Steiner HALFORD's Power Upgrade!

» Name: Steiner Franz
» Alias: The Unknowing Hero, The Halford Heir
» Age: 21
» Gender: Male

» Association: None

» Purpose: To start from the very beginning once again and work a character up from nothing and make him legitimately into something. I just think it is fun to do it this way as opposed to another way.

» Appearance Written:

Standing at six foot and four inches, Steiner Franz stands on the taller end of the spectrum of male height. That height is complimented by a weight of one hundred and ninety pounds of toned muscle that has been honed by months and months of intense physical training and hardships that he went through during his youth. His skin is tanned from months spent in the sun training and honing his skills, but that skin is not unblemished. Upon Steiner's back are a great deal of scars that his biological father gave him from time to time to remind him of his place within the social totem pole. Upon Steiner's chest is a giant scar that is from when Steiner engaged a group of arrancar to save a group of students venturing past a safe zone, it was there that he lost his anima stone which was shattered inside of him causing internal bleeding. Despite all of those scars given to him from combat as a child and as an adult, Steiner's face remains unblemished and completely void of any facial hair.

However, that doesn't mean that Steiner does not try to grow out his facial hair, but it looks kind of awkward on his youthful face which is all the reason Steiner needs to shave off his facial hair to anything less than stubble. Steiner's eyes are a vibrant aqua color that is both welcoming to enemies and friends alike. Sitting atop Steiner's head is what many would call a "bed head" hair style which seems to have little thought in its' presentation and appearance put into it. Though this isn't true as Steiner does tend to use top quality shampoos and conditioners to keep his hair healthy and clean, this is due to an upbringing from his foster parents who taught him that hygiene was important and that if he was going to keep his hair messy like that he should at least make sure that it was well taken care of, he took this to heart and keeps it that way.

As far as clothing and personal items goes, Steiner keeps things simple. He has a few personal items which he chooses to wear a great deal of the time, such as his white military jacket from a long forgotten army that Steiner has no recollection of. He wears this jacket to honor his foster father's grandfather as it is the the only thing he had to remind him of him and he greatly cared for him as he was the first one to teach Steiner to hold a sword. The jacket is a mixture of three primary colors: teal, black, and white, with white being the dominant color. It has several buttons along the sleeves to commemorate multiple acts of valor and bravery, which are two things that Steiner strongly associates himself with.The jacket is extremely well kept and it is clear that Steiner has sewn patches back together, but he has done so with such care and precision that it can be barely be noticed even at very close ranges. Underneath the jacket, Steiner usually wears an assortment of plain t-shirt ranging from white to deep purple, he barely ever wears shirts that have any sort of images on them as those shirts usually cost more money than Steiner has and that is more than enough to avoid over spending on a simple design for something he is only wearing for decency.

Steiner's pants range from long normal pants to faded jeans that look to be worn down from age. Steiner tends to not buy many sets of clothes and sometimes will go long periods in-between buying anything new so the worn down jeans are probably years old and can even be torn in places or even patched from random fabric of the same quality, but not always the same color. A simple pair of combat boots adorn Steiner's feet and these shoes are kept tidy and shined, but it is very clear that these boots are ancient as they look worn down regardless of the amount of shining and work Steiner has put into making them remain at least functional. Underneath those shoes is a pair of plain socks and usually that is what is worn underneath his boots, those socks will vary in color between gray, black, and white. Most of the time the socks will be black as they are the least likely to show any sort of dirtiness.

Steiner's second item of great importance comes in the shape of a shattered sword which hangs uselessly sealed inside of a scabbard which Steiner keeps on his side at almost all times. At one time or another this blade was the legendary Excalibur and was home to the spirit that had dwelled within it, Valus. However, after the event of a year and a half-ago, Steiner's sword is shattered and his friend is long gone, taken from him by force along with his powers. The sheathe of the sword is shined and well kept, more than likely an act of reverence and little else as the weapon inside is practically useless. The sword itself still has a beautifully crafted hilt that has been taken great care of, the golden sheen of the hilt being the only true defining feature of the ruined blade of Excalibur. The blade itself is jaggedly shattered, very little of its' original length remains to remind others of its' original form. Yet there is still enough blade left to be used for combat, though probably not the most effective combat can be done with this sword, after all it is shattered, but yet Steiner continues to train in hiding with this sword. Wistfully remembering a time when he could make a difference in a world gone mad and for little other reason. The edges of the blade are still sharp and are also well kept, once again an act of reverence for a departed friend more than likely than anything else.

The last item of any importance to Steiner hangs around his neck, the Iramasha gem of Clear Spirit hangs proudly around Steiner's neck on full display for the world to see. It was a gift for traversing to the mountain top where Cirno Iramasha had taken up residence and receiving her guidance in awaking his powers which are now gone. To Steiner this gem is a reminder of what he was and as painful as it is to remind himself of what he was, he still wears it mostly out of respect for the person who gave it to him. Though it still serves its purpose as a defensive item on his person, Steiner barely uses it unless if completely necessary. The blue gem, much like a sapphire in appearance, hangs from a golden chain which is also well kept, and shines brightly much like the gem when it reflects the light of the sun. The gem itself is said to match the color of Steiner's soul, a dark aqua color, much like the ocean.

