VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

The freezing wind, which was so cold that flakes of ice drifted through the air and into their lungs with every breath, cut through them completely. It crept into their skin and drilled itself into their bones, even through the clothing they wore.

After all, their bodies were already adapted for the heat, chilling themselves to withstand the heat of the lava. But in this cavern, where that very same lava had been frozen solid, that defence had been flipped into a vulnerability.

Had it been any other party, they would have been at serious risk of simply being frozen solid by the chill, or worse have their bodies gradually fall apart to the blackening creep of frostbite.

But unlike those other parties, they had a plant obsessed druid. Figg quickly grew a dozen of the startling red flowers he had given to Belladonna for her lava swimming trips, and handed them out to the group. Even to little Gaia, who was not built for the cold in the slightest and was already starting to yawn as her hibernation instincts were kicking in.

They quickly stuffed the crimson flowers into their mouths, chewing on them until they felt heat rush through their shivering bodies.

Once they were properly acclimatised to the startling new climate, they had a chance to observe the new environment.

The heat spitting lava had indeed frozen solid, as the orange glow it had produced to illuminate the caves had been replaced by a pale white light of multiple glowing orbs floating through the air, like glowing snowflakes. But even with the lava, and the snakes within them, taken out of play that did not mean there was no danger.

Each step on the frozen stone was a risk, as it was basically one giant ice rink. Which for the barefooted Belladonna was, once again, showing her how bad her outfit choice was as her bare skin stuck to the frozen stone.

However, a smug smile spread across her lips as she peeled her feet from the frozen stone, and had her new living armour spread its slimy self over her feet, forming a pair of comfortable boots. Or as comfortable as it could get, when it didn’t yet know the material that went inside the boots.

But it was close enough, and better than the alternative.

"Aww, now what will all your fans have to look at?" Saige teased, glancing down at her new boots, and earning himself a solid punch in the shoulder for such a horrific comment.

Focusing on the strange new floor once again, there was another change beyond the environment and climate. Just like the previous floors, new enemy types had been introduced.

In this case, they could see a group of towering humanoids with thick, snow white fur and snarling, ape-like faces. Yeti’s was the name that immediately came to mind. There were other figures accompanying the Yeti’s, but they were harder to make out at this distance, as they were shorter than the massive 8 foot tall abominable snowmen.

What caught them by surprise however, was that these Yeti’s and their companions were actively fighting against the demons.

The behemoth’s claws tore through the armour of a charging demon like it was tinfoil, spreading blood across the stone where it immediately frozen solid. Another was wrestling with a four armed Roider, overpowering the demon in terms of strength despite the difference in arms, whilst the small companions used weapons to cut down the demons.

"What’s going on? Why are they fighting?" Vestra hummed as she stepped forwards, narrowing her eyes as she tried to get a better look at what was going on.

Saige frowned deeply, before turning to Figg. "Hey, what did you say this dungeon was called again?"

"Oh, Right. It was uh... Oh yeah. The Siege of Infernus." Figg answered after a moment of thought.

"Of course... These must be the ones carrying out the Siege. I guess that means that everything before this was just a warm up. Or maybe... it’s supposed to be the progression of time in the area?"

"Who knows. I’m just here to punch things, I don’t really need to understand why." Belladonna sighed and shrugged, earning a withering gaze from her brother.

"You know, Sometimes you can be so smart... And other times you can be such a brutish airhead." He grumbled.

"Oh? And what time is this?"

"If you have to ask, I think it kind of answers itself." He chuckled.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean!"

"Oh look at that, point proven again." He laughed again, before quickly slipping behind his fiancé and unashamedly using her as a meat shield to defend himself from the feral slap assault Belladonna had wanted to give him.

"Hey guys, shut up a second." Vestra interjected with a sigh as she stepped forwards again, "I think... I think they’ve noticed us." She muttered as she leaned closer, narrowing her eyes as she did her best to make out the movements of the tiny figures.

It was hard to determine, but they were definitely facing this way, at least, after they had dispatched all of the demons that they had been fighting with.

The Yeti’s didn’t seem too interested, but the human sized figures looked like they were talking amongst each other and were doing... something. Maybe some kind of gesture? Wait... was that one holding something?

Vestra yelped and stumbled back as a sharpened shard of blue steel stopped an inch away from her face. The glistening point pointing directly into her eye as it trembled, just waiting to pierce into her and scramble her brains.

Backing away she turned her trembling, and thankfully unpierced eyes, to the woman standing beside her.

Belladonna, her arm still extended with the arrow clutched tight in her grasp, glanced over her shoulder at Vestra and flashed the girl a charming smile.

"Yeah, I have a feeling they might have spotted us." She chuckled, before snapping the arrow in half and tossing it to the ground.