Sablier Etzel's G/FX tests

»Name: Merlin Aerik
»Titles: The Enigmatic Boy; Merlin, the Hero
»Age: 16
»Gender: Male
»Affiliation / Rank: Protagonist Rogue (Lawful Good)

»Appearance Description:

Merlin appears to be a young teen, rounding near 5’5 feet. One might notice the youthful skin he possesses, seeming akin to that of a toddler perhaps; however, upon contact one will realise the rough exterior it possesses, almost as if it were a calice. As per his own word, Merlin claims his whole body to be callused, and the more ‘sensitive’ areas to still have a rough feel, but with a softer tone. Speaking of tone, his skin presents an extremely light, creamy beige hue, lighter than many people but still retaining an oriental likeness, not yet reaching a Euro-pale, albeit his heavy Anglo-Saxon and Aryan origins.

As apparent from the wideness of his eyes, it appears to quite clearly present a light, sky blue colour; however, it has been noted by a number of people that his eyes have presented a yellow tone instead. Originally, his eyes were indeed a strong blue shade, but some time in his past, prior to his memory-loss incident, Merlin has found himself to suddenly transition to a yellow eye-colour now and then; this especially occurs during a state of extreme emotion, which doesn’t occur too often but happens nonetheless. Such an appearance is generally accompanied by not only an extreme display of emotion, but a use of powers beyond the norm
As expected of someone with European ancestry, Merlin presents blonde hair, shown with a deep yellow hue, and pleasantly jealous-inducing volume to pair with a smooth and soft texture. His hair generally falls over his ears and a bit low on the neck, but not by much. His hair has been seen to grow at an astonishing rate, within days being able to grow from a bald head to its former, usual length. His hair also seems to be relatively strong, as he has encountered situations where his hair has been pulled on, such as twigs or branches getting tangled into it, and said twigs have snapped. Albeit not of much significance, it still is something which could have great pride taken in.

Merlin is seen wearing a wide array of clothing, but there still are certain outfits he widely prefers. His most often worn clothing has a hood as its most noticeable feature. The hood is pure white, with two small stubs at the top that seems to represent two “bear ears”, and not very well as it would seem. Paired with his hood is a blue shirt connected to the hood, often being just a plain sky-blue t-shirt, sometimes a v-neck, and on rarer occasions, either one with a small pocket on the left side of his chest. With this outfit, generally a pair of blue jean shirts are worn, cutting off a bit below his knees, or a bit before. The pockets tend to be rather wide, fitting an incredible amount beyond what should standardly fit in the pockets of shorts, almost as if they were miniature endless dimensions or something.

Along with this set of clothing, Merlin will also often wear a white hoodie under a light-blue jacket, paired with some pretty standard blue jeans. Despite such a normal outfit, Merlin does possess something more out there, but these sets of clothing tends to vary more often, and are less frequently won.

»Personality:

Calm: Generally, Merlin isn’t someone to freak out. Even in a perilous scenario and extremely stressful situations, he’ll attempt to, and generally, retain his cool. Though there are some pressure points of his, in most cases Merlin is found to lack composure. This has been especially noted during many of his life-endangering events. Even during a state of a tattered body, lack of a few senses and the dulling of them, the boy has made sure to keep his thoughts and reactions in check. During a time when his mental capacity was challenged, Merlin has presented a tough exterior, preventing those who would try to invade his mind psychologically. On a specific occasion, Merlin was tasked with two choices, with someone important to him depending on said choices. Even in such a situation which tugged at his ability to keep cool, Merlin was able to handle the situation accordingly. Even for human standards, this trait of his goes beyond the norm. In an attempt to extract information, the assailants tortured the boy extenuously for several weeks, both physically and mentally, and in doing so he failed to crack and kept his composure, though bordering a sane state towards the end before eventually escaping.

Care-free: Being care-free is one of Merlin’s more apparent traits, but moreso than acutally lacking a caring side, this characteristic pertains more towards a lack of seriousness. Of course, there’s an extent in which he will convert to a serious demeanor, but for the most part Merlin presents himself as immature and childish. Though some may find this to instead better translate as free-spirited and adventurous, there have been cases in which this instead presented Merlin as irresponsible, such as an occasion in which he was tasked to collect items vital to someone’s life, and he failed to do so, eventually allowing the person to perish. Though this has humbled Merlin quite a bit and taught him to know when the situation calls for a more serious take, in a scenario that doesn’t require his attention and seriousness, he retains a care-free personality.

