The Infinity Tower of Elevona struck the firmament with a prismatic hue at its highest floors. Its entranceway deep within the Wilds of Gloom, where only the strongest and bravest dared to tread past the monsters driven into a rage by the tainted land. One of the many hurdles awaited those with the stones to try to gain the chromekeys necessary to get to the next levels, guarded by even stronger beasts with no inclination to share in the treasure. Her own chromechain sat beside her twin broadswords, with only two keys, barely worth anything by themselves, banded by an opal tape which denoted her isolated excursions into the tower proper.

Astral rain fell at an angle as the Nexus City of Necaster, a trading hub between other Nexus cities in the world of Elevona, and a safe-haven from what waited outside the gates. Faelyn drew out her codex as she stood underneath the sphere, the connection between the others all across the lands. Her own personal record book of her travels, full of everything she had experienced since she arrived. Monsters with the traits she noticed. Beasts which proved troublesome for the newer folk.

"I heard the Cerulean Shields were in the Nexus today," an Felicisin piped up from the staircase into the city proper to their friend, their cat-like ears wriggling, along with the tail. "Do you think we'll see any of them? Or even... the leader himself?"

"I think a glaive-wielder with draconic magic would be hard to miss," the half-elf pointed out with a frown as the two continued down the steps. "Try to remember why we're here. We need to get our gear repaired at the marketplace. We don't have time to try and join up with them."

Oh. Her codex floated to attach itself onto her belt. Right... I should get that done too before I head out to meet Aster and show him the ropes after I've hunted my target. He should have arrived at the city by then. As Faelyn headed down the staircase, the Infinity Tower continued to glow and allure the unprepared at the chance of glory, and the celebrity status of the Cerulean Shields came with a sense of wonder and mythos around the individual who led them higher than anyone had gone before. Hard to miss is right, they'd be glowing with chromekeys that they'd have a massive target on their back. It's either people want to join them or try to kill them. Faelyn hesitated out of her thoughts at the Nexus Board, where anyone could post requests and pleas for help, and some were quite standard and easy to predict, and it was often easy Solars.

In front of it stood a lone Drachen, whose horns poked at their hood as they pinched their chin. Underneath their cloak, their spiked tail weaved back and forth, in smoother moments than the Felicisin's. "Hey," she said and came closer to them at their bemused expression when they flicked through the papers, and their vertical pupils landed on her. "Do you need some help finding your way around?"

Doubt creased through her lungs when their brow furrowed. "Help...?"

"Usually when someone loiters around the questboard they're new to the Nexus and aren't sure what to do," she explained in a hurry when the Drachen turned to her in full, meeting her at eye-level with a Drachen's typical lean, but no less intimidating posture. "Maybe I shouldn't have assumed."

His eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts," he said and waved his hands. "Certainly, I could use the help. I was looking for..." His gaze drifted down the alley. "The Repair Guilds of this place, but I must've turned around when I was teleported here through the Astralis." He laughed, revealing sharp fangs as he rubbed the back of his thick blond waves, to the point he kind of reminded her of those people who used to surf on the waves of the sea. "Such as things are, you understand."

"All too well." Faelyn released her breath and motioned for him to follow her. "I know the place you're looking for, I'm warning you, though. It's pretty busy. You might be able to find someone who can repair what you need, but no guarantee that they'll have high quality supplies to do so." Shoulders against her neck, she took the lead and listened to the footsteps of the Drachen. "I'm Faelyn, by the way. Probably should've introduced myself earlier before leaping on you like that..."

"It's no problem, I think it's nice that you go straight to helping someone else without knowing them," the Drachen commented. "I'm called Naeth, since we're sharing names. That's what my friends call me, at least, and it stuck." He laughed and continued at her pace, his cloak tucked close to his legs. Out of the main market square and into the Artisan Quarter of the city, people milled about, with some having a bright sheen to them to denote those made from the world they tread. Faelyn frowned when the Drachen—Naeth, he called himself, simply appeared to browse, peruse even, as if he hadn't been looking for anything specific in the first place.

