The trio found themselves navigating the streets of Birmhope once more, their conversation flowing more naturally. Colm glanced at Tessa, curiosity evident in his tone. "Hey, Tessa, Luke mentioned you tiered up your class. How'd that go?"

Tessa shot a subtle glare at Luke before responding. "Yeah, I tiered it up, and I feel much stronger. I could run laps around Luke before, but now it's even worse," she said with a chuckle.

"Hey!" Luke chimed in, feigning indignation. "I'm still decently fast and strong. You just have ridiculous Dexterity because of your class. Don't count me out just because I'm slower. I could singe your hair off with a snap of my fingers." To emphasize, he snapped his fingers dramatically.

Tessa scoffed, laughing. "Sure you could. But I doubt you'd ever do it—you don't have the guts."

Luke grunted, acknowledging the truth in her words.

"Anyway," Tessa continued, "I tiered up my class using a very pricey crystal from a Tier 4 Echo. It took ages to save up the funds. Items from higher-tier Echoes are expensive since hardly anyone can run them. That crystal sat in a shop for years before we realized it was for my class. Now that I'm all upgraded, we're switching gears to focus on Luke's tier up. He needs to pull his weight eventually," she teased, smirking.

Colm tilted his head, intrigued. "A couple of questions about the process. How do you know what you need? And what do you need, Luke?"

"Great questions," Luke replied, shrugging. "The System helps by assigning a quest, and before you ask, yes, there are multiple reasons to get quests, but they're extremely rare. I think the System considers your level, class, and other factors when assigning them. Mine's straightforward: I need a Prime Scale from the boss of an Echo called The Expanse."

He sighed, his tone growing more serious. "I looked it up in the records. The Expanse is nasty—an endless desert with unrelenting heat. It's a Tier 4 Echo, so we can't do it anytime soon. I've been trying to find anything from there on the market, but no luck so far."

Colm nodded. "I see. That Echo sounds fascinating." His thoughts turned inward. I might have to give it a try. The Dusk Cavern offers no challenge to me anymore. Perhaps this could be interesting. Plus, I could help Luke out. He made a mental note, considering the possibility of tackling it that very night as long as it's within his level.

The chatter continued as the trio made their way through the gates of Brimhope, picking up their pace toward the Dusk Caverns. Along the way, Tessa suddenly gasped, her eyes wide in shock. "Colm, how are you at level 64 already? You weren't anywhere near that high last night!"

Luke, equally stunned, exclaimed, "Oh, right, I completely forgot about that. Yeah, what the hell did you do, man?"

Chuckling, Colm glanced at them both. "Well, I needed some coins, so I ended up running this cavern a couple of times last night. It was pretty easy, so I just sprinted through it with my phantoms handling everything. Actually, I cleared it so fast I got an achievement that bumped up my movement speed. Pretty nice, honestly."

Luke and Tessa stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths agape. In perfect unison, they both blurted, "Wait, what? You actually got an achievement from running this?"

Colm nodded, casually pulling up the achievement screen and reading it aloud.

[ Achievement Earned ]

Dusk Caverns Sprinter

You have accomplished an extraordinary feat, completing the Dusk Caverns with remarkable efficiency. The system recognizes your strength and rewards you for your efforts.

Stat Boost: Increases movement speed by 2%.

"Honestly," Colm added, "if you guys want, we could try for it again. Maybe you can get the achievement too."

Luke and Tessa exchanged looks, still trying to process what this meant, before turning back to Colm. "Well, what the hell," Luke said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm not gonna say no to a possible achievement. You in, Tessa?"

Tessa nodded, seemingly at a loss for words.

"We're game," Luke said, his voice more confident. "Just tell us what you need us to do."

Colm shrugged. "It's pretty simple. I'll send my phantoms ahead to clear the way, and we'll just book it after them. The moment we enter the Echo, I'm sprinting, so try to keep up. My phantoms will handle any threats and make sure the rooms are clear before we move on, but stick close and don't lag behind. Oh, and I won't be stopping for the corpses—they'll only slow us down."

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Luke nodded, the plan making sense to him. "Got it."

The trio continued their trek in relative silence. Luke and Tessa still seemed in shock, while Colm let his thoughts wander. Is it really that surprising to be able to do this? I know what they've told me about how rare certain things are, but it's hard to reconcile that with my reality. Maybe Luke was right—some people really are just lucky. I got ridiculously lucky with my class.

His expression darkened as he thought about the implications. Maybe I can help people here. With the strength I have now, I could help others tier up their classes, make them stronger. If everyone were stronger, that could help this world out. A bittersweet memory of Tina and her son flashed in his mind, adding weight to the thought.

