Chương 693: Five Shadowed Paths

[You have acquired the Second Class Skill: Cloak of the Arcane Witch]"The cloak?" Artemis said, surprise slipping into her voice.

"For a second there, I thought you were going for the Golem power." Luke stared at the notification for a few more seconds before answering.

"Out of everything the cloak gives me, one part stood out." The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"The experience bonus." Any enemy killed by his Witch skills while he had the cloak active would grant 20% more experience. That was not a minor detail. In an event where every level could mean surviving instead of becoming a statistic, that was basically a growth machine. This is going to speed up leveling like crazy. But the cloak probably eats mana. Stacking the Cloak with the Horns would be insane. Brutal, even. The problem was obvious: keeping both active would probably chew through mana like a bottomless pit.

From now on, every spare point goes into Wisdom. I need the mana. At least until the event ends. Luke moved away from the crowded area and looked for somewhere out of sight. He found an abandoned building, slipped inside, and activated the skill. Mana condensed around his body. A red cloak appeared.

"Interesting. I can activate it even while wearing a cloak item." He tugged at one edge of the newly formed mantle, testing its texture.

"It just forms over the one I'm already wearing." It looked like a mage's robe. Almost. Its edges seemed worn, uneven, closer to a witch's aesthetic. Still, Luke could feel it would take any shape he wanted. It wasn't fabric. It was mana.

"I thought it'd be white and glowing, like pure mana. But it looks like a normal cloak." He pinched the material between his fingers.

"Even though it's not made of cloth." The aura alone made that obvious. It was pure magic, dense and almost tangible. Luke used [Transmutation] and [Basic Appearance Shift] on the cloak itself, altering its design with ease. Since it was formed from his own mana, it responded to his will without resistance.

"Now that's better." The original red was swallowed by deep black. The magical presence changed too, as if the mantle had been stitched from darkness itself. In reality, it was only mana dyed another color, but the impression it gave was completely different. When he stepped outside, Luke was far from the city center. Wind slid through the broken streets, and the cloak moved behind him without weighing on his shoulders.

"I've never felt this light before." His entire body felt like it had shed weight. Luke focused on [Feline Agility] and started running through the city. Then he used stamina to push his speed even further. Within seconds, he was tearing through the streets like a shadow, until he bent his knees and jumped. He expected a few meters. He got dozens. He cleared the buildings as if he had been launched from a catapult.

"Fuck!" Luke didn't drop right away. He was not flying either. It was more like gliding: a slow, controlled descent, his body held up by something invisible.

"That's it, Buzz. To Andy's house," Artemis said. Luke felt like he could control his own body with telekinesis. Not enough to truly fly, but enough to manipulate his fall, adjust the angle, and choose where to land. He touched down on top of a tall building, the cloak spreading behind him like a dark wing.

"Is the telekinetic mana cutting my weight? Or messing with gravity itself?" [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. Luke spent some time testing the skill around the city.

He leaped from building to building, farther each time, higher each time. The feeling was absurd. He could control his fall, speeding up or slowing down whenever he wanted. So falling to my death is off the table now. Pushing off from the top of a massive building, he jumped toward the sky. For a few moments, he saw the Abyssal Zone below, the dark sea stretching all the way to the horizon, as if the world had been drowned in shadow.

When he came down, he started running through the city again, blending his assassin agility with the cloak's effect. During one of his jumps, he slammed into a stone house feet-first. The impact shattered part of the structure and sent debris flying everywhere.

"Speed and force. Basic physics." Luke looked at the damage.

"I'm basically a speeding truck with Feline Agility and stamina stacked on top." In that state, his punches and kicks carried far more impact than they should.

"Ironically, a mage-type class skill turned out great for melee combat."

"I think it's mostly meant to give the Witch mobility," Artemis said.

"A way to get out of bad fights. You know, mages usually aren't great at that. But, well... the guy who got it is built for melee. So it ended up being a great match." Luke smiled and made the cloak disappear.

"I need more mana. A lot more." He looked at his own hand, imagining the possibilities.

