| Fresh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Name | Fresh |
| Aliases | Magician of Life, Damnest Geezer |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Human |
| Age | 101 |
| Height | 160 cm |
| Weight | 196 kg |
| Affiliation | SPICE, IGO (former), Neo-Bishokukai |
| Occupation | Saiseiya, SPICE Interim Commander |
| Status | Alive |
Fresh is the best saiseiya in the world. His skills also earned him the title of Gourmet Human National Treasure. Furthermore, he is also a founding member of the SPICE. Following Over's death, he takes the lead of the above-mentioned organization together with Matsuri.
Appearance[]
Fresh is a short, thin old man with grey beard and eyebrows, both very long. He is bald except for a tuft on the top of his head. He has slanted eyes. His ears are pierced and his lobes are elongated.
Personality[]
Fresh is astoundingly lively, mischievous and immature, bordering on perversion. He never fails to harass his female collegues, often getting chastised by Matsuri for his behaviour. However, his conduct belies immense, knowledge and intelligence, which come to light whenever he revives an Ingredient. He does not enjoy killing, but he is very fond of fighting nonetheless, claiming it is a way to overcome the frustration of his job.
Background[]
Very little is known about Fresh's past. The only ascertained facts are that he used to live in the once luxuriant country of Life, which at the beginning if the Second Gourmet Age, after the long war, was reduced to a wasteland, and that he was taught Impact Knocking by the legendary saiseiya Teppei in person.
History[]
As the IGO's last line of defense in the Gourmet World, the SPICE staff prepares to wage war against the Neo-Bishokukai, who, after abducting a large amount of chefs from the Human World, are now seeking Acacia's Full Course Menu. When Wing and Nadia reveal the true enemy is the IGO itself, whose plan is to subdue Nitro, collect the Ingredients of Acacia's Full Course Menu and conquer the Gourmet World, SPICE allies with the Neo-Bishokukai to stop it.
During the confrontation between the two organizations, Over faces off alone against Luis Bar, whom he had assumed was the mole and a small maniple of Nitro who came to assist him. However, the researcher laughed, telling him that he was only partially right. He then revealed Over that he worked for the IGO Military and had been chosen to infiltrate the SPICE. The fight began, leading to Over's defeat. When Fresh and Matsuri, having sensed the clash of two astounding presences, arrived, Luis Bar informed them that the IGO had tricked the S.P.I.C.E. and the Neo-Bishokukai into battling each other. While the Nitro keep them from intervening, he murdered Over and escaped.
After the former leader's death, the remaining senior members take charge of the SPICE, also forming an alliance with the Neo-Bishokukai to defeat the IGO Military and overturn the IGO itself.
Powers and Abilities[]
Fresh is recognized as the world's most skilled saiseiya. He has knowledge regarding the physiology of even the rarest creatures from the deepest regions of the Gourmet World and long-extinct ones. He is capable of reviving Ingredients that other accomplished saiseiya regard as hopeless. Unlike many of them, he refused to implant additional arms because he “simply [does] not need them”. Being both a member of SPICE and a Gourmet Human National Treasure shows just how powerful he is despite his age, which on the contrary has brought him wisdom and experience. Unlike one would expect, he is very reckless in combat, and enjoys taunting his opponents. This has the additional benefit of making them blind to his already hard to grasp movements, leading them to be defeated by his Knocking without even realizing it. It looks as though his Gourmet Cells have lost some of the vigor they had in his prime. Nonetheless, he is undoubtely one of the ten most powerful people in the world.
Fresh's exact level of strength is unknown, and he is proud of that, as he claims that means his Knocking techniques are perfect. However, once he said “Let's put it this way: there is no way a shell can prevent me from having some fun”, hinting that he should not be underestimated in that regard. He is immensely fast even for the SPICE standards, easily exceeding the speed of sound both when running and striking. His reactions are ultra top-notch as well, as demonstrated when he dodged Inkuro's barrage of attacks (and still managed to paralyze him without his noticing). Also, his agility is astounding to most opponents.
