Espira Xirro

Espira Xirro "And so the blades fall."
Aliases None Age 17 (in Cult of Ustream) Gender Female Species Human Homeworld Phantasia
Domain Severing Soul Phantasms Laceroimpery, Hematoimpery (artificial)
Affiliations Cult of Ustream, [DATA EXPUNGED] Relatives Alzvier Xirro (father), Memory Xirro (mother), Sharra Xirro (sister), Raiye Torsce (cousin), [DATA EXPUNGED]

Espira Xirro is a highly-skilled mercenary from Phantasia, descending from an ancient bloodline of incredibly powerful spellcasters. She was originally assigned to eliminate the Diclonius Shadow Version 27 in her two primary Timelines, though ends up being defeated in both cases. She is the deuteragonist of the Oblivion Phantasy title, Forsaken Malign, though her exact role is only revealed in the second half of the story. She is fundamentally linked with Malice, though the exact nature of the connection is unknown.

In Cult of Ustream canon, she and Shadow were warped to Ustream, Euthora as a result of an extremely improbable anomaly with a portal in her homeworld. She was in critical condition before being resuscitated by Pricilla Starkey. Though initially cold, callous, and even hostile to the other members of the Cult, eventually some members have gained her respect.

Appearance

[PLACEHOLDER]

Personality

Although Espira's demeanor is generally cold and formal towards everyone, the invariability of the sharp, gelid exterior of her personality comes to an end to reveal a level of compassion for the sensitive subjects in her life... or even others'. Her hesitation is virtually zero when stating her opinions, as irrational as they might seem to be, and she also commits assassinations deftly and without regrets and empathy. Patience is only limited to a point, to where Espira will simply refuse to take anymore nonsense and will effectively begin displaying the hostile edges of her attitude. She is incredibly calculating, easily capable of shifting a situation to her advantage due to how quickly she processes this information.

Skills and Abilities

Magic

• Supplementary Magic: Being a Phantasian, she has a substantial grasp over the concept of magiology, and more particularly over a branch of it which involves the conjuring of weapons--or more specifically summoning them from a different dimension known as Materia in a process that could be called, by all rights, alchemic in nature. Other appliances to her magic include the incredible heightening of her overall perception, casting a veil of Mana that deviates light in order to conceal herself, changing the causal properties of her weapons, and so on.

Inherent Abilities

• Augmented Capabilities: Despite being a human being, Espira's physical and mental capabilities have been exponentially enhanced due to the specialized training she has underwent for almost her entire life. Factoring in brutal strength which might as well be called an inherent trait, she could acquire enough force to single-handedly break through or otherwise shatter extremely resilient materials, such as steel. Espira's perception is heavily tuned as well--her abilities to focus, predict, evade, attack, and counter are almost reflexive when in combat situations due to her brain processing these events far differently than normal.

Special Powers

Soul Phantasms

• Laceroimpery: [REDACTED UNTIL UNLOCKED]
• Hematoimpery: Stemming entirely from the Crimson Chain, Espira has shown to be experienced at manipulating blood itself as an offensive or defensive measure, limited however to the extent of her own body and the surroundings. There are truly no experimental bounds to this power as she has been able to solidify, liquefy and in one instance, vaporize blood; all while conserving a complete level of control under every state.

Domains

• Severing

Posseessions

• Crimson Chain: The Crimson Chain is a mysterious relic that has been optimized for immediate usage on Espira's combat attire. It is a quite lengthy chain with eternally crimson shackles apparently made of an unidentifiable metal, devoid of imperfections or damage that the passing of time might have inflicted on it. It is a weapon--but not in the sense it might be used physically, for it does not appear to have been created with that purpose in mind, but instead, it automatically imprints the Soul Phantasm of Hematoimpery (manipulation of blood) to the holder, set at a virtually boundless level of potential. The saturation of the chain's color depends on the quantity of blood it has drawn and stored from outside sources, and it also acquires an unnatural glow when it is triggered by Espira due to the usage of any elaborate technique relying on Hematoimpery.
• Obsidian Arsenal: Crafted entirely from a particularly unique of obsidian, the actual weapons can be freely conjured by Espira when needed, hence the fact she often appears to be completely weaponless; except, of course, in battle. The obsidian used has an astounding purity and, although lightweight, its unnaturally strong composition permits it to easily glide through flesh and metal. It is, in reality, called Gods' Obsidian, which is strengthened by an energy known as Faith. Available weapons include her signature "Obsidian Blade", which is a beautifully ornate sword engraved with symbols and appears to be the embodiment of Espira's fighting style. Though she has basic templates for them, in reality the system is much more complex and can be used to form practically anything, though Espira herself does not know this.