Also on Steiner's person is a bag which is very visibly ancient in design and appearance, but it has also been stitched together with a great deal of care and attention to detail. The bag, a large olive gym bag, holds most of Steiner's personal belongings as he spends most of his time camping out in the wilderness as opposed to living with others inside of the city, though he would love to live back in the city he can't afford to. Inside of the bag are an assortment of extra clothes, health care products such as bandages and salves, a tent, a tinderbox which can be used to light fires, and a number of other items ranging from colognes to shampoos. He can usually be spotted carrying this bag around with him when he is out in the woods or making his way into work to earn a little bit of cash to just survive.

» Appearance Image: Asbel Lhant from Tales of Grace F





» Personality:

To describe Stein's personality is to look beyond the hardships of his youth and dig into who he has become. Some would say due to the traumatic events in his life that Franz would exhibit some introversion, but it is the opposite. Steiner is an open, caring, and compassionate individual who sets himself above no one, and is willing to take the pain and hardships that comes his way to ensure that other's don't have to go through what he has gone through. He is the first to step in when a problem arrives and the last to leave when a problem is solved. As troublesome as that may sound, Stein doesn't seem to mind being the guy to step in when the going gets rough as he knows what could happen to other's if issues are not dealt with as quickly as possible. This tends to lead to quick judges in character however, as Stein quickly assess situations, and doesn't tend to read into the context of things. He mostly only sees right and wrong, however he can be persuaded to believe that there is a gray.

As such heroism seems to come naturally for the twenty one year old, though he is unsure how he could be described as "heroic" as he believes that doing the right thing and helping others is what should be natural human nature. According to him protecting people and helping people with their issues should come to a person just as easy as they would breathe. This leads to philosophical differences and a great deal of headbutting with those of different beliefs, but Stein stands true to what he believes which further adds to the "hero" title that is thrown at him. To him, however a hero is something that he isn't. To him a hero is someone with the power to make a difference and he, being someone without power in a world filled with individuals with the power to change the world, can never be someone like that. That of course doesn't stop him from dreaming of one day becoming someone like that.

Some would call Steiner calm and collected as well, as he tend to not freak out when a normal person would. Once again, the tragedies of his childhood lend into this state of being. He has gone through so much torture in his life that most things seem to just not phase the twenty one year old as much as they would a normal person. Yet, he is still haunted by nightmares of his life spent with his first foster parents, and those wounds still run very deep. Which is why he tries his best to remain calm and be as collected as he can, putting on an air of being much more mature than he actually is to try, and hide his own insecurities. However, behind that very same air is an twenty one year old with a great deal of insecurities.

Those insecurities, however have helped Steiner grow a great deal as a fighter, and as a person. Never believing that he is strong enough or fast enough to deal with threats that cross his path. This has allowed to Steiner to push himself very far in terms of physical training and mental conditioning. It has also helped him mold himself into the person he is today. His kindness springs from his insecurities, as his feelings of helplessness gained from years of torture at the hands of his first foster parents, has helped him learn that no one wants to be alone in this world. So, he strives to be as open, and kind as he possibly can as to have no one feel like he has and at some times still does. It is through hardship that Stein has grown into a fine young man with a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong.


» Likes:

Honor:

Steiner is a man with a strict code of morality that hasn't even faded away even after all of the things that have occurred to him as of late. He believes that to compromise the basic beliefs of honor is to simply give up and allow evil to win. To Steiner that is something that just can't happen so regardless of how his code of honor can be used against him, he maintains his stance on the line of right and wrong without budging. For this reason, Steiner sometimes gets burned more than most because he is unwilling to budge from his stance of morality even in the face of unyielding treachery, Steiner stands firm in the face of it. Be it by his upbringing or by what he has lost, he clings to this as his lifeline. Many people admire him for that, but even more do seem to judge him harshly for being unwilling to budge from his morale code for even a second to do what needs to be done sometimes.

Steiner respects those with similar qualities to his own and becomes quick friends with those that have a code of honor themselves. He will go to bat for those people and fight to protect those people to his last breath, this makes those who become true friends with Steiner know that they will always have someone watching their back in their time of need, and also alleviate the stress of them ever being betrayed by him either. After all, Steiner's code of honor prides loyalty as well.

Friendship:

Steiner treasures friendship above most things outside of his sense of honor and a passion to bring down cold hard justice down on those with evil intent. He tends to bond quickly with those with senses of honor and justice similar to his own, but he has also been known to become quick friends with people who are willing to give him a chance as well. After all it is hard to make true friends when you staunchly believe in one thing and are unwilling to bend your knee even if your friends beg you to, but those that are true friends of Steiner will never find a truer friend. Steiner will risk anything for a friend, most notably his life, and his state of mind to insure that his friends are safe and are well taken care of.

This will sometimes get Steiner into trouble, especially when he is poking his nose into things he shouldn't be when his friends are in danger, but Steiner doesn't care. He will never back down from a fight to help his friends and will never betray his friends in their time of need. All in all, Steiner takes friendship seriously, and believes strongly in the bonds formed by accepting someone as ones friend.

Displays of Swordsmanship:

Be it the simple practice of swordsmanship or the aura of honed skill that a master displays, Steiner Franz enjoys work with swords, and seeing the talent of others who practice the craft. Having trained with his great grandfather, then by himself, then with Valus, and after that on his own again, Steiner has spent most of his life honing his skills in the art of swordsmanship. So when he sees a particularly well trained swordsman he always gives his props, even if it is an enemy, and then tries his best to learn from them as much as he can. Steiner regularly challenges other swordsman to fights to test his mettle and his skill in the craft, always gracious in defeat and in victory, and even more so always ready to learn and always ready to teach. Such is the path that he has chosen based by his strict code of honor and integrity. In that same vein he also despises those that take shortcuts to become better swordsman.

