VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 64: The Joy of Sourcery
It took close to ten minutes before Figg the Druid came out of his meditation, letting out a deep breath as his eyes sparkled with new found power surging from within him. The moss that grew all over his robes bristled slightly, becoming a richer green, and the vines wrapped around him just a little bit thicker.
When Vestra awoke a minute later, the mist billowing from her hair grew a slight tint brighter and a strange feeling emanated from within her. It was oddly powerful and foreign, feeling like something utterly supreme had turned its attention towards them, but as quickly as the feeling came it also left just as quickly. Whatever had looked their way had merely given them a passing glance, but even that was enough to send a shiver down Belladonna’s spine.
Nevertheless, a bright smile spread across her face as she watched her friends looking around in amazement as they got used to the new power flowing through their bodies. A source really was a game changer for them.
The lake inside of them that had been empty, only being barely filled with ambient water, was now filled to the brim and would fill itself from more than just rain. Not only did it mean that they had much more mana capacity, and an improved regeneration rate compared to before.
A source also purified the ambient mana as it filled itself. Even if it was only slightly, barely 1% of a purification, that small amount helped with mana efficiency and strength. More mana, with each point lasting longer and doing more damage. What was not to love about that?
For Belladonna, whose source was directed inwards instead of outwards to fuel spells, the purer her source and the more mana she had, meant more energy flooding and nourishing her muscles.
If she could purify it further... Well, it would be like replacing a car’s petrol with jet fuel, and not having it blow up.
Once they were used to their new capabilities, and after Belladonna confirmed that neither of them had bloodline abilities that needed awakening, they finally left the safe zone and moved deeper into the dungeon.
Belladonna’s bare feet flapped with every step she took, making the pair accompanying her give each other strange looks, but neither of them questioned it out loud. Only in their heads.
It didn’t take long for their first wave of enemies to appear. Living Tree’s crawled their way out of the forest, already priming their branches with flaming apples to lob, while towering Baboons dropped from the tree-line and shaking the earth as they landed in front of them.
"Figg, think you can restrain that many at once? I’m going to focus the trees first, get rid of their range options."
"Maybe not before... But now, I definitely can Boss Lady. Leave it to me." Figg said with a confident smirk, his eyes already glowing green and tiny vine roots spread across his skin like veins, as he began to chant his spells.
"Vez, Why don’t you show our new friend here exactly what a divine illusionist is capable of, and why you deserve a name like that." Belladonna slapped Vesta’s shoulder as she spoke with a smile.
When the nervous girl nodded, with a soft blush across her face, Belladonna laughed and sank down into a sprinter’s start. Slight droplets of dried blood trickled from the intricate runes she had carved into the souls of her feet, which gradually gained a low glow which started to build in intensity.
Thick vines and wood encrusted roots burst forth from the ground like tendrils and eagerly wrapped around the charging Baboons. Nature’s tendrils rapidly bound them up, latching onto their limbs and straining against the strength of the creatures.
"I’m a leaf on the wind... Watch how I soar." Belladonna muttered, as the glow on her feet reached its crescendo. The bright orange light produced a heat haze that was instantly replaced by twin streams of roaring fire.
Belladonna blasted off of the ground like a rocket, screaming through the air faster than she had ever moved before. She roared passed the Baboons, burning the hair off of one of them as she flew too close and caused it to roar in pain and humiliation.
Rapidly approaching the trees in the back, the wind ripped at Belladonna’s face and before she knew it, she was flying past her intended targets too.
’Bollocks...’
She flipped in the air, pointing her rocket blasting feet in the opposite direction and sending her flying back towards them. Whipping her body around, Belladonna cut off her momentum and turned herself into a spinning bey-blade of flames, as she slammed her ultimate round house kick into the back of one of the living trees.
Did trees even have backs? How could you even tell? Ah, that doesn’t matter. Whether it was front or back, the important word was definitely ’was’, as Belladonna’s kick immediately tore through the tree from end to end.
A single kick caused the tree to creak and toppled to the side, cut down the middle, as parts of its stump began to smoulder and burn. A single kick was really all it took.
Enraged at the death of its root-kin, flaming apples rained down onto Belladonna as the remaining Living Tree focused on her and her alone.
More plumes of fire shot from her feet, but this time in shorter and much more controlled bursts. Each blast sent her flying, before rapidly changing direction or spinning as she practically danced an elegant routine around the Living Tree, like she was skating with fire.
Once the Tree had to reload its apple barrage, Belladonna skated close before her arms blurred. Dozens of blows rained down onto its tree trunk body, as her fists moved so fast that it appeared like there was multiple sets, even to Belladonna.
All at once, dozens of cracks appeared along the Tree’s trunk, even in places she didn’t punch and yet she had seen her fist fly to and land. Illusions, crafted to be so convincing that the Living Tree believed them to be real as well as the damage that they supposedly caused.
It let out a shrill and monstrous cry of pain from the mixture of real and illusionary punches, before Belladonna leapt up, planted her feet against the trunk and blasted it with twin streams of fire at full blast.
She flipped backwards and immediately twisted around, skating across the ground on bursts of fire, as she left the crackling bonfire of a Living Tree to turn to charcoal behind her.
’Now that’s what I’m fucking talking about!’
