Hikari Ku (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shinjumonjigiri) wrote2023-08-15 05:44 pm
shinjumonjigiri) wrote2023-08-15 05:44 pm
CHARACTER INFO
Name: Hikari Ku
Age: 21
Job Class: Warrior
Profile:
Hikari is the younger prince of the kingdom of Ku, a desert nation known for its long history of ceaseless, bloody wars against other kingdoms. His compassion towards his people's suffering led him to be forcefully driven away by his power-hungry half-brother, and thus went on a journey to find his allies in hopes of setting his home to rights. And so he walks on, wishing to end all conflict and further bloodshed for the sake of a better, brighter future for his friends.
Personality & Other Traits:
The prince of Ku carries himself among his people and his friends with calm and level-headed demeanor, a strong sense of duty, a great sincerity and humility, and an even greater compassionate heart. His kind-heartedness is something that many people, including his friends who traveled with him, have always pointed out. And has shown time and time again that he has put the needs of friends first before himself. He was taught by his Mother that "Kindness is the virtue most worth pursuing.", and he takes these words to heart.
Hikari values friendship above all else, and believes that he grows in strength when among his friends. Something that he may have been inspired from the actions of his ancestor, the first ruler of Ku. It is also in his belief that his home nation would prosper if they were to make friends and allies that would grow and hold the same ideals as them rather than creating more adversaries leading to even further conflict and bloodshed. And despite his noble upbringing, Hikari does not see to discriminate his own people, and during his time being stationed as a lord of the town at the foot of the castle he instead treated them as equals — as friends — willing to eat by their side and spend his time among them regardless of social status. This makes him a rather sociable character which contrasts the serious and reserved appearance he constantly wears.
This display of compassion makes Hikari very considerate towards the feelings of others. A good example of this is when he found out that Osvald is concentrating on something the prince would instead stop the conversation and remain silent for his friend's sake. It's clear in some of the dialogue and some NPC descriptions in-game that Hikari tries his best to sympathize with his people, especially when he was given the role of the town's lord, and is willing to hear out their grievances in order to better understand them and find possible solutions to their problems.
The downside to his compassionate nature is the fact that he can be overly trusting to a fault, something that Hikari is aware and admits of. Sure he has a perceptive eye and is worldly-wise in situations, yet when among those he considers his friends he can be surprisingly naive. His relationship with Kazan is a pretty good example of that — he knows Kazan can be duplicitous, and had admitted to have felt being toyed around with, but never does he even suspect his plans to have any ulterior motives behind them.
He also has excellent leadership skills, which isn't surprising given his role and being expected to lead others. Hikari has the confidence in his swordplay as well as the charisma, being able to rouse his troops and intimidate his enemies whilst in battle. Many warriors who watch him fight find him a force to be reckoned with.
While he has the heart of a pacifist and would rather avoid conflict as much as possible, Hikari will not hesitate to draw his sword when there are no other options. And when Hikari says he won't hold back, he really means it. Being from a warmongering country has made him grown accustomed to fight for his and his friends' survival, only willing to strike down those who aim to oppose him. But he will spare his opponents if they have been severely weakened and have lost the will to fight back.
However, the young prince is born from Clan Ku who is notorious for their bloodlust. That he carries a dark, shadowy curse that runs through the clan for generations. This curse caused a second personality to form within Hikari — a Hikari who is far more aggressive and has a strong thirst to kill anything that comes across him, something that Hikari tries to suppress out of fear of hurting his friends. And from time to time, that dark voice tries to egg him on in hopes of making him be consumed by the shadow within him.
And yet despite being burdened with such a curse, the fact that he's able to resist its call since his childhood is a strong indicator of his immense willpower. The years of experience he gained from the wars he's made a part of, and the tragedies that befell not just on himself but towards the people he cared for only strengthened his resolve to set things right for his country. A number of people even noted his unwavering determination from just the look on his eyes.
