As Colm spent the next few moments trying to get comfortable with Spirit's Awareness, he focused on quieting his mind, working through the strange duality of vision and thought. The strain was real, mentally taxing, like keeping too many thoughts aloft at once. He could feel the tug of phantom perception, the subtle shifts in space and energy that constantly pulsed through his heightened senses. It was powerful, yet overwhelming.

He watched as Lance was standing above the corpse of the Shivermaw peeling apart scales from the creature, pulling out some teeth to bring to him as he watched through Lance's eyes something shifted.

The world around him seemed to slow.

The once steady background of distant crumbling, groaning stone, and settling debris simply stopped.

He paused, standing still, alert.

For the first time since entering the echo, there was silence.

Colm's eyes swept across the ruins. "What...?" he muttered aloud, his voice echoing slightly in the stillness.

The ceiling above had completely collapsed, exposing the sky he once saw before he fell down here, or what passed for one in this place, and a fine layer of dust hung in the air, drifting slowly. The entire section where he stood felt strange. Not dangerous, but hollow, like something had just ended.

The silence pressed in from all sides, unnerving in its totality.

Then, a notification flashed in his vision, abrupt and out of place, pulling his attention with startling clarity.

And it wasn't one he was expecting.

Achievement Earned

Everfrost Unraveler: The Echo of Everfrost Ruins was never meant to be fully understood. Beneath the crumbling halls and frost-laced corridors lay a sealed memory, buried and rewritten by the system itself. You uncovered a hidden thread in the echo's tapestry, a path forgotten by time and never meant to be walked again. Few have seen what you have seen. Fewer still survived it. You did more than endure it; you unraveled it.

Stat Boost: Grants a 5% increase to intelligence.

As Colm finished reading the achievement, a sudden weight pressed down on him. A memory not his own surged into his mind. He staggered slightly, eyes unfocused, as images unfolded with startling clarity.

He saw a world blanketed in snow, not bleak or lifeless, but breathtaking. Beautifully architected buildings stood tall and proud, adorned with intricate carvings and delicate designs etched into the frost-covered pillars that held up the massive weight of grand temples. Towers spiraled toward the sky, castles gleamed with crystalline brilliance, and homes, simple yet elegant, lined bustling streets filled with people.

Life thrived there.

And then, in a blink, he was no longer among them.

He now floated high above, watching the city from a bird's-eye view, suspended in silence until a distant, thunderous rumble echoed across the horizon.

His gaze snapped to it.

A massive wave, a wall of pure force, cracked the earth as it surged forward, growing in size and ferocity.

He looked back to the city below. People continued their day, unaware. Laughing. Walking. Living.

"They don't even know," he thought.

The wave struck.

With a deafening roar, it slammed into the city, shattering stone and glass, drowning temples and towers in a rush of freezing ruin.

The civilization, so vivid and alive, was erased in moments.

The vision shattered.

Colm gasped as he returned to his body, staggering back a step as the quiet of the Everfrost Ruins surrounded him once more.

He looked around with a new, weighty understanding.

"...What the hell?"

Trying to make sense of the achievement and the vision, Colm couldn't shake the question echoing in his mind. What did it all mean?

The image of the city. Its people, its beauty, its sudden destruction lingered heavily. He glanced around at the crumbling ruins surrounding him, his gaze trailing along the fractured pillars and shattered stone.

"Was that what this place used to be?" he muttered

Before he could dwell further, a blue shimmer pulsed to life in front of him. A portal.

"The exit," he thought. As a loud thud sounded from his side. Looking to his left he saw Lance as the Phantom Spearman dropped off various parts from the Shivermaw's corpse.

He nodded at Lance, "Thank you." as he reached down and stored the parts in his inventory. "Teeth, claws, some scales. This will fetch a nice penny." he said smiling as he stored the last of it away.

He exhaled slowly, his mind still reeling as it shifted back to the vision. "Well… I don't think I have anything else left to do here," he muttered.

He gave the ruins one last look. "Killed the boss, hell, probably the boss's boss, got a pretty incredible achievement out of it, and even picked up two new class abilities. Not a bad haul."

