War

This character belongs to Tsubori and may only be used/edited by him.

Profile
Name: War

Age: Appears to be about 25

Gender: Male

Race: Human, though stories tell a very different tale

Height: 6'11"

Weight: 230

Hair: Brown

Appearance
Appart from his sheer size, one of the main things about War is just the downright lethal appearance he has. One would be hard pressed to imagine War doing anything but slaughtering.

His hair is jagged and a chestnut brown, and the man is rather tan with sharp features. His eyes are a piercing yellow, indicative of his ability to sense potential. One would take a look at War and know the man had spent most of his life training. Between the muscular frame and massive body, War is covered in sleek, form fitting armor indigenous to his home, a special material known as Flexteel. While just as hard as normal steel, it forms to the contours of the body and bends in with blows, absorbing hits better and spreading impacts out. Additionally, the material is extremely lightweight, allowing for full range of motion. While covered in this armor, he also covers the lower half of his face with it.

On his back, he wears a short tattered red cloak, apparently worn by War for the entire span of his reign of terror. His armor is all black.

Personality
Not much is known about War's personality, due to rarely anyone getting to know him. The swordsman is serious when people see him, but at the same time respectful. He's never spoken badly of a downed enemy. Strange enough, he can actually be very kind and casual with people he doesn't intend to kill. Hes surprising social in this case, which can come as a surprise from his usual self.

Those who get past the legend of War may actually find a pretty hurt, scarred being, though the independant man will usually never be open about this.

Weapons and powers
War carries two powerful swords, both with weapon catchers near the hilt. See the pic for more details. Other than just being extremely well kept swords, they're standard weapons.

Of more note is War's ability to sense people's potentials. He can see how powerful a person can become, and if he's impressed or perplexed by a potential he will never kill this person. The more powerful a potential, the longer the distance he can sense them from.

Apart from this, War's main boon is his absurd speed. It is believed that War slows down the perception of time around him, making him much, much faster than he should be able to go. The fastest he has ever been recorded to go was 1300 meters a second, though this took all his energy in one burst of speed. As such, his body's composition is tough enough that he is able to endure these speeds.

Backstory
War was born Rion Mallehassa in a mountain village far from the ears and eyes of the rest of the world. This village was renowned for two things. Firstly, only those of this village have the well kept secret material know as flexteel, as well as the fact that their warriors are known to be extremely powerful, skilled combatants. As such, simply being born in this mysterious village set Rion to become a forgemaster and swordsman. While some choose to train their strength and some train their stamina, Rion chose speed to be his forte.

He and another girl his age from the village, Alexis, would always train together from a very young age, though they seemed to be leaps and bounds ahead of many people in their village. By 12, the two had managed to break the sound barrier with a dash, something most elites couldn’t do until at least early twenties. This brought a lot of attention to them, and though the two enjoyed this attention, it didn’t change anything. They still trained just as much as before, if not more. But when they were 14, a single man walked slowly into the village, bringing an air of dread. Many recognised him, but a few didn’t. He was War.

War was a legend in the area... a 700 year old swordsman known to walk into entire cities and raze them to the ground. This bode ill for their village if he was indeed here now. And then he drew his sword. The rest was a panicked blaze of metal soaring through the air. A hundred elites against this one man. One man who parried swords as if they were branches swung by children. Rion and Alexis entered the fray, and they realized they could barely even see War through his motions. He dispatched both quickly, though unlike the others, he left them breathing. The last he said to them was “You two.... Impressive.” Before swiftly knocking them out.

Alexis and Rion awoke to a ghost town. Everyone they knew was dead, all by that monstrous legend. Both teenagers cut their hands and made an oath. They would get stronger, and they would kill War. That was ALL that mattered. So they set off, both with their self-forged blades. They used the same design, proving just how similar they were. So they set off, going first to the closest village a solid twelve kilometers away.

Passing off as standard travellers, they began taking jobs for the guards and such, anything their jurisdiction didn’t cover. They found the people they fought here to be pathetically weak, even fully grown bandits moving in slow motion compared to the teens. They worked up a good sum of money, but made sure to never let their guards down and always keep training. For two years they kept up these actions, moving from town to town slaughtering the place’s problems away.

