Rum

Biography

Mentor of souls and artificial bodies

Rum first matters to Saul as Sid's mentor and the senior most likely to avenge his death. Instead, Rum examines Saul's strange soul sensitivity, removes the vengeful influence around him, and offers to take him as a student. He accepts that Sid initiated the conflict and values Saul's aptitude more than a dead aide's claim. Rum then gives Saul a vivid lesson on locators and assigns him to Nick's soul-infusion work, turning a feared confrontation into access to the tower's most important body–soul research. (Chapters 69–77)

His laboratory treats artificial bodies as ongoing systems rather than finished transformations. Rum inspects apprentices carrying sealed souls, reinforces golden runes that keep a consciousness inside a vessel, and monitors emotional instability after infusion. He specializes in water and light, but his central concern is how energy, flesh, and soul can be joined without immediate collapse. Saul learns from the work while remaining wary of its coercion. Rum's willingness to recruit his former aide's killer shows a researcher who prizes rare talent, yet his dependent subjects also reveal how easily that pragmatism overrides personal autonomy. (Chapters 71–86, 95, 154–161, 231)

Resurrection conspiracy and vengeance on Gorsa

Rum later joins Gorsa's resurrection program, helping create composite bodies and contributing a material that reduces the Blue Water Soul's toxicity while strengthening the soul. The project brings him beside Kaz, Gudo, and Saul, but cooperation conceals old hatred. Rum believes Gorsa slaughtered his clan, while Gorsa insists he merely found the bodies and saved Rum. As the final resurrection approaches, Rum aligns with Anze and other mentors who intend to exploit Gorsa's vulnerable advancement, making his technical work part of a personal revenge plan. (Chapters 304–350, 387–422)

When the tower revolt begins, Rum compresses his enormous body into hardened armor, sacrifices two altered apprentices to complete the transformation, and becomes the rebels' principal attacker. He breaks Gorsa's barrier and continues charging despite being burned almost to charcoal, refusing retreat while Anze searches for an opening. Saul's stabilization of the tower lets Gorsa complete Third Rank, and the balance reverses. Gorsa's formation drains Rum, removes his head, and takes the remains as vessel material. Rum dies still trying to kill the man he holds responsible for his clan, with neither revenge nor institutional reform achieved. (Chapters 423–430)

Appearance and personality

Rum initially appears as an immense mound of flesh, far larger than an ordinarily obese man, with a body that spreads across his laboratory and thin arms nearly two meters long. Those arms have three joints and emphasize that his shape is an engineered magical condition rather than simple weight. During the revolt, the bulk compacts into dense plate-like armor around a muscular frame. Gorsa's draining formation later reduces him to a shriveled body before his head and remains are removed. (Chapters 71–74, 423–430)

He is blunt, observant, pragmatic, and capable of unexpected patience with talented students. Rum can set aside Sid's death, explain difficult soul theory through memorable demonstrations, and recognize Saul's potential without demanding immediate loyalty. Beneath that professional manner lies enduring hatred for Gorsa and a readiness to use altered apprentices as material. His final refusal to retreat combines formidable resolve with the same instrumental cruelty that defines the tower's resurrection system. (Chapters 69–77, 304–350, 423–430)

Abilities

• Soul infusion and vessel stabilization: Rum draws golden runes that restrain a soul inside an artificial body, evaluates compatibility, and repairs weakening seals. He understands the emotional instability and rejection produced by composite vessels and supervises apprentices whose bodies require continued adjustment. His work can prolong function but does not solve the deeper deterioration Saul later describes as rust. (Chapters 71–77, 95, 154–161, 304–350)

• Water and light magic: Rum is identified as a specialist in water and light. His light techniques create convincing sensory demonstrations and underpin a more advanced conversion of energy into matter. The latter can support both defense and attack, but maintaining it through prolonged combat consumes enormous power and cannot withstand Gorsa's completed Third Rank formation. (Chapters 69–74, 423–430)

• Armored body transformation: Rum can compress his stored mass into a hardened, muscular shell with exceptional resistance and physical force. He uses elongated limbs and altered apprentices as part of the transformation, breaks a major barrier, heals damage, and continues fighting after severe burning. The form is durable rather than invulnerable; coordinated exhaustion and magical draining strip away its stored material until nothing remains to sustain him. (Chapters 423–430)

Relationships

• Saul: Rum begins as the mentor Saul expects to seek revenge for Sid. Instead, he recognizes Saul's soul talent, offers mentorship, explains locators, and places him in soul-infusion research. Saul later works beside him on resurrection materials but opposes the revolt that Rum helps lead. Their relationship shifts from wary instruction to conflict because Saul protects Gorsa and the tower when Rum's revenge threatens both. (Chapters 69–77, 154–161, 304–350, 422–430)

• Sid: Sid is Rum's apprentice and trusted aide. Rum is displeased by his death but accepts the evidence that Sid attacked first, declining to pursue Saul once a more valuable research relationship becomes possible. This response reveals Rum's hierarchy of loyalties: personal subordinates matter, but rare soul aptitude and experimental opportunity matter more. (Chapters 69–75)

• Gorsa: Rum credits Gorsa with destroying his clan, while Gorsa claims he found the corpses and saved Rum. That unresolved history turns years of service into concealed vengeance. Rum attacks when Gorsa appears weakest, but the restored tower master drains and kills him, then studies his energy-made flesh as potential vessel material. (Chapters 387–430)

• Kaz and Anze: Rum and Kaz cooperate on the resurrection project until hidden allegiances break the mentor group apart. Rum joins Anze's assault while Kaz remains loyal to Gorsa. Anze supplies timing and tactical support, but their combined effort fails once Saul stabilizes the tower and Gorsa completes advancement. (Chapters 304–350, 419–430)