Yurial Deirus

**Yurial Deirus** was the son of Velan Deirus and the heir to the Deirus Grand Duchy. Despite not wanting to be bound by duty he remained determined to follow his father's footsteps and succeed the Deirus household. Yurial was killed by Quylla under the influence of Nalear's slave ring.

## Appearance

Yurial was an arrogant faced boy, 1.65 meters (5'5") tall, with red hair, blue eyes, and pale pink skin.

## Personality

He was a lady-killer, blessed after puberty with looks and charm. Yurial attended White Griffon Academy with the intent of "study[ing] hard, hav[ing] as many flings as possible before his arranged marriage, and inherit[ing] the family assets. However, he demonstrated a very practical and scheming mind, exploiting every opportunity at hand especially when it came to noble matters. By spending more time with Lith and others he lost his arrogant demeanor, replacing it with an air of curiosity befitting of a mage.

He often portrayed himself as having a wild personality, but in reality he did so to enjoy life as much as he could before graduating and being roped in by family responsibilities. He expressed feeling trapped and depressed by his duties.

## Background

Yurial's great-grandmother was the first mage of the Deirus family, establishing them as a magical bloodline. However, his father Velan Deirus valued hard work and talent, disowning Yurial's siblings and pressuring Yurial to excel. Yurial received no benefits from his father regarding the secrets of the academy nor resources, leaving Yurial to fend for himself.

During Lith's first class Yurial is among those who throw trash at and mock him. After noticing Lith's talent he tries to get along with him and create a connection, along with the other talents in their Healing class Friya and Quylla.  For a while, they treat each other as friends but in reality only use each others' talent for their own ends. With the civil unrest brewing between the old and new noble factions, Yurial is approached and beaten by Lyam Lukart (son of Archmage Lukart) and several other noble children after he refuses to join the noble's cause. Yurial's father tells him to get a Guilty Ballot and lay low.

After a trip into the White Griffon forest and discovering a plot involving locked dimensional boxes, Lith is forced to reveal his enhanced Awakened physical prowess to Yurial and the others in order for them to cover for him and pretend they fought the Plant Abomination together in order to bring the plot to the authorities' attention.

The second exam involves a special test set by Headmaster Linjos, where Yurial and the others' mettle are tested against humanoid monsters. Lith is assigned as their supervisor as an impulse control test and advises them towards the right courses of action. However, the last test involves executing traitors to the Kingdom. Quylla and Phloria are unable to carry out the execution while Yurial, burdened by his sense of duty, kills his prisoner before leaving traumatized.

After a while, Lith confronts the others and opens up, sharing some of his experiences with the others in order to console them and potentially become real friends. Classes resume and Yurial decides to truly become friends with Lith; however, the shadow of the second exam still haunts him causing him to develop a drug addiction, specifically to tranquilizers. When Phloria starts dating Lith, Yurial approaches him, suggesting he give his Guilty Ballot to her because of his empathy for her life situation and their burden of duty. After Balkor's attack, Yurial expresses his desire to cancel his arranged marriage with Libea Fintyr and live a freer life, but Velan insists on upholding his duty to ensure the future of their household, and Yurial falls into a relapse, despairing at his fate to be shackled by duty. Yurial also approaches Friya asking to be friends with benefits, but she slaps him and refuses.

Yurial's friendship with Lith grows over time, as Yurial confides in him more about his inner conflict between happiness and duty, and Lith tells him about Death Vision. At the end of the 4th year, Lith overwhelmingly places 1st while Yurial comes 3rd, but in order not to enrage the nobles or new magical bloodlines, the official scores switch their scores. Yurial receives the moniker "The White Hand", but hates the idea of accepting an honor he doesn't deserve and his drug addiction only gets worse with time.

