VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 39: Stumbling across opportunity

Belladonna wanted to groan in annoyance as she kept walking through the tunnels, but she kept it to herself. What had started out as a brave march into certain death, was turning into a trudge into a death by boredom.

She had been walking for fifteen minutes, which might not seem very long. But when your world is grey and you have nothing but silence around you, fifteen minutes can seem like an eternity.

It wasn’t the heart thumping excitement she had expected, but considering the last thing that had got her heart beating, that was probably a good thing. Still, that wouldn’t stop her from complaining to keep herself entertained.

Lazily tapping her temple again, Belladonna activated the rune carved into her flesh as her vision shifted from Dark Vision to her Mana Vision. She had expected to see nothing but blackness once again, but this time within the darkness there was a faint hint of a pinkish-purple sparkling.

She let out a sharp gasp at the sight, immediately forgetting the danger of her situation as she broke into a sprint. She had to keep tapping her temple, not just to alleviate the headaches that came from her mana vision, but to make sure she didn’t get new headaches by tripping and face planting.

Her Mana vision was completely useless in the dark.

In just a few seconds, Belladonna found herself standing in front of a vein of ore that just barely jutted out from the cave ore. It was just a tiny node, barely larger than her fist. If she had been using just her Dark Vision, or even a torch, she could have easily walked past it and never have known. But in her Mana Vision, it was nearly impossible to miss with how bright it was glowing.

She quickly pulled out her old bone dagger and grit her teeth as she started to chip away at the crystal vein. There really was no way of doing this silently, so she had to resort to speed above all.

Every strike of the dagger sent thunderous echoes through the cave that made her heart quiver with fear every time. She became so focused with checking the cave behind her, that when the crystal finally did give way, she didn’t notice until her dagger was plunging into the hand she had pressed against the wall.

"Argh, Motherfu-"

She bit her lip, clutching her hand from the pain, as she cursed out whatever sadist created the pain dampening system. She could stub her toe and feel the full pain, yet stab herself or cut off her arm and she was fine?! And don’t even get her started on that damned lake again...

Dropping to her knees, Belladonna quickly searched the ground for the dropped crystal. After a few seconds of frantic searching with her mana vision, she finally plucked a small crystal shard from the ground.

It was barely bigger than her fingernail and pointed on one end. Yet even if it was small, her eyes could see the magic potential within it was vast.

As soon as she lifted it up, the stone on the back of her hand flashed briefly and let out a cheery jingle in her mind.

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Quest [Awaken Thy Potential, Part 2] Complete!

Return to the Quest giver to collect your reward!

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It didn’t need to tell her twice. She quickly wrapped it up and stuffed it safely into her bag, before sparks crackled in her eyes. Infusing herself with the power of Lightning, Belladonna turned on her heels and immediately sprinted down the tunnel, heading straight for the exit.

Stealth had been completely abandoned, speed was all she needed right now and with her lightning infusion she was hauling through the caves like a crackling blur.

’I just need to get out before the bear gets ba-’

RRRRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!

The echo of the roar hit her like a cannon, her feet immediately screeching to a halt as her entire body froze up once more. Her dark vision had deactivated, as she was close enough to the entrance that she could see the sunlight pouring through the archway.

However it also meant that she could see the light being blocked by a massive body, creating a humongous silhouette with flickering, fire-like fur and deadly paws.

Illluminated by the light pouring through the cave, the giant flaming bear dropped down to all fours and slowly padded towards the meat that dared to intrude within its lair. It let out a few more rumbling growls as it approached.

With every step, it sniffed at the air, as if it was already imagining how she would taste.

Belladonna was completely frozen, unable to do anything as it approached her without a care in the world. The starting bone dagger was still clutched in her hand from her mining activities, as her hand trembled and her knuckles turned white from how tight she was squeezing it.

’Come on... Do something... Do something or you’re going to die and lose all your progress!’

She screamed in her head, only managing to let out a slight whimper as the bear loomed over her. The air around it shimmered slightly, and she could feel the heat emanating off its blazing fur.

’What happened to that big talk before you entered? Are you really going to die scared? Go down unable to move, just like in real life?’

The Bear sniffed her hair and licked its lips, displaying its massive flesh rending teeth as it glided its tongue over them.

’Unable to move from fear, unable to move from your disease. What’s the difference?! Either way, you’re going to die like a pathetic and useless cripple. So don’t just stand there, MOVE!’

Her body finally responded to her voice screaming in her head. Her hand lunged forwards, still empowered by the Lightning infusion, it moved faster than the bear expected. With its laziness acting against it, keeping its defences down in the face of something paralysed in fear, Belladonna was given just enough time to plunge the starting dagger into the bears eye.

It threw its head back, roaring in pain, and as if that was some kind of trigger her entire body unfroze. Just in time for her to lean back enough to barely avoid the retaliatory swipe. But even if it missed her vitals, it still carved through her armour like it was butter.

Ducking under the next swipe, Belladonna swerved around the bear and sprinted out of the cave, leaving her starter dagger stuck in its eye.

The Bear kept roaring, this time in rage as well as pain, and just before she reached the tree-line Belladonna screeched to a halt once more. However this time wasn’t from fear.

Slowly, she removed the bag from around her shoulder and hung it on a nearby tree branch.

Turning to the bear, she removed the chain from around her shoulder before slowly and methodically wrapping it around her fist. Staring down the one eyed bear, Belladonna sank into a wide stance and raised her fists.

"Come and have a go then, if you think you’re hard enough."