In some of the in-game travel banter, Hikari has shared that he fond of reading and has a great interest in history, often reading war records to better understand past conflicts in hopes of visualizing a victory without spilling any more blood. He is also one to not back down from a challenge in a sparring match and can be competitive. Yet Hikari would prefer not to make himself compete against his friends, not even in a game of poker. It's even revealed that he has never picked his own clothes, and always worn royal vestments all his life having no single thought about his overall appearance nor the appearance of others.
History:
Please note that this large wall of text contains spoilers for Hikari's Path (from Chapters 2 to 5), Crossed Paths: The Dancer & Warrior, Journey for the Dawn, and the Epilogue in Octopath Traveler II. Read at your own risk!
Hikari's Path - Chapters 1 & 2
Born in the warring kingdom of Ku in the desert region of Hinoeuma, he is the son of King Jigo and his mistress — a commoner woman turned concubine named Kura, and the younger half-brother of Mugen. Not much is known about his childhood, but it's stated in-game that he was raised with love and care from Kura which helped build his character, as well as he was being taught how to read at an early age from the king's military adviser Kazan. He has expressed his vision of the nation's future of peace from time to time to Kazan, which led to the man putting the young prince to mock war councils staged by him to sharpen his mind. Somewhere along the way he was taught how to use a sword and trains with it diligently.
At the age of 13, Prince Hikari meets up with the siblings of Clan Mei who have arrived in Ku to swear their fealty to Clan Ku. He befriends them, and even trains with the two. He also befriends a young Ritsu Mishuyo after visiting the grave of Ritsu's father who was needlessly murdered by the hands of Ku's own soldiers.
Some time after the Mei siblings were called off to join in the war, Hikari was told to accompany his Mother who was in the castle town. It was there he and his Mother were ambushed by bandits, and she was immediately slain by them despite his attempts to protect her. Hikari's anguish and rage awakened the darkness inside him and took over his body, bringing forth another side of Hikari who found joy in killing after cutting down his Mother's murderers. He was then stopped by the older Mei sibling Jin Mei, and King Jigo covered up the incident as he puts the blame on a group of dissidents against Clan Ku, hiding the real truth. However, Hikari had no memories of what happened upon awakening... and instead gained a fear of a strange darkness within him, and since that day he constantly tries to fight the sinister voice that rings in his ears.
Five years later, an 18-year old Hikari joins his half-brother's military campaign as a military captain fighting against Sa, a nation south of Ku, in an effort to expand the kingdom's borders. He, Ritsu and the younger Mei sibling Rai Mei together cut through those opposing them. Though his army emerged victorious, Hikari however was haunted by the dying words of the enemy general — accused that his bloodline bears a terrible curse. Before they prepare for their next battle, King Jigo suddenly declares peace between nations putting an end to their war.
The kingdom of Ku experiences peace for three years. Much has changed within that time, one of them being Hikari as the appointed lord of Ku's castle town by his Father with the task of watching over them. In his time as their lord, Hikari made an effort to build a community of fellowship and made peace with the citizens, communing with them regardless of their social status and bringing happiness into their lives which earned their loyalty and respect towards him. It was then Hikari was called to meet his Father in secret, and revealed to the prince (much to his surprise) that he plans to abdicate and make Hikari his successor rather than Mugen, confident that Hikari would better lead Ku as their king. King Jigo reasons that Mugen has been plotting something behind his back and intends to act quickly for his succession to be secured. Though still in disbelief about the idea of being king, Hikari grows concerned over his half-brother's schemes and decides to investigate.
After buying the information needed, he heads over to the Crest of Heroes outside of the castle walls to meet up with a supposed arms dealer in hopes of putting a stop to his half-brother's plans. Unbeknownst to Hikari, it was a trap set by Mugen and was ambushed by his friend now made military captain — Ritsu Mishuyo. Though he manages to best Ritsu in a duel, his other half calls for Hikari to make the killing blow but resists and spares Ritsu. Part of Mugen's plan was to set the castle town ablaze, and Hikari rushes towards the burning city but finds that he was too late to save his friends, now perished by the fire.