Fresh specializes in close quarter bare-handed combat, being a master of Impact Knocking. His skills are of the highest grade, and he could even defeat Over and Inkuro in a sparring match, and tie with Wing. Still, if he judges it to be inadvisable, he resorts to his plants, observing the opponent from afar before switching to fist fighting.
Fresh's Intimidation
Intimidation[]
When Fresh projects his aura it takes the form of an old tengu.
Equipment[]
As a saiseiya, Fresh has equipment used to revive Ingredients. They can also be used for other purposes, such as to cure humans or protect structures. The majority of them can grow at impressive speed when drenched in a special fertilizer, and thus are carried around in the form of seeds. Additionally, Fresh owns some high Capture Level plants from ancient times that he has revived.
- Saiseiya Fertilizer: A red liquid that, when poured onto a seed, makes it grow into an adult plant at astounding speed.
Protection Tree (営林の種, Eirin no Tane): A plant that grows at inconceivable speed, it wraps around anything it comes into contact with and can prevent any structure, natural or man-made, from crumbling down. Furthermore, its leaves contain a fluid with the ability of restarting a heart if injected directly into the cardiac muscle.
Fertility Seed (肥沃の種, Hiyoku no Tane): Described as a "fertilizer for human use", this seed can increase the body's natural healing ability to its maximum. However, due to it containing also a little amount of toxic substances, it also destroys cells before triggering the accelerated recovery, thus possibly turning up to be fatal. It has a bitter flavor.
Earthquake Resistant Root (耐震の根, Taishin no Ne): A tangle of roots that can stop earthquakes from breaking up the ground, they can be used to fully restrain an opponent, even accomplished fighters capable of withstanding the Gourmet World.
- Binding Trees (縛り樹, Shibari Ki): These roots are used to only bind the opponent's feet and immobilize them. This is strong enough to temporarily hold down a fighter of Inkuro's level.
- Advent of a World of Flowering Trees (花樹界降臨, Kajukai Kōrin): A "colony" of enormous plants that turns into a forest in no time when drenched in Fresh's fertilizer. Thick vines sprout in an area of around one square kilometer, crushing anything on their path, with the biggest carrying massive lotus-like pink flowers. The pollen produced by these flowers is then released into the atmosphere and when inhaled, renders any afflicted target unconscious. Though extinct, Fresh revived this plant (and is responsible for its fancy name). Its Capture Level is 589.
Techniques[]
- Impact Knocking: A martial art based on bare-handed Knocking, the blows must be carried out with the right timing and amount of pressure. Great accuracy, coordination and speed are required, plus a thorough knowledge of the target's body.
- Raw: Using controlled strikes, Fresh rescinds Knocking on himself or on others. This technique is very hard to perform, as the use must know perfectly the type of Knocking and the force originally employed in it to undo it.
- Seared: A particular type of Impact Knocking with which it is possible to force someone in a state of apparent death for up to two days.
- Rare: A very localized type of Knocking which targets only one nerve. Fresh uses one finger to perform it. He is so skilled that the opponent cannot even feel pain, and so fast he seems to not be moving at all. An example is when he paralyzed Inkuro during their sparring session while seeming to be simply evading his attacks with his hands behind his back. After a certain number of strikes, the target will begin to feel hindered in their movements, which will gradually grow slower and less accurate, until they are completely immobilized.
- Medium: A single, painful blow to a part of the opponent's body that paralyzes every nerve in that area, although more complex organisms can still move afterwards.
- Well-Done: A series of strikes targeting the opponent's whole body, even the most inner nerves. There is no living creature capable of moving after being hit. A master such as Fresh can use any part of his body to perform it without ever missing.
- Overdone: The only lethal style of Impact Knocking, Fresh aims at inner organs such as the heart and the lungs, thus provoking a heart attack or asphyxiation.