VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 11: Old Dog, New Tricks
The two predators circled each other, their eyes locked on each other as they prowled with soft footsteps. The wolf bared its teeth, letting out a low rumbling growl from the depths of its throat and occasionally let out a few threatening barks.
Belladonna didn’t flinch at its intimidation tactics. Instead she met it with her own. Her lips twisted into a manic smile as she crept along on all fours, prowling like a beast herself. Her jagged, shark-like teeth were on display as she let out a few of her own growls.
They maintained eye contact, watching for the smallest twitch or falter. At the slightest sign of weakness, they were ready to pounce, each of them knowing that a singular moment could be the difference between life and death.
That moment came quicker than Belladonna thought, however. The wolf’s gaze softened ever so slightly, its slobbering and growling maw relaxing just enough to give it an almost blank expression as if it was being lost in thought.
Belladonna didn’t have time to think about it, nor time to ponder why it would lose its focus like that. Instead she took that moment and pounced on it, literally.
Power exploded from her legs, tossing dirt into the air as she launched forwards. Her new hunter’s dagger was clutched in one hand, while the other was clawing apart the ground as she charged on all fours.
Just that single second was all it took for her to cross the gap between them. The wolf shook its head, regaining its focus a moment later, just in time to see the glint of Belladonna’s dagger as it cleaved down towards its skull.
The wolf turned its body, Belladonna’s dagger raking across its cheek only for it let out the sound of a shrill screech like nails across a chalkboard as the steel blade refused to sever the tough, wiry hairs of the wolf’s pelt.
She clicked her tongue, keeping the momentum of her charge and quickly turning it into a roll, barely avoiding the wolf’s tail that swung towards where her head had once been. Normally she wouldn’t have bothered, as the dangerous parts of a wolf are usually at the front.
But this was no usual wolf. As if to emphasise that, as soon as Belladonna came out of her roll, she immediately had to lift her arms up to cover her face. Spikes rattled against the heavily armoured, stone plated portions of her gauntlets, which were much better protection than the parts that had been previously pierced by the wolf’s thorns.
The needles clattered to the ground, only managing to take small chunks from the strange stone that covered her gauntlets, while a few more stuck into the leather.
"So... You make your fur tough as steel and can even shoot them like some demented porcupine. Interesting... Very interesting."
Belladonna muttered to herself as the two predators stared each other down once more, one old and one young. She grabbed a fist full of the fur needles sticking out of her arm, before yanking them out with one tug.
She winced slightly as the spurt of pain came alongside it. But the pain didn’t dissuade her from this fight.
It just made her heart pulsate faster in her chest, her blood boiling in her veins as she faced down her opponent- No... It was her prey. Plain and simple. Yes, that felt much better.
Somewhere, deep inside her being, there existed something primal and ancient. Something that Belladonna didn’t even know existed. Whatever it was, it was sealed away, encased in crystal that didn’t actually exist and kept hidden from prying eyes.
But as her heart raced and she understood her place in the hunt against another predator, that seal broke ever so slightly.
A hairline fracture appeared on the surface of that crystalline seal, a fracture so tiny and thin that even if you had a magnifying glass you would barely be able to see it. However through that pathetically tiny crack, that primal and ancient nature started to leak out, just a tiny bit.
It was barely a 0.001% of what was contained within.
But at her level, it was enough. Enough to ignite the simple boiling blood, and increase its intensity until it burned in her veins like jet fuel.
The shadows around her grew ever so slightly darker, the scent she gave off became ever so slightly more dangerous and feral. But the one the wolf she was staring down noticed first, was the slight shift in her eyes as their crimson hew became ever so slightly brighter and seemed to almost glow.
With renewed vigour Belladonna lunged forwards, moving faster than before, giving the wolf no choice but to lunge itself and meet her in another clash of fang, blade, claw... and fur.
The sounds of their fight, the clashing of blade against fur and the vicious snarls let out by both parties, echoed throughout the forest. Bouncing off the trees, making it almost impossible to figure out where it was coming from.
But that didn’t stop certain people from trying.
After so many different types of battles in their lives, Players were naturally attuned to the sounds of fighting. It drew them in like moths to the flame, the siren call of loot just waiting to be claimed.
They knew it had to be one of two things. Either an event in the game, or someone was fighting with a powerful enemy. Either way, a kill steal or a surprise attack on the winner would mean wonderful loot. If they got there first.
However... they were not the only ones who had this mindset.
Belladonna was not oblivious to this fact, in fact she had very much considered doing it herself a few times. But she would have to pick the right opponent. Many here were E-sports pros, she was honestly lucky that the one who tried to rob her at first was just a streamer.
But they wouldn’t always be, at least not in the beta test, and challenging one of those professionals would be a death sentence. So she didn’t bother.
They, on the other hand, had absolutely no such proclivities towards her. Even if she herself was pro, which she absolutely was not, then they would still see her as nothing more than another challenge to overcome.
She knew she had to finish this quickly, which was easier said than done.
The pair broke apart once more from their latest clash. The wolf flipped in the air, flicking its tail and sending out another hail of needle hairs towards Belladonna, who was already moving to dodge.
She weaved through the deadly rain, blocking a few of them and dodging the rest, however stinging pain erupted from her cheek swiftly followed by a warm trickle as something oozed out. Paying no heed to her injury, Belladonna attacked once more.
Instead of charging forwards, however, this time she launched her dagger towards it. It spun through the air, head over tail, singing as it cut the air.
Belladonna had never thrown a knife before. She knew it took a lot of practice to get the spin right so you could always hit with the stabby part as well as the right balance of the knife. So it was a wonderful thing that’s not what she was trying to do.
The wolf closed its eye, protecting it with its tough as steel fur, only for a flash of light to burst in its vision as the hilt of the dagger punched it in the eye. Its fur might have been tough, and she might have been a terrible knife thrower.
But Belladonna could throw hard, and punch even harder. A lesson the wolf was about to learn.
The wolf stumbled back, reeling from the blow, and blinked its bloodshot eye. Its vision was blurred, so it didn’t see the fist hurtling towards it until the very last minute.
Fangs flew, sticking themselves into tree trunks, as it took a punch across the jaw. The wolf collapsed to the ground, letting out a chorus of pained whimpers. Belladonna quickly scooped up her knife, trying her best to ignore the whimpers, as she leapt on the beast once again.
She grabbed its muzzle, holding it closed and pinning its head to the ground. Her dagger raised, glinting wicked in the light, as the wolf looked up at her with pitiable eyes... when its throat exploded.
Belladonna blinked softly as the warm crimson of the wolf’s life splattered against her face. She felt a rush of energy flood her being, pulling her just to the cusp of the bottleneck, before peetering out. It wasn’t as much as she had expected. In fact it wasn’t the full amount that the wolf had offered, it was closer to only 40% of it.
The reason for it was simple. Her dagger was still raised and ready to claim her kill. A kill that had already been claimed.
’W-what? What just happened...?’
Her head snapped up, her predatory eyes locking onto the thief that not only stole her kill, but the majority of the life force it could have offered her. However the rage in her eyes was immediately drowned by confusion as she saw the wretched thief.
