Ruairi Cromwell/Lore
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Ruairi is originally from Bellvué and was the only child of his family. When he was young, his parents worked for the Grand Library, and he appeared to have some sort of strained, distant relationship with them; he never got to know them personally as they were workaholics. Because his parents were almost always at the library, Ruairi would often be taken care of by an Eldritch caretaker. If he was lucky enough, said caretaker would take him to the library, where he would build up on initial knowledge of the world. He would also develop a desire to travel and get away from the confinements of his home, although any attempts to get out were quickly thwarted by his caretakers (and sometimes his parents, who would be greatly displeased of his actions).
At the age of 12, Ruairi would successfully sneak away from his home without either his caretaker knowing. In all of his visits to the Grand Library, he became increasingly curious of what was lurking beneath and wanted to investigate whether it could be the source of all of the building's structural issues. As further he went down, he saw the sight of an Eldritch beast that was feeding off the written words within the books stored in the Library, but it was struggling to do so. Terrified at the sight of it, Ruairi unintentionally awakened his Fire aspect, and it further drove him to be more terrified that it got out of control, resulting in a catastrophic fire that nearly burned down the Library. Ruairi's caretaker sacrificed themselves to get the young Kindred out of the flaming wreckage, but when he tried to look for his parents, they were nowhere to be found, and the heat of the flames was too much for the child to bear. Realizing that the fire was caused by his own abilities and the (assumed) deaths of his parents after trying to find them and failing in the process, Ruairi began to break down in tears, at least until a wandering mercenary by the name of Hyde, who arrived at the Library to pick up some books only to be greeted by a flaming wreckage. Feeling pity for the lost child, the mercenary took in the Kindred under her wing and they left Bellvué together. Shortly after that, Ruairi's parents were rescued from the fire, but as as soon as they woke up, they could not find their son. Refusing to believe that their son is dead, they set up missing posters across Bellvué. Some of these posters would eventually reach Eversun City, with the Civil Affairs Division keeping notes on the lost child at some point.
Under Hyde's care and guidance, the young Ruairi would grow up to become a fine mercenary like her, becoming trained in combat and survival. They would travel together while taking on the toughest of errands. Initially, Ruairi was distrustful of Hyde and was cynical due to his past life, but knew that he would not survive for long if he was on his own. For this reason, he would ask Hyde to teach him the art of combat and survival so that he can travel the world by himself should his mentor pass away.
During their trip to Umito, Hyde purchased a daisho for Ruairi, much like the one she carried. She would teach him how to use the weapon through training, sparring, and so on. While Hyde had a daisho herself, she dual wielded her blades while Ruairi preferred to switch blades mid-combat. Ruairi would often lose to his mentor in sparring duels, but that did not stop him from working on his swordsmanship. Additionally, Ruairi asked Hyde on how to use aspects, as he was never taught how to use his fire aspect but wanted to work on it, knowing well that he can't use it without losing control out of nowhere. Hyde rejected the idea and emphasised that pure, raw physical strength was far more important and powerful than any kind of aether aspect - at least to her that is. Because of this, Ruairi would try practice using his fire aspect while Hyde wasn't looking.
From their travels, Ruairi would learn that Hyde was a former sword dancer with the title of Empyrea, but switched to the life of a mercenary after losing her entire dancing troupe to a certain tragedy. Through Ruairi's relentless nagging, Hyde would teach him the art of sword dancing.
Unbeknownst to Ruairi, Hyde was slowly dying of Law corruption, as she was corrupted due to a certain incident. She believed that such corruption was not that much of a big deal at first, but she ended up facing the consequences as her body changed over time. However, instead of treating the corruption properly, she only trained herself to push the limits of her body to become stronger than before in the hopes of overcoming that corruption - which was fruitless in the end.
