Adrion

* Present
* Past

**Adrion** is a working-class student of New Bostin High School and was a longtime friend of John. He was one of the most unfortunate victims of John's reign in their hometown high school, and the trauma he suffered lingered to the present-day.

## Appearance

Adrion has slicked back-spiky blond hair and forest-green eyes.

He was usually seen wearing casual clothes back then. In his latest appearances, he wears his U-Mart uniform, consisting of an apron with his name tag over a white polo shirt.

## Personality

Adrion has a strong sense of loyalty to family and friends. It takes a lot to shake his devotion to those he cares about. Even when he hits his limit, it is with great reluctance and regret that he stands up to a wayward comrade. Adrion doesn't hold grudges, and is more willing than most to forgive those who wronged him. Adrion openly admits that his ability is weak and he is powerless to change the violent world he lives in. Still, despite near-constantly being bullied, he is accepting of his situation as long as friends were by his side.

He is a responsible son, and helps bring income to his household in any way he can.

## History

Adrion was once the only friend John had during their shared school days. After John met Claire, he inducted her into their peer group, and the three became inseparable. As the only member of the trio with an ability suitable for combat, Adrion would often try his best to protect his friends. Despite the run-ins with bullies, Adrion and Claire remained in good spirits thanks to their bond. John, on the other hand, expressed dissatisfaction for his low-tier status. During a run in with the bully group led by Oliver, Adrion would witness John eyes glow upon activating his ability for the first time. Though it wasn't enough to win the day, Adrion and Claire cheered John up by pointing out that his wish for an ability of his own had finally come true. The trio celebrated over this revelation. But when they rushed off to show William, John couldn't even get his eyes to light up.

After graduating middle school, the trio worked to get to the bottom of the nature of John's ability. After Claire and John came to suspect that John's ability had something to do with mimicry, they asked for Adrion's aid in determining if their hunch was right. Adrion didn't want to fight John, but he gave in to their pleading. After less than a week of trial and error, John came to understand the basics of Adrion's ability and managed to duplicate it and win their sparring match. Now that the key to John's strength was clear to them, they agreed that John should use the remainder of their summer break studying other abilities in preparation for high school.

And when their first day as freshman finally arrived, they felt they were ready for anything. New Bostin High School was certainly more intense than what they were used to, but they made sure to keep training John so that they wouldn't fall behind. Soon enough, John managed to win his first fight against a bully who tried picking on them. Adrion no longer had to risk his neck for his friends, since John's strength continued to grow to the point he became a powerhouse who rarely lost. But with John's increase in power came a taste for brutality. One day, John was sent to the principal's office for administering a prolonged beating to Oliver. As they waited for him outside, Claire asked Adrion if he was aware of John's troubling new mean streak. Adrion claimed that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When John finally emerged, he told them that he served a week's detention for his actions. But he ultimately didn't regret what he had done, and Claire was unable to make him think otherwise. John still wanted to surpass his current limits, and since Claire had no visions that might help in that regard, he went off looking for somebody willing to train with him. Adrion chose to tag along so he could watch.

Before the year was over, John found that his reputation had made nearly everybody in school too afraid to fight with him. But John felt that he needed to advance to more rigorous training regimens anyway, so he sought to become a Royal in order to find more worthy opponents. Adrion and Claire watched as he challenged Zirian, only to fail to dethrone him and take his place as King. Subsequent attempts also ended in defeat, and Zirian was still king by the end of the year. During their next summer break, Claire and John researched and trained in order to make a surprise vision of John using stronger versions of copied abilities come true. Adrion was called yet again in order to spar with John in order to gauge his progress. The increase in power led to Adrion hurtling into a distant fence. Claire thought John was going overboard, but Adrion said that he'd be fine even as he coughed up blood. He told John how amazed he was that he made a weak ability like his so devastating. John thought Adrion's approval was enough to call the test a success, and told Claire not to discourage pushing his limits any further. He then left Claire to deal with the injured Adrion, who was still sputtering blood.

