Character
Tristan Softpaper
The Academy commoner—and the only student who knows how to fight
Son of Hugues Softpaper, a scarred mercenary, and Marie; older brother to young Chloé. His entire family sacrificed to send him to the Academy, and he carries that weight without complaint. Reaching the rank of second-class mage would give them all a different life.
He possesses a rare gift that predates his magical studies: he becomes invisible without using the established formula. He trains physically every morning, fights with shortsword and crossbow, and reads a room as his father taught him. Tristan was the one who realized that an unnaturally quiet estate had just been massacred.
In Vlad, he drank a Giant Form potion brewed during alchemy class, smashed through a wall, and carried his friends out on his shoulders. He sometimes wears his father's enchanted bracer, a gift from the Alidels.
Charlie says Tristan has a generous ambition: he will climb the mountain while helping his friend follow.