Chaos erupted. Snarls and growls reverberated through the dense woods, a cacophony of violence.

The Duskborn Alpha moved like a specter, weaving effortlessly between its pack as if gliding through the battlefield. It was at home in the chaos.

"It's smart," Colm muttered through gritted teeth. His gaze flicked to Robin, who loosed arrow after arrow, each one finding its mark and dropping a wolf in an instant.

Nearby, Carver's blade shone with the power of Ripping Cleave, carving a path through the pack, giving Luke and Tessa a moment to breathe.

Luke's voice cut through the fray. "THIS IS MADNESS!" he shouted, and a burst of fire erupted from his fingertips, incinerating a wolf in his path.

Colm had to agree. This is madness.

But this madness was exhilarating.

A pack of wolves lunged for him, their teeth bared, but he reacted on instinct. He dove to the side, activating Wavebound Surge, and a roaring torrent of water exploded outward, consuming the attackers and slamming their lifeless bodies to the ground.

Grinning, Colm spun back toward the Alpha just as Lance closed in, spear aimed true. The phantom triggered Piercing Thrust, the strike whistling through the air.

The Alpha swerved at the last second, its movements eerily precise, slipping just beyond Lance's reach.

Colm saw his opening. Without hesitation, he charged up an Abyssal Lance, the familiar dark energy coalescing at his fingertips. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he let it loose.

The Duskborn Alpha, still off balance from dodging Lance's attack, barely managed to shift its weight before the spell struck true, piercing through its shoulder. A reverberating howl of pain tore through the forest.

Colm grinned. "Got you."

He fired again. And again. Abyssal Lance after Abyssal Lance streaked toward the beast, but it was too fast—each time, it twisted and leaped away, avoiding a lethal hit.

"Stop. Jumping. Around!" Colm yelled in frustration.

The Alpha let out a guttural snarl, almost mocking him, and Colm was breathing heavily now. Between dodging the Duskborn Direwolves and trying to land a solid hit, he couldn't keep up.

I need to change this up.

His mind raced. Quickly, he charged another Abyssal Lance, holding it for just a moment longer than usual. At the same time, he activated Phantom Spearman, directing Lance to appear right where he predicted the Alpha would dodge next.

Then, he let the Abyssal Lance fly.

Just as expected, the Alpha leaped to the right—straight into position.

A faint blue glow pulsed behind the creature, and before it could react, a piercing roar of agony shattered the air.

Lance's Piercing Thrust struck clean through the Alpha's body.

Colm watched as the beast thrashed, trying to break free, but it was solidly impaled on Lance's spectral spear.

Wasting no time, he charged one final Abyssal Lance and aimed directly for its head.

The spell flew straight and punctured through the Alpha's skull.

The massive wolf went limp, and before Colm could even process it, a notification flooded his vision.

Duskborn Alpha (Level 62) Defeated. No Experience Gained.

Loot Acquired: Duskborn Amulet

A mysterious amulet containing a shard of the Alpha's power. Grants an increased innate ability to dodge an incoming attack.

Colm's eyes widened as an amulet materialized next to the fallen Alpha. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward, snatching it up and securing it on his person.

"Holy shit," he muttered as his senses momentarily adjusted.

A strange pull urged him to the right. Trusting the instinct, he shifted his stance just as a Duskborn Direwolf lunged at the spot where he had been standing moments before.

This is fucking broken. A grin crept onto his face. I'm keeping this one.

With a swift motion, he dispatched the lunging direwolf, then turned his focus back to the battlefield. The wolves were thinning, but they were still numerous.

His gaze landed on Robin and Carver, who stood firm near Luke and Tessa, their weapons cutting down wolf after wolf. Tessa moved with graceful precision, weaving in and out of attacks, dodging with near-perfect timing while landing swift, punishing strikes.

Luke, on the other hand, had dropped to one knee, panting heavily. The ground around him was scorched, the aftermath of what could only be described as a mini fire tornado that had swept through a cluster of direwolves, incinerating them alive.