When school resumed, Adrion and Claire were the sole witnesses to John's latest rematch with Zirian. This time, John managed to dethrone him and take his place. Adrion decided that John should do all the celebrating this time around. As he and Claire followed the new king, other students made disparaging remarks about the quality of the new power. John took this personally, and began to wail on the critic. Claire tried to pry him away, but John just shoved her into Adrion and kept at it. Adrion began to show great concern for the future of their friendship.

Before the year was over, John found that his reputation had made nearly everybody in school too afraid to fight with him. But John felt that he needed to advance to more rigorous training regimens anyway, so he sought to become a Royal in order to find more worthy opponents. Adrion and Claire watched as he challenged Zirian, only to fail to dethrone him and take his place as King. Subsequent attempts also ended in defeat, and Zirian was still king by the end of the year. During their next summer break, Claire and John researched and trained in order to make a surprise vision of John using stronger versions of copied abilities come true. Adrion was called yet again in order to spar with John in order to gauge his progress. The increase in power led to Adrion hurtling into a distant fence. Claire thought John was going overboard, but Adrion said that he'd be fine even as he coughed up blood. He told John how amazed he was that he made a weak ability like his so devestating. John thought Adrion's approval was enough to call the test a success, and told Claire not to discourage pushing his limits any further. He then left Claire to deal with the injured Adrion, who was still sputtering blood.

When school resumed, Adrion and Claire were the sole witnesses to John's latest rematch with Zirian. This time, John managed to dethrone him and take his place. Adrion decided that John should do all the celebrating this time around. As he and Claire followed the new king, other students made disparraging remarks about the quality of the new power. John took this personally, and began to wail on the critic. Claire tried to pry him away, but John just shoved her into Adrion and kept at it. Adrion began to show great concern for the future of their friendship.

Adrion didn't see much of John once the latter began fighting in Turf Wars. Then one day, while Adrion was studying alongside Claire in the library, John approached them with an offer they couldn't believe. He wanted to treat them to a live viewing of a Turf Wars match. Adrion wasn't sure he should accept, given that it was supposed to be against the rules for non-Royals to be present at these bouts. John assured his friends that it would be fine since they had his permission. And so they accepted, but it turned out that John wasn't completely up-front about the real reason he wanted them there. They learned that they were signed-on as substitutes for New Bostin's other Royals. John had done so for the purposes of being able to utilize the matches as training sessions without having to tag out and let others fight. Watching the king in action was not as interesting a spectacle as Adrion and Claire expected it to be. It was horrifying, really. Yet John made them come back again and again, and he eventually got his ability to evolve as he planned. One day, Adrion decided he could watch John pummel his unconscious rivals no longer. He rushed in and tried to push John off of his latest victim. John took offense to this action, and all Adrion could do was try to convince him to end the match and spare these strangers further suffering. Instead, John began punching him instead, and declared that Royals who stopped attacking at Turf Wars would be eaten alive. He spitefully added that low-tiers who were lucky to get powerful protectors should keep their opinions to themselves. Claire tried to put a stop to this abuse, only for John to strike her as well. He saw their intervention as treasonous, but Claire shouted that John had to stop hitting others when they were down. John rejected this philosphy, as it was never extended to him, thus he was free to do whatever he wanted.

As John became an untouchable King who ruled through fear and violence, Claire began shunning his company. She didn't spend much time with Adrion either, though he still considered her a friend. One day, he saw her running down the school hallway and tossed her a greeting. She didn't seem to hear him, so he followed her. But when he saw her approach Zirian, he hid around the corner. Adrion eavesdropped on Claire's exchange with the King-turned-Jack, and was dismayed by what he heard. Claire was conspiring with Zirian to make a vision in which she saw him taking down John and winning his throne back. If that weren't devastating enough, Claire also claimed that she had envisioned John's rise to power long before she actually met him, and that she became acquainted with him early just for the sake of trying to wield power through him. The way she talked about how easy it was to turn on a King she failed to control made Adrion sink to the ground.

