Becoming the Dark Lord

Yut was bleeding. His soldiers had died one by one in that underground lake, swallowed by the trap, the chaos, and the foreigner standing in front of him. Even so, Yut laughed. A rough, broken laugh that quickly turned into a cough. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

“Would’ve been fun hunting you down back in Bangkok, foreigner,” he said, showing teeth stained red. “You have my respect.”

Luke Moon watched him calmly, bow in hand. “Don’t bother getting up. You’re already dead.”

“Yut Saeten never gives up,” Yut snarled. “I’m going to kill you. Then I’m going to kill those daimyo bastards who destroyed Thailand. After that, I’m coming for the World Kings. And any other piece of shit dumb enough to get in my way.”

Luke raised the bow.

Yut smiled, even with blood in his teeth. “You were willing to sacrifice those flame-throwing idiots. I’ll admit it. You’re a hell of a psychopath. Just like me.”

“Maybe I am, Yut Saeten,” Luke said. “But there’s one difference between us.”

”And what’s that?”

Luke drew the string, aimed, and put an arrow through his head. Darkness swallowed him whole.

For a while, Yut’s consciousness drifted in that black sea. He existed. Somewhere too deep to reach, he knew he still existed. But he couldn’t speak, hear, see, or move anything. There was no pain, no body, no world. Only darkness. Sometimes, quick flashes of awareness came and went, like bubbles rising from an abyss. Then he was nothing again. Or maybe everything. It was impossible to tell. Until the darkness began to fade.

“Hey,” Luke Moon’s voice echoed. “Bet you’re surprised to be back from the dead. How about making a deal with a demon?”

Then color bled back into reality.

What the hell happened?

[Your level has returned to its original state!]

[Your rank has returned to E!]

[All your skills have been reactivated!]

[Your equipment has been returned and is nearby!]

Yut’s hands trembled. He pressed one to his stomach, expecting blood, torn flesh, proof he was still dying. There was no wound.

“Earth to Yut,” Luke said, waving a hand in front of his face.

Yut blinked slowly. “Is this hell?”

“You believe in heaven and hell?”

“I’m dead. And if you’re here, then you died too.” Yut narrowed his eyes. “Is this some kind of hallucination?”

“No. I’m real enough.”

“Real enough to bleed?”

Yut lunged for Luke’s throat. His body froze before he could take a single step.

What?!

A wrong kind of fear crawled up Yut’s spine. It wasn’t cowardice. It wasn’t normal panic. It was the feeling of being trapped inside his own flesh, staring at Luke Moon while nothing in his body obeyed him.

A cold blade touched his throat. A black kukri.

“I could take your head right now, Yut,” Luke said, close enough for Yut to feel his breath. “And you know what would happen? I’d get all the experience points I’m owed for killing you on that island. Not a bad payout.”

Yut couldn’t move. Then he sensed something behind him. With effort, he lifted his eyes and saw a massive black serpent watching him, its yellow eyes fixed like lanterns in the dark.

Luke pulled the kukri away and sheathed it. “I didn’t bring you back from the dead to watch you stand there like a statue.”

Yut’s body obeyed him again. He sucked in a sharp breath, muscles still tight. The serpent slid behind Luke and stayed there, staring at Yut with those hypnotic eyes.

“That your pet, Luke Moon?”

“Something like that.”

Behind Luke stood a table. Yut’s items were laid out on it.

Yut looked at the equipment, then back at Luke. “How did you bring me back from the dead?”

“I won the Battle Royale and got some perks. You’re the third person I brought back. And the last one I could.”

“And what do you want me to do? Beg you not to kill me? Drop to my knees and worship you? Beg for forgiveness?”

“Yes. I’d love that.”

“Then there’s no fucking way I’m doing it.”

Luke didn’t look surprised.

“I want to make a deal with you, Yut Saeten. Your life is mine. Your fate is in my hands. I brought you back from the dead, but it wasn’t free.”

“You killed my soldiers, then you killed me. Hell of a plan, by the way.” Yut smiled mockingly. “Where are those little friends of yours who helped set that trap? Did you kill them too?”

“Exactly. I killed them. Including the guy who fooled you by pretending to be me and led you into the cave. I killed them right after I killed you.”

Yut laughed. “That tracks. Use the idiots, trick the idiots. At least I lost to a proper bastard.” He tilted his head. “And what about Ivor?”

“Killed him too. Tricked him too.”

