VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Chapter 306: The Guild Leader

The name ’Belladonna’ topping the chart created some chaos amongst Dawd fans across the world. It inspired fear in the hearts of some, awe in the minds of others, and simple confusion in the rest.

After all it was her nickname that was more widespread than her actual in-game name. But whether they had heard of her or not, no one actually knew the true face behind the name. She was an unknown party topping the charts that was populated by mostly popular and well known names of professionals.

When ’Reaper of Stars’ joined her on the list, coming in a solid third, only to get bumped down to fourth by a late entering ’Prince of Stars’ that is when things really became exciting. After all this popped the bubbles of many who were confident that this strange newcomer was in fact Reaper in disguise.

One after the other new names were introduced to the list, all of them shooting straight to the top ten and competing directly against each other. Countless people’s attention latched onto the list, watching it with wide eyes and eager smiles, as after a few more wayward introductions, it finally stabilised.

Even with more names being introduced every moment, and the list constantly shifting, the top ten stayed cemented in place and simply let the lower plebs fight amongst themselves. In the end, the ’Hierarchy of Power’ looked as follows;

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1. Belladonna Walachia

2. Revenant

3. Prince of Stars

4. Reaper of Stars

5. Trivian Townsend

6. Vestra La Fey

7. Lilith Luciferous Satanael

8. LusciousLox

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The number five slot, Trivian Townsend, was actually the real name of Figg. For some reason he was a little too embarrassed to use his in game name and decided to use his real one. However what was most surprising was Lilith’s spot.

She had been one of the first of her party, along with Jason, to actually attempt to use magic and actually achieve. Theoretically she should have been higher, but the issue was her Aura.

Now this wasn’t to say that Lucy wasn’t an intimidating woman that was overflowing with Aura, just that... Okay, she was a kitten. She was short, cute and bubbly in her personality. No one could really take her seriously, and she was stuck in the hellish initial stages of her class.

That was the reason it was considered such a difficult class, and why many didn’t bother. Until she could change her race or get something to kill, Lucy would lag behind the rest of them. But once she got a foot hold on her aura, they would have no trouble getting their tank back, and her power would sky rocket.

The only reason she got so high on the list was because she was power levelling her mana to get to those points.

If Valerie had been around to see the list, perhaps she would have grown annoyed at seeing the name of that horrible little witch, LusciousLox. She was like a parasite that wouldn’t go away no matter what, just always sticking around and suckling away to fatten herself up.

Still, it was surprising to many of them how high up she had risen, considering who she was in the company of in the top ten. However, it was that same company that caused the woman herself to destroy her room in a fit of rage, all while screaming a variation of ’That bitch!’ at the top of her lungs like she was being murdered.

For those in Valerie’s specific Monument of Power, which included one horrified Ladiesman217, who received a valiant 68th place, all of their eyes quickly turned to the testing areas exit.

With anyone else, it was impossible to learn who had gotten what position based on an in-game name. No one knew in which Monument the test was taking place or what name related to them. The same, however, could not be said for the leader.

After all, they had been given a very subtle and almost barely noticeable hint that it was this Monument she was taking her examination in. They had the where, when and the name. All they needed was a face to match, which they could get by simply waiting for the next batch to exit.

It was such a good plan too. It was just a shame that they did not account for the fact that she might also be here to register for a guild.

***

Leaving the examination room, Valerie was led through more twisting corridors until she came to a small room interview room, where a young woman was already sitting across from her with a wide smile.

"Welcome Miss Ashcroft. Please, have a seat. We will have some food brought in for you shortly. Oh... and some for your lovely cat too." She quickly added, before stretching her smile even wider. She was almost reaching her ears with it, and showing so much teeth that Valerie couldn’t help but wonder if that is what she used to look like in her [Blood Frenzy] form.

Ugh, no wonder people were disturbed by her.

What followed was half an interview, and half a market search, as Valerie explained the details of her newly forming guild and found somewhere for them all to stay in as a group. A ’gamer house’ if you would.

A phrase that the interviewer, who was more like a real estate agent, eagerly used. Including the quotation marks, which meant that she emphasised the phrase in the exact incredibly condescending and fake playful tone you were already imagining.

When Beans hopped down onto the table, the woman gently leaned forwards with a hint of eagerness in her eyes, as she slowly lifted her hand. However the moment it got within a foot of Beans, he quickly whipped his head towards her, staring her down with murder and malice, as if to tell her not to dare mess up his luscious fur.

It was a pattern that continued throughout the entire interview. She would reach for Beans, he would glare at her and cause her to shrink away, only to try again five minutes later. It got to the point that Valerie had to pluck him off the table and keep him in her lap whilst giving him calming scratches behind the ears just so he didn’t actually murder this woman.

Although that solution just made the woman pout even more as she watched with longing.

After nearly an hour of scrolling through different locations, Valerie finally found somewhere that they could settle down as a guild and use as their base of operations for their future hunting trips as well as a training ground. There was even a space that could be filled with her plants, as well as Figgs, and be used as a mediation room which was perfect for training mana levels.

"Ah, you’re in luck," The agent said with a smile, and a envious glance towards Beans, "It is actually on sale. Only 3.7 Million! That’s an incredible saving."

A heartbroken smile tugged at Valerie’s mouth, as she struggled to process the number, and how quickly all of her money was slipping out of her fingers. She hadn’t even had time to fill a pool with it to roll around in, and already she was spending over half?

With a trembling hand, she raised her hand and showed the ring settled onto her finger.

"Do you accept ring transfers?" She asked, before immediately getting answered by a sharp Beep!

The Real estate agent/interviewer tilted her head in confusion, as she lowered the scanning device in her hand. She had moved so fast with that thing, that even Valerie hadn’t noticed her movements.

"Oh, I’m sorry dear, did you say something?"

"N-no... No I didn’t." Valerie muttered, lowering her head as she felt the shards of her heart crumble to the floor.

"Well then, that’s alright then. And lookie here, you’re all set. All that’s left is to decide on a name, and we can get a lovely decal above the door that I just know you are going to love."

A Name? Valerie froze in her sorrow, her eyes widening in slight panic, as she had realised that they had forgotten to decide on the most basic and obvious detail in the world. Crap.

***

In a country far from Valerie, a hooded individual was trudging through the abandoned remains of a quarry. The blocky hole in the ground had simply been left as such after all of the valuable, and even some of the less valuable, materials had been recklessly harvested from it.

He strolled over to the edge of the large quarry and simply dropped off of it, falling dozens of metres through the air without a hint of panic. What should have been a landing that shattered his legs, instead was done with the grace of a cat, as he landed with barely a sound nor even a single particle of disturbed dust.

"Where is it... He said it would be here." He muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the quarry, until he finally saw his target sitting at the bottom of the basin. Waiting, as if just for him.