Echoed Lands

His mind raced through a tempest of agony and bewilderment as every nerve shrieked beneath his skin. The blazing torment radiated through his body, and the twisted cackling of Lira echoed in his skull like a sinister symphony. She forced him face-first into the cold dirt, one hand pressing firmly between his shoulder blades while the other triumphantly held up his severed arm like a macabre trophy.

Colm tried to push through the suffocating haze. He gathered what strength remained, willing his mana to respond. Wavebound Surge, he thought desperately, attempting to channel the familiar spell to force her back.

The moment his mana stirred, the crushing pressure on his back intensified. His face was ground deeper into the unforgiving earth.

"Don't try it," Lira taunted, sinister laughter bubbling in her throat.

Grunting through clenched teeth, Colm forced out the words. "What... are... you?"

The pressure lessened slightly, just enough for him to catch his breath. He could feel her piercing gaze on him, unnatural and invasive, as if peeling back his very thoughts.

"What am I?" she echoed, then burst into another manic laugh. "Well, that's a rude question! I'm Lira," she said sweetly, mockingly. "Lira Lorn. And you, Colm... you've made things terribly complicated for me."

His pulse thundered in his ears. Lorn? Jerry? What the hell is happening?

The fragments clicked in his mind just enough to ignite fury.

"What the hell do you mean, I'm making things complicated? I don't even know what's going on!" he roared, rage slicing through the anguish.

"Temper, temper," Lira chided, applying pressure once more, grinding his body deeper into the earth. He grunted in pain, jaw clenched as she mockingly waved his severed arm back and forth behind him, as if scolding a wayward child.

"You weren't supposed to escape," she continued, her voice growing colder. "And now I've had to waste so many resources tracking you down again. So much energy that I would've preferred to conserve. After all, bringing you here took quite a toll."

Colm froze. "What?" he rasped. "You brought me here?"

Lira giggled, almost gleeful. "Why, of course, silly. It was all part of the plan."

"What plan?" he demanded. "Why me?"

Without warning, her hand shoved him down again, hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

"You really need to work on that anger. It won't help you here. You're just quite unlucky or lucky depending on how you want to look at it. Right place, right time... weak point between the worlds." She shrugged with casual indifference.

Her laughter followed, light and hollow, as the weight of her words settled like a curse on his back.

* * *

Several tense minutes passed before Ves returned to the room where she had left Dorian and Jerry. She had departed in a rush to locate information on Colm and now hoped they had not already departed.

She burst through the door, anxiety thick in her chest, only to feel some relief as she saw the two men still seated, deep in conversation.

"Jerry! Dorian!"

Dorian looked up first, brow furrowing with concern. "You okay, Ves?"

She nodded quickly. "I found it. Where Colm went. Everfrost Ruins. And if what you said is true... if Lira's really after him, then he's already wandered closer to her territory."

Dorian's expression darkened. "That was fast. Great work finding that out, but damn. Are we really in that much of a rush to find him?" He glanced toward Jerry.

Jerry did not answer right away. His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing as a wave of regret washed over his weathered face. "I should have made him stay," he muttered. "After the whole class specialization ordeal, things got messy. I didn't think he would move this fast. Didn't suspect she was after him until after the caravan."

He stood abruptly, expression grim. "Shit."

Looking between the two, he exhaled sharply. "I have a bad feeling about this. Hopefully, we're not too late. You two ready for an adventure? Just like the old days?"

Dorian cracked his neck with a grin. "Just like old times, huh?" He let out a hearty laugh, more excitement than fear in his voice.

Ves simply nodded, resolute.

Jerry closed his eyes, centering himself. Mana surged around him as he activated Veilstep, feeling the familiar chill of the shadows slide along his skin like cool water. It was like stepping into another layer of the world, one where darkness whispered and obeyed.

He focused first on himself, anchoring his location. Then, slowly, he extended the shadows outward, feeling them wrap around Dorian and Ves, engulfing the three of them in a thin shroud of inky blackness. Their presence became blurred, folded within the undulating folds of shadow.

Now came the second part.

He cast his awareness outward, far beyond the confines of the room. Shadows burst from every nook and cranny, darting down narrow alleyways, over weathered rooftops, and across towering city walls. They raced over the open plains, tracing the landscape in a blur of motion.

Every tree that swayed, every creature that moved, Jerry felt it all. The world around him became a tapestry of shifting darkness, and it was his domain.

Seconds passed.

Then he felt it.

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Two shadows, one familiar, one twisted, locked in a desperate struggle near the edge of a ravine. The Echo's exit.

"Shit. She found him," he muttered aloud, dread curling in his gut.

And in the next instant, with a final surge of will, Jerry completed the Veilstep.