This includes cheaters and using cheap tactics to take advantage of opponents. He has seen these sort of people first hand and has trained non-stop to insure that if he encounters people like this that he should be capable of fighting them on his own merit and defeating them in his own way. As stated before Steiner enjoys both learning new skills and training those who seek to learn to hone their craft in swordsmanship, even though he himself still has a lot to learn.

Justice:

Meeting villains on the fields of combat is something Steiner takes extremely seriously and even more seriously does he take the divvying out of punishment upon those with nothing, but wicked intent. Steiner lives, eats, and breathes justice and pursues to make those that do bad things get their just deserts. Due to Steiner's upbringing in a dysfunctional family ruled over by a wicked father, Steiner has seen what evil looks like, and because of that Steiner's sense of right and wrong is amplified to the extremes. Every slight and every right is memorized by Steiner from the moment he meets a person and he judges people kind of harshly by their merits, but even he can be forgiving.

However, to Steiner justice is absolute, and those that are evil must be taught a lesson by him or by those that walk a similar path. This can be quite dangerous for Steiner most of the time due to the sort of people he can run into with a world full of demons and monsters just looking to squash someone with values such as his, but Steiner doesn't back down from a fight. He always will pursue the pursuit of justice and will never stop even in the face of absolute power or a threat beyond his comprehension. Such is the path that he has chosen and strides to walk.

Testing Ones Limits:

Steiner believes that the only way to get stronger is to push yourself to unbelievable heights by testing your own limits and throughout his life he has done so. He has fought beings with immense power and lived to tell the tale, climbed mountains that were unscaleable without proper equipment, and traveled far distances without so much as breaking to reach his goal. With a hunger to learn and a passion to improve, Steiner Franz is always testing himself, and always pushing himself regardless of how much his body tells himself to quit. At times this can be viewed as reckless, but to those that see Steiner as he struggles to overcome his own weakness by brute forcing it through, they can not help, but respect him for what he does. He isn't the strongest, nor is he the fastest, but Steiner does what he can with what he has, and what he does with what he has is quite extraordinary.

As such he preaches this philosophy to friends and colleagues alike, always pushing them even when they don't want to be pushed. Some resent him, but others quite understand Steiner's desire to improve not only himself, but the situation of others. In fact it is quite the admirable mission for a person like him to have and one that many people have come to adore about the hero.

Compassion:

Be it protecting the weak, feeding a homeless person, or saving someone from a horrible fate, compassion is a very strong point of value within the person that is Steiner Franz. He strives to make sure that others don't have to feel the pain he felt or deal with the things he has dealt with. He goes to blows with those that seek to hurt the weak or those that take advantage of situations that should not be taken advantage of. It makes him a great friend and a great person all around and no one seems to be bothered by the amount of compassion that Steiner Franz shows. And this is because he generally cares, after all the shit he has been through, all the abuse, and all of the hardships he has gone through his compassion is genuine.

He also respects those that have a very similar approach to compassion and makes sure to show them gratitude for what they are doing. This usually leads to him making friends or allies in low and high places due to his giving nature and that is fine with him. He himself believes he would rather have more friends and allies than enemies on the Earth, it is as simple as that.

» Dislikes:

Quitters:

Steiner has never been a quitter nor has he ever given up on a task that he has undertaken, so when he sees a quitter, or someone who is so ready to give up on a task, he tends to get quite angry or flustered. This emotion and animosity toward quitting stems from the harsh environment he lived in before he lived with his foster family. Quitting and not trying were viewed as punishable offenses and after his father consumed just enough alcohol the punishment usually meant abuse. It never goes to that extreme with Steiner, yet he views quitting, and giving up in a negative light at least and will usually berate someone at worse. Though because of this level of abuse he had received during his earlier years, it did push him to improve drastically, and strive to continue to get better after he felt he was good enough.

Villains:

It is usually self-explanatory for a man who is of righteous pursuits to hate those of dishonest reputation, but Steiner's hatred of those with sinister intent is almost ingrained into his being. Even before he was a member of the Vanguard, before he had known the name of Valus, or even began to train with a blade, Steiner was being abused by a villain, his father. Over time he began to resent his father for his actions, hating him for what was doing to him, and as he grew up that hatred only grew more and more. His hatred for evil grew from being just to his father, to everyone with sinister ideas, and as someone who wanted to become a hero, Steiner's hatred for evil become a fuel to his fire. Much like not liking to quit, this became a driving force for him, sometimes helping him elevate past his limitations to perform impossible deeds, and to this day it helps push him forward in life.

Failure:

Much like quitting, Steiner views failure in an equal light, however he doesn't feel like blaming someone for failing as much as for quitting. In the case of failing at least they had tried to do their best to succeed, no he doesn't hate others for failing, just himself if he were to fail. His biological father had always viewed Steiner as a failure and the disdain of being called as such has stuck with him through out the years, hence his dedication to insuring that he never fails again by honing his skills and pushing himself to his limits. Once again, the drive to not fail is a drastic part of the reason Steiner tries so hard to do what he does, and he absolutely hates to fail. So much in fact that he will usually beat himself up over his failures for the next few weeks and dig as deep as he can to find out how he can be ready for the same situation next time.

Showing Weakness:

Steiner hates to appear weak and that is because he views the weak and vulnerable times of his youth as a negative. After all, he hadn't been strong enough to stop his own abuse, and if he shows that he is still as weak as he was before he would only be proving his biological father right. Something that he would never want to do. So, with this being just another driving force for his over-training and difficult path to become stronger, Steiner refuses to look weak. Even in the face of utterly impossible odds, Steiner will most likely stand defiant in its' face, refusing to cry, and refusing to back down from the challenges in front of him.



