Aria Lockwarde

Aria Lockwarde is a red-haired, purple-eyed young woman and the last daughter of House Lockward, a once-respected line of official nobility that held a viscount rank. Within a single generation her father squandered everything: he colluded with a bandit gang operating out of an abandoned mine near the city of Darion, turned a blind eye to their crimes, and sold off the family's treasured heirlooms — including the Lockward "stone," a two-hundred-year-old relic that houses inherited Skills. When his crimes come to light he is stripped of everything and sent to the mines as a slave, and Aria is cast out of her home, left destitute and facing a grim future.

She first appears bursting into an adventurers' cafe, desperately begging Zelphy — a former retainer of House Lockward — to help her recover the stolen family stone. This draws her into Lyle Walt's orbit. After Lyle wipes out the bandit gang and recovers the heirlooms, the lord of Darion hands Aria over to Lyle as a reward, and Lyle takes her in. Novem actively encourages this, and the ancestor spirits — especially the First, Basil Walt — have their own reason for wanting her kept close: Aria is the living image of Alice, the woman Basil first loved and an ancestor of the Lockward line. Like Lyle, Aria and Novem are all exiles who have lost their homes, which binds the trio together as they start over as adventurers.

In combat Aria is a spear-wielding front-liner. Trained as the daughter of a martial house, she wears a red gemstone (a counterpart to Lyle's blue one) that awakens combat-oriented "vanguard" Skills passed down her family — most notably a temporary burst of speed allowing rapid, chained strikes. Early on she is reckless and comparatively weak, throwing herself forward with more spirit than skill and often looking clumsy beside her exceptionally capable companions, but she grows steadily into a reliable front-line fighter, fighting alongside allies like Miranda.

Personality-wise Aria is proud, hot-blooded, and lively, yet easily flustered — she blushes at the slightest teasing, gets jealous over Lyle, and hides her embarrassment behind sharp words and swats. Despite her prickly exterior she is deeply loyal and devoted, becoming one of the core members of Lyle's party and a central love interest, appearing across the bulk of the story from her introduction onward.