When Ruairi was 42, Hyde requested him to duel with her for the final time, knowing that she was on the brink of death - but even then she wanted to spend those last moments fighting for the thrill of it. During the match, Hyde managed to shatter the blade of Ruairi's odachi. However, Ruairi, at his wit's end, managed to manifest a fiery blade on the broken hilt with his fire aspect, ultimately besting Hyde after losing to her so many times. Seeing that the student has finally surpassed the master, Hyde would peacefully pass away of Law corruption at the age of 76 the next day, as she left her daisho and a note behind on a tree that was a little far from the field of their last duel and wandered there until she turned into a crystalline statue. Ruairi would make a makeshift grave beside the sea to honour her and "seek out a world beyond pain" according to her note, and name his daisho Empyrea after her title as a sword dancer. He would leave the odachi hilt broken so he could take advantage of it using his fire aspect.
Because of Hyde, Ruairi was a little more trustful and carefree, somewhat just like her but a little less. Still, a more brutal, merciless side of his was still prominent, but would only surface in emergency situations the more Ruairi lived on. While he was more approachable, he was still cautious and turned down any attempt at a friendship or relationship unless he liked that person in particular, which was extremelyrare. Heeding Hyde's last words, he tried to sought out the joys in life outside of grueling mercenary work, which took up most of his time. Things such as camping out in the wilderness were one of the few things that provided Ruairi solace and tranquility.
Ruairi would continue to perfect the use of his fire aspect and swordsmanship as he traveled the world and worked as a mercenary, gaining more knowledge and becoming stronger in the process. Since his victory over Hyde, Ruairi would seem to have his victory streak unbroken for nearly a century, besting even the most powerful of opponents whenever he was approached. He would also upgrade his weapon many times so that it was more in-tune with his fire aspect, and would integrate his fire powers into his swordsmanship, developing a combat style that was brutal, hard-hitting, and fast overall.
As decades passed, Ruairi's reputation as a powerful mercenary and swordsman would be spread across the world, and he went by the name of “the Brightsword.” His real name was never disclosed up until he joined the Guild. Those who were able to witness his combat capabilities would consider themselves lucky, and some were even brazen enough to challenge him to a duel, only to be bested in the process. Eventually, Ruairi's reputation attracted the attention of the Guild, with some members witnessing his prowess or just catching a glimpse of him. Kailan was one of those members, having witnessed him sparring against a powerful opponent in-person. They tried to reach out to him, only for the Kindred to disappear without a trace. Unbeknownst to the Guild, none of them have figured out that "the Brightsword" was in fact the child in the missing posters, possibly due to Ruairi never using his real name for most of his life.
At the age of 105, Ruairi returned to Bellvué, and seeing that there were missing posters of his younger self, he knew that something was wrong. After receiving word of what happened back then - from his mother dying to an unknown illness to his father dying of old age - Ruairi realized that they died without ever seeing their son come back and that he ignored the change to at least make amends with his family, Ruairi finally broke down, but knew he could not spend forever grieving like this, nor he could spend the rest of his life isolated from others. He stayed in Bellvué for much longer so he could at least come to terms with what happened, all while talking to those who knew of the situation back then. Even though he was known by his mercenary name, some of the inhabitants knew his real name based on his looks and comforted him, worried where he went instead of being more concerned that he caused the fire at the Grand Library, even though he was just a child back then. Perhaps Ruairi was relieved that the Grand Library has been rebuilt in his time away from home, but at this point, he couldn't call Bellvué home anymore.
Inspired and motivated from his recent travels and finally piquing some interest in the Guild after hearing about it for decades - especially when he heard of it from one of the inhabitants in Bellvué, Ruairi then traveled to Eversun - the final region that he didn't visit just yet. There, he met Kailan again; though they got off on a rocky start due to Ruairi's personality and Hyde's account of her relations with the Dragon, they soon became good friends, with Kailan bringing out the most positive traits of the mercenary - especially his golden retriever side. After getting to know more about him, they would help Ruairi in getting settled in Eversun and granting him a new lease in life as he was now interested in joining the Guild. He then enrolled into the necessary curriculum to become a Wayfarer himself.
At the age of 106, Ruairi would then join the Guild under the Wayfarer's Division, providing his expertise as a mercenary to those who needed it the most. Perhaps by revealing his true identity, it caused some commotion now that the child in the missing posters has been found and is the same legendary mercenary and swordman. As of 1230, he has served the Guild for 21 years at least. He would end up having his victory streak broken at some point, but he doesn't mind, as he anticipated that it would happen.