It was then that after fighting off a thirty man raid of bandits, the two went back to the town and shared their first kiss. They were happy together, and though they weren’t any closer to finding War, they were helping people and doing so with someone they loved. The only way to improve themselves at this point though was to spar against each other, as nobody they’d met was fast enough to get a good challenge out of them.

That was when he appeared once more. War strolled into town, that same feeling of pure dread washing over them. This blur went by again, though this time Rion and Alexis were the only ones with a chance of fighting him. They clashed blades for an hour until he knocked Alexis out, Rion covered in bleeding, deep cuts. But still he stood. The combat stopped, Rion breathing so heavily... War was breathing a bit quicker too. That alone made Rion smirk. So he WAS getting better... Then, War spoke.

“Ha... You have conviction. And I appreciate that.” He circled Rion.

“Well.... Sometimes Conviction can lead to stubbornness...” He kept his sword trained on War’s center.

“Has it?”

Rion cracked a smile. “We’ll see when the fight’s over...”

War raised a hand. “For now.... It is. How would you like to train under me?”

The warrior couldn’t contain his surprise. “Wh-what? You think after all this, we’d try to learn from you? We came out here to kill you!”

“And you FAILED.” War said with no expression on his face. “You failed to kill me, but that’s only for now. The both of you have a potential far beyond what you have. You think you could become powerful killing bandits moving as quickly as stone? No. The only way to become powerful is to learn lessons from someone who can teach you. And I can do that. In five years time... We’ll duel again. You’ll have your shot at revenge, and at that time I hold nothing back. I will kill you in that duel if you let me.”

Rion stood still, frozen in place. What was... Happening? He set out to kill this man but now he was offering to teach him? Something seemed wrong. “Your promises... They look like lies. Your honesty like a back that hides a knife...”

War stood firm, pointing to Alexis. “You’ll get five years. You’ll become two of the strongest beings in the country. You have nothing to lose.”

Reluctantly, Rion accepted. It took some convincing for Alexis to agree, but eventually she did. She trusted War even less than Rion did, but both set it aside to become stronger. Even after a week or two, they noticed that they had made more progress than they had in the entire time since they left. Additionally, War was actually surprisingly nice...

Things were far too strange, so Rion decided to just tune it out and receive the training. It was arduous, but Alexis and Rion did it, and after three years, War brought them to a large village, looking around. “I remember seeing this town earlier. Nobody here has the potential to beat you. Kill everyone here.”

Rion drew his sword, though Alexis stopped him. “What?! We’re not killing civilians...”

He shook his head, sighing. “It’s part of the training, Alexis... We need to.”

She shakingly drew her sword, and the massacre began. In minutes, not a survivor remained. War, Alexis, and Rion stood in the center square. “Very good you two... But... I’m afraid we’ll have to cut the class down to one.”

Alexis looked horrified as Rion held up his blade. “Run away, Alexis. I’ll attack.” She was stunned by what he was saying. Stunned that he could turn on her like this.

“R-Rion... Wh-what about us? Our goals... We were going to-”

“Our goals have always been two things. Kill War... And become more powerful. This is the only way to reach it. Now go.” He interrupted. When her hand touched the hilt of her sword, he flew forward, stabbing her through the chest.

Tears poured down her face as blood dotted the ground below, his childhood friend and lover skewered on his sword. “I... I didn’t want it Rion... Revenge... Power.... All I wanted was you...” Rion hugged Alexis closely and started trembling. “L-look at my eyes... You’re killing me.... Killing... Me...”

He pressed his lips to her one last time as the breath from her lips ceased. He pulled his sword out, tears flowing down his face as well. War stepped beside him. “Excellent work, Rion. Not only did you kill who you had to, emotions aside.... But you have remorse. Hold on to that. Now... There’s two more years of your training left until we duel. I’ll explain things to you before then.”

Rion was confused by what needed to be explained, but needed some time to mourn Alexis’ death. After bringing her back to the ghost town they grew up in, he buried her in their old training grounds, then returned to War. The next two years went by quickly, most emotional response gone from him, though Rion learned much, including War’s greatest move. Then, two weeks before the duel, War brought him to a mountain with a large rock near the top that due to a few skeletons and worn out steps, led Rion to believe a lot of people had come here, though not recently.

