Near ε

Near ε (ニアー エプシロン, Niaa Epushiron) is an Elvish Mage from the island of Nýlenda on the continent of Alakitasia. Raised on the northern Island, Near was renowned for her advanced capacity in Thermal Magic, a capacity so great that Near was able to achieve a skill very rare even among her people, Molecular Manipulation. As she developed this rare ability she was quickly brought to Klakisburg to work at the Klakisburg Research Institute, where she would be trained and tested almost daily to see the bounds of her magic and how it could help the Elves of the nation.

Despite her high status and her growth on the southern island of Nýlenda she was jealous. She spent her days being asked to do tasks that she though proved pointless while her brother was training up ranks in the Navy and exploring the world she didn't get to see. They had a similar power, however he was enlisted in the Navy and was seen as a revered warrior and near felt trapped in her daily life, trudging through snow to and from the Research Facility. Near new the impact her work was having and that her contributions directly related to a variety of major successes in Nýlendan development, but despite that she was selfish. She couldn't live a life doing what other's wanted, and so she decided to speak to her supervisor, Kettilingur. Kettilinger told Near specifically that there was nothing she could do, as the government would take issues with her leaving, and so Near fled the country.

Gathering what belongings she had and a staff being worked on at the research facility, Near stole a ship from the port of Klakisburg and she decided to take off. Her poor navigational skills, however, got her lost. Instead of ending up on the Alakitasian main land Near found herself in Ishgar. Cautious, Near decided it was in her best interest to avoid joining any military force, wandering a few years before deciding to practice as a Legal Mage in one of the many guilds of Earth Land. As the two continents were so distant, stories of her crimes and her status didn't follow her and she was able to join Dragon Gunfire with ease. Her unique ability, being able to manipulate molecules at will, has gotten her the name "Micro" (ミクロ, mikuro), as her magic focuses on casting at such a small scale.

Appearance
A woman in her early twenties, Near exudes an overconfident and haughty aura that compels people to her. Her presence is undeniable, and her strong sense of self confidence oozes off of her in waves. Her sharp pointed jaw is level with those she talks to, her nose directed at the sky. Near's strong, sharp gaze pierces through others, making them feel inferior. Near is a taller woman, and having to look down on others solidifies this "holier-than-thou" attitude many think she possesses.

With a strong jaw, sharp eyes, a soft nose and plump lips, Near's face is made up of components that are both soft and strong. Her feminine looks are often praised, however her piercing aqua-colored eyes look through most people who try to make advances on her. Her face is framed by long pink hair, often just left down, freely moving around her. It reaches her lower back and in the front is cut to give her choppy bangs. Near's most distinct features are those that are distinctly Elf. One of these features is her ears. Near's ears extend much longer than the normal human ear. Both ears have a number of piercings, each a gold ring shape. These ears allow Near to hear much better than most humanoid-species inhabiting Earth Land. Another of these features is her pink Elvish tattoos found across areas of her abdomen, her arms, and even her head and legs. A symbol of her pious origins in Emberanda, the symbols have a deep meaning to the people of Nýlenda. Her skin is quite pale and with the exception of her tattoos is devoid of any notable marks.

Her frame is slim, yet built. With wide shoulders and defined muscles, Near's body is a testament to her determination. Now that she is a mage she makes sure to keep them, exercising whenever she has a chance. As an Elf from the northern island most of Near's clothing is designed for warmer climes. Although she moved to the southern island most of her clothes are still inherently northern in design. With that she often has to change the temperature around her just to keep herself warm. With the outfits she wears one would believe this is rooted in a confidence in her body, but Near often describes it more as a patriotic act to dress in the fashion she does, as most of the women and men on the northern island dress similarly.

Her day to day outfit is not an exception to the rule when it comes to showing off a lot of skin. Her top is an intricate bralette, primarily navy blue with gold and salmon accents. From the salmon band that secures around her back hangs a medallion of sorts, indicative of her high status among researchers back on Nýlenda. For bottoms she wears a red miniskirt with a salmon belt, blue and red fabric hanging off the belt, one piece much longer than the rest hanging from the back. On her legs she wears royal blue heeled knee high boots, lined with silver and gold embellishments. Over her shoulders she wears a caplet continuing the running color palette of the rest of her outfit. To finish her outfit she accessorizes with gauntlets on either hand, made of a light material, and sets Elvish jewelry over top the gauntlets. Her outfit allows for a lot of easy movement, and despite it's lack of heavy fabric she remains warm due to her Thermal Magic.