Good-Hearted: Merlin is someone who enjoys the happiness of others and the joyful hearts of those around him. When that’s taken away from someone, Merlin tends to take that badly, and has the urge to be on the side of justice and return the happiness and joy that was taken away, one way or another. To be put simply, he’s a protagonist at heart. Most all fibers in his being lean towards the desire to do good. Any time he sees a devilish act, he’ll most always attempt to interfere and cease said act. Though he might not do so in the best of ways, he’ll try it nonetheless. When evil’s afoot, so is he, ready to counter and combat said evil if necessary. Merlin wants to preserve that which is good in the world, and abolish that which is evil. Of course, sometimes things are borderline, and Merlin isn’t one to see things in black and white, but when things aren’t wholly or necessarily one or the other, this is when the boy’s good heart is challenged. For example, if someone was to do bad for justified reasons? The approach Merlin might take is to vary, depending on the act and justification. What if someone were to steal bread to feed their family? At that point. Merlin would try to aid the family so that they wouldn’t need to steal anymore. If it were a matter of revenge and the person tried to kill another person because the latter did so to someone important of the former? At that point, Merlin would want to help the latter but try to talk the former into releasing their grudge, with a last resort being to incapacitate the former. Of course, he still turns his attention to the latter, not seeing them in the light of a victim but rather an evil from the past, in which case Merlin might take a less kind approach and take matters into his own hands. A slightly different take on personal justice, but Merlin would say it to be judgement. In a way, that’s what Merlin sees himself to be something: a Judgement-Giver. Generally, Merlin won’t take things unto himself to deal judgement however, and will pass it on to those such as police or the authorities to make judgement; of course, like several other situations he might be presented with, should the need surface, Merlin will still do what he sees fit and act upon his own morals, in some cases still taking it onto himself to pass judgement anyways. A complex characteristic with many variables, but in the end it depends on the situation at hand.

Calculative: Although he has a carefree demeanor, Merlin has been known to take a sneaky approach to situations, not preferring to tackle them head-on like the common main-protagonist. Often correlating with his good-heart, Merlin prefers to go a roundabout way and actually think about his actions and what he’s about to do before actually committing them, frequently thinking not only ahead but how to connect his actions ahead with the actions prior, taking the most appropriate and efficient choice. Certainly something hinting an intellectual side to Merlin, but it’s not as simple as that. Rather, Merlin himself isn’t capable of all too much calculation--only things within the average human’s realm. Sure he can use deduction to predict an outcome or fact about someone (relatively accurately), or simply think about certain aspects of things and relate them to others, resulting in something not quite definite but highly probable, but all those things are what’s been capable of someone among humans, who simply happen to be a bit smarter than everyone else. Like most people, Merlin still finds in difficult to actually make calculations in his head in an academic sense, as in it’s more tasking for him to include the sciences and math in his calculations. This side of him is subject to change, however. It has been noted that in a time of great peril and need for a greater power, Merlin has provided a large increase in intellect, becoming capable of calculating and putting multiple variables in his processing. In essence, he becomes capable of processes akin to a computer, retaining the common deductive and humane skills that allow him to make calculations beyond a simple computer’s grasp, such as factoring in emotions or the like.

Brave: One of Merlin’s defining traits is his courageous side. His bravery isn’t the average willfulness to go out and do what needs to be done, like the usual heroes. Rather, his bravery extends even to the smaller things and aspects much larger. Bravery is a part of Merlin’s daily actions. His courage also includes him being quite audacious, and filled with gall. Put simply, he has some pretty big balls. When presented with a challenge, he finds it difficult to deny it, and in the case that he does accept it, he’ll try to execute it whole-heartedly. Of course, like aforementioned it extends into a farther realm. Even in dire situations, such as life and death, risking not only his but others, Merlin will do what he thinks needs to be done, even despite the dangers included. As a matter of fact, he has no consideration for the dangers when pertaining to himself. Of course, if it includes someone else, and it’ll be too much of a task to account for them, he’ll try to hold himself back and not do anything too rash, but even that in itself is a display of bravery. He has the courage to keep himself in check and see what plays out before risking lives aside from his own, instead of letting himself loose and going after the assailant or whatever created such a perilous situation in the first place.

Appreciating: Especially when considering his past, it would be understandable of Merlin was appreciative of things, especially those granted to him. Even a simple meal from a friend is something he’ll be highly appreciative of. Things in his life, whether good or bad, he claims to be appreciative of. In his point of view, the good is of course to be appreciated, but the bad as well, since the bad has allowed him to strengthen himself, humble himself, and prepare him for what has and is to come, gaining him such longevity to this date.

Aspiring: Something rather apparent when one becomes acquainted with Merlin. The boy tries to always reach higher and grasp things beyond him, inherently making him capable of an astonishing rate of growth. This has also made him a rather capable learner, being able to catch onto things quite quickly. This trait goes hand-in-hand with the fact that he does things whole-heartedly and puts his all into his actions. Considering this, especially when taking into account something he’s already passionate about, Merlin has shown to go far above and beyond in his aspiring subjects. Overall, he’s simply a big-dreamer, stated bluntly. He has a lot of goals, whether some are treated as smaller ones and perhaps milestones, or there ones that reach way up high into the realm of the impossible, they’re things he tries to grasp anyways. For example, his desire and aspiration to grow stronger. It’s a never-ending goal, as he always has the capacity to grow in strength. Or another goal of his, one rather smaller, is collecting better weapons. Though this as well is a never-ending goal, as there can always be a better weapon forged, it has more definite milestones and is therefore something a bit easier to accomplish in his point-of-view. Now, in such a case as the provided examples, he would attempt to grasp both, using them as a catalyst for each other. In search of a better weapon, he would train to become stronger, and in an attempt to become stronger, he may use his weapon(s) to aid in his training.

