POV: Darren
"Something's wrong," EDS said in Darren's mind, his voice sounding alarmed.
"What is it?" Darren asked in return.
"It's far from here, but another of the Knights is facing something I haven't encountered before," EDS replied.
"Wait, something you haven't encountered?" Darren thought EDS had seen everything, given his origins.
"There are many layers to reality, to existence, and this is but one," EDS explained. "There is only One who has seen it all, and that is the Creator."
"I guess that makes sense," Darren mused. "Is there anything I can do to help this Knight?"
EDS went quiet, unusually hesitant. After several moments he finally said, "No, I believe he is going to be okay."
"EDS, you're currently aware of and responsive to every single Knight in the world?" I asked.
"Yes, I am."
That revelation struck Darren, the weight of it settling in. EDS was monitoring every Knight across the world, watching as they fought their own battles. He couldn't imagine what that felt like—to be connected to so many people, each carrying the weight of their own destinies.
"That's crazy," he managed to say.
EDS chuckled slightly, "I was made this way, so it is natural for me."
Darren let out a breath. Only two battles in, and he was still adjusting to the life of a Titled Knight. He hadn't even known what a breach was until a few days ago, let alone faced one. The first battle, when he'd entered that breach with Kaycee, was a stark reminder that whatever strange destiny claimed him, it wasn't going to be easy on him.
His first real encounter with the Nightmares had been when they came out of a breach, swarming the streets of his hometown. That fight was totally different from the battle inside the Rift. It had been a blur of lightning and adrenaline, his powers growing stronger as he fought to protect the people around him, especially Kaycee.
Darren had been just about to review his stats when EDS began talking, and so thought to do so again. He and Kaycee had both been taking the time to rest and try to come to terms with everything that had happened in recent days, and he hadn't taken the time to reevaluate his progress yet.
"EDS, show me my stats please," Darren said.
"Certainly."
A somewhat translucent blue screen popped into existence before his eyes.
Darren Cadogan
Lv. 8
Title:
Storm Knight - Lv. 3
Specialization:
Striker
Commander
Available AP:
4
Stats:
Vitality: 20
Absorption: 20
Strength: 35
Agility: 30
Resistance: 18
Stamina: 27
Luck: 18
Stealth: 13
Darren considered his options. He wanted to strengthen his roles as Striker and Commander, and amplify the strength and swiftness of his attacks. Though, he also needed to consider his endurance and ability to take damage. He mulled it over for a while before making his decision.
"EDS, I want to allocate my 4 stat points," he said.
"Certainly," EDS replied.
"I want to add one point to Vitality, one to Resistance, one to Agility, and one to Stamina."
"I'm curious about your thought process on this. Why did you decide to upgrade these specific stats?"
"Well," Darren began, "Vitality will help me tank more hits, increasing my overall health and survivability, which I think is important for a frontline warrior and leader. The same reasoning goes for Resistance, as it will allow me to take less damage. Agility enhances my speed and reflexes. If I'm right, increasing Agility will allow my body to perform better when using Bolt. And Stamina seems like a given as it governs how long I can keep using my abilities and stay in the fight in general. The more stamina I have, the longer I can stay in the fight."
"Very interesting," EDS said. "You've given this a lot of thought. And your theory is correct. Increased Agility will help your body to better handle the stresses of your Bolt ability."
Darren's new status screen looked like this:
End of Chapter 35:
Darren Cadogan
-Lv. 8
Title:
Storm Knight - Lv. 3
Specialization:
-Striker
-Commander
Available AP:
0
Stats:
Stats:
Vitality: 21
Absorption: 20
Strength: 35
Agility: 31
Resistance: 19
Stamina: 28
Luck: 18
Stealth: 13
Striker Skills & Abilities
Weapon Mastery (Passive):
-Your skill with any weapon grows rapidly, allowing you to unlock advanced techniques and special attacks through continued use.
-As a Striker, melee proficiency increases 100% faster than ranged proficiency, enabling quicker mastery and enhanced effectiveness in close combat.
-Master's Edge: Each new weapon mastery grants a permanent 5% bonus to attack speed and critical strike chance with similar weapons.
Strength to Fight (Passive):
-Empowers physical prowess, adding +15 to strength, +10 to agility, and +10 to stamina, enhancing combat effectiveness in both offense and endurance.
-Unyielding Stamina: At higher skill levels, you also gain increased resistance to knockbacks and stagger effects, maintaining momentum in combat.
Absorb (Active):
-Channels ambient energy from the environment, using it to strengthen physical capabilities like strength, speed, and durability. The effects of Absorb last as long as energy is actively absorbed, making it adaptable to your surroundings.
-Enhanced Effect: If absorbing from potent sources like storm energy or mana flows, Absorb can double its impact, granting temporary regeneration and a shield that blocks minor damage.
