1% Lifesteal, Volume 3 characters

Appears from the start

A returning peak two-star fugitive whose face has become unsafe to show. After a life-affinity spirit permanently reconstructs his appearance, he heads toward the Northern Belt with Bloodshed in search of a place where imperial power has less reach.

Appears from the start

Freddy's sentient, blood-linked companion. Bloodshed helps him locate and negotiate with the life-affinity remnant that permanently alters his face.

First appears in chapter 3

A peak two-star criminal businessman in the Northern Belt. He hires the newly arrived Freddy as a bodyguard and arranges a forged local identity for him, while concealing the full nature of his operations.

First appears in chapter 3

The Northern Belt identity created for Freddy Stern after his face is permanently changed. The papers present him as a forty-seven-year-old local, giving the fugitive a name he can use for housing, work, and public dealings.

First appears in chapter 4

A disgraced former four-star lord reduced to three stars by imperial punishment. Facing exile in the Northern Belt, Basilisk uses knowledge of a dangerous secret to compel Mark and Nahar to travel with him.

First appears in chapter 4

A three-star associate tied to the protection of two square-pupiled body snatchers. Basilisk's threat of imperial exposure forces him to join the disgraced lord's Northern Belt exile party, despite the danger surrounding their hidden dependents.

First appears in chapter 4

Mark's co-guardian of two dangerous, square-pupiled body snatchers. Nahar reluctantly accompanies Basilisk into exile because disclosure of the hidden pair would bring imperial punishment, leaving the travelers bound together by mutual risk rather than trust.

First appears in chapter 5

Freddy's critically injured partner, kept alive as a disembodied head while the possibility of restoration narrows. Freddy commits most of his available money to an uncertain attempt to reconstruct her body.

First appears in chapter 6

An impoverished mortal who uses his late brother's gear while seeking a prime vestige. Freddy approaches him at the passage hub and invites him into the interspace.

First appears in chapter 6

The three-star lightning user who leads Valhalla, a Northern Belt faction known for attacking criminal operations. Freddy identifies Thor as the local leader most likely to become a useful and acceptable ally.

First appears in chapter 9

Lucas's mother, recovered after loan sharks hold and beat her over gambling debt. After receiving medical and dental care, she moves into Freddy's home with Lucas.

First appears in chapter 10

A two-star operative from a powerful local business family and Helen's former partner. He confronts Freddy over the destroyed loan operation and begins probing which faction, if any, stands behind the newcomer.

First appears in chapter 14

Thor's close ally and a member of Valhalla. Travis comforts Thor after the leader accepts a lasting soul injury rather than submit to imperial removal from the Northern Belt.

First appears in chapter 14

The imperial official who pressures Thor to leave the Northern Belt as his advancement approaches the prohibited threshold. The adjudicator represents the Empire's power to remove rising three-stars from the region.

First appears in chapter 15

The name Freddy gives the fortress dungeon's gate constructs when he enters the challenge.

First appears in chapter 17

A young delver whose unusual soul construct can reshape ambient aura in the nether echo and draw ether from the result. Freddy recognizes that the ability could attract dangerous attention and seeks a voluntary connection with her group.

First appears in chapter 17

Jason's brother, a shadow-affinity delver from the same debt-exploitation family. During the fortress siege, Sean holds captured invaders to delay the next enemy wave.

First appears in chapter 22

A scarred older Valhalla fighter assigned to the planned raid on an organ-trafficking operation. No connection to the earlier employer of the same name is established.

First appears in chapter 22

A red-armored Valhalla fighter assigned to the planned raid on a Strata-backed organ-trafficking site.

First appears in chapter 23

The captured lead doctor at a Strata-backed organ-trafficking site and the physician scheduled to oversee Sophia's reconstruction. Freddy intervenes when Thor prepares to execute him because Sophia's treatment depends on his work.

First appears in chapter 37

Valhalla's therapist, whose dream affinity gives his voice a calming effect. Noah assesses Freddy and explains that treatment cannot change his beliefs or conduct unless he chooses to change them.

First appears in chapter 41

The operator of a guarded organ-harvesting business connected to Strata. His organization agrees to buy repeated sets of organs from Freddy through secret exchanges and an anonymous account.

First appears in chapter 46

A respected Valhalla scout and ranged fighter who publicly challenges Thor's protection of Freddy. His criticism exposes growing resentment inside the faction over the resources and trust given to its dangerous outsider.

First appears in chapter 47

A member of the Jem family investigating the deaths, disappearances, and illicit trade surrounding her relatives. Gina and her brother suspect that three hidden operatives are connected to Valhalla, though their proposed links remain unproven.

First appears in chapter 47

An unidentified client who makes regular high-value sales through a Strata broker. The Jem family's proposed connection between Skull and Valhalla remains unverified.

First appears in chapter 50

Co-owner and chief executive of the Jem family business, as well as Gina's father. After hearing Helen's accusation against Valhalla, he accepts her account, promises to recover Lucas, and brings in a powerful outsider to address the family's conflict.

First appears in chapter 50

An unidentified visitor near the peak of the third star whom Keegan Jem presents as a powerful solution to the family's problem.

First appears in chapter 52

An unidentified high-level operative hired by Keegan Jem to kill the primary target in an imminent attack on Valhalla.

First appears in chapter 56

An ether construct bound to truth and embodying primordial insanity. Appearing as the host of Freddy's completed isolation challenge, Insanity explains the reward process and presents spirits for upgrading his abilities.