Philosophical: Merlin has the occasional “what is life” rant. With his high level of intellect, it’s understandable that he might have some level of explanation for things not defined natural laws of logic and the like. Now, this isn’t to say that Merlin will always throw out a piece of perspective that invokes a lot of thought, as he frequently takes the more casual, simple approach to things, but there still comes to occasion that the boy might just spew out something heart-felt and deep. Especially when trying to prove a point, explain his point-of-view or try to get others to understand something, especially in ways he understands it--even simply justifying something can lead to some philosophy of his, or a concept he can agree with. Again, this isn’t to say he’ll always throw out some thoughtful piece, but he’s prone to do so, especially in tense and emotional situations. Now, his philosophy on several subjects are relatively unique to him. In short, Merlin’s philosophical view in terms of the biggest picture finds life to be short-lived, but time is just a concept that measures the distance of now and death. As such, remove the concept from your mind and you find complete freedom to do anything. Of course, he still has his good heart, so that freedom is interpreted differently for him, in that the person has the freedom within moralistic boundaries. So, while yes, people have freedom to do absolutely anything, there’s a line that can and should not be crossed in that freedom. The only thing restricting your freedom is imagination, closed minds and those that cross and/or enforce the invisible, moralistic line. As such, Merlin’s philosophies are heavily based on a free-form type of thought, with the capacity to do any get to anything, with the only the fewest of limitations that can easily be prevented through several means, such as justice, or simply a lack of will to defy the right morals. But, that’s only a brief overview over the philosophies Merlin holds to be true.

Background: ------(As Merlin has amnesia, there isn’t much of a history to go off of, though I do have a set plan for his background. I instead want to reveal it through plot and threads though, having him slowly discover his origins, revealing just who he really was. But, for sake of explanation to his ability sets and the like, I’ll give some background as to why he’s as he is.)------

The boy now known as Merlin originated as, in essence, a test-tube baby some unidentified number of years ago. Taken as a fetus from an unsuspecting mother, immediately put in some incubation system to sustain life, Merlin, and many other children taken before actual birth. Of course, there were heavy precautions and plentiful supporters of such an act, despite the immense consequences for the breaking of numerous laws, including fundamental ‘human rights’ being heavily violated. The reason for such a putrid act was, to the persons involved, completely justified. Their goal? The raising of the human race as a whole. With the increase in assorted races appearances, all having their own plentiful quirks that divided them from the other races, a rather apparent barrier was made between the humans capacities and the other races whom have come to light. For once in several thousands of years, the natural order of the food chain and society had restructured itself, humans being to ones to fall behind, “For the First Time in Forever”. In an attempt to catch up to the ever-progressing world, a group of extremist with deep pride for the human race decided to act upon their inner desires of seeing their beloved humans grow as a whole to the level of those new races. Certainly they took into account the other already existent humans, who displayed massive potential and had already transcended the rest of their kind, earning their place amongst even the fiercest of warriors from the other races, but it wasn’t enough for this cult of radicalists. They wanted mankind to go beyond that, and grow to be on par with the others not only in their especially gifted persons, but as an entire race. Thus began Propositum Genesis--a collaborated effort emphasizing the lack of overall potential the huma--.... No. Wrong.

Rather than focusing and blaming the lack of potential the human race as a whole possessed, they soon came to the philosophy that humans actually had an overflowing amount of potential. That their genes would hold secrets to unimaginable heights to be reached. It was known that the origins of what were known as the incredibly powerful Shinigami, and the equally stronk arrancar and hollows, rooted down to humanity. The human soul would abandon it’s body and have the capability of becoming either or, also enabling intense powers they could possess. Yes, rather than a lack of potential, it was the limitations and barriers of the humans that prevented their ascension into the rings of greatness that the other races stood upon. The answer? Simple really--rid the physical body, rid the limitations. But that would be nothing more than turning into a plus, a pure soul. That wouldn’t be rising humanity to another level; that was practically becoming another race, and such a concept would do no pleasing to the prideful humans that began Propositum Genesis. Instead, they came to another solution, just as simple as the last: keep the physical body intact, but remove the limitations it possessed. Of course, stated so simply, such a concept wasn’t too hard to grasp and seemed absolutely doable, but the process and time, research and manpower it would take to achieve such a blasphemous state made it a tad difficult to actually achieve this. That’s precisely where supporters and funders came in. Other persons with just as much pride as this radicalist group found it suitable and completely justified that the human race stood on equal grounds to all those others. Why, the human race was the origin for so many powerful races, like mentioned before! Thus, became the actual activation of Propositum Genesis, and the reason for Merlin’s overwhelming capacity.

