Nate

Nate Snell is a martial artist whose desire to test and improve genuine fighting skill brings him into Quinn's circle. He becomes a trusted trainer and field leader in the Cursed faction, repeatedly placing his defensive strength between his companions and stronger enemies until Graham kills him in the final phase of the Dalki war. (Chapters 55, 604–607, 1194–1196, and 1563–1565)

Biography

Hardsteely and the Inter-Base Tournament

Nate enters the story as one of his academy's strongest second-years and as the Power Fighters player Hardsteely. Raised in a family that paired its hardening ability with martial-arts training, he treats combat as a craft: he studies opponents, seeks unfamiliar techniques, and deliberately prolongs his first match with Blood Evolver so that he can learn more from it. His metal-like defence defeats Quinn in that encounter, but Quinn's Hammer Strike proves that Nate's protection can be bypassed by an attack that transmits force internally. Rather than resent that success, Nate becomes fascinated by Quinn's rapid improvement and follows his matches in anticipation of a rematch. (Chapters 55–56, 61–62, 105–107, and 545)

At the Inter-Base Tournament, Nate is eager to face the Cursed Child because strength, not status, is what excites him. Quinn forfeits rather than risk evolving publicly, then reveals in private that he and Blood Evolver are the same person. Nate refuses to treat a restricted VR match as a meaningful victory when Quinn cannot use his shadow and Nate cannot use his soul weapon; he wants both of them at full strength. That insistence turns rivalry into mutual respect. His conduct away from the arena shows the same direct loyalty: when first-year students face retaliation for supporting the Night Demon, Nate places them under his protection. (Chapters 331–348 and 382)

The Crows and a Place in the Cursed Faction

After leaving military service, Nate rejects both family assistance and the prospect of disappearing among the talents of a major faction. He wants to build his own name and legacy, and chooses the medium-sized Crows with Sam, where the two can grow with some support but retain independence. Nate's open manner, strength, and honesty quickly earn him Rank B standing and real responsibility. When Quinn arrives, Nate protects his secret rather than exposing the connection between Blood Evolver and the Cursed Child; he also teaches Quinn's group how to awaken soul weapons, sharing the discipline that had helped him overcome stronger ability users. (Chapters 544–558)

Nate's ambition develops into responsibility for other fighters. He trains the Crows' main combat force and leads it beside Megan when the Sunshields attack, refusing to kill merely for the pleasure of fighting but promising no mercy to anyone trying to kill his friends. His students cannot overcome the attackers' greater numbers and firepower, yet his defence and field presence help them hold the centre until reinforcements and Quinn turn the battle. Later, during the expedition against Hilston, Nate uses his soul weapon on Hilston's arm and is struck down; Sam saves the mortally wounded Nate by performing the vampire blood ritual. Nate accepts the unwanted transformation without blaming his friend, reasoning that survival gives him the chance to continue improving and create the legacy he wanted. (Chapters 603–608, 680–683, and 799–800)

A Vampire of the Cursed Family

The transformation makes Nate a regular vampire and removes his access to his original hardening ability, a loss he treats as a new training problem rather than an excuse to withdraw. Quinn brings him into the Cursed family and teaches him shadow power. Although Nate cannot use Shadow Travel and a strong block can rapidly consume his MC cells, he learns to raise defensive walls, conceal movement, and reposition equipment through shadow. On the vampire world he volunteers for the team seeking Fex, protects the amnesiac Fex from a Bloodsucker, and remains willing to act despite knowing that the opponents around the Cursed family vastly exceed the strength of ordinary vampires. (Chapters 814, 823–826, 875–883, and 902–907)

Back on the Cursed ship, Nate becomes one of the faction's recognised leaders and trains fifty members to reinforce themselves with Qi. When the Chained invade, he sends noncombatants away, then combines vampire strength, Qi, blood hardening, and shadow against Burnie Sunshield. Nate can slow Burnie's flames and hold his punch only by exhausting his shadow reserve, and Burnie begins overpowering even his hardened hands; Layla transfers her own Qi into Nate, allowing him to break the grip until Dennis and the others complete the attack. The victory reinforces Nate's belief that the Cursed faction's strength comes from coordinated support rather than one champion. (Chapters 1194–1198)

The Demon-Tier Shield and the Dalki War

Nate continues to contribute as both fighter and teacher while the conflict escalates. He helps Layla work through the emotional barrier preventing her fourth form, listening without judgment even when their sessions resemble counselling more than martial practice. After Nate admits that his progress has stalled, Quinn entrusts him with a demon-tier shield whose defence and counterattack suit his protective role. Accepting it requires Nate to abandon his earlier prejudice against relying on beast weapons; he decides that disciplined use of help is compatible with improving himself. (Chapters 1265, 1269–1271, and 1310)

The shield lets Nate absorb incoming force and return it at twice the strength, but its output depends on the attack it receives and cannot defeat an enemy whose own strike is too weak to penetrate its defence. Nate compensates with timing and shadow manipulation, hiding the shield and restoring it directly into an attack's path. He helps defeat the demon-tier Dragon by catching its tail strike for Sil to redirect, then repeatedly shields allies from Graham. Graham eventually crushes the shield; Nate tries to escape, but Graham kills him before Erin can intervene. The loss devastates Sam and Quinn, who remember Nate not merely as a combatant but as a loyal friend who trained the faction without asking for anything in return. (Chapters 1533–1550 and 1561–1565)

Legacy among Quinn's Dead

Nate's death remains part of the measure by which Quinn understands the cost of his journey. Quinn considers naming his son after Nate but decides that Nate, Leo, and Arthur should each be remembered on their own terms. Much later, when Quinn is trapped among the dead connected to his past, Nate appears with other deceased Cursed faction members on the side that protects him, reaffirming the loyalty that defined his life. (Chapters 2069 and 2476)

