Daniel first looked at Vorak's panel, then at the notifications.
"Ten percent of his stats, one extra life, and I can copy one of his abilities, huh?"
He had a thoughtful look on his face, then before thinking further, he clicked on the < ? > icon next to the extra life message.
> [ For every Fallen you create, you gain one extra life. If you die, your Fallen will die instead of you — although this only applies to physical deaths. ]
"Isn't that a bit overpowered?"
Daniel was stunned. He hadn't expected — or even imagined — that his innate talent could do something like this.
Was he basically immortal now?
What if he had a thousand Fallen in the future? Or even ten thousand?
Just the thought of it was exciting. He wouldn't even need to be afraid of death anymore.
"But what do they mean by physical deaths?"
Daniel frowned slightly. That line gave him a bad feeling.
Did it mean this only works if his body dies? What if his soul gets destroyed — would he still die then?
"…"
"Whatever. I guess it's better than nothing."
He then shifted his focus to Vorak's abilities.
He could copy one, and to be honest, all of Vorak's skills were tempting. Especially Light of Destruction. He had personally experienced its power.
High-Level Regeneration was good too, but awakened humans naturally gain higher healing and recovery speed as they level up.
"I'll pick Light of Destruction," he decided after a bit of thought.
> [ Confirmed. ]
[ You have obtained the S-rank skill: Light of Destruction. ]
"Open my panel," Daniel said, and a floating blue screen appeared in front of him.
Meanwhile, not far away, Vorak had moved toward Lunaryl, sensing that she was waking up.
Something cold touched her cheek. She smelled ice, dirt, and a faint hint of… burnt flesh.
Lunaryl groaned softly and opened her eyes. The scratches from the battle stung, but the real pain hit when she fully woke up.
A huge shadow — like a mountain of darkness — was standing in front of her.
Her eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat.
"No… no way… that's—"
Her trembling hand reached for her toy-like sword — a gift from her father — but well it wasn't here
"he faild? How can this monster be alive!" her voice cracked.
Before she could even get up, a calm and cruelly relaxed voice said,
"Relax. He's not the enemy anymore."
Daniel closed his panel and walked toward her, a crooked smile on his face.
"He's dead. Or… well, maybe it's better to say, he's my dog now."
"WHAT?!"
Lunaryl almost fainted again from shock.
But as she looked closer, she saw that the creature didn't look the same anymore.
Its body now resembled a night sky — dark with glowing dots like stars twinkling on its skin.
The monster — or whatever it was — was standing still. Calm. Submissive.
And the weirdest part? Its back was slightly bent — like it was… waiting to be petted?
And then Daniel actually went forward.
He really did.
He raised his hand like he was playing with a dog and smiled.
"Good boy, huh? Now sit."
And the monster… sat.
"…"
Lunaryl looked around and even slapped her own cheek to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"…"
"What has my life turned into?!"
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
It was like steam was about to come out of her ears.
"You— You just tamed the monster that was trying to tear us apart moments ago? Like a pet dog?!"
"Hey, how can you call this handsome boy a monster?"
Daniel, still scratching the starry head of the creature, said seriously.
Lunaryl covered her face with her hands.
"I swear if I tell anyone about this, they'll think I've lost my mind."
And she wouldn't be wrong.
She'd never seen any necromancer or tamer who could control a One-Eyed Winter — that kind of corrupted beast was insanely wild and preferred death over submission.
What class did this human have to be able to do that?
Daniel casually pointed to the beast.
"Meet Vorak. Officially my pet dog. I mean… if your pet dog is 2.5 meters tall and weighs ten tons."
Vorak let out a soft puff and wagged his tail. Damn it — he was actually acting like a dog.
"I didn't come here to witness someone taming the Lord of Death…" Lunaryl muttered with a blank expression.
"Well, the future is full of surprises. Be happy you got to witness something legendary. Who knows — maybe tomorrow we'll get a dragon as a house cat."
Daniel laced his hands behind his head and spoke thoughtfully.
Lunaryl sighed and flopped back on the ground.
She seriously needed a break — both physically and mentally.
Daniel leaned against Vorak and kept watch on the surroundings. A gentle warmth radiated from the beast's body, making the deadly cold of the mountains more bearable.
But despite the calm on the surface, Daniel's gaze never stayed fixed on one spot.
He had a strange feeling… like something was unfinished.
"We're still here…" his whisper was lost in the wind.
"So Vorak wasn't the one we were supposed to survive from," he muttered with a sigh.
The One-Eyed Winter had already been terrifying enough — he really didn't want to face something even stronger.
But at least with his current strength, he didn't need to be afraid anymore… or so he hoped.
Lunaryl sat on a rock with a deep frown.
She was still confused. Her gaze flicked between Daniel and Vorak — between the starry darkness of the beast's skin and the teenage boy petting its head.
But just when it seemed like, for the first time in a long while, everything was finally calm—
A roar.
The ground shook like a drumskin.
Trees cracked like breaking bones, torn from the earth and launched into the sky.
Snow started falling violently — no, not falling. This was a storm. A storm that wanted to devour everything.
"Get on! Vorak, get ready!" Daniel stood up instantly and shouted.
He didn't know what was going on, but he could feel Vorak's fear — he could sense the shaking in the creature's eyes and body.
"Wha— wait! We're running away?"
Lunaryl shouted.
As he helped her climb on Vorak's back, Daniel muttered,
"No… this isn't running away. It's a tactical retreat. Totally different."
As soon as they were on, Vorak gave a low growl and shot forward like a dark bullet into the forest.
The trees broke apart as they passed, but the storm chased after them like a living thing.
Vorak ran at full speed, and Lunaryl clung tightly to Daniel.
In that moment, Daniel could definitely feel the two melons pressing against his back.
In the blink of an eye, they were kilometers away.
"That should be far enough," Daniel told Vorak to slow down.
"That was terrifying! Don't ever do that again!"
Lunaryl gasped and pinched Daniel.
"That's how you thank me?" Daniel pulled her cheeks in return.
"You!"
Lunaryl held her reddened face.
"You wild human! Did you have to pull my cheeks that hard?"
She almost bit him, but then they both heard a sound.
It wasn't the storm. It wasn't the forest.
It was the sound of battle.
Screams, swords clashing with bone, howling monsters.
Daniel slightly changed direction. After passing through a thick layer of fog and broken trees, a chaotic scene appeared before them—
A group of four awakened humans fighting strange creatures: white wolves with glowing horns on their foreheads.
The monsters were fast. Brutal. Blood dripped from their teeth and claws.
But the moment they caught a whiff of Vorak's scent, they stopped.
Like animals sensing death itself, they suddenly fled.
The humans were left stunned.
One of them, a man in a green cloak with a long spear, whispered,
"What… what is that thing?"
And now all their eyes were locked on Daniel and Lunaryl.
Full of questions.