VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Chapter 301: My Brother, I can walk!

The internet exploded with activity the moment the announcement dropped. Excitement was electric in the air, despite the contrarians that crawled out of the dark corners to announce to everyone how gullible they were for believing it and how they knew better.

Even with the live demonstrations that many eagerly attended, these contrarians didn’t die out, they simply became ignored, as they often did.

Whilst the ’secret prizes’ had yet to be announced, that didn’t stop countless people across the world flocking to their local Monument of Power to register themselves, or simply gawk at those who were registering.

The constant influx of people of all sorts of power levels caused the rankings to rapidly and constantly change. Names were flying up and down the list before being flung off of it entirely, as it only had space for the top 100 individuals and guilds.

The guild’s ranking was a touch more stable, as it was measured off of the average power level of the guild members, but it still constantly shifted as more and more signed up.

Ever since the announcement, which was roughly 24 hours, Valerie had been keeping a close eye on the internet discussions and the live tracking of the lists, when she saw a very familiar name shoot to the very top of the list, and for once, actually stick there for longer than a few seconds.

Revenant.

The internet naturally exploded again at this event, rapidly exchanging theories, opinions and conspiracies on who this individual might be.

With the ability to use your in-game instead of your real name, and no way of knowing which Monument of Power the registration took place in, it was impossible to track their identity. Not that such things ever stopped people.

However whilst they were discussing the oxygen consumption in certain places or monitoring small fluctuations in the temperature, Valerie shut down her computer and rose to her feet with a solemn sigh.

That was their signal. It was time to make themselves known.

***

Bai Yin had yet to return from her disappearance, however Valerie was not concerned. Although it seemed like her Thrall had lost all of her personality, that was simply because she had been like that to begin with.

The only thing that was changed was her loyalty, and her race, which was absolute. Valerie could still feel the connection to her, confirming that she was still alive. What was keeping her back was most likely the most horrifying thing of all. Politics and Bureaucracy.

Besides, just because she didn’t have her thrall, didn’t mean that Valerie was going it alone. She had Beans with her, as always, whose company she was truly thankful for. She was also planning on meeting up with Jason and Lucy, otherwise known as Saige and Lilith.

They said they wanted to make it easier to sign up for the guild together, but Valerie could sense the ulterior motive that Jason had for the meeting. Unfortunate for him, she also had a little surprise of her own.

When she got off the train, it didn’t take long for Valerie to spot Jason through the crowds, considering he was a head taller than most of him, whilst Valerie and Lucy blended in with their below average height.

She could see the slight scowl on his face as he scanned the end of the train, which had the only ramp for wheelchair users to get on and off with. It was the exit she used to use, but not anymore. When she was recapping everyone on her adventures, she might have neglected to mention this tiny, utterly insignificant detail.

Cackling to herself silently, Valerie snuck through the crowds while they were focused on the end of the train, until she came up behind the pair of them. Moving as quietly as she could, she slowly reached out and gently tapped Lucy on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" She hummed in curiosity, glancing over her shoulder, "Sorry can I help yo- AAAAH!"

Her question quickly turned to a high pitched scream that sent her leaping backwards. Her eyes were widened with shock and disbelief, tears already starting to streak down her cheeks, as she quickly clamped her hands over her mouth to silence anymore screams.

Jason’s head immediately whipped towards her, before he whirled around with a rage filled expression. His fists quickly came up, ready to pummel whoever was harassing his fiance, before his tightened and fight ready body loosened and relaxed at the sight of his sister.

The anger melted from his face, replaced by a mixture of joy, disbelief and utter bafflement.

"Woah, Not gonna hit a girl in a wheelchair, are you?" Valerie said with a half hearted, awkward laugh as she held up her hands in faux surrender.

"Oh right... I guess I can’t say that anymore, can I? Oh well, that joke was a little overdone anywa-"

Valerie’s sarcastic remarks were suddenly caught off as Jason lunged at her. He wrapped his massive arms around her, lifting her into the air as he hugged her tight enough that she could swear that she heard something crack.

He spun her in the hug, all whilst Lucy wept softly with her hands over her face next to him.

"Spine... Spine... I still want to... be able to walk..." Valerie wheezed, weakly tapping his arm in submission, as the big lug squeezed all the air out of her lungs. Her valiant familiar also joined in, leaping onto Jason’s shoulder and giving the muscular giant some truly vicious paw baps on his head.

Between their efforts, Jason eventually got the message, but gave her one last spine cracking squeeze, before placing her back onto the ground.

She immediately wheezed, coughing slightly as she was able to breathe again, as her brother placed his hand on her shoulder, creating a convenient bridge for Beans to move back to her.

At the same time, a warm and relieving feeling flowed through her body. The slight pain in her back rapidly faded away, replaced by the relaxing feeling of a full body massage, and she even felt her legs grow just a tad stronger and firmer before she finally brushed his hand away.

"Alright alright, that’s enough. I didn’t send you all those remnants so you could waste the mana on me." She said with a laugh, but gratitude in her eyes as she looked up at him with a soft smile.

"Funny, that’s exactly what I was collecting it all for. I was gonna help heal you and be the hero big brother, but you just had to beat me to the punch didn’t you?" Jason smirked, poking her in the cheek, forcing her to smack his hand away.

"Yeah well, My wonderful new race gives me some natural regeneration. So really, if you wanted to help me heal you’d give me some of your blood." Valerie said with an evil smirk, only for Jason to immediately hold out his arm with a smile on his face.

Not a single ounce of hesitation in that gesture, and from the look in his eyes she could tell that it was completely genuine.

With a slight pout that he didn’t seem even a little freaked, Valerie pushed his arm away, gave the crying Lucy a welcoming hug that lasted a bit longer than she would have liked, before they moved away from the train station and headed towards the Monument of Power.