Voltaire stopped mid-step and landed the airborne foot onto the stone floor with a bit of force, rolling his eyes as he heard someone calling out to him from behind. A quiet sigh left as he shuffled slowly around to face whoever it was that decided to play nice with him. It was WAY too early for him to be dealing with people let alone feint being friendly just to get whoever it was off his back. His head rose up to look at Vilkas with an expression one would expect from a grumpy old man "Voltaire." A bit of irritated state seeped into his voice "Like I would tell you that. I have literally just woken up, so forgive me if I am little irritable." The snark in his tone suggested he was anything but sorry for his attitude.
He had just got done speaking when Stephanie joined their little conversation and he couldn't hide the low groan as her pressed the side of his against his forehead "Great, another one." He said under his breath but did little to lower his voice enough not to be heard, although it was a relief that the two knew each other. That meant he could drop mister big and scaly off on her and he could continue his day as planned "Name's Voltaire. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm sure you can entertain each other well enough." A clearly forced smile accompanied a nod as he turned around once more to set out towards the mess hall. "For Arun's sake, people are freaking chatty in the morning." He mumbled to himself as he reached the stairs.
Voltaire was just happy the whatever the hell that tree thing was and the giant dog didn't come to speak to him as well. A majority of the residents here didn't mind sharing details about their past but he couldn't be more eager to forget it and move on. He wasn't here to wallow in self-pity or pretend there wasn't real problems out there that needed to be fixed. The sooner he ate and got his damn coffee the sooner he could start working on how to solve them. After all, people only really cared about themselves so why bother getting to know any of them. Everyone disappoints you eventually.
The bleak reality of the world is clearly expressed in Desmond's pessmistic outlook on the current state of affairs. He is always thinking of ways that a scenario can go wrong, which has made him cautious and suspicious of other's intentions. This lack of trust hinder him from developing cohesion with other members of his unit. In battle, he prefers to operate on his own intuition rather that strictly following orders. A recent personal loss before his transfer to the 212th has changed his outlook slightly and is more willing to assist his squad mates when needed. No matter he does or accomplishes, it is never enough in his eyes and this can drive can lead him to make detrimental decisions.
Despite his stand-offish attitude, Desmond views the lives of his squad-mates more than his own. He is more than willing to give his life if it means saving more people but can make it seem like he is purposefully looking for such opportunities. Mistakes made by lower and sometimes even higher ranked pilots are quick to be called out by him with a sharp tongue. He will help anyone out off-mission despite making it seem like he absolutely hates to be bothered.
History ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Desmond was born on March 3rd, 1981 into a poverty-stricken family that lived no better than the refugees that arrived on the United Kingdom's shores. His father was conscripted into the military but no aid ever came home and they were more or less forced to live day by day doing whatever they could to survive. His mother tried to paint his father as some kind of noble soldier sacrificing everything to fight an unrelenting enemy. That meant nothing to the young Desmond as he never got to see what they looked like. What he did know was how going without food made his stomach twist and turn and how some days his mother would just sit on their shard bed and cry.
That was why Desmond decided he would take care of his mother if his father was not. The days where food rations were scarce he stole from others without a second thought, making sure he was never caught. He developed a quite negative opinion personnel contrary to many other kids his age, which often resulted in Desmond getting beaten up. That was until he learned how to play dirty and soon the other kids were crying anytime they tried picking on him. One such fight he threw dust in the eyes of a much larger kid and stabbed him in the thigh with a sharp rock he picked up off the ground. His mother then gave him a lesson he would never forget but from then on the other kids would avoid him entirely.
Desmond, now of age to serve, was in the process of stalking his next target when two military officers approached him to conscript him into service. He resisted at first and gave the one a pretty nasty bloody nose before getting restrained when three military police came to assist. Desmond was brought to the recruitment office in cuffs and was told plainly that he would either train to be a pilot or he could face jail-time for assault. He took the offer on the guarantee that his mother would be taken care of and so he was forced into becoming the one thing he hated most.
