Frost Wyrm (Level 112) Defeated. Experience Gained. Bonus experience granted for defeating a higher level enemy.

Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 1) has increased to Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 2).

Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 2) has increased to Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 3).

Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 3) has increased to Phantom Archer (Tier 2, Level 4).

Phantom Warrior (Tier 2, Level 2) has increased to Phantom Warrior (Tier 2, Level 3).

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

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).

Spectral Persistence has tiered up to Tier 2, Level 1.

Passive Ability: Spectral Persistence (Tier 2, Level 1)

A phantom's duty never ends. When destroyed, a phantom lingers briefly as an invulnerable spectral remnant, dealing 50% of its original damage over 15 seconds before fading completely. While in this state, the phantom's attacks ignore armor and resistances, dealing true damage to all enemies.

Tide Attunement Effect: While the phantom lingers, it unleashes Surging Ripples—periodic bursts of water every 2 seconds in a 5-foot radius around its position. Each ripple deals damage to all enemies caught in its radius and applies a Drenched debuff, increasing the damage they take from all sources by 10% for 4 seconds.

Skill Acquired

Impact Resistance (Level 1) – Your body has been battered, bruised, and beaten, yet it endures. Hardship has become your forge, and pain, your tutor. Your resilience against physical trauma has begun to manifest, dulling the sting of every strike.

Impact Resistance has increased to Level 10.

Hardened Skin (Level 8) has increased to Hardened Skin (Level 9).

Hardened Skin (Level 9) has increased to Hardened Skin (Level 10).

Stun Resistance (Level 5) has increased to Stun Resistance (Level 6).

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Level Up! +5 Stat Points Available.

Colm watched as a flurry of notifications filled his vision. Yeah… haven't seen this many at once in a long time.

He sighed, shifting his gaze to the corpse of the Frost Wyrm sprawled before him. Might as well get this over with.

Tessa mentioned the core of a Frost Wyrm is the most efficient to retrieve. Should be right around… here.

Pulling a knife from his inventory, he dug into the creature's massive frame, cutting through the hardened flesh. After a few moments of careful searching, his fingers wrapped around a small, blue-glowing orb embedded deep within the Wyrm's remains. He Analyzed it.

Frost Wyrm Core (Tier 4)

"Well," Colm muttered, rolling the core in his hand. "That confirms it—Tier 4 beast. No wonder it packed a punch."

His mind worked through the numbers. If it was Tier 4 at level 112, that gives it around 448 stat points… He frowned slightly, doing a quick comparison.

In contrast, I'm Tier 5 at level 65. With the 20% bonus from my achievement, I'm sitting just under 400 stat points.

So, in all scenarios, I was much weaker—but somehow, I still came out on top.

He tapped a finger against the core thoughtfully. I wonder if the Frost Wyrm invested heavily into Constitution and Strength?

That hit definitely packed a wallop, and it took a ridiculous amount of punishment before going down. In addition to that the Wyrm had no capability to handle Robin which just allowed me to be able to constantly bombard it and whittle it down.

It really highlights the importance of balancing your build.

With a final glance at the core, Colm stashed it into his inventory, then walked over to a nearby rock and sat down, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Alright, let's go through all these notifications.

He skimmed through the updates, pausing at one in particular.

Looks like my phantoms got some solid upgrades. He arched a brow at another revelation. Interesting… Robin overtook Carver as my highest-level phantom.

With a shrug, he continued the train of thought. Makes sense. Robin was active way longer in this fight and did most of the heavy lifting. Meanwhile, Carver got taken out pretty early, and I couldn't afford to resummon him with my mana reserves drained.

Then, another notification caught his attention.

Spectral Persistence got a nice upgrade. His eyes flicked across the details. Flat-out increase in duration, more damage… and something about true damage?

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He whistled slowly. "That sounds pretty incredible… and maybe a bit broken if I'm being honest. Ignoring all armor and resistances? Damn. I wonder how much damage Carver would've done to the Frost Wyrm if he had that before?"

Colm leaned back slightly, stretching out his sore limbs.

Well, at least I have it now. It's going to come in handy when I take on that boss again inside the Echo.

His gaze drifted to another set of skill notifications.

"Looks like I picked up a few new skill upgrades—Hardened Skin and Stun Resistance. Even got a new one called Impact Resistance, which seems to boost my overall durability."

His eyes flicked over the details.

"And it shot straight to level 10 in one go. Makes sense… considering I got slammed into a wall hard enough to leave a crater."

Turning his head, he glanced at the near-perfect outline of his body carved into the stone.

Shit… without my stats and enhanced body, that would've completely pulverized me. Even with them, it still took a good chunk of my health.

He winced slightly, opening his status to check his health bar—just a bit above half-empty.