» History:

Born as Steiner Halford, Steiner was brought into this world to a family that was never really supportive nor friendly to him. He was the second child of Corman Halford and Zaila Halford, both of which had not wanted a second child, but welcomed Steiner into their family begrudgingly. From the moment Steiner could walk he was treated poorly by his parents, who favored their first child, Yve who was three years Steiner's senior, to him. Yve was always the grading stick for Steiner growing up and whenever he disappointed his drunken father or his emotionally distant mother he would be reminded of how awesome his brother was. It wasn't until his eighth birthday that things went from mental abuse to physical abuse as his father, a failed musician and the town drunk, laid into him repeatedly with blows after Steiner had messed up a simple piano recital. All the while, Steiner pleaded for his father to stop, and looked for his mother and brother for assistance, but neither did anything. This was just the start of the beatings and for three years Steiner endured this. Three years of torture at the hand of his father as he pleaded for his mother and brother to help him only to see them turn a cold shoulder to him.

It was after one particularly nasty scuffle involving a jagged beer bottle, that child services was brought into play, and Steiner, then eleven, and Yve, fourteen, were taken away from their parents. Yve, after being taken away from his parent who had adored him blamed Steiner for everything, and left his brother high and dry as he distanced himself from someone who he labeled as a loser. Steiner, feeling isolated, and completely alone spent the majority of his time moping alone in the social house. Wondering as to what he could have done differently to have his parents love him like they did his brother. For a year, Steiner was bounced from family to family, none of them sticking with him for more than a few months as none of them wanted a child who was depressed as he was and as emotionally scarred. However, after reaching the age of twelve, Steiner finally joined the Franz family. The Franz family, who had always wanted a son, welcomed Steiner into their family, and embraced him as if he were their own. It opened Steiner's eyes to the real problem and warmed his heart.

Steiner became an extremely driven child as a member of the Franz family, dropping any vestige of his past life from the time he dropped his biological families last name and instead flinging himself head first into the fire of being a "Franz". With this new found drive, Steiner studied, and trained hard. Ditching music in favor of mythology, a much more interesting subject as he always dreamed of heroes of old in his youth, and training his body as to emulate such heroes. He became the apple of his foster parent's eye and over the course of six years brightened their lives and earned their love with each passing moment he spent with them. On his eighteenth birthday, Steiner Franz decided to move out, not by force, but because of his want to continue his studies. He wanted to go to college and travel a bit, things he couldn't do underneath the Franz roof. His parents, even though they wanted him to stay, understood, and helped Franz move to Tokyo where he could continue his Ancient History and Mythology studies. It was there that his past caught up to him.

Yve Halford, his older brother met him at the train station in Tokyo, and though Steiner had his differences with his family he greeted him warmly. Yve, began talking about a dig he was on for some unknown benefactor, as he had became an archaeologist, and was mildly successful. After learning of what his brother had become, Steiner talked of what he had hoped to do, and such drew some praise from his distant blood relative. Yve offered Steiner a job to come to the dig and be one of his interns. And though Steiner wanted to say no, the promise of money, and a trip away to a place he had never been enticed the young man to come with his brother. They went to Europe, where Steiner caught eye of what exactly his brother had dug up, a stone with a rusted and worn sword plunged into it surrounded by ancient and decrepit ruins. Remembering the tales of the knights of the round table and King Arthur, Steiner was greatly intrigued by his brother's find, and began to do everything in his power to find out just what this sword's identity was.

Over time, Steiner began to realize that the sword in the stone was Excalibur, but how it had gotten there was beyond him. Steiner, excited by the prospect of one of the myths being at least half true, went to his brother, only to find him making deals with the wrong sort. Yve, his older brother was selling ancient relics to some shady man who worked fro some unknown criminal syndicate in Europe, and they had been using Steiner to dig up research on if the sword was the real deal. Steiner, dumb founded by his brother's betrayal, decided to take matters into his own hands, and confronted his brother in the middle of a meeting. Yve, laughed it off, and called Steiner naive for believing he was an archaeologist and not some rare artifact broker, and order his associate to end him right then and there. Steiner ran for his life, escaping from the site, and making his way to the stone.

However, upon making it to the stone, he was quickly surrounded by goons, and with no means to defend himself. No means, except the rusted sword. In dire need of help and with no where else to turn, Steiner pulled the blade from the stone, much like Arthur had many centuries ago, and the world went black for him. Steiner awoke in Karakura town in a hospital bed, the rusted sword laying against a seat in a scabbard, with no recollection of what had happened, or how he had ended up where he was. Steiner, once released from the hospital, tried to rid himself of the sword by giving it to a museum, yet the sword came back to him by mysterious circumstances. Eventually after the twelfth attempt of giving up the sword he gave in and decided to keep it for himself. As there was no other solution. For now, Steiner is trying to discover how he returned to Karakura, and the mysteries behind the rusty blade dubbed "Excalibur".

Little did Steiner know that he had not only acquired a sword, but also a passenger who latched on to his body, and became a part of him. That passenger was Valus, the spirit that had been sealed within Excalibur, and as such when he had made contact with the blade had saved his life. Steiner over the course of his first month in Karakura would meet some interesting individuals, not only fighting people such as Youma, but also making friends with people such as Ants, and when he successfully climbed the mountain meeting Cirno for the first time. As such he learned a great deal and began to grow as a fighter and as a person. However, it became frustrating for Steiner that he remained powerless until his fight with the arrancar, Murai, and her skeletons.

