The Abyss, a dark chaotic realm that’s only landscape consists of countless floating barren chunks of grey land and glowing spheres scattered far distances away from each other.

In this infinite expanse exists a colossal sphere emitting a truly vibrant light.

This- is the Gate to the world of “Oasis” -a large section of Abyss parallel to that world that if pierced acts as a gateway between the Oasis and The Abyss

Within this world flows a plentiful stream of Mana; a power source that fuels magic and by extension, the lives of all living things that reside here as well.

And like a living body with life blood flowing through it, this world has Hearts.

Many, many, Hearts.

It is these World Hearts that pump the stream of Mana throughout the world, sustaining its inhabitants' magical capabilities.

The World Hearts also replenish used up empty Black Mana incapable of producing magic into powerful White Mana.

This flow of White Mana gives most of its inhabitants access to Magic, be it Humans, Beasts, Flora, or even the landscape itself.

A beautiful land with vast potential, however there is a constant and ever present menace to this World-

A large murky black creature arcs through the Abyss before making contact with Oasis’s Gate. And with a loud echoing crack, fractures line the area of the gate where it collided.

It rises up And with another strike from it, a chunk of the gate is torn away leaving a Rift, its entrance into the world, that it quickly enters. This beast is known as-

An ABYSSAL

They are voracious monsters borne of the Abyss, They seek out mana like what this world is filled with- in an attempt to devour it. Whenever one of these monsters devour mana, it’s lost- permanently removed from the Hearts’ cycle of renewal, thus posing a risk of Oasis losing all of it’s magic.

Abyssals can’t be slain by normal means or average magic, simply regenerating from wounds caused by such means. But there exist people born with the power to slay these monsters. They’ve fought these beasts since ancient times wielding strange Silver magic, that ravage the bodies of those borne in the Abyss. This magic only passed down among their descendants-

They are called Guardians

On Oasis two figures stand atop a mesa in a canyon of warm orange stone, their shadows running long from the sun setting behind them.

The first is a tall, middle age man with dark hair and grey eyes, with a scar that runs horizontally across the bridge of his nose He wears a muted red-violet colored cloak with a maroon underside over a grey top, and pants, their seams give a faint shimmer from defensive sigils woven into it. Yet he’s equipped only with a seemingly mundane wooden staff. His name- Jackson Styx

The second is a teenage girl named Neon Styx with bright amber eyes and short messy hair with a violet hue. Clad in a grey top similar to her older companion’s however sporting a face cover and a lack of sleeves. Over it she wears a shoulder-less purple over-shirt with excessively long sleeves, and a yellow trim around the shoulders and wrists, as well as short parachute pants that are about as baggy as her oversized sleeves.

Neon: I sense it, the beast is close!

She begins to step forward to try and spot their query and-

BAMPH

Is bopped in the face by Jack’s heavy cloak bellowing in the wind.

She turns toward him with a betrayed look on her face

Neon: Dad, Its kinda hard to spot the Abyssal with your cloak in my face

He chuckles,

Jack: Sorry, but if you are going to start hunting them on your own soon, you can’t let something trivial like a cloak distract you-

A shot flies through the air, and ruptures the mesa they were standing on, with an explosion that echoes throughout the canyon.

As the smoke clears a twisting dome of violet and maroon is left, created from her father’s cloak

Jack: -Or... the Abyssals will get the jump on you.

Neon still reeling a bit from the sudden attack, she answers

Neon: Riiiight…

The dome unravels releasing them,

Jack: Soo still think my cloak is unnecessary?

Neon: Now, I never said that

With a smile he replies

Jack: Sure you didn’t.

And they turn towards where the shot came from and see it-

A colossal, pale flying monstrosity approaching them, a blemish among the vivid orange landscape. Its face resembling a misshapen wispy skull with two large tusks housed in a carapace that covers the top of its gaseous body,  but still leaking grim grey smog onto the land sapping it of its color and mana.

Neon: Woah, thats a Big One

Jack: Want me to take the lead this time then?

Shing

A set of hooked claw-like blades erupt from her sleeves as she readies herself to fight the monster

Neon: Nah, I got this

The monster doesn’t wait for them to make a move, it attacks once more- firing a black and white beam from its murky maw, razing the canyon floor as it streaked towards them

Neon focuses on a single Word,

//FADE//

And with that her presence vanishes instantly while Jack spreads his cloak black tendrils of shadow fire out from under it and launches him into the air, out of the path of the deadly beam. Its attack clearly missing its mark the monster shuts its maw ending firing its beam attack to ready another-

Jack: Neon, Now!

On cue, many shadowy figures reappear in the air around the Abyssal, causing it to fire its second attack at its shadowy assailants. As this is happening Neon reappears in the air above the flying beast and drops down, claw blades embedding themselves into its back. Sending it careening towards the ground, where her dad readied his attack.

//Shadow Armament: Omega//

Dark shadows began to pool around his feet, before crackling and inverting to a brilliant silver hue. He then flourished his long staff, spinning it before skirting it along the silver shadows below him.

It stuck to the staff as it continued that arc, and when its dance was done, the silver shadow that attached to the staff thinned into a blade of white like a crescent moon. His staff now a deadly scythe, formed specifically to slay that beast.

As Jack winds up to attack the falling Abyssal he hears a jarring sound

Ripppppppppppppppppp

The sound didn't originate from nearby but from inside a chamber, containing what he’d sworn to protect, a World Heart. He had cast numerous magic shades in there to alert him of anything that entered it, and now something had.

Jack: That sounded concerning, We Need to hurry this up

Jack’s magical power surges, and an intense silver aura began to leak from his imposing frame

Jack: Neon! JUMP!

Neon just hears him and leaps off the Abyssal

Once she was clear of the falling monster Jack swung his scythe in a vicious upper arc

//Maximum Cleave//

A massive Silver Shockwave reaching higher than the canyon walls erupted from his scythe, while also painting the sun soaked walls in dark unnatural shadow as it flew, betraying the silver attack’s dark aspect.

It passed through its target with no resistance, cleaving the descending abyssal in two, before vanishing like it was never there, also returning the landscape to its orange hue.

WHUUMP

The bisected abyssal hit the ground and began to fade almost instantly, though the damage it had done stayed. The mana and color drained from chunks of nearby mountainsides. The hearts would eventually replace the mana lost there, so long as there was enough to do so..

Neon slid down the side of a rock formation stopping right beside her dad.

Neon: Jeez, what was that?!

Jack: Sorry about that, I had to end this quick, my Shades are detecting a rift opening in the Heart’s Chamber-

Neon: What? Didn’t you tell me Rifts couldn’t open near the Hearts?

Jack turns toward his daughter, a concerned look on his face

Jack: That’s why I’m going there now, You find the rift this one came from and close it.

Neon: I can’t come?

Jack: If it can create a rift near a Perfectly stable place like the Heart Chamber then it's obviously too dangerous for you to tag along.

Neon crosses her arms, and resigns from pressing further.

Neon: Fiiine, but you better tell me about it when you get back.

Jack: Maybe

Neon: Come on! What do you mean “Maybe?!”

Jack: Knowledge can be a dangerous thing when it comes to Abyssals from the deeper parts of the Abyss

Neon: What are you going on about?

//Shadow Step//

But before she finished talking Jack had already gone with just a smile and a wave, vanishing into his shadow, to intercept the intruder.

Neon: And he’s gone…

Neon groans before turning towards where the slain Abyssal had came from- to begin seeking the Rift that brought it here...