Aaron Matthews' Reference:
Original || 2YR || 2020 (NSFW)

Name: Aaron Matthews
Age: 23
Height: 5'6"
Species: Skunk

DESCRIPTION:
Aaron Matthews hailed from Oxford as a student and librarian whose interests laid on magic. He bore a dark yet mysterious past he wished to know yet he was suffering from. However, what was known about him was that he requested to move to Santo Tomas, California to seek knowledge, as he felt as gained a lot from Oxford but not fully satisfied. Other than that, he actually came from a generations-long family clouded with rumor and controversy over a supposed involvement in opium farming, especially when linked into two Opium Wars, something that Aaron himself openly sought to clear his family name from, but it was not his personal goal to begin with.

While he began familiarizing with his new home, he took interest in two specific people he crossed paths with: Athena Longhair (the British psychologist) and Pani Dobrawa (the Polish treasure hunter). At the time, Athena was running a psychologist office, specifically about mental issues on college students, and Pani was studying the artefacts from India. By the time he fully met them, each of them admitted their familiarity with magic and sought to learn more from it. Athena sought to use it to rejuvenate troubled minds and to advance her interests in cult studies, but Pani just simply wanted it to help on her future adventures, mostly involving collecting more artefacts especially in harder-to-reach places. However, Aaron was not masterful enough to reach the full potential of magic, and so sought to find new friends, suitable enough to either help him pursue his goals or to empower his magic.

Interestingly, inspired by Pani's experience of being an adventurer, he sought to form a treasure hunting group out of his own, with Pani very open to join in. He also met and found potential in some rancher from Tennessee named Richard West who, although not someone high-profile neither one in high position, was very skilled through charisma and deception. And to find one more to finalize the group, he ended up bumping into a student named Timothy Soro, who was also in the similar status as Richard's. Aaron could have moved on and continue his search at that point, but his magic pulled him in onto Timothy instead, prompting the skunk to reign the fox in on what was actually about. Much to Aaron's surprise, Timothy sought to travel around the world if given an opportunity and admitted to have developed a superhuman strength through his father's genetics, but when the skunk's magic started to influence him, Timothy could not help but bear a dark grin, displaying a dominant eagerness to convince Aaron to let him join in. This naturally freaked out Aaron, especially when his magic was doing its own thing at his expense, but he nervously relented. Athena on the other hand declined to join, due to being a psychologist still in need from college students.

Aaron, Pani, Richard and Timothy at some point went to visit some old friend to the Matthews, right in the heart of Florence, where they would find their first adventure together.

PERSONALITY:
Aaron proves himself to be a curious realist with a cynical mindset and a load of salt (i.e. skepticism), but in the line between knowledge and honor, he prefers safer options for himself than risk all to clear his family name. By 'cynical', whatever happened between him and his family is why he often tries to forget about his past, though it still tempts him to learn its cause. However, he is no coward, as sometimes curiosity inquires imminent danger, and he's required to face it either through force (if no other options) or through non-violent alternatives (the ones he's willing to pick). Outside of danger, he enjoys reading and learning, whether a book involves magic or something else interesting or not.

Being a bookworm does not stop him from making friends, initially as required to pursue his goals, but continuously spending time with his new friends will eventually make him feel more genuine than he needs to. However, this is a cycle where he feels comfortable enough to have a right amount of friends, and it will be repeated again with new acquaintances in the same process. As cynical as he can be, he can also feel guilty or ashamed for being too orderly or too difficult, even to the said acquaintances, so he may compell himself to soften his hard shell to open up, but mostly conditional.

He often relies on the Mercurious Spellbook to cast a variety of spells to his advantage, even during the fight, but time over time he may learn to absorb spells for himself and become less dependent on the same spellbook. He may also share his spells with his friends if necessary. However, he is more than just a bookworm, he's well-trained in swordsmanship, carrying a family heirloom pair of sword and shield, but he's willing to use them only when his magic is either restricted, weakened or unavailable.

LIKES:
- Reading/Studying: Self-explanatory for a librarian
- Magic (of any kind): He's very curious and fascinated with various types and kinds of magic
- Secrecy: Curiosity compels him to delve into dark corners of the known world and investigate by himself
- History (of any sort): Counts as knowledge
ABILITIES:
- Alchemy and Magic: His modus operandi, often through potions, spells and contraptions
- Great Level of Knowledge: A big variety of mental knowledge elements such as logic, history, mathematics, schematics, etc.
- Stink and Smoke Bombs: Stink bombs use his odor to drive away people at specific spot, and Smoke bombs use either alchemy or chemistry to blur vision and make a easy getaway
- Adept Swordsmanship: Well-trained in case when magic is not an option, as similarly mentioned
SPECIAL:
- Hails from the Family questionably connected between Magic and Opium
- Often wears the 'Aries' Necklace
- 2018 Reference redesigned