Spoiler (Click to Show)
“Serif Winters: The Hero of New Salem.”
A blinding flash of light exploded throughout the four walls composing the RHG’s interview room, causing the man on the receiving end to recoil. Spots corroded his vision, but after a few moments of blinking they began to fade.
“Stars, that was bright.”
“Always is,” The man across from him chuckled as his polaroid processed, snatching it soon as it came from the old fashioned camera. Giving it a few shakes, he looked it over. Gradually fading into color, Serif’s full body tattoo overtook all other aspects of the photo. The easiest way to put it was simply saying it was a galaxy design, but rather than a vast array of bright, vibrant colors, it was predominantly black with splashes of blue across his features which in turn did a magnificent job of making his cyan eyes even more striking. Light grey clouds surrounded his cobalt ink, both light and dark shades, but an off center orange streak brought forth contrast to a piercing extent. In a way, it almost resembled a scar over his eye, snaking just above his brow and snaking to his cheek, but orange scattered speckles also decorated his body, so it didn’t seem too out of place.
As modern as his flesh was, his clothing seemed to be lost in the past. A black, open leather draped over his shoulders and the white cloth he wore as well, also lacking sleeves. In the uncovered gap, ropes could be seen wrapped around his body, as well as a few wires. All of them were thin though, and they only seemed to go around him the one time. Beneath that, fur pants reached down to his black boots. With his arms crossed it was difficult to make out the white fingerless gloves, but against all the dark he wore it was still acceptable. “I think after describing you as ‘the guy with all the tats, the photo kinda becomes redundant.”
“That wouldn’t be surprising.”
“So, do you just flash your colors to fight? Or do you actually have weapons and magic?”
“A bit of both you could say,” Finally regaining his vision, Serif shrugged from the couch, “As far as magic is concerned I have my talisman. It’s not destructive or necessarily defensive, but it’s extremely useful in terms of movement and agility. It can be used to grant any solid object within a short distance a gravitational pull on me, as well as neutralizes Earth's gravity on me. For example, I could walk up a tree like it’s a log on the ground. I only need to actively focus on it and keep it touching my skin. The stone itself is a primarily orange opal with flakes of white and blue inside, shaped like a drop of water, with the tip pointing down. Or wherever I chose ‘down’ to be at least, which glows while in use.”
“So yeah, you flash your colors.”
The gladiator to be gave a grin. “As far as weaponry goes, I do have a couple options to choose from, namely between a knife or bolas. I’m proficient in hand to hand combat as well, I’d rather not take that route. There’s nothing special about the blade beyond sentimental value, it’s simply a classic one used for hunting, but I do have two types of bolas. One is my standard type, which is made of two stones tied together with thin twisted leather rope, usually spanning three to five feet, and I can throw it nearly eighty miles an hour for seventy feet before it hits the ground, from a straight horizontal arc.
“Additionally, before I left home I was given a more… technologically advanced kind from a friend. This one’s spheres are metal and just under a pound, each of which can be activated by means of a button on the side to have a kind of rocket propelled thrust when it’s airborne. This one can travel as fast, if not faster than an arrow and just as far, spiraling in a blur. Additionally, they’re connected by means of garrote wire, so a direct hit would mean blunt impact from the orbs as well as a clean slice from wherever the wire caught. I think it can get between an half to full inch of penetration depending on where it connects. Lastly, if I do end up in melee combat, I can still use the bolas similar to a ball and chain.”
The man nodded for a moment before bringing his palm to his chin. “I assume there are some drawbacks to that.”
“Excuse me?”
Shaking his head, the interviewer chuckled. “Well believe it or not, we actually ask this for your benefit. As well as people respond to underdog matches, no one wants to see something too one sided, so we avoid setting up things like, the guy made of fire against someone who can create tsunamis.”
“Of course, because tidal waves are no big deal to anyone else.” The men exchanged a smirk. “I suppose on account of bolas being a wide weapon they’re much easier to see than most other projectiles, and I’d need a fairly open area to use them effectively. As far as the normal ones go, they are connected by simple string so anyone with a normal blade could cut them, as well as the other, although wire does offer more resistance. With the thrust active they do make an awful lot of sound, so that obliterates any chance for stealth for me as well. The talisman only has an effective range of ten feet, and I’m a little claustrophobic if you want to throw that in there too.”
“Gladly.” He paused for a moment before scribbling another thing in his notebook. “I’m also going to mark down ‘human’ too, just because I have a coworker I know it’ll piss off.”
“By all means, but that’s on you, not me.”
“Oh I know!” Clearly looking forward to enraging his fellow human being, he had to fight back laughs, “Alright, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself? Like your background and whatnot.”
