VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 21: Drumbeat of four

More and more mana was stuffed into the pin hole sized container Belladonna had formed between her lungs. It burned in her chest, growing hotter and hotter. She could feel her heart beating, hear it pulsating in her ears like a hammer pounding over and over.

It was beating fast, faster than she had ever heard it beating before. It was beating so fast, that she could almost swear it was like she had two hearts beating inside her chest, beating a drum beat of four.

Bit by bit, trickle by trickle, grain by grain, Belladonna forced the mana into the point. No matter how much it resisted or how much it burned she kept going. Even as more and more slipped from her grasp and only made the pounding headache worse for reasons she couldn’t explain, Belladonna kept going.

Even when it felt like her progress had regressed, she kept going. Forcing the mana into the singular spot, her singular source, until finally the pin head simply couldn’t take anymore.

In a single moment, all the effort she had put in came to fruition as it simply stopped accepting the mana. It didn’t harden into a crystal, like the one she had absorbed, nor did it burn her anymore. In fact it rapidly cooled in an instant.

It was simply... there, as if it had always been there, no longer accepting any more mana like a cup that was filled to the brim.

Belladonna slowly breathed in, letting the air fill her lungs to the brim, before breathing it all out in a sigh of relief. Hints of mana sprinkling out and twinkling in the air as she took her first breathe as a new woman.

Something about it simply made her feel complete. As if this was the way she was supposed to be. But she wasn’t done just yet, as the wizard’s voice tickled her ear again and somehow overcame the deafening pounding of her heart.

"Good... Good. You’ve filled your source, completed its formation. Now it’s time to put it to use. Take what you have collected, take from the source, and awaken your potential. Feed it into your heart, and let it fill your blood with your own power."

Without opening her eyes, Belladonna nodded and did as he instructed, unable to see the rune on the back of her neck which was still glowing brightly. Her senses dipped into her newly formed source, the well-spring of power within her body, and slowly started to pull out its power.

She imagined it like a spool of twine, that she was simply taking a single thread from. Not enough to unravel it, but gently feeding a line of that mystical thread from her source and into her heart.

With every pounding beat of her heart, her body began to feel warm once more. It filled her veins and spread to every part of her, from the tips of her fingers to the ends of her toes. She could feel it in her eyes, her lips, her ears. Every where that blood pumped, that warmth soon spread.

Her muscles started to seize up as behind her closed eyelids, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Every muscle tensed and clenched, as she started to spasm slightly as the power within her changed the formation of her blood and awakened the latent power hidden within.

***

"Sir, SIR! She’s seizing! This... This is too soon isn’t it? Even the Alpha subjects weren’t this advanced. Should we pull the plug?"

All of the scientists gathered in the observation room were all staring at one singular man. But this man kept silent, watching a screen in front of him with narrowed eyes and a complicated expression on his face.

His mouth was twisted into a frown that seemed more irritated and concerned, as the screen he was staring at depicted a young woman with shrivelled legs convulsing and seizing on a rather comfortable looking chair.

A group of nurses surrounded her, keeping her in check and safe, such as making sure she didn’t rip the IV from her arm. There was a strange air of calm that surrounded these nurses as they worked, a calm that extended beyond simple professionalism and delved into the realm of apathy.

The man that everyone was looking to glared at the screen with the same apathetic annoyance. Multiple other screens showed the various readings her body was giving off, such as heart rate, neural activity and blood pressure. None of which were in healthy ranges.

Yet none of that was what he was caring about. It was what the machines failed to pick up on, the small thing tingling at his senses, that annoyed him.

The man clicked his tongue and let out an irate sigh, before finally turning to the scientist that had been addressing him. The poor scientist looked like he was ready to collapse and have a panic attack if he didn’t receive his orders soon.

With a chillingly emotionless voice, the man in charge simply said,

"What about the other exceptional subjects? Any unusual readings?"

The scientist frowned and paled for a moment, confused by the tangent, before one of his colleagues spoke up. A woman with blonde hair pulled back in a bun.

"Some increased bio-readings, with one in particular standing out. But none are on this level sir."

The leader narrowed his eyes and silently processed the information, before speaking again. Not bothering to look at the male scientist even though he was finally giving him a reply.

"Don’t pull it. Not immediately. Give a five minute warning for everyone to wrap up their business. It seems this beta test has encountered a few unexpected bugs."

The scientist sighed in relief and nodded quickly, relating the orders to the concerned parties who quickly obeyed without a second thought.

***

After a minute of convulsing, Belladonna’s body finally relaxed as the warmth in her blood faded away. She wobbled slightly where she sat, feeling mentally exhausted yet physically invigorated at the same time, which only made her feel even worse.

She was about to slump forwards, when a hand clamped on her shoulder and kept her sitting up straight. The Wizard smiled softly, waving his hand again as the runic symbol on the back of Belladonna’s neck stopped glowing before fading away entirely, as if it had never been there to begin with.

The crystal on the back of Belladonna’s hand pulsed softly before a projection appeared above her palm, not caring that said crystal was facing the opposite way.

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Warning to all Players! This is your 5 minute warning. Please find a safe place to log out before the time has elapsed.

Subsequent loss of items, levels or other such advancements will not be the responsibility of the Rift Diver Games should you fail to follow these instructions adequately.

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Unfortunately, Belladonna was breathing softly having fallen into a light sleep to allow her mind to recover and did not see the message so helpfully projected in front of her. However the Wizard behind her did.

He glanced at the message with annoyance and, with a simple wave of his hand, the message box glitched for a moment. Not just for Belladonna, but for all players.

The message had barely been shown for a second before it altered itself before their very eyes,

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Warning to all Players! This is your 65 minute warning. Please find a safe place to log out before the time has elapsed.

Subsequent loss of...

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Most of the players shrugged it off, considering it either a glitch or simply a mis-type from the person in charge of delivering the message. Regardless of what it had said before, the message was soon replaced by a timer that started counting down. Giving them exactly an hour and 5 minutes to follow its instructions.

Satisfied with himself, the counting clock disappeared as the wizard nodded his head softly. He reached into his pocket, taking out a golden coin that shimmered in the light of the lake before speaking out loud, seemingly to no one at all as the only one around was asleep.

"Bring her inside, would you please. Oh, and don’t forget about her belongings. We wouldn’t want any of those to go missing now, would we?"

He flicked the coin into the air, watching it flip high above his head before starting to fall when it reached its peak. He turned his eyes away at that moment, starting to walk and not bothering to listen for the coin landing.

It would have been a waste of time, as it never did. Where there should have been the sound of coin plopping softly into water, there was simply silence. A moment later, Belladonna’s body flopped backwards and began to float slightly above the waters surface, as she followed behind the wizard along with her bag, which floated beside her like a trailing puppy.

As she followed, her eyes were still closed tight, as soft snores escaped her lips.