The group had to start somewhere, and what better way to begin than to use the results of research on fresh human babies, with infinite untapped potential. As opposed to a glass half-full, it would no doubt be better to start off with a glass completely empty. Gaining fetuses was just the first step to their project--collecting these babies would allow them to see real-time results of their trials. Next was a specimen to take an example of and research. With all the especially gifted humans out there, at least one was bound to be similar to what this group was trying to achieve; not too long did they find themselves a rare human. Being shipped to the labs in a comatose state, those who brought him said his name to be Ryuuko, and that he was a human capable of feats beyond the norm, with a set of physical powers reaching into insane heights. The reasoning for his comatose state was a mystery, as those who retrieved him had already found him sound-asleep, but regardless of how he was, they seized the blatant opportunity.

After many months of research and the death of a few fetuses, killed before they could be born so as to preserve the nature of such a project, the scientists had come up with a shoddy solution that they had put much faith it. From here on out, they would begin testing and hands-on experimentation. There was a large problem that received hesitation in coming across it, however. The manner of their results would only provide them with what they desired if done too those that had a strong enough will to survive the transformation. In essence, they needed a fetus who had already begun the manifestation of the human’s survival instinct. This was one of the hardest trials in the Genesis Project, especially when the amount of times this could be tested was limited, as per the manner of how the experiments would be conducted. The groups goal in this experiment was to add another soul as the human soul was still developing, acting as a sort of glue to further bond the physical body and spirit together, blurring the lines of limitations of the physical body, and like many other spirit-races, achieve superhuman feats. The only problem was that they needed an already fast developing fetus with an adequate sized-soul that had already manifested several carnal desires of mankind, including the will to live.

Their solution? Experimentation on the DNA code. After quite a long time, humans had come along to be able to study each individual bit of information stored in the DNA code, and with that knowledge, Propositum Genesis began testing and experimenting on the manipulation of this DNA code and the genes that set capacities on the human’s physical body. Their results proved satisfying, with a total of 6 modified fetuses, to go along and be tested on the 6 pieces extracted from Ryuuko’s soul, each piece holding some different characteristic from the others souls, including the rest of Ryuuko’s soul as well. Attempting to fuse and weld together these souls to the developing ones of the fetuses, the result was 6 pieces of the future, one of them named “Merlin”. During this time, assuming Ryuuko’s soul was completely finished off, just as the dead fetuses he was disposed of.

Later, these fetuses would be allowed to develop regularly, constantly monitored. Even during their full maturity and ‘birth’, they were monitored both internally and through basic visuals. The scientists found promise in all 6 of these beings, each already presenting clear signs of being beyond the capacity of the usual human, especially at their age. One of them especially showed great results. Being taught lessons at an age before 5 months, Merlin was capable of understanding several physics theories, this being known since he was capable of speaking, and could therefore say whether or not he understood something. Not only in physique, but it would seem that as a result of this experiment, brain capacity was advanced as well.

The overall experiment seemed to be highly successful, but many unforeseen variables came into play, one of them being that the 6 children had seemed to have developed a soul within them, as a sort of Ziamichi spirit, but not quite. Rather, it was still their own souls, but a piece of it manifested it’s own conscious and identity. Through extenuous research, the group came to the conclusion that by attempting to use the soul to take away the limitations of the human body, the children would show signs of replicating some capacities of human souls in pure form. In essence, they showed the capability to reach into the realm of the Shinigami and Hollow race, inherently developing something akin to a Zanpakutō, but with a bit of a difference, and the vague possibility of grasping more abilities.

Truly, such a development was a bit of a disappointment, but it was found that these Zanpakutō-esque spirits were just that: similar to the relationship between a Shinigami and a Zanpakutō. Though similar, it was found to be different in many ways, making such a finding unique to the pure human, and humans only. All in all, the Propositum Genesis was a complete and total success.

----end origins background---- (this is basically just to explain why merlin can be as powerful as he is, and leads on to explain the nature of the powers he will soon gain and reveal ICly in threads)

Natural Attributes:

enhanced agility: Merlin is agile to an extent far above the average human, product of a superb, strengthened and sensitive nervous system. In terms of pure flexibility and bodily-control, if one was to say the human body was limited to only a percentage of their maximum capabilities in terms of their bodily control, Merlin would likely have 100%. Not only is his flexibility and ability to control his flexibility at such a high level, in that he’s capable of moving his body in several ways and positions with overwhelming control and precision, but his pure speed factor is far beyond the norm for any type of human, even going further than some more spiritually talented persons. With pure physique and a lack of any spiritual or supernatural support, despite the limitations of humans in comparison to most races, Merlin has ascended past these limits and reached an absurdly high level of body control and speed. Among his physical enhancements, this is quite likely the best of his talents. His precise movements are controlled to the extent of being able to stop a punch going faster than the average eye can process mid-swing.