Yut sat on the ground, laughing like he’d just heard an excellent joke. “That guy was strong. If you hadn’t been sent to that island, he and I would’ve had to duel at the end.”

“You owe me, Yut Saeten. And I’m collecting something worth your life.”

Yut rose slowly. “Go fuck yourself. I’m going to kill you. I’m just buying time. The second you and that serpent drop your guard, I’m grabbing my gear.”

“Go ahead,” Luke said. “Take it. I don’t care. Try me. Same result. You die.”

Yut looked at his sword on the table and narrowed his eyes. “It’s a trap. Something’s going to happen when I get there. Maybe it explodes. Or some shit.”

“No. There’s no trap.”

“No... huh?”

Yut launched himself forward with a skill. In a blur, he reached the table, grabbed his sword, and rolled across the ground, putting distance between them in one motion. He froze there, waiting for the explosion, the curse, the serpent’s bite, anything.

Nothing happened.

“The table didn’t explode.” Yut tightened his grip on the sword. “We’re not in the Battle Royale anymore, foreigner. My skills are unlocked.”

“And as you just saw, I didn’t set a trap. Are we going to keep talking or not?”

“There’s no deal. And even if I agree, I’ll betray you and kill you the moment you let your guard down.”

Luke let out a short sigh. “This is Yut Saeten? The king of Bangkok? The guy who failed, lost a Battle Royale, and is so pathetic he’ll stab the man who saved his life in the back?”

“Damn right.”

“No. In some twisted way, I know you have principles. Warped ones, sure, but you have them.” Luke took a step forward. “I know exactly who you are.”

“Do you?”

“You didn’t betray Father. You didn’t kill anyone from his group after you allied with them. Sure, while you were chasing me, you let them fall into the traps I’d set on purpose. But in your sick little head, it probably sounded like: I’m honoring the truce. I’m not attacking them. They’re just too stupid and keep falling into Luke Moon’s traps.”

Yut clicked his tongue.

“Looks like that got your attention,” Luke said. “So what’s it going to be, Yut Saeten? Are you a coward who needs to stab me in the back, or are you going to accept that you owe me? And you owe me a lot.”

“You killed my men.”

“Only one of you was ever walking off that island. If you’d been lucky enough to move on to the next phase of the Battle Royale, you would’ve had to kill at least forty of the fifty soldiers under your command. Then you would’ve had to kill the other ten who followed you to win.” Luke tilted his head. “What would you have done when that moment came?”

Yut stayed silent.

“Even you didn’t know,” Luke continued. “You were afraid you’d have to kill your own soldiers, weren’t you?”

“They were fools who served me. Their lives barely mattered.”

“Then wanting revenge for them makes no sense.”

Yut clicked his tongue again. “They were my people. I was the only one who had the right to decide their fate.”

“I did you a huge favor. I killed them quickly, spared you from making that decision, and even made sure you died with them.”

“What do you want as thanks? Want me to suck your balls and clap? Such a noble knight.”

“I want you to shut your mouth and make a deal with me.”

Yut drove his sword into the dirt and walked closer to Luke. “You get one favor from me. But don’t think I won’t come after you once I’ve paid it back. I came to this world board to raise hell.”

“And that’s exactly why I brought you back.”

Yut broke into a grin. “Then tell me, oh noble knight of the golden balls. What do you want me to do?”

Luke stared at him without a trace of humor. “What you told me right before you died. I want you to kill the daimyo who ruined Thailand. And after that, go after the World Kings.”

***

Yut had heard Luke Moon just fine. He also understood where he was and what he had to do. The event had three Stages, and he was now in the second. From the mini-island where Luke had brought him back, Yut watched the main island get swallowed by the ocean.

“I’m going to win this damn event, then rub it in your face,” Yut said. “Now what? What’s the plan?”

“Good luck.”

Yut frowned. “Good luck?”

Luke shoved him off the mini-island. Yut hit the sea, and heat surged through his body. Before he could swim, or even finish cursing, an invisible force yanked him upward.

“Son of a bi—”

He shot into the sky at a ridiculous speed, spinning nonstop, until the momentum vanished all at once.

Then he began to fall.

“FUCK!”

Yut plummeted through open air. He tried to think of a skill, any skill, but none of them seemed useful for surviving a fall like that. He gritted his teeth, shut his eyes, and braced for impact. He slammed into sand and rolled several times.

When he got up, covered in dust, he burst out laughing. “For a second there, I thought I’d die again.”