Personality & Traits
"Wha--? Oh, who little ol' me? Hehe, well I'm the smartest, I'm the prettiest, and I'm the strongest! It's no wonder I was the most important researcher, right?"

- Near talking about herself.

To describe Near in one word many people would use the word conceited. Overconfident in her looks, her knowledge, and her abilities, Near is the type of person to hold themselves to a very high esteem. Her mannerisms support this, from the way she cocks her head at others, to her looming height influencing her to look down on others. Many have an aversion to her because of this attitude, but a handful of people also happen to find her sarcastic way of talking about herself charming, and her sense of humor agreeable. People who get close to her find this sort of conceited and cocky outward attitude funny, and often humor her by agreeing with her.

In terms of her humor Near has a way of coming off comedic by saying things that make absolutely no sense. The way she speaks is extremely interesting to even briefly listen in on because there's a chance that whoever is listening in will hear her spouting nonsense before letting out a loud and obnoxious laugh. People often don't understand what she means, but a lot of her humor is clever and very well thought out despite that. Her friends typically have a better understanding of her jokes, but even taken out of context could come off as quite funny. Mostly, Near keeps joking for her closer friends and maintains a serious and kind outward tone with strangers.

Despite her more comedic tendencies, as mentioned above Near manages to maintain a fairly professional facade when dealing with people. She abides by rules, for the most part, and tries her best to appear like a role model outwardly. She greets people in a sing song sort of tone, and typically avoids aggressive or mean behavior to put others down. Many don't understand her reasoning, as she seems quite cocky, but she thinks that everyone deserves to be overconfident and that stepping on someone's toes and not allowing them to feel positively about themselves is criminal.

Despite her quirky personality, Near struggles with some negative personality aspects as well. Near finds it almost impossible to be worried about anything, which causes her to procrastinate frequently, be it in avoiding doing jobs or doing things in her day to day life. Despite this lack of task-based stress, Near feels a lot of anxiety in her relationships with others. She's aware that her personality is very quirky and she is never aware of if people genuinely find her fun to be around or not. This fear drives her often to ask the people who care about her to clarify their feelings about her.

Furthest
As a person with a very unique and odd personality, one would hardly believe that Near was born in the pious town of Emberanda to a single mother. As a child she spent much of her time learning from the priestesses of the temple, teaching her how to control her Thermal Magic to the best of her ability. Despite being the younger sibling, Near mastered her powers over molecules much faster than her brother. This quick mastery of Thermal Magic led the priestesses to discover that Near had an inherent ability to manipulate molecules at an advanced level. Her power was unlike that of her peers, and some would say one of a kind. The priestesses had notified the research sector of Nýlenda and Luna ε was notified that her young daughter would be moving to Klakisburg.

Near wasn't excited at the news of moving to Klakisburg. Despite being young she knew that this power was genetic, and she knew that her brother had access to at least a very similar power as well. In the days leading up to her leaving he showcased the power to her, and revealed that the priests thought that "as a man he was of more value to the army than the research division", and so they kept it a secret from the officials. With this Near developed a hatred for her brother, rooted deep in the fact that he got to leave Nýlenda whereas she would be spending her life stranded in the cold of the southern island.

In her first few years at the Klakisburg Research Institute the elders of Nýlenda taught Near how to master her power, how to focus her abilities on being able to slow and speed up not only objects but also herself. The elders were happy with the development of her powers and decided that to guarantee that society benefits from her advanced form of Thermal Magic.

Further
In working at the Klakisburg Research Institute she worked alongside many researchers and inventors who worked specifically on developing Thermal Magic to it's peak. At the Institute there were a variety of fields that Near helped further; Agriculture, Combat and Travel being those she contributed the most to. Her help managed to create leaps forward for Nýlenda, allowing for people to use systems to take care of crops instead of constantly watching over them, as well as developing technology to help travelers in being able to handle the drastic temperatures of the island. Her developments however were not praised, and instead a lot of the praise was given to her direct supervisor Kettilingur. This infuriated Near to no end and she ended up hating her work in Klakisburg.

This created an enormous amount of tension between Near and her coworkers, resulting in her attempting a strike. This strike however was ineffective, as the government of Nýlenda forced her to continue working against her will. Near hated Klakisburg, and she begun to hate Nýlenda as well for all the people had forced her to endure there. Luna sent her daughter Near many letters and she found out that her brother had been attaining much success in the army, however everything Near accomplished was taken away from her, given to someone undeserving of their accolades. Near begged Kettilingur to allow her to stop and to return home to Emberanda, however out of sheer dislike Kettilingur denied her request. It was then she had developed a plan.

