a great place for hunting and gaining XP."

Shaking his head, Kirito couldn't help but feel the same amount of excitement his new furry friend was radiating at the moment. Sure, he was just as anxious to play the real game now as he had been after the beta had closed, but for someone like Klein, who had been playing for a long time, being able to finally see and experience a place you had only gotten to move a few keystrokes in by proxy, to actually be there in person? It had to be a major rush. Maybe that's how all the veteran players felt when they logged in for the first time?

Either way, with a new burst of energy, Kirito pushed himself faster as he caught up with the worgen and they made for the «Stormwind Harbor», the Night Elf territory of Darkshore as their destination.

Time: 5:17pm.

Location: AZO, «Azure Watch».

Squelch!

"Screeeeee-!"

(1) With that screeching protest, another «Timberstrider» fell to the ground in defeat with an audible "thud," a wicked-looking throwing dagger imbedded in its head. Panting heavily, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth like... Well, like a worgen, Klein relaxed his «Battle Stance» and sheathed his sword before stooping down to loot the massive bird's corpse. Apparently this thing had taken to eating travelers that came to close to the «Moongraze Woods» around the Draenei settlement of «Azure Watch», if the considerable amount of copper coins he'd found in its stomach were anything to go off. There were a couple of inconsequential grey items it had dropped, but Klein knew better than to stuff his inventory with something he wouldn't need later, and pocketed the copper. As he watched the money split between himself and Kirito, the sounds of his fellow warrior's scuffle continued.

"Hey," called the worgen over his shoulder as he rose to his feet and dusted off his trousers, "This guy's got nothing worth looting on him- except the cash, that is- you want any help?"

Behind him, Kirito struggled to push the «Infected Nightstalker Runt» off him, pinned under the cat's huge frame as it snarled and snapped at him.

"I got it!" Bringing his legs up, Kirito kicked the mutant cat in the gut with all his strength, sending the creature reeling backward as he scrambled hastily to his feet.

Dropping back into his own «Battle Stance», a rush of empowering rage flooded Kirito's body as the two circled one another, warily watching their opponent as they waited for one to make the first move. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, predatory instinct and the mind-shredding side-effects of ingested Exodar crystals won out, and the Runt leapt at him with a snarl. Ready to move as well, Kirito followed the same advice he'd given Klein a few short hours earlier back at Auberdine.

'Concentrate on the ability you want to use, as naturally as if you knew it in real life. Make the initial motion. Hold it for a sec, and then just as you feel it activate,' Kirito's eyes narrowed and his feet shifted as though he were about to push off. His whole body had a light glow to it as he lowered his sword so that it was level with the ground at his side. 'Drive it home!'

The Runt had barely closed the distance between them when Kirito suddenly shot forward with a fierce battle-cry and all the speed he could muster, driving the sword into the big cat's side and slashing with all he had in him. Skidding to a stop, sword outstretched in front of him, the glow left his body as «Victory Rush» deactivated. A gurgling death-roar behind him confirmed the kill as the Infected Runt collapsed heavily to the forest floor. Catching his breath as the ability's healing side-effect took hold, Kirito sheathed his sword and turned to retrieve his kill, but not before high-fiving Klein, the worgen sporting a proud smile at his friend's victory.

"Nice work, man." Klein sat down on the hillside as Kirito went to work collecting his share from the Runt. "Bet you're glad we picked up those quests earlier instead of sticking to hunting, huh?"

"Definitely." Kirito smiled earnestly as he retrieve an ample amount of cash from the Runt, along with a small «Faintly Glowing Crystal», which he let go, having finished that quest for «Exarch Menelaous» at least an hour earlier. "Great «Throw», by the way." He gestured to the fallen Timberstrider as it started to fade into pixels. "Caught the bastard right between the eyes with that one. Very impressive for someone on their first FullDive."

Klein grinned at that, reclining in the grass as his human friend joined him at his side. "Hey, come on, man. I wouldn't even know how to do half the stuff we've learned today without your help."

"No kidding," joked Kirito with a chuckle, earning him a playful punch in the arm from his worgen companion.

