"I, Daren, vow this day that I will offer you my protection from this moment, and until the end of this tournament." ― Daren[1]
Daren is the first ally Barry makes in Varathia. Known far and wide as "The Healer in Armor" or "The Savior of the Eastern Continent", he is a heroic white mage and enchanter originating from the Southern Continent, who travels the world fighting for the greater good.
Appearance[]
Daren is a tall, bald, dark skinned male around his mid-40s, with an X-shaped scar on his forehead. He usually wears enchanted heavy armor that that covers as much of his body as possible, but does not wear a helmet. He almost always carries his shield and sword, both of which are heavily enchanted.[1] His distinctive appearance leads to him often being recognized even by those who have never met him before.
Personality[]
Daren is an idealist, thinking that there is still good worth fighting for even if there is still lots of evil left in this world. He joined the Magium tournament in the hopes of gaining the necessary power to save the world. He holds a degree of prejudice against monsters and animals, treating them as lesser than other intelligent races. Daren is incredibly black-and-white when it comes to trust, generally giving none at all to anyone he believes is evil, even when such people provide genuine assistance, such as with Eiden and Arraka. Conversely he shows nearly blind trust for anyone he believes to be a good person, such as casually revealing his weakness to Barry, and believing any lies told by him without question, despite only just having met him.[1] Daren is very stubborn in his beliefs, and it is hard to convince him of anything he believes to be impossible.
History[]
Daren is a legendary mage from the Southern Continent who has traveled the world saving countless villages.[1] He has supposedly single-handedly battled ten rock golems to save one child, and famously cured the ‘Iknar’ plague of the Eastern Continent.[1] In his youth, He trained under two ex-sages: an unknown white mage, and Nolderan, his enchanting and martial arts master beginning from when he was barely 20 years old. Nolderan was incredibly tough on Daren, frequently bringing him along into dangerous situations to give him real combat experience, and giving him the two scars across his face during sparring, in order to demonstrate a flaw in Darens' defenses.
Before his decision to journey the world, Daren married Sophie, a woman whom he shared a childhood with. He offered to divorce her as a means of protection once he set his mind to becoming a hero. Sophie refused to hear of it, and Daren settled on a compromise, giving her the freedom to spend her life with another man even while they remained legally married. She refused to let go of him, and Daren began enchanting transceivers to maintain a long-distance relationship. She currently resides a remote village in the Southern Continent, where she and Daren spent their youth.[2]
Upon hearing about the Magium tournament being held in Varathia, Daren entered in the hopes of using the Magium's power to help save more people.
Abilities[]
White Magic[]
Thanks to his proficiency with white magic, Daren is one of the best healers in the world. He is able to heal most ordinary injuries with ease, and is able to dispel death curses or purify banshees using the enchantments on his sword alone , even while his own magic is sealed. He also has many protection spells for specific types of damage, but only for personal use, as he hasn't learned the advanced versions which can target others. He largely uses his healing abilities to mitigate his weakness against physical weapons, as he can simply heal any serious wounds after the battle ends.[3]
Enchanting Magic[]
Daren is a very skilled enchanter. He enchanted a magical transceiver that can cover a very long distance between continents. He also enchanted his armor and shield to be as durable as possible against physical damage. His shield can also make a semi-transparent magical barrier around the caster and the surrounding area. Among the things he enchanted, he enchanted his sword the most. His sword can absorb any elemental magic, and is enchanted such that at can be used to dispel curses, and purify banshees, without the wielder needing to use magic themselves.
- Basic Weapon Enchantments: Daren can enchant weapons with basic sharpness and durability enchantments. The quality of these enchantments is largely dependent on the quality of weapon and materials used.
- Advanced Weapon Enchantments: See Daren's sword and shield in the 'Equipment' section.
- Backpack Enchanting: Daren can turn a regular backpack into an enchanted backpack in just a few minutes, with no materials required.
- Transceiver Enchantment: Daren can enchant transceivers to grant them incredibly enhanced communication range when communicating with other transceivers he's also enchanted. They can also be used to communicate with other transceivers via normal frequencies.
- Enchanter's Oath: A spell which allows someone to make a magical oath, which will cost them their life if broken. This oath can be created by sprinkling a little of target's blood over Daren's sword, and having them speak the terms of their oath. If the duration is not specified, the oath will become life-binding. The target will get a warning if the spell considers that they are close to crossing the line.[4] This spell can be undone by the Daren.[5]
Sword Technique[]
Daren has a sword technique that can temporarily sever a mage's link to the magical plane, making them unable to cast spells for half an hour. Daren can cancel this technique by joining his fingers together touching the slashed area with them, in three separate places.[6]
Aura Manipulation Technique[]
Daren has a natural affinity for aura manipulation, helping him to learn it faster than normal people. Currently he can use this to cancel opponents own aura manipulation techniques, pull his sword to his hand from far away, and glue his weapon to his hand.[7]
Weaknesses[]
Physical attacks[]
For reasons he himself cannot understand, Daren struggles to create adequate protections against physical damage, This is what lead him to learn to fight with heavy armor and a shield, and is also why he considers fellow weapon enchanters his biggest weakness. Daren's reliance on heavy armor also prevents him from using certain martial arts techniques taught to him by Nolderan.
Equipment[]
Enchanted Sword[]
Daren's sword is heavily enchanted, with he himself claiming it would take weeks and a small fortune's worth of materials to recreate the same enchantments it has. It has been shown to be able to cut through heavy armor "like a knife through butter", and according to Arraka, may even be capable of harming the God of Time. The sword is also capable of producing a variety of magical effects, without the wielder needing to use their own magic at all. These effects include the ability to absorb and redirect elemental magic, perform banshee exorcism rituals, and remove death curses. Daren also uses this sword as a focus for creating enchanter's oaths with others.
Enchanted Shield[]
Daren's enchanted shield is incredibly durable, and can be used by Daren to generate a large semi-transparent barrier to protect himself and others from harm. This barrier has proven durable enough to be able to stand up to the likes of Tyrath's fire breath for a short while.
Enchanted Heavy Armor[]
Little is known about the enchantments on Daren's armor, aside from the fact that it is incredibly durable, to the point that even enchanted blades that can cut through chains don't even scratch it. Like any armor though, it has gaps around the joints that can be exploited.
Enchanted Transceivers[]
Daren enchanted many transceivers ahead of the tournament. These enchanted transceivers have greatly increased ranged, and are each numbered to that they can easily select which other transceiver to contact. They also have a switch that allows them to use regular transceiver frequencies instead. Thus far he has given out 5 of these transceivers to others. Transceiver 1 was originally Daren's personal transceiver before giving it to Rose and not getting it back, and transceivers 2, 3, 4, and 5 being held by Barry, Kate, Flower and Hadrik respectively. Daren himself now uses transceiver 6.