Far
She began saving her Jewel for months at a time, eating as cheaply as possible and depriving herself of any needless spending. After stockpiling enough she decided that she would steal a transport vessel from the docks of Klakisburg, ride it to Gufu, steal another ship and then head to the Alvarez Empire. This plan went off without a hitch until she made it to Gufu. There she was forced to fight whatever military sources were there on Gufu, which, lucky for Near, was not many. Instead of taking a fisherman's trolley like she had hoped she ended up taking a military boat. With this act she became an outlaw in Nýlenda, and upon leaving she knew she would never be able to return. Despite the magnitude of what that means for most, Near didn't care.

It took Near more than most to dock due to sheer bad luck during her journey. She encountered storms, dealt with monsters out at sea and eventually even lost her map. Unable to navigate she looked searched for weeks, looking aimlessly for land. She knew had it not been a military boat filled with rations and clean water she wouldn't have survived. It was three weeks until she found land, and funnily enough the land she found was on the opposite end of Earth Land. Near ended up on Ishgar, roaming the various countries and provinces spotting the landscape. Luckily as Nýlenda had no interactions with Ishgar, her reputation as a criminal didn't follow her.

Near
In her journey across Earth Land she came across many things, and enjoyed being an Independent Mage, helping those she noticed were in trouble. After her years of travelling came to an end she settled in Crocus, the capital of Fiore, the city she enjoyed being in the most during her journey. She took whatever money she could, bought a small apartment, and began to look for work. Struggling to pay rent, Near realized that being an Independent Mage in such a big city was not enough. She decided that it would be in her best interests to join a Guild, and found herself drawn to one of the bigger guilds in Crocus, Dragon Gunfire.

Supernatural Capabilities
Nýlendan Affinity for Thermal Magic: As a Nýlendan Elf, Near possesses a genetic affinity for Thermal Magic. This affinity greatly enhances the bounds to which she can use Thermal Magic, and as a particularly strong Nýlendan Elf it also allows Near to manipulate molecules to an advanced level. This inherent power appears to be genetic, but as it only appears in the most recent generation of the ε bloodline it seems to be an extremely recent power to emerge. This affinity is noticeable, and many people comment on how powerful a Thermal Magic user she seems to be. Near agrees typically, as she was once held to a standard high enough to be a necessity of the Nýlendan government.

High Magical Capacity and Affinity for Magic: Near possesses an above average magical capacity, both genetically and because of years in developing magic. Her magical capacity is quite high, but not as high as that of a mage with an unlocked Second Origin. Because of this Near is in search of a way to open her Second Origin, as she believes it to be the method to advancing her use of Thermal Magic even further. Near also has an above average affinity for magic, and found Thermal Magic quite easy to learn and develop. This paired with her sheer power contribute to making her a force to be reckoned with.

Thermal Magic
Thermal Magic (温熱性魔法, On'netsu-sei Mahō) is a Caster Magic that specifically manipulates the speeds of molecules allowing the caster to manipulate the temperature of any matter by placing it under the control of their magic. Thermal Magic is seen as being the basis for other temperature-based magics, like Fire and Ice Magic, and in using this magic Near can cast spells with similar effects. Altering the temperature of a target area or object is caused by changing the rate the molecules move, moving faster to create heat, or slower to create cold. Mostly this type of magic is used in an offensive way, being much harder to use defensively, however with her natural talent for Thermal Magic Near doesn't struggle like most users in employing it in a defensive or supportive way.

As Near is a Nýlendan Elf she possesses an inherent capacity for Thermal Magic. As her people have developed this magic to using it in their everyday life, Near has is capable of a variety of advanced Thermal Magic spells. Her knowledge was once a necessity to the advancements of Nýlenda, a testament to how advanced Near's powers are. With her skill level, she has gained the ability to manipulate molecules beyond just adjusting their speeds. Her expert capacity for changing the speeds of molecules is near unrivaled, and she is able to generate blasts of heat and cold in a variety of forms, with an enormous understanding of kinetic energy.

Like many of the users of the magic Near is able to superheat objects to temperatures around 1621°C, melting most metals and causing most liquids to evaporate, or alternatively cool and freeze to temperatures around -250°C. Near can manipulate the temperature around targets to the point of causing blistering and suffering hyperthemia, or drop the temperature to the point of cell death and hypothermia with ease. Near is able to manipulate this magic in a variety of shapes and forms, most frequently using it at a distance, showcasing a proficiency for this magic in ranged combat. Using this magic paired with her knowledge of Molecular Manipulation Near has also been able to develop a very unique fighting style.