It was during that battle that the voice of Valus began to speak and helped guide him to awakening his powers for the first time. Valus and Steiner worked together extremely hard to push the young human's skills to the next level and to an extent they succeeded in doing so, but in truth it was never enough for the young boy to truly get any traction. So with that thought in mind he joined the Vanguard for a while, choosing to associate himself with the strongest champions of the Earth, and bring down the villains that opposed it. It was in the Vanguard that Steiner felt the most at home, he had never really called anything home since he had left his second foster family behind him, but the Vanguard had truly done that for him. Eventually Steiner was assigned to the Boros Guard and told to defend Karakura from the threats of the darker side of the world, something he didn't accept lightly, but none the less was more than willing to do.

This position mostly involved patrolling around the city, watching for potential threats, and notifying his superiors if he spotted anything that could be classified as an invasion. It was on one such patrol that Steiner Franz would open a dark and gloomy chapter in his life, a chapter that would begin with a group of arrancar going to close to the city limits to be considered "tourists". Steiner began to call in to his superiors, as protocol dictated, when a small group of school children passed his line of view, and it was very clear that they didn't know just what sort of storm they were walking their way into. Fearing for their safety, Steiner neglected protocol, and engaged the arrancar before they could intercept the young children. To give credit where credit is due, Steiner managed to hold his ground for a while, before the boss of these particular arrancar made his presence known.

Steiner received a beating that even to this day he hasn't forgotten, but the beating wasn't what would put Steiner on his path to truly awakening his potential, no...the torture would do that. After Steiner had lost to the leader, the leader decided to turn Steiner into a target practice dummy for him, and his gang of miscreants. For weeks, Steiner was dragged around, barely holding on to life only due to them healing him, and keeping him fed for amusement to see who could make Steiner break the most or cry out the most or beg the most. Eventually after several grueling weeks of torture the arrancars had their fill, deeming Steiner unworthy of even being eaten, Steiner was impaled through the heart with his own sword, shattering his anima stone in the process. Valus would take control at that moment trying to lash out at the foes in front of him, but that is when one of the arrancar used an ability that neither Valus nor Steiner had ever seen before. The arrancar ripped Valus from Steiner's body and then consumed him right before the dying man's eyes. After that, the leader broke Steiner's sword, and left it in pieces with a sick grin on his face. Without even a second thought the arrancar abandoned Steiner, leaving him to die in a ditch like an animal hit by a car, and as his life had flashed before his eyes, Steiner knew that he had couldn't give up there, and now.

So Steiner, powerless as the day he was born crawled, bleeding profusely from his open wound in his chest, and from the many different lacerations upon his body that had been given to him by weeks of torture. For a good ten minutes Steiner crawled until his body began to give out from blood loss and exhaustion, he began to close his eyes. For a while he dreamed of nothing, but the darkness of death, and for a while he thought that this was the end for him, but life had a funny way of giving him a second chance when a elderly woman found him. Dragging him from the streets and bringing him into her home far off the beaten path and far from the eyes of those that would be working for the arrancar or looking for Steiner. It was here that the young lady began the process of healing his wounds, using many different salves, and many different techniques that she had picked up over time during his stay in the fringes. When Steiner awoke the only thing he felt was pain and an emptiness he hadn't felt since before his powers had awoken. In essence he felt alone and as he lay there staring at the thatched ceiling of the hut belonging to the elderly lady, he wondered just where he was or how he had got there.

Upon the elderly ladies return she would find Steiner up and about, which confounded her that the young man could move at all after such an ordeal. She demanded that he lay back down, but Steiner wouldn't, stating that he had been "laying down" for far too long as it was, and that he needed to find the arrancar that did this to him. The elderly lady stated that Steiner wasn't going to fight any arrancar in the condition he was in and also stated that it would take a man with a great deal of power to take them all down. Steiner enraged at himself for being so weak, over-exerted himself trying to leave, and reopened the stitches on his chest, forcing him to heed the elderly ladies advice and yield for a while. For a month or two, Steiner was on bed rest, and his days would be filled with pain until he would receive some salve or home cooked remedy from the elderly lady to continue his healing process and elevate the pain for a while. After two months of being bed-ridden Steiner found he could move around the house gingerly. He would pay the old woman back by doing chores around the house, which she would protest to, but couldn't say no to due to Steiner's insisting to do so. In truth he hated waiting around in bed, more-so he just wanted to train, and that wasn't possible to do with his current physical state so he used house chores as a type of training. He would chop wood, clean the house, fixing mundane items for her so that could continue to live in peace, and occasionally cooking dinner for her (though he was never really good at it).

For about a month and a half more this would go on as a normal routine until finally the pain stopped and Steiner felt like he could continue his training. He would bid his farewells to the elderly lady and make his way out back into the world, but instead of returning to the Vanguard base he instead chose to separate himself from them. He didn't want to face the shame of what had happened to him so many months ago and he also didn't want to have to explain how he had lost everything in a single instant. So instead Steiner began to train, harder than he ever had, to make up for his lack of power he decided to reach tip-top physical condition and work from that. Maybe, he could find a way to restore what he had, but he knew that there was no chance he would ever have Valus back by his side, and that would haunt him till the end of his days, but for now he needed to focus on getting his revenge, and getting ready for what the world would throw at him.



