[hider=Samuel][center][h1][color=indianred]Samuel Safford[/color][/h1][/center][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9pnmgeE.jpg?1[/img]
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[color=indianred][b][u]Age[/u]:[/b][/color] 18

[color=indianred][b][u]Bio[/u]:[/b][/color] Samuel Safford - born June 21st, 3002 AIP - was born son of Isabella Safford and Arthur Safford, and fraternal twin-brother of Lyla Safford.

The Safford family was and is a predominantly working-class one, the twins' father being a professor at Marduk Academy for The Mystic Arts, which both the children now attend, and their mother having been a city politician. Despite their rather busy professions, both parents were very loving to Samuel and Lyla as they grew up, and made enough time between the two of them to afford plenty of quality time with their children. They had a cushioned life growing up - having two loving parents who earned enough income to support the four of them comfortably. Unfortunately, good things rarely last forever.

At the unripe age of twelve, the twins found themselves, along with their father, the victims of theft. The theft of their mother's life. In recent weeks before her death, Isabella Safford had gained significant ground on her political adversaries, surpassing the small gap between them and then creating her own, more substantial one, as she took the lead in the debates. However, some individuals had an inhumane greed for wealth and power - a greed that spurred them to perform sick deeds one could not hope to prepare for. A mere week before the end of the debates an organization known as The Blackbird, as expected by the public, assassinated Isabella in cold blood - in order to push their candidate into the lead. As you might expect, this effected the family tremendously.

As they began to grow older, they saw discernible change in their father. Soon enough, he was exhaustively overprotective of the twins - never wanting to take his eyes off of them. Likely out of a fear that he would lose them, too. However, he was not the only one who changed. The twins changed too. They grew closer, using each other as a mutual crutch. It was all they could do to cope. Not that you could say they'd coped.

For Samuel, it was difficult not to be mad. Really difficult. Difficult not to be mad at himself - mad at politics - mad at so many things. As he reached the latter half of the teen years, one could say that his anger consumed him. But, there was always only one thing that could pierce the all-enveloping, searing storm of fire that was his rage towards circumstance - and that one thing was Lyla.

During these later teen years, in which the twins attended Marduk academy, Lyla was the only spark of peace in his mind. She could calm him, comfort him - make him feel loved. And he would not let something like that be taken from him again. Now, Samuel is savagely protective of his sister, and performs exceedingly well at Marduk Academy - though requiring a bit of a tougher focus on technique than others, as his inherent anger issues tend to cloud his vision. But he takes the training, all in the hopes that he can repel anybody from harming him or his sister ever again. And maybe eventually.. get some sort of revenge.

[color=indianred][b][u]Mundane Skills[/u]:[/b][/color] MMA, Running, Rage-fueled determination.

[color=indianred][b][u]Magic[/u]:[/b][/color] Samuel's magic draws heavily from the Marduk Academy [i]Elemental[/i] specialization - especially Earth and Light based utilization. He bases his magical learning, for personal reasons, around a crystalline theme - using Earth magic to create crystals and shift the earth, and Light magic as support.

