Corin Cadence

Corin Cadence
Occupation	Student at Lorian Heights Academy
Species	Human
Continent	Kaldwyn
World	Venaya
Featured In	Arcane Ascension, Weapons and Wielders
Attunements:	Enchanter (Forehead) Arbiter (Hand) - Right Hand
Crystal Marks:	Transcendence Shrine Crystal : Transcendence (Left Hand)

Corin Cadence is the point of view character for the Arcane Ascension series of books.

Physical Description

Corin has wavy black hair and gray eyes like his sister Sera. He notes that both he and Sera are "Not as skinny as Marissa but in a good shape.".

Personality

Corin is very introverted and socially inept. He shows aversion to touch, which is implied to be due to his father's strict upbringing/abuse. He is very loyal and goes to great lengths to help his friends even thoughtlessly. He prefers the analytical approach to problems over violence, which can be seen in his preference of puzzle rooms over monster rooms inside the Serpent Spire. He also frequently states his absolute dislike of colored tile puzzles, which is a hidden reference to the author, who is color-blind. He seems to be asexual, but biromantic.

History

Early Life

Corin was born to Magnus Cadence and Laura Lyran and is the second son of the house of Cadence. He was very close with his brother and attended school with many of his friends like Sera and Patrick. This changed after Tristan's disappearance as his mother took Sera's family when she left and Corin's father started homeschooling him to prepare him for his Judgement. Magnus would hit Corin to the point of scarring in private. He and Corin are shown to have quite a poor relationship and many of Corin's emotional problems seem to be due to this.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic

In Sufficiently Advanced Magic Corin takes his Judgement. In the Judgement, he gains the Book Trials of Judgement which is what allowed him to communicate with The Voice of the Tower that is later revealed to be his brother Tristan Cadence. Corin also gains Enchanter attunement and frees Echion, Vera Corrington, and Keras Selyrian from prison cells within the Serpent Spire. Katashi attacks the group after the prison break clashing with Keras Selyrian while Vera and Corin escape with Echion. The Voice of the Tower asks Corin to tell Professor Orden what happened. Soon after, Corin is reacquainted with Sera Cadence, who Corin's father, Magnus, has just legitimized. While at school, Corin is reacquainted with Patrick Wayland and Roland Royce. At school he enchants various things for Jin Dalen (One of his romantic interests), befriends Marissa Callahan, and forms a apprentice-mentor relationship with Professor Orden and Professor Vellum. Additionally, he makes Patrick his retainer in order for Patrick to be able to ask Sera to the ball. Katashi later recognizes Corin during his attack on Beaufort. He tasks Corin with bringing Vera to the Serpent Spire to judge her for the kidnapping of his brother, Visage Tenjin. Corin heads to the tower with Jin Dalen, Sera Cadence, Professor Orden, Derek Hartigan, and Vera Corrington. Professor Orden betrays the group and it is revealed that Professor Orden and Tristan were involved with the kidnapping of Tenjin. Vera and Professor Orden are detained by Katashi for judgment. Jin escapes from the tower after Corin stops him from attacking Vera while aiming to save East Edria from a possible war that Vera's research on artificial attunements made possible. As thanks for successfully completing the mission of bringing Vera to the Spire, Katashi gives Corin an Arbiter attunement on his right hand.

Relations

Familial Relationships

Magnus Cadence

Father with whom he has an antagonistic relationship. Corin likens conversations with his father to duels in his mind, keeping track of the current power dynamic meticulously.

Laura Lyran

Mother he has not seen for at least four years.

Tristan Cadence

Older brother. Disappeared into the Serpent Tower during his Judgment. Presumed deceased. Corin remembers his brother as being self-sacrificing, 'lifting [Corin] up, even at his own expense'.

Sera Cadence

Younger sister through Magnus Cadence. It is hinted at by Thorn that Sera is actually Corin's twin.

Friends and Associates

Patrick Wayland

One of Corin's childhood friends, now his first retainer. An Elementalist and magical weapon enthusiast.

