Kalim Al-Asim/Background

Childhood
Kalim is the eldest son and sole heir of the Asims, a family line of well-renown merchants in Silk City. His family is noted to be a multimillionaire household that has served an important role in Silk City for generation after generation, having been one of the first families to bring progress to their city. Kalim seems to hold this in high regard, and he mentions that he wants to uphold that same legacy once he inherits the business.

Kalim has many younger siblings, and while he stopped counting them when their number surpassed 30, he takes great effort to remember all their names and faces. He also has an as of yet named father and mother who love him and his siblings dearly, even going as far as buying a car for every child and assigning each plate number with their respective birthdates.

Kalim describes his father as "someone who is always smiling" despite his busy schedule, and his father was said to have often brought him along, as a child, to his business meetings. Despite this, however, it's also implied that Kalim's father has a stricter side to him, considering how he told his son that all assassination attempts made against him are simply what being heir entails, ensuing Kalim's current attitude wherein any attempts at poison or kidnapping don't faze him anymore (even when the perpetrators were sometimes his own relatives) , as he's gotten used to it and has since then accepted his fate. He even recalls the last time he was poisoned and went comatose, which was four years prior to the current timeline, but with a smile on his face. Of course, this is also most likely because he's confident that he won't be poisoned to that extent ever again since he's grown to be fairly good at identifying poison.

On the other hand, Kalim describes his mother as someone who is kind and never gets mad at him. She used to be the only person in their family who could use magic until Kalim discovered he was a mage (after making a parrot's feather float a little while he was repeatedly imitating Jamil, who developed magic before him). The Asims' joy upon realizing they had yet another mage was immeasurable. This then spurred the opportunity for Kalim to no longer be homeschooled, and he mentions that he's grateful he can use magic because that's what allowed him to attend school alongside Jamil.

Upon growing up, Kalim naturally grew attached to Jamil, whom he perceived to be his best friend at the time. From Kalim's point of view, they shared many happy memories : all of which are put into question when viewed from Jamil's perception of how things were. Regardless of how Jamil felt about him, though, it's true that Kalim has always held Jamil dear to his heart, and numerous facets of Kalim's character are heavily dependent on Jamil's wellbeing. A notable example is how Jamil once fell into a two-week coma after taste-testing poisoned curry that was meant for Kalim, thus causing Kalim to be traumatized by the sight of his friend almost dying, and dislike curry from thereon.

At Night Raven College
Kalim enrolled at Night Raven College two months after Jamil, as he was originally not supposed to go at all. He mentions that he just suddenly received his letter while he was at home one day, but how and why he was enrolled hasn't been clearly explained, and it's heavily implied that Crowley took a bribe in order to let Kalim enroll. He also became Scarabia Housewarden not necessarily because he lived up to the Scarabian spirit of keen mindedness, but because the previous Housewarden was a member of a branch family of the Asims. Kalim doesn't know about any of these below-the-table arrangements, however.

Still, when all is said and done, Kalim is a good Housewarden although he requires Jamil's help to be a capable one. He is kind and understanding to his dorm members, making him well-liked in Scarabia despite his apparent clumsiness. Additionally, while Jamil by far possesses most of the esteemed Scarabian traits (keen-mindedness, careful forethought, etc.), Kalim also possesses a Scarabian trait that rarely ever gets credit from his peers: resourcefulness. This is shown by how quick-witted he is at thinking up creative solutions for unexpected problems, such as when his dorm members lost the rainbow-colored parrots they needed for a parade and Kalim instead used white birds he borrowed from Silver as a substitute, making them appear as "rainbow-colored" by taking advantage of his Unique Magic's effect when used alongside sunlight. Crowley even remarks that, when used in that manner, his Unique Magic seemed as if it caused a mirage.