VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 32: Chain Quest
As Belladonna strode through the forests once more, she raised her hand as the crystal on the back of it glowed brightly, displaying the details of her latest quest.
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Secret Chain Quest: Awaken Thy Potential, Part 2
Your proclivity for the mystic arts has impressed the Great Wizard, who has deemed you ready for the next step. Travel to the cave in the west and claim a fragment of the mystical stone that grows within its bowels.
Return this crystal to the Wizard, and your worth will have been proven. Beware, for the cave itself is guarded. The power that must be taken, must first be earned.
Reward: Unique Class Unlock
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It seemed simple enough, but that had been a recurring theme with this Wizard. ’Come to the lake in the forest’ ’Walk over to me’ ’Use this new skill without being punched in the face by my demon man servant.’
He always presented his missions and tasks as if they were as simple as they sounded, and they never were. There were always tricks, deceptions, ravenous wolves or demon fists flying towards her face. It was never, ever simple.
But... in some strange way, she kinda liked it that way. If her missions told her exactly what to expect, then where was the fun of discovery? Who in existence liked having a puzzle interrupted by your oh-so helpful companion to tell you the answer after five seconds?
No-one, that’s who. Well... she could probably think of one streamer who might like it, but Lox didn’t matter in the slightest right now.
The fact that this mission had given her so many details, while still remaining vague and unhelpful, was slightly worrying. If the quest had gone out of its way to warn her that there was going to be a guardian, then it could only mean that it was going to be an incredibly dangerous one.
Yet for some reason, her heart was beginning to thunder in her chest with excitement at the thought.
However, even if she had developed a certain lust, for lack of a better word, when it came to blood soaked carnage and battle, that didn’t mean that she was completely insane or delusional.
If it was warning her about the guardian, then ideally she should do a touch more grinding before she faced it. The directions to the cave in question were still burned into her mind, so she would be able to find it with some detours.
A rustle of leaves and movement in the shadows caught her attention, before a wide smile spread across her lips and showed off her wicked, shark-toothed grin.
’Well look at that, my first prey of the evening already came right to me. How kind of them.’
Glancing at the trees, the brief image of a classic ninja show flashed through Belladonna’s head for just a second, but it was enough to ingrain it in her mind. She sent her mind inwards, using her training to quickly control the mana proliferating every fibre of her being and stirred it into action.
The ambient mana wasn’t nearly dense enough to create platforms, so instead she channelled her mana to her lower legs and the base of her feet. With a running start, Belladonna leapt at the nearest tree, planted her feet against the trunk... and stuck there. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
After a second or two, her feet started to lose their supernatural grip, but by that time she was already leaping off the tree trunk and sailing higher into the branches with the enhanced power of her legs. A mischievous and menacing smile plastered across her face as she leapt through the tree tops, with only the rustling of branches to hint at her presence.
Just to complete the feel, she let her hands stick out behind her and her body lean forwards, to create a perfect aerodynamic pose for tree top sprinting.
She planted her feet into a tree trunk as she came to a stop above her prey, sticking to the tree like a spider. Before gravity could drag her to the ground, Bellladonna silently swung down to a lower branch and prowled above her prey like a leopard on the hunt. The shadows of the tree tops eagerly welcomed her into their embrace, clinging to her body a little tighter than usual as if the shadows themselves were actively helping her hide.
Below her was a pack of wolves. Young, deadly wolves, not like the older and more feeble one’s she was used to facing. By the looks of it, at least one of the wolves was a magical beast.
It was obvious to tell which one at just a single glance. Amongst the pack of grey furred beasts, there was a single wolf that had fur as black as night. Its hungry eyes glowed with a crimson light that made them look like glittering rubies.
Most notable of all was the chain that floated around its body. It seemed to sprout from the creature’s throat, not that the beast seemed to mind. With every movement the wolf made, the chain rattled ominously, a chilling sound that naturally sent shivers down the back of Belladonna’s spine.
Strangely, that was only a reaction from her body. Her mind was feeling perfectly fine, not dealing with the pressure she had previously experienced with powerful beasts such as the kill stealing rabbit.
In this case, it was literally only her body shivering slightly in fear, filling her body with adrenaline and moistening her palms with sweat.
’A fear effect... Might paralyse too. Seems to come from the sound of the chain but its possible that’s a byproduct or red herring.’
Belladonna narrowed her eyes as she analysed it from above, picking out the details of its appearance and searching for possible weaknesses. Aside from the obvious magical aspects, the black wolf was also larger than the other wolves and had a much wider lower jaw.
It gave it an under bite, and made it seem like a crocodile with the way its teeth were spilling out over its gums instead of hidden beneath lip flaps like regular wolves and dogs. However... that did give her an idea.
