Most people who know Levi the adventurer consider him a trustworthy and likable person, with a very docile nature. However, this doesn't match Levi's self-image…he's a man haunted by his past. Unbeknownst to almost everyone around him, Levi is a former soldier of the Ralzen Empire – Levi isn't even his real name.
Notably, Levi was no common soldier. As of a few short years ago, and despite his young age, he was one of the highest ranked members of an elite squad of soldiers handpicked by the former emperor. This elite squad specialized in covert operations.
Among humans, dark class affinities are rare in general. Meanwhile, Levi's spell affinity, which allows him to turn completely invisible, is almost unheard of. As far as he knows, there's no other human currently alive with the same affinity. It was only by a stroke of luck that he even learned about the invisibility spell as a kid.
Suffice it to say, when Levi's unique affinity was first discovered, the emperor quickly began grooming him for military service. His parents, being proud supporters of the Empire, were elated. However, Levi would not have chosen such a path for himself. In truth, military life did not agree with his gentler nature.
Still, thanks to his unique skill, Levi quickly advanced in the ranks of the covert military faction. At the former emperor's personal request, he carried out dozens of solo missions to spy on other countries and influential people.
The training was brutal, and the missions stressful, but Levi was able to find a semblance of happiness for a while. Eventually, however, assassinations became part of the requests from the emperor, and these made it harder for Levi to sleep at night.
At first, he persevered, convincing himself that he was making the world a better place. However, over time it became harder to believe that his actions were just, and he desired a way out of the life he'd been coerced into. Unfortunately, he was certain that he'd never be allowed to leave the Empire's military alive.
A couple of years ago, when he'd begun to despair about his situation, the emperor had come to him with a unique request…spying on the Elven Kingdom.
It's been a long-standing interest of the Empire to learn about the inner workings of the elves' country, but all prior attempts ended in failure. Many spies previously given the same mission were never heard from again, and those that returned to the Empire were unable to breach the country's borders.
In Levi's mind, he would end up dead, or he'd accomplish something so valuable to the Empire that his request to forego assassinations or take an early retirement might be granted. Either outcome would have been acceptable to him, if it meant he didn't have to kill people anymore. So, Levi was happy to accept the job.
After successfully infiltrating the Elven Kingdom, Levi surveilled their country from the inside for several months. The elves…weren't what he'd expected. From the way they were discussed in the Empire, he expected them to be savage and undeveloped. In contrast, their cities were more advanced than the Empire's, they wore fine clothing, and everyone appeared to be fed and in good health.
Most surprisingly, the elves were so kind to one another that their behavior seemed almost like a stage play to Levi. He'd spent much time covertly observing human settlements on his prior missions, and he felt it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that humans were villainously exploitative and hateful towards one another by comparison.
Still, it was no secret how much the elves despised humans, so Levi considered it reasonable that the Empire would want to know how much of a threat their country could be. Thus, he planned to follow through with his mission. However, Levi's feelings changed when he made it all the way to Avalon and saw the memorial statue of the elves' fallen princess, Rennalia.
Reading the memorial description of how she died, Levi was overwhelmed with an inexplicable sense of guilt. Even though he'd never heard of such a historic massacre in human records, he didn't doubt the story of Rennalia's tragic death at their hands. After all, this was a private memorial meant only for elves…they had no reason to push propaganda. Moreover, he'd seen how people in the Empire still treated non-humans.
In the following days, Levi's mission from the emperor weighed heavily on his mind. He couldn't help but sympathize with the elves' disdain for humans. Moreover, he could no longer lie to himself about the reason for his mission – it was unlikely that the Empire was surveilling the Elven Kingdom defensively. The thought of contributing to the peaceful Elven Kingdom's invasion…Levi couldn't stomach it.
While he dreaded that reporting his surveillance as a failure would destroy any chance of negotiating out of his life as an assassin, he also knew that the emperor was unlikely to grant such a request regardless. Truthfully, success would only demonstrate his value and reduce the Empire's willingness to let him live in peace.
As Levi grappled with how to even report his mission as a failure convincingly, another idea had occurred to him. Most of the spies sent to the Elven Kingdom never returned and were presumed dead. If Levi were to disappear to somewhere remote without reporting back to the Empire, and take on a new identity, he might be able to live in peace – they'd just assume he died like the rest.
Eventually, Levi decided this was the best course of action, and he rejoiced at the opportunity. He didn't fear being caught as a deserter. He'd already accepted that death would be worth some time living on his own terms and avoiding harm to the Elven Kingdom.
It was with this resolve that he assumed the name Levi and traveled to Elmesia to start over as an unassuming adventurer. Levi revealed his invisibility spell to other people as little as possible, and he made sure to register at the guild under his assumed name. He also listed his home as a village near Elmesia.
In his first few months as an adventurer, Levi kept to himself and quietly raised his rank. To his surprise, nobody inferred his history or came looking for him, and he slowly began to relax and enjoy his new life. To most, adventuring wouldn't be considered a peaceful job, but to Levi, that applied to anything that didn't involve willfully harming others. So, he was happy.
Eventually, Levi met a female adventurer his age by the name of Sylvia, and the two would occasionally pair up for jobs that required more than one person. With time, Sylvia confided in Levi that she was a former soldier from the Empire. Unlike him, however, she was just a basic soldier from far within the Empire, so her desertion was not as dangerous for her.
With time, Levi grew closer with Sylvia, they formed a party together, and Levi finally confided in her about his past. He was relieved to find that he could trust her just as much as he expected, and their relationship naturally deepened.
As they continued to climb in rank and gain attention, Levi and Sylvia accepted others into their party. While they agreed it best to not share their histories with the others, Levi was still elated to form new friendships.
Eventually, Levi and his party advanced all the way to A-rank. He had a job that he was good at and found fulfilling, good health, access to tasty food and wine, and friends that he cherished. In other words, his life was as blissful as he'd always hoped it could be, and for the first time the sins of his past didn't weigh on him so heavily.
It was this series of events that turned a former assassin into the joyful and easygoing adventurer Levi, who Mizuki and Nina found so likeable. Similarly, meeting Nina and Mizuki also left a lasting impression on Levi. After Gerard's request for Levi's assistance, and before he even met them, he'd already been mildly intrigued by their pairing.
According to the guild info Gerard supplied before their match, Nina was a five in power level with two classes, but she was inexplicably loyal to Mizuki – someone with no magic, who was barely old enough to register, and who had no obvious physical prowess. Naturally, Levi was curious about him.
When they met on the guild's training grounds, before their match, Levi was still perplexed. Mizuki was about as unassuming as someone could be, and that only deepened Levi's curiosity. Fortunately, Gerard had asked Levi to specifically target Mizuki during their match, to try and assess his personal capabilities. It was in doing so that Levi first grasped something about Mizuki's nature.
During his time among the Empire's covert operations squad, Levi had learned the hard way that someone's appearance was a poor way to judge how dangerous they are. Eventually, through experience, he'd developed excellent instincts for sizing up opponents, and those instincts had saved his life on many occasions as both a spy and an adventurer.
Sometimes, when interacting with especially dangerous people, he'd have an unsettling sensation in his stomach. Levi was never consciously aware of what exact signals he was picking up on, but after several close calls he'd come to recognize that this gut feeling increased with the danger he was in.
Levi had experienced this sensation when he saw Nina before their match, but he had expected as much based on her guild information. Still, he was shocked by the severity of the sensation elicited by Nina – he'd never felt anything so unnerving. That is…until his confrontation with Mizuki.
Shortly after the beginning of the match, Levi had activated his invisibility spell, and he'd closed in on Mizuki to try and ambush him. Levi was planning to probe him with a non-incapacitating attack at first, to see how Mizuki would be able to respond under such unfair battle circumstances. Levi had only met a couple of people who could defend against his attacks in earnest while he was fully invisible, so he didn't want to be unfair.
However, when he got closer in preparation for his attack, he was shocked to see Mizuki turn to look directly at him. Levi had met a rare few talented people who could vaguely identify his presence, but even they were never sure of his exact location and movements. This was totally different, and he knew in his bones that Mizuki wasn't just guessing.
The second that this took place, Levi felt that familiar gut instinct with a severity so profound that it was crippling, and he froze on the spot. Looking Mizuki in the eyes thereafter, Levi had the distinct sensation of being on the edge of death, and it sent shivers down his spine.
Eventually, he was able to suppress the paralyzing fear he felt, and he began probing Mizuki's awareness by moving around. After a few moments, he was sure – there was no hiding his exact presence from Mizuki.
As he was grappling with the absurdity of that realization, he was startled to see Mizuki move towards him. Before he could decide how to respond, he'd felt a searing pain in his back – he'd been shot in the back with an arrow.
While Levi was realizing his situation, he'd looked up to see Mizuki standing over him, ready to offer aid. That interaction had been paradoxically calming and terrifying for Levi. He sensed clearly that Mizuki meant him no harm and wasn't a violent person, and yet…the man himself was deeply unsettling.
He was smiling, friendly, and helpful, but there was a faint deadness to Mizuki's eyes. Levi had the distinct impression that Mizuki was polite towards him for the same reason someone might avoid stepping on a bug.
This interaction only intensified the sensation in Levi's gut, and he decided immediately that he would be avoiding conflict with Mizuki at all costs. It was with this in mind that he'd offered Mizuki a spot in his party, though he wasn't particularly surprised when Mizuki declined the offer.
After returning to his other party members, Levi was quick to emphasize to them the importance of not being antagonistic towards Mizuki or anyone in his party. Thankfully, he'd earned the trust of his party, especially Sylvia, and they took his advice seriously.