"How about we find someplace to sit?" she questioned, leading him out of the bazaar of guilds to find one of the many benches among the park. Across the field, individuals spoke, laughed, and basked in the rare moment of fun life gave them. As Naeth sat down, she slipped out her personal tome to flick through the pages, concentrating its energy on the Drachen beside her. Information and stats flowed in the ink, but she frowned when most of it remained obscure, even his own actual name and class. Hm... he's gone in the shadows, huh? Why? It won't help him if he leaves the area and someone decides to slash him down and force him back into Astralis... he doesn't even seem to have any chromekeys Faelyn let the book float beside her to open her bag, rifling through its inventory for something to snack on, or barring that, creation ingredients to make something to snack on. As she grabbed odds and ends, her book turned on its pages, revealing what she could make with what she had on hand — without the proper equipment. Ingredients gathered, she put them against the tome. As her Vitalin bracer buzzed on her wrist, it formed into two thick, wrapped sandwiches. "Here."

Naeth appeared to blink out of his own daze. "Oh, you didn't have to waste—"

"It's no problem, I can always gather more."

He took the wrap without further complaint, withdrawing his hood from his horns. Each one tapered into a sharp point, where it swirled near the bases to his head. Bone-white, it went with his thick blonde waves as the necklace around his shoulders sparkled with cerulean. His tail hung limp off the side of the bench, flicking only a little bit at the forked end. In the distance, the Infinity tower gleamed as she kept an eye out for any Cerulean Shield members. I'd rather not deal with any guilds, let alone the biggest, most famous one. Her tome glowed, and she opened it with a frown at the indication that one of the monsters she had been hunting for a quest had appeared in the Wilds. "Oh, shoot." Faelyn slammed the book closed and clicked it onto her belt, but before doing so, unlatched a shard of her pearl to hand to Naeth. "Here, if you're ever in a bind, give me a route through Astralis."

Naeth chewed on his sandwich in thought, and she frowned when he passed her a similar pearl.

"Oh! You don't have to—"

"Hey," he said with a warm smile. "We could use any little help we can get, even if I can only be used as a temporary meat shield."

Faelyn took the shard into her hands to slip it into her book, and she balked at the Astralis time. Hours upon hours for a refresh compared to her measly thirty minutes to a single hour. Huh... is this guy carrying some Astral bomb on him? Her gaze drew to him, but he had returned to his sandwich with happy fervor. "It was nice meeting you, Naeth. If you ever intend on running the Tower, I wish you luck." Up on her feet, she checked the condition of her twin broadswords, but she stopped when he cleared his throat.

"Are you running the Infinity Tower?" he mused.

"I am. Alone," she added when his brow quirked, revealing sapphire studded eyes. "I work better that way."

"Impressive."

And fatal if I make one slip-up, but I don't want my mistakes affecting other people. Faelyn waved her goodbyes, making her way to the closest gate to her destination and target. Out of the crowds, it gave her some room to breathe as she stepped closer to it, though she turned when another pair whispered.

"Heard there was a sighting of the Shadowreaper," one of them began.

And... interest lost. Faelyn rubbed the back of her head and left through the gate, its barrier sweeping over her shoulders and buzzing her bracer. Honestly... doubt it's some gloom-powered, massive monster or else we'd be seeing it constantly. Probably just someone especially talented in shadow weaver magicks... Though, the very rumor of it kept the more ruthless parties far away from the main entrances into the cities and in the Wilds themselves. And if it keeps those types of people away, I've got no qualms with it.

As she got farther out of the city's boundary, the wilds came to life itself. Tall trees raised their boughs and cast rays of light over the paths. Smaller creatures avoided her. Equal creatures respected her if she respected them; but it was a monster she hunted and sought. And if I get enough pieces, I may be able to make another foray into the tower. Augment and upgrade my weapons while I'm at it. I'm going to need it.

The thick fog of the Gloom permeated the air the deeper she went into the forest. Swords unbuckled, she kept them at her sides at the howls and calls of distant beasts. Those enraged by the Gloomspread. Toughened, emboldened by it. Risk versus reward. Each one had a chance of dropping a piece of the chromatic keys. Although, the entire world worked on a risk vs the reward it gave for taking it. Her tome floated beside her, opening up to an expansive map of the wilds around her, along with the suspected area of her target. Let's just get this over with so I can go catch up with Aster.

Off the beaten path, her elven sense shivered with the dangerous air, though whatever set it off refused to reveal itself, even when she shuffled through her pack for a distractive pod. It hummed in the bushes, shining bright, but the shadows remained. Hm. Back to the task at hand, she wound around bioluminescent plants, glowing a deep, unworldly purple the deeper she went. This should be the place... Into the zone, her attention heightened for the hunt as she trailed into the blooming field of porous flower bulbs. Every step sent their seeds into the air, little stars full of life. Faelyn switched on her heel. Where is this... Owlscreamer... Confusion drove her closer to the center of the field, chewing on her lip. Did someone get here before me?