Despite his broken friendship with John, Adrion remained loyal to John in some capacity, had overheard Claire talking to Zirian about how she had been using John since the day she foresaw his reign. Hoping to prevent a catastrophe, Adrion sought out John at once. He found him on the school's rooftop, where he had been spending most of his free time. Despite the severity of the situation, Adrion was hesitant to tell John about Claire's plans to remove him from power. It wasn't until John ordered him to state his business did he explain what he overheard. This act of loyalty was met with violent skepticism, and an enraged John then proceeded to whack Adrion around. John had far too much faith in Claire to believe that she had been lying all this time. Bruised and bloody, Adrion begged John to open his eyes to the truth, lest he lose everything. Blinded by his ego, John believed himself to be too powerful to ever lose anything and ordered Adrion out of his sight.

Adrion felt it was his duty to be there for his two friends during their confrontation. So he discretely tailed John to the meeting place, and bore witness to a show of carnage the likes of which New Bostin would never see again. Seeing John knock out Claire in response to her calling him out on his monstrous behavior was the last straw. Adrion pulled out his phone and dialed the number to the Authorities. John caught him in the act and warned him not to do anything defiant. But he pressed on, and reported that a high-tier was on a rampage. John barreled towards him as he was giving the location of the incident and the name of the perpetrator. Adrion was beaten unconscious, but his reluctant act of bravery ended John's iron-fisted rule of New Bostin for good. He and the other students were rushed to the hospital, where he and Claire got reacquainted during their recovery. She informed Adrion that her claims of foreseeing John being overthrown were lies crafted to rally a crowd. With that misunderstanding cleared up, the two started hanging out again, just as they did before their brush with John's ambition. All they knew about John's activities after he was released from custody was that he had moved away to Wellston Town to attend a most prestigious school.

## Plot

Money was tight in Adrion's household. In order to help his mother pay the bills, he began working at U-Mart. When even this wasn't enough to keep the family afloat, they desperately turned to a pair of moneylenders. The duo turned out to be a couple of unscrupulous loan sharks, who continued to harass Adrion long past the point the original loan was paid in full.

### Square One

During one of his shifts, Adrion had a chance encounter with a customer who he went way back with. He faltered on promoting U-Mart's rewards program when he realized that John had come to his register to pay. Adrion couldn't help but stammer his way through much of his end of the transaction. Whilst inwardly fretting about how to approach this unexpected reunion, he sheepishly said that membership was totally optional and rang up the price for John's purchase. It was more talking than John was engaged in. He was silent and trembling like mad. Adrion found it disturbing, and uttered John's name out of concern. This provoked a knee-jerk reaction from the ex-king, who threw down money and snatched away his purchase. Before Adrion could give him his change, John had already walked out the door. After he clocked out and began to head home, Adrion was still reeling from his surprising day. He realized that it wasn't over when he saw that John had lingered at his place of employment. John asked him if he was willing to chat for a bit.

Adrion cautiously agreed, and the two sat on separate benches. John said nothing for a while, making Adrion feel awkward. Finally, John tried making small talk, asking Adrion how he was doing and why he was working on a school day. The casual nature of this exchange threw Adrion for a loop, but he went along with it. After telling John about his life, Adrion asked how John was doing at Wellston. He learned that he had been removed from school for repeated violent outbursts. This familiar news compelled Adrion to inch away. John claimed that he didn't return home to renew old hostilities. Rather, he wanted to tell how he'd come to realize that Adrion was a true companion to a King that didn't deserve him. John apologized for the raw deal he gave him. Such uncharacteristic humility proved to be Adrion's biggest surprise yet. Then again, John seemed a lot more tranquil this time around, so Adrion congratulated him on mellowing out.

He asked how long his return would last. John replied that with his suspension being indefinite, he was unsure. Adrion asked if he was going to make amends with Claire while he was in town, and even offered to share her number with him. John heatedly nixed the very idea, reminding Adrion that he was the one who warned him about her treachery. A nervous Adrion remembered that John wasn't around to learn the truth about Claire's intentions. Adrion felt that trying to help his friends understand each other was the right thing to do. So he admitted to erroneously reporting what turned out to be a last-ditch effort to get John to realize what he wrought on his kingdom. Adrion felt that she tried harder than he did to help their wayward friend. John was not relieved to hear this at all, and angrily asked if Adrion was seriously trying to tell him that he put a lot of stock into something that wasn't true. Adrion fearfully recognized this agitation, and he could do nothing but apologize for his past mistake. He shut his eyes and braced himself for another taste of John's displeasure. But John exercised restraint at the last second, and took his leave quite suddenly. Again, Adrion watched as John fled from an uncomfortable situation.