He was far from being popular with his instructors and fellow pilots due to his hostile attitude. The fact that was rather successful in both his theoretical and practical studies only furthered the divide between him and his fellow trainees. His training unit failed their first final exam due to his lone-wolf attitude and it was only after many heated arguments, and a few fist fights, that Desmond got his act together enough to allow his unit to pass. It was not until he began to dispatch on actual combat missions that he fully realized the necessity of others watching your back.
Desmond broke formation during a culling operation in which the BETA's numbers were unusually high. While he refuses to release any details, it resulted in the death of the the squadron's second-in-command. It was clear that Desmond would no longer be able to operate in that squadron anymore and after an extensive pysch-eval he was released back into service. It was at this time that he was assigned to the 212th where he would be closely monitored.
❂ Battle Focus (1/Swordsman) - User's every 10th normal attack critically hits automatically. Passive. ❂ Swordsmanship (5/Swordsman) - User gains increased damage for their normal attacks. Passive. ❂ Greater Swordsmanship (10/Swordsman) - User gains 3% increased damage for their normal attacks. Stacks with Swordsmanship. Passive. ❂ Hilt Bash (5/Swordsman) - Whenever an opponent misses a melee attack against user, user automatically deals low concussive damage back. Does not stack with any other damage modifier. Passive.
❂ Lunge (1/Swordsman) - User lunges out with their blade, piercing a single target for moderate piercing damage. 50MP. ❂ Wide Swing (1/Swordsman) - User swings their weapon in a wide arc, hitting up to 3 targets for low bladed damage. 100MP. ❂ Flurry (5/Swordsman) - User slashes with their sword in a flurry of motions, dealing moderate bladed damage. 100MP. ❂ Strike Down (5/Swordsman) - User raises their sword then strikes down cleanly, dealing high bladed damage against a single target. 150MP. ❂ Arc Slash (10/Swordsman) - User slashes out with their weapon, causing an energy strike to travel in a linear line. Deals medium bladed damage to all units caught. 300MP. ❂ Parry (10/Swordsman) - User parries a bladed melee attack, nullifying it. 150MP. ❂ Disarm (10/Swordsman) - User with their superior skill utilizes a quick, skillful motion to disarm their foe. Target drops the item with 40% chance. 200MP.
❂ Sidestep (1/Universal) - User steps aside. +5% chance of evasion. 20MP. ❂ Meditate (5/Universal) - User focuses for few a minutes, recovering either 200HP or 200MP. 0MP. ❂ Boost Self (5/Universal) - User gains +5 Strength, Agility and Intelligence for a while. Can only be used once a day. 200MP. ❂ Greater Accelerate (10/Universal) - User's movement speed greatly increases for a bit. 300MP. ❂ Knee Strike (10/Universal) - User grabs the target and knees them, dealing high damage to single target. 200MP.
❂ Steel Katana(mythic) - Equipped ❂ Oliam's Longsword (360 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Leather Armor (100 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Small Knife (20 Renn) ❂ Cutthroat's Gloves (100 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Sturdy Clothes (25 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Power Threads (220 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Ring of Protection (100 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Spell Resist Cloak (80 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Helm of Resistance (150 Renn) - Equipped ❂ Red Potion x 2 (120 Renn) ❂ Potion of Resilience (80 Renn) ❂ Potion of Might (100 Renn) ❂ Ancient Mage's Talisman (450 Renn) ❂ Whip (25 Renn)
Power Treads: +5 to strength Ring of Protection: Minor damage reduction Spell Resist Cloak: Increased Magic resistance Cutthroat's Gloves: +5 Agility Oliam's Longsword: +5 to all attributes, +5 to sword wielding skill Helm of Resistance: Increased damage reduction against ranged physical damage "Champion of the Lesser": User gains +30 STR, AGI, INT and STM but takes additional damage from all sources if any friendlies with lower level than User are nearby.