Hikari confronts Mugen, only to find his half-brother and their Father slain by his hand. It's there that Hikari made his resolve, pledging to become king and put a stop to Mugen and end the cycle of bloodshed and tyranny that his clan brought upon Hinoeuma. Well aware that he's currently outmatched in strength, he swears to his half-brother that he would return to take back his nation. And with the help of his vassal Benkei, Hikari flees from his home and never looked back, swearing that the sacrifices made from that day will not be in vain.
In three days Hikari recuperates at Ryu, a trading post in Hinoeuma. Word has spread that Hikari was branded a traitor to Ku by his half-brother. Though dismayed, Hikari presses on, beginning his journey around Solistia in hopes of finding like-minded allies and fellow comrades-in-arms and take back the kingdom from Mugen's grip. He would soon meet seven fellow travelers from across the continent — Ochette a beastling hunter from Toto'haha, Castti Florenz a traveling apothecary with amnesia, a carefree cleric from Flamechurch named Temenos Mistral, a ragged scholar by the name of Osvald V. Vanstein, Partitio Yellowil an eccentric merchant from Oresrush, the bright-eyed dancer Agnea Bristarni of Cropdale, and Throné Anguis the thief from New Delsta — all of them having their individual journeys of their own, and accompany them on the road as well as supporting each other along the way.
His first stop was Montwise located in Solistia's Crestlands, following the trail of his old friend Kazan's whereabouts. And after looking around the city, Hikari finds himself in a hidden underground arena where patrons gather and gamble on the lives of gladiators who are forced into constant duels of death. Eventually Hikari reunites with Kazan, only to be unceremoniously pushed into the arena — forcing him to fight. After knocking his opponents down and emerging victorious, it's then Kazan reveals that before he could join his side he needed Hikari to become a gladiator and fight on his behalf in order to pay his debts. Though reluctant at first, Hikari agreed and goes through every challenge thrown at him in the arena, though found distaste in each one as most of his opponents are already wounded.
Despite his victories, spectators are disatisfied by all of his bouts concluding without any spilt blood. His duel against a gladiator named Zeto concluded as such, and they all urge the young prince to kill. This momentarily stirred his other half by taunting him to give in, but did not yield. His refusal to kill causes one of the other gladiators, Bandelam, to finish the job but was immediately stopped by Hikari as he protects Zeto from being executed on the spot. Bandelam took interest in Hikari and challenged him in the next battle. Kazan sees this a great opportunity to pay the debts he owe, but to Hikari's eyes he knew that Ku's greatest military adviser had not been telling the whole truth.
In Hikari's final match against Bandelam, both warriors are evenly matched but was eventually settled with Hikari's swordsmanship overwhelming his opponent. Kazan finally reveals that he had been plotting to take the arena for himself and free the gladiators from their gruesome fate. Grateful for the help, the gladiators swore to lend their blades for Hikari's cause, to which he agreed. With Kazan, the Eagle of Ku, by his side Hikari plans to find Rai Mei next. But before he could, he makes a detour to Wellgrove in the Leaflands upon the request of Kazan to stop a shipment of weapons being sent to Ku.
Crossed Paths: The Dancer & Warrior - Part I
Upon arriving in Ryu at night, Hikari and Agnea follow the sounds of a lute, which is a musical instrument well loved in the kingdom of Ku. The musician introduces herself as Yomi, a lutist who travels around the world playing songs for every occasion, every place, and every person. Both Hikari and Agnea request her to play a song, which she gladly accepts — for a price. After receiving her pay, Yomi instead asks for the two to come back tomorrow so she could have time to prepare.
The next evening, Yomi greets Hikari and Agnea wearing a new look and the finest clothes, to which the prince suspects was spent with the money they gave her. However Yomi could not play their request just yet, finding herself in a spot of trouble when one of the strings of her lute is frayed. Both the Hikari and Agnea help her out, getting the replacement needed to fix her lute. Yet again, she admits that she feels tonight is not the time to perform and asks the two once more to come back the next evening, to which a slightly exasperated Hikari did not find surprising to hear.