Heat-Based Spells

 * Hita: (lit. Heat)
 * Sjálfkrafa Brennsla: (lit. Spontaneous Combustion)
 * Hlýr: (lit. Warm)
 * Heitur Líkami: (lit. Hot Body)
 * Heitt Hringur: (lit. Hot Arc)
 * Heitt Heitt Hringur: (lit. Hot Hot Arc)
 * Heitt Heitt Regnbogi: (lit. Hot Hot Rainbow)


 * Heitt Sneið: (lit. Hot Slice)
 * Heitt Heitt Dansblöð: (lit. Hot Hot Dancing Blades)


 * Heitt Geisla: (lit. Hot Beam)
 * Heitt Heitt Tvöfalt Geislar: (lit. Hot Hot Twin Beams)


 * Heitt Skjöldur: (lit. Hot Shield)
 * Heitt Heitt Skjöldur: (lit. Hot Hot Shield)
 * Heitt Heitt Virki (lit. Hot Hot Fortress)


 * Ofhitnun: (lit. Overheat)
 * Heitasta - Hátíðin af Emberanda: (lit. Hottest - Festival of Emberanda)
 * Heitasta Ifrit - Rigning af Milljón Eldgosum: (lit. Hottest Ifrit - Rain of a Million Eruptions)

Cool-Based Spells

 * Slappað: (lit. Chill)
 * Hraður Frysta: (lit. Rapid Freeze)
 * Flott: (lit. Cool)
 * Kaldur Líkami: (lit. Cold Body)
 * Kalt Boga: (lit. Cold Arc)
 * Kalt Kalt Haglstormur: (lit. Cold Cold Hail Storm)
 * Kalt Sneið: (lit. Cold Slice)
 * Kalt Kalt Spunaöx: (lit. Cold Cold Spinning Axe)
 * Kalt Kalt Kljúfa Væng: (lit. Cold Cold Cleaving Wind)


 * Kalt Geisla: (lit. Cold Beam)
 * Kalt Kalt Nafla Skurður: (lit. Cold Cold Narwhal Tusk)


 * Kalt Skjöldur: (lit. Cold Shield)
 * Kalt Kalt Dreki Vog: (lit. Cold Cold Dragon's Scales)


 * Djúp Frystir: (lit. Deep Freezer)
 * Kaldasti - Spilling á Klakisburg: (lit. Coldest - Corruption of Klakisburg)
 * Kaldasti Leviathan - Kyngja Heiminum: (lit. Coldest Leviathan - Swallow the World)

Molecule Manipulation
Near posses such a strong affinity for the basis of Thermal Magic that her skills are referred to as Molecule Manipulation. Very few are able to use Thermal Magic on such an intricate level, but the most recent generation in the ε bloodline are one of the few that posses such a power. In possessing this skill, mages are able to bend the rules molecules follow in floating around the air in a variety of different methods. Near specifically deals with creating dense pockets of surrounding molecules and using them for explosive and dangerous ends. Near refers to this creating of these dense pockets as "Condensing" and it was the focus of her combat research at Klakisburg. Near often states that despite it's power Condensing is Molecule Manipulation at it's most basic level.

Molecule Manipulation is extremely useful, as it can specifically sift through molecules and only use specific chemicals if necessary. An example of this is how Klakisburg is implementing some of Near's more advanced abilities to try and specify which nutrients plants absorb from soil. This part of the magic is extremely difficult and even Near, someone with a genetic affinity for the magic, could not even devise a surefire way to use this magic with certainty that it would do as intended.

Near's spells that are specifically routed in this technique include:
 * Stjarna af Stjörnum: (lit. Sphere of Stars)
 * Sólstólinn: (lit. Pillar of Sun)

Physical Capabilities
All-around Average Physically: Despite her defined body Near's muscles are seemingly just a testament to precisely sculpting her body. Her physical abilities are average at best, and in terms of comparing her to a variety of other mages, not at all very interesting. This often leads to her leaving more menial physical labor to those who are more suited.

Basic Staff-based Combat: As Near primarily uses a staff she possesses a bit of knowledge on how to use it in battle. Typically Near focuses more on using her power directly than including her staff, but still possesses some knowledge on how to wield her intricately designed staff in battle.

Assorted Abilities
Unlucky:

Equipment
Elvish Channeling Staff:

Extras

 * Some of the inspiration for Near came from K-pop girl group EXID's release DDD, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axVvZrDz60k