VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 30: How it’s done

A stinging pain erupted across Belladonna’s cheek, followed by a dull throbbing, as she fell to the ground. Her eyes snapped open once she fell, blinking softly in surprise as she took a moment to process what happened, before her eyes trailed upwards.

The Demon Butler loomed over her, glaring down at her with indifference. Narrowing her eyes at him, Belladonna spat some blood onto the grass and slowly clambered to her feet as she wiped her lips.

’Oh, So it’s like that is it? I see how you want to play... Alright then, Let’s dance.’

The single slap was enough for her to understand the purpose of this lesson. Controlling the mana and influencing it to perform the skill was one thing, but if she was facing that Wolf again then it wasn’t going to stand around and wait for her to power up.

This wasn’t some anime where she could scream and build power for six episodes while the enemy stood around slack jawed.

Belladonna started to stir her mana once again, however this time she kept her eyes wide open and trained on the Demon in front of her. It was more difficult, as she couldn’t put all her focus into the visualisation, but it was progressing.

That was, until her eyes briefly lost focus. Although they were still open, a trained eye knew she had slipped away for a moment, and that was all the demon needed.

He disappeared in a flash and appeared in front of her faster than she could blink, his hand already raised. This time his fingers were curled into a fist, ready to deliver something more serious as a punch.

This time, however, her instincts were ready since he had slapped the rust off of them. Her hand shot up, blocking the first strike. But the impact against her arm broke her concentration completely, causing her stomach to churn as the mana building up unravelled.

And then for it to churn again when the Demon’s other fist sunk into her belly, forcing her to double over and wheeze.

Zul’ra stepped back, retreating back to his original spot once more and intentionally giving her the space to recover. It took a few seconds for her to get her breathe back, but once she was ready, Belladonna stood up straight and steeled her resolve again.

She gave him a nod to show that she was ready, before starting to pace around him and shake the rust out of her joints. It had been too long since she had a proper fight with someone. She had almost forgotten the feeling of a punch burrowing itself in your gut. Perhaps... she really was some kind of masochist...

Shaking the useless thoughts from her head, Belladonna began to use her Infusion skill once again. This time, when the demon rushed her, she managed to block two of his blows and deal a counter attack of her own.

But the skill hadn’t manifested by then, so he easily blocked her kick and swept her leg out from under her. She took a moment on the ground to bathe in the frustration, before swallowing it for fuel and rising to her feet again.

This was how Belladonna’s first day in the game progressed, as did her second and even her third.

Where many others would have quit after the first slap, or even the gut punch, she kept coming back day after day. She didn’t care what other players were doing with their time, in fact she had completely no idea what they were doing, as she didn’t bother to check forums.

In her mind, such things were only useful for when she was stuck on a particular part of a game and needed assistance, such as a clue being located in an idiotic location. This? She would get through this through sheer determination.

While others were having fun, she threw herself at this demonic brick wall day after day, as slowly but surely she started to make progress.

***

Four days after the game had officially released, Belladonna was still in that same field, fighting that same demon.

He moved like the wind once again, appearing before her faster than she could blink. It was simply unfair that something so big and lumbering could move so quickly, but fair was the excuse of the sheltered or the foolish.

It was not fair that the wolf ate the rabbit and tore into it with teeth that the rabbit could never hope to have, it was not fair that the eagle could fly while the mouse was forced to scamper across the ground.

It was not fair that she could not use her own body, while others happily got rid of theirs for mechanical replacements that she also could not use. Life was not fair. But why should she care? So what if it treated her unfairly?

She didn’t need life to treat her with kid gloves and offer her a ’fair’ hand. She would throw its lemons back in its face, kick life in the nuts, and clamber over its body to what she wanted.

This time, when the demon swung its tree trunk fists, Belladonna’s own arm whipped up in defence. Her pale skin had taken on a darker, greyish tone while patches of stone stuck to her arm and covered her fingers.

Her arm remained firm as stone when Zul’ra’s fist struck it, not budging in the slightest. She took a few steps back, blocking the next few strikes with the same firm indomitably, before returning a few of her own.

The stone on her bare knuckles cracked against his crimson skin as she sent two punches to his chest followed by a tight upper cut that struck the underside of the Demon’s firm jaw.

He stumbled back a few steps while Belladonna darted back one herself. She kept her hands up to her face, bouncing on her toes as she took a boxer’s stance.

Zul’ra rubbed his jaw, nodding his head softly in approval.

"Good. You have become good at infusing an element quickly in the heat of battle. But now, we work on changing just as quick." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Yes Teacher!" Belladonna barked like a military dog, her head still protected behind her raised fists. Zul’ra nodded once more, his rippling muscles writhing underneath his crimson skin before he lunged forwards. The two of their fists colliding mid charge before they rapidly started to exchange devastating blows like they were having a polite conversation.