With a shrug, he took a final breath of the cold, stagnant air. There was nothing left to uncover.

Without another word, he stepped forward and disappeared into the portal.

The world shimmered, light bending and folding until Colm found himself standing on familiar ground. Rolling hills stretched beneath his feet, the ravine he had once descended to reach the Echo's entrance now visible in the distance.

A long breath escaped his lungs, one he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The relief of being free from that place washed over him like a warm breeze.

"That was… intense," he muttered, running a hand through his hair, still trying to process everything that had happened.

Then it hit him: an absence.

He glanced around quickly. "Right..."

"No phantoms," he grumbled. "Always hate that part."

Without hesitation, he activated his summon abilities, and one by one, his spectral companions materialized at his side.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Missed you three," he grinned.

But just as they appeared, Spirit's Awareness surged through his mind, the connection slamming into him like a mental shockwave. The sudden flood of information, three sets of awareness, angles, and sensory input all at once nearly knocked the wind out of him.

A notification blinked into view, and with it, a subtle release of pressure, an internal shift that helped his mind settle.

Spirit's Awareness (Level 1) has increased to Spirit's Awareness (Level 2).

However, the sense of relief was short-lived as another notification flared.

Spirit's Awareness (Level 2) has increased to Spirit's Awareness (Level 3).

Everything happened in an instant. From his phantoms' perspectives, still sharp and attuned through Spirit's Awareness, he caught sight of something rushing behind him. Unnatural energy twisted and churned in the air, forming spirals of shimmering force.

"What—"

His instincts kicked in before his thoughts could catch up. He immediately activated Phantom Harbinger. Spectral energy erupted around him as the massive knight materialized, its towering form immediately strengthening his other phantoms.

He spun around, adrenaline surging.

And what he saw made his heart plummet.

Three towering figures loomed just beyond the fading portal from which he had emerged. Their bodies were unnatural and rotting, flesh falling from bone in patches, and the stench of decay caught on the wind, causing Colm to wrinkle his nose in disgust.

Each one was clad in rusted, battered armor, the metal flaking and pitted with age, yet still clinging stubbornly to their massive frames. In their hands, they gripped equally corroded weapons: blades chipped, axes dulled by time but no less dangerous for it.

Undead Berserker (Level 102)

Undead Berserker (Level 103)

Undead Berserker (Level 105)

Their hollow gazes locked onto him, and though none made a sound, Colm felt the simmer of violence just beneath the surface.

He grimaced, bracing himself as Carver stepped forward and Robin slunk into the shadows behind him, bow drawn and ready.

The three undead stood motionless, unwilling to strike first. Time pressed on him. Phantom Harbinger's duration was ticking down.

"Go," he muttered to his phantoms.

The instant Herb tensed, the silence shattered. The Undead Berserkers roared in unison, a wall of fury that hit like a physical force. Colm felt the air shift, slow, as if the world held its breath, and then the fight began.

They rushed in.

Herb moved first, the Harbinger's massive form making the ground shake as its sword flashed in the light. The Phantom Harbinger blocked the first berserker's overhead swing, rolled past the second, and met the third with a shoulder check that staggered it.

Colm lunged to the side as a berserker lunged for him. In an instant Lance's spear appeared, driving it into the straggler's exposed side. It dropped with a heavy thud, and a heartbeat later, an arrow whistled past him, slamming clean through a berserker's skull.

It collapsed mid-charge.

Colm didn't slow. He pivoted, searching for the next threat.

Undead Berserker (Level 102) Defeated. Experience Gained. Bonus experience granted for defeating a higher level enemy.

He spun to the side, eyes darting toward Herb. The Phantom Harbinger danced through the berserker's strikes like flowing water, but the undead was just a fraction faster but the massive Phantom Harbinger shrugged off each hit as if it were nothing.

Colm's eyes widened as the rusted axe arced toward Herb's head.

He thrust his hand forward, gritting his teeth as he cast Wavebound Surge. A wave of tidal force exploded from his palm, crashing into the two remaining berserkers and flinging them backward.

Panting, he lunged forward. An Abyssal Lance formed in his left hand, spectral and writhing with dark energy. In his right, his summoned spell gleamed with ethereal light.