Yeah… I need to heal up and get my mana back before I push any further. Speaking of stats let's put some more points into strength and dexterity to round everything out for me.

With that, he took a deep breath, settling in for a well-earned moment of recovery before the next challenge.

As an hour ticked by, Colm stood and stretched. That was a nice breather. He had spent the time using Meditation to clear his mind and boost his mana regeneration. With a quick flick of his wrist, he activated Phantom Warrior and Phantom Spearman, bringing Carver and Lance back into existence.

"Hey, you two. You missed all the fun," he jabbed, glancing toward the massive corpse of the Frost Wyrm.

Lance exaggeratedly lowered his head, as if mourning the missed battle, while Carver remained his usual stoic self.

Colm smirked at the antics.

"Before we push any further, we'll rest for a bit longer. I want to recover some more mana in case we run into trouble."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted upward, landing on Robin, still standing at the ledge where he had originally summoned the phantom. The Phantom Archer remained ever-vigilant, watching from above.

"Oh, Robin—are you able to get down from there?" Colm called out.

Robin glanced down at the sheer drop, then slowly shook its head.

Colm chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty high up. Maybe a hundred feet?" He scratched his chin, looking between the ledge and the ground. "I'm guessing if you jump, it'll hurt you?"

Robin shrugged, as if unsure.

"Well, if you're not against it… mind giving that a try?"

Robin looked over the edge again, then shrugged once more—before stepping off without hesitation.

Colm watched as the Phantom Archer plummeted toward the icy stone floor below. In seconds, Robin slammed into the ground with a resounding thud that echoed through the ravine.

A moment of stillness passed before Robin slowly stood up from his crouched landing, tilting his head in what could only be surprise.

Colm blinked. Huh. Even Robin looks surprised… Does that mean phantoms don't take fall damage?

A realization hit him.

He slowly facepalmed.

If that's the case… His eyes lifted toward the rope and steep drop he had painstakingly climbed down earlier. Could they have just jumped down in the first place? And I wouldn't have had to resummon them?

A long sigh escaped him as he kept his hand pressed against his face.

"Holy shit, that would've made things so much easier," he groaned.

After a moment, he shook his head, shrugged, and plopped back down. "Well, live and learn."

He settled in, letting his mana fully regenerate before checking his status.

After some time, he glanced at his now fully restored mana pool. Standing up, he stretched once more before turning to his phantoms with a small grin.

"Alright, let's get moving and see if we can find the entrance to this Echo and give it a go."

As he stepped forward, deeper into the ravine, he let out a chuckle.

"Granted, the hype's kind of worn off… considering we already beat the boss that's supposed to be in it."

"Finally," Colm muttered.

He felt the air shift, the temperature dropping further as he and his phantoms ventured deeper into the ravine, weaving through winding paths and near-identical terrain that stretched on endlessly. It felt like he had been walking for hours, but then—

A glow shimmered in the distance.

His eyes narrowed, recognizing the familiar sheen of an Echo Rift.

"That has to be it," he muttered to his phantoms, his steps instinctively quickening despite the treacherous ground.

As he drew closer, subtle changes in his surroundings became more noticeable. The temperature had already dropped, forcing him to add an extra layer of clothing earlier, but now—

It's even colder.

A thin layer of ice coated the stone, making each step riskier. He moved painstakingly slow, carefully placing his footing to avoid slipping.

Then, something caught his eye.

"Is… is that snow?"

He held out a hand, watching as tiny flakes drifted onto his palm. A small, genuine smile formed on his lips.

It's been years since I've seen snow.

Memories surfaced—his home on Earth, the humid, tropical climate where snow was nothing more than a distant dream. The rare moments he had experienced it before now rushed back to him, filling his mind as he unconsciously drifted toward the Echo Rift.

Lost in thought, his body moved on autopilot, the world around him momentarily fading into the background.

Then, before he knew it—

He stood before the Echo Rift.

A slow exhale escaped him, his breath visible in the freezing air.

"Finally made it."

A subtle sense of accomplishment settled over him, and for just a moment, he let himself enjoy the stillness before stepping forward.

[ Status ]

Name: Colm Arden

Race: Morvyn

Level: 73

Health: 1450 / 1450

Mana: 720 / 720

Strength: 90 (108)

Dexterity: 95 (114)

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 5)

Class: Spirit Warden (Tier 5)

Specialization: Resonance

Active Class Abilities:

- Phantom Warrior (Tier 2, Level 3) [Carver]

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

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

- Empty

- Empty

Passive Class Abilities:

- Lingering Vitality (Tier 2, Level 10)

- Spectral Persistence (Tier 2, Level 1)

- Phantom Sacrifice (Level 10)

- Empty

- Empty

Skills:

- Analyze (Level 8)

- Stealth (Level 7)

- 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

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