Combat

Overwhelming, Espira's offensive capabilities are exact and merciless, arguably the most brutal out of the entire Cult. She is highly calculating and versatile even under the stress of battle, reading actions in advance and developing countermeasures to quickly secure the killing blow. Although Espira is an assassin by profession, she is by no means a conventional one, as her strength lies in her capability of overpowering and outmaneuvering opponents in direct confrontation. While highly adept in close-quarters combat, her signature quality is her ability to summon an ample arsenal of obsidian weapons with minimal Mana usage, which can be used as devastating projectiles in conjunction with additional inputs of Mana. Her openers in a fight are generally focused in baiting and reading the opponent's exact capabilities, before switching to aggressive attacks that aim to exploit every possible opening whilst capitalizing on her strength and speed to maintain the upper hand.

Combining her fighting style, her heightened perception, her brutal strength, her amazing agility and ridiculous versatility, Espira's focus on physical combat makes fighting her by such means a nightmare if one is not properly prepared for what is to come. Without proper restrictive measures, she is potentially able to dramatically shift the outcomes of a particular scenario very quickly; and her agility allows her to evade with relative ease.

Despite the aforementioned factors, Espira is still a normal human being, which makes her definitely susceptible physically when compared to other Cultists.

Techniques

• Obsidian Gate: More specifically, it is the alchemic materialization of weapons crafted with God's Obsidian from an external dimension. Obsidian Gate is the hallmark Magic passed down by the Xirro bloodline since ancestral times, and has undergone massive modifications through the passing generations. It is an immensely complex Spell System that involves the arrangement of necessary materials, the structuring of the materials with a blueprint or template, and the nigh-instantaneous summoning of the resultant weapon through precise dimensional calculation. Her father, Alzvier, perfected this system for his own use, but then modified it even further and taught a simplified variant to Espira. Her Obsidian Gate is designed to require the absolute minimum parameters to function, and is thus several times more resourceful in Mana consumption. However, due to this, it is nowhere near as versatile as Alzvier's Obsidian Gate, and is thus inferior in absolute potential.
• Illusion Dash: Involves an extreme burst of speed that exceeds the visionary limit of onlookers, causing the motion to be simply registered as she leaving an afterimage which appears to blur out of existence. Espira herself appears nigh-instantly on the desired location with an inverted version of the optional illusion, stopping perfectly with infinitesimal inertia. The acceleration occurs immediately so there is no tell other than her positioning, and seeing through Illusion Dash is almost impossible under normal circumstances. The acceleration parameter is handled by a compressed spell with minimal Mana usage to maximize accuracy, while the motion itself is performed by Espira herself. As such, this technique can be used to move instantaneously even while in the air, but the absence of an initial impulse hinders the overall result and thus makes it far less efficient than using it in conjunction with actual physical movement.

Relationships

Even though she has been in the Cult of Ustream for nearly two months, she has a more or less neutral opinion of every other Cultist, but it can fluctuate just as easily for respect, to her, is something which is gained. Her friendship with Shadow is, although seeming like superficial care about the Diclonius at simple glances, a definite stronger bond among everyone else, as she will undoubtedly look out for him, and vice versa. Ziolang and Vale are notable mentions, as well, for after having fought both, Espira has come to actually regard them as worthy opponents, not just mere acquaintances. She also respects the Sky Serpent known as Starr, simply because of the fact she was the one who brought her back to life the day Shadow arrived to Ustream, Euthora.

Quotes

• "Listen, moron. And do listen well. Your brash move, as great of a heroic mockery it had been, could have resulted in collateral damage, and even several deaths. No, not just yours. You believe you hold a great knowledge of the subject, is that right? You would have screamed tragedy in the event your mate would have been... brutally massacred, yes. It was, after all, a tragedy I spared you from. Though most definitely not for you. You should be grateful she is alive. Now, it would be vastly beneficial for you if such idiocy were to be... restrained next time. Do not get in my way again." - Espira to Alexander "CrazE" Knight after a fight that put Pricilla Starkey's life at risk in Cult of Ustream