"I want to see what this thing can really do with the demonic horns." Jumping from the building, he landed near the sea.

"Cadmus, which halo should I enter?"

Luke was at sea. One day had passed since he left the City of Waves, and now he was crossing stormy waters. His Spectral Beast had two forms now. The main one was the Kraken. The second was a fish he had killed and fed into the newly unlocked form slot. The Kraken had overwhelming destructive power, but it was not the best option for long-distance travel across the ocean.

"A swordfish." Luke made his beast, still in fish form, swim toward a group of Swordfish moving together. As soon as they saw him, the monsters tried to surround him. The Spectral Beast collapsed into a black mass beneath the water. The next instant, it grew, distorted, and took the shape of the Kraken. Trying to surround me and kill me, huh? The Swordfish bolted the moment they saw the creature. Too late. Luke activated [Maelstrom Dominion].

[Maelstrom Dominion (Epic)]: The kraken rotates its body and tentacles with monstrous force, creating a colossal whirlpool around itself. The current drags enemies closer, shreds smaller vessels, and traps everything within reach of its tentacles, turning the area into a true maritime killing field. The sea around them caved inward Violent currents dragged everything toward the center of the whirlpool. Rocks, seaweed, smaller fish, and predators were sucked in by the force of the rotation.

Even Luke would have been dragged off if he stepped away from the Kraken. The tentacles grabbed the giant Swordfish and lifted them to the surface. The creatures thrashed in the air, trapped like living spears. Luke walked across the monster's body and began throwing knives, killing them one by one.

[You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 104] 1, 788, 789 EP earned [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 103] 1, 641, 432 EP earned [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 103] 1, 640, 538 EP earned [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 101] 1, 7559, 987 EP earned [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 104] 1, 772, 531 EP earned* [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 103] 1, 761, 591 EP earned [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 103] 1, 757, 333 EP earned [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 102] 1, 61, 652 EP earned* [You have slain a Wandering Swordfish - Lvl 104] 1, 772, 536 EP earned Your class [Demonic Predator] has reached Level 100!

(+10 Lethality, +7 Perception, +6 Agility, +6 Vitality, +6 Intelligence, +5 Endurance, +8 Free Points) [WARNING: Your class has entered mandatory evolution!] The Kraken was still holding the Swordfish corpses when Luke started pointing.

"Not that one. Not that one either." Each time Luke rejected one, the Kraken tossed the corpse aside.

"That one." Luke narrowed his eyes.

"The knife hit something." A tentacle brought the corpse closer. Luke cut the creature open, pulled out a core, and tossed it to the Kraken, which devoured it without hesitation. A few seconds later, inside Luke's astral world, the Swordfish appeared in the lake of the Tutorial Capital. Luke killed it there too. [The Spectral Beast is awakening Wandering Swordfish skills...] The Kraken dissolved into a black mass, shrinking until it was about the size of a minivan.

From that dark matter emerged a spectral version of the Swordfish. The beast's new form.

"Let's see if you've got anything useful." Core: Spectral Beast Rank: E Rank D Cores: [98/1000] Core Skill: [Form Devourer] Beast Skills: [Spectral Rend (Rare)], [Predatory Sovereignty (Epic)], [Typhon (Mythic)], [Form Devourer Slot I (Legendary)] Form Devourer: [Juvenile Sunken Kraken (Rank E)], [Wandering Swordfish (Rank E)] This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Form Devourer Skills: [Titan Grip (Uncommon)], [Maelstrom Dominion (Epic)], [Leviathan's Embrace (Legendary)] Form Slot I Skills: [Rostral Blade (Common)], [Tidecutter Charge (Common)], [Lightning Swim (Uncommon)]"Not every beast is going to have legendary skills." Luke studied the new form.

"But for what I need, you'll do." [Rostral Blade (Common)]: The swordfish uses its long "beak" as a natural blade. Its piercing attacks deal extra damage against scales, thick hide, and light armor. [Tidecutter Charge (Common)]: It accelerates in a straight line and cuts through the water like an arrow. The greater the distance traveled before impact, the greater the damage dealt.