Marissa Callahan

Corin's friend, teammate, and frequent sparring partner.

Jin Dalen

A mysterious foreign student from East Edria with a Sunstone level Mesmer attunement. His family is sworn to House Dalen, the former ruling house of East Edria from the days before it was under Edrian rule. He was badly injured after fighting against Corin in the Serpent Spire, but escaped using Corin's return bell. They currently have a strained relationship.

Cecily Lambert

One of Corin's closest childhood companions. Corin was possibly supposed to become engaged to Cecily. She is now a partner in his enchanting endeavors.

Keras Selyrian

Mysterious foreign swordsman currently serving as Corin's bodyguard in order to get into the good graces of Katashi, the Visage of Valor. He has taken to training Corin and Mara in his fighting style.

Derek Hartigan

Heir to House Hartigan, an ancient noble house. Has an Emerald level Soulblade attunement. Corin, Sera, and their friends excluding Jin), spent the second half of the school year living at his place.

Elora Theas

Heir to House Theas, an ancient noble house. She's an Emerald level Summoner, Derek's former (current?) paramour, and has a contract with the God Phoenix. She's also heavily involved with the same conspiracy that as Tristan and Lyras, but her real goals are unknown.

Sheridan Theas

Elora Theas' sibling, and a follower of Wydd. Wields the restricted Necromancer attunement, but specializes in healing. Derek usually refers to them by the nickname "Deni”.

Vera Corrington

Tower explorer that Corin first encountered during his Judgment. HE broke her out of a cell, then she stabbed him in the back. Eventually, he found her and escorted her back to the tower, where she turned herself in to Katashi to help prevent collateral damage from some of her actions related to ambushing Tenjin, one of the visages.

Professors

Antonia Meltlake

Teaches "General Magic Theory" class, and test proctor. Climbs the Tiger Spire with Corin and his companions.

Lord Jonathan Teft

A Citrine level Shaper and Lord in Valia. In charge of Hydra Class. Teaches dueling.

Lyras Orden

A Wayfarer and Enchanter of unknown levels. In charge of Serpent Division and member of the Whispers, an organization that secretly serves the visages. Orden was involved with a conspiracy to kidnap the visage Tenjin, and she betrayed the team during a spire expedition in the middle of the first year.

Professor Vellum

An Enchanter and Abjurer of unknown level. Teaches classes on permanent enchantments. Served as Corin's mentor for most enchanting-related studies during the first year. She severely hurt herself rescuing Corin and other students from Mizuchi during the winter ball.

Magic

Some of the known magic and abilities available to Corin.

Attunements and Crystal Marks

Name	Location	Primary Mana	Secondary Mana	Tertiary Mana	Function
Arbiter	Hand	Transference	Life	Light	An Attunement that specialized in purifying mana and transferring it into others.
Enchanter	Head	Transference	Mental	Light	Enchanters can imbue items with mana to produce magical effects which differ based on the runes on the item.
Transcendence Mark	Hand	Transcendence	-	-	Allows for the use of Transcendence mana through a bond with the Transcendence Crystal.

Abilities

Enchanter Attunement

Corin is able to create permanent magic items. He is best known for making items that give him an advantage in combat against others, even to the point of "cheating". Enchanting works through embedding runes onto materials to create effects. Corin's Enchanter attunement is on his head which means he can cast spells with just mental concentration as long as the spells only effect himself. Corin has a shroud, a magical aura that slows down attacks, from his attunement.

Transference Mana

Transference mana helps Corin build up speed.

Transference Burst

Corin can convert the grey mana in his hand to transference mana. He then holds this for several seconds before releasing it creating a shockwave. He can also charge transference mana in his forehead to cause devastating headbutts.

Haste

Corin has demonstrated the ability to use transference mana to cast a Haste spell to increase his speed. He has trouble controlling his movements due to his lack of perception mana. Haste spells add extra force to every action but do not compensate for the extra speed resulting in long acclimation periods needed every time a higher level spell is used.