-Usage: Use of Absorb in high-energy areas also restores stamina over time, extending your endurance in prolonged battles.
Imbue (Active):
-Charges your weapon with the energy absorbed through Absorb, intensifying its damage output and adding elemental effects that vary based on energy type (lightning, fire, or earth).
-Duration: 45 seconds, or until deactivated.
-Elemental Boosts: Each element imbued offers unique effects: lightning chains to other foes, fire inflicts lingering burn damage, and earth adds a stunning impact, making your strikes disrupt enemy formations.
Commander Skills & Abilities
One For All (Passive):
-Enhances the combat capabilities of all allies within your group, increasing their base stats (strength, agility, stamina, and defense) by 10%.
-Unity Resilience: Allies gain an additional 10% resistance to crowd control effects (such as stuns and slows) when within range of the Commander, improving cohesion and reducing downtime in battle.
Command (Active):
-When activated, Command strengthens your words with leadership energy, amplifying allies' confidence, focus, and loyalty. Allies receive a surge of inspiration, allowing them to operate with heightened coordination and resolve.
-Duration: 30 seconds.Inspiring Presence: While active, each ally gains a 20% boost to attack and movement speed and a temporary increase in clarity, enhancing reaction times and accuracy.
Order (Active):
-Grants the power to establish and lead an Order, gathering dedicated allies and strengthening their bonds through shared purpose. As the Order's Leader, you can assign specialized roles that unlock unique Order buffs and enhance teamwork abilities.
-Order Benefits: Members of the Order gain a 5% increase to all stats when in proximity to each other, with added synergy bonuses that allow coordinated maneuvers, like defensive formations or attack tactics.
-Leadership Authority: The Order structure requires official acknowledgment, and new members must formally accept their roles within the Order. This shared allegiance enables Order-exclusive abilities that amplify team cohesion and defensive strategies.
Storm Knight Skills & Abilities:
Storm Call (Passive):
-The Storm Knight commands the very elements, instinctively drawing storms to his presence, wherever he may be. The nature of the storm reflects his inner state—raging with fury, turbulent with turmoil, or calm with resolve. In the heart of a storm, all abilities are empowered, amplifying their effectiveness by 50%, while the Storm Knight's stats surge with a 50% increase, making him a force of nature unleashed.
Bolt (Active):
-The Storm Knight channels the speed of lightning itself, enabling instantaneous, electrifying movement across the battlefield. This ability allows him to strike, reposition, or evade with blinding speed, leaving behind a faint trail of charged energy and catching foes off guard.
Darren was staring at the stats screen floating in front of him, lost in thought. He used to enjoy gaming, though he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually played. He remembered that EDS initially said something about him being designed with game-like features to help the Knights with ease of use. A thought struck, and he couldn't help but laugh at how absurd it seemed, yet it lingered.
"Hey, EDS," he said, his voice light but curious. "Can I ask you something weird?"
"Certainly, Darren," EDS replied in its usual calm, measured tone.
Darren scratched the back of his neck, still smiling. "Well, I was just thinking... In video games, you get all these cool features, right? Like, health bars, damage indicators, minimaps... all those little quality-of-life things that help keep track of what's going on."
There was a pause. Darren could almost imagine EDS raising an eyebrow—if the entity had one. "I'm aware of these concepts. What are you getting at?"
"Can we, you know, implement those? A health bar would be helpful in a fight, and maybe something like a stamina gauge so I know when I'm about to collapse? It feels like those features would actually be kinda useful in the middle of a battle."
EDS was silent for a moment, as if processing Darren's request. Then, with a hint of amusement, it responded, "You wish to further gamify your experience as the Storm Knight?"
Darren chuckled. "When you put it that way, it sounds a bit silly. But... yeah, I guess so. I mean, having real-time feedback in the heat of a fight would be huge. It's one thing to get a feel for how exhausted I am, but having it quantified—like in games—that'd make a big difference."
"There is nothing preventing such features from being activated," EDS said thoughtfully. "In fact, given that the Earth Defense System is designed to be adaptable to its users, I can manifest these tools in a format you're comfortable with."
Darren's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"
"Yes. However, I must warn you that such features will require a portion of your mental processing capacity to maintain. It will be subtle, but keeping track of additional visual cues like health bars or stamina gauges could introduce minor cognitive load. Are you prepared for that?"
Darren grinned. "I've handled worse. Honestly, it'll make me feel more in control of things. It's better than guessing how much energy I've got left in a fight."
"Very well. I will implement the requested features. You may toggle them on or off as you wish."
In an instant, Darren noticed a thin translucent bar appear in the upper corner of his vision, faint but clearly readable. His health was full—no surprise there—but a soft blue bar underneath it showed his stamina, slowly regenerating from his morning workout.
"This is... incredible," Darren muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's like a game, but it's real life."