At the same time Lance sruged forward as the Phantom Spearman's Piercing Thrust and rushed forward like a missile, the spear tearing through the air.

The impact hit hard, waves crashing with each strike, causing one of the berserkers to stumble, but it didn't fall.

"Just a bit more." he grunted.

Colm didn't hesitate. He raised his left hand and hurled the Abyssal Lance.

It struck true, driving straight through the berserker's skull.

Undead Berserker (Level 105) Defeated. Experience Gained. Bonus experience granted for defeating a higher level enemy.

"One left," he panted, turning to strike, only to freeze.

He didn't need to.

Robin's Phantom Volley had already been loosed, spectral arrows raining down in a sweeping arc. Carver was a blur beneath them, blade finishing its motion as the berserker's head was severed cleanly from its shoulders.

Colm exhaled, shoulders sagging.

"What the fuck was that," he breathed, swiping away the level-up notifications still flickering in his vision.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Before he could process anything, new notifications flared across his vision.

Your Phantom Harbinger has been destroyed.

Your Phantom Archer has been destroyed.

Your Phantom Warrior has been destroyed.

Your Phantom Spearman has been destroyed.

He hadn't even finished reading them when something lifted him off his feet. A sudden, piercing cold plunged through his chest, and then the world turned to a blur.

He slammed into the ground hundreds of feet away.

The strength drained from his formation as phantoms faded. His mind swam, too dazed to focus. All he knew was that he'd been thrown far. Spectral Persistence wouldn't help now. His phantoms were gone. He tried to activate Phantom Harbinger but then he felt it: pressure against his back.

A voice followed, soft and chilling.

"Finally found you. Still can't believe you managed to scurry off..." it chuckled.

The sound wasn't human. It was wrong. Ghastly and distant, like a whisper echoing through a nightmare. A shiver crawled up his spine as the weight on his back pressed down harder.

He couldn't move.

Then, white-hot pain exploded from his shoulder.

He screamed.

Eyes wide, body paralyzed, tears blurred his vision as he looked down. His left arm was gone, severed clean at the shoulder.

The voice crackled with glee as the figure held up his severed arm, and Colm caught a glimpse.

Lira (Level ???) - Undead

"Finally…" the creature said.

[ Status ]

Name: Colm Arden

Race: Morvyn

Level: 100

Health: 103 / 1630

Mana: 192 / 840

Strength: 130 (156)

Dexterity: 130 (156)

Intelligence: 160 (200)

Constitution: 151 (181)

Bonded Weapon: Abyssal Ledger (Tier 3, Level 4)

Weapon Ability: Abyssal Lance (Tier 3, Level 4)

Attunement: Tide

Attunement Abilities:

- Rising Current (Level 9)

- Wavebound Surge (Level 5)

Class: Spirit Warden (Tier 5)

Specialization: Resonance

Active Class Abilities:

- Phantom Warrior (Tier 2, Level 5) [Carver]

- Phantom Spearman (Tier 2, Level 2) [Lance]

- Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 4) [Robin]

- Phantom Harbinger (Level 5) [Herb]

- Empty

Passive Class Abilities:

- Lingering Vitality (Tier 2, Level 10)

- Spectral Persistence (Tier 2, Level 2)

- Phantom Sacrifice (Level 10)

- Spirit's Awareness (Level 3)

- Empty

Skills:

- Analyze (Level 9)

- Stealth (Level 8)

- Pain Resistance (Tier 2, Level 1)

- Hardened Skin (Level 10)

- Slash Resistance (Level 7)

- Spear Mastery (Level 10)

- Sprint Mastery (Level 10)

- Poison Resistance (Level 6)

- Stun Resistance (Level 6)

- Dual Wielding (Level 4)

- Infection Resistance (Tier 3, Level 10)

- Heightened Instincts (Level 3)

- Meditation (Tier 2, Level 1)

- Unarmed Combat (Level 7)

- Impact Resistance (Level 10)

Achievements:

- Through the Rift

- Champion of the Lucent Grove

- Bane of the Undead

- Echo Sprinter I

- Everfrost Unraveler

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