"I'm serious, bro. I can't thank you enough for helping me out with this." His hand drifted to the sword at his hip, grin widening as he closed his fingers around the grip. "You were right though, it is kind of addictive, being able to move your body and fight for real."

"Told you, and it only gets better the further you level up."

"Oh yeah?" Klein quirked an eyebrow at his friend. "And how far did you make it in the beta?"

Kirito shrugged dismissively. "No further than Level 39, to be honest."

"Still, all things considered, that's not half bad for someone who's never played before, especially on this level of immersion." Klein pushed himself to his feet and worked out the kinks in one of his shoulders, if only for show, since he hadn't really strained anything in the game. "I don't remember it taking this long to complete quests and level up at this stage in the original version of WoW."

"That's because here, we have to do all the walking and fighting ourselves, instead of by proxy through our avatars," Kirito explained as he flexed his hands at his side, still marveling at how real it felt. "Here, we get to live the adventure, experience the world of Azeroth first hand, and every second of effort we put into it makes it that much more rewarding when we finally move further in the game."

"I'll say." Klein scanned the setting sun on the horizon of «Azuremyst Isle» with a nostalgic look in his eye, the beautiful forest of Moongraze stretched out before him with the towering visage of the draenei capital looming large in the distance against the reddening skyline. "I mean, we're inside a game, bro!" He placed a hand on Kirito's shoulder and shook it lightly, as if doing so would pass on his enthusiasm, and in a sense, it kind of worked. "And not just any game, but the game. The MMO to end all MMOs! Even being here, it still blows me away."

"Sounds like you've been waiting for this for some time."

"You know it, man!" Klein continued talking as they headed back towards «Azure Watch» just up the hill, that far-away look on his face as they continued. "When I was a kid, my mom introduced me to the original WoW when we went to the U.S. on one of her business trips. She's been a player since before she moved to Japan and married my dad, and whenever she talked about it, it was like... Like she had this life about her that wasn't there before. When I sat down and played it myself, I finally got what she'd been talking about. And now, finally being here, in the game, on Azeroth for real? It's just amazing! Makes me glad I was born when I was, you know?" Realizing he'd said to much, Klein apologized and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry man, didn't mean to give you the whole "backstory treatment" right off the bat."

"Hey, no worries, man," Kirito reassured him as they made it to the checkpoint outside the settlement. "I totally get what you're talking about though. I've been into computers and MMOs ever since I was a kid, but for some reason, I never quite got around to playing the original WoW. So, when the chance came to beta AZO, I caved and decided to see what the hype was all about. After my first couple quests, I finally understood what everyone had been going on about all this time." At this, Kirito unsheathed his sword and began inspecting the blade wistfully, as though it were an extension of his very soul. "From then on, AZO was all I could think about, day and night. Here, it doesn't matter what class you pick, what race you belong to, what way you choose to play. In this world, anything from a simple sword to a mere word whispered in earnest, can take you on the adventure of a lifetime. And even though this is a virtual world, I feel more alive here than I ever did IRL."

Klein smiled knowingly, fangs gleaming in the evening light as his friend sheathed his blade once more. "So, you wanna do some more ques-"

Groooowwwllll-gle

Both players paused for a second at the audible grumbling of the worgen's stomach, before bursting into a fit of chuckles. "Guess we should probably put a pin in that idea," reasoned a slightly embarrassed Klein, "at least until I get back from demolishing that pizza I ordered earlier."

"Too bad the food in-game doesn't sate real-world hunger, huh?" Kirito patted the leather pouch at his side he'd gotten from one of the vendors in Stormwind's «Trade District» earlier in the day, remembering the snacks he'd picked up from «Odyseus' Landing» on Azuremyst's shoreline.

"I hear that, and that's why I called ahead for a delivery at 5:30pm!"

"Nice, way to think ahead."

"Thanks, bro. Besides, the game'll still be here after I eat, right?"

"... Yeah, that's true," Kirito conceded somewhat disappointedly. He'd been looking forward to hanging out with his new friend for at least an hour and a half more, until his family's dinner was normally set. 'Still, I guess that's just life. Getting in the way of something you'd much rather be doing, like having fun.'

