Seven of Third

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I've memorized every inch of a blade and an arrow. Yet, I can not even begin to understand the size of the world around me.

~ Seven of Third ~

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A Dark Experiment

Seven of Third has lived in a lab for as long as he can remember. Like some unfortunate children, he was orphaned in the Tenelean Empire at a very young age. And like many of these children, he was gathered to become part of a biogenetic experiment called Project Blood Wrought; a secret Tenelean effort to manufacture the perfect, organic soldier.
His earliest memories he still has is of him receiving injections that caused his body to undergo painful arcane mutations, mutations which developed into strange powers over shadow and fire over time. For his whole childhood, Seven did not know life outside of his lab aside from the stories and rumors he heard.
For two generations before him, Project Blood Wrought had been fully active, managed by his "father", Aldrich Asimov. He was generation III, and other test subjects like him were here living the same life, experiments meant to call each other "siblings". Of course, not all of them survived, for some died from a sickness known only by the lab as "The Wrought", in which the tissue of the body completely corrodes itself slowly, and thus the body literally begins to fall apart.
Thankfully, Seven never suffered the misfortune of developing that condition. However, the alternative life was not much better. For most of his early youth, Seven was kept isolated, only ever interacting with the observers who monitored Seven's growth and a variety of teachers who taught him weapon training, military strategy, and magic. The only times when Seven looked one of his siblings in the face was during dangerous contests to hone their skills, contests which sometimes resulted in death.
Seven remembered having at least nine siblings as part of his generation, but when he was twelve years old, his mind was invaded by his sister who'd developed telepathy, Five of Third. From her thoughts, he learned only four remained. Himself, her, One of Third (the oldest), and Nine of Third (the youngest).
In the later days, Seven heard remarks about this from some of his observers. The four of them had outlasted the risk of developing The Wrought, and the project had successfully culled the weaker subjects.
Hearing this news after Five's initial contact, Seven began to grow very lonely and concerned about the fate of his siblings he'd just been informed about. In his loneliness, he formed a raven wreathed in shadows and fire to give him both an eye and a friend to keep him company when Five wasn't in his head. He named this raven Corvid.
Seven did not know the full scope of Five's telepathic link, but it allowed him to connect and bond with the others over their shared experiences.

The Tenelean Incursors

However, this solitude in each other's minds didn't last for long, because when war broke out from the Tenelean Empire in 1,565, Aldrich Asimov and Elinor Asimov (their "mother") separated them out into the world for the first time. They were each dispersed to serve in different military unit, directed that they must prove their worth. This war would be their ultimate test.
Seven was sent to join a special unit known as the Tenelean Incursors. He did not know where One, Five, or Nine went, as shortly after they left the lab, Five's telepathic links ceased.
Seven knowns his father, mother, and the rest of the project have staked their careers and reputation on his success, so he is desperate to not disappoint them. However, in Aldrich's vision to make him the perfect weapon, and Elinor's design to make him the perfect race, Seven's true ideals remain confused and contradictory.
As a weapon, he intends to prove himself extraordinary; through his expertise of using an environment to his advantage, and his powers over darkness and flame. But as a man, he wonders what it is he dreams for.

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We are not creating war machines, we are creating the future, and many will die to build it. That is simply how it will and must be.

~ Elinor Asimov ~

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Year of Birth

1536 AC

Aligned Organization

Tenelea

Top Score

Aldrich Asimov sat at the nearby lab desk in his office, looking over page after page of numbers and reports. He couldn't remember the last time he'd looked at a clock, because these latest observations were some of the most fascinating ones he'd seen.
He was truly impressed by what he was seeing.
There was a knock on his door. Before Aldrich could respond, the stranger let themselves in. He turned to protest, but stopped when he saw his beautiful wife entering through the doorway. Her long black hair swayed down her back while she wore a long white coat like him.
"You intrude on my private affairs." Aldrich half-joked. He was met with a soft hand cupping the side of his cheek.
"I'm your wife," Elinor answered, "I am your private affairs."
"I suppose so." Aldrich's eyes glued back onto the papers he'd been reading previously. There was a tinge of excitement to them, which Elinor saw. Her hands moved to rest on his shoulders.
"It's almost time to mobilize our children, dear. The courts are growing restless with your uninvolved studies; they demand you choose your best to join a special new unit Hector is constructing."
Aldrich waved off that comment with a free hand. "Yes, yes, I know. Actually, I was in the middle of that just now. And I believe I have found the best choice for us."
Elinor leaned over him, beginning to look over the documents like he was. "Ah, yes, One has surpassed all his tests with breathtaking scores. I'm sure he'd be a fine choice-"
"No, not him."
Elinor blinked, taken aback. "Five then. We certainly have not seen another of our children with better weaving proficiency than her." But Aldrich shook his head again. "But, they're our two top performers, what is going on in that brain of yours?"
"Elinor, look at Seven's observations." She did so for a moment; his scores weren't nearly as great as the others.
"He was not even half as efficient as One was. I fail to see your point."
Aldrich sighed irritably that his wife was not seeing the bigger picture. "Look closer, dear wife."
She looked over Seven's reports two more times just to be safe. Then, she noticed something peculiar.
"His output is less than a quarter of what One and Five were using. What?"
Aldrich smiled. She finally saw the bigger picture. "Because, he wasn't using his strength to his full capability."
"Wait... if he'd exerted his full output, he'd have doubled One and Five's score combined!" Elinor calculated. Aldrich turned to look Elinor in the eyes for the first time since she entered the room.
"Exactly why Seven is the perfect choice. What better way to get full output out of him than by putting him in the hot seat?

I've always given it my all to impress my mother and father. Why are they disappointed with me, then?

~ One of Third