[Opening Mission of the Sunken Hunt]

[You, along with all other survivors of the Island Challenge, have now been cast into the world and begun the Sunken Hunt. You must survive the first night before Sunken Hunt missions become available. Good luck!]

“Damn Suea,” Yut muttered, spitting out sand. “He knew that would happen and wanted to scare me.”

There was no sign of Luke Moon. Yut was alone in a desert of sand. There wasn’t even an ocean nearby.

He looked around, then started walking. “I’ll find you again out there, Suea. We’re still getting our rematch one day.”

After hours crossing the desert, Yut managed to feed himself. He had killed some strange creature and eaten the meat raw. It tasted like lobster. One of the few acceptable things in that miserable place.

The water was useless.

“Pure salt...” he said, tasting water from a huge puddle and immediately spitting it out.

As he walked, he began to spot structures in the distance. Buildings with strange architecture, half-buried in the sand. Huge towers, crooked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but dark green and covered in algae clinging to the walls.

Yut lifted his head. “How the hell did algae get up there?”

Along the way, he also found the corpses of giant fish the size of bears, bite marks scattered across their bodies. They were fresh. Yut had no idea how they had ended up there, in the middle of a dry desert, but this world had already made one thing clear: logic could go fuck itself.

Then something came at him from the sky. If Yut hadn’t always been alert, he would’ve died right there. An arrow dropped and punched a hole in the sand. He barely dodged. More arrows followed.

“Ah. Finally. Someone.” Yut’s grin widened. “And finally, I get to kill something that doesn’t look like a crustacean!”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He ran. The arrows came from the direction of one of the towers. Yut charged fast, dodging at the last instant. Every shot hit with absurd force, opening craters and blasting sand in every direction. The arrows were way too small to hit that hard.

“Throw whatever challenge you want at me, stupid world!” Yut shouted, sprinting through the ruins. “I already died once!”

Little by little, he closed in on the structures. They were the remains of a city sunk into the sand. Yut ran between broken buildings, shattered walls, and leaning columns, searching for whoever was firing. Then he saw him. The archer was hidden among the wreckage. Another arrow came at him. Yut jumped, grabbed a piece of debris midair, and activated a skill.

[Ballistic Throw (Epic)]: A Siege Marksman cannot always rely on his weapons. Sometimes he must become the weapon. By channeling Stamina and Mana into a stone, he can throw it with devastating force, strong enough to punch a hole in a fortress wall. The more power stored in the rock, the stronger the impact. But be warned: overcharging may injure your arm.

Yut channeled power into the stone and hurled it. The impact blew apart the structure the archer had been hiding in. He charged through the dust.

“Not so fun when you’re the target, is it?!” he shouted, grabbing another stone and throwing again.

More rubble exploded. Sand and dust swallowed everything. Yut crossed through the dry smoke and reached the man firing the arrows. The archer had already abandoned the bow. He drew a scimitar, and the two crashed into each other.

Yut attacked with his Thai sword. The archer answered with heavy, precise strikes. Their blades met again and again, metal on metal, until they locked for an instant, strength against strength.

Yut finally saw his face. “You?!”

He was kicked before he could say more. The archer drove his scimitar into the ground, drew his bow, and fired. Yut knocked the arrow aside with his sword, but the projectile hit like it weighed a ton. The impact hurled him backward, ripping sand from the ground. He fell, rolled, and instead of getting angry, he burst out laughing. He planted his sword in the sand and looked at the archer, who already had another arrow aimed at him.

“That demon brought you back too, huh?” Yut asked.

Ivor stared at him. “I didn’t believe it when I saw you from a distance. So it really is you, Yut Saeten.”

“That Suea’s a damn reaper,” Yut said, getting to his feet. “Kills some, spares others, and even resurrects people for his little game.”

“He didn’t tell me he resurrected you.”

“He didn’t tell me about you either.” Yut spread his arms. “So why don’t we kill him next time we see him?”

Ivor fired an arrow. It grazed Yut’s cheek, opening a thin cut.

“A hunter should die with honor. Live with it too.”

The next arrow was aimed straight at Yut’s head.

Yut raised his hands.

“I was joking. If I was going to kill that guy, I’d do it alone. You need a sense of humor.” He slowly lowered his arms. “So what deal did you make with him?”

Ivor turned his back and started walking across the desert. Night was falling.

Yut followed him.

“Who did he send you to kill?”

“No one,” Ivor replied.

Yut kept walking behind him.

“Why are you following me?” Ivor asked without looking back.

