Reno

Reno is the Crimson Crane's poison specialist, herbal expert, and practical counterweight to the group's more direct fighters. He first meets Raze before recognizing him as the Dark Magus, then applies his unusual poison arts and a cursed pestle across successive wars in Pagna and Alterian.

Biography

A poison specialist meets the Dark Magus

Reno first intervenes when an auction guard grabs a disguised Raze Cromwell, separating them with controlled Qi and offering Raze entry as an apology. His interest sharpens when he recognizes the speed of Raze's extraction technique and receives one of the Dark Magus's pills to analyze. Reno uses his auction connections to help the stranger inspect artifacts, then accompanies him to gather rare flowers. Once the Crimson Crane realizes who Raze is, Reno accepts Alba's effort to recruit and work with the creator rather than resenting the valuable flower Raze takes. (Chapters 186–213)

Within the Crimson Crane, Reno insists that he is not a conventional alchemist: his expertise concerns poisons, medicines, herbs, and counteragents rather than the Qi-enhancing craft that made Raze famous. That distinction becomes operational during the academy conflict, when Raze judges that Reno could counteract a deadly concoction, and during the group's later confinement, when Reno urges Alba to keep her promise to Raze despite fear and uncertainty. His counsel makes him both technical support and a cautious voice inside the clan. (Chapters 194, 379, and 407–427)

Frontline support for the Crimson Crane

Reno joins the defense of Flendon against the Behemoth Clan, condemning attackers who endanger civilians and striking them with green visual Qi. He fights beside Kizer and Lily at the faction tournament, studies otherworlder and Alter information with the group, and watches the tactical effects of his companions' Dark Magus equipment. His role remains collaborative: he assesses threats, treats or advises allies, and enters close combat when poison expertise alone cannot hold the line. (Chapters 582–589, 684–721, and 758–925)

Cursed growth and the wars against Alter

Raze later creates Reno a cursed pestle that boosts the medicines and poisons made with it. If Reno stops producing the relevant mixtures, the accumulated enhancement rebounds into his body as personal power, so he sometimes deliberately pauses production and grows stronger. The same process may eventually overwhelm or kill him; the corpus presents that as a fear rather than a realized outcome. Reno continues using the item and joins the Crimson Crane's pursuit of the Deleter Kush, though Alba lands the decisive blow. (Chapters 1136 and 1157–1160)

Reno's clearest later victory comes against an enemy general whose body turns to mist. He spreads green, poison-laden Qi through the mist, reasons that the general still has vulnerable internal biology, and forces him back into human form coughing blood. In Alterian's final war, Reno bypasses armor by covering a mage's mouth and poisoning the unprotected inside of the body. He survives the campaign and returns to Flendon, where his weary complaint about Alba proposing another celebration is his final appearance. (Chapters 1216, 1723, and 1770)

Appearance and personality

Reno has a small frame, long hair streaked green, pale skin, and darkened pigmentation around his eyes and fingertips. Bags beneath his eyes and the unusual blackened skin reinforce the visual association with poisons, while his dark green Pagna clothing distinguishes him in his first meeting with Raze. (Chapter 186)

He is observant, courteous, cautious, and more willing than many Crimson Crane fighters to name a risk before charging into it. Reno notices Raze's extraction, worries about a suspicious death, tracks Alba's reluctance to use her curse, and asks direct questions when a plan seems incomplete. That caution does not become passivity: threats to civilians or allies repeatedly bring him into close-range battle. (Chapters 186–195, 427, 589, and 1158–1160)

Magic, cultivation, and abilities

Reno is a middle-stage Pagna warrior whose rare cultivation centers on poison arts. He channels green visual Qi through strikes or releases it across an area, combines martial attacks with toxins, recognizes herbs and medicines, and is considered a master at counteracting poisons. His methods can target respiratory and internal vulnerabilities that armor or an unusual external body protects, as shown against the mist general and armored Alterian mage. Exact recipes and the biological source of his toxins are not disclosed. (Chapters 194, 379, 589, 1216, and 1723)

The cursed pestle amplifies products he makes and converts accumulated enhancement into bodily power when he stops making them. This creates controlled progression—Reno sometimes abstains to receive a boost—but also an unresolved ceiling: the rebound could eventually exceed what his body can survive. The pestle strengthens his established poison-and-medicine craft; it is not the origin of that expertise, which predates his meeting with Raze. (Chapters 186–213 and 1136–1160)

Relationships

• Alba: Reno advises his clan leader, supports her promises to Raze, and monitors both her plans and the costs of her cursed weapon. Their trust lets him question her without abandoning her command.
• Raze Cromwell: Reno helps a disguised Raze at the auction before knowing his identity, later values his pills and research, and receives a cursed pestle from him.
• Tilon, Kizer, and Lily: They are recurring Crimson Crane battlefield partners whose different defensive and offensive specialties complement Reno's poison support.
• Cronker: Cronker's tracking helps the Crane pursue Kush while Reno contributes assessment and group combat rather than claiming the tracker or finishing blow as his own.

Items

• Cursed pestle: A Dark Magus creation used to make enhanced medicines and poisons. When Reno stops producing them, their accumulated boosted power rebounds into his body and increases his strength, with a feared risk of eventual overload. The corpus alternately calls it a pestle or mortar and provides no approved item page. (Chapters 1136 and 1159)