Another night rolls in, and the two find Yomi not in her usual spot, instead climbing up a hill to find her idling by. Yomi apologizes for the trouble and admits that she only did it to best see the view of the moon. To her it's the best stage to perform for the occasion and finally plays a song as they requested, making it worth the trouble. Agnea comments the melancholic tone to the melody, while Hikari on the other hand was reminded of Tsuki — his former attendant and friend of his who used to play the lute for him with the very same song Yomi just played. With her job done, Yomi takes her leave. Though as she does, Hikari watches sensing there's more to Yomi than meets the eye.
Hikari's Path - Chapters 3, 4 & 5
At Wellgrove, Hikari makes his way to a tavern to find the merchant named Azuma and get information about the secret trade. The merchant confirms this, mentioning all of that would be taking place deep within the forest away from prying eyes. Hikari makes his way to the forest to intercept, and is met with his late Father's general Rou and his old friend Ritsu accompanying him both in preparation of transporting the weaponry to Ku. When confronted with the general, both are locked in a showdown until Hikari's other half briefly takes control and severely injures Rou. But before his blade would cut through the general's life, Hikari once again surpresses his killing urge, and was then warned by Rou that sooner or later his own shadow would ultimately consume him before leaving.
Now with the weapons retrieved, he transferred them to Ryu to meet up with Kazan as promised (not before letting out a small complaint about being made a bandit.) In return, Kazan tells Hikari of finding his friend in Stormhail where Clan Mei is currently stationed. And once again, Hikari sets off to his next destination to meet up with Rai Mei.
Once there, he makes way towards Castle Mei where he is greeted by Rai Mei's vassal Kunzo... and denies Hikari's request for an audience with his friend. After a small scuffle Rai Mei makes her presence, but instead of welcoming Hikari she destroys the bridge where he currently stands and sends him falling towards his doom. Fortunately he finds himself alive and mostly unharmed yet imprisoned in the castle's dungeon, and was later told by Rai Mei that he would be executed the day after by the orders of Mugen. Yet despite her coldness, he remains determined to reason with her.
Not too long after, Kunzo approaches Hikari's cell to hear the prince's reassurance before setting him free. He pleads for Hikari to free Rai Mei from her fear of her now threatened clan's fate that binds her from joining his side, to which he takes to heart. Hikari faces Rai Mei once more only to be forced to fight yet again but defeats her. She then confesses the sins of Clan Mei towards Hikari — that they, and Jin Mei, were the ones who sent the bandits off to kill his Mother, and attempt to assassinate him as well. But Hikari was aware, and is even aware that it was done by Mugen's orders, therefore he does not blame her or her clan and all the lives that were lost (including that of Jin Mei's who was executed by Mugen due to his failure) were because of his own clan's cruelty. Ashamed by her own actions, that she would be willing to kill her own friend to protect her clan, she could not see herself walking by his side and pleads Hikari to kill her... only for Hikari to answer back, by putting his faith that she would come to Ku regardless.
Hikari then receives a letter from Kazan, writing to him that preparations for their upcoming battle is complete. With his friends found and at his back, Hikari readied himself as he returns to his homeland to find Kazan with a gathered up army consisting of the freed gladiators of Montwise, and the remaining citizens and warriors of Ku who kept loyal to Hikari and bravely volunteered to fight. He even reunites with his vassal Benkei, who managed to survive from Mugen's troops and was nursed back to health at a neighboring country.
Following Kazan's strategy, Hikari leads his army as they storm the front gates fighting only those who drew their swords opposing them. As they fought, they all make way towards the Bell of Dawn in the castle courtyard until they are surrounded by Mugen's troops. Unbeknownst to them, it was all a ploy for Hikari to draw in the enemy troops and sounded the bell for a hidden troop to make their surprise attack on them. To Hikari's surprise, it was Rai Mei and Clan Mei who made their appearance, pledging to their future king that they would fight by his side. His friends urged him to proceed into the castle, to which he did but is later stopped by Ritsu who now stands in his way of confronting Mugen.
Facing the inevitable, the two former friends fought until Hikari ultimately strikes him down with a fatal blow. And in his last breaths, Ritsu asks Hikari to change Ku for his younger sister's happiness.
