Rayce

Early on in his joining of Augustia, Rayce was often seen as some sort of "divine being" for his strange ability. Many meant it as more of a joke, but when you brought it up with him, he would genuinely take the time to stand there and think about whether or not he's divine. It irked a lot of people, and eventually the crowd that formed around him slowly began to dwindle. I always try my best to give the lad some company, but I can see why a lot of others may struggle with him. Rayce is almost entirely focused on his sword and ability, to the point where it's rather troublesome to get him to even mention anything else. Because of that, our conversations get rather repetitive. That being said, I'm not too bothered by it. I hear enough complicated things everyday that Rayce is almost something of a breather.

His original perception certainly gave a spark to a lot of Augustia at the time. Many people, even the engineering and doctorial staff, were interested in Rayce due to his ability to essentially evaporate his sword when he needed to. His ethereal golden blade that he summoned dramatically out of his hand is a sight to behold, always will be, and his control over it was amazing. Since he could also choose when or not the blade was actually "active" and not in its ethereal light form, he could do all sorts of cool things like move through objects with the weapon. His sword work and footwork was also awe inspiring, as he showed off plenty of cool tricks you couldn't do normally.

Of course, Rayce himself is not realistically that powerful, at least in regards to his actual character. While he is certainly top five most skilled weapon users (if he ever tried) within the Augustia contract field, he punches in a much lower weight class due to his persistence on "fair" and "beautiful" fighting. His sword is incredibly powerful; it can cut through almost anything and is also entirely unbreakable. Yet he refuses to use it at its full power, because cutting through the enemy's weapon or shield and unarming them is "unfair." He'll even purposely stop attacking his opponent just to fling his sword through himself in its non-active state to show off, which means for a lot of the fight he's not actually fighting. If he were to ever try, he could create almost unimaginable attack patterns that would be fully impossible to predict. But instead, he settles for a showy, slow, yet mystifying dance routine mixed in with a couple sword slashes. And it's not like Rayce's sword brings any tactical benefit to anyone else either; he's the only one who can even hold it, let alone use its ability.

Before we all realized that the above mentions are the only way he fought, his fight with Frynn was actually seen as incredibly entertaining. Suddenly we had this very powerful man, someone with an ability that made challenging him a near impossible mind game and a sword that is nigh unstoppable, who would be up against someone who was formerly unbeatable, spare an all out fight with Shia. While it was technically unlikely for him to win due to Frynn's immense power and speed countering basically anything Rayce could do, a part of us all held out hope for some sort of miracle.

Instead, Rayce spun around for a bit before being knocked to the ground by a confused Frynn. I think a lot of people asked for their emotional refunds that day.

--- Ryan, tech support of Augustia.

The following is from a note which fell out of a shirt pocket of his, before he later shipped it off.

"Dear Father. I'm sorry for my disappearance as of late. Truth be told, I've found where I belong. You always wanted me to find my place in the world, right? Well... I did it. I've found people who will listen to me. I'll prove to them that I'm the son you always wanted. One who will fight fair until the end. One who will fight for others with the compassion of a savior and the flair of a hero.

I am... still keenly aware of my dispositions. It is hard for me to converse with those outside of things combat related. But I know that you could talk to anyone if you tried. And I will do the same. Until then, bear with me. I will show you off to them when I'm ready.

I... I love you. And I miss mom as always. Tell Rebecca that I miss her too. If I'm being honest, it's hard not having someone to clean up after me. And her cooking was amazing too compared to what I can do. But I can't stay in the house forever. I know that.

So. I know you're still waiting. And if I can do what I do best, it won't take much longer. I know I can be the son you always wanted. Give me... a few months. Then, maybe, you will see.

Thank you.

--- Rayce Vulderwick"

The other note found a few months later reads as such.

"Dear father. I am... sorry... for this. But I must ask you to delay your visit. We have all fallen on hard times, and it seems many are too disparaged to reach out to others. I... will do what I can to take people's minds off the world... but I am only one man. So please give me a few more months. They are good people, I promise. But a distant stranger is a hard friend to make. But rest assured, I will change their life for the better. I will do what I can to make them happy, even if I struggle to find a way to do so.

So... please. Let me stay a little longer. Another few months I all I need. I swear by the Vulderwick name. I will be the star that I set out to be.

Thank you.

--- Rayce Vulderwick"

Rayce is a sweet guy, really. He will seek out others who look down and try to talk to them, and if he fails he'll offer them something to get their minds off things. Sometimes it's a drink or a game, but it's clear he's out of his element when offering such. Most refuse the offer because of that. When that all fails, he'll ask them to spar. Often times that has just as little success, but it's heartwarming to see him trying.

It's easy to miss that side of him when you look at Rayce. His flamboyant nature, eloquent speech, and flowy movement all give the impression of someone who's gaudy or arrogant, and his insistence on sparring only seems to prove that notion right to others. But truly he's just looking for somewhere he fits in. Sadly, I don't think Augustia is that place. Many of our contracts are here either for means of income or reparations, and the more social contracts are much less initiated into the combat spectrum than he is.

Sometimes we'll eat lunch together. He's a sweet kid. He'll offer me some food if I look hungry. He'll try cheering me up if I look down. Hell, he'll even offer to help me with my jobs if he's got nothing else going on. One time while eating, he did open up to me about his past. He comes from a noble family from Westizia, an old fashioned city up north. His family is incredibly affluent, and they bestowed upon him his characteristic "fair" beliefs when it comes to combat. The problem is, he took too much interest in the sword as a kid and his family never bothered to train him in anything else because of it, and instead his four brothers and one sister took up the more world-oriented classes he missed out on. He's still linguistically advanced, and he has some knowledge of the outside world, but overall he's quite gullible and innocent about most things.

And yes, I am very aware of his crush on me. It's cute, really. Seeing him blush and act weary of me at times because of it is adorable. But ultimately, I am not someone he should tango with. Besides, I seem to be a fair bit older than him. I also do not seek any romantic companionship from someone who's only just recently seen the light of day from somewhere other than his stained glass castle ceilings.

--- Frynn, Head Security Officer of Augustia.