VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 15: Ringing the Dinner Bell

The NPC’s around her were running around in a panic as the sound of the bell tolls rang through the air incessantly. She tried to stop them to get answers, but no one would give her the time of day.

Eventually it was the towns guard captain that informed not just her, but every confused and curious player, what the townspeople already knew the bells to mean.

He was a large man, easily 7 foot tall, and covered head to toe in shaggy brown hair. A pair of large tusks jutted from his lower lips, although Belladonna had no idea what race he was. Perhaps some kind of Orc, or maybe a Wild-Blood of some primal variety, like a bear.

The Bear-Orc captain drew his sword, raising it high above his head as he addressed the guards gathered in front of them. They all stood in uniform lines, while players gathered around the group like a foul stench. However the guard captain didn’t chase them away, instead he projected his voice loud so that all could hear. Perhaps even wanting the players to hear.

"Men and Women! The ravenous beasts of the Western Woods have been drawn to the East. Although we have yet to know what has stirred them into such a frenzy. We do know this, Their stomachs know no fullness, their ferocity knows no mercy. If these beasts are allowed to make their way this close to town, who is to say that the rabbits will be all they feast on?

Who is to say that it will not be your mothers heart that they devour, that your sons blood will not drip from their maws? Or your wife? Or your husband? Stand here, stand with me now, and defend your town against these ravenous beasts. Remind them that while they may have teeth and claws, we have STEEL!"

He thrust his sword above his head at the final word, bellowing it as loud as he could. At the same time, all of the gathered guards unsheathed their own weapons and thrust them skywards. They pumped them into the air, letting out synchronous yells, before charging towards the Eastern gate.

The gathered players watched their mighty charge, frozen in surprise and confusion. A few of the more experienced pros immediately began to move, before the rest of them quickly began to follow. All of them charged towards the Eastern gate after the group of guards. Their bloodthirst and ravenous hunger for XP easily rivalled that of the beasts they were supposed to be facing.

That was all because two words were on the hearts and minds of all of the players privy to this information.

’Event’ and more importantly, ’Rewards.’ It was obvious that’s what this was! The game directors had sent an event towards the beta testers to help boost them up, and also so that they gave favourable reviews to the game when they finally exited.

When that would be, they had no idea. It had already been multiple hours, and although these professionals were used to long gaming sessions, they had a feeling something was wrong with those hours. It should have been close to evening in real life. Just how late were they expecting to keep them?

All of the players charged towards the location of the event, practically frothing at the mouth as they imagined what possible rewards they could get. Yet there was one singular player that was left standing in town.

Belladonna stared at the Eastern gate in the distance, considering her options. For one, it was possible that something like that chain wolf or even the bear might be attracted to the fight as some kind of event boss.

While that would be great to loot, there was no way she could take it on. But more importantly, she focused on something in particular the guard captain had said.

’Ravenous beasts of the western woods had been drawn east.’ That’s what he said. Most likely, it was because of all the blood. She could easily smell it from here, the blood and meat of all the countless Stonemunchers and other weak animals that had been slaughtered for the grind.

It was no wonder they had been drawn over.

Maybe this wasn’t a scripted event, but a consequence of their actions. But nevertheless, even if it was planned, the fact they were drawn from the west meant that the west was open.

Her mind drifted towards the secret quest she had been given, and the directions in her mind that was like an unseen force gently tugging her in the western direction.

With a smirk on her face, Belladonna took off sprinting, heading in the complete opposite direction of the other players. She passed by a few on the way, but few gave it much thought.

She was probably rushing to dump loot or turn in a quest before the event, so she could get even more loot. That’s what plenty of them had done, after all.

By the time she reached the Western Gate, no one but the stationed guards were around to see her darting out of the gate and diving into the depths of the woods. Yet the guards didn’t bother with a warning this time, as they knew the same thing she did.

At this point, these woods were the safest they were ever going to be.

***

Sprinting at her top speed, it took Belladonna just under twenty minutes to arrive at her ultimate destination. As it turned out, the kilometre west was not the entirety of her directions, and instead sent her through multiple twists and turns to the point that it felt like it was intentionally running her in circles just to screw with her.

Eventually, however, when her lungs were burning and with her legs feeling weaker than they did in real life, she burst forth from the woods and into a majestic clearing.

At first she merely thought it was majestic because it marked the end of her journey and allowed the sweet feeling of relaxation. However while she was panting like a dying dog on the ground, after her legs had given out, she had some time to look around the clearing.

It was only then that she realised the word majestic hardly did it any favours. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

For one, the grass was silver. That is to say, it was not silver coloured, but actually made of silver. Each blade of grass glistened softly in the light like the blade of a knife, yet as she ran her hands over the grass, it deformed under the pressure.

It was silky soft, one of the softest things she had ever felt in her life, and almost brought a tear to her eye just running her hand across it.

Had this been what all those people had meant when they had repeatedly told her to go out and touch grass? If this is what it actually felt like, she would have probably spent her entire life outside.

The Tree’s bordering the clearing had rich brown trunks and vibrant green leaves that overflowed with vitality.. They were the same species as the countless trees she had passed on her way here, yet these ones were like supermodel trees while the others were bland and mundane.

Every part of them was perfect and beautiful, like they had been bred for perfection and raised in the most ideal conditions, feeding on only the most expensive and exquisite plant food in the world.

Not only were their colours more rich, but they were thicker and taller. Looming high above her and, despite the fact she was in a clearing, their canopy easily filled the sky and blotted out the sun.

Yet the clearing was not dark. Instead its light source was at the very centre of the clearing. It was a lake. Not a terribly large one, only 100 metres from bank to bank, or roughly the size of two Olympic swimming pools.

Instead of boring, bland water filling this lake however, it was filled with a deep blue liquid that sparkled like it was made out of liquidised sapphires. Every slight ripple brought with it a dazzling display of lights, as this pool emitted a pale blue glow that easily illuminated the entire clearing.

Standing at the centre of this lake was a man. No, you read that correctly. Standing in the middle of the lake, not on a boat or on a pier. But on the water itself, as if it was completely solid, and in the dead centre of the lake.

This man had a short, patchy beard and wore a long robe that seemed to have trapped the night sky within its lining, which only looked more beautiful in the soft glow of the lake’s light. The hood of this robe was up to cover his bald spot, the lip of the hood stopping just above his eyes. One of which was twitching ever so slightly in annoyance.

Nevertheless, the wizard spoke in a warm and mysterious tone, as he opened his arms to her like he was expecting a hug.

"Welcome graceless child. I see you have found me, just as instructed. You seem exhausted after your travels. Come, take a drink, rest and relax. You’ll need all of your strength and wits for the coming trails. After all, I have much to teach you."