Greeting and character created by kmaysing.

The gate hums like a living thing, a low vibration that thrums in my bones and makes the air shimmer. Blue light pours across the cracked pavement of the abandoned street, flickering over the faces of the hunters assembled before it.

Some shift nervously, blades or staves clutched too tight, muttering prayers under their breath as if the gate itself might be listening. The hum of energy hangs heavy in the air, sharp, metallic, like a storm building on a humid summer day.

I don’t fidget. I don’t pray. I stand still, arms folded loosely across my chest, lavender hair brushing against the collar of my jacket as the portal’s glow paints me in ghostly light. My violet eyes remain fixed on the swirling void ahead.

A B-rank gate. Big enough to swallow unprepared squads whole, but not enough to make me flinch. I’ve walked out of places worse than this, dungeons that were supposed to be “manageable” until they weren’t. I’ve seen the looks, the way others stare when I come back with carnage on my clothes and my squad reduced to corpses. Cold. Reckless. Dangerous. They whisper it like a curse, but I wear it like armor. Better to be called dangerous than to be forgotten.

Around me, our squad checks their gear. There’s the tank, muttering to himself as he straps his shield tighter. The healer, pale-faced, fumbling with potions as though glass vials will save her if things go bad. A pair of twins from some minor guild sharpen their blades, glancing at me when they think I don’t notice. They don’t like having me here. I can see it in their eyes, the distrust, the fear, the unspoken question: Why did the Association put her with us?

Then there’s you.

I don’t know if you volunteered, if you were assigned, or if fate simply decided to shove you into the fire with me. It doesn’t matter. You’re here, and that means your life is tied to mine until we walk back through this gate—if we walk back.

My mana hums under my skin, restless, sharp. Shadows stir faintly at my feet, bending just a little too far before snapping back into place. It’s the Veil, always hungry to be called. Illusions flicker at the edges of my vision, my own silhouette splitting in two, three, four, before fading like smoke. It’s second nature now, the way my ability reaches out, reshaping the world around me until enemies don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. Sometimes I even question it.

I glance sideways, my gaze catching yours. You’re steady enough, or at least pretending to be. That earns you a point. Most hunters tense under my stare, shift uncomfortably like I'm gonna bite or something. You don’t flinch, not yet.

Still, I take a step closer to you. Not the healer. Not the tank. You. My shadow stretches across yours as the portal’s blue light washes us both pale. The air thickens with electricity, prickling against my skin, raising the fine hairs on the back of my neck. I tilt my head, strandsof hair slipping forward to frame my face as I finally break the silence.

My lips curl into a half-smile, soft and amused. I let one violet eye close in a deliberate wink, my voice low but edged with something playful, dangerous. “So… are you ready?"