“Because I want to annoy you. And because we’re in the middle of a damn desert.” Yut ran his tongue over his dry lips. “You got any drinkable water? I’m thirsty.”

“I do.”

Yut smiled. “Great.”

“But I’m not sharing. Good luck figuring it out.”

Yut clicked his tongue. “And how did he kill you?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“You had a hand in my death. I deserve to know.”

Ivor stayed silent.

Yut smirked and kept going. “I bet he played you like an idiot. Remember how it felt? Being made into a fool? Then death comes, and you realize you died in the stupidest way possible.” He tilted his head. “What do you think about that, Ivor? Dying like a fool and then getting resurrected by the guy who killed you.”

Ivor stopped and turned. “I understand you better now, Yut.”

“Do you?”

“You’re like a clown.”

Yut narrowed his eyes. “A clown?”

“You need an audience for your little show. Someone to perform for.”

“That’s bullshit. I just wanted to annoy you.”

“Like a clown,” Ivor said, and started walking again.

Yut pointed at him. “Suck my Thai balls.”

Ivor stopped again, but this time he raised his bow and aimed into the distance.

Yut followed his gaze. “What is it? Find something interesting? Or maybe that Suea?”

Ivor didn’t answer. He slowly lowered the bow. “Is that possible?”

“Is what possible, archer?”

Yut looked in the same direction. Far off, the horizon looked different.

“Were those mountains that close before?” Ivor started running.

Yut stood still for half a second. “What are you doing? You’re just going to run? What, you a coward now?”

Ivor ignored him and sprinted toward the nearest tower.

“Scared, archer?” Yut shouted, laughing as he watched him run. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you while you piss yourself.”

Then a loud sound came from every direction at once.

Yut stopped laughing. “Is it just me, or are those mountains... moving?”

The answer hit him a second later. He understood what he was seeing.

“Oh, shit. Oh, shit.” Yut turned and ran.

They weren’t mountains. A gigantic wall of water. A tsunami. “Holy shit!”

Yut sprinted for the tower. Ivor was already climbing, fast, firing arrows that created ropes and pulled him upward.

“Give me a hand, you bastard!” Yut shouted.

The tsunami surged behind them, swallowing the desert with a monstrous roar. Yut climbed any way he could, digging his fingers into cracks, pushing himself up with his legs, using everything he had to gain height.

“Holy shit, it’s a tsunami!”

He reached the top of the tower at the same moment the wave arrived. The sound was deafening. Water slammed into the ruins with world-ending force, swallowing sand, broken buildings, and the corpses of giant fish. Up there, with wet wind in his face and the ocean spreading beneath him, it finally clicked. Yut had been walking on the bottom of the sea the entire time.

If I hadn’t reached this tower... that wave would’ve taken me.

“Scared?” Ivor asked, sitting at the top of the tower with a smile. “Afraid of water?”

Yut clicked his tongue and sat down too, watching the newborn ocean cover everything around them.

“If you lived in Thailand, you wouldn’t like tsunamis either.”

For a while, the two sat in silence, watching the water spread where sand had been.

Then Yut glanced sideways. “You actually got water to share, or was that a lie?”

Ivor took out a canteen and tossed it to him.

Yut caught it, drank, and took a deep breath. “So how did you die, archer?”

Ivor looked out over the flooded horizon. “Same way you did.”

Yut waited.

Ivor finished. “With my eyes closed.”

***

Yut continued crossing the desert beside Ivor. During the day, the waters receded, leaving behind a dry, jagged stretch of land, as if the sea had decided to stop existing for a few hours. The event had already made their next objective clear: clear a dungeon called [Beacon]. To unlock it, they had to collect [Marine Artifacts] scattered across the region, and after way more effort than either of them wanted to deal with, they finally had enough.

The dungeon, of course, did not open its doors out of kindness. Before it would open, the two of them had to face a [Guardian of the Sea]. The creature nearly tore Yut’s arm off during the fight, and for a few seconds he felt the real weight of defeat closing in. For a few seconds. He won. Injured, pissed off, and with even more reasons to hate that cursed event, but he won.

After that, Yut and Ivor headed for the citadel. For completing the dungeon, they earned the right to take part in a vote. The auditorium was packed with survivors, candidates, and people who looked way too important for their own good. That was where Yut spotted someone familiar.

He leaned toward Ivor and smiled. “Look at that. We found our savior.”

Luke Moon was sitting in a distant row. He noticed them, but made no move to come over. He just stayed where he was, talking to a sharp-eyed, black-haired woman.

