Adrian of Asura

**Adrian of Asura** is an Ithallean mercenary who became the Seventh Transcendant.

## Story

### Lone Wolf, Pack Wolf

Adrian was a young mercenary who lost his teacher Anthoniel of Alruna. Comforting the latter's young daughter Sephia of Alruna, Adrian was eventually called to the castle he served. This turned out to be a trap organized by Isaac Nigredo who exposed him to a substance called the Maelsturm.

Having lost part of his Soul, Adrian returned home only to see Sephia attacked by a strange monster called an Ascendant. He drove it back with the help of the mysterious Nathaniel Locke and began traveling with Sephia and Nathaniel, searching for answers.

### Ferocious Protector

Adrian faced several trials in order to exact vengeance on Isaac, meeting other people with similar aims such as Lucian Lumine, Aurelian Albedo and Kagekami Hikari. Befriending them, he kept on moving on his path, eventually reaching Isaac and, after a massive battle with the maddened scientist, killed him. This however backfired and resulted in the group apparently being wiped out.

Voices called out to Adrian and asked him to keep going on, which he did, alongside Nathaniel and Sephia. Together, they discovered a group called the Seven Transcendants who attempted to eliminate emotions from the world through the Empty Skies. He opposed them, fighting not only Serene Patior and Aesir Nemesea but also his previous friends, including Kagekami who encouraged him.

Finally, Adrian reached Anthoniel, whom he thought to be dead, and instead fell into his trap : Anthoniel was the leader of the Transcendants all along. Taking Sephia for himself, Anthoniel transformed her into the Ultimate Transcendant and attempted to erase the world. Adrian fought, unleashing his own full power, sacrificing his life in an Advent to defeat him - and succeeding.

### Wolf's Dream

Adrian fell into a dream in the Maelsturm, in which he was given another chance by Cassiel, guardian of the Maelsturm and Fate. There, he fought Persona, an embodiment of mankind's "purpose of evil" granted life by the broken souls of the Maelsturm. Despite defeating Persona, the latter managed to break Adrian by returning him all the friends he had - only to remove them once again.

Seeking to escape the nightmare, Adrian was faced by Tredecimus, the last guardian of the Maelsturm. Faced with the certainty his friends were dead and could never return to life, Adrian unleashed once again his advent, but this time, due to his Soul being completed, his emotions fueled a much greater power. Crushing Tredecimus, Adrian took control of the Maelsturm and resculpted the world of Ithallea within, bringing back the souls of his dearest friends to stay with him in this final haven.

## Appearance

Adrian is a tall man with messy black hair and brown eyes. He is most often seen frowning and is extremely irascible, his muscles always tense. He wears a massive fur longcoat and an equally massive broadsword on his back.

As he loses more and more of his humanity, his eyes discolor and his nails turn to claws. Under the effects of his advent, he becomes a wolf-like creature with a bestial appearance despite a humanoid shape.

## Personality

Adrian is stern and serious, and cares for little except for the protection of others. Those close to him matter most, of course, and he is especially devoted to Sephia. This makes him extremely protective to the point of being aggressive against all of those who would attempt to disturb Sephia.

Over the course of his journey, Adrian loses every single friend or family member he ever possessed, as he loses his humanity due to the presence of Maelsturm : attempting to follow his previous instincts, he attempts to exact vengeance, only to find no fulfillment and be destroyed.

With his last chance, Adrian once again regains humanity only to have it stolen from him again in Persona's nightmare : still, he chooses to go on and breaks through his perfect defeat, reaching understanding and forgiveness in his heart and turning anger to Determination, saving those who deserve it.

## Powers

* **Enhanced Physical Abilities:** Adrian possesses immense reflexes, strength and physical endurance as an Ascendant and these abilities keep increasing as he becomes less and less human. This grants him formidable abilities with both barehanded combat and the greatsword.
* **Darkness Manipulation:** Adrian as a transcendant can freely manipulate the element of Darkness and use it in order to empower his attacks.
* **Advent:** Adrian's Advent is **Indomitable Heart Ira**. This advent grants Adrian terrifying powers over the power of the 'heart', a concept that can either grant its wielder no power at all or akashic powers depending on the state of its Soul : ironically, however, to access it, one must sacrifice their Soul, making this Advent mostly useless.

## Storylines

* Heartless Memories shows Adrian as a main protagonist.

## Trivia

* Adrian's first name means "the dark one" in Celtic language. Asura, as a family name, is a pun on the color azure and the demons known as Ashuras in Hinduism.
* His theme song is Awake and Alive by Skillet.