Toren

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Leveling History

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Toren

By Demonic Criminal

Aliases	Tor Miss Swordswoman Miss Warrior Nekhti
Species	Undead - Skeleton
Gender	Male (Alternate Female Personality since been removed)
Status	Active
Affiliation	Erin Solstice (Formerly) Healing Slime
Family	Pisces Jealnet (Creator / Father) Erin Solstice ("Mother") Healing Slime ("Younger Sibling")
Occupation	Bodyguard Barmaid Carer
Residence	The Wandering Inn (Formerly) Liscor's Dungeon (Formerly) Az’kerash's Castle ("Formerly")
First Appearance	Chapter 1.41 Chapter 1.32 (Archived)

Toren is an Undead Skeleton created by Pisces in order to aid Erin.

Appearance

Toren is a rather tall, taller than Erin at least, reanimated skeleton with yellow-white bones that was assembled from pieces of Human, Gnoll, and Drake corpses, resulting in a slightly mismatched appearance.

The flames in his eye sockets were originally blue, but after assimilating some of the magic in the [Terror] gemstone, the flames turned purple.

Attire

The attire Toren was last currently seen decked out in was with multiple armor relics from Az’Kerash’s vault. This however could have since changed since when having so many different magical items on one person causes them to explode (he was fine, just had to reassemble). Most likely is still wearing relics due to his new class. Before this however, he went briefly mad in Liscors Dungeon (City of Graves), and gained a more good and heroic female personality. This attire was more slim, a female figure, due to the bulges in the right place, and because of some curves that the now Female Toren had worked really hard to get right. She wore dirty clothing, ragged and tattered, wrapped and held in place with cloth fragments, gloves, a dark brown cloak, and a dark, black mask with a shiny and rough surface, that covers the face, leaving only two narrow slits for eyes.

Personality

Toren is a sapient skeleton. He was constructed to fight, protect, and "perform less optimal tasks," and was given the capacity to reason only as it related to those tasks. Initially, he lacked emotions, as well as a conscience, but over the course of the his life he has slowly evolved to become more and more self-aware.

Initially, his main priority was obeying Erin's orders, though as he developed he began to misconstrue them for his own gain. He enjoys battle, as it allows him to level up, but also loves music, much to his chagrin.

Due to Erin's increasingly frivolous and demeaning orders (more out of ignorance of Toren's intelligence and emerging sapience than anything else), Toren's desire for freedom has merged with his battle lust and with a general incomprehension of the value of sapient life. His behaviour is, as a consequence, erratic and unpredictable, though he prioritizes leveling over all else. Like a child, Toren does horrible acts and is, for the most part, unaware of how diabolic said actions are. These acts clash with a budding need for attention, even acknowledgement, and a desire for love (especially from Erin Solstice who he sees as his mother) that he rejects violently whenever it arises in him.

Toren had a penchant for killing anybody that tries to order him against his will.

Chronology

Volume One

Toren was created by Pisces, and was given to Erin in the hope that he would protect her. “Protect Erin Solstice. Obey her. Be used in less-optimal tasks.” were the words that shaped Toren's existence when Pisces created him. Instead of being used as a bodyguard, as Pisces intended, Erin used him as cheap labor (cleaning, hauling stuff, clearing snow) and as a barmaid, which often made Pisces feel miserable, whenever he was reminded of it.

Toren used to startle everyone on their first visit to Erin's inn, although most people accepted him as a more or less harmless minion of owned by Erin. Calruz tried to instruct Toren to become a better fighter, but ultimately found him pathetic. Shortly thereafter, Toren proved his worth during Skinner's Attack on Liscor, and leveled up as a [Warrior]. Each level up also increased his intellectual horizon, and he started to ponder on things that he hadn't cared about before.

Volume Two

He was part of Ryoka's and Erin's expedition into the Ruins of Liscor where he could battle more undead. When he blew up the First Wandering Inn, Erin told him to go away, and he did so, thus discovering the rift entrance into Liscor's Dungeon which was hidden under the snow.

