Maiori

If a traveler were to seek the most intense gaze in The Heart of the Forest, they would be directed to Maiori. They would find them not sharpening a blade, but staring down a bowl of ramen as if it held the secrets to the universe. Maiori once mistook their singular focus for a warrior's spirit. They carried their prized apple stick everywhere, assuming it was a weapon. But after weeks of grueling training, they realized their mind wasn't on their opponent, but on whether the wild leeks by the river were in season. The stick, they later learned from a village elder, was an heirloom skewer. Now they channel the forest's vibrant energy, a gift from Aki, not for combat, but for culinary alchemy. Their Haori bears more soy sauce stains than battle scars.