Finally, Hikari reaches the throne room to find Mugen awaiting for his arrival and eager to settle their conflict for once. However, his half-brother finds himself overwhelmed by Hikari's newfound strength. Mugen then reveals the reason he wanted Hikari gone — that he bears the blood of light inherited from his Mother, who happens to be a descendant of a clan who once saved the world. Mugen finds Hikari's heritage and his compassionate nature to be a detriment and a threat to Clan Ku's ambitions who for generations had gained strength and power in their cursed blood.
Once again, his dark half makes his presence known with sinister intent, urging Hikari to take Mugen's head and prove his strength. However Hikari faces his other self in order to conquer the darkness within him and break the cursed cycle that Clan Ku had been trapped in. With the thought of his friends by his side, Hikari draws out his inner light and faces his fears — taking full control of his own self in triumphance. Mugen finds himself in disbelief over his younger brother conquering over his curse, but is not deterred as he takes the family heirloom — The Darkblood Blade — and engulfs himself in Shadow. However, Mugen was no longer himself as he is overtaken by the darkness itself, leaving Hikari to stop him.
With Mugen finally defeated and his mask broken off, Hikari looks upon his brother's face for the first time in many years and is struck by how much it has aged, to a point he appears as a corpse — believing that it was caused by their cursed blood. Kazan seeing that Hikari has taken down Mugen urges the prince to speak the good news to his comrades, calling a ceasefire and declaring their victory.
Several days pass, Hikari ascends to the throne as their Ku's new king, feeling the weight of his nation's history from the crown he wears on his head. As he greets his people as their king, he removes his crown and declares he comes to them as a friend, that his country will no longer have to pay for prosperity with blood, as well as setting free the nations his kingdom had laid claim over. Building a better home in the memory of their fallen comrades.
Some time after, Hikari seemed to have decided to accompany his fellow travelers despite his new role, and continued on his journey with them.
Crossed Paths: The Dancer & Warrior - Part II
In the newly liberated Ku, King Hikari and his friend Agnea visit the castle town and the latter spots paper lanterns hanging over the city streets. Hikari explains that the people of the castle town decided to decorate the streets with them to send off the departed, as they are shaped after the human soul, letting their spirits light their way. Benkei then approaches Hikari with a suggestion of holding a festival in commemoration of their victory over their final battle as per tradition, to which the young king refuses — seeing that his friends's wounds from the last war are still fresh and finds no cause for celebration. Agnea commends Hikari's kindness and instead suggests they hold a ritual of rememberance to wish happiness towards the departed, and Hikari agrees finding merit in this.
Benkei, Agnea and Hikari help each other out shortly after as they prepare for the festival, gathering the materials needed for it, and even requested Agnea to dance for the occasion. However, they seek someone who would play music for Agnea to dance to. As Hikari asks for suggestions, Benkei shares a rumor about the sounds of a lute being played in the Tranquil Grotto east of Ku. Hikari suspects it may be someone they knew, and both he and Agnea head off to investigate.
As they reach their destination, they eventually meet a familiar face — Yomi, the lutist they met in Ryu a long while ago. Yomi admits she had been waiting for Hikari and then reveals that she was in fact the twin sister of Tsuki, the friend that Hikari mentioned whose life was tragically taken by the hands of Clan Ku's cruelty. Filled with sorrow, she engages Hikari in a duel in hopes that it would abate her own suffering. Though their bout settled in Yomi's defeat, she sees the sincerity of Hikari's intentions and takes heart knowing that her sister was happy serving his family before her passing. Hikari then invites Yomi to perform at Ku with her lute, to send off her sister and many others. The festival is seen as a success as a huge crowd begins to gather around the castle courtyard to watch both Yomi and Agnea perform, in rememberance of those who have fallen.
Journey For The Dawn
In the game, this chapter's dialogue is dependent on the Traveler you've started with before the start of the game. Since I've started with Hikari in my playthrough, much of this chapter's viewpoint will be focused entirely on him.