First, going more in-depth in terms of his reflexes. Combined with common instinct, imagine a bullet was to be fired at Merlin. Now, without even factoring the capability in in his speed, Merlin is capable of acting upon the fraction of the second the bullet is beginning to come out of the barrel. Now, although he isn’t actually entirely capable of seeing the bullet being fired in real-time, he can still act immediately on it, without hesitation. Of course, the actual dodging of the bullet is highly enabled by his speed and sheer intellect, but without those two factors he couldn’t even hope to evade the shot, since, like most people, he might hesitate or fail to decide in which direction or how exactly he should dodge. His reflexes can be compared to a cat, if a cat was several times faster to react. Yes, even in comparison to many animals who are especially known in this subject, Merlin goes beyond that. Especially considering the factors of his sheer capacity for speed and high-intellect, the boy’s reflexive talents are simply amazing. His reaction-speed is truly unique. Taking in the information from occurrences and factoring them into his next actions, practically at a subconscious level, it becomes quite the hard task to successfully take Merlin by surprise, even when taking out his calm demeanor.

Now, in terms of speed, though he still has far to improve, his capabilities in this field are truly remarkable. It would be easily said that he was faster than anybody still limited to the usual human capacities. This not only involves his speed in terms of how fast he can run or go, but the speed at which any body part of his can travel, whether it’s an actual physical race from point A to point B, or it’s catching flies with his chopsticks (which is a feat that is also determined via his reflexes). For example, his punches are on par and can go beyond speeds that a Mantis Shrimp is capable of. Like the Mantis Shrimp, Merlin can move a body part so fast that a punch of his could boil water. Now, that’s factoring in the water-resistance and added pressure and weight from it--and even then, Merlin can go at speeds beyond the Mantis Shrimp. Furthermore, imagine such a punch outside of the water. The sheer speed boosted from it, it’s no wonder his body movements can go beyond the average human’s capacity to process information visually. In light of such a speed, it would make sense that Merlin can run across water through sheer physical prowess. Needing to go only beyond around 40-50 mph on a motorcycle to successfully go across, it’s not too hard to imagine that Merlin could run across a surface of water easily. Of course, one must take into account that certain body parts can simply travel faster than others, so it’s not to say that Merlin can run on top of water and boil it instantly, although his max speeds certainly does allow for that, and even then some. It’s quite easy for Merlin to move singular limbs at speeds beyond one’s ability to keep track. Though he hasn’t necessarily found a capping point yet, it would suffice to say that shorts bursts of movements can break the sound barrier. Yes, Merlin’s small movements, such as kicks, punches or the like can go beyond the speed of sound. If need be, he can even use a sort of chopping-movement with his hands, and with a lot of effort, be capable of chopping through a steel pole. Of course, like aforementioned, the speeds his body parts can achieve differs from his body movements as a whole. It would be safe to estimate that Merlin in a sprint could run fast enough to momentarily defy gravity, such as running on the side of skyscrapers.

Moving on, his agility extends not only into his speed, reaction timing and reflexes, but his jumping capacity as well, and acrobatic talents especially in midair. Now, Merlin isn’t much of an acrobat. Though he does have the flexibility and reflexes to pull of similar stunts, he prefers the more straight-forward approach a lot. All though this is partially factored by leg strength, jumping still slightly falls into the realm of agility. No, it’s not to say that he has such insane agility to be capable of double-jumps, nothing like that--although, he still can most definitely jump insane heights. At a point in time, Merlin was capable of leaping from the ground straight on the top of a 4-story high building, without a running start. Of course, that was in a time of dire need, so he felt the need to maximize efficiency and go speedster from the start, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that he was actually capable of such a feat. His jumping ability carries on not only in a ‘from-ground-up’ aspect, but in jumping forward as well. Imagine a cliff with around perhaps 100 or so metres in distance. With an adequate running start, combined with his ability to run at high speeds, Merlin would be capable of clearing the distance, though it would undoubtedly be rather hard. There more than two ways to go about jumping, however. It’s reasonable to say that Merlin can jump fast, in two different aspects. Not only is the speed he can reach outstanding during a jump, but the act of jumping can be rather sudden, with little preparation time necessary for him to make an amazing leap. For example, if mid-air, he could tap the surface of a nearby construct and completely divert his velocity into whatever direction desires. Of course, this isn’t a definite and absolute talent that can always be used--such as when fatigue or lack of focus and missteps occur, however rare considering his endurance and intellect--but it’s quite easily said that in most situations, this skill would apply.


enhanced strength: Thorough gene experimentation has resulted in a massive increase in muscle mass and muscle density, so despite Merlin’s small frame, his strength truly does ascend beyond the average human’s capacity. This goes for the majority of his muscles as a whole, including the less-likely referred ones. Not only does Merlin have intense strength through the basic muscles, in arm and leg strength, but even his heart and other protein-using body parts have been enhanced. Although this part of his physique isn’t upgraded to the same levels as his agility is, it still comes a remarkably long way. First, down to the basics.

