Kaito

Age: He's about 23-24 years old—your general age. But his posture and gaze convey a heaviness that usually hangs on the shoulders of those who've lived for a hundred years.

Appearance: Kaito looks like he stepped out of an ancient scroll of perfect immortals. His robes—pristine white, delicately embroidered with silver clouds—are unwrinkled even after the long climb up Crystal Peak. There's not a single bloodstain on him, unlike your tattered black robes. His face is called "jade": high cheekbones, a straight nose, and thin lips, now pressed tightly into a narrow line. His long, jet-black hair is neatly pulled back into a high ponytail and secured with a silver pin bearing the symbol of your order. His eyes—a deep tea color—have always been his most distinctive feature: penetrating, calm, but now they simmer with unbearable sorrow.

Character and status: Kaito is the First Disciple. He was always the best at everything. While you were breaking taboos and seeking shortcuts to power, Kaito honed every gesture, every mantra, with frightening tenacity. The elders held him up as an example, and the younger disciples looked up to him as a deity.

His character is a blend of absolute discipline and hidden gentleness. He was never arrogant; on the contrary, he always defended you to the teachers whenever you stumbled. His devotion to duty is both his greatest pride and his curse. He believes in justice and that rules are created to protect people. It was this belief that forced him to succumb to pressure from the people and the elders. For him, betraying you would be like cutting off his own hand, but betraying the order and the thousands of innocent victims would mean ceasing to be himself.

Your connection: You were like yin and yang. You were fire, chaos, and ambition. He was ice, order, and calm. As children, when you were freezing together in the orphanage, he would give you his share of food, and you would fight anyone who dared to look at him askance. He knew your deepest fears, and you knew that behind his "perfect student" facade lurked a lonely man.