A week afterwards, Adrion was cornered by the loan sharks at U-Mart. They demanded that Adrion score them a discount at his place of employment. So he went to his manager, but the request was declined. The BOGO Boys didn't take kindly to Adrion breaking the bad news to them. They kept him outside the store and wouldn't let him go until they got what they came for. Adrion's attempt to argue that their debt was paid in full didn't smooth things over. BOGO Blue punched him and made it clear that he and his associate were the ones who decided when things were square.

At this point, a busybody with a familiar voice stepped in. Adrion looked up and saw John had come to his rescue. It did not bring him much comfort. If anything, his sudden presence was scarier than the debt collectors. The BOGO Boys turned their attention to John after Adrion let slip that they were acquainted with each other. It started out with John trying fruitlessly to reason with them, but Adrion knew all too well what could happen if those two thugs tried to make things violent. When they did just that, Adrion told the BOGO Boys to leave John out of this matter. When they started throwing punches, Adrion spoke more forcefully, and tried to convince John to forget about him and his troubles as well. But the boys insisted that any friend of Adrion's should stick around and serve as additional leverage. Getting beat up was officially the least of Adrion's concerns, now that he had a repeat of the failed New Bostin rebellion to worry about. With John looking like he would lash out at any minute, Adrion put himself at risk to try and nip the conflict in the bud. BOGO Green thwarted his efforts, to *everybody's* detriment. John let out a battle cry and made short work of the thugs. Adrion watched as John continued to menace the BOGO Boys despite their admission of defeat. When John was about to stomp on the one he knocked out, Adrion called out for him to stop as he rushed up from behind and threw his arms around him. John remained still as Adrion tried to convince him to just stop fighting after he won. For a while afterwards, Adrion was petrified that his efforts might go as poorly as they did in the past. Then, BOGO Green staggered to his feet. John told him to collect his partner and leave.

When the BOGO Boys had gone, John turned to Adrion and calmly asked if he was faring well. Astonished, Adrion said that he was feeling great, and thanked John for the aid. John was unable to accept such gratitude, and broke eye contact. Their reunion was a short week ago, but Adrion could tell that some undefined thing had transformed John since then. John was disappointed in himself for losing his temper again, but Adrion told him to look on the bright side: he listened and stopped while he was ahead this time around. Trying to play up the willingness to hear others' pleas as a big accomplishment only added to John's shame, which forced Adrion to elaborate. He fondly reminisced over how awesome he thought John was, and how proud he was just to bask in his triumphs during high school. But after a while, the taste of John's success had a harsh edge to it. Adrion told John that the scuffle just now brought back feelings of the good times from before, and earnestly commended him for it. Adrion then realized that he still had a shift to finish. John suggested that he clean himself up a bit first, but he only had time to wipe away a little of his own blood. Just before they parted ways, Adrion offered John the chance to hang out as often as they could during the remainder of his return home. John took him up on that offer, **with a smile on his face**.

## Powers & Abilities

Adrion was the only person in his trio of friends with a combat-focused ability that seems to augment physical strength. According to Claire, he was only a low-tier "back then" (in middle school), implying his ability has gotten stronger. However, John presently refers to him as a low-tier, though he hasn't seen Adrion in a while like Claire.

## Gallery

Adrion's class photograph (middle row, fourth from the right)Adrion's appearance thenAdrion's appearance nowAdrion with his buddiesDid that blushing blonde wind up beat down *and* heartbroken?Adrion trying to sell John a U-Mart membership
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 181
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chapter 226
3. ↑ Chapter 182
4. ↑ Chapter 102
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 183
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 184
7. ↑ Chapter 44
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 185
9. ↑ Chapter 175
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 227
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Chapter 232
12. ↑ Chapter 231
13. ↑ Chapter 233
14. ↑ Chapter 318
15. ↑ Chapter 319
16. ↑ Chapter 320
17. ↑ Chapter 326