[Lightning Swim (Uncommon)]: Drastically increases its speed for a few seconds, allowing it to escape predators, catch prey, or reposition in combat. Luke mounted the Swordfish and sent it forward. It was naturally much faster than the previous form he had been using for crossings. Faster even than the shark form the Spectral Beast had taken in the past. When night fell, the waters turned violent. Light rain fell over the ocean, and the Swordfish swam deep, below the force of the waves.

Luke had already escaped several large predators during the trip. A giant hammerhead shark had followed him for a while before giving up. Before dawn, he surfaced. The drizzle had turned into a full storm.

"What the hell was that?" For an instant, Luke could have sworn he had seen the tail of a whale slipping back beneath the water.

"We are approaching the halo," Cadmus said.

"Right." Luke activated [Tidecutter Charge]. The Spectral Beast accelerated absurdly, ripping through the water like a blade. In a few moments, it crossed the halo and was teleported.

Luke walked through ruins. The halo had brought him to an island. Broken buildings rose around him, left to rot, while the wind passed between the old structures with a low, uneven sound. A bolt flew toward him. Luke knocked it aside with a kukri. The shooter was far away, high on top of a building. Luke found him using the zoom from his special eye. Before he could advance, another bolt cut through the air. He dodged to the side, and the projectile burst against the ground, releasing a dense cloud of smoke.

Poison. More bolts came, fired from different points. He brought friends. Luke activated [Cloak of the Arcane Witch]. The black mantle formed around him, heavy in presence, light on his body.

"You want to play? Fine. I can play." He ran and jumped. The burst launched him dozens of meters above the ruins. As he fell toward the shooter, another bolt was fired at him, but it was too late. Luke landed on the roof, kicked the man back, and finished him with the kukri. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired]"Biggest threat's down."

"Shit. That guy's strong," someone said below. Luke raised his hand and aimed the bracer. A knife shot out and struck a man in the face on a nearby rooftop. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] He dropped into the street like a shadow. He attacked one enemy from behind, ran, and threw the kukri at another. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] Without stopping, Luke jumped and rushed at high speed toward a man drawing a large axe. The impact hurled the man backward. Before he could recover, a kukri struck his face. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] Fireballs came next. Luke let the first one hit him. The cloak really did reduce magical damage. The second fireball exploded against him, and Luke smiled.

"Fire's not burning as much anymore." The shirt beneath his breastplate had caught fire, but the pain was already weaker. His skin barely burned.

"The cloak's adapting me to elemental damage." He slapped out part of the flames with his hand.

"Good test." More fireballs came from different directions. Luke raised his hand and used [Enhanced Telekinesis]. The debris scattered across the street rose all at once, revealing two mages and three fighters in hiding.

"We're so fucked," one of the mages said.

"Yeah. You really are." Luke conjured a knife and threw it hard. The strike hit the mage in the head. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] The other tried to run, but it was too late. Luke reached him with a punch that sent him flying. The kukris returned through the air to his hands, and he finished the target before he could get up. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] A knight charged with his sword. Luke dodged effortlessly, almost lazily.

Every swing cut through empty air. Then Luke moved once and ended the fight. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] Another enemy tried to run. He was already far away when Luke raised the kukri, aimed, and threw it. The blade hit him in the back. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] One left. The man stared at Luke while gripping a sword, but his hand was shaking.

"You're not going to let me leave, are you?"

"No," Luke replied. With a quick burst of speed, he attacked before the man could react. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] The man's head rolled across the ground.

"This cloak is ridiculous in combat, even without magic." Luke stopped in front of the entrance to a building and conjured a [Shadow Ball].

"You coming out?" No one answered. Luke fired the [Shadow Ball] inside. Then another. And another. He kept casting at a steady pace, until the explosions became constant. The structure began to give way, chunks of wall collapsing one after another, until the building crumbled under the chain of impacts. Notifications hovered in front of him. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired]"Just one left." Luke raised his hand toward another building.

The [Shadow Ball] shot out in a high arc, climbed several meters, and dropped onto the distant target. A scream echoed. A man threw himself to the ground, rolling while his clothes burned with black fire.

"Hi," Luke said, already beside him. He aimed his hand and fired [Shadow Ball] again and again. [You have slain a human...] [+1 Soul Fragment acquired] With a wide leap, Luke started moving through the city again. The ambush party was gone. When he reached the tallest building in the area, he stopped at the top and looked over the island. Big island.

"The route to the next halo must pass through this city," Cadmus said. Luke deactivated the cloak. The black mantle dissolved into particles of mana.

"Guess I can finally choose my new class properly." Mandatory Class Evolution Achieved! Congratulations! You have pushed your class to its limit, squeezing every last drop of knowledge and mastery from it. It has been a long journey, marked by focus, determination, ambition, greed… and, of course, a little luck. Like a true demonic beast, you advanced step by step, one enemy after another, one corpse at a time. On your path to level 50, you faced trauma, excitement, loss, and triumph.

Every battle, every choice, every risk shaped the person you are now. You advanced relentlessly against your enemies. Not even an angel escaped your fury. You left death in your wake and never hesitated to kill anyone who stood in your way. You killed kings, nobles, and even when your weapons and levels were taken from you, the essence of your class drove you to become a predator in the jungle. Well done. You are the sum of your own actions. May this evolution carry you even farther.

[Mandatory Class Evolution]: This evolution occurs for every race in the multiverse upon reaching level 100 in any class. There are countless paths across the vast multiverse. Some choose quiet, ordinary lives. Others dedicate themselves to their professions. And then there are those like you, who give themselves completely to their class. Every step of your story has shaped the options now before you. Each path is unique and will take you farther than the last. Choose wisely, because there is no turning back.

(Warning: Until you choose your new class, you will not gain EXP, learn new skills, or benefit from unspent attribute points.) Hell of a time to get ambushed. At least I didn't lose all the EXP from the guys I killed. It went to Witch. [Accept Class Evolution?] Luke selected "Yes." The system interface shifted, and five class evolution options appeared. Each one offered a new possibility, a Path Luke could follow.

[Super Demonic Predator]: Demonic Predators are creatures forged in the hostile worlds of infernal universes, their bodies shaped into weapons built to survive, hunt, and destroy in places where only the most ruthless survive. But even among these beasts, something worse sometimes emerges: a predator that hunts its own kind, not out of necessity, but for the challenge. By walking this path, you shed the last remnants of a mere assassin and awaken the ancestral instincts of these creatures even further.

[Demonic Predator Hands] is only the beginning. Your hands, senses, reflexes, and hunger become extensions of the hunt. You do not pursue merely to kill. You pursue to prove your superiority. As a Super Demonic Predator, skills tied to Predation, Demonic Instinct, Brutal Hunting, and Body Mastery await you. Every enemy brought down strengthens your nature, every confrontation awakens something deeper, and every enemy you bring down pushes you closer to the top of the food chain. You are no longer just an assassin.

You are a beast that hungers for the hunt itself. And every predator that crosses your path will learn it can become prey too. (Attribute Bonus per level: +30 Strength, +24 Perception, +20 Agility, +18 Vitality, +18 Toughness, +15 Endurance, +12 Lethality, +25 Free Points.) [Royal Executioner]: On your journey down the path of assassination, not even nobles escaped your blade.

Kings, dukes, heirs, priests, and aristocrats fell before you, proving that titles, noble blood, and high stations mean nothing when death comes calling. By becoming a Royal Executioner, you accept the role of a court-sanctioned executioner: not some common mercenary bought for cheap coin, but a refined blade, chosen by kingdoms, empires, churches, or dark courts to eliminate targets of extreme importance. You do not kill for chaos. You kill for order, for judgment, for authority.

As a Royal Executioner, you will awaken skills tied to infiltration, disguise, noble etiquette, aristocratic presence, and precise execution. You will learn to move through lavish halls, royal councils, and sacred ceremonies without being seen as a threat. To everyone else, you will be just another respectable figure. To your target, you will be the end. Your blade does not need to hide in the shadows at all times. Sometimes it will stand in plain sight, wrapped in silk, gold, and polished lies.

But when the moment comes, you will be the last face your targets ever see. (Attribute Bonus per level: +22 Perception, +21 Lethality, +17 Agility, +16 Intelligence, +15 Willpower, +11 Strength, +9 Vitality, +10 Free Points.) [Slayer Duelist]: You began as an assassin, but your thirst for the hunt pushed you beyond the limits of a single weapon. Your blades still carry your history, but you have come to understand that not every target should be faced the same way. Some require speed. Others, distance.

Others, raw force. And for every target, there is an ideal weapon. By walking the path of the Slayer Duelist, you stop being someone who kills only from the shadows and become an adaptable hunter, capable of facing different enemies on any battlefield. You learned the fundamentals of archery, but that was only the beginning. Now, your growth depends on exploring multiple combat styles, weapons, and strategies.

As a Slayer Duelist, you may awaken skills tied to melee combat, archery, reading opponents, specialized hunting, and tactical execution. Your blade will remain your companion, if that is what you desire, but you will no longer be limited by it. Swords, bows, daggers, martial techniques, or any other useful tool may become part of your arsenal. You understand a truth many assassins ignore: to hunt specific targets, you need specific weapons. And you are willing to master them all.

(Attribute Bonus per level: +24 Dexterity, +23 Perception, +22 Agility, +20 Strength, +19 Lethality, +17 Toughness, +15 Vitality, +15 Free Points.) [Shadow Phantom Reaper]: An ancient class born among Shadow Demons, granted only to those favored by darkness itself. Few are accepted by this path. Even fewer can endure the power it offers. Shadows do not obey just anyone. They choose those whose very presence already carries the silence of death.

As a Shadow Phantom Reaper, you may become nothing but a streak of black to those who dare face you, a presence impossible to grasp until it is already too late. To some, you will be a passing shadow. To others, a specter with its blade already raised. And to your enemies, you will be the reaper who turns fear into judgment. This class goes beyond mere assassination. You will not be merely a stealthy assassin, nor merely a relentless combatant.

You will be a Reaper, an entity of shadows capable of using their power to infiltrate, pursue, confuse, and destroy those who stand in your way. Your blade will be as sharp as the darkness at your back, and every movement may seem to dance along the edge between the living world and the domain of shadows. Skills tied to Shadows, Specters, Demons, and Reapers await you. But be careful: this calling is as dangerous as it is powerful.

Shadows can be loyal allies, but they can also consume those who surrender too much of themselves. There is no path more lethal than this one. Just be careful: while you master the shadows, they may master you first. (Attribute Bonus per level: +30 Lethality, +24 Agility, +23 Perception, +22 Intelligence, +18 Wisdom, +13 Willpower, +10 Dexterity, +20 Free Points.) [Black Blade Thrower]: To kill a target, you do not always need to stand face to face with them.

You have shown talent in the art of knife throwing, eliminating targets from a distance and turning simple throwing blades into instruments of surgical death. When you awakened [Knife Storm], you stopped being a threat to lone targets and became a danger to entire groups. There are many kinds of assassins, and just as many ways to kill. Some prefer the silence of a blade pressed to a throat. Others prefer a clean strike from the dark.

You chose a different path: turning distance, precision, and speed into weapons just as lethal as any close-quarters fight. As a Black Blade Thrower, you will walk the path of thrown weapons, developing skills tied to throwing knives, hidden blades, trajectory control, multi-hit attacks, and long-range executions. Every blade you throw will carry a death sentence. Every flick of your wrist may decide the end of a battle.

You will prove that even a simple knife, in the right hands, can surpass swords, shields, and armor. Keep sharpening your aim, your speed, and your killing intent. Show the world what a true Black Blade Thrower can do. (Attribute Bonus per level: +30 Dexterity, +25 Perception, +23 Lethality, +20 Agility, +14 Wisdom, +10 Endurance, +8 Willpower, +18 Free Points.)