Nero Feign
A student at Celino's guild, Nero has never developed any psionic skill. Even without the ability to use psionics, however, Nero is a formidable opponent whose physical prowess dwarfs that of the puny ciphers that surround him. In reality, the only thing Nero lacks is a little confidence.

Character Bio
Nero is rash and impulsive, and overreacts to everything under the sun. In this way he is very dissimilar to Karen, whom he all but idolizes. When the war ended and the students were free to leave the guild and search for their families, Nero stayed behind -- to him, nothing was important enough to tear him away from Karen.

Nero's own life is dominated by physical training. He works out religiously and has become a powerful martial artist in the interim. Nero's true love, however, is food. His mastery of the culinary arts is the only good quality he perceives in himself, though certainly not the only one he posesses.

Personal History
920 (Age <1) - Nero is taken from his family and brought to the guild to train. He will never find them again.

927 (Age 7) - Though many of the students in the guild have begun to exhibit psionic talents, Nero has failed to do so. It isn't for lack of trying. His frustration in this regard causes him to be picked on by the other children, especially Nero's arch-rival Andre, who is merciless. Guildmistress Kenya officially gives up on him, concentrating her efforts on more promising students.

928 (Age 8) - After losing a fistfight to Andre, Nero decides to learn hand-to-hand combat. He learns to defend himself, keeping Andre at bay for now. Nero is devastated to learn that Karen, and older girl whom he really likes, is not impressed with his new hobby.

931 (Age 11) - Nero finds Karen crying to herself one day and manages to cheer her up. Karen's reaction towards him smooths considerably. Nero concludes this is the difference between a cipher and a "real" person, and silently decides to quit persuing psionic training of any kind. By the end of the year Nero and Karen are best friends and roommates.

933 (Age 13) - Kenya leaves the guild under mysterious circumstances. Erin, the student Kenya was always hardest on, is suspected of being involved, but says nothing about it. Celino is now burdened with running the entire guild himself. Nero get stuck with the job of cooking for many of the younger students, and his lifelong love of food is born.

934 (Age 14) - King Deran dies. His son, Albrecht, ascends the throne and quickly puts an end to the war with Gen-Ri by signing over much of Tekiel's trade and military power. The world slides into an uneasy peace. Celino receives an order to cease training immediately and return all the students to their families. Five students decide to remain, however, including Nero. Celino obtains special permission to train these five students, and the guild is officially opened to the public.

936 (Age 16) - King Albrecht tries to cut funding to the guild, but Celino beseeches him to visit in person before making a final decision. Celino schedules Nero to be away from the guild that day purchasing supplies. Nero suspects this is because his lack of psionic ability might strengthen the king's resolve. Though his feelings are hurt Nero does as he's asked. The guild remains open.

940 (Age 20) - Erin, the guild's top student, reaches the limit of what she believes she can learn from the guild by training and teaching others, and receives permission to embark on a journey across Tekiel. During this one-year period, Karen becomes extremely busy with guild duties, causing her to be somewhat neglectful of Nero.

941 (Age 21) - Erin completes her journey and resumes her duties at the guild. Almost immediately after she returns, Karen requests permission to begin her own initiation. Thus granted, she sets out across Tekiel. During this time Nero focuses almost exclusively on his martial arts training, keeping Karen's things exactly how she left them and waiting for her return.

942 (present day) - After being goaded by Andre to tackle Tower Valorus alone, Nero quickly gets in over his head and assaulted by a group of deadly skeletons. Just before Karen (who has by now returned from her journey) can come to his rescue, Nero reaches inside himself and taps his inner spirit to unleash powerful attacks the likes of which he has never before used. This new power astonishes Nero, but he decides to use it to protect Karen.

Combat Ability

Stats: high low high average low average

Nero's physical strength and endurance is unmatched at the guild, and his unique blend of skills make him a capable and well-rounded fighter.

The core of Nero's offensive arsenal is his basic attack. He posesses powerful chi attacks, but his low score and the rarity of Spirit Stones means he will have to save those abilities for emergencies.

Nero uses claws in combat, and he can equip one on each hand, forgoing the use of a shield. This means Nero gets to attack twice each round, and sometimes he can attack two targets. In addition, Nero's base critical hit rate is higher than the other heroes. Nero restores his with Medkits, but requires the rare and valuable Spirit stones to replenish his .

Shields are the main line of defense against elemental attacks and status ailments, meaning Nero is handicapped in that regard. However, he can use his command skill, Refresh to instantly remove any status ailments he may have. This command will not work on ailments that cause Nero to be unable to act, like Stone, KO, Paralyze, or CmdLock.

Skill Acquisition: Chi
Nero taps the energy welled up in his soul and draws it out for extremely powerful martial arts moves. These attacks are affected directly by Nero's score.

Throughout his journey Nero will meet other martial artists (or various types of hand-to-hand fighters). If he can best them in one-on-one combat, he will learn a new Chi ability. These bouts are endurance tests as much as they are straight combat, since a good martial artist has to do more than just dish out the damage.