Somehow during the rain of death, Kira lost track of Karuu. She normally wouldn't keep track of that but they were competing after all and she wanted to make sure he didn't cheat. Turning in place, she scoured the battlefield looking for his unmistakable appearance that she could recognize any time of the day. Goblins were coming in from seemingly every direction. Where was her great adversary? It was true she had pushed up a little too far but it didn't make sense she couldn't see him. It he didn't show himself she would utter a curse that would burn him from the inside out and make go bald. After furiously searching, while fending off goblins, she found the beserker. He was surrounded by a large group of them and was looking pretty wounded. There was nothing to fear anymore, for Kira was here to save the day "Give thanks to the great Akumi, for she has deigned to assist you! Your soul will be sufficient payment!" Fearlessly she charged forward, with the notion that he would owe her his life in return. Without support. Without mana. It was not meant to be.
The green-skins overwhelmed Karuu as he fought to the very end taking out a good number of them in the process. A jagged blade pierced his back, draining what remained of his health away. Kira watched it all transpire, her bright, green eyes opened wide "Karuu!" She screamed so hard the muscles in her throat began to ache while his body fell to the ground and shattered into a cloud of pixels. It sounded nothing like Kira and for once fear made its way into her tone. Provoked into a rage, she recklessly assaulted all of the goblins using her actions without restraint as she cried out a roar of pain. The suddeness of his death was more than what Akumi could handle, and for the first time in years a bit of Ryu emerged from her inner sanctum of darkness. Her hands all the way up her arm couldnt' stop shaking as she finished the last one, tears forming in her eyes and slowly dripped down her cheeks.
Kira moved over to the spot where Karuu had been slain, crying awfully but with a somber smile as she knelt on the ground where only his items remained "T-there's no...need..to fear. I'll...I'll just let you stay with me. Please!....just stay. It might be...a little dark inside but..! Akumi will protect us both now. Its okay. It will be nice to have company. I...always liked you, so it will be fine. Just....please...don't leave." This was far too much for her. She didn't want to have control anymore! This was why she stayed inside. The dark. The cold. It was comforting. She reached out and retrieved his items as her smile grew a little "There you go. Now we will be together and I won't have to say goodbye. You'll like being with me, nothing will hurt us." A intense, burning sensation erupted in her chest that nearly prevented her from moving at all. She couldn't bear this! As her fingers dug into chest, Akumi relieved her of the pain and once again asserted itself as the dominant personality.
The tears. The burning. The pain. It all went away and she stood up no longer shaking. Kira eyes closed in honor of her fallen pawn, he had been most useful to her in getting this far. Now his soul was absorbed into her own and she would use his power against the false god of this world and assert herself, Akumi, as the only being worthy of worship. The master of this world had taken one of her favorite pets from her, a slight that he would pay with life. This world needed to burn. Everyone associated with it deserved eternal suffering. Her eyes opened possessing a darkness that Kira did not express before. A serious killer intent. An ice cold gaze of resentment. They had taken something precious to her, and she intended to take everything from them. Any mercy she might have granted them was tossed aside like they tossed aside Karuu's life.
Bidding a final farewell, she moved towards the ornate gates that separated her from the next area for her to conquer. Floor 2. Kira remained strangely silent as she arrived in the expansive rain-forest. She hardly thought about the brutal conditions as she marched forward with a grim look on her face that she did not usually wear. Despite all things she says, Kira was generally full of energy and very expressive. Yet here she was looking like she was about to murder the next person that rubbed her the wrong way. Inside the dark room of her mind, Ryu sat on her legs across from her mental image of Karuu. How many times she had sat here watching him through Akumi's eyes, wishing that it could be her speaking to him? If only the world was not so terrifying outside of her walls. It all worked out, cause he was with her now in this place of sanctuary with all the time in the world. It was a darker than usual in her room, but it was alright. She was used to it by now and Karuu will be too in time.
Akumi ignored the rest of the guild and simply began moving towards the city as she had no time to waste to mess around. Power. She needed more power to destroy the world. The pact she made with Ryu had to be upheld. That she would protect her in exchange for her body. Never again would let her control slip and have that pathetic little girl out of her cage. It was for her own good. She would not last outside of her dark room. As long as she had Karuu's soul within her, she would give him a new body when her true powers awakened.