"Hey, man." Klein placed a hand on Kirito's shoulder, bringing the warrior out of his thoughts. "After dinner, I was planning to go meet up with some friends from the guild. I don't know what you're up to after this, but you're more than welcome to come and hang with us if you want. I mean, after all you've taught me today, it's the least I could do to pay you back. Besides, I'm sure the guys would love to have a new member in the guild." Seeing Kirito pause for a moment, his face a mask of doubt, the worgen quickly backpedaled the conversation a bit, realizing his offer to join a guild so early in the game, especially after just meeting, was probably a little imposing. "No, it's cool if you don't want to, no pressure or anything. Just thought you might like some company leveling up is all. I can always introduce you to them another time or something."

"Yeah, sorry." A slow nod of appreciation. "Thanks anyway though."

"Hey, come on, that's what friends are for, right?" Klein flashed another grin at that, offering the young gamer his hand. "Guess I'll... see you around then."

Kirito smiled softly, accepting the worgen's larger paw and shaking it firmly. "Yeah, feel free to message me if there's anything you want to know about the NerveGear."

"Sweet, I'll do that, and you be sure to message me if there's ever anything you want to know about Warcraft in general... Or if you need any items later on." Klein adjusted his wristguards slightly, the smile of a schemer spreading across his toothy maw. "I'm gonna level up my Blacksmithing soon, so I'll be able to make you some cool stuff, once I get the right recipes and blueprints."

That agreement settled on, Klein gave Kirito one last wave before calling up the main menu interface with an audible chime, swiping the air with his pinched thumb and index finger. However, just as Kirito turned to find the settlement's flight-master and head back to Stormwind...

"What the hell?" Klein wondered aloud, causing Kirito to turn back. "Where'd the log-out button go?

"It should be on the main menu," advised the beta-tester, readying to pull up his own interface to confirm if the same thing was happening to him as well, or not.

"... Nope. It's not there."

"It should be at the bottom-!?" A small seed of worry began to take root in Kirito's mind as he opened his menu, only to confirmed upon finding that his log-out option was also gone.

"See, it's not there."

"No, you're right, it's not." Kirito's eyes narrowed at the blank spot on his main menu, mentally kicking himself for not checking the system's basic elements before doing anything in the game. He'd just gotten so caught up in exploring and questing, he'd totally written it off as something the programmers and admins would've made 100% sure was working before even allowing the game to go to mass market. How could've been so stupid?! Still, that didn't matter now, not if what his gut was telling him was anything to go off. Something was very wrong here, and it wasn't just a menu glitch.

"Eh, no sweat," Klein reassured him, his voice betraying an equally shaken man beneath the carefree facade. "The game's what, a whole day out of beta? There's bound to be more than its fair share of bugs. Hell, even the original WoW wasn't without it's glitches back in the day. I'll bet the admins are freakin' out right now, scrambling to find out what's going on. Monkeys and typewriters, you know? Hehehehehe." That nervous laugh only further cemented his unease.

Which was quickly replaced with juvenile panic at the sight of the clock in his vision's HUD. It read 17:25 in military time, almost 5:30pm by his count. And that meant...

"NOOOOO! God damnit!" Klein raved, pulling at his furred head in exasperation, fighting back the urge to vent his frustration with an animalistic howl befitting his avatar. "My teriyaki-mayo pizza and ginger ale!"

"Hey man, calm down," Kirito reasoned hands raised in an attempt to placate his panicking friend. "Why don't we try contacting the GM? I'm sure they'll have way more info on what's going on than we will at this point."

Thankfully, his reasoning got through to the veteran Wowhead, and Klein stopped freaking out, though he still seemed a bit tense. "If you mean "GM" as in "Guild Master," you're looking at him," he joked rather poorly. "But if you mean AZO's Game Master, I tried giving him a ring while you were checking out your menu, and... Well, see for yourself."

