VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 49: Inter-Dimensional Adoption

Raising the bowl of purple, fizzing liquid high, Belladonna poured the concoction out onto the runic circle. The liquid quickly filled the crevices carved into the floor, spreading across the magic circle and assuming its shape.

Every drop had to be emptied, and only once it was even and fully filled, did she move onto the next and most important step.

Placing the bowl down, Belladonna clapped her hands in front of her. Mana channelled into her fingers, causing small bolts of purple lightning to arc around them, as she made a series of precise hand signs before slamming her hands down onto the edge of the circle.

"Urath’da Iman Forkuta, Yuultah!"

The purple lightning leapt from her fingers, racing across the surface of the blood-filled circle. The concoction filling the crevices glowed brightly and then, with one blinding flash, it completely dimmed.

Belladonna coughed slightly, waving away the plume of sparkling purple smoke before peering curiously at the circle to see what she had summoned. It was difficult to see, as her eyes were still adjusting from the sudden flash of light, but after a few seconds a pair of emerald eyes appeared within the darkness and peered back out at her.

Mrrew?

A fluffy paw stepped out of the gloomy darkness, as a small black cat strode forward and tilted its head in curiosity. Its emerald eyes glowed softly in the darkness, and gleamed with intelligence as it looked over Belladonna slowly. It had a pair of small, bat-like wings on its back, or at least it did for a moment. But as it stepped forwards, it folded the wings in before they disappeared into black wisps of smoke.

She just barely resisted the urge to squee in excitement at the sight of the adorable little kitten, but her hands had a mind of their own. They thrust forwards, eager to capture and cuddle the cat, which flicked its tail in annoyance before dissolving into shadows.

Belladonna blinked softly, when she felt a weight manifest underneath her hair, before the same cat stepped out and onto her shoulder. When she turned her head, they were face to face. Their noses touching as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

The cats tail flickered, curling around her neck as the tip brushed against her cheek. But where there should have been nothing but fluff, its tail actually ended in a wicked spike that it could retract and conceal beneath the fluff of its tail.

With a more calm and relaxed attitude, Belladonna softly plucked the cat from her shoulder and placed it down in front of her. Her hands traced up its front paws before her thumbs pushed in on them slightly. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Deadly, curved claws jutted out and curled around her thumbs. Even for a beast so adorable and tiny, they were weapons that could easily rend flesh. Not just of mice, but of men too.

A goofy smile spread across Belladonna’s lips as she thought of the perfect name. At the same moment, the system prompt popped up in front of her, right next to the cats head as she was still locking eyes with it.

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Familiar Pact Ritual detected. Are you sure you want to use this name? The bond cannot be undone once completed. Y/N

....Name Confirmed. Transferring intent to potential bond partner...

Familiar has accepted the name. Finalising the bond.

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Ethereal purple chains briefly appeared, emerging from Belladonna’s chest and wrapping around her arms before snaking up and around the cats front paws as they still held hands, before disappeared into the cats chest. Then, they disappeared the next moment as if they had never existed, yet in the corner of her mind, Belladonna could feel a new presence.

It wasn’t a voice, not at the moment. It was just feelings at the moment, but what she could feel was a mix of excitement, curiosity and relief - as if it was surprised that she had accepted it as her familiar.

"Don’t worry, you’re safe with me now," She reassured the adorable little cat with a warm smile,

"I won’t abandon you, and together we will make sure everyone understands how adorable you are. Otherwise, they will learn to fear the name Beans!"

"Mrreow!" The cat, Beans, let out adorable noises of agreement as Belladonna could feel the excitement and pride welling up inside of him. Beans disappeared from her hands, moving through the shadows and poking his head out from underneath her hair once again before resting on her shoulder.

She gave him a few good scritches on the ear to satisfy her fluff cravings, before cleaning up the ritual and heading out.

"A Cat?" Helsany mused when she saw Beans sitting on Belladonna’s shoulder. She gazed at the feline curiously for a moment, before losing interest.

"Not uncommon for a familiar, but not what I would have expected. Given your nature, I was expecting something more... ferocious. Like a Leather wing or black drake. You know, something else that would like to drink blood too. But if you felt the call of the bond, then who am I to judge. Even if Owls are simply better."

She shrugged, causing Belladonna to laugh softly as Beans let out low, rumbling growls that were supposed to be intimidating but only turned out to be adorable. A small blue pouch was sitting on the counter, filled with the right ingredients for the only other spell in her spell-book, which was the fireball the wizard had demonstrated to her.

The instructions called for a certain stone that was ground into a fine powder. The Grimoire did include a few other ingredients that could be found in the wild, but the stone was common enough to be the cheapest until she could forage her own ingredients.

Combine that with animal fat, any would do, then say the right words and she would be slinging spells like a real wizard.

While the Wizards demonstration hadn’t included these components, it was seemingly necessary for Belladonna to make up for her specific source type. If she had split it into pools instead of absorbing it into her muscles, then she wouldn’t need them. But, she had no regrets about her choices.

Tossing the last of her Solis onto the counter, Belladonna tied the pouch to her belt, next to her enchanted bag.

"I suppose that will be you running off to face the trail of the gatekeeper then. You seem strong enough, after all."

Helsany said casually as she hopped on her stool to reach the coins. Belladonna frowned softly at the question, raising an eyebrow.

"The trail of the... what?"

"You know," Helsany said with a raised eyebrow and a strange look in her eyes - which was all Belladonna could see - as if she was talking to someone who was confused that grass was green.

"The trail of the gatekeeper. It’s what you Graceless need to do to leave. You weren’t planning on staying here the entire time, were you?"