Mana Threads

Corin can create threads of mana that he can use to connect to items. Corin can sense and manipulate auras from items the threads connect to. Corin can recharge items through mana threads. Mana threads can serve as conduits for Corin's magic.

Shroud Manipulation

Corin can reshape his shrouds to his needs. He has demonstrated the ability to create daggers and swords from his shrouds. The shroud blades are a mix of grey and transference mana that cause anything that contacts the blade to be cut or deflected.

Transference Blasts

Corin can launch blasts of transference mana. Transference mana can be used to push things around. He can also release waves of transference mana. Corin can use these bursts to move himself by blasting himself in the direction he needs.

Blade Encircling

Corin can create a thin layer of transference mana that flows from his hand and encircles a sword he holds.

Aura Manipulation

Corin has the ability to link to an enchanted item's aura and manipulate it in various ways. He has used it to project the aura as a ranged attack.

Mass Haste

Corin casts the 'Mass Haste' spell verbally, releasing transference mana into the air as he casts it. This is a haste spell that effects him and his allies.

Mana Transfer

Corin can easily move mana from items to other items. He can also very quickly transfer mana from himself into an item because both of his attunements give him transference mana.

Mental Mana

Mental mana helps increase Corin's mental processing and his memory. The increasing amount of mental mana means Corin rarely misses when he uses ranged weapons or throws swords because his mental calculations are improving.

Compulsion Resistance

Corin can resist magical compulsions by converting his grey mana to mental and cycling through his mind.

Lesser Identify

'Lesser Identify' is a spell that creates auras around magical items. The auras can only be seen by Corin and they glow the colour that matches the mana type with the highest concentration.

Identify

'Identify' is an upgrade on the 'Lesser Identify' spell. This spell provides details about functions of items Corin uses the spell on.

Analyze Attunement Composition

'Analyze Attunement Composition' is spell that allows Corin to view and edit sub-glyphs. To Corin the sub-glyphs appear on paper sorted by what they do. For example the sub-glyphs relating to transference mana are sorted together. Corin is able to, briefly, enhance the level of an attunement by overwriting the safety functions.

Accelerated Computation

'Accelerated Computation' massively increases Corin's processing abilities. He uses this spell to calculate where to move in advance when he uses his Haste spell. He also uses it in combat to work out how long until he manages to strike or is struck. He also uses it to sort sub-glyphs faster when using 'Analyze Attunement Composition'.

Detect Aura

'Detect Aura' allows Corin to view the shroud of a person or the mana of items in his view. As his attunement level has increased, his ability to discern specifics with this spell has as well.

Analytical Arrow of Direction

'Analytical Arrow of Direction' shows the distance from a target Corin seeks.

Spirit Tracking Analytical Arrow

'Spirit Tracking Analytical Arrow' is a spirit based version of 'Analytical Arrow of Direction'. It creates a gleaming arrow in Corin's vision. This spell traces the spirit signature of whatever Corin uses as a focus.

Spessartine

Spessartine is an artificial attunement level created by Constantine. It is an intervening level between Sunstone and Citrine. Corin built this level into his Enchanter attunement. Corin can activate this level at will with the mentally activated command "Activate Spessartine". This grants Corin access to light mana. The Spessartine level lasts for 5 minutes after activation.

Light Mana

Corin can only access light mana when he activates Spessartine.

Lesser Light

Corin can cast the 'Lesser Light' spell which forms a sphere of light over his hand.

Radiance Mana

Tavare tries to teach Corin to form radiance mana. Radiance mana is a combination of light and transference.

Corkscrew Mana

Corin failed to produce the same type of mana that Tavare uses but instead formed a twisting corkscrew burst of light and transference. This corkscrew mana moves very quickly.

Shivering Shroud

A defesnive technique formed from the ice of Selys-Lyann and his twisting light, transference combination. It creates a brilliant frost in Corin's aura that can reflect attacks.

Peridot

A second artificial level made by Constantine. It is an interval level between Citrine and Emerald. Corin built this level into his Enchanter attunement.

