Malthus is the youngest child to Byleth and Linhardt. Having an older siblings- Florianos. Being the baby of the family, he was also born with the.. lowest energy of the family. As he grew older, he became determiend to prove he wasn't actually lazy, and becoming more open to being himself. When his sibling was sent to the Garreg-Mach monastery to be trained for the black eagle strike force, he took it upon himself to sign up as well.
As mentioned above, Malthus was the youngest child to Byleth and Linhardt. His older sibling Florianos also struggled with energy issues early on, so for some time they believed Malthus simply mirrored the laziness of Lin and his elder sibling. Though his seemed much less.. voluntary as they discovered with time. Malthus took to mostly following his father Byleth around, who seemed simultaneously extra protective as well as hard on him to mold him into a being more than capable of protecting themselves.
It was one of these instances when he was a younger child sword training with Byleth that he received the cut on his cheek from a deflection gone wrong. Malthus doesn't really blame his father, his own clumsy movements and insistence on fighting with real swords to blame- but it was a stark reminder of his fragility and how hard he needed to train. Instilling in himself this burning desire to be ever better. Flor, on the otherhand, send to spend much more time in their home labratory with Linhardt. Even still, he was close with Flor. The two often spending bonding time in the morning helping eachother with their hair or whatever else may happen. It was only natural that when Flor was selected for the black eagle task force, that Malthus insisted on coming along as well right?
At Garreg Mach, he signed himself up for the classes of Eagle's Poise alongside Florianos. Throwing himself heavily into his studies, he dedicated himself to magic as a talent he needed to hone after spending his youth entirely focused on sword fighting. His inexperience may have shown through, but he had a dedication built inside of him that led to many nights and days studying, or involuntarily napping, at the library. Florianos seemed to be going a similar path, so he was content sharing notes or studying with his siblings. After all, the monotanous nature and appearance of his family made it hard to... connect in friendships with others.
Despite his focus on magic, Malthus still picked up extra curriculars to work on the sword skills he already knew to be his natural strength. Through those extra curricular classes, he met the teacher Ermis. A figure he knew from his first day at Garreg Mach Academy, where he ran into the ruffled teacher at the library. Ermis was a more relaxed figure than the other teacher's, and one that seemed to have a particular interest in Malthus due to the dull green of his hair that in someways resembled that Ermis' bright hue as it was. Ermis was naturally flirtatious, and seemed to act more like a friend to his students than mentor, and the two ended up forming something of a situationship you could say. Eventually blossoming into something more, but for a time, it remained on the low key.
