Ove

Biodata

Background / History

Ove spent much of his centuries-long life studying and researching, with force and lightning as his principal specialties. He visited numerous planes and encountered many races, but had barely interacted with others for roughly a century before meeting Lin Ke. He maintained a Personal Plane where he could retreat into seclusion 23 28 29 46.

Despite his extensive research, Ove had been unable to advance for a long time and remained at level nineteen, below the level twenty-one threshold associated with Heavenly-Tier Legends. He doubted whether someone of his level was qualified to teach a student as talented as Lin Ke 26 28.

Ove was a good friend of Garros, who paid him to teach the children at Azan Castle. His association with the Materialist School did not require formal faction membership: he regarded it as a circle of shared interests and was unwilling to join a faction to obtain restricted class knowledge 25 40 42.

Appearance

Ove appears as an elderly man in a pale-purple, high-collared robe, with white hair and a white beard 19.

• Fixed smile: Initially maintains a “kind and friendly smile” through a permanent facial spell. The expression remains unchanged even when he is shocked, making it unsettling to his students 23 25 26.
• Purple electricity: Electrical currents frequently move across his body when he uses power or becomes excited 22 26 28.
• Combat appearance: During his rescue of Lin Ke, his hair and beard rise without wind, and his eyes emit intense purple light 39.

Personality

Ove’s severe social anxiety contrasts with his gentle voice and courteous intentions. On arrival, he avoids a welcoming ceremony, shuts the study’s windows, and initially makes Lin Ke remain ten meters away. He later teaches from behind a bookshelf so that he and his students cannot see one another 19 20 24.

Research makes him noticeably more confident. He becomes animated when discussing Bloodline Enlightenment, unfamiliar theories, or possible new classes. A staunch materialist, he strongly opposes idealist explanations of the world and insists on the importance of verification and falsification 21 28 43.

Ove is protective and increasingly affectionate toward Lin Ke. He recognizes the boy’s attempts to ease his fear of people and values being treated as a teacher and elder. By Chapter 41, Lin Ke, John, and Nix are the only people he can tolerate nearby without driving them away or fleeing himself 29 41 50.

When Lin Ke is threatened, Ove’s usual timidity gives way to overwhelming anger. He is willing to risk legal consequences to avenge his disciple, but still respects Lin Ke’s decisions and stops when asked 39 40.

Abilities & Skills

Research-Based Power

Ove’s aptitude lies in research rather than an innate affinity for elements. His command of lightning is an ability developed through study 45.

• Specializes in force and lightning; describes his knowledge of other fields as comparatively limited 29.
• Converts discoveries into skills, demonstrating how knowledge can produce direct supernatural effects 26 42.
• Uses purple-light models to illustrate geography, cosmology, and Bloodline concepts 20 21 26.
• Shows little interest in mathematics and does not immediately understand the usefulness of Lin Ke’s coordinate axes 50.

Bloodline Enlightenment and Aptitude Testing

As an [Enlightenment Teacher], Ove can examine candidates and open their soul spaces so that Bloodlines may awaken 20 21.

• Readiness examination: Sends a harmless strand of purple electricity over a candidate’s body to determine whether they are ready for Enlightenment 20.
• Soul-space access: Uses his staff and mental power to initiate Enlightenment for Lin Ke, John, and Nix 21.
• Aptitude testing: Extracts a drop of blood and tests it with a crystal ball 23.
• Confidentiality: Puts John and Nix to sleep to prevent them from discovering Lin Ke’s unusual awakening; later seals his own memories to protect Lin Ke’s true aptitude 22 41.

Concentration and Protective Space

Ove uses Concentration, an [Enlightenment Teacher] skill, to direct his students’ attention toward his explanations 20.

• Draws the listeners into focused observation and listening 20.
• Creates an electrical enclosure around the study that blocks sound and certain forms of observation 20.
• The enclosure cannot contain the pillar of light produced by Lin Ke’s Andrew Level aptitude test 23.

Force Multiplication

Ove’s first skill, Force Multiplication, incorporates principles involving pulleys, friction, and the angles at which forces act 26 42.

• Amplifies the force of a finger movement by hundreds or thousands of times 26.
• Sends a marble-sized ball of electricity through more than a dozen thick trees, snapping them at the waist 26.
• Uses the Smoothing Spell to reduce friction during demonstrations of force and constant speed 27.
• Lin Ke’s questions about wheel dimensions, materials, and angles initially leave him speechless 26.

Servant of Truth

Ove summons Servants of Truth, floating constructs formed from purple electricity. One appears as a triangular frame with electrical arms 25.

• Moves furniture, refreshments, and ice basins 25.
• Provides Lin Ke with a level-five Servant of Truth for protection during his trip to town 29.
• Uses a Servant to carry Lin Ke into the air 42.
• The protective Servant helps Lin Ke escape the guards surrounding him at the baron’s residence 39.

Thunderstorm

Thunderstorm gathers lightning elements into a growing plasma orb at the tip of Ove’s staff 39.

• Produces streams of plasma that scorch the ground 39.
• Draws in enough lightning elements to briefly create a local vacuum of them 39.
• Can be canceled safely: Ove disperses the orb into motes of light without injuring himself 39.
• World-Destroying Thunder is another named technique he mentions while anxious, but it is not demonstrated in the provided chapters 20.

Gravity

The [Truth Researcher] skill Gravity allows Ove to manipulate different kinds of elements rather than being restricted to earth elements 50.

• Raises earthen walls directly from the ground 50.
• Compresses the walls until they resemble steel plates in hardness 50.
• Combines this construction with lightning strikes to complete the walls of Lin Ke’s first paper factory; the building still lacks a roof 50.

Movement and Voice Projection

• High-speed travel: Advances roughly a hundred meters in a step amid flashes of electricity and can travel as a streak of purple lightning 19 46.
• Flight: Flies independently and carries out activities above the castle and performance grounds 42 45.
• Voice projection: Sends instructions remotely, broadcasts across Parrot City, and carries a singer’s voice to a distant audience 24 40 45.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Thunder Staff — A level-nineteen item made of white metal, with a small purple crystal floating at its tip. Ove channels electricity through it and uses it to examine Lin Ke’s divine artifact fragment 19 41.
• Spatial Ring — Stores his staff, aptitude-testing crystal ball, and other objects 23 41.
• Aptitude-testing crystal ball — Measures Bloodline aptitude from a drop of blood. Its reported destruction becomes part of the cover story concealing Lin Ke’s true talent 23 24.
• Personal Plane — His secluded research retreat and proposed refuge if punished for killing Lin Ke’s enemies 28 40.

Relationships

• Lin Ke Azan — His first disciple in centuries of life. Their lessons become a mutual exchange of insight, and Ove eventually treats Lin Ke with parental affection 28 29 42.
• Garros — A good friend who hires him to teach at Azan Castle. Concern for Garros’s dangerous situation helps persuade Ove to remain with Lin Ke 25 40.
• John — A student whom Ove enlightens and guides toward the [Scholar] class; later one of the few people allowed close to him 20 27 41.
• Nix — A student with Exceptional Potential aptitude. Lin Ke sends him to fetch Ove during the Parrot City crisis 23 34 39.
• Steward Billy — Knows Ove’s unusual temperament and contacts him about the children’s Enlightenment 19 20.
• Baron Puxin — An enemy of Lin Ke whom Ove threatens to kill after the attempted seizure of Azan Castle and detention of Lin Ke and Furon 38 39 40.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Teaching at Azan Castle

• Avoids the formal welcome and begins private lessons in Garros’s study 19 20.
• Conducts the three children’s Enlightenment, suspects Lin Ke has awakened two Bloodlines, and discovers his Andrew Level aptitude. He does not learn that Lin Ke actually selected three Bloodlines 21 22 23.
• Helps conceal the results and witnesses Lin Ke form the [Scholar] class in only twenty-three minutes 23 25.
• Plans to leave after all three students become Scholars, partly because Lin Ke has already drawn out most of his accumulated knowledge 27 28.
• Recognizes Lin Ke’s philosophical challenge as an attempt to keep him nearby and asks the boy to become his disciple 28 29.

Parrot City Rescue

• Intercepts and interrogates low-level Professionals traveling toward Azan Castle, learning that Garros is in grave danger 39.
• Arrives at the baron’s residence in a storm of lightning and prepares Thunderstorm against Lin Ke’s captors 39.
• Cancels the attack after confirming Lin Ke is unharmed; accepts Lin Ke’s refusal to let him kill the family in violation of the Nathang Common Treaty 39 40.
• Promises to remain until Garros returns. This immediately completes Lin Ke’s quest to become his disciple and keep him nearby for five months 40 41.

New Classes and Industry

• Watches over Azan Castle from its roof, using his conspicuous aura to deter hostile Professionals 42.
• Seriously considers Lin Ke’s proposed [Doctor] class and its distinction from [Witch Doctor] and [Priest] 43.
• Supports the Land of Wonders performances with magic and confirms that Image Recording Stones can be edited 44 45.
• Builds the walls of Lin Ke’s first paper factory using Gravity and lightning 50.

Notable Quotes

“Only something that can be proven true or false can be called a partial truth!” 28

“Lin Ke, I'll stay with you a while longer. I'll leave once your father returns.” 40

“Those who walk the legendary path have no need to imitate the power of gods. Our power belongs to ourselves, unlike the gods... mere parasites on the rules.” 41

Trivia

• His Bloodline takes the shape of a purple staff within his soul space; its name is not given 21.
• He softly sings along to Sophie’s performance of “Free to Fly” 45.
• When he says Sophie’s singing is the second voice to stir his heart, the first turns out to belong to a level-fifteen Eagle-Faced tribal chief whose voice nearly made his heart explode 46.