Linley

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Childhood in Wushan Town

Linley grows up in the declining Baruch household with his father Hogg, younger brother Wharton, and butler Hiri. He trains under Hillman and takes pride in his physical progress. His early ambitions include taming a magical beast and eventually training alongside Wharton 1 2.

A visiting mage’s battle devastates Wushan Town and exposes Linley to the eighth-level spell Dance of the Fire Serpent. Frightened by its destructive power, he nevertheless wonders whether becoming equally powerful would let him protect the town. Because his bloodline test has not qualified him for the Dragonblood Secret Codex, he resolves to seek a magic aptitude test rather than abandon his pursuit of strength 3.

The Coiling Dragon Ring and Ernst Institute

During the battle between Rudy and Tyrone, Linley rescues Wharton from a buried cellar and shields him from a falling boulder. His resulting head wound stains the Coiling Dragon Ring with blood, completing its blood contract and awakening the soul of Doehring Cowart. Cowart becomes his magic teacher, beginning with meditation and Earth Element theory 4 5.

After recovering, Linley befriends the young Shadowmouse Bebe through daily feeding. Bebe follows him when he leaves for Fenlai City and initiates an Equal Contract on the road. Linley’s exceptional aptitude then earns him competing academy offers; he chooses Ernst Institute and returns home with his acceptance letter before departing for classes three months later 6 7 8 10.

While studying, Linley writes home regularly. He sends 9,900 gold coins when the cost of Wharton’s Dragonblood training threatens the family’s finances, and promises that they will recover the family saber together 11.

Hogg’s Death and the Revenge Plot

After Hogg dies investigating Lina’s disappearance, Linley briefly returns home, leaves Slaughter and a letter in the ancestral hall, and goes to Fenlai City. His letter urges Wharton to remain in O’Brien and leave revenge to him. In Fenlai, Linley is appointed a court mage, elevated to marquis, and granted a mansion near the royal palace 15 16 17.

Wharton instead seeks him out, bringing information linking Duke Paterson to Hogg’s fatal pursuit and King Clayde to Lina’s abduction. The brothers ambush Paterson outside the Nightingale Club; Linley restrains him with the Swamp Technique while they question him. Paterson implicates Clayde and a Church-related sacrifice before Wharton kills him 17.

Linley obtains Cesar’s Hemolytic Poison formula and begins collecting ingredients for an attack on Clayde. Wharton persuades him to abandon an immediate palace assassination, arguing that the brothers must preserve the family’s future and prepare together. Linley accepts his advice and proposes exchanging magic instruction for practical combat training 18 19.

Clayde’s Death and the Day of Destruction

On the first day of Green Moon in Yulan year 10000, Linley, Wharton, and Bebe ambush Clayde’s festival procession. Linley kills the court magician and the king’s personal guard, then forces Clayde to admit that he handed Lina to the Radiant Church as a sacrifice. Clayde names Cardinal Gilmer and Useno of the Inquisition before Linley kills him 20.

Dylan’s magical-beast invasion overtakes Fenlai City as the brothers withdraw. They ambush a royal treasure convoy and take selected valuables, but Linley spares its royal consorts and children. After escaping the burning city with Wharton and Bebe, he declares that their struggle against the Church has only begun 21.

Mountain Training and the Journey North

The brothers spend three years fighting magical beasts in the mountains to prepare for the Church’s eventual investigation. Linley advances in both magic and warrior cultivation, develops Drifting Blood Momentum, and defeats Haeru without killing him. Haeru willingly accepts a Master-Servant Contract, becoming Linley’s mount and another companion for Bebe 22.

Traveling toward the O’Brien Empire, Linley and Wharton protect Jenny and Keane from Lady Weide’s assassins. They help Keane secure his inheritance as Chier County City’s lord, kill Lady Weide and her county-governor brother, and conceal their intervention by burning the residence. Linley gives Jenny Lady Weide’s accumulated wealth 23.

Alliance with Sessler

Seeking answers about Lina’s sacrifice, the brothers rescue the captive necromancer Sessler from Cardinal Lampson’s party. Linley kills Lampson, while the combined group eliminates all six Church experts. Sessler explains that the Church exchanges pure souls for divine grace and offers help finding Lina’s soul relic in return for protection 24.

At Mist Valley, Sessler discovers and removes a Holy Light Brand from each brother. Linley and Wharton then seek information, assistance with their strength, and entry to the Undead Temple. The Council of Elders approves their trial by a four-to-two vote 25.

Appearance

Linley has short black hair. His Dragonblood transformation gives him black scales and dark golden pupils 10 17.

• Childhood scar: A pale pink scar hidden in his hair remains after the head injury he receives protecting Wharton 6.
• Ring cord: As a child, he wears the black Coiling Dragon Ring on a thin cord against his chest 4.
• Concealed weaponry: He wraps the Purple Blood Soft Sword around his waist; during the attack on Clayde, he wears ordinary dark clothes and conceals Slaughter’s family crest beneath cloth 17 20.

Personality

Linley’s ambition is closely tied to protecting his family and restoring the Baruch name. As a child, he brings Wharton small gifts and encourages him to grow strong; later, he finances his brother’s training and initially tries to shoulder their parents’ tragedy alone 1 11 16.

He is diligent and inquisitive, asking Doehring Cowart detailed questions and maintaining both physical training and meditation. Even while injured, he wants to begin studying magical theory. He also restrains his pride: when noble children mock him before the aptitude test, he ignores them 5 6 8.

Grief makes him willing to take dangerous risks, particularly when planning Clayde’s assassination, but he can reconsider when Wharton challenges him. His ruthlessness toward family enemies does not erase his compassion: during Fenlai’s destruction, memories of his own childhood lead him to spare the royal women and children 18 19 21.

Abilities & Skills

Magic

Linley cultivates Earth and Wind magic together and reaches the eighth rank during his mountain training 17 22.

• Earth Spike: Initially practiced on Wu Mountain; later cast accurately enough to hunt a rabbit 6 7.
• Swamp Technique: Restrains Paterson during interrogation 17.
• Soundproofing barrier: Secures his study before discussing family secrets with Wharton 17.
• Fire spell knowledge: Collects Fire Element spells below Level Seven at Ernst Institute for Wharton. This knowledge is distinct from his principal Earth–Wind cultivation 19.
• Elemental aptitude: Exceptional in Earth and Wind, medium in Fire. He initially overlooks his Wind affinity because he concentrates on Earth during meditation 8.

Dragonblood Transformation

Transformation raises Linley’s early seventh-level warrior strength to the early ninth-level combat range 17.

• Black scales provide enough protection for his transformed hand to catch and snap a seventh-level assassin’s sword 20.
• A transformed punch disperses the court magician’s fireball during Clayde’s ambush 20.
• His transformed speed reaches the ninth-level range, forming part of his proposed escape plan from the palace 18.

Drifting Blood Momentum

Linley’s personal Momentum emphasizes agility and decisive, vicious blade strikes rather than Wharton’s overwhelming weight 22.

• Enables him to place his saber tip between Haeru’s eyes after thirty exchanges, winning the beast’s submission without killing him 22.
• He teaches Wharton that Momentum requires unity with the weapon and the expression of will, killing intent, and resolve through each strike 22.
• He continues refining the relationship between blade, heart, and the surrounding world after leaving the mountains 24.

Magical-Beast Contracts

Linley maintains two different forms of magical-beast bond.

• Equal Contract with Bebe: Initiated by Bebe; permits mental communication and awareness of Bebe’s emotions. Linley recognizes him as a partner rather than a servant 7 9.
• Master-Servant Contract with Haeru: Formed after Haeru submits willingly. Linley traces the contract formation using spiritual energy 22.

Stone Sculpting

Linley can express a subject’s character through sculpture. Cesar commissions a statue capturing a killer’s focused elegance and accepts the finished work in exchange for the Hemolytic Poison formula 18.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Coiling Dragon Ring — Blood-bound ring housing Doehring Cowart’s soul; gives Linley access to his mentor’s instruction and mental communication 4 5.
• Purple Blood Soft Sword — Flexible sword kept in a hidden compartment in his study and worn around his waist 17.
• Slaughter — The Baruch family saber. Linley leaves it for Wharton after Hogg’s death, but later wields the real blade against Clayde and subsequent enemies 16 20 23 24.
• Spatial ring — Used to carry selected treasure during the escape from Fenlai; its limited capacity prevents him from taking the entire haul 21.
• Hemolytic Poison formula — Cesar’s method for poisoning a ninth-level warrior. Linley gathers ingredients and offers one million gold coins for cloud lingzhi, but postpones the immediate poisoning scheme 18 19.

Relationships

• Wharton Baruch — Younger brother, training partner, and fellow avenger. Their relationship develops from Linley’s childhood protectiveness into shared planning and reciprocal instruction 1 4 17 19 22.
• Hogg Baruch — Father. His expectations shape Linley’s sense of family duty; his death drives Linley’s pursuit of Paterson and Clayde 9 10 16 17.
• Lina — Mother. Investigating her abduction and sacrifice becomes central to Linley’s conflict with the Radiant Church 17 20 24.
• Doehring Cowart — Magic teacher and adviser, addressed as “Grandpa Doehring.” Teaches him Earth magic, urges discretion, and accompanies him through the ring 5 6 7.
• Bebe — Shadowmouse partner bound by an Equal Contract. Their bond begins through patient feeding and continues through travel and battle 6 7 20 24.
• Haeru — Peak ninth-rank Black-Striped Cloud Leopard; contracted mount and combat companion 22 24.
• Hiri — Family butler and childhood caretaker who supports both brothers and remains a familiar presence at Linley’s residence 1 10 19.
• Hillman — Early physical-training instructor and escort to the Fenlai aptitude test 2 7 8.
• Yale — Helps obtain poison ingredients and distributes Linley’s cloud lingzhi bounty through Dawson Chamber of Commerce channels 18.
• Cesar — Exchanges the Hemolytic Poison formula for Linley’s sculpture and warns him against rushing his attack 18.
• Jenny and Keane — Siblings Linley helps protect from assassins and secure Keane’s city-lord inheritance 23.
• Sessler — Rescued necromancer and ally; supplies information about the Church’s soul sacrifices, removes tracking brands, and sponsors the brothers’ temple-trial request 24 25.

Notable Quotes

“If I could become that powerful, could I protect Wushan Town?” 3

“Saint-level at least. If one Saint-level isn't enough, then two. If two aren't enough, then three. The Baruch Clan has five thousand years of history behind it. It can't end with our generation.” 22