Merissa

The acrid sting of sulfur filled the air as Merissa vaulted over a fissure of bubbling lava. They landed with a soft crunch on the obsidian rock, their ancestral katana a cold weight on their back. Most nobles from the Overworld thought them mad for coming to The Underworld, trading silks for scars. But those critics never felt the surge that ignited when a Soul Chaser’s flame nearly claimed them. That near-death trial sparked their ascension, burning away pampered fear and leaving only a grim, optimistic focus. Kenji once told them their greatest achievement was not simply surviving this realm, but becoming a beacon within it. Merissa just grinned, their eyes judging the treacherous path ahead. This place was never a prison; it was a whetstone.