Kirito moved to peer over Klein's shoulder- or around it as the case were, seeing as the worgen was much taller than him. Sure enough, the dropdown menu-tab for the Game Master was open, and the prompt read "Calling," with a little cellphone tower icon that repeated itself on a loop. Waiting for a good minute, nothing happened, and to Kirito, that was definitely not a good sign.

"Hey, you're the expert with NerveGear right?" Kirito tilted his head up at the worgen's question. "Do you know if there's another way to logout?"

The younger player's face turned grim, unsettling Klein even further, though he did his best to hide it. However, his pointed ears flattening against his head and the slight whimpering growing in his throat gave him away. "No, there isn't. Whenever a player wants to logout of AZO, the menu is the only way they can do it. No "Return" option, no "Escape Key," nothing. There isn't even an emergency logout in the menu, or listed in the game's manual either." Klein slowly started to lift his hands to his head, but stopped when Kirito shook his head discouragingly. "Don't bother, the NerveGear works by using a high-density microwave transceiver in the rig's interface to block signals to the rest of your nervous system, preventing you from moving around IRL while you play. Once you're hooked in, you're pretty much in a catatonic state until you logout, or someone on the outside removes it for you."

"But... I live alone," Klein sounded even more worried than before at that. "You?"

"My folks are at work, so they left me to hold down the fort, and my kid sister left for kendo practice hours ago." Kirito rubbed his arm nervously. "But I'm sure they'll notice I'm not back by the time Mom has dinner ready for us."

"Man, this is too weird." Klein's free hand instinctively went for his sword, tightening around the grip as he scrolled through the menu in search of the "Guild Chat" option. "I wonder if anyone else is dealing with this. Do you think the developers even know what's going on?"

Kirito shrugged. "If they did, they'd have made an announcement already, and probably shut down the server to log us all out."

Just as Klein was about to open the chat, the menu abruptly snapped closed with a sharp pinging sound, causing him to take a step back in shock. Before Kirito had time to ask what happened, both of them began to glow with a bizarre blue energy, crystalline sounds tinking through the air like ice breaking apart. And then, the world around them vanished in a burst of white light-

(2) Only to reappear once more when it faded, leaving the two even more confused than before at the sight around them. The tranquil woods of «Azuremyst Isle» had disappeared, giving way to a towering complex that rose up around them on all sides. In front of them was a massive staircase, leading up to a spectacular palace that bore the signature architecture and designs of imperial China. Further beyond the imposing castle stood a tall mountain range, and standing in groves surrounding the structure in which they found themselves were beautiful cherry blossom trees. As the evening breeze drifted gently through the branches, small pink petals were freed and danced gaily in the air.

The peaceful setting was a stark contrast to the storm of befuddlement that had grown within both Kirito and Klein, which only grew in intensity as they saw they weren't the only ones to be pulled away from their gameplay to this strange place. All around them, more and more blue lights appeared and then flickered out, leaving behind a startled player in their wake until the entire courtyard was filled with them, each looking about for some explanation as to why they were brought here. Had Kirito the time and ability, he would've ventured that every single player in AZO had been brought here. Some stood in the stone courtyard, others on the rooftops of adjacent pavilions, some sat on the railings around the reflecting pool and fountains, and there were even players sitting atop the great Shíshī guardian statues.

"Someone forced a teleport," Kirito surmised as he followed his fellow gamer's example and looked around for an answer, finding only more confusion as he did. He could hear snippets of conversations and exclamations around him.

"What's going on?"

"Is this a World Event?"

"Maybe they're going to make an announcement about that bug?"

"I don't like this..."

"What the Hell? I had a quest to turn in! Someone better reimburse me for those items I lost, damnit."

"Just where are we anyway?"

"I know this place." Klein's voice broke Kirito out of his trance, regarding his worgen friend with a quizzical look. Realization spread across Klein's muzzle from his nose to his ears, which -while still flat against his head- now accompanied raised hackles across the back of his neck, belying agitation. "Yeah, I remember it from the original. This is «Mogu'shan Palace»! My guild and I did a raid here a while back, took us hours to finish. But why bring us here? None of us are anywhere near the level you need to make it through this dungeon, much less even be in this part of «Pandaria» yet." Sensing his young comrade's gaze, Klein turned to explain himself. "«The Vale of Eternal Blossoms» isn't a place for leveling or grinding. It's only a subzone for dungeons like this one, and it's one of the highest from the Mists of Pandaria expansion before Warlords of Draenor was released. So, why-?!"