Arbiter Attunement

The Arbiter attunement focuses on giving purified mana into others to increase, or replenish, their mana. The attunement purifies all of Corin's mana. This attunement gives him a second shroud.

Transference Mana

Transference mana helps Corin build up speed.

Transference Burst

Corin can convert the grey mana in his hand to transference mana. He then holds this for several seconds before releasing it creating a shockwave. He can also charge transference mana in his forehead to cause devastating headbutts.

Haste

Corin has demonstrated the ability to use transference mana to cast a Haste spell to increase his speed. He has trouble controlling his movements due to his lack of perception mana. Haste spells add extra force to every action but do not compensate for the extra speed resulting in long acclimation periods needed every time a higher level spell is used.

Mana Threads

Corin can create threads of mana that he can use to connect to items. Corin can sense and manipulate auras from items the threads connect to. Corin can recharge items through mana threads. Mana threads can serve as conduits for Corin's magic.

Shroud Manipulation

Corin can reshape his shrouds to his needs. He has demonstrated the ability to create daggers and swords from his shrouds. The shroud blades are a mix of grey and transference mana that cause anything that contacts the blade to be cut or deflected.

Transference Blasts

Corin can launch blasts of transference mana. Transference mana can be used to push things around. He can also release waves of transference mana. Corin can use these bursts to move himself by blasting himself in the direction he needs.

Blade Encircling

Corin can create a thin layer of transference mana that flows from his hand and encircles a sword he holds.

Aura Manipulation

Corin has the ability to link to an enchanted item's aura and manipulate it in various ways. He has used it to project the aura as a ranged attack.

Mass Haste

Corin casts the 'Mass Haste' spell verbally, releasing transference mana into the air as he casts it. This is a haste spell that effects him and his allies.

Mana Transfer

Corin can easily move mana from items to other items. He can also very quickly transfer mana from himself into an item because both of his attunements give him transference mana.

Life Mana

Corin is not a trained healer but he can use regeneration spells.

Lesser Regeneration

'Lesser Regeneration' is a basic spell that helps heal a bit faster.

Regeneration

Corin can cast a Sunstone level 'Regeneration' spell but it requires mana from both of his mana pools.

Magic Items

Selys-Lyann

The greatest, and most dangerous, of Corin's magical items, Selys Lyan is a sabre of unknown origin that has the ability to project ice in various ways, given to him by the Voice of the Tower. There is supposedly a curse on the sword that dooms the wielder to be betrayed by the one closest to them. The sword appears to be semi-sentient and responds to Corin's mental commands and desires. Corin later learns that a piece of the broken Sacred Sword Flowbreaker is contained within. Corin later makes a contract with the spirit residing within Selys-Lyann: Therin Thorn. This contract gives Corin access to spirit mana.

The Jaden Box

A container that can store anything that can fit within its mouth and summon it back. It differs from most storage items in that it can store and retrieve items individually, as opposed to the normal everything in the same space and retrieved all at once. Additionally, it can be used to summon an individual as long as it has a full charge and the summoning individual has something linked to the individual being summoned. This item was created by the legendary pre-attunement era sorceress Wrynn Jaden, whom Keras Selyrian summoned after the box had recharged fully. The Jaden Box was returned to Wrynn before she and Keras left.

Shield Sigil.

Phoenix Sigil.

Transference Sword

A sabre that Corin enchanted while he was forbidden to take Selys Lyann into tests or training. In place of the ice mana and abilities of Selys Lyan, the transference sword used transference mana to enhance its cutting ability or project cutting attacks at opponents. Corin gives it to a spirit during his trial with the Transcendence Crystal.

Demi Gauntlet

A small gauntlet that Corin enchants to act similarly to a dueling cane, but in addition to the normal gray mana, it can fire transference mana, granting it some more versatility in its use.

Mana Watch

Due to his crippling fear of overusing the mana in his mind, Corin creates the mana watch to show a person's current mana level over their normal capacity. He makes three of these, two of which he gives to the Theas siblings, and the third he eventually gives to Cecily Lambert to prove to himself he no longer needs it to move forward.

Notes

References: