Mason Sumer

"Perhaps our strength doesn't lie in Aura...maybe it's through effort that our true colors shine through."

- Mason Sumer Mason Sumer is a 3rd Year Student at Haven Academy in Mistral, and a member of Team UMBR alongside his leader Ugné Brandr, fellow teammate Brook Lynn, and his initiation partner Rino Li. He wields a pair of gauntlets known as ______, which can store and shoot miniature grenades.

Backstory
Mason grew up on a farm close to the village of Higanbana, located in a very quiet section about a mile and a half off of the main path the village was located on. Suffering a bit as a typical middle child between his two sisters, he never seemed to fit in a great deal, whether this be within Higanbana itself due to his Faunus heritage, or in his family while the eldest daughter struggled with yearnings to live in Mistral and work with her passion of clothing design while his younger sister got any and all things she wanted, provided they could afford them. Even his father, a massive bear Faunus standing at 6'-8", virtually ignored him in favor of earning money to send his eldest daughter to Mistral.

This changed a bit over time as Mason grew, with him topping 6 feet by the time he was 14, and still growing. He worked around the farm and helped his parents handle the crops and the animals they raised for both subsistence and sale, and eventually was finally recognized for his work, especially after his sister left for Mistral to pursue her passions. He, however; believed he wasn't good enough, as he was by no means book smart, having received limited education in this backwoods area of Anima. Believing their boy could be something more, they encouraged him to go with an honest line of work, and become a Huntsman, citing his notable strength and his can-do attitude as primary reasons why he would work well with the career. Plus, they had stressed, that he'd be able to visit Mistral and see his sister again after she'd been gone for 2 whole years without coming back, and he could possibly find a place he actually fit in.

He enrolled in the small combat school in Higanbana, and forged his weaponry while biding his time for entry to Haven. Despite having minimal training, having received only 2 years of combat school, he was able to enter Haven Academy with next to no issues, even with the written portion being difficult for him. He had thought to himself that perhaps his guessing game was on point that day, considering as he almost never did well on written exams.

Passing initiation alongside several other people, he eventually came to be part of Team UMBR

Personality
With a can-do attitude and a semi-friendly demeanor, Mason is arguably the most sociable of his team. Most of the time he doesn't take things too seriously, and loves to have a good laugh with his comrades. As an honest person, he doesn't sugarcoat his words, and may unintentionally rattle some nerves, but he doesn't let that threaten the points that need to be made. Having lived in isolation for a long time, and always having a bit of cabin-fever, he loves the idea of living in the city of Mistral, though still retaining a nostalgic yearning for his home.

The other problem with his honesty, is that he can't keep secrets very well. This is why he is not entrusted with sensitive information, and it contributes to the feelings of disconnect and detachment he's retained for most of his life. Having living in isolation for a long while, he was never really discriminated against as a Faunus, and now, living in Mistral and knowing what the White Fang had done to Beacon Academy and the Kingdom of Vale, he will often be discriminated against for his heritage, and its one of the few things that anger him. That someone would automatically assume he's untrustworthy just based on the actions of a few extremists makes him hate the White Fang and what it apparently stands for, and it stresses him out a lot.

Weapon
Mason's weaponry consists of a pair of gauntlets known as ______, which can store and shoot miniature grenades which deal high levels of damage in a concentrated area. In conjunction with his Semblance, he can make the grenades find their mark quite easily by directing where they need to go before they are primed to explode. The grenades can bounce off the ground some, but if they hit something too hard, they will explode, which is why he needs to be particularly careful about getting the shots lined up well using his Semblance.

Semblance
Mason's Semblance is known as "Tectonic," which in short, allows him to control rock and stone along with materials made or based on them, such as brick. This Semblance is particularly useful in that it can allow him to subtly adjust the terrain where his grenades go so they can get the best angle, and/or land in the correct spot. If he really puts some effort into using it, he can collapse walls, make large earthen constructs where necessary, and move large boulders, though this causes lots of Aural strain to do. Tectonic also works with the manipulation of Earth Dust, which is actually much easier to manipulate, though less commonly used. His constructs are particularly good about deflecting and resisting most Dust-based attacks, particularly Fire and Wind Dust.

The Semblance requires existing earthen materials to work, hence, if he were in an entirely glass or metal building without his weapons, he would be at a heavy disadvantage. As mentioned previously, it takes a lot of strain on his Aura with larger quantities/masses of rock, and most of his ability lacks the level of finesse that some Semblances have. His earthen constructs are also weak to explosive and blunt attacks, making them a poor choice for defense if someone can break it.