Just as he opened his mouth to give the best attempt at an answer he could, Kirito froze. As did every other player around him when they noticed what he had.

His breath was misting.

From what he had read on Pandaria from veteran gamers on battle-net's forums and other beta-testers who had explored the realm, the island nation had a fairly temperate climate that- like other realms in AZO- was constantly kept in check by the system's real-time weather and seasonal simulation software. Right now, even though it was November in the real world, Pandaria shouldn't be experiencing temperatures low enough to cause this phenomenon, save at higher elevations, like in the mountains.

A steady clanking noise drew Kirito's attention, his head turning with everyone else' in its direction. Audible gasps of shock and fear could be heard, and more than once he saw someone take a step back in disbelief at what they were seeing. Beside him, Klein switched from confused anger to primal fear, frozen on the spot as his avatar's animal instincts took over again and whimpering could be heard. Amongst the crowd, several other experienced worgen began to follow his example.

"No way," breathed the ginger werewolf in awestruck fear. "That's... That's impossible. How? How is He here?!"

The man in question strode through the crowd with his head held high and his steady gait full of purpose as players parted to allow him passage, like the Red Sea before Moses. However, Kirito knew by this man's appearance that he was anything but a benevolent prophet. He was dressed from head to toe in pale bluish-grey armor, spikes jutting from the shoulder-pads and gauntlets wickedly. His knees were gird in metal skulls, leading into furred boots that ended in metal sabatons. A dark blue cape billowed behind him as he walked, the very ground frosting over with ice with every step he took. Upon his head was a great helmet, spikes at the top reaching skyward like the spires of a metal crown, a jewel embedded on the forehead between his eyes, which constantly glowed an unearthly blue.

In his hand was a great sword, a series of glyphs inscribed on the metal blade, which gleamed menacingly in the dim light. On the hilt was a demonic-looking ram's skull, horns curved over the crossguard possessively.

High overhead, the silence was broken by a cackling bout of laughter and a rush of wind. The players looked up as one to behold a figure as it swooped down on huge, leathery batwings to buzz them, headed for the steps as the armored man before him. Once his companion reached the first terrace in the staircase, just high enough that he stood above the players like a god looking down on mankind from a great throne, the winged figure landed. He was tall and lithe, chiseled torso bared for the world to see, inscribed with tribal tattoos of elven origin. The elf-image continued with a pair of leather trousers that stopped at the ankles to reveal goatish, cloven hooves. Eyes burning green with sick pleasure, he looked out over the crowd of players and giggled madly. Jutting from his brow were a pair of curved horns, to mirror the katar he held in either hand, serrated blades extending from the sides

KRU-CHYNG!

The ringing sound of metal biting stone shook the players from their daze as the malefic visage before them dug his sword into the stone of the terrace, his demon counterpart rising from the crouch he had landed in to stand beside him with wings folded, licking his lips. As the players stared at the duo, a booming voice issued from the faceless countenance of the armored man.

"Attention! Heroes of the Alliance, Warriors of the Horde. Players one and all." A sinister smile could be heard in his tone as he continued. "I am Akihiko Kayaba, head programmer and creator of AZO." A turn of the hand gestured to his horned companion, who dramatically flared his wings once more, as if to punctuate and burn his image in their minds. "And this is my associate, Nobuyuki Sugou, head of Blizzard Entertainment's FullDive R&D Department."

"However," Kayaba returned his hands to the pommel of his sword. "From here onwards, you may refer to me as «The Lich King», and Nobuyuki-san as «Illidan Stormrage» of «The Dark Scourge», your new opponents in AZO."

Kayaba spread his arms wide theatrically, cape snapping about ominously behind him.

"Welcome, to my world. As of this moment, We are in control!"