Now that all eight travelers have reached the goals of their own personal journeys, they all start setting up camp at a clearing in the Southern Cropdale Trail to hold another nightly feast around the fire. Hikari accompanies Temenos as they patrol around to drive off any potential danger of monsters lurking about, and return to camp with fresh water in Temenos' hands. As night falls, they all gather around the fire and begin sharing their hopes and dreams for the future. Meanwhile, a sinister plot goes into motion as the sacred flames that are spread around Solistia are being doused one by one.
Hikari and his fellow travelers all suddenly wake up, and is surprised that they all share the same image of a black flame appearing in their dreams, and Temenos comments that he may have seen this image before. Partitio then pointed out everything is still dark out, where Castti finds it strange... knowing that it should be dawn by now. Both Hikari and Ochette sensed a dark, sinister presence around them. Quickly the travelers seem to realize that something's very off, seeing as the whole sky and their surroundings is pitch black and covered in eternal darkness which unsettles them. Immediately they are attacked by strange, shadowy monsters but fought them off.
Ochette and Castti admits that they've seen this before not knowing or understanding its nature. Osvald too, believing it to be the same kind of phenomenon that's known as the Shadow. Now faced with a new mystery, all eight travelers set off to find clues and seek the truth of the endless night, following the trail where a Shadow covers over. They would revisit locations — to temples with mysterious origins yet hold no importance to most common folk, only to find large murals broken down and the hidden sacred flame doused. Soon they learned that all of this was caused by the Moonshade Order, followers of the Wicked God Vide.
At the Tranquil Grotto in Hinoeuma, Hikari and Agnea would find a hidden torch at the very end of the grotto where a sacred flame once burned. Using the mirror that was entrusted to Temenos and Throné by the mysterious Alpates, it reflected the blue flame within the mirror and rekindled the sacred flame, lighting it up once again. It's also through the mirror that Hikari sees the sacred flame's memories, and was shocked to find out that his friend — Kazan (his true name being Oboro) — was the one who not only doused the flame and was part of the Moonshade Order, but was the mastermind behind the series of tragedies that befell onto his family, his friends, and his nation. All the death and suffering were done by Oboro's hand, toying with the people around him for his benefit. Shaken by this sudden revelation, he questions whether his friend's ideals had been different from his all this time and wishes to understand why he done all of this. What is clear to Hikari however is that Oboro must be stopped to prevent his plans of ending the world.
Once all the sacred flames had been rekindled, the eight travelers follow the trail of light from their torches and arrive at the island where the black flame in their dreams is located. Hikari then confronts Oboro where he asks the king of Ku whether the dawn is worth saving. Regardless of Hikari's answer, they were all too late and Oboro sacrifices himself to bring forth the wicked god Vide to their world. Knowing what's at stake, Hikari and the seven travelers all risk their lives to fight against Vide. And after a long and arduous struggle, they defeated the wicked god and put an end to their endless night — bringing forth a new dawn that lights the world.
Epilogue
The travelers then gather at the campsite in the Western Cropdale Trail for one last time, seeing that it's time that they travel in their own paths. After each of them parted and shared a heartfelt farewell to one another, Hikari decides to head back home to Ku where his people — his friends await.
At some later point in time, Agnea's new performance is set to take place in New Delsta's theater. Hikari arrives with his vassal Benkei at the eastern city commenting about its liveliness yet how he shouldn't be surprised about it. He then seeks to gather his fellow travelers and reunites with them one by one, until they enter the New Delsta Theater together watching Agnea on stage as she recalls about the journey she had with her friends and begins to perform with her new song — "Octopath Traveler".
Abilities
As a Warrior, Hikari has displayed a strong proficiency in the use of blades and spears thanks in part to the constant training he had since his childhood. He has a very keen eye in following others' movements which gives him the uncanny ability to replicate his opponent's techniques in one go. This is reflected in-game with the Learned Skills talent, exclusive only to Hikari.