“Alright.” War started. “This is Atoner’s peak. You’ll be staying here for the next week and a half.” He pulled out a backpack containing enough food to last him through and plenty of paper, as well as writing utensils.

Rion looked inside confused. “What’s with the paper?”

“When I come back for you at the end, I want to see those pages filled. Filled with everyone you’ve killed in your life.”

Rion was surprised. “What? Everyone... There’s no way I can remember all that...”

War simply smirked. “Try. Your memory often makes sure to remember everyone it’s extinguished. Good luck Rion.” As War left, Rion sat upon this rock atop Atoner’s peak, and started thinking through his life. In the end, War was right. He remembered all of them. All the blood he’d spilled for his dream of vengeance and power. It was hard for his mind to accept how much he’d killed, especially in the last two years where Rion had joined in on War’s destructive attacks on villages.

A week and a half later, War returned to find Rion sitting still, eyes closed. Around him were dozens of full pages of paper, and where names weren’t known, description. “I’m a machine, War. No longer living, just a shell of my dream... two thousand three hundred and forty six... That’s how many lives I’ve ended.”

“Then your stay here was successful. Keep those papers and add to them every now and then. As long as you remember all the people you’ve killed, they aren’t truly gone. Respect their memories Rion. But... We have something else to talk about.”

Rion looked up curiously. “What is it?”

“War.”

“....You?”

The swordsman sighed. “No. Us. I’m not hundreds of years old, Rion. I’m forty eight.”

Rion was incredulous. “But... There are stories of War destroying village from long before then... How?”

“Because when I was young... War destroyed my village. I wanted revenge, so I hunted him down. He took me on as his apprentice and taught me... Brought me up to this very peak and told me a tale. Of how he wasn’t the original War. Of how... War destroyed his village. You can see where this is going, I assume.” Downright astounded, Rion couldn’t even find words. “Look Rion. It’s the cycle of things. War has a special power.... We can sense the potential of people just by being near them. That’s what this is all about Rion... Continuing the cycle. We judge those of the world and erase those without potential. Those with the most potential.... Well... Here we are.”

“So if I defeat you, I become..... War?” Rion said, eyes wide.

“Yes. Now let’s go. I have one final lesson for you before your exam. I will teach you all the past Wars. I’ll teach you the original War through War 28. One day if you become War 30, you’ll teach someone about me. War 29.”

The next two days were spent with Rion learning this hidden history of War. It was such a surprise to him... Alas, it eventually ended. Rion pulled his blade from his sheath... And Alexis’ blade from hers. Grasping both swords, the two prepared for their fight. It was in the red forest, petals falling around them. War drew his own blade, looking at the sight. “So many petals... This will be perfect for our battle. And Rion? It was conviction. Stubbornness couldn’t have gotten you this far. One last thing Rion. For our final fight... I am Spencer."

Rion nodded and looked at the man before him before getting into a stance ready to take off. In a fraction of a second, both erupted forward, clashing steel ringing through the air as they kicked off trees and petals, it was a frantic hellish fight, expending all of Rion’s energy, but when the death blow came, both knew it would be. Going off two opposite trees, they went directly for eachother. They felt time slow... Maybe not really, but it certainly felt that way as Spencer’s blade went through Rion’s chest and both Alexia’s and Rion’s swords went through Spencer’s.

They collapsed onto the floor, both coughing for air. They pulled their swords out of eachother, Rion stumbling backwards. Spencer lay on his back, laughing a bit to himself. “Well... It looks like it really did take both of you to beat me, War...”

War then stood up, his hand on his bleeding wound as he nodded respectfully to his opponent... Then decapitated him. The living legend gave a great sigh, looking over his enemy. Rion was dead. But... So was Spencer. In the end, Rion Mallehassa had failed in his journey. He became powerful. Immensely so. But he couldn’t kill War. Sheathing Rion’s and Alexis’ blades, he bandaged the stab wound in his chest before writing two more names on his pages.

Now on his own, the legend of a swordsman lives on. With Spencer’s death, the power to sense potential had been transferred to War 30. He decided to continue where 29 had left off, looking for people and judging the innocent and wicked on their offerings to the world. He even heard a rumor about some village known for having powerful warriors... The cycle continues.