Nikola

Nikola Einstein is a C-Ranker and one of the twelve original members of the Order of the Griffin. A close-range Earth Magic specialist, he helps defend Whitebridge City from its Beast Tide and secretly assists the Order in preserving Lux after the Half-Elf stages his death.

Biography

Awakening and Leaf Village

Nikola observes Whitebridge’s Beast Tide after killing an Alpha Deimos Mammoth in under a minute, but immediately recognizes that the Lesser Demogorgon leading the horde exceeds what he can defeat alone. He nevertheless protects the city’s weapons with Elemental Shields and challenges the airborne Flying Tiger despite flight being a bad match for his land-based style. Once Orion forces the monster down, Nikola uses Earth Dragon Smash and a barrage of punches and earth spikes to destroy its wings and skull. He then gives the corpse and core to Lux, treating the fight as both defense of the city and a test of the Order’s new recruit. (Chapters 211–213)

Against the Lesser Demogorgon, Nikola orders weaker combatants away, knocks the creature out of the city with a rock hand, clears the walls with spikes, and tries a thirty-meter boulder. He knows Earth Magic cannot pierce the monster’s special defenses and admits that his realistic solo goal is a stalemate until a stronger comrade arrives. When Lux later appears to die, Nikola confirms the missing pulse, offers a royal burial, carries the body through the teleportation gate, and rebuffs Lucius’s interest. The solemn escort is part of the Order’s deception: Charles revives Lux in secret, after which Nikola delivers the Lesser Demogorgon core as their leader’s gift. (Chapters 214–217)

Heaven’s Gate and the continental wars

After Dunspear’s destruction, Nikola joins the Order’s assessment of the catastrophe and the danger posed by Memento Mori and Twilight Rain. Rather than treating the ruined city as an isolated monster attack, he participates in the security discussion surrounding the hidden guild and its possible access to forbidden power. This later role develops his earlier battlefield caution into strategic vigilance: the defender who accurately judged an Abyssal monster’s limits now helps the kingdom evaluate a covert organization whose methods can threaten entire cities. (Chapter 412)

Appearance and personality

Nikola is a middle-aged, bearded Dwarf standing under five feet tall. He is confident and playful enough to boast about his rank, call Lux “Rookie,” and bargain for a drink with a comrade, but his humor never obscures accurate threat assessment. He is generous with trophies, protective of civilians, and respectful toward apparent death. His willingness to admit that he needs help distinguishes confidence grounded in experience from recklessness. (Chapters 211–217)

Earth and close-combat abilities

Earth Magic

Nikola forms multiple Elemental Shields, launches Earth Spears and spikes, creates giant rock hands, and materializes a thirty-meter boulder. The magic is strongest when enemies are on or near the ground: flying targets can evade his projectiles and blunt his close-range advantage, while the Lesser Demogorgon cuts apart his boulder and resists ordinary elements. Earth spikes are especially effective for controlling terrain and disabling wings once an opponent has been grounded. (Chapters 212–215)

Buffed close combat and Earth Dragon Smash

By striking his fists together, Nikola activates personal buffs that raise his attack and defense to the next stage. Earth Dragon Smash then uses a short-range blink and a boulder-shattering punch to drive an Alpha Deimos target into a vast crater; follow-up punches and earth spikes keep it pinned until he crushes its skull. The technique requires the target to enter his strike range, so Orion’s grounding attack is essential against the Flying Tiger. Even with these abilities, Nikola cannot reliably kill a Lesser Demogorgon, whose defenses require Holy, Life, or Divine Magic and which previously escaped three cooperating C-Rankers. (Chapters 212–215)

Relationships

• Lux: Nikola tests and assists the Order’s new recruit, gives him valuable monster remains, and helps conceal his survival from Twilight Rain. (Chapters 211–217)
• Eiko: He witnesses Eiko’s grief during Lux’s false death and later delivers the Lesser Demogorgon core that catches her interest. (Chapters 216–217)
• Orion: Orion solves Nikola’s aerial disadvantage by forcing the Flying Tiger into Earth Dragon Smash’s range. (Chapter 212)
• Charles: Nikola brings Lux’s body to the Order so its leader can revive him and preserve the deception. (Chapters 216–217)

Items

• No generated inventory item is assigned to Nikola’s article.