VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 45: The Dark Urge
The large Butcher woman watched Belladonna work with a hint of pride in her eyes. Her eyes were focused on the loaned knife as it glided across the body of the bear that was filling her workspace. It was a struggle to even get it in here in the first place, but as soon as it was secure the girl had wasted no time in starting to carve it up.
There were a few moments where she made a mistake. A knife placed at the wrong angle, a cut that was too shallow, etc., but before the Butcher could even speak up to correct them Belladonna was already adjusting to correct her mistakes.
Just seeing the girl know from a level of intuition that her cut was too shallow, and that she had to put more force in from the toughness of the hide, was something that made the Butchers heart flutter with a pride she had never felt before.
Not even for her son, the useless lay about.
The pelt was removed and placed to the side, where it wouldn’t get even more bloodied from the meat carving, before Belladonna switched knives. The meat was so tough that she had to basically hack at it with the cleaver like she was chopping down an oak tree.
Delicacy would be saved for afterwards, when she was getting viable cuts.
It was now, that the girl didn’t need to concentrate too much, that the Butcher finally asked the question that had been burning inside her throat, waiting to get out.
"So, Ye’ really killed this thing lass? A tiny thing like you? Feels like he should have had ye’ for breakfast."
Belladonna dismissed the notification from the system, informing her that her skill [Basic Butchery] had advanced to [Adept Butchery] and glanced at the large, gruff woman before starting to hack at the bears hint leg.
"Heh... It almost did. Lost my arm to this thing, and it must have tasted good because I swear it was licking its lips as it looked at me afterwards. But a Barghest came by, attracted by the blood.
It was a hell of a battle, but the bear killed the Barghest, then I killed the weakened Bear. So really... it was mostly luck."
She said with a chuckle, glancing at the Butcher to see if she believed her story but thankfully the woman was too enthralled by the sight of the beast to pick apart the faults in her story, such as the simple fact that whether it was weakened or not a Barghest was unlikely to approach this beast, and that she had two arms instead of one.
But the latter seemed to be brushed off easily under the fact that she was ’Graceless.’ Still, there was a reason Belladonna obscured the truth of her kill, attributing the claw marks to the Barghest. It was all because a particular message she had found mixed in with the rest of her notifications.
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You have tasted and drank the blood of the living, each beat of their heart gave you more as if they were asking you to feast upon them, their pathetic lives nothing more than a blood bag to power your ascension. The delectable ambrosia has awoken the primal urge that lives inside you. It calls to you, urging you to continue your slaughter and devour the world and bathe in its blood.
Skill unlocked, Blood Frenzy (Partial Transformation), Activation conditions not currently met.]
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Now, Even if games did tend to exaggerate and glamourise the description behind spells, we’ve all seen the ’Absolute spell of destruction’ that does 50 damage, but there was something about this description that made Belladonna feel that none of it was exaggerated in the slightest.
Dramatic, most certainly, but she could still feel that urge inside of her. Her memories of what happened after she drank the bears blood was still gone, but of what she could remember, there was that taste.
The power it made her feel, the euphoria and deep, ancient hunger.
Even now, she still wanted more. That voice, deep inside of her, was louder and more present. It was whispering in her mind all of the time, telling her to lunge at the butcher and sink her teeth into her throat.
It was manageable, just a whisper should could tune out like every other strange, fleeting and self destructive thought. Like the thought that told you to jump when you stood on the edge of the train platform.
But she knew that if she indulged in this feeling, then that voice could easily grow louder. So her black out, and the consequences of it, was something she currently didn’t want to advertise. Even if it didn’t have adverse effects, it was her own feelings that demanded it kept inside as a secret.
"So Lassie," The Butcher said, looking at the severed leg with a golden twinkle in her eyes, "Are ye’ planning on selling that meat? I’ll give you a good price for it, for ma’ favourite customer o’ course."
A sly, devilish smile spread across Belladonna’s face as she sliced off prime cut of the meat, placing it gently down on the table.
"Sure thing... If you are sure you can afford it. Since we are friends, I won’t go for the regular price of 10 Regil per cut. We can just go for 8 per cut. A good deal deal, right? I wouldn’t want to scam you or anything."
She turned her wicked gaze towards the Butcher, who had turned pale. She was putting on a nervous, half hearted smile as she backed away slightly.
"N-no... Of course not. I would hate to scam someone so dear to- Oh, what’s that? Is that some customers I hear? I’ll be right back Lassie."
She laughed nervously again, slipping out of the room and rushing to the front of the store, to deal with the customers that had just entered, although they did so after she had pretended there was some.
Belladonna couldn’t help but laugh, taking her mind off of the strange skill she had received and onto cutting the meat slices, already counting the money in her head. A beast this big? She could probably get a thousand for it, especially if she cut it thin.
