The Brothers of Nexus

Draven groaned as he pushed himself up, every muscle screaming in protest. The room swam into focus - shelves crammed with mysterious jars and bundles of dried herbs, the air thick with that unmistakable apothecary smell. Then he spotted Jera, casually crushing herbs like this was just another Tuesday. She shot him that classic know-it-all smirk of hers. "Look who finally decided to join the living." Before his foggy brain could piece together why the heck Jera was there, she jumped up and hollered, "Hey! Sleeping Beauty's awake!" The whole place shook with thundering footsteps, and suddenly Kael came crashing in like a hurricane. He'd been up front, probably driving poor Gideon nuts with endless questions about plants and potions. "You've been out cold for 24 hours," Kael said, dropping down beside him. Draven barely heard him - his stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself. As if reading his mind, Kael shoved a lunch box at him - courtesy of Ms. Baker, who'd apparently gone full mother hen since their little woodland adventure unleashed actual freaking magic. Draven wolfed down the food like a starving man, barely coming up for air. Between mouthfuls, Kael filled him in on everything he'd missed. "Gideon's been teaching me the ropes," he said. "He's up front right now." "So he's really a fire magician?" Draven asked, suddenly more alert. "Yeah, wild right? Explains a lot though. Guy's like a walking encyclopedia of magic." Draven tried to process it all, but his brain felt like mush. Then Kael dropped the bombshell: "We're heading back to the woods tonight. Gideon's gonna teach us how to handle this stuff properly - you know, so we don't end up face-planting again." Draven caught the wobble in his brother's voice. "You were pretty freaked, weren't you?" "Freaked? I was terrified," Kael admitted, slumping back. "Haven't dared try any magic myself. Keep thinking I'll end up like you did." "Well," Draven said, mustering a tired grin, "at least this time we've got a proper babysitter." But watching his brother's forced smile, he knew they were both thinking the same thing: this was just the beginning, and they were diving headfirst into completely uncharted waters.

After a good meal, Draven bounced back like nothing had happened. The weird fire in his gut was still there, but it wasn't the scary inferno from before - just a cozy little warmth. When Kael suggested checking out Embermire, Draven was all for it. The town wasn't huge, but man, that marketplace was something else! Merchants from who-knows-where had set up shop, selling everything under the sun. Neither brother had ever gone proper shopping before, and now here they were, loaded with silver from that Starfall Fruit deal with Gideon. Kael split their small fortune, passing Draven eight pieces with a big-brother warning: "Keep it safe - you never know." Back home, that kind of money was unheard of - their neighbors would've had to work their fields for over a year to see that much! As they wandered through the market, Draven found himself pulled toward the blacksmith's shop. He'd been dreaming of upgrading his hunting gear - maybe grab a decent bow and some proper arrows. The moment he stepped inside, though - whew! It was like walking into an oven, with this crazy mix of coal smoke and metalwork in the air. "Who's there? I'm in the middle of something!" bellowed a voice from behind a massive wall. Kael, being Kael, just yelled back, "Paying customers!" The door flew open, and there stood this mountain of a man - arms black with soot, sporting a wild beard. His grumpy face lit up the second he spotted them. "Well, well... looks like payday," he grinned, introducing himself as Titus Young with a healthy dose of pride: "You won't find better steel in all of Embermire!" While Kael chatted about bows and arrows, he somehow talked Draven into getting a sword too - that wolf encounter had definitely left its mark. But when Titus grabbed Draven's hand to seal the deal, he spotted that Flare-rank mark. The guy's eyes practically turned to gold coins - he knew he had some serious customers on his hands. "Custom work'll set you back quite a bit and takes forever, but check out what I've got right here," he said, waving toward his collection of gleaming weapons. There was something special about one bow in particular - it looked like wood but had this weird metallic shine to it. The matching quiver and arrows were just as unique. Kael couldn't take his eyes off it. Titus caught him staring and grinned. "Got an eye for quality, eh? That beauty's made from Myrkweld." His rough fingers traced the bowstring. "Not your regular wood or metal - this stuff actually bonds with your magic forever, unless you break the connection." When Kael asked about the price, Titus whistled. "It's one-of-a-kind here - probably the priciest piece in town. Five silver pieces and it's yours." Kael didn't even blink, handing over the silver. Sure, it was a fortune gone in seconds, but something told him this bow was meant for him. Meanwhile, Draven was busy checking out a short sword across the room. It had this cool little red dragon on the handle and a red gem beneath it. "I'll take it," he said after giving it a good look. "Two silvers," Titus replied. "That's Fire Region steel right there - finest you can get. The ruby's from deep underground where they say dragons and all sorts of nasty stuff live." The moment Draven held it, he felt stronger somehow. His magic stirred in his gut - yeah, this was definitely his weapon. They left feeling pretty good about their purchases, heading back to Gideon's as the sun started to set. They found him packing a huge bag of supplies, with Jera hovering nearby, looking pumped. She turned to them, suddenly shy. "Hey... thanks for those weird fruits." Gideon laughed and added, "Those Starfall Fruits were exactly what we needed to awaken Jera's magic." His face got serious. "We're heading into the woods for three days. Hope you're all set." As he locked up, Gideon couldn't help but think - here we go again. And wouldn't you know it, these two troublemakers were leading the charge.