Toren leveled up many times due to battling with various Corusdeer, and an adventurer groups' construct, which resulted in him evolving into a Skeleton Knight. After coming back from his training, he discovered that Erin employed Lyonette, which resulted in him worrying about his future as he feared he was being replaced. His relief at learning that his fears didn't become true didn't last long, as Erin told him to teach Lyon. Not only was she preventing him from continuing his training in order to become strong enough to protect Erin, she revealed herself to be a huge annoyance—resulting in Toren beating Lyonette badly enough that she threw up, several times. Lyonette complained to Erin, and although Erin thought she was lying about how much Toren was hurting her, she still ordered him to stop doing it. Toren decided to instead begin poking her until she did what he wanted, switching from his finger to a knife when it failed to elicit the desired result. Erin eventually ordered him to stop doing that, too, though again, she thought Lyonette was exaggerating. When Erin instructed him to bring Lyon out to gather resources, he took the opportunity to throw her into a nest of Shield Spiders, though as per Erin's orders he prevented them from actually hurting her.

As Toren continued to level, he realized that there was a direct correlation between his level in his class and his intelligence. To increase his level, he began massacring Corusdeer, something that drew the attention of many travelers in the area. Shortly before dissident members of the Silverfang tribe attacked the Inn, the gold-ranked adventuring team known as Griffon Hunt ran into him while he was fighting. Unsure whether he was a roaming undead or a construct that belonged to the city watch, they decided to attack and, if possible, capture him. While they were surprised by his resilience, especially after he managed to destroy one of Revi's constructs, they nonetheless managed to defeat him with ease.

Toren's growing sentience led to him becoming more and more frustrated with the kind of orders Erin gave him, which he characterized as "stupid." This culminated after Erin ordered him to act as a sled dog during an expedition to uncover new ingredients for her inn. She also ordered Toren to do most of the collecting. When he was ordered to raid a cave inhabited by Ashfire Bees, he managed to successfully acquire a large amount of honey and bees, but the bees reacted to this by lifting him hundreds of feet into the air, and then dropping him. Upon arriving back at the inn with her supplies, Erin decided that she wanted to go sliding down a nearby hill, so she instructed Toren to drag her sledge up the hill over and over again. When people in Liscor see what she's doing, and how much fun she's having, they come out to join her; Erin instructed Toren to ferry them up the hill as well.

The next day, shortly after waking up, Erin had Toren bring her out to the bee cave again. Once there, she instructed Toren to go back in and collect more bees and honey, which resulted in him being picked up and dropped in exactly the same way as last time. This, along with the sound of the bells on the reigns Erin had attached to him, and the fact that Erin subsequently fell asleep aboard the sledge, finally pushed him over the edge. Vowing never to be a slave again, and determining that the only way to make sure of that was to somehow get rid of Erin, he brought the sledge over a hundred miles north of Liscor, near Celum, and abandoned her there. Then he began to march back, towards Liscor's Dungeon, attacking and killing a number of travelers along the way.

After waking up and realizing what had happened, Erin was able to make her way to Celum, though she was attacked by a wolf pack and a grizzly bear before she got there.

Volume Three

Although Toren relished his freedom, at first he struggled to come up with a new purpose for himself. He didn't regret betraying Erin--he thought of her as a slaver who had been keeping him captive against his will--but at first he had difficulty coming up with new things to do. He spent several days using the corpses of travelers as bait to lure in and kill yet more travelers; his bodycount would eventually total over 20. Eventually, after drawing up a "would kill" list, and determining that his objective should be to grow strong enough to fight Griffon Hunt, he continued on the way to Esthelm. On the way there, he encountered a vanguard detachment of the Goblin Lord's army. The detachment's [Shaman] attempted to bind Toren to his will, much as he'd done with many other undead. Toren allowed the [Shaman] to bring him close, then murdered him. Unbeknownst to the [Skeleton Knight], this would cripple the vanguard's invasion of Esthelm, giving the defenders more time to prepare and preventing the invaders from utilizing the city's undead infestation as effectively as they'd planned to.

Once in Esthelm, Toren continued attacking anyone who looked strong enough to help him level up, including Ylawes Byres and members of the Redfang Goblin tribe who'd been sent to find and kill Erin. After being beaten up so many times that his ability to regenerate was in danger of breaking down, he retreated into the sewers, but there he was attacked by a ghoul who nearly succeeded in killing him. Out of desperation, he called out for help, first from anyone, and then from from Erin. This unlocked the [Command Lesser Undead] skill, which he used to order nearby zombies to slay the ghoul. He then used it to lead the undead infesting Esthelm against both the human survivors and the goblin lord's invading vanguard. While he succeeded in harassing both forces, the Redfang Tribe's elite warriors succeeded in defeating him long enough for his army of undead to lose their cohesion, allowing the humans to disperse it once the Goblin Lord's vanguard was routed. Furious, Toren attacked and mortally wounded an injured human-turned-ghoul he'd encountered before, but after witnessing the way her goblin friends reacted, he was unable to finish the job. He departed Esthelm for Liscor, deciding that there might be more to being alive than killing and leveling after all.

