Tousho

"Io Ishtar"

- surprised by the display of strength of a Tousho.

About
Tousho, or Combat Marshals, were the flagship weapons of the Holy Magic Sect. Tousho are humans that have had the majority of their biological parts replaced by metal. They are tireless immortals with strength far higher than that of a normal human.

After the unification of the world by the Holy Magic Sect, the Tousho made up the ranks of soldiers and commanders, capable of holding back Monster Armies alone. They acted as peacekeepers in "barbarian areas", escorted Toushin into battle and lived atop the Toushin Toshi. Many of them were enchanted with Absolute Obedience to ensure their loyalty to the sect. On the battlefield they were feared by humans and monsters alike, known as the "Fierce Deities of Steel".

The 24 Iron Soldiers that killed 20,000 enemy troops during the War of the Iron Soldiers were a prototype of the Tousho design, even in their early stages they were capable of feats of incredible strength. A later Tousho known as Bastet was capable of single-handedly killing approximately 2,000 monsters on his own.

A technique expanding on the Iron Soldiers created by magic engineering authority  Freak Paraffin, it employs the use of  M.M. Rune 's biometal, an offshoot of Death Magic, which was also an unintended byproduct of Freak's own research.

The Biometal itself is a magic created by Rune to extend Freak's life, and despite the fact that the Iron Soldiers were no more than metal puppets, the Tousho use humans as a base. Rather than weaponry, it's a kind of a cyborg technology. One could say it's a full-body cyborg technology.



The manufacture and maintenance of Tousho occurs within the Research Core of a Toushin Toshi, the Tousho live within the Tousho Core and are given private rooms. Tousho typically guarded and deployed themselves from the Toushin Toshi they were created at, the Toushin Toshi would often act as "dropships" for the troops. When put into a dormant state they can be revitalized with a burst of magic directed at their brains.

Tousho require no food and can operate continuously on a basic level without it, but to operate at full functionality, they should be infused with a special kind of fuel every so often.



Toushin can issue overriding commands to the Tousho, as most of the Tousho have at least a basic level of Absolute Obedience cast upon them, only those freed from Rune's control were spared the final command that forced an overriding desire to kill all "barbarian" surface-dwellers.

At present, regular Tousho are considered incredibly rare, a relic of a bygone age. Unlike in the past, they are not widely known of and would likely cause a disturbance if seen walking around a town.

Basic Structure
To create a Tousho, the subject's original human body must be completely metalized. The only biological parts that are preserved during the process are the brain and the left eye (this causes the Tousho face to have only one "eye" on it). To faithfully recreate the form of the original body, the person undergoing the transformation is tightly embalmed, the metal coating is then applied over the bandages, and the biological parts of the body are removed bit by bit. Additional features such as accessories, clothing or armor are then affixed to the outer shell of the body, and a permanent coating of anti-corrosive and anti-rotting magic is applied to prevent the fleshy parts from rotting away and the metal parts from rusting. The end result is greatly affected by the durability of the original body, the talent of the Magic Metallurgist performing the transformation, and the type of metal used. This means the difference between individual Tousho is very varied.

Through the Tousho body, it is possible for a person to live forever, but without a Magical Metallurgist to make the necessary repairs, they may enter a dormant state or break down entirely.

There are some guidelines that must be adhered to when creating a Tousho. Of all the metals, never use Mithril, as this metal has inherent anti-magic properties, and this would prevent effective preserving magic and Absolute Obedience being applied to the body, rendering the Tousho functionally useless. The Absolute Obedience spell is not necessary for members of the Sect that volunteered for the process.

The ultimate potential of a Tousho depends on the Skill Levels and Level Cap the person had in life, and a Tousho can become stronger through repeated battles. While their physical stats and endurance are maximized by their new body, nothing else really changes in regards to how they get stronger, so ultimately they level up the same way as human beings.

Weakness
Tousho have only one weakness, their low magic resistance. Even with their enhanced strength, mighty metal bodies and extreme physical durability, their mental fortitude was not changed at all. Psychological attacks and magic attacks are incredibly effective, as their biological brains can still be targeted directly through these means.

Tousho are absolutely dependant on anti-magic measures to be safe from harm, and those that defied orders were easily detained or killed by the mages of the Holy Magic Sect. There were some exceptions to this weakness, such as Dio Calmis.

In the past this weakness was completely irrelevant as they mostly faced physical-type monsters, and none of the "barbarians" they had to deal with knew any magic.

Major Known Tousho

 * Bastet
 * Scarlet
 * Borg Rauzen Stomauss
 * Replica Misly
 * Dio Calmis
 * Doctor Moganda
 * Freak Paraffin