VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 14: The Immortal Glass Cannon
The thought of taking another stab, literally speaking of course, at that irritating streamer girl who was complaining nearby did cross Belladonna’s mind one or two times. Okay... It was more like an even dozen, as she imagined all the ways she could torment and slaughter her to make her scream.
All healthy thoughts and not indicative of any kind of issues, I’m sure.
But as quick as those perfectly normal and healthy thoughts sprung into her mind, she dismissed them. It was simply a bad idea. For one, she was injured, and two it simply wouldn’t be worth it. Even if the look on her face would be priceless, she probably didn’t have enough time to gather up good loot for Belladonna to liberate.
Next time, she would definitely make another withdrawal from that bank, however.
With her own loot in hand, Belladonna quickly made her way back to town, punting a few juvenile Stonemunchers into trees along the way. Not just for petty revenge, but for their loot and experience, which filled her pack and flowed into her body respectively.
It wasn’t enough to make up for what she lost to the over levelled adult, but it was enough to push her past the bottle cap and into level three.
Back in town, the mixture of rabbit and wolf meat were quick to sell, with the butcher being eager to pay for the wolf meat. A bit too eager, if Belladonna was honest. She ended up with nearly 17 Solis for the whole lot, a price she negotiated up to from 12, which was surprising considering how little viable meat there was compared to the haul of rabbit she had brought in previously.
But despite walking out with a fist full of silver, she still felt like she had been utterly scammed by that darn Butcher. There must have been something funky about that wolf meat.
The tailors went much the same, netting her a good price for the rabbit pelts and with the money grubbing Helion practically begging her to sell him the pelt. It took quite a lot of convincing, and some money on the side, to have him use it to make something for her.
He even threw in some new gloves for her, for free.
Yes, this money grubber gave her something for free, and did so with the creepiest and most expectant smile on his face. There was definitely something up with this kill that made them so eager for it.
Of course it was only at a later date did she come to realise the value in magical beast components. At later levels they would become far more common, but around here they were very valuable for both eating and crafting.
But even if she knew that they were valuable, which was obvious by their behaviour, she had no way of figuring out exactly how valuable they were. It’s not as if the people exploiting her were going to blurt it out.
However, in the end even if she didn’t know its true value, Belladonna did know one thing. That wolf’s pelt made an absolutely gorgeous cape.
She spun in the middle of the tailor’s shop, letting the pelt cape flutter magnificently in the wind. Not only did it look amazing, but it actually offered some protection. While it wasn’t nearly as strong as when it was alive, it was still tougher than most cured leather armour.
The wolf’s head, minus the lower jaw, rested on her left shoulder, while one of the front paws draped over her right shoulder, making it look as if it was hugging her or simply clinging onto her back.
Something that would be necessary considering its lower legs and tail had been removed. Her new warm, furry cape draped down to behind her knees, showing the sheer size of this magnificent beast, or perhaps just how short she was.
Either way, combined with the paws that had been sewn into gloves, giving her claws of her own to attack with, Belladonna resembled a savage barbarian more than the regal blood drinker she initially based her character design to look like.
Yet judging by the manic smile on her face, it was a clashing appearance she didn’t seem to care about one bit.
She gave the wolf’s head a gentle pat, giggling to herself as she did, before heading out to the mystical world once more. The grind waited for no one.
***
[You have levelled up! You are now Level 7!]
’Phew, About time! This really is starting to feel like a proper grind now.’
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[Status: Healthy
Name: Belladonna Walachia
Race: Fell-spawn (Sanguine Maiden)
Class: N/A Level 7
Innate Talent: Unawakened
Attributes:-
Strength(STR): 10
Agility(AGI): 20 (+10)
Vitality(VIT): 10
Perception(PER): 10 (+4)
Resistance(RES): 10
Attribute Points: 50
Skills:-
Basic Butchery]
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The grind for levels had led her to face off against more elderly, lone wolves and had lasted long enough for her wound to heal enough to not even leave a scar. The elder wolves weren’t really opponents to be proud of, but what was pride in the face of sweet, delicious XP? It was for fools, that’s who.