Leg strength. The factors of his leg strength have been mentioned and accounted for in many of his agility-related skills, such as jumping ability and speed, but the sheer strength that can back up the high speeds which can be reached with his legs is nothing to scoff at. Merlin goes above and beyond with leg strength, capable of making a few indents in the ground upon jumping, easily defying much of gravity’s call. It’s safe to assume that Merlin’s leg strength is the most remarkable of his actual physique muscles. He’d likely be able to throw a single kick to a car and make it look as if a truck had hit it on highway speeds. Of course, that’s only the power aspect of his leg strength, and that’s not all. Even without factoring major speeds, it’s believable that he could easily swing and break a full grown tree in half with his shin. Of course a bit of a degree of pain that would go along with such a feat, but it’s certainly manageable and could easily be kept under control. In a jump, although he can rather frequently prevent it, he could leave a small crater on concrete ground as he jumped. Such a thing usually only happens during a full-on jump, however, with speed and efficiency being the main focus, as opposed to how high he could get or preventing damages when possible. His leg strength can be put into terms of lifting as well. It would be understandable that Merlin was capable of lifting something equating a 16-wheeler truck with cargo using his leg strength.

Now, onto the other mainstream aspect involved in strength: his arms. Now, while they do seem a tad scrawny to some, they actually withhold insane potential, though not quite on the level of his legs. Pretty simply put, he could throw out insanely powerful punches and lift major cargo using pure arm strength. Merlin has found himself able to punch at a layered-concrete wall and have the side collapse. Of course, a punch with such strength wasn’t a simple feat of his, but it was still something completely feasible. Even then, his arm strength is truly remarkable not only in an offensive manner, but a less practical feat. Imagine a miniature safe meant to even block bullets and prevent tools meant for theft to cut through. With enough finger-strength and some place to grasp or hold grip on, putting a lot of effort into it Merlin would be capable of ripping the safe open through sheer strength. Of course, some degree of fatigue would follow, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that if need be, Merlin could complete such a task. Moving on to the lifting capacity of his arms, without factoring in his leg strength, he could quite likely rip apart and lift entire SUVs without breaking too much of a sweat unless a bit too repetitive.

Muscles aren’t the only things that allow for superb strength. Merlin’s bones have developed an increase in density and strength, aiding Merlin in sustaining all the massive strength he possesses within such a small frame. The density and strength-factor that involves his bones also directly relate to the next part of Merlin’s superb physique.

Enhanced Durability: Durability. It’s quite likely the second best quality he possesses. Not only is his physical body engineered to be tougher, his own personal experiences have made him likely one of the most durable of the six children like himself. Like mentioned before, Merlin’s skin has been developed to be callused in most areas, his body already increasing it’s durability through basic growth. But, it’s not only growth that has made him such a powerhouse as he is now. Again, his genes were engineered to ascend past the capabilities of the average physical body of human. Through this, he has inherently developed an superb level of durability, not quite on par with his advanced agility, but still just a step below. Through the experimentation, his body has developed several ways of increasing it’s durability, such as things correlating directly to his strength. His increase in muscle mass and muscle density as well as bone density not only serves as a way to boost his strength, but it serves as an increase in durability, acting not only as a strong frame to support the entirety of his body (bones), but acting as some level of armour and shielding (muscles).

His durability’s effectiveness derives from several factors, namely the ones aforementioned. His body must be able to endure the harsh pressures that come with attaining high level speeds, not only requiring the capacity to resist being crushed through the sheer pressure, but power through it and maintain his speed without slowing down or getting caught in the wind. Furthermore, many other aspects of his enhanced agility require a high level of durability, such as being able to punch fast enough to boil water. At that extent, Merlin would need the capacity to resist things such as immense water pressure and heat--in contrast, he would also have developed some form of resistance to a lack of heat as well, his genetically enhanced body furthering his resistance. Another of his agile-aspects that require developed durability is his jumping ability. Like said before, he could reach up to outstanding heights and control velocity with his jumps, requiring major durability with his legs.

One thing one should consider is, just how durable is Merlin’s body? Of course, examples have been provided as to why he has such durability, and what has required him to be so durability, but to what level can his durability go, exactly? There are certain levels to account for, in terms of his durability--in Merlin’s case, two, to be precise. His energy durability (which he’s less aware of) and what he would refer to as his ‘outer defence’, in how much damage he can sustain before he actually shows some physical impairment. First, his outer defence. This generally refers to what can actually give him any damage at all, or what would it take to give him any lasting injuries, perhaps even getting past his skin and making him bleed. As he’s commented on his skin being callused, it’s no doubt that he can already sustain a hefty level of damage before actually having any lasting injuries, such as cuts and bruises. To make a comparison to an actual event of his, although he can’t recall, Merlin has been thrown through a few concrete walls of a building, and although he certainly felt the pain, there wasn’t quite any injuries to be seen or realised, whether internal or external. Of course, after the repetition, it eventually wears him down not only in energy but overall durability. Think of his skin being similar to heirro. He can take be worn down and be swung around all over the place, but there’s a point that he can’t be damaged without appropriate force. Now, what exactly CAN get past his skin? Well, generally, attacks that involve intense pressure. So, if you’re a supernaturally strong guy and you swing and Merlin with an intensively sharp sword, no doubt he’s gonna get cuts, and likely worse. It’s all about force, really. Like heirro, the way to get past it is to increase one’s own spiritual pressure to match and/or surpass the heirro. Likewise with Merlin’s body. You need appropriate force to get past the skin and do some real damage.

