Chapter 1082: Ruins of Lordaeron (Second Update)
Clearing out the quests in the newbie zone wasn’t too troublesome. Although there were a few quests that required traveling a bit farther, all three of them were busy and working with great enthusiasm.
The gameplay experience in the newbie zone was actually quite good. The quests were varied in type, all concentrated near the starting area, making them easy to complete, and leveling up in the early stages was fast.
Old P originally didn’t want to spend a single extra minute in the Undead’s newbie zone, but he couldn’t bear to break the quest chain midway. As a result, he kept going and ended up at level 19…
There was no helping it. In *World of Warcraft*, quests often came in long chains. As soon as you finished one, you’d immediately get the next. For players with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, seeing yellow exclamation marks on the map was just too irritating.
During the leveling process, Old P was also constantly learning new skills, like Fire Blast, Frost Nova, and Conjure Food and Water. He had swapped out quite a bit of his gear too. The later equipment started to include green items. Although the stats weren’t great, at least they were green gear.
Old P felt very satisfied and sighed with emotion: “See, MMORPGs really are easier to get addicted to.”
In fact, compared to other games like *League of Legends* and *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds*, MMORPGs had a very clear advantage: they were accumulative.
During the time Old P had been playing, he had cleared out the quests in Deathknell and Brill and interacted with the NPCs there. Everything around him constantly reminded Old P of his Undead identity. As a Mage, he also had skills like Polymorph and Fireball. The overall world-building and class skill design made the game’s immersion and sense of presence absolutely top-notch.
Moreover, while clearing quests, Old P could see many other players. The number of players wasn’t huge, so there wasn’t any frantic competition for mobs, but he often ran into people doing the same quests. Sometimes, when they met at an inn, they could sit down together and chat.
Old P was already teamed up with Lin Xue and Zou Zhuo, so he didn’t plan on grouping with anyone else. But he was well aware that even for those playing solo, making good friends in the game was very easy. You’d never feel lonely.
“You guys are almost level 20 too, right? I’m just about done clearing the quests here. I’m getting ready to head over and find you,” Old P said in the party channel.
Zou Zhuo was completely baffled: “Damn, how are you so fast? I’m only level 17… I still have several quests left to finish.”
Old P was speechless: “Alright, fine. I’ll take a stroll around the Undercity first, then catch a zeppelin to Orgrimmar to find you guys.”
Zou Zhuo said, “We’re not in Orgrimmar either!”
Old P: “…I know. I’ll go to Orgrimmar first, then we’ll meet up at the Crossroads. Around level 20, we should be able to run Wailing Caverns, right?”
Fortunately, *I Am MT* had essentially served as a newbie textbook for *World of Warcraft*, so all three of them knew that at this level, they could go try out a dungeon. While leveling, Old P had passed by the zeppelin tower and made a point to check out the zeppelin to Orgrimmar.
But he wasn’t in a hurry to go to Orgrimmar just yet. He had two quests that needed to be turned in at the Undercity. Sticking to the principle of not wasting anything, he planned to check out the Undercity first before meeting up with Zou Zhuo and the others.
Old P had never been to the Undercity before.
The Undercity was the fourth major city added to *Oasis*, following Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and Ironforge. But back then, Old P hadn’t been very interested in the Undercity, so he hadn’t looked into it.
Now, since it was on the way, he decided to feast his eyes and see the throne where Lordaeron’s most filial son had once slain his father.
In fact, back in *Warcraft III*, there was a dedicated cinematic showing this very plot, which had caused quite a stir at the time. The young prince returned home in triumph, and the people of Lordaeron scattered flower petals to welcome him—only to be met with a massacre.
The magnificent royal city lay before him. Old P followed the main road through the city gates, looking around.
It had indeed become a ruin.
Like the surrounding environment, the city gate area felt cold and eerie. The severely damaged broken walls and crumbling ruins bore witness to the suffering this place had endured. Yet the remaining main structures were still grand, offering a glimpse of the former glory of the Kingdom of Lordaeron.
After all, the entire Kingdom of Lordaeron had once ruled over a vast expanse of land in the northern part of the Eastern Kingdoms.
Passing through the square at the main entrance of the Lordaeron ruins and crossing the drawbridge, Old P officially entered the Lordaeron royal city.
The square was even more heavily damaged, with rubble everywhere. The grand palaces on either side had long been abandoned, empty and desolate. Scattered throughout the square were various graves and tombstones, and it felt as if the whispers of restless spirits still echoed in the air.
“This should be the drawbridge that Arthas once walked across, right? Damn, why is the moat full of green water? So disgusting.”
Entering the royal city through the two small side gates, Old P saw a large bell behind the main gate, which had apparently fallen from a high bell tower. On the walls on either side were many human reliefs, but some were damaged, and others were covered in climbing vines. Clearly, no one here cared about them.
Passing through the bell tower and a long, narrow walkway, Old P saw the throne.
The resplendent hall made Old P feel as if he were seeing the cinematic from *Warcraft III*. Beneath the solitary throne in the center, faint traces of dried blood could still be seen.
Old P looked around to make sure no one was watching, then went over and sat on the throne for a moment. But he quickly felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly got off.
Walking through the side door behind the throne, Old P saw a coffin.
The tombstone on the coffin clearly stated that this was the coffin of King Terenas.
“Here lies the last king of Lordaeron, Terenas Menethil II.”
“His life was filled with countless great deeds, and his fall is a cause for deep regret.”
“May the father forgive his son for all that he has done. May the blood-stained crown be forever lost and forgotten.”
Old P also felt a wave of emotion, because he knew that the old king did not rest here in peace. In fact, his ashes had been stolen by Arthas. Yet, after the Undead took over the ruins of Lordaeron, they had actually preserved this place intact. He wondered what their intent was. Was it irony? Or did they simply not care about the above-ground part of the Undercity?
Old P realized he was a bit lost. He circled the coffin twice and found himself back outside again…
He had to walk through the whole path again before he noticed that at the other end was the elevator to the Undercity. He needed to take the elevator to enter the underground part of the Lordaeron ruins.
Old P cheerfully took a step forward, only to suddenly feel the ground disappear beneath his feet.
“What the hell?! What is this?!”