Appearance and personality

Nate is introduced as a broad, large student with a square-shaped head and blocky hair; his hardening power gives his skin a metallic shine when active. Becoming a vampire smooths his features and hair, a change he greets with unabashed excitement. He is loud, emotionally transparent, competitive, and often comically preoccupied with women, but those traits coexist with patience toward learners and a refusal to judge friends for vulnerability. His confidence can become recklessness, yet his recurring instinct is to encourage weaker companions and put himself in front when someone needs protection. (Chapters 55, 218–219, 331, 549–558, 800, 947, and 1269)

Powers and abilities

Nate's fighting style is built on martial skill rather than raw ability output alone. His powers change substantially after his conversion, so his human hardening ability and soul weapon are distinct from the vampire, Qi, and shadow techniques he uses later. (Chapters 55, 682–683, 800–814, and 1194–1196)

Martial arts and combat judgment

Nate grows up learning his family's martial arts and becomes unusually adept at combining technique with his ability. He studies footwork and timing closely, learns numerous styles, and can predict the point of an incoming strike well enough to concentrate defence where it is needed. He also applies that knowledge as an instructor: he teaches soul-weapon visualisation, trains the Crows' hand-to-hand force, and later prepares Cursed members to reinforce themselves with Qi. His limitations are equally explicit—training cannot instantly compensate for inexperienced troops, and opponents with vastly greater speed, power, or durability can overwhelm even correct technique. (Chapters 55–56, 291, 545, 557–558, 604–607, and 1194–1195)

Hardening ability and soul weapon

As a human, Nate can turn his body into a metal-like material and redistribute it between areas. Concentrating the effect lets him defend a predicted impact without accepting the speed loss of full-body hardening; he can also extend the material into a pole, sword, or shield. The protection stops Quinn's blood swipes but not Hammer Strike's internal force, demonstrating that an undamaged surface does not make Nate immune to transmitted impact. (Chapters 55–56 and 606)

Nate's enhancement-type soul weapon amplifies that ability through contact: he can solidify a target or limb, making it stiff, heavy, and slow. He uses it to immobilise an opponent and to stop a Sand Ruler from manipulating the affected limb, but the technique consumes substantial energy and MC cells. He cannot use the hardening ability after becoming a vampire, and the corpus does not show him using this soul weapon after that change. (Chapters 291, 682–683, 799, and 814)

Vampire body, blood hardening, and Qi

The blood ritual performed by Sam converts Nate into a regular vampire, healing otherwise fatal injuries and granting the physical condition and senses of that class, while imposing a need for blood. Nate later learns blood hardening, which protects his hands during close combat, and uses Qi to reinforce his body and strikes. Qi can be depleted, however: holding Burnie's flame-enhanced punch uses all of Nate's own reserve, and the additional Qi Layla transfers into him is powerful enough to strain his body even while saving his hands. (Chapters 799–814 and 1194–1198)

Shadow power

As part of Quinn's Cursed family, Nate gains the shadow ability. He raises shadow as a barrier, spreads it across the ground to muffle a group's steps, and uses it to hide and redeploy the demon-tier shield during an exchange. Shadow defence spends MC cells in proportion to the pressure it absorbs: one Bloodsucker strike costs Nate enough energy for him to notice immediately, and suppressing Burnie's flames exhausts nearly all of his available shadow. Nate explicitly cannot perform Shadow Travel, marking a limit on his mastery. (Chapters 823, 883, 1196, 1542, and 1546)

Demon-tier shield

The demon-tier shield is equipment rather than an innate power. It raises Nate's defensive capabilities, absorbs force directed into it, and releases a blue counterattack at twice the received power. Nate learns to trigger it with his own punches, coordinate its release with allies, and use shadow to place it unexpectedly in an enemy's path. Its strength is not unlimited: it cannot generate an effective return from a weak impact against an exceptionally durable five-spike Dalki, Graham's power causes a jolt to reach Nate through it, and Graham ultimately destroys it by crushing the shield directly. (Chapters 1310, 1544, 1546, 1549, and 1561–1563)

Power progression

Relationships

• Quinn: Nate first regards Quinn as the elusive opponent capable of giving him a meaningful fight. Their rivalry becomes friendship and loyalty; Quinn trusts Nate as a trainer and defender, gives him the demon-tier shield, and remembers his death as the loss of someone who never let him down. (Chapters 55, 340–348, 1310, 1565, and 2476)
• Sam: Sam is Nate's long-standing best friend, intellectual counterweight, and frequent partner. Nate supports Sam when his ability growth stalls, while Sam saves Nate through the blood ritual and is devastated when Nate dies. (Chapters 55, 218–219, 799–800, and 1565)
• Layla: Layla and Nate become complementary fighters and training partners. She trusts him because he listens without judging her, later transfers Qi to keep Burnie from killing him, and fights beside him through the Dalki war. (Chapters 1195–1198, 1265–1269, and 1561–1563)
• Dennis: Dennis fights beside Nate in the Crows and Cursed faction, shares his near-fatal defeat by Hilston and conversion into a vampire, and repeatedly supports his defence in larger battles. (Chapters 603–608, 680–683, 799–814, and 1196)
• Fex: Nate treats Fex as both comrade and friendly competitor. After Fex loses his memories, Nate protects him instinctively and pushes him to keep fighting; they later cooperate in the final Dalki operations. (Chapters 883, 902–909, and 1533–1550)

Items

• Demon-tier shield: A gift from Quinn that absorbs force and releases twice that power as a counterattack. It becomes Nate's principal defensive equipment during the Dalki war and is destroyed by Graham immediately before Nate's death. (Chapters 1310, 1544–1549, and 1561–1563)