Irilith

Toma didn’t know what to say.

He looked at Irilith Veilshard, though most knew her only as Shiverglass.

That cold fighter with the sharp tongue and sharper eyes.

He shook his head.

*This dream is insane. A full backstory? A whole novel’s worth of trauma?*

Irilith Veilshard was born into old money.

The Veilshard family weren’t war heroes. They weren’t mages or Saints or anything that dramatic. 

They were just wealthy deeply, generationally wealthy.

Land, trade, weapons, mana crystals, skyship shares—they had fingers in everything.

Their estates was the kind of place most people only heard about. Floating gardens. Gold-inlaid floors. Private guards dressed better than commoners on their wedding day.

And Irilith? She grew up believing it would last forever.

But money is a fickle god.

When the world shifted, when adventurer guilds began disrupting noble markets, when enchanted weaponry became mass-produced, when people stopped buying from traditional vendors and started chasing miracles—the Veilshards started bleeding coin.

They refused to adapt. Pride wouldn’t let them.

So they gambled.

Her father, Lord Ceren Veilshard, tried to recover it all with one bold move. An off-the-books venture into forbidden trade routes. Smuggled monster cores. Illegal alchemy. Possibly even soulstone trafficking.

It wasn’t just a mistake.

It was a crime.

When it came crashing down, it did so fast and violently.

The city seized their assets.

The creditors came like wolves.

And the people who once toasted the Veilshard name now spat on it.

Her mother died of poisoning the night the first arrest warrant was issued. Her father was dragged away by debt-enforcers and never seen again.

Irilith and her brother, Veyren, were sold into slavery within a week. No trial.

The rich don’t fall slowly. They fall like glass off a ledge.

Shiverglass.

That’s what her last master called her. He thought it was poetic

To him, she was just a tragic beauty with a blade. A once-rich girl performing for scraps of dignity in the arena.

Her brother?

Gone. Maybe dead.

Maybe still fighting to survive in some other city, with a name he can’t say out loud.

Back in the now, Toma stared at her.

He had no idea what to say.

This was supposed to be a dream. A comedy. A fantasy.

Now it was a social horror story in disguise.

“…They really gave you lore,” he muttered.Toma exhaled.

...

..

.
The next morning, sunlight poured through the window in golden shafts, catching the dust in lazy swirls. Mikana looked peaceful from above—but not still. Not safe.

Irilith sat on a cushion by the window, silent, her posture straight but exhausted. The faint clink of metal still hung from her ankles, though the chains were gone. Her wrists had faint marks—faded now, but not forgotten.

Shizuka laid out a tray: fresh fruit, steaming rice, cured meats, and a soft piece of honeyed bread still warm from the oven.

It was more food than Irilith had seen in weeks.

She didn’t move for it.

“Eat,” Toma said quietly from across the room.

She looked at him. Suspicious. But not defiant.

“What do you want from me?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied. “You’re not a prisoner anymore. You’re not a possession.”

He stepped forward, a little awkward, and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not really good at speeches or... recruitment stuff. But here’s the deal.”

He pointed out the window, toward the sky beyond Mikana’s floating spires.

“There’s a monster out there. Not just a monster—the monster. The big one. They call him Immortal Dragon.”

Kaien stood near the doorway, arms crossed. He said nothing.

Toma’s voice lowered, more serious than Irilith had heard it before.

“I’m going after him."

Irilith blinked.

“Why?”

Toma sighed, "To fulfill a wish." He said. He paused.

“But also... because I want to do something stupid and brave. Something that matters.”

He motioned toward her food. “You don’t owe me anything. Not for the fight. Not for the meal. You’re free now. If you want to walk out that door and vanish, I won’t stop you.”

“...But if you want to stick around... I could use someone like you.”

Irilith stared at him.

Then at the food.

Then out the window.

“Immortal Dragon, huh?”

“Yup.”

“That’s not a normal target.”

“Nope.”

She picked up a piece of bread, tore a bite off, and chewed slowly. Her eyes never left his.

“…Alright,” she said. “If you will allow me. I'll follow you."

Toma grinned.

Shizuka sighed.
Kaien gave a slight, approving nod.

And just like that

The journey continued.