"I'll continue to monitor your responses," EDS said. "You may ask for additional features should you require them."
Darren stared at the health and stamina bars, a wave of relief washing over him. "Thanks, EDS. This is going to help a lot."
"You're welcome, Darren," EDS replied, its tone warm with the slightest hint of pride. "Now, let's see how you use this to further your journey."
As Darren stared at the new interface, another thought struck him. If EDS could add a health bar and stamina gauge, what else was possible? His mind started racing through all the features he'd found useful in games over the years, especially when coordinating with a team.
"Hey, EDS," Darren began again, his excitement building. "Is it possible to add a gauge for the energy or power I absorb? Like... a meter that shows how much energy I've taken in and how much is useable at any given moment?"
There was a brief pause before EDS responded, its tone thoughtful. "I believe it would be feasible to provide a visual representation of how much energy is currently stored and available for use."
"Awesome," Darren said, his grin widening. "It'd really help me track when I can use Absorb and how much of it I've got left to work with."
"Understood. I will implement this feature now."
Just as before, a new bar appeared in his vision, distinct from the health and stamina gauges. This one pulsed with a faint golden hue, growing brighter and taller with each surge of energy Darren absorbed. A quick glance told him it was about half full from residual ambient energy around him, waiting to be tapped into.
"Perfect," Darren muttered. "This is going to be so much easier now."
But his mind wasn't done yet. "Okay, one more thing—no, wait, two," he added, realizing something critical. "I've got people with me—well, not right now, but I've got Kaycee, and I've got my siblings to watch out for, too. Can we add a minimap? Something that shows the area around me, maybe highlights nearby enemies, allies, or threats? Oh, and party features! Like, I want to see their status, too—health bars, stamina, anything important, and be able to communicate with them."
EDS's response was swift this time, almost as if it had anticipated the request. "The minimap feature is certainly possible and can display both terrain and any identified life forms or entities within a specific radius of your position. As for party features, I see no reason why you shouldn't have that as well. Your siblings do not have access to me, though, not like the Knights do."
"Is there anything I can do about that?" Darren asked, grasping at straws. The idea that he could keep an eye on the well-being of his siblings and Kaycee was too good to let go.
"Actually, there is. Congratulations, you have just unlocked the Bank!" EDS said, sounding somewhat excited.
"The Bank?" Darren asked, confused.
"Indeed, the Bank!" EDS continued. "Each time you level up you earn gold coins, and the amount earned increases with each new level. Now that the Bank is unlocked, you will see that Auto-Loot has been active since your first battle. Money and items are automatically looted from fallen enemies. Money is converted to gold coins. Currently, items of common and uncommon rarity are immediately converted to gold coins as well, while rare, epic, and legendary items are immediately deposited into your inventory. You have not looted items of rare or higher quality thus far."
Darren's eyes lit up. "What? Why didn't you tell me about this before?" he asked, exasperated.
"All you had to do was ask," EDS replied smoothly.
Darren was stunned, then asked, "Why not just tell me in advance? How am I supposed to know to ask about something I don't know exists?"
"I do not make the rules," EDS said, a hint of amusement in his tone.
Darren grinned, happy regardless of not knowing about the Bank and Auto-Looting beforehand. He thought of the Bank and suddenly a new screen appeared before him. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the balance.
"EDS, how much is one gold coin worth in US Dollars?" Darren asked hesitantly.
"The exchange rate is currently, approximately, one-to-one."
"WHAT!?" Darren shouted, standing on his feet and jumping up and down in excitement. The total amount of gold coins in his Bank was over twenty-five million. "Are you seriously telling me I'm a millionaire, EDS?"
"Indeed," EDS replied. Darren thought he could hear a smile in EDS's voice. "The Great King advised me that He wanted to make sure the Knights were provided for. You must earn the money, but He is not stingy. He will open the floodgates and bless those abundantly who have faith in Him and do His will."
Darren fell to his knees, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. He closed his eyes and began to pray aloud.
"Thank You, Great King. I don't deserve your kindness and mercy, or your provision, and I gratefully accept this bounty. I don't have to worry about providing for my siblings anymore, as you have taken care of that completely!"
Darren continued to thank the Great King for some time, feeling more jubilant than he could remember feeling in a long time. EDS could only bask in the goodness of the Great King, and also thank Him profusely for giving him such a grand purpose.
A while later, Darren stood and walked to the window of his relatively small apartment. He lived there with Aiden and Ava, but already thoughts of moving them to a better, more secure home floated around his mind.
It was then that Darren noticed the mini-map in his vision, directly across from his status bars. The small map was translucent and he could see a small arrowhead marking his location. The map covered several blocks around him.
There were no immediate threats nearby, but he could see numerous little blue dots in nearby homes and businesses marking the presence of other people. He imagined this would be crucial in a fight. He could already see how it would make navigating an unfamiliar battlefield so much easier.