The trio vanished, swallowed whole by the shadows.

* * *

Colm grunted as Lira's immense strength pinned him deeper into the ground, the crushing weight on his back like a mountain. His own strength was slipping away, fading rapidly. He could no longer even form words. Above him, she cackled with malevolent delight.

"I need to do something," he thought desperately. "Otherwise, this might be the end."

Then, without warning, the pressure vanished.

A sharp crack split the air, echoing like thunder. Colm's eyes snapped open just as he felt himself yanked backward, dragged out from beneath her iron grasp.

"What?" his mind reeled. "How?"

Before he could piece it together, the momentum ended. He hit the ground hard, landing on the raw stump of his left arm. Pain lanced through him, and he let out a hoarse cry.

Time seemed to slow.

Colm blinked through the haze of agony, vision swimming, and then his eyes widened.

Three figures stood before him.

Dorian (Level ???) - Human

Jerry (Level ???) - Human

Ves (Level ???) - Human

"Jerry..." Colm muttered, staggering to his feet.

He activated Rising Current, the surge of mana forming the familiar puddle that intertwined with Lingering Vitality, amplifying its effects. He could already feel it working. His pain dulled, his breathing steadied. Just enough to keep going.

Jerry gave a small nod, eyes locked on Lira. "Hey, kid. Sorry we're late."

He did not look away from her once.

A thunderous crack split the air as the ground exploded before them. Lira landed with a mocking flourish, lips curled in sinister amusement.

"Well that was uncalled for," she cooed. "We haven't seen each other in years, Jerry, and the first thing you do is try to kill me? So harsh."

Colm watched as Jerry, Ves, and Dorian all tensed like coiled springs.

"Colm," Jerry said quietly. "We can't win this. One misstep, and we're dead. Or worse, infected."

Colm's eyes widened at that revelation. Even with familiar a face here, they were still outmatched.

And then everything blurred.

He could not track the movement. One moment, they were there. The next, Dorian, Ves, and Jerry had vanished, moving faster than Colm could follow.

Lira clicked her tongue. "Tsk."

And she, too, disappeared.

Shit, Colm thought, heart hammering. Only one option.

He activated Portal to the Lucent Grove, the ability pulsing in his core. We have to get out of here.

The ground around him trembled. What was once solid earth shattered, chunks of stone floating as the terrain warped unnaturally beneath his feet. It was like the world itself was being destroyed by the battle.

This is going to take too long...

He gritted his teeth, forcing mana into the portal, pushing the ability to open faster. At first, it was a trickle, then a surge, the flow of energy turning into a torrent.

"This might work," he muttered through gritted teeth.

A sudden crack to his left. He turned. Dorian was embedded in the dirt, blood on his lips, struggling upright.

"Dorian!" Colm called out. "I've got a plan. I'm opening a portal to escape! Once it's up, follow me through. I'll close it behind us!"

Dorian nodded once and vanished again into motion.

"Please let this work," he whispered.

Colm felt the last of his mana drain as the air shimmered. With a final pulse, the portal burst into existence, a glowing rift to safety.

"NOW!" he yelled.

And then, as if the world itself stuttered, the fight slowed to a crawl.

Colm could barely keep up. Every movement around him felt like it was happening in a dream. Time warped, the sound of magic and steel muffled under a thick, invisible pressure.

His gaze locked on Lira.

She was laughing.

Encased in a swirling mass of shadows, tendrils binding her like coiling serpents, she cackled with twisted delight. "You think this can hold me, Jerry?" she jeered, her voice echoing like broken glass in a cavern.

Colm watched, breath caught in his throat, as the surrounding shadows began to fray, ripping apart under her immense strength.

But then her expression changed.

Her eyes snapped toward the portal. Toward him.

"NO!" she screamed, her voice raw and shrill.

She surged forward, tearing at the shadows with renewed fury, darkness shredding around her in violent bursts, but it was too late.

Colm felt a tug at his back as a hand yanked him forward. He did not know whose. The world flipped, twisted, and in the next heartbeat, he was through.

He stumbled forward, collapsing onto the mossy earth of the Lucent Grove, the scent of damp leaves and glowing trees a stark contrast to the chaos he had escaped.

Ves stood before him, eyes wide. "Close it now, kid!"

Without hesitation, Colm did.

With a thought, the portal blinked out of existence, and with it, the overwhelming pressure vanished.

Silence returned.

He looked up, vision swimming. Ves. Dorian. Jerry.

They were safe. He was safe.

And then, as the adrenaline drained and pain returned in full, Colm's body gave out, his world fading to black.

[ Status ]

Name: Colm Arden

Race: Morvyn

Level: 100

Health: 32 / 1630

Mana: 0 / 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