» Equipment:


Custom Iramasha Gem

• Name: Clear Spirit
  
• Type: Other
  
• User Type: Character Exclusive
  
  
• Appearance: The Gem of Clear Spirit is a gem that is aqua blue in color. The reason for this is that it resonated strongly with the color of Steiner's spirit. Hence, for that simple enough reason, the material which compromised this gem attuned itself to that rich shade and reflected it upon it's design.
  
  
• Background Info: The purpose behind this gem is to otherwise lend an extension of Steiner's heart to the world around them. After searching within his spirit, there was a desire which was found that held the ambition to connect with others. After latching on to this feeling of yearning, the Faith Stone which was created by Steiner's spirit embodied those sensations into a tangible force of power. Hence, below, you will see how this gem is used with it's abilities.
  
  
• Effects: The effects that The Gem Of Clear Spirit induces is stated as below:
  
  Holy Sight: Holy Sight is the ability which allows this gem to bridge a connection to the heart and minds of those around Steiner. Trace amounts of angelic energy are released from the gem to the vicinity around him. This can extend to a range of one thousand meters. In this vicinity, Steiner would be able to mend connections to those in the environment around him.
  
  From there, they must accept his call and open their hearts to them in order to forge a line of communication with him. This can be established with a simple telepathic request. Once that request is done, and they accept, Steiner can then begin to open up and understand the person he bonded with them. Of course, what they open up to him will be of the characters decision, but this is meant to be a means in which to deeper understand other spirits.
  
  Additionally, a secondary effect that this ability has is that it can detect malicious auras. That is, a will with great destructive and murderous intent would be able to be sensed. However, this doesn't equate to mind-reading or anything like that. The character in question would have to be causing a major havoc of some kind in order for it to activate.
  
  So, for instance, Steiner could possibly awaken to a sixth sense if there was a huge force of demonic energy that was destroying and killing the lives of many innocent people. However, if a demon was in front of him, and they weren't giving off obvious signals, then this ability would be as effective. It could gauge their body language and analyze the unsteadiness of their spiritual aura to give him hints of what the character's intent may be; but it isn't definite or guaranteed to be true.
  
  Celestial Aura: This is the second power that the Gem of Clear Spirit has. Although she does not have the ability to grant souls the power to view into the future, the next best thing that Cirno could provide was this protective energy. As, sealed within this Faith Stone is a high volume of holy energy. Enough to be comparable to 1-1 character.
  
  Therefore, with this high potency forged is a gem which has high durability and attack power. Thus, when Steiner is marked as being within danger, this gem will activate. However, it will only do so if he is staying true to his call of heroic nature and attempting to spread light, good and righteousness in the world. If he fails to uphold that, then the gem will not activate this feature and it will let him fend for himself.
  
  With that said, the defenses of this gem could be comparable to a master level hierro and a master level kido. So, for a point of reference, it is often used to form a type of shield around Steiner in order to shield him from higher level attacks that can even range upwards of 0 tier level. However, like any shield, it will wear down after enough abuse. Thus it isn't infinite, but it can stand a fair bit of abuse.
  
  This shield can be used in many ways as well. It can form wisp of light that protect Steiner, or it can form spheres of light around his body that serve as barriers. It can also have projectiles forge from his body in order to dispel and shield attacks with malicious intent against Steiner. As, those akin to demon, arrancar or any being with negative energy will find the effectiveness of their attacks reduced as followed:
  
  DEFENSE RATE
  
  0 Tier Purification Defenses: Celestial Aura can dispel up to ten to twenty percent of a 0 tier's negative energy.
  
  1 Tier Purification Defenses: Celestial Aura can dispel up to thirty percent of a 1 tier's negative energy.
  
  2 Tier Purification Defenses: Celestial Aura can dispel up to forty percent of a 2 tier's negative energy.
  
  3 Tier Purification Defenses: Celestial Aura can dispel up to eighty percent of a 3 tier's negative energy.
  
  4 Tier Purification Defenses: Celestial Aura can dispel up to ninety percent of a 4 tier's negative energy.
  
  5 & 6 Tier Purification Defenses: Celestial Aura can dispel up to one hundred percent of a 5 and 6 tier's negative energy
  
  With that said, there does come a limit. And that limit comes in the form of this ability only being able to be used for two actions a post. Additionally, each energy steadily drains it's power. And, once it is drained, it will not return until it is refueled by an external source of energy or at the start of the next thread Steiner is in.

» Traits:

Exceptional Stamina:

As a young boy, Steiner had always been beaten by his father, and because of this Steiner dedicated himself to honing himself physically as to avoid receiving any more beatings. So Steiner entered into an extreme training regiment comprised of multiple types of physical and analytical exercise sessions to push his limits and grow as a fighter. This training pushed Steiner into many different paths toward becoming physically formidable, one of those paths which involved intense cardio training pushed Steiners own stamina beyond the normal for a powerless human. However, Steiner didn't rest for a single moment after obtaining an impressive stamina, no Steiner escalated his training, and pushed himself farther each and every day. Not skipping a single day of exercise in hopes of eventually being able to avoid his father's ill will.

Eventually after leaving his father behind and being adopted by a foster family, Steiner decided to continue to hone himself in hopes of becoming powerful enough to help others avoid similar fates to his own. To do this Steiner began incorporating obstacle courses into his regiment to simulate combat situations to test his stamina under strain. For years Steiner incorporated more and more taxing obstacle courses to push his stamina further until the strain of the obstacles grew to be too little to help him in improving them. Once an obstacle began to lose its stress level value and Steiner became acclimated to its use, he would switch the obstacle out for a more advanced, and more complicated version of the obstacle. But there was only so much value in training under pre-planned obstacle courses and as such Steiner began to bring himself into actual combat situations to improve his stamina even further.