Colm let out an impressed whistle. "That's intense."

Shaking his head, he refocused on the fight and began closing the distance between himself and the siblings, Lance now moving at his side.

Colm paved a trail of blood, continuously firing Abyssal Lance while using Rising Current to fuel his mana, allowing him to cast empowered Wavebound Surges without restraint. Dozens of wolves fell in his wake.

Lance, as always, was brutally efficient—each Piercing Thrust skewered multiple wolves at once, while every swing of his spectral spear carved open a path ahead.

Colm nodded in satisfaction. My spells, combined with the increased mana regeneration from my attunement ability, paired with Lance's natural reach for keeping melee enemies at bay—it's deadly. And on top of that, I have two more phantoms dominating the battlefield elsewhere. This build is going to be insane once I refine it.

A grin stretched across his face. Now, I just need a movement ability.

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Before long, the flood of notifications slowed, then finally stopped.

Colm glanced around, surveying the battlefield—heaps of Duskborn Direwolf corpses littered the ground, blood soaking the earth.

A manic laugh bubbled out of him. "Holy shit. That was a lot more than last time."

He turned to Luke and Tessa, catching his breath. "You two holding up okay?"

* * *

Luke sat on the ground, taking deep, steadying breaths as Colm's voice reached him.

"You two holding up okay?"

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

He glanced up at Colm, giving him a weak thumbs-up before turning to his sister. Tessa, unsurprisingly, was grinning—she had absolutely enjoyed this.

His gaze shifted toward Carver and Robin, Colm's phantoms. Fuck, those things saved my life so many times. He had lost count of how many times a Duskborn Direwolf had lunged at him, only for an arrow to pierce its skull before it could land the attack.

That was close. Too close.

He exhaled sharply, muttering, "That rare spawn really threw a wrench in this. I don't think we've seen one in months."

Tessa nodded. "Yeah, it's been a hot minute since the last one. They always add a little extra excitement."

Luke turned to Colm, who was approaching, and let out a breathless laugh. "Dude, you're an absolute monster. I caught glimpses of you, and holy shit—those crashing waves you sent out? You carved straight through dozens of them."

Colm chuckled. "It really was a lot of fun."

Luke weakly smiled, shaking his head. He's a madman. I'm just glad he's on our side. Then again, he couldn't be too surprised. He glanced at Tessa, who was literally bouncing in place, practically radiating excitement.

"Holy shit, that was so much fun! Can we do it again?" she blurted out.

Luke let out a weak chuckle. "I'd rather not," he muttered. "That was way too close. Without your phantoms, Colm, we'd have been dead a hundred times over. There were so many of them…" He sighed. "At least now we know why this time felt different. The Alpha must have had some sway over the others—it was definitely smarter than the usual ones."

Colm bobbed his head in agreement. "Yeah, thing was annoyingly good at dodging, but honestly, it wasn't much of a threat. Just a hassle." He smirked. "Got some loot from it, though, so that's a nice bonus."

Luke nodded, too exhausted to care about loot at the moment. He simply sat there, letting his health and mana slowly regenerate, his gaze drifting over the battlefield and back to the notification he received from earlier.

Requirements Fulfilled: Synergized Achievement Unlocked

Echo Sprinter I

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

Stat Boost: Increases movement speed by 5%.

His first synergized achievement.

A grim smile tugged at his lips.

* * *

Colm stood there next to the duo as he watched Luke catch his breath. Deciding to give them a few minutes he started to glance through all the notifications he recieved from the fight.

Duskborn Direwolf (Level 31) Defeated. No Experience Gained

Duskborn Direwolf (Level 37) Defeated. No Experience Gained

Duskborn Direwolf (Level 28) Defeated. No Experience Gained

…

Duskborn Direwolf (Level 34) Defeated. No Experience Gained

As expected a ton of direwolf kills he said as he stiped those away with his eyes focusing on the latter half of notifications as he smiled.

