Name: Nigel Cress
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Birthday: September 17
Personality: For a guy whose job is all about killing people, Nigel is surprisingly friendly and optimistic. He understands that sometimes people need to die, but it isn't as if he's some killing machine with no emotions. He can actually be swayed into not putting a bullet into one's head, assuming that the person doing the swaying is someone he trusts or respects, and not merely a man begging for his life. He isn't really the type to consider lives 'disposable' whether they be human or not, and actually pretty emotional, all things considered. Lastly, due to a side effect of his Origin, Nigel fancies himself a bit of a storyteller and likes to make records of events.
Appearance: His eyes are blue, by the wayBiography and Family History: The Cress family of magi is a rather old one. Though, despite the family's wide and varied history of magecraft, almost none of it matters since Nigel did not receive the family's Magic Crest. However, there is only one anecdote of notability: their participation in the Heaven's Feel of 1938, the Third Holy Grail War. Long story short, they ended up becoming pals with the von Einzberns after allying with them and survived the war.
Nigel himself was born in Cornwall as the latter of two twins. His juniority, compounded with his lack of inborn talent and odd Origin/Element combination made it quite obvious which of the twins was to get the Magic Crest. Despite this handicap, however, Nigel was still determined to study the craft, but due to his lack of a basic element, he was absolutely terribad at most of the family spells he could pick up from the library and eavesdropping on his brother's lessons. However, he noted that he was much better at using Runes, Bounded Fields, and Formalcraft rituals than anybody in his family. Unbeknownst to him, this was due to his Origin of "Composition".
Unlike the rest of his family, Nigel opted to join the Mage's Association, where he spent most of his teenage years learning Magecraft he could actually deal with. Unfortunately, he wasn't very well treated due to the status of the Rune and Formalcraft schools of Magecraft being looked down upon. Figuring that he had nothing left to lose in terms of reputation, he decided to join the Association's Enforcers. Quickly learning that he needed a way to equalize the skill gap between himself and many of the other Enforcers, Nigel decided to find inspiration in a rather odd place: Kiritsugu Emiya, the man known as the "Magus Killer". Sure, firearms were taboo within the Mage's Association, but hey, he was already looked down upon due to his profession and choice of Magecraft, so why the hell not equal things out a bit?
Eventually, after many, many Sealing Designate and Dead Apostle hunts, as well as many other events he doesn't wish to speak of, Nigel was contacted by the von Einzberns for participation in the same war his great grandmother had participated in. According to the von Einzberns, they had been watching his progress and examining his abilities once they had heard of him and the early reemergence of the Holy Grail, and wished to utilize his experience killing Magi to bring them victory in Heaven's Feel 5. They even offered to share the facilities of the Einzbern estate and provide a partner to share the burden of Master with. Naturally, the young man accepted.
However, Nigel has the sneaking suspicion that they just asked him because his brother denied their offer.
Magecraft:Origin: Composition
Elemental Affinity: Composition
Number of Magic Circuits: D+ (15)
Quality of Magic Circuits: D+ (15)
Composition of Magic Circuits: Normal
Magic Circuit Switch: The image of loading a break-action revolver.
Prana Tank: C+ (50~100)
As previously mentioned, Nigel is absurdly proficient at using Runes, Formalcraft, and Bounded Fields. If those schools weren't so looked down upon, he'd likely have been considered some kind of prodigy. Despite his preference for the written forms of Magecraft, Nigel
can use his Magic Circuits. Though it's mostly for Reinforcement and creating familiars using a variant form of Shikigami Exertion.
Mystic Codes and Equipment:Nigel possesses four Mystic Codes:
A pen with a sharpened back that takes in blood to facilitate usage of his Magecraft.A modified M40A3 bolt-action sniper rifle with a thermal and a regular scope, and a grip and tripod. Its main upgrade, however is the custom forged bolt that etches non-elemental Runes onto their bullets. The Runes in question infuse the bullets with Prana to deal more damage and punch through barriers. Additionally, Nigel can etch specific Runes into individual bullets for different effects.A Remington Spartan Sawn Off with a nearly identical effect to the above.An outfit with Runes on the limbs, hands, and feet to increase combat ability.In terms of mundane equipment, Nigel brought with him:
A load-bearing vest with six pouches that can contain three 10-round M40 magazines each, as well as a load-bearing belt.Colt M1911Combat KnifeAssortment of explosives'Communications array', which translates to cell phonesMini CCD camerasA metric crap ton of ammo for his weaponsNon-Magecraft Related Skills: CombatMarksmanshipKrav MagaUtilityStorytelling/WritingSpeed readingHolding his breathOratoryBrewing tea and mixing drinksRunningBallroom dancing, so he's told (much to his chagrin).Other: Nigel has taken the liberty of supplying his spare Mystic Code rifles to his partners.