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[*][u][i]Earth Magic[/i][/u] - Samuel has great control over the Earth around him, using its tough exterior to batter his opponents into submission, or to protect himself while he takes that matter on with his bare knuckles. Not only does he utilize the many rocks and minerals of the planet's body, he fixates especially upon [i]crystals[/i]. While crystals are more fragile than rocks, they can be [i]much harder[/i], and as such, can deflect more powerful attacks if they possess substantial mass or are backed by something less brittle. He has never stated [i]why[/i] he fixates on crystals in his magic style, but his sister suspects it is because of a gift he still has from his mother which holds a crystal within.
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    [*][i]Earth Manipulation[/i] - Samuel can shift the dirt, rock, and minerals under his very feet, being able to move them at will to almost anywhere within his line of sight. He can wrench a wall of hard stone straight from the ground, extend a jagged pillar from the face of a concrete wall, or even punch straight through a cinder block with no harm to his hand, if he so wished.
    [*]Stoneskin - Samuel is able to shift a portion of his body into a variety of minerals(not exclusively stone). He can apply this to a portion roughly the size of his torso - and the changed portion will adopt all properties of the material, as well as gain significant strength, due to his muscles changing and having much greater solidity.
    [*]Overwhelming Pressure - This is seemingly the only magic that Samuel has no control over. Often having to tweak the pressures within a object in order to create crystals, manipulating pressure is something he is more than capable of - however, he has only learned to enhance pressure through the usage of the properties of the earth - and can't do so purposely outside of that. However, Samuel's rage is a vicious fuel that can unlock capabilities he may not be able to manipulate himself. When he becomes incoherently enraged, a wide area around him has its general level of pressure enhanced - harming both friend and foe alike. Those effected by this pressure will find themselves lightheaded, quite physically uncomfortable, and feeling a bit less in control of their own locomotion. Staying within the radius, which spans about [i]fifteen feet[/i], for a while longer will find those affected [i]unconscious[/i].
    [*]Crystalline Battery - Amongst the mineral mines exclusive to Iliad City lies a special crystal called [abbr=Magicite is a very unique crystal, and it makes no better sense for it to lie near Iliad. Since its excavation, this mineral has been discovered by scientists to be capable of holding magical energy. Upon further experiment it is discovered that, as all other known things would imply, it is NOT capable of creating this magical energy for itself and, rather, passively absorbs stray energies from its environment.
The greater the quantity of magical expenditure in its environment, the more rapidly the crystal absorbs energy - until it is completely saturated. Upon full saturation, the crystal begin to warp, bloat, or somehow squeeze out the energy, creating a substantially more powerful Piezoelectric Effect than has ever been recorded in any mineral - sending bursts of magically-fueled electricity out to strike their environment.]Magicite[/abbr]. Samuel, upon discovering this crystal in his studies, has taken a particular interest in it - and has come to use it to great effect in his learning at the Academy. He often can sprout these crystals from his skin(painfully) during battle, and use their passive absorption effect to slowly gain the upper hand - using the stored energy to persevere despite fatigue. Additionally, he can expend the stored energy to bring greater might to his other techniques, allowing him control over larger sections of earth or greater quantities of light. The extra magical energy could eventually allow him ease in even more techniques beyond Earth and Light, were he to study some in the future..
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[*][u][i]Light Magic[/i][/u] - Light Elemental magic is the more supportive side of Samuel's style, and is a small but important part of his learning. He chose Light magic due to its relationship with crystals - able of being modified or enhanced by the mineral.
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    [*][i]Flashbang[/i] - Samuel amasses a ball of light that explodes upon contact, showering everything within line of sight in blindingly sharp light, causing everyone effected to stagger for several moments before being able to recover their vision.
    [*][i]CrystaLight Lenses[/i] - Alongside a fine crystal lens, Samuel's Light magic is capable of granting him an array of sight spectrums, the most noteworthy being infrared, and several other functions. Alongside rarely-utilized magnification capabilities, it also provides him protection from his own flashbangs.
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[center][hider=Not Yet Learned]
Pressure Manipulation
Magnetism Manipulation
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[color=indianred][b][u]Personality[/u]:[/b][/color] Samuel is what one might call...volatile. He generally appears to be a somewhat reserved person - and one could surmise he is so because he generally does not hold much interest in others. Those who do happen to find themselves in his company would probably be right in calling him the [i]grumpy[/i] sort. Just a tad bit rough around the edges.

When it comes to matters of interests or hobbies, Samuel holds few. But the few he does hold are profound - those being his Magical studies as well as MMA(Mixed Martial Arts), naturally. While he does enjoy these things to a degree, he doesn't show that in the way other people do - he's more progress oriented. He expresses his interest in a hobby by working at it vigorously, and using his anger to make himself better at it. Which you may imagine, doesn't work for very many hobbies.

Despite his usual demeanor, there is - as aforementioned - a way to break through his shell. That way would be his sister. He has yet to find himself so consumed by anger that she has been unable to reach him, as he's always held a soft sport for Lyla - and even moreso in the past few years.

[color=indianred][b][u]Faction[/u]:[/b][/color] Marduk

[color=indianred][b][u]Are you a Descendant of the Illuminated Poet?[/u]:[/b][/color] No.
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