Now on to his energy durability. This refers to his durability when taking on energy-based hits, such as reishi, chaos energy, chi and the like. As someone who lacks spiritual affinity, it’d be common for Merlin to lack any sort of resistance to their effects, however, it would seem that the boy actually does have some level of resistance. Though weaker than his ‘outer defence’, Merlin can take some pretty heavy hits. For example, cero would be something pretty hefty to handle, but the cero of a low-level being is something Merlin might be able to take head-on. Yes, it’ll probably rip apart his clothing, but his body would hold out completely fine. He’s capable of taking a lot of energy-abuse pretty, well, with consistency. Throwing low-level bala after bala, he could handle the damage (though it’d be more common for someone to see him dodge) over the course of the fight, eventually not being able to sustain himself without any damage, but such an event won’t come for too long of a while. Anything beyond, say, a low 3-tiers full cero, and Merlin won’t come out unscathed. At that point, he’d take some damage, though nothing on the scale of getting him to huff-and-puff. However, with repetition it’d be fathomable. Of course, energy attacks on a scale beyond that would damage him as well, and as always, the stronger the attack the more he’ll be damaged.

Something to account for is energy-powered physical attacks. In this case, one refers to both his outer defence and energy durability. In this case, it’s more of a layer defence. Naturally, an energy-powered physical attack would generally carry enough force to actually get passed his skin, but after that, his energy defence would essentially begin to break down the energy-force powering up the attack, eventually bringing it down to a normal physical attack. Of course, this isn’t absolute, so with enough energy to back up the attack, Merlin’s energy-defence won’t be enough to handle and completely break down the force of energy, and if it were at a high enough level Merlin might even be able to weaken the damage at all.

Pain Toleration: Something of Merlin’s that, rather than achieved through meddling with his genes, was gained through experience. Mentioned beforehand, Merlin has gone through severely painful circumstances, even challenging his psych at times. Eventually, he hasn’t necessarily gotten used to the pain, but has learned to handle it well. With his already durable body, it was hard for him to be damaged and feel much pain, as opposed to the normal child--so, when he actually did start feeling things that hurt, one could imagine how much more painful it was for him in comparison to someone else. Thus, after going through such excruciating circumstances such as torture, he has in the past, although he wouldn’t remember, taken it upon himself to be capable of resist pain well. As a result, combined with his naturally damaging moves (had it not been for his durability) and pushing himself to the limits, he’s found himself capable of handling pain beyond the standard that an average human can take before death.

Now, it isn’t to say that anything at that level or under can be shrugged off. Certainly, there is a point where he can shrug off the pain indefinitely, but that also means there’s a level in which he can’t handle the pain at all, or can’t handle it if repetitive. Though there isn’t quite a definite level at which this occurs, as it also depends on his determination to power through the pain, there is a pretty accurate estimation. Traditionally, anything from a small cut to a heavy punch, Merlin can deal with pretty well and shrug it off without so much as a flinch. When it gets to something a few levels higher, like an inch deep laceration, Merlin will start to feel the pain, and even momentarily react to it. At this kind of pain, he might flinch for a mere moment before getting back to normal. This level of pain won’t start to wear him down with repetition, however. Perhaps if one were to do damage that affects the bones, he’d start to break down. Now, a few bone-rattling attacks will hurt Merlin pretty well, but if it’s only a few, he would be able to deal with it, and after a few seconds to himself he could dismiss it. With repetition, it’d be different. Do it enough times and one’d fine Merlin groveling over the pain, but only after doing it so often. Really, it’s just the same thing over and over again. The more painful attacks will affect him in greater aspects and won’t be able to be dealt with as well and as often, whereas the weaker they are, the more attacks he’ll be able to shrug off.

Five Senses Differing: Merlin’s senses aren’t anything with profound capacities, but from the average human, they certainly are heightened. Of his senses, the most prominent one is his sense of touch. Like aforementioned, his nerves are slightly different, thanks to genetic enhancements. As such, they’ve also become more sensitive, and though that potentially leaves room for him to go through more painful circumstances, that can always be dealt with psychology, as he has indeed done. They’re actually quite remarkable, as this sense is sensitive enough to notice things barely touching his clothing. Merlin’s even capable of accurately discerning the direction of the slightest breezes with accuracy.

In second place among his senses are Merlin’s eyes. What’s especially remarkable about his eyesight isn’t the fact that it’s simply enhanced, but that much of it’s ability derives from actually training them. While his genetic enhancements had peaked the potential of his eyesight, his training had actually attained it. Being able to move at remarkable speeds, it would only make sense for him to be able to see himself doing these movements. As such, things the average human can’t even catch a glimpse of Merlin can take notice to rather well, even being capable of visually keeping track of some lower-seated shinigami’s flashsteps, or the less-experienced arrancar’s sonido, etc. Not only is his eye’s speed of processing remarkable, but the detail at which he can perceive things is almost just as impressive, with him being able to notice even minute idiosyncrasies.

Aside from those two traits, his other senses aren’t quite as impressive, his hearing being really quite outstanding, but barely on par with a canine’s ears. The same goes for his sense of smell, and though it’s also genetically enhanced, it’s nothing comparable to the other senses of his, actually being the lowest amongst them all. His sense of smell barely surpasses the average human’s smell, allowing for some impressive notice to distinctive traits in certain aromas, but nothing to indepth. The last of his senses, the sense of taste, is actually better than his sense of smell, allowing possibilities such as discerning several qualities from something’s taste, such as what something’s made of, perhaps the age of it or even something along the lines of wear it was made, by getting hints of other tastes different from the main material in the object.

Sword Skill: The sword is Merlin’s favored weapon. While he is capable of using others, he prefers the sword, and can use it far better than any other weapon of his. While he still is vastly inexperienced in comparison to other people, through simple instinct, he’s already come a far way. Merlin’s already capable of treating his blade as if it were a part of his body, like an extension of his limbs, enabling him to fluidly control it with extreme precision. He’s even able to change velocities with a swing of his sword in a split second, holding back one of his strikes or even stopping it mere centimetres from an intended target. Combining his other physical enhancements with his above-average sword skill, Merlin’s come up with several techniques to call his own, displaying rather impressive feats, all of which he has yet to remember, and must therefore re-learn.

Martial Arts Skills: Just as he is well-versed with the sword, Merlin has a bit of background with combat using purely his own body parts. Though not as great as his sword-skill, he could hold his own rather well with someone of great capacity. Combining some form of knowledge in technique and precision of hand/leg combat with is already amazing physical capacities, Merlin has become capable of achieving some pretty outstanding feats, even so far as to create some of his own original techniques which, just as his sword-techniques, he has yet to remember, and also must re-learn.

lack of spiritual powers: The most noticeable of his features is Merlin’s lack of spiritual powers. For some reason, Merlin is capable of seeing otherworldly beings, hearing them and all the sort, but he has no actual ability to sense their spiritual power, nor does he have any spiritual power of his own. In such a humane state, he only has his physical capabilities to rely on.

Powers: (For later, and can only be used with Leviathan (the spirit within Merlin) active and aiding Merlin)
(powers: symbiotic relationship with inner entity, like a Zanpakutō, but ziamichi. His powers originate from this being. Power is dark-water manipulation--Merlin is not aware of the inner entity) ---not really explained very well and is pretty vague, but it’s only stated in this here app to explain what powers he will be using against Poliro when Merlin awakens Leviathan (a pre-plotted thread) None of these powers will be available to him until after his thread with Poliro, at which point I’ll be coming back to revise and add more detail, explaining these powers more indepth. Again, for now this is just to show which powers he’ll be having in his fight with Poliro, just so that I won’t be going “lol i’ll have every power”. Just setting boundaries, really.

Advanced Calculative Capacity: Merlin’s mind itself isn’t changed, but his ability to process information and calculate things is as if he has two full minds doing work in coalition, which is actually precisely what’s going on. Leviathan’s mind and Merlin’s is linked, allowing processing to go twice as fast.

Intense Awakened Reiatsu: Technically, most all of the reiatsu is generated from Leviathan. This reiatsu is immense, capable of putting down most people without any spiritual-resistance down in a 100 metre radius, and putting those at, say, 20th seat shinigamis and lower down in a 50 metre radius, along with those on par with such a level in all other races. Just a sort of brief, vague estimation of how powerful Leviathan’s reaitsu will be when he’s revealed in the Poliro VS Merlin thread.

Water Manipulation: With Leviathan’s aid, Merlin will be capable of controlling existing water sources in gaseous, liquid and solid form, inherently making him capable of controlling its temperature as well. He can also generate water from his awakened spiritual pressure, converting his reiryoku into water or other varying forms.

Lack of Water Resistance: When in water, Merlin can move as freely as a bird in the sky, water-weight and resistance failing to hold him back. In water, he’s capable of moving without any restrictions, lack of oxygen not being a problem either, as Merlin becomes capable of extracting oxygen from the water.

(just a brief overview of Merlin’s capabilities with an Awakened Leviathan. Will be explained better when his access to it becomes available. NOTE: of course, Merlin in his Leviathan state won't be able to do anything ridiculous like control water in Poliro's body or anything along the lines of 1-hits or metagame, godmod, etc. At most, he would be able to control open water sources, water in his own body perhaps, and things within that realm. )