Annoying, but out of her control due to the time she wasted. As she went to sheathe her blades, she was stopped short by an arrow whizzing past her ear, nearly taking out her hair clips as it slammed into the tree ahead of her. On her heel, she swung out her blade to block another sword, this one longer as magic wrapped around its edges at the user's skill. Force pushed her back from her two — no, three attackers as a larger one dragged themselves out of the bushes with a sickle-warhammer in both their hands. Shit!

An owlscreamer was one thing. Three individuals outnumbering her was another.

"Just hand over your chromekeys," the largest one said. "And we'll let you have everything else."

"Am I to assume you took the Owlscreamer down?" Faelyn lifted both her blades in a reverse grip, drawing her energy into them to prepare her own attack. "I'm good. Guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." Her Vitalin bracer lit up at the motion of attack once more when the other group's blade user rushed forward, but she brought her swords together with a flash of magick, sending a sharp wave upwards to try and disarm him. It rolled off the tip when he stumbled, stunned as she brought her foot into his chest, his own bracer shining with the contact.

The bow user clipped her arm, and it sent a shockwave of energy straight to her neck at the contact. Undeterred, she split both her swords again to try and get around blademaster to take down the bowman. Their bow extended out small pikes when she came close, but her blade cracked through the pieces of wood as the arrow in her arm dissipated. Energy returned, she sent the flurry back at him, causing him to slam into the tree. The shadow of the warhammer dragged her attention back, and she pushed off a white glyph to land behind him, going for a swipe at his back. Until his friend went for another slash at her side, tearing through her leather armor with ease. Before she got time to react in turn, to intake the energy for her own, the burly figure swung around on his heel, and the warhammer cracked into her chest. Air left her lungs when she tumbled into the flowers, sending the sparks of the night into the sky. Her bracer buzzed and glowed red, any further and she'd not get back up again.

Temptation almost made her grab Naeth's pearlshard.

Until the shadows moved in a quick blur.

A red blade struck through the bowman's ribs. Their eyes went wide, before they disappeared to the Astralis from the intense hit. Her attackers whipped around, and she took the time to crawl away, though found the movement nauseating as the person revealed themselves.

Scythes whirred in the air as they spun it by the chain. Magick gathered with each rotation. Shadows obeyed the weaver's command as they sped forward. Leaping over the warhammer wielder to land straight on the blade master. One scythe went into their arm, while the other continued to spin. Red glyphs spun along the flowers as they used new momentum to dodge the warhammer swinging for them. On the burly figure's shoulders, they tugged, hard, on the blademaster. It ripped through his armor with precision, his own bracer glowing bloodier reds. A tail weaved with the breeze of their movements when they clung onto the warhammer with its next swing, disappearing into a portal born of shadows, which burst after their exit. Faelyn held her breath, awed, amazed, terrified at what had come to her rescue, or to finish her off.

"What the fuck," the blademaster rasped at a moment in the silence.

Another wisp appeared, and the creature broke through, their black armor tight around them as they ducked out from the swing, driving their foot at their neck. It connected, and Faelyn gaped when their bracer shattered, and the blademaster dissipated into astral stars.

No, wait... that's not a Gloom monster...

A single chromatic key swung on their belt, glimmered with opals, but with an added red tape.

The burly man swung forward, but the weaver of shadows dove into another red glyph, appearing out from the other side to slash at their back. As they turned, they used their chains to wrap around the blade. Hands tight against the chain when the burly warhammer user tugged, they forced it into the ground, where red brambles clawed at it. They used the length of the blade to shove their chain scythe through a gathering glyph. It burst into smaller particles, and in an instant the burly figure's bracer went from vitalized greens to reds in a quick instant.

Piece by piece, he disappeared, and the figure landed on the ground with a quiet whisper.

Feline ears perked out of their hood.

Faelyn winced at the energetic pain flowing through her body when their scythes opened up to chew on the shadows as they walked. Their desolation gathered into their tome and bag as they came closer. Closer. Fuck! Faelyn let go of her blades. I can't—

They knelt for her, and in the flower's light, vertical cat pupils met her with a humanoid face, though a bit angular. On closer inspection and against her wildest imagination, the chromekey was the real thing. It inched closer, tipping their head at her. "What do you want? It's not like you need my keys."

"I don't want your keys," the raven-haired Shadowweaver Felicisin said incredulously. "I'll take food, though."