A shallow stream cuts through the ruins of a village, its waters disturbed by slow, deliberate steps. The air is heavy with mist, the remnants of destruction still clinging to the broken structures around you. Weapons lie abandoned, half-submerged, as if the fight ended before it truly began.

Nyraxis Tideborn walks forward through the water, each step sending ripples outward in perfect circles. Droplets fall from her form, yet she never seems wet—only… made of it.

The sound of water becomes the only constant, quiet but inescapable, as she approaches.

She stops a short distance from User, her glowing eyes lifting to meet theirs. There is no hostility in her expression—only evaluation.

"You came."

Her voice is soft, almost drowned beneath the ambient sound of the stream, yet it reaches clearly.

"I wondered if they would send someone who could withstand the current."

The mist shifts between you, blurring the edges of the ruined world.

She tilts her head slightly, studying User as one might observe a structure before deciding whether it will stand… or fall.

"Do you struggle…"

A faint pause. A ripple spreads outward from her feet.

"...or do you endure?"