After some time, Pisces arrived in Celum, alongside the newly reformed Horns of Hammerad. Erin explained the details of how she'd ended up in Celum, and reported what she'd heard from Wesle about Toren's actions in the meantime. In turn, Pisces explained Toren's creation, and offered to sever the bond between her and Toren. Erin accepted, knowing that this would most likely kill him but also recognizing that he was too dangerous to be allowed to continue.

Volume Four

Severing the bond deprived Toren of the supply of mana that allowed him to regenerate from almost all damage, nearly killing him. Toren survived by ripping the mana from the undead under his command. Recognizing that there wasn't nearly enough ambient mana to sustain him above-ground, he decided to retreat into the Liscor Dungeon. On his way in, he encountered Mrsha, who he accidentally chased into a secondary above-ground entrance to the dungeon. She believed that he was attempting to kill her, but in reality he didn't care much one way or the other, and only wanted her to get out of the way.

After finding his way in and determining that the ambient mana there would be enough to sustain him, and even power a few resurrections, Toren fell into an existential crisis. He believed that his severed connection meant that Erin had died. Despite resenting Erin, and abandoning her in a very dangerous area, he hadn't believed she'd fail to make it back to safety. Even the sight of a party of adventurers doing his "favourite thing," killing, wasn't enough to rouse him. His failure to protect Erin, and his culpability in her apparent death, kept him locked in place for days. During this time he also used his newly discovered ability to detect and examine mana to consider his essential nature, and the ways in which he differed from other skeletons. The discovery of his ability to sense mana, which as far as he could tell he'd had all along without realizing it, also helped him realize that there were skills that weren't Skills. This meant that if he wanted to get better, leveling up on its own wasn't all he had to do. This called into question everything he'd thought and done in the past.

After finally getting over his depression somewhat, he went on to explore the dungeon, and killed various dungeon creatures. On one such exploration he came across a group of dead adventurers. He stole some of their equipment, and used it to dress himself up. He also padded his body in order to look more like a human female, like Erin. He considered the persona created by this outfit a separate person, and used female pronouns for herself while wearing it; this brought her a great deal of joy while she explored, and helped her to understand Erin and other humans a little better.

While wandering the dungeon, Toren encountered the Silver-Rank team Vuliel Drae, who he decided not to kill. Vuliel assumed him to be a mute female solo adventurer based on his appearance. They invited him to join them, and he did, mostly out of curiosity. Soon after, Vuliel Drae's [Rogue], Insill, missed a trap, but Toren saved him, earning him the gratitude and respect of the team. After a fight with leeches, Vuliel Drae became impressed with Toren's blade skill and [Mirage Cut]. The group was then attacked by a group of Cave Goblins and Raskghar. They almost overwhelmed Vuliel Drae, but Toren managed to save them. Toren learned the [Blade Dancer] class from Pekona, one of the adventurers in Vuliel's group, and shortly after parted ways with the adventurers. Once the adventurers shared their experience with others, and other teams encountered or were assisted by Toren, he became known as the Masked Adventurer.

Volume Six

After the Creler attack on The Wandering Inn, Toren confronted Erin and tried to kill her, though he relented and tried to kill himself. While everyone in Liscor was convinced of his death, Toren was secretly kidnapped by Ijvani and taken to Az’kerash.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities:

• Undead Physiology: Toren's undead nature gives him several advantages. He is inexhaustible and can run more than 100 miles in less than a day. He is also immune to some debilitating effects, such as the Mace of Howling's shrieks.
• Regeneration: Toren possesses the ability to reform his body once it has been destroyed. Mana is required to perform this act. Doing it too frequently in a short timeframe is too mana-consuming and will slow his body's reconstruction process. If no more mana is available, he will not be able to recover and will cease to exist. This ability was possible thanks to him having 4 of the bones of [Archmage] Nekhret within his body. After Az’kerash took them he lost this ability. However, Az’kerash embued Toren with [Limited Regeneration], which he then learned as a Skill. While he can still reform himself if shattered, it is much slower. If his bones are reduced to powder, they will no longer reform, forcing him to replace them with other new ones. If his skull is crushed, he may die.
• Mana Sense: Toren has the ability to sense ambient mana, and can accurately determine the magical power of different objects and people.
• Mana Manipulation: Toren can manipulate mana to some extent, though he cannot use this to cast Spells or perform magic. This lets him effortlessly 'steal' mana from undead put under his thrall through [Command Lesser Undead].
• Perfect Memory and Enhanced Learning: Toren is a very observant skeleton, and he learns very quickly due to his perfect memory.
• Omnilingual: Toren can read and understand any language or script, as long as what is being said means something.
• Autonomous Body Parts: Even when Toren's body parts are separated from him or he is completely dissembled, he can still remotely control the separated parts. After Az’kerash tinkered with Toren's body, he gained the ability to recall his body parts by having them hover just like a Dullahan’s.
• Body Disassemble and Reassemble: Toren can intentionally disassemble and reassemble himself at will, allowing him to "play dead" or hide from threats.

