VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 98: Exclusive Membership

"Where? Why it’s right here of course. This is the first floor. It is also the second and third floor, as well as every other floor up to the eighth floor. Only the ninth is kept separate, not that anyone but the founder could even access it."

She answered with a coy laugh, as if she was making a joke that was common knowledge, but completely went over Belladonna’s head. She blinked a few times, staring at the receptionist, before shaking her head in confusion.

"No... I get that they are in the tower. I mean where are the stairs to get to the floor."

"There are no stairs, silly. Perhaps I’m not explaining it well enough..." She muttered, and Belladonna had to resist the urge to scream ’Well obviously!’ at the woman. Thankfully she restrained the urge long enough for the receptionist to finally explain.

"Think back to how you entered the Tower for the first time," She said as she leaned on the desk with a comforting and gentle smile on her face.

"How did you gain access to this wonderful place?"

Belladonna frowned at the obvious question, but answered nonetheless,

"I grabbed the door, the riddle came up so I channelled some mana into the handle and it opened. But I don’t understand how that changes anything, unless I did something wrong."

"You did nothing wrong sweetheart. Think about this, where did you channel the mana from exactly?"

"Well from my source, obviously. Where else am I going to channel..." Belladonna trailed off as she frowned deeply, the cogs in her mind finally whirring enough for her to see the obvious lake of water that the receptionist was leading her to. All she had to do now was actually drink from it.

She glanced at the door, then at the smiling receptionist who simply made a ’go on’ expression with her eyebrows.

Turning on her heels, Belladonna rushed over to the door, making sure to do so at a leisurely and slightly hurried fast walk, before exiting the Tower and letting the door swing closed behind her.

She turned, placing her hand against the handle and was once more greeted with the same message as the door once more became unmovable.

Just like previously, Belladonna channelled mana into it. However she did not take it from her source. Instead she strained herself, forcing her senses outwards to capture the ambient mana of the world and pushed that into the handle.

It took much more effort and time than previously, as her class didn’t take kindly to controlling mana outside of her body instead of channelling it inwards to fuel her muscles. But nevertheless, the door finally clicked and swung open.

She was met with the exact same impossibly big interior as before, with the exact same receptionist sitting at the exact same desk. However there was a new wall of sound that immediately hit her, as the previously empty reception hall was filled to the brim with players.

They hurried back and forth, calling for different roles as they prepared for dungeon runs or collection missions. It was the bustling hub of mage player activity that she had expected from the tower.

Belladonna slammed the door closed, channelled her source mana into it and then opened it back up to the same room being empty this time. She stepped inside, walking over to the receptionist with amazement plastered across her face.

"You weren’t kidding... It really is here. Controlled by what type of mana you inject into it."

"That’s correct!" The receptionist said with a smile, giving her a small applause to go with it. Such an action could have been seen as condescending if it was not for the truly genuine, matronly smile on her face.

"It is the perfect way to separate members by their skill level, don’t you think? Honestly, the founder was a true genius not only for thinking of such a concept, but weaving together the mind boggling magic to make such a thing even possible.

I still hope to grow to the level where I will finally be able to gaze into the secrets of this wonderful tower and understand everything that I see."

The receptionist gave a wistful smile as she glanced around her, gazing at the tower itself like she was looking at her own lover. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Belladonna paid little attention to the woman’s strange obsession with the building, and instead focused on the ramifications of this tier system. Dividing players by rank, in the main building, was not just because of crowding issues.

That could easily be done with instances.

No, this kind of splitting was only for one reason. The higher rank you were, or the better source you had, then the better resources you would get. She didn’t have to ask the receptionist such a question, as it was beyond obvious.

Those without a source were still limited in their magic. Both in output and their skill, otherwise they would have developed their source already. So why would they waste the effort splitting them if they were going to offer the same spells and expensive ingredients to the lower players?

They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t be able to afford or use them. She could, however. While they were still scrambling about in the dirt, she would be progressing with more advanced spells. The Clerics and other classes might have had it easier to progress, but this was the reward of the mages slow progress.

They had their churches and dark caves. They had their gods handing them spells and progress on a whim.

But this is what the mages had, the ones who truly understood the secrets of magic and earned it through skill, not favour. A repository of knowledge and a place to study to their nerdy hearts content. It truly was perfect.

And even better, with her constitution, she would rise up the ranks faster than others. She would completely dominate not just other mage players, but perhaps even beat the cheat level advancements of Clerics.

That thought alone put a smile on her face.

The receptionist was snapped out of her building based fantasies by the sound of coins clattering against wood as Belladonna slammed them down on the counter, a wide and slightly worryingly mad smile on her face. But it was not the first time the receptionist had seen such a smile, and it would not be the last.

Stable emotions and sanity were not the traits of those at the top, when it came to magic.

"Give me the membership, and when you are done with that, would you be so kind as to help me with the analysis of my familiar?" Belladonna said, practically shoving the coins into the receptionist’s lap, who only laughed softly.

"Of course madam. Allow me to officially welcome you to the Tower of Mystica."