Yut narrowed his eyes. “He’s talking to that black-haired woman. Think he knows her, or is she just another person he dragged back from the island?”

“Why don’t you shut up and just watch?” Ivor asked, eyes still fixed ahead.

Yut glanced sideways at him. “What, are you jealous? Wanted him to come over and got your feelings hurt when he ignored you?”

“That sounds more like you.”

“Obviously I’m mad about being ignored.”

Ivor did not answer. The vote ended some time later. Luke stood and left the auditorium with the black-haired woman, never looking back.

Yut followed them with his eyes. “Why not follow them?”

“Why would we?”

“You’re not curious?”

“No. Why are you?”

Yut smiled, but there was something colder behind it. “Information is power. Once my debt’s paid, I’m beating him. Obviously. Anything I learn before then gives me an edge.”

Days passed. Eventually, Luke Moon contacted Ivor and arranged a meeting. When he showed up, he looked like he had no time to waste. He was on his way out of the citadel, wearing that irritating calm of his, like he always knew more than everyone else.

“I’m leaving,” Luke said. “I have less than an hour to catch up with my group. They went ahead, so I’ll make this quick.”

Yut crossed his arms. “So that’s how this works? You make us wait around, waste our time, show up for some quick little chat, then disappear? What, you think you’re in charge?”

Luke looked at Yut for a moment. “Do you still want to kill me?”

“Obviously.”

“Then shut up and listen.”

Ivor cut in before Yut could turn the whole thing into an even more useless argument.

“What do you want? Do you need help with something? We still have plenty of [Marine Artifacts].”

“I don’t need your artifacts,” Luke replied.

Yut turned to Ivor, offended. “Don’t just offer them for free. We could’ve negotiated.”

Luke ignored him. “Did either of you pay attention to the two blond men with long hair at the vote?”

Yut frowned. “I wasn’t looking. You were, Ivor? Checking out the pretty blond boys?”

“Sure,” Ivor said, completely deadpan. “They belonged to a family called Rhiannon.”

“You’re gay too, Ivor?”

Luke and Ivor simply continued the conversation.

“Those two belong to the family of one of the World Kings,” Luke said.

Yut’s expression changed at once. “One of the fucking World Kings?”

Luke nodded, showing no emotion. “That’s what I came to tell you. Don’t forget their faces. If you run into them out there, give me any information you can.”

Yut opened his mouth to spit something poisonous back. “And you think we’re your slaves?”

Luke Moon ignored him and walked away.

***

Yut and Ivor kept clearing Beacons. One by one, they cleared the Beacons in their path, sinking deeper each time into the event’s twisted little game. At the fifth Beacons, in a city near the edge of the region, they met Luke Moon again. Or rather, Luke found them first.

He arranged another conversation, and when he arrived, Ivor greeted him at the entrance of the house where the two of them were staying.

“You came, Luke Moon,” Ivor said, opening the door.

“Hello again, Ivor,” Luke said calmly. “And how is your partner and best friend doing?”

Farther inside the room, Yut lifted a hand without enthusiasm. “I’m fine. No thanks to you. Or maybe thanks to you. I’m still deciding,”

Luke did not seem interested in answering the jab.

“I’ll be brief. I need to leave and search for my Beacons. I only need one answer. Are you going to Stage 3?”

“Obviously,” Ivor answered.

Luke nodded. “Do you remember the two men I asked you to watch for if you came across them?”

“The Rhiannon men, yes,” Ivor said. “We ran into them once.”

Ivor told him everything they had picked up: how the two acted, what little they revealed, and anything else that seemed useful. Luke listened in silence, absorbing every detail.

When Ivor finished, Luke only said, “Good. One last thing. If they get in your way during Stage 3, can you keep one of them busy while I kill the other? Even if it costs you Stage 3?”

Yut gave a short, dry laugh. It sounded almost insulting.

“No. I’m winning this event and rubbing it in your face until you regret bringing me back. But don’t worry. I’ll hand you the prize out of pity.” He pointed at Luke. “I just want you to know you’re going to lose to me.”

Luke stared at Yut for a moment. Then, instead of getting annoyed, he only looked satisfied. “That’s all I needed to hear. I’ll see you around.”

He turned and left. Yut watched the door shut. “And there goes Suea.”

Ivor looked at him. “What’s Suea?”

“Nothing important.” Yut leaned back. “But if he thinks I’m going to help him in Stage 3, good luck. I’m not being a pawn on that guy’s board again. I’m winning this event.”