Unfortunately none of them had been the same type of magical wolf she had fought previously, so nothing gave her quite the gain that would have, but the gains she did get were still quite impressive.
Belladonna had no idea how well she stacked up against the other players in terms of levels, but comparison was the thief of joy. She was currently proud of her progress, and that’s all that mattered.
Of course, her lack of magical bounties didn’t suggest that she had never encountered any. It was, just like the scarily powerful Stonemuncher, they were way out of her current league. In her hunts she had noticed another wolf, this time with a chain ominously floating around its body, as well as a bear that seemed to have a mane of fire.
She didn’t even have to try fighting them to know it would be a mistake. Both of them gave her the same feeling of dread that the Stonemuncher did. In fact, the bear had left her completely frozen in place.
Had it noticed her, it could have simply sauntered over and slapped her head off, and she would have been helpless to stop it.
Her money was still at the same levels as it was previously. Not only had she not been back to town, but she had mostly avoided looting her kills. Taking the time to butcher them all was cutting into her grinding time, making her far less efficient.
The most she did was cut open the stomachs of the younger Stonemunchers and root around inside like the visceral loot box they were, looking for anything valuable.
The lost income hurt her soul, but it was nothing she couldn’t earn back ten fold when she was a higher level. Plus, she had a feeling her little piggy bank- I mean, loyal friend LusciousLox, was already out there making her plenty of money. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
She could always go claim that later. Just one more reason to focus on strength. Speaking of strength, as Belladonna finally made her way back to town for the first time in hours, she checked out her stats.
Tapping her chin idly, she considered the type of character she wanted to build. Up until now she had been saving the points, waiting for inspiration or some kind of class to give her direction. But it was starting to impede her. So it was time to just buck up and use the points.
So far, her fighting style had been mostly physical, mostly because it felt good to finally use her skills in a body that wasn’t killing itself slowly. She had spent years when she was younger training in martial arts, so why not put them to good use?
Yes... Strength and Agility were definitely going to be her main stats. Perhaps she would see if she could find some kind of Assassin or Monk class. Something all about speed and physicality.
Just not a knight or swordsman. Swords were too boring and edge alignment had shown itself to be a right pain that she couldn’t be bothered dealing with. You didn’t need edge alignment to stab or punch something.
There was also her natural talents to take into account. She could spread her stats more unevenly, or at least without worry about balance, as she could use blood to balance it out like free points.
Plus there was also the healing factor that she suspected that others didn’t have access to. It had to be a race exclusive. With that, maybe it made sense to ignore resistance and instead pump Vitality.
With a high Vitality, it would give her healing factor an insane boost and give her one less stat to worry about. True, it would make her vulnerable to high damage attacks, but so long as they didn’t one shot her she could always out heal the damage just by devouring the blood of whatever she was fighting.
Plus, that’s what her agility was for. She didn’t need to worry about tanking hits if they couldn’t even dream of hitting her.
A wicked smile spread across her face as she could already imagine it. Weaving through armies like a phantom, striking them all dead with nothing but her fists while their fancy swords cut nothing with air. Then, when one poor fool finally gets a lucky hit, she gets to watch the look of joy on his face melt away into misery and horror as the devastating wound closed itself up before his very eyes.
The path of the Immortal Glass Cannon. Fragile, yet utterly unbreakable. It was perfect~
Belladonna couldn’t help but let a maniacal laugh slip from her lips as she sorted her points into Strength, Agility and Vitality. Setting them to 30 across the board, not including the bonuses she was getting from her Sanguine Essence.
It was only after she pulled herself from her villainous fantasies, that she heard the sounds of bells ringing from the distance, the distressed and rapid tolling coming from the centre of the town.