Classes/Levels:

One of Toren's main advantages over other undead is his ability to level, granted to him by Pisces upon his creation.

• [Relic Guardian] Lv. 33
  • Derived from [Skeleton Warrior] → [Skeleton Knight]
• [Barmaid] Lv. 3
• [Carer] Lv. ? (over 7)
• [Sword Dancer] Lv. 13
• [Tactician] Lv. 6
• [Undead Leader] Lv. 14
  • Derived from [Leader]

Skills:

• [Command Lesser Undead]
• [Conceal Presence]
• [Dangersense (Ward)]
• [Daring Charge]
• [Enriched Recipes]
• [Even Footing]
• [Hi-Jump]
• [Lesser Strength]
• [Limited Regeneration]
• [Limited Telepathy]
• [Mirage Cut]
  • Derived from [Power Strike]
• [Perfect Dodge]
• [Raise Corpse]
• [Sharpened Edge]
• [Shield Bash]
• [Sword Fighting – Basic]
• [Weapon Proficiency: Sword]
• [Weapon Proficiency: Shield]

Spells:

• [Fear]

(For Leveling History see Here)

Equipment

• Enchanted Sword - A Steel Longsword with a long forked rune etched onto the metal. It is enchanted with a weak durability and cutting enchantment.

Quirks and Anecdotes

• Toren's first task was to clean up the upper level of the Old Inn. He did so dutifully, taking the entire night. Erin scolded him for forgetting the ceilings, which she hadn't explicitly mentioned. Nevertheless, that day was the first time that Erin also told him he had done a good job - twice even. Toren really cherished all the instances when Erin lauded him for good jobs.
• Toren tried to impress Erin by catching fish from the stream and bringing the (badly hacked up) catch to her kitchen. Erin wasn't amused.
• Toren lost 18 games of chess in a row against Rags. As Erin found out about it, she tutored him a bit, but Toren remained a very bad chess player. Nevertheless, he gained the [Tactician] class for his efforts.
• Erin regularly made Toren help her, and often was angry at him since she didn't phrase her demands properly: He didn't stop pouring salt into the soup, he collected firewood from floorboards, and he obediently "gave her a hand." When she had him clear up the snow around the inn, he never stopped which created a veritable snow wall ten feet high. Her biggest mistake was probably when she sent Toren to collect firewood from trees, and when he couldn't fell Amentus trees, he went for Krakk wood.

Trivia

• Before Erin chose to name him Toren, she had thought of naming him Papyrus from Undertale, but chose not to because he wasn't cool enough for that name.
• Toren is the Dutch word for rook. Pirateaba stated that it would make sense for Erin to know the names of chess pieces in multiple languages. The name was suggested by a reader named Braidertom.
• Toren is described as "really creepy" by most people in the story.
• Although Toren was created less than a year ago, the combined age of his bones exceeds four hundred years.
• Toren has a killing list; on it are the Ashfire Bees, Lyon for being so annoying, and Ryoka for... having shinbones that are a tad too long. Erin's sleigh and bells are also included.
• Things Toren likes: killing, leveling, music.
• Pisces had used 4 bones of [Archmage] Nekhret to give Toren the ability to restore himself no matter how badly he might be broken. Those bones were what made him unique. The 4 bones are: the second-lowest left rib, the tibia of the right shinbone, the left clavicle and the fourth rib from the top on the right side.
• Toren used to enjoy killing things for no reason, but has gotten tired of doing so after 20651 kills.
• Similar to Ijvani, Toren believes himself to be the strongest skeleton in the world.
• As of Ch 7.14 T, Toren's female personality claimed a name of her own, Nekhti, which resembles the name of Nekhret, the [Archmage] whose bones Pisces used to make Toren: “Torena? I don’t like the name. My name should be different. More…separate. N…Nek..Nekhti. Close enough.”