Rising Current (Level 6) has increased to Rising Current (Level 7)

Rising Current (Level 7) has increased to Rising Current (Level 8)

Rising Current (Level 8) has increased to Rising Current (Level 9)

Wavebound Surge (Level 5) has increased to Wavebound Surge (Level 6)

Wavebound Surge (Level 6) has increased to Wavebound Surge (Level 7)

Phantom Spearman (Tier 2, Level 1) has increased to Phantom Spearman (Tier 2, Level 2)

Phantom Archer has tiered up to Tier 2, Level 1.

[ Active Ability: Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 1)

Mana: 25% of your total mana

Summon a single empowered spectral archer, a stronger and more resilient manifestation of the spirit realm.

Only one Phantom Archer can be summoned at a time; attempting to summon another will replace the current archer.

The Phantom Archer can now use Phantom Volley. Phantom Volley causes the archer to draw upon spectral energy before launching a massive rain of ethereal arrows onto a designated area within 20 feet. The volley lasts 2 seconds, striking all enemies within a 15-foot radius, dealing 180% additional damage per wave. Enemies at the center of the attack take an additional 25% damage. Phantom Volley has a cooldown of 30 seconds.

Tide Attunement Effect: Phantom Volley now imbues the arrows with surging water, turning the impact zone into a maelstrom. Each arrow impact releases a small shockwave, extending the radius by 5 feet and dealing 50% additional splash damage to all enemies hit. Enemies affected are Drenched, increasing the damage they take from all sources by 10% for 4 seconds. ]

Colm let out a low whistle as he reviewed the upgrades. "This is getting pretty great," he muttered with a grin. Now I've got another dedicated AOE ability through Robin, and this one covers a designated area for a few seconds. That's going to be amazing for large groups like this again.

His gaze shifted as Luke pushed himself to his feet. At the same time, he caught sight of Tessa near the Duskborn Alpha's corpse, carefully taking it apart for materials.

Ah, forgot about that.

"You ready over there?" he called, waving to her.

"Yup," she responded, dusting herself off. "I wanted to grab the pelt and teeth from this. Should fetch us some good coin." She motioned to her pack. "Rare spawns are always lucrative. Wish we could take the whole thing, though—every part of a rare spawn is useful."

Colm shrugged. "Oh, I can handle that." Stepping over, he stored the entire corpse in his inventory.

Perfect. Just enough space to spare.

Tessa turned on him with wide eyes. "What the fuck? I did all that work for nothing?" she huffed, stomping away in frustration.

Luke chuckled. "Alright, we're good to go now."

"Sounds good," Colm replied, still amused. With that, the trio made their way toward the exit rift.

[ Status ]

Name: Colm Arden

Race: Morvyn

Level: 65

Health: 1450 / 1450

Mana: 324 / 720

Strength: 70 (84)

Dexterity: 75 (90)

Intelligence: 120 (144)

Constitution: 121 (145)

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 7)

Class: Spirit Warden (Tier 5)

Specialization: Resonance

Active Class Abilities:

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

- Phantom Spearman (Tier 2, Level 1) [Lance]

- Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 1) [Robin]

- Empty

- Empty

Passive Class Abilities:

- Lingering Vitality (Tier 2, Level 10)

- Spectral Persistence (Level 10)

- Phantom Sacrifice (Level 10)

- Empty

- Empty

Skills:

- Analyze (Level 6)

- Stealth (Level 7)

- Pain Resistance (Tier 2, Level 1)

- Hardened Skin (Level 8)

- Slash Resistance (Level 7)

- Spear Mastery (Level 10)

- Sprint Mastery (Level 10)

- Poison Resistance (Level 6)

- Stun Resistance (Level 5)

- Dual Wielding (Level 4)

- Infection Resistance (Tier 3, Level 10)

Achievements:

- Through the Rift

- Champion of the Lucent Grove

- Bane of the Undead

- Echo Sprinter I

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