The battles ranged from difficult one on one skirmishes to brutal multi-enemy combat sessions that Steiner would undergo for the sake of improvement. These were mostly against young up and coming members of the Vanguard and occasionally low level street thugs in the abandoned districts outside of common jurisdiction where crime ran rampant and unchecked. After Steiner's powers were removed from him and he was left a powerless human again and his exit from the Vanguard, Steiner would continue to train against miscreants and thieves in the outskirts of common jurisdiction. These fights became more difficult as Steiner couldn't rely on the crutch that had been his powers if things went south and as such Steiner had to adopt a more tactical approach to his combat methods to best utilize his stamina and combat skills.

Due to the training that he has put himself under up until this point, Steiner has a reservoir of untapped stamina on most days, capable of running for hours on end, and fighting for equal lengths of time. Opponents become worn down under the constant and relentless assaults and defensive maneuvers Steiner utilizes to best maximize his impressive stamina. Also due to the amount of running and exercise he has put himself under, Steiner's lungs are more capable of holding air, and as such it allows him to hold his breath for long periods of time, much more so than the average human, and even some of the more powerful humans on the planet.


Prodigious Swordsman:

When Steiner first lifted the legendary blade Excalibur in its rusted form, it was clear that Steiner was naturally gifted in the way of the blade as it became a quick extension of his own self rather rapidly. That natural gift has only grown more and more potent over the last few years of Steiner's life as he had slowly, but surely trained his skills in this particular avenue. To train this particular set of skills, Steiner focused on basic sword play training, practicing almost every day the movements, and necessary motions until finally the sword swinging became second nature to him. As soon as basic understanding was reached Steiner would begin to borrow books from local libraries and research on his own, different sword styles and techniques that had been developed to help loosen and limber up for combat.

Over time Steiner began to mix and match what fit his more finesse based style of combat from different sword styles to better augment his own style. At first Steiner trained for a non-lethal style of combat focusing on injuring the opponent and disabling them as to avoid having unwanted blood on his hands. He viewed himself as being above the petty violence and believed that he could solve any conflicts by simply disabling his foes. This however, proved harder in process than in theory and Steiner tended to suffer pretty substantial losses in the process or only barely scraping by his opponents on pure grit and luck alone. Eventually Steiner weeded through what didn't work and what did work taking advanced swordsmanship classes while he was in the Vanguard for about a month to establish a more complete style.

After losing his powers, and in that same boat leaving the Vanguard, Steiner has began to train harder than ever. This time learning about killing strikes that can incorporate his impressive speed and his knowledge of blades to his advantage. Also through having a vast knowledge of swordsmanship, Steiner can pick up on slight variations in combat approach involving swords or other slashing weapons, changing, and manipulating his own style on the fly to match his opponent blow for blow if the need arises. This is through reading text and watching tape, but also very much through personal experience either through training or actual combat situations. Some would say this is Steiner's sixth sense, his ability to watch other movements in combat, and switch on the fly to match them, more so it is almost seamless, allowing from Steiner to switch from style to style to suit his fancy or in dire situations to save his life.

Combined with Steiner's stamina, physique, and tactical knowledge, this makes Steiner a more than above average combatant with an understanding of combat that far exceeds his short time on the earth. Hence the belief that Steiner may be a genius when it comes to sword play and understanding other's strengths and weaknesses. It is through this that Steiner can exploit holes in defenses and take advantage of terrain much easier than typical swordsman due to a keen observant eye that only comes from reinforced training regiments and extensive research into swordplay and its many different avenues.

• Steiner's Style: Steiner's style is a combination of solid defense and solid offense, in essence yielding a balanced style that Steiner can augment and switch around in intense situations by either adding more defense or adding more offense. His style is balanced around well rounded strikes in quick succession trying his best to keep his opponent on the defensive end of things until he wears them out or they make a mistake. This sort of offensive assault tends to involve quick slashes aiming for different points of the body ranging from arms, legs, chest, and shoulder regions, some attacks may be superficial, but are used to induce pain as to allow him to better take advantage of his opponent if the battle is of an attrition nature or to set up for a more serious strike at a later time. Steiner's style is also heavily augmented by his physical strengths and stamina boons, meaning he relies heavily on speed, acrobatics, and longevity to match his opponent instead of relying on brute force.
  
  Steiner's defensive tendencies tend to lean toward parries instead of straight up blocks. Regardless of Steiner's natural strengths he isn't heavily leaned toward the strength end of the spectrum and instead puts a lot of force into the momentum of his blows, thus favoring a parry over a block. His parries can also be used in the manner to throw his opponent(s) off balance to set up a flurry of his own or to give himself a breather if the fight has gone on for far too long. If parrying isn't an option, Steiner relies on his quickness and speed to dodge attacks, but that lowers stamina at a quicker rate than a normal parry, and as such is used sparingly by the young man in combat situations.
  
  The weakness to Steiner's style of fighting is that he relies heavily on melee assaults to put his opponent's down and without powers, Steiner can't fight from afar, and must close distances to engage in one on one slug fests. However, due to this glaring weakness in his style, Steiner utilizes terrain, observation, battlefield tactics, and agility to close gaps quickly as to make sure that his opponent's can not take advantage of his style of fighting. All in all, Steiner's style does lean heavily on his combat knowledge, quick reflexes, and his ability to adapt, this in turn makes him a hard opponent to keep down and makes him semi-unpredictable in close combat engagements as his speed, even against those with powers, is almost abnormal in quantity.

