VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 37: Fear

Belladonna’s heart leapt into her throat, completely clogging up her breathing. At least, that’s what it felt like as she struggled to take so much as a single breath, as if her body was afraid that it would give her away.

Her heart was on a different mission though. It usually beats only a few times per minute, alluding to her inhuman nature, but now it was palpitating wildly. Pounding faster than even a normal human’s heart beat as it felt like it was trying to tear itself from her chest and run it terror by itself.

Every thunderous beat of her heart was deafening, and she was sure that the beast would hear it. Yet even still, her body refused to breathe. All of this, this petrifying fear that was worse than that of the Adult Stonemuncher, came just from that lazy glance.

All the tools of death on its body, and it would just need a bored look to kill her. Of course, Belladonna had no idea that while the bear was looking in her direction, it couldn’t actually see her.

Its eyes were still blurred from its deep sleep, so the treeline where she hid was nothing more than a jumbled mess of fuzzy colours.

Perhaps, if it could see clearly, then it would have killed her as she was paralysed with fear. But instead, Just as she was ready to pass out, the bear turned its head away from her and yawned again before sauntering off. Wandering off to refresh itself at its usual watering hole and relieve itself after its long slumber.

Only once it had left, not when its gaze left her, did Belladonna’s throat fully unblock itself and let her gulp down desperate gasps of air. She immediately started to hyperventilate, clutching at her thundering heart as she did her best to control it.

’What the hell... How am I... There’s no way I can beat that thing... I just... No way...’

Her mind reeled as even in its absence, the sheer panic overwhelmed her entire existence. She wanted to simply curl up in a ball and weep, to let the bear kill her like it was nothing. She wanted to just give up and die, because what else was there to do? What else could she do?!

’Eat it.’

The whisper came from the deepest depths of her beings. It was not the logical part of her mind, nor was it her consciousness. It was not even hers in the slightest. It was something more than just her, something truly profound and... ancient.

She hadn’t really noticed it before, but this... thing, whatever it was, was locked inside of her. Shunned away and held behind a wall of crystal that didn’t really exist. It had chipped and cracked slightly with her actions, feeding her small traces of ancient power.

It wasn’t enough to fully unleash what was hidden within, but it was more than enough for its voice to slip out as all of her defences fell.

’You are pathetic. You are not meant to grovel... You are meant to rule... To devour... EAT IT! TAKE ITS POWER FOR YOURSELF! TAKE WHAT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO YOU!’

The voice bellowed in her mind, driving out all other thoughts in its presence, before fading away and retreating to the dark recess where it originated from. It didn’t speak anymore, perhaps because it didn’t need to or perhaps because it wasn’t able to.

But either way, the fear had been forced from Belladonna’s mind and finally she was able to think clearly once more. She clenched her fists, digging her own fingernails into her palm enough to draw blood.

"It’s right... I’m better than this. I’ve lived my whole life in pain and suffering, always looking death in the eyes and waiting for it to take me.

So what if some stupid bear is powerful... It’s just a sack of blood waiting to be drunk. Its power is destined to be my power.

I’ll take its power from its chest and eat it!"

With her heart still pounding in her chest, although not at the same pace as before, Belladonna pushed her way through the foliage and cautiously approached the cave. Sure, she could run away and go grind for hours more to come back, but this was a class quest.

How long was she going to have to grind without a class just to defeat this one enemy? She wasn’t even sure what level it was. There was no indication, only fear. But this wasn’t the only time she was going to face these types of creatures.

She had already met and nearly died to one. They weren’t going to wait around for her to level up enough. They were just going to kill her while she sat frozen in fear or tried to run. Then others with classes, who didn’t waste their time, could come in and kill them while she ran.

It was... pathetic. She didn’t get her legs back just to constantly run away. She got them back to do what she loved, fighting. So like it or not, she had to learn to fight these things, otherwise she was just going to die uselessly.

Don’t get it wrong, however, as she angrily marched towards that cave and muttered to herself about how she wasn’t going to be pathetic, that didn’t mean she was doing so recklessly or in under kind of delusion that it was at all a good idea.

She was still keeping and eye out for the bear returning, and she was perfectly aware that was she was doing could easily be classed as completely idiotic and suicidal, a part of her was still screaming that. But she knew that if progress meant that she had to retrieve her body by punching through the bear’s stomach, then so be it.

The good stuff never comes easily, and if it did then it would just feel cheap and worthless. Power must be earned and taken by force. You must grab the stars from the sky, hold them tight in your hand no matter how much they burn, until the stars themselves submit to your will.

Stopping at the threshold of the cave and gazing into its dark abyss, Belladonna took a deep breath to calm her nerves. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

’Sigh... I’m totally going to die here.’

And with that thought in mind, she stepped into the cave.