Hikari also has the Latent Power: Shadow's Hold, where he draws out an almost inhuman strength from the Shadow that he bears within him thanks to the curse he inherited and use it to execute his more unique swordplay that swiftly takes down his foes. This however causes Hikari to lose control of his sense of self, where his other darker personality takes over momentarily and will appear to others as a man filled with bloodlust and killing intent. In many cases, Hikari would prefer not to let his own Shadow take hold of his entire being and constantly suppresses it as best as he could.
By the events of Chapter 5, he manages to conquer his Shadow by summoning his inner light radiating in his heart. This Latent Power is known as Light's Radiance and it replaces Shadow's Hold for the rest of the story. Its effect is pretty much similar gameplay-wise, but I take this as Hikari using his innate power he inherited from his mother (empowered by the power of friendship) shifts into a more focused state and execute his swordplay with more confidence.
In-game, Hikari can access to multiple secondary job classes which would unlock extra weapon proficiency such as bows, knives, axes and staves. Giving him job classes such as the scholar would even give him the ability to use magic. Translating all of this into RP however, it would just mean he has the potential to use other weaponry if found necessary to him. And while he doesn't have a strong magical proficiency, he does have the potential — as magic in the world of Solistia can be used by anyone provided they know the incantations that would draw its magic out from its elemental sources (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Dark and Light)
This also contains spoilers!
Other Notes
- In a journal note that's collected within the game, the author reveals about the source of Clan Ku's cursed lineage — where at some point in time, the clan had intermingled with the blood of the Archmage D'arqest, a notorious figure from Solistia's past who called forth monsters and attempt to corrupt humanity to pave the way for summoning Vide into their world.
- The blood of light that Mugen mentioned is in fact referring to a lineage of people who are descended from Aelfric the Flamebringer, one of the twelve gods in the Order of the Sacred Flame's pantheon. Another journal note makes mention of two different clans coming from the same lineage, so it's possible that Hikari's mother may have been a descendant as well. Further evidence can be seen in a travel banter between Hikari and Osvald where Hikari's mother and Osvald's wife (who is from the Lumina family known for being the Lineage of Light) have offered similar words of advice regarding resentment.
- With those two notes above in mind, that just makes Throné, Osvald's wife Rita and daughter Elena all of Hikari's distant relatives due to his dual heritage. Throné being the daughter of Claude who is the grandson of the Archmage D'arqest, while Rita is from the Lumina Family who bears the blood of light much like Kura.
- A travel banter in-game reveals that Hikari at his most drunk would behave in a more serious demeanor than usual.
- It doesn't bother him when he's given a nickname. Ochette would nickname him "Hikarin", while Throné would call him "Your Highness" ("Prince" in the Japanese dialogue) from time to time.
- In referring to himself (in Japanese) he generally uses 俺 [ore], but switches to 私 [watashi] only when confronting his parents.
- As a Beastling, Ochette has a very keen nose. And in a travel banter, she points out about Hikari's two distinct scents. She describes one being very warm, while the other is pungent and it came from deep inside swordsman. The latter may have been less noticable after the events of Chapter 5.
About Hinoeuma
The region is named after the conjurer goddess Hinoekagura, whose tales and legends survived and had been passed down amongst its people.
Locations
By far the largest kingdom in Hinoeuma, it was founded by its first king — Sharak, said to have bravely fought against a tyrannical nation that took hold over Solistia. Its city is fortified with castle walls and guards constantly patrolling through them. Ku has a reputation for being a warmongering kingdom, especially when under the rule of Clan Ku — known as the accursed clan who thrives on power and bloodlust.
What was once the mightiest nation in the western continent, the fortress city of Sai was once ruled by the forces of U until they were felled by the kingdom of Ku around 20 years ago, led by King Jigo. They were well-known for its advanced technical prowess in construction and fortification. Nowadays the city is a shell of its former self where it is now home to the poor and refugees from war, while its some of its former inhabitants had fled northward to either Timberain or Canalbrine and settled there.
Located near the borders of the Leaflands and the Harborlands, this small town serves as a trading post where local Hinoeuma peddlers gather information of the outside world from passing merchants. It is an ideal rest stop for travelers coming from and to neighboring regions.