Tactical Training and Observational Skills:

Steiner is not just a hack and slash swordsmen, but also a man who has a general understanding of tactics and how to employ them on a battlefield. This sort of tactical knowledge was acquired during some required reading from his time in the Vanguard, as most ground level troops needed to understand the basic combat tactics employed by the organization. Steiner took it a step further and studied more complex and complicated tactical formations that the Vanguard employed by consulting the more advanced archives in the Vanguard database. He became well versed in them during his time there, studying and training every day much as he had done on his own, but this time with a bit more direction in the methods to his training habits. After a bit of time spent researching the particular methods the vanguard employed, Steiner began to branch out by borrowing books from the library to hone his skills, so to speak.

After receiving his injury and exiting the Vanguard, Steiner's tactical training went into overdrive, and he began gobbling up information like a sponge absorbs water. Without his powers he knew he would have to focus a greater deal on tactics and how to utilize them in his powerless state. His time spent in bed, begrudging as it was, was mostly spent reading, and learning from some of the best tactical mind's journals and texts left behind from ages long past. The elderly lady helped him in this regard by going to several different libraries to gather books for him to read and also helped him hone his mind with games that required tactical thinking, such as chess, to help him hone his skills. Over time, Steiner began to grow more confident in his abilities as a tactician and eventually his skills for observation grew as a side effect to his expanded tactical knowledge.

After leaving the cottage after a few months of being bed-ridden, Steiner would add researching and developing new skills to his tactical repertoire as part of his training program. Though, Steiner is no where near a master tactician, he can put together plans on the fly thanks to his studies, and understand the value of fighting a certain way over another. In a world where everyone has powers and he has none, this way of thinking can lead to aiding in combat situations or in opening up escape routes to be exploited in moments of absolute necessity. Speaking of observational skills, Steiner has a keen eye that isn't totally natural, but rather forged through the studies he has undertaken to improve his combat abilities. He is capable of discerning ambush locations, at least basic ones, and can judge the possible locations of traps thanks to his observational skills that have been honed through study.

The observational skills can expand as well to one on one combat applications, such as reading feints, and countering aggressive combatants. Along with one on one applications, it can also help in multi-opponent combat, as he is capable of using maneuvers to dodge, parry, and counter from multiple angles thanks to improved observational skills and tactical knowledge.

Agility and Acrobatics:

The training that Steiner has undergone over the years has pushed Steiner's agility to extreme highs, making him a blur of movement to the normal every day humans, but to those with powers Steiner's speed may not be that impressive. Yet this is a speed that has been ingrained into him, he has worked for over a decade to get this fast, and it shows in how he moves with grace on the battlefield. He gained this speed through running and training his leg muscles, but more so than that by using different methods to hone not just leg speed, but overall body speed. Steiner's body is built very much like an Olympic runner's body, not a wasted muscle, and not an ounce of fat to slow him down, and this body was created through hard work. Steiner's own natural agility, however wasn't the only thing Steiner wanted to improve either, as recently Steiner has taken on acrobatics as a way to further enhance his combat abilities.

While Steiner may be a novice in acrobatics, his natural agility easily helps him make up for his lack of advanced training in acrobatics. He utilizes acrobatics in conjuncture with his impressive agility to take opponent's down with not only flurries of blows, but also with impressive, and unpredictable acrobatic feats. The feats extend to flips, rolls, and many different forms of mobility enhancement to catch his opponents off guard. Not only does he use these two in combination in combat, but also in motion so that he can easily scale difficult terrain and move through open spaces with ease. Combined with his understanding of tactics and his skill in swordplay, these four attributes create an impressive fighter that is quite skilled beyond his young years.

However, there are indeed flaws to be exploited. Agile fighters need room to operate in to take full advantage of their speed, the same can be said for those who perform acrobatics in combat. Steiner tends to avoid tight areas that can put him at a disadvantage while he fights, however if his back is forced against the wall, Steiner tries to make the most of it by relying on his agility and ability to dodge to get him out of harms way.


Undeniable Willpower:

Steiner's will is one thing in the world that will never break, once he has set his mind to something he will not relent until there is some form of resolution to what he is going toward. His willpower has been tested on multiple occasions and each and every single time, Steiner has rose to the occasion and shown great feats of will. Be it saving people in a park from a being with powers while he had none or climbing a mountain with barely any gear just so he could meet someone who could help him awaken his dormant powers, Steiner has shown impressive will to succeed. It is through his will alone that Steiner can survive situations that men and women in similar situations would die in or break from, this will lends into his heroic aspirations, and what allows him to keep pushing even when things are at their bleakest.

Even when Steiner's body is failing, his will kicks in, and forces him to stand bloody and battered due to this will that he has fostered through the traumatic events of his life. Steiner's never say die attitude is ingrained into him through his abuse and of course the conflicts he has been a part of over the years. The trauma he has received over the course of his lifetime would have either broken him or caused him to rise above, and as it has become apparent Steiner has rose above those conflicts to become a pretty damn good human. Along with his will not letting him give up, it is even harder for him to be controlled in a manner that he doesn't wish to be controlled in. This is due to his harsh upbringing and defiance in the face of it, he is used to individuals trying to manipulate him to get what they want, and his own will actively fights against this. Such is human nature to want to be free from control.

In essence, Steiner's will can not be shaken, and his resolve can not be broken by conventional means and it would take a great deal of focus on breaking Steiner's will to even shake it as Steiner is staunch in his beliefs and his own soul actively fights to keep him trudging along the path to his righteous pursuit of becoming a hero.