After entering his 5th year, Yurial begins researching Impossible Arrays at Lith's request after he fights Gadorf the Wyvern. Eventually, Yurial himself becomes absorbed in the research and theorizes his own impossible array, but is unable to complete it in time. When Lith's vision updates, he informs Phloria, Yurial and the others, arranging a rendezvous point in the academy, though Lith doesn't see anyone in it aside from Phloria because he cares for her the most. Yurial takes the warnings seriously, stockpiling his dimensional amulet with alchemical tools. During Nalear's insurrection, a cousin of Lyam Lukart and one of Yurial's exes attack him in his room, but he manages to escape to the rendezvous point. Quylla is revealed to have fallen under the effects of a slave item and fatally wounds Yurial and Jirni, though Phloria takes action and manages to save Jirni at the cost of Yurial's life.

After his death, Yurial's father Archmage Velan Deirus finds Yurial's diary recording his suffering and pain, passing them onto Lith as Yurial had addressed them to him. After reading all of Yurial's innermost thoughts, Lith comes to regret not treating him better before and struggles with his death for a long time. Among his diaries, Yurial also left his research on Impossible Arrays allowing Lith to bring to fruition his theories and create Yurial's Hexagram.

Yurial's diaries also reveal his feelings about Quylla, expressing his regrets for having treated her as an asset rather than a person at first and how he had protected her from the shadows, getting rid of those who approached her with a hidden agenda.

## Quotes

* *"I hereby crown you king of the hill."* (Yurial to Lith, Chapter 88)
* *"Is that a wand in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"* (Chapter 120)
* *"Hi, I'm Yurial Deirus and I'm a murderer...I may be a little stuck up, but I'd really like to be your friend."* (Yurial to Lith, Chapter 183)
* *"I have only two choices in front of me. I can accept my fate, sacrificing my happiness to build a better future for my family, my subjects, and the Kingdom. Or I can leave everything behind, throwing away years of planning, and study to become a vagrant mage. Whatever I decide, life as I know it will be over. I wish I had been born a commoner. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to enroll in an academy, but at least my destiny would be in my own hands."* (Chapter 221)
* *"You see dead people?* (Yurial offering Lith his tranquilizer potion, Chapter 224)
* *"I didn't give a damn about love. All I cared about was taking my father's place as the head of the family and making my Grand Duchy a better place for everyone to live in...Is it wrong for me to want to go away and have a life? To forget about duty and think only about myself for more than five minutes?"* (Chapter 225)
* *"What good is it to be a powerful mage if I'm only a spectator in my own life?"* (Chapter 255)
* *"I think Quylla is too kind for her own good. Don't let her know that I told you, but I believe she's the most dazzling girl I've ever met. Despite Quylla's harsh life, she retained her sweet and loving personality. I wish I didn't always act like an idiot in front of her. I hope one day I'll be able to repay all the kindness she has showered me with, even when I did nothing to deserve it. I hope she'll think fondly of me like I do of her."* (Yurial's diary entry, Chapter 335)

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 66: Change Of Plans
2. ↑ Chapter 57: A New Lesson (2)
3. ↑ Legion on Discord
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 163: Domestic Affairs
5. ↑ Chapter 119: Exordium
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 188: A Different Perspective
7. ↑ Chapter 63: Racking Points
8. ↑ Chapter 60: Judging A Book By Its Cover
9. ↑ Chapter 92: Just a Warning
10. ↑ Chapter 95: Family Matters
11. ↑ Chapter 115: Two Truths
12. ↑ Chapter 170: Second Exam (2)
13. ↑ Chapter 174
14. ↑ Chapter 180: Crucible (2)
15. ↑ Chapter 221: Truth Hurts
16. ↑ Chapter 571: Borrowed Time (Part 1)
17. ↑ Chapter 241: Rankings
18. ↑ Chapter 259: Friendly Challenge (Part 1)
19. ↑ Chapter 292: Growing Hostility (Part 2)
20. ↑ Chapter 306: Escape (Part 2)
21. ↑ Chapter 310: Traitor (Part 4)
22. ↑ Chapter 318: Moving Forward (Part 2)
23. ↑ Chapter 335: Life at the Academy (Part 1)