Characters of Arcane Ascension. Beware of spoilers.
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Protagonists
Corin Cadence
The main protagonist and youngest son of House Cadence.
- Brother–Sister Team: With Sera.
- Composite Character: He is, by the author's own admission, a combined Expy of Corwin Page, his character from the Cobalt Nightmares RPG and Rationalist!Harry from Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
- Enhanced Punch: His Arbiter attunement overlaps with his Enchanter attunement to boost his transference powers to the point where he's able to blast things with his hands.
- Hates Being Touched: Hates contact with other people, due to a trauma in his past.
- Jack of All Stats: In the second book he starts to learn basic healing and combat magic to make himself more versatile, since his attunements are primarily intended for non-combat uses that couldn't hope to stand up to a combat attunement in a fair fight.
- The Leader: Among his team, though it's shared equally with Sera. Corin is better at preparations, while Sera is better in social situations.
- Non-Action Guy: Something he fights against. His attunements are intended to be used in non-combat situations. But because of his upbringing he constantly tries to adapt them for fighting.
- Professor Guinea Pig: Often tries new Enchantments on himself. He nearly ends up blowing his hand off when he starts working on gauntlets.
- Pro-Human Transhuman: His ultimate goal, though he's aware of how silly and unobtainable it seems. Turns out it's his brother's goal, too.
- Science Hero: Loves to experiment with enchanting and invention. Perhaps too much. It ends up crippling Sera in the first book and him nearly flunking out of his Enchanting class in the second book.
- Square Race, Round Class: As an Enchanter, is expected to be weak in a fight. However, he was the heir of a House known for combat so is able to hold his own in a fight and is the second-best among his friends in melee combat.
- The Smart Guy: Though all members of his clique are highly intelligent, Corin is simply the most inquisitive of them.
- The Un Favourite: His father already looked down on him because he wasn't his brother. After he gets an attunement that isn't combat-ready, he's more or less disowned.
- Training from Hell: Went through combat training since he was old enough to stand on two feet.
Sera Shard Cadence
Illegitimate daughter of Magnus Cadence and Corin's half-sister. She as formerly recognized to become a potential scion of the house.
- Broken Pedestal: She loses all respect for their father when she discovers the extent of his abuse of Corin.
- Brother–Sister Team: With Corin.
- Deadly Upgrade: During an expedition to the Serpent Spire Corin's attunement potion gives her one allowing her to summon Seiryuu, but it scars her lungs leaving her mute and powerless for several months.
- Fusion Dance: After she recovers from her scarring she finds that her Summoner attunement ascended into Invoker, allowing her to fuse with her summoned monsters.
- The Leader: Among her team, though it's shared equally with Corin. Corin is better at preparations, while Sera is better in social situations.
- The Social Expert: In stark contrast to her brothers.
- Supporting Leader: Whenever the leadership role shifts to her.
Marissa "Mara" Callahan
Attunement(s): Guardian (Heart)
Common-born attuned who was sent to the Tower for Judgement after her farmer parents saved up for years.
- The Ace: By far the most powerful student in her clique and one of the only named characters that gets to live in the honor student dorms.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Her fighting style is almost exclusively unarmed, though magically augmented in many circumstances.
- Mundane Utility: Her goal at the end of her first year in which she was at top of her class in combat and power was simply to graduate and then return home where she'd use her immense super strength to help with chores.
Patrick Wayland
Attunement(s): Elementalist
Childhood friend of Corin and Sera and retainer to House Cadence.
- Elemental Powers: As an elementalist, he has access to fire and air mana, which can be combined into electricity.
Jin Dalen
Attunement(s): Mesmer
The mysterious foreign-exchange student.
- Foreign Exchange Student: He's from a foreign country, which is rare. Not only is he more powerful than anyone else because his country lets children take the Judgment two years earlier, but he tries to assassinate Orden when her actions to empower her own country will endanger his. He's not a spy, but he is a patriot.
- Perception Filter: His attunement, Mesmer, causes people around him to forget his presence or perceive him as merely part of the scenery.
House Cadence
Magnus Cadence
Attunement(s): Shaper
Father of Tristan, Corin, and Sera. A master duelist who insists on his children becoming stronger.
- Abusive Parents: Both physical and emotional. He constantly talks down to Corin, calling his attunement worthless and weak, refused to acknowledge Sera as his daughter until she seemed more useful than Corin, and repeatedly beat Corin under the guise of training.
Tristan Cadence
Attunement(s): Sovereign
Corin's older brother, who went missing when he took his Judgment five years ago. Corin wants to find him, and even ask the Goddess to resurrect him if necessary.
- Big Brother Worship: Corin dedicated his life to finding him, no matter the cost. He becomes a bit disillusioned when he realizes that Tristan didn't contact him for five years when he could have. While Tristan has a good explanation for that, his dismissal of Magnus' abuse of Corin is less justified.
University Staff
Professor Vellum
Attunement(s): Enchanter
The Enchanter teacher, and one of Corin's best allies among the staff.
- Stern Teacher: Vellum never hesitates to point out Corin's many many mistakes. However, it's clear she is genuinely trying to make him a better enchanter. Considering that one of the times he enchanted something without getting advice from her first, it exploded, it's clear that she has a point.
Jonathan Teft
The combat teacher.
- Combat Pragmatist: He's a strong proponent of doing whatever you can to win a fight. Because of this, he often lets Corin get away with things that would be considered cheating most of the time; as far as he's concerned, sneaking in the night before to change the runes of the arena is just good strategy.
- Me's a Crowd: He is fond of using simulacrums, independent magical copies of himself.
- Stern Teacher: Like Vellum, he believes that the best way to prepare his students for the real world is to screw them over as much as possible. He aims for realism in his tests, and the best way to pass is to demonstrate that you are treating them as real.
Professor Meltlake
Attunement(s): Elementalist
One of the magic teachers, and one of the most powerful people in the country.
- Playing with Fire: Unlike most elementalists, who tend to prefer lightning, she uses fire almost exclusively.
- Red Baron: She vaporized an entire lake. She uses "Meltlake" instead of her family name, apparently due to a falling out.
Other Students
Cecily Lambert
Attunement(s): Enchanter
Corin's childhood friend. She is part of the reason that he hates being touched.
- Childhood Friend Romance: When they were growing up, Corin assumed that he would marry Cecily while Tristan married her older sister. Tristan's disappearance in the Spire derailed that plan.
Other People
Keras Selyrian
Attunement(s): None
An impossibly powerful man from another continent.
- Ambiguously Human: A summoned monster is terrified of him, and bids everyone to run the moment they see him. Keras himself admits he's not human, but says he didn't realize it until he was an adult.
- The Mentor: He proves a surprisingly good teacher for Corin. Most adults keep warning Corin off from doing anything reckless to enhance his power and tell him to just stick with traditional methods. Keras tells him to be careful, but is happy to help with all those reckless things, and helps him develop a unique fighting style that will fit Corin's own abilities.