When they arrived at the line for the Dusk Caverns, Tessa muttered a quiet curse. "Dammit, we got here a little later than usual. This might take a while."

Colm nodded absentmindedly, his mind drifting back to his earlier idea of helping others. His thoughts were interrupted when Luke spoke up.

"Hey, Colm," he said, his eyes narrowing. "I didn't notice it earlier, but where did you get that armor?"

Colm smiled. "Oh, yeah. Since you guys told me how important gear is, I did some shopping. Picked up this set and a weapon for myself. And holy hell, why didn't you tell me about weapon abilities? They're amazing."

Luke burst out laughing, while Tessa facepalmed. "You really are green, aren't you?" Luke said, shaking his head. "I didn't think to tell you because… well, its common knowledge. I guess maybe you could tell us more about your story while we're at it, so we have some context."

Colm nodded, looking thoughtful. "Honestly, that sounds like a good idea." They've helped me so much already. I feel like I can trust them. And if anything ever goes south, I could always leave this town. There are probably maps to other places in the library. He mentally added another task to his ever-growing checklist.

With that, the trio continued waiting in line, their thoughts focused on the challenges ahead.

Before long, the line grew shorter and shorter as Colm took the reins of the conversation, sharing his story.

He explained how he wasn't from this world—that he had appeared here through a rift that somehow pierced his reality. One moment, he was in his world, and the next, he woke up in a forest overrun with undead, far from any semblance of safety.

Colm recounted his time in the cursed forest, his discovery of Brimwhistle, and the chain of events that led to his transformation into the Morvyn race after his harrowing encounter with the Pitchcaller. However, he chose to keep the Lucent Grove and its surrounding events to himself, thinking it might be wise to save that information for another time, especially since it involved an achievement he wanted to keep under wraps. He described his trek to the city, explaining how his phantoms served as his guiding light, helping him find which way was north.

That part of the story made Tessa burst out laughing. "You were lost and asked a Phantom to walk north? That's ridiculous!" she said between giggles. Luke couldn't help but grin at the absurdity of it as well.

"Thanks for sharing all that," Luke said, nodding thoughtfully. "I know it's probably not the easiest thing to talk about, but it gives us a lot more context."

Tessa added, "Yeah, it sounds like you've been through a wild ride, but I'm glad you made it out of all that."

Colm nodded. "Yeah, it was… wild. Honestly, I thought I'd go crazy from the ordeal. More times than not, I talked to my phantoms—even gave them names. Hell, the System even recognized the names I gave them and displayed them next to the ability names."

Luke raised an eyebrow, stroking his chin. "That's… interesting. The System doesn't do things like that without a reason. That could mean something."

"Oh, that makes sense," Tessa interjected. "I wonder if it's tied to some kind of hidden feature. Maybe Jerry would know—he's been trying to uncover hidden mechanics in the System for years."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, that's where his head's been for as long as I can remember. I bet he'd appreciate hearing about this. Who knows? Maybe it's something he hasn't discovered yet."

Changing the subject, Luke asked, "So, about your Morvyn race? I've heard the term before, and it seems… incredibly rare. You're lucky you survived the Pitchcaller's infection."

Colm's face darkened slightly. "Yeah… honestly, I nearly died countless times. I only made it through sheer luck and the utility of my class abilities. I don't think I'd want to experience anything like that again—it was probably the worst pain I've ever endured."

Luke nodded sympathetically. "But it seems useful, though. No need for food, water, or sleep? That's an enormous advantage. You can keep going non-stop as long as you don't burn yourself out."

Colm agreed. "Yeah, it's definitely powerful. It'll give me an edge to push through where others might get stuck. But I'll have to stay focused—going too long without rest could mess with my head. Honestly, I still love naps, even if I don't need them."

Luke laughed. "Yeah, I can see how that'd get annoying!"

Before long, the trio's wait in line ended. They approached the guard on duty, who scrutinized each of them before finally waving them through and wishing them luck on their delve. With that sorted, the three stepped into the Echo. Their world faded to black, only to reform seconds later.

Colm turned to the siblings, his voice calm but firm. "Alright, from here, I'm going to summon my Phantoms, and we're going to speedrun this place. Questions?"

Luke and Tessa exchanged a look, their faces set with determination. Tessa stepped forward. "No questions. We're ready. Lead the way—we'll do our best to keep up, but we'll prioritize safety. If we lose you, don't worry—we can handle ourselves," she said, gripping her dagger, her upgraded class radiating confidence.

Colm nodded, summoning his Phantom Warrior and Phantom Spearman. As the spectral forms materialized beside him, he smirked. "Alright, let's get to it."

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