Leaning back in his seat, Serif’s blue eyes drifted to his upper right. “Alright, I suppose I should start off by just saying I’m not from anywhere around here. My hometown is New Salem, off in the Atlantic in part of an isolated island chain: The Zodiac States. I was raised by my loving parents along with an older sister, all of whom made careers out of art. My father is a calligrapher, mother’s an interior designer who sells flowers on the side and my sister Violet works in a tattoo studio-”
“-Which I’m sure gave you two lots of time to bond!”
“-But I never had that same artistic creative side. They gave me to play guitar for a bit, but I never became better than decent, discounting the few songs I had memorized for the band my best friend wanted to form. Other than that, I couldn’t play by ear, couldn’t chase a rhythm or even guess how to make songs sound the way they did. I needed the sheet music for everything. That went on for a bit, but I always looked forward to playing catch with my dad when he came home from work, and then when I was old enough he asked if I wanted to join a baseball team.” Serif paused momentarily. “It’s worth mentioning that The Zodiac States have been isolated since the late 16th century, with the exception of trade. The only reason why we have baseball is because in the 1900s one of our traders asked about what his foreign business associates were discussing, and then the next shipment he sold him all sorts of supplies for it.
“Baseball though, felt like my first real calling. I wasn’t the best batter, I never hit a homerun, but pitching became something I excelled at, even managing to throw a perfect game once. I loved all aspects of the sport, the adrenaline, the thrill when things became close, and the focus that went into it so much that it’s what drove my adventurous spirit. I spent much more time outside exploring the wild as a result.
“From there I took up the profession of hunting, and then when someone introduced bolas to me as a joke, I learned that too. It was just the accumulation of everything coming together, I suppose. Money was rough the first few years however, so I had to take a second job as a prison guard at a corrections center. I worked nights up to the crack of dawn and went directly to the forest, either to hunt or for the classes I was taking at the time to make it my primary source of income.
“Over the years I had been involved in a handful of right place right time incidents,which led to a few people calling me the Hero of New Salem, primarily as a gag, but as stories spread they became more exaggerated and all sounded like much more than they really where. Word eventually got around to the Gemini King, and even though they were nothing overly heroic, he still chose to honor me with my talisman, saying that brave men and women controlled the future and that the spirit of adventure should never die. That’s not to imply I was the only one getting something that day however. Ten people are recognized every five years.
“And I suppose that leads me here.”
“How is that?”
“I really don’t know, but I assume my exaggerated tale only became more so, and spread farther than it should’ve. State kings and queens rule until they start a family so that there’d never be anyone they’d put before their people, and that their goal would be to create a world they’d like to raise a child in. It turned out the former Capricorn Queen’s daughter wanted to see the world and requested me, by name, to join her in her journey. I got a year long contract for bodyguard duty out without warning, but somehow between leaving the Zodiac States and getting here everything went wrong. Something happened on our ship that split the other guard and I up, and then he was killed and she was abducted behind my back.”
“Oh…” The man fell silent for a moment as his eyes wandered. “So what does that mean for you?”
“It means I have a child to find, or else I’ll never see my home again. Or my family, for that matter.”
Nodding slowly, the official glanced at his papers. “Well we just have one area left for the interview I suppose… How would your friends describe you.”
The tattooed man chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ve heard them say I’m difficult to get to know, but eventually worth it. They can all attest to the fact that I’ve never lied, but they wouldn’t hesitate to say that there are truths I avoid as well. I’m very set in my ways, I can be stubborn at times and have a difficulty seeing things from another perspective. They say I have trust issues with new people, a tendency to hold onto my grudges and the capability to do bad things for good people. I’m dependable, integral, a good friend to my friends but can be cold at times. I also apparently have a hard time throwing things away, am good with kids and have a ‘soft spot for orphans’. I think it’s sick some people don’t.”
“Everyone in the RHG is an orphan,” The worker scoffed, “I swear, everyone with dead parents and magic signs up to fight here. But speaking of fighting! How would you like to demonstrate your abilities? One of our practice machines, a beast or another hopeful?”
After thinking it over for a bit, Serif shrugged. “Let’s go with another hopeful, but can do it out of the arena?”
“Come again?”
“I mean I’m late to board my ship. Would it be possible to send someone aboard The Messenger? I have the extra ticket.”
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Spoiler (Click to Show)
Age: 23
Fighting capabilities abilities (Click to Show)
Additionally, both can be used like a ball and chain in a pinch in melee combat.
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Gear (Click to Show)
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Additionally, his vast amount of time outside has left him physically fit and capable of a good deal of stamina to hold his own as battle progresses, and through his adventures he has become a bit of a freerunner, even without the talisman.
He had an affinity for baseball growing up and pursued it throughout his schooling, even continuing it with his friends. Being a pitcher, he’s accurate with his throws and would be able to whip a stone like he was in the major leagues.
Lastly, a hunter by trade he’s good at using and reading the environment around him.[/spoiler]
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Weaknesses (Click to Show)
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Additionally, because he has no way of making more, he’d be hesitant of using them where th