Retsu Tanaka

*~ “No. This is what you forgot. I'll admit, it started out as just… admiration. But at the core of it all… was a wish. A wish that this hell could be undone. A wish to save everyone you could see. Something so simple… so beautiful…” ~*

## Appearance

Standing at about 5'8'' tall and weighing roughly 150lbs, Retsu is of moderate stature and a lot of his weight comes from muscle mass. The young man has dark green hair, often appearing unkempt and being a mess due to his light natural locks. He has green eyes, often hidden behind some of his hair, and his face sports a few freckles barely visible on his cheeks. Overall, his skin is somewhat pale, although it is not abnormally so.

In a casual setting, Retsu usually wears some loose clothes: some large shirt and a pair of pants, hiding that he has a rather defined body.

During his work as a hero, the young man tends to wear a suit mostly green in coloration, his arms covered in red wraps and his pants being black, as well as wearing a short yellow cape.

## Personality

Retsu had a hard time for the past years, and this time of trials and tribulations shaped his character. In the past, early into his career as an adventurer, he was obsessed with becoming stronger just for the sake of being powerful, this single trait having defined most of his actions. His cold attitude, his hostile remarks, Retsu was not a pleasant person to be around. That changed when he met Nikita Lifetouch, who would become his master. At first it was only out of his desire to become stronger, but Nikita showed him that there was more to life than combat and struggle. That there was things worth more than becoming stronger.

With time, Retsu's shell dissolved, and with many friendships he found that strength alone would not make him happy. Instead, he admired the heroes of Etera, the ones fighting against evil, and decided to be a part of this effort of making the world a better place. This was the first spark of Retsu's wish to become a true hero, a wish which only grew stronger with every struggle, with every life saved. This wish can cause him to disregard his own safety however, being a double sided edge of perseverance and giving too much.

The young hero is pretty blunt around people, saying what he thinks, showing some confidence although he is not super experienced in social topics, although he has grown a lot, resulting in a friendly and outgoing young man, who's insecurities catch up to him especially when he interacts with women.

Currently Retsu is unsure what the future brings for him. While he is still friendly and outgoing with people he is close to, his experiences have made him somewhat distant and cold, having seen so many people die and him being unable to save them.

## History

Being born on the Incadelth Peninsula in a town near the former Fair Maiden, Retsu spend most of his early days around where he grew up. His parents apprarently came to this continent from another world, and were renowned heroes around the town. Thinking himself to be special, he awakend his powers at early age, and discovered that he could use that to his advantage and make the other kids like him that way, when in reality they just feared him. His parents being adventurers, he spend a lot of time with the people of the village, eventually learning of their death. Growing up in such a n emotionally cold enviroment, Retsu left as soon as he was able to, his goal to become stronger and stronger, secretly wanting to become strong enough for the sake of catching up to the parents that left him behind.

After making his way towards the city of Babel, Retsu met a woman called Nikita Lifetouch who showed him that there was more to life than just raw power. Learning under Nikita as his master, Retsu learned to appreciate other things in life as well as learn that just power wouldn't help him fulfill his goals. Developing his own style of fighting under her guidance, Retsu quickly became recognised as a potential Hero by the Hero Association and joined their Trials. Although he failed, Retsu felt that he had made a lot of progress and decided that he would one day join this organisation and help people as an official hero.

Shortly after a known adventurer known as Jovra defeated his nemesis, a strange power took Retsu away into a far away land. He doesn't remember this time very well, but he is sure that he had become someone other people looked up to, and relied on.

With time, more of these old heroes disappeared and Retsu emerged on Chronus once again. Wishing to protect those in need, he pushed himself to the point where he would inevitably break and beyond. And so he did, being bested by one of his numerous foes, drained of his power until he was barely more than a shadow of himself. But he didn't falter, he began training once more, hoping that he would one day return to his power, no going beyond it, and be able to take upon the mantle that the heroes of old had left behind.

## Relationships

**Nikita Lifetouch - Master**

Retsu met Nikita early in his journey, and was impressed by her martial prowess. At first it was nothing more than admiration, but he realized that his pursuit of raw power was not a life worth living. He became one of her students, trained with her, tried to support her work, until eventually he had grown as a person and hero.

**Loana Kis - Friend**

Meeting her as one of Nikitas friends, Retsu was similarly impressed my her powers, and often trained with Loana. At some point he was pretty sure that he had a crush on her, but as he reemerged from a different world, he had grown past those feelings.

**Selena Sage - Friend**

Yet another one of Nikitas friends, Selena was the one that teased him the most, but also taught him about life. Similar to Loana, Retsu is sure that at one point he had a crush on her.

**Kerikki "Rikki" Nentovya - Rival (?)**

A student of Nikita, Rikki and Retsu shared a friendly rivalry, wanting to surpass each other, but also to grow strong together.

## Aspirations

*~ “I don’t want to regret anything. I want to make all the tragedies that happened into meaningful things by believing that my path is right.” ~*

Retsu wishes to become a worthy hero, someone who is able to help other people and take up the mantle of those that have left Chronus behind.