Ivor stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. “I’m not sure you understood what he actually wants.”

Yut narrowed his eyes. “And what does he want?”

“Let’s say only one of us can win the event. If you win, he takes the victory away from those two Rhiannon.”

Yut went still. The irritation drained from his face, replaced by a much worse realization.

“Shit...”

Ivor did not smile. “Like it or not, you’re going to be part of his game either way.”

***

Luke made his way through the streets without rushing until he found a rooftop high enough to keep him away from the crowds. He climbed up, sat on the edge, and let the city breathe beneath him.

It’s time to leave.

Cadmus’s voice came shortly after, calm as always. “Should I finish calculating the route?”

“Yes, Cadmus.”

While he waited, Luke opened the interface and tapped the notification for his new Witch skill. The choice was still there, pending, demanding a decision he had kept putting off.

[Cloak of the Arcane Witch (Legendary)]: The cloak of an Arcane Witch is not a simple ornament, but the mantle of those who have learned to bend mana through sheer will. This ability wraps the user in a cloak charged with arcane and telekinetic energy, creating a thin mana barrier capable of softening physical attacks and weakening incoming magical damage. While active, the cloak reduces the Witch’s weight and removes part of the resistance around her, allowing abnormal jumps and controlled falls through telekinetic impulses, as if the air itself made room for her passage. Her presence also becomes hazy and difficult to fix on, confusing ordinary senses, magical tracking, and perception abilities. Beneath the arcane mantle, her spells become 25% more powerful, reaching their targets with greater precision, range, and stability. Enemies killed by her spells grant 20% more experience points. When she takes magical damage, the mantle absorbs that energy, adapting to its nature and increasing the Witch’s resistance to similar effects while the cloak remains active. For where other casters wear cloth and empty symbols, the Witch wears her own sovereignty. This ability receives a small power increase based on Wisdom, Intelligence, and Willpower.

[Witch’s Curse Thread (Epic)]: The Witch throws a knife attached to an enchanted thread. If the blade strikes the target, a web of cursed threads rapidly spreads around them, burning, binding, and hindering their movements. The threads remain connected to the Witch, allowing her to pull the victim or manipulate the web for better battlefield control.

[Stasis Pentagram (Epic)]: The Witch uses the power of [Telekinetic Stasis] to create a Pentagram within a radius of up to 10 meters. Any enemy who steps into its area will be affected by telekinetic stasis, having their movements severely reduced for a short time, even after leaving the Pentagram. A perfect trap to slow pursuers, create an opportunity to escape, or open the gap needed to finish off an opponent.

[Spell Grimoire Page (Rare)]: [Spell Grimoire] is an ability the Witch already possesses, allowing her to absorb the spell contained within a magical scroll and claim it for herself, a demonstration of her insatiable hunger for knowledge and exceptional affinity with mana. However, the Grimoire had room for only one scroll. [Spell Grimoire Page] adds a new page to the Grimoire, granting an additional slot to store a second absorbed spell. A power that proves the Witch does not think only of the present, but also of everything she still intends to steal from the world.

[Arcane Witch Golem (Legendary)]: The Witch, using the power of [Advanced Magic Conjuration] and the alchemical powers of [Transmutation], creates from mana a golem identical to herself. The creature is controlled as an extension of her own body, copying her appearance and allowing for infiltration, distractions, or even battle. While controlling the golem, the Witch’s perception of the environment around her main body is considerably reduced, and she cannot activate other Witch abilities. The golem can use some of her powers, but only those belonging to the Witch class and subject to certain power restrictions. Even so, few tools are as valuable to a manipulator as a second version of herself walking through the world.

There were five options, but realistically, only two mattered. The two Legendary ones. The other three were useful, of course. In another situation, any one of them might have been enough. But Luke wasn’t an idiot. Not with two skills of that level sitting right in front of him.

Cloak or Golem. If I could, I’d take both.

The Golem was perfect for infiltration. A false body, identical to his own, with too many possible uses to ignore. He could fool someone by sending it one way while he went another, deliver messages from a distance, appear somewhere without actually being there.

A fake Luke walking through the world. It’s almost like that vampire lord’s skill, the one that created a plant golem of himself.

Just thinking about the applications made the choice harder. It was not just a trick. It was a tool for deception, distraction, and false presence. But then there was the Cloak.

Luke stared at the option for a few more seconds, cold eyes fixed on the floating interface.

[You have acquired the Second Class Skill: ...]