Chapter 17: Echo

Dark grey strands drifted like threads in the wind, a tangled knot of shapes that formed a rough torso and head floating just above the earth. The Echo could easily be mistaken for an odd cloud, a stain in a river, or a passing fog if you didn’t give it a second glance.

From the rough area the head occupied, the smoke twisted, and a bone white flower sprouted from where the creature’s eyes would be. Layers of petals coiled around each other, fanning out in a spiral. The smoke flickered again, and black roots climbed down the body, rapidly reaching for the soil.

Eyes widening, Leo jumped back just as those roots touched the ground.

The earth shook violently. Woven cords of smoke shot out from the floating torso, flying in their direction, and Leo ducked beneath one aimed at his head. Dagger in hand, he sliced at the pseudo limb, but it dissipated seconds after he felt the blade hit something.

The air vibrated. A web of those curling limbs bloomed from the Echo’s back. Leo stepped backwards, and he felt himself bump into someone. Long grey hair streamed in his peripheral vision. Spade.

The [Fragmentholder]’s eyes darted rapidly around, taking in the expanse of misty tendrils surrounding them and obscuring the main body of the Echo. Based on the earlier hit, those limbs did indeed have a solid interior, but they moved with the freeness of smoke.

Given the volume of the bell, they were in the center of the Silence. Outrunning the being would be difficult with its reach.

Spade’s presence was solid behind him. Without looking, he couldn’t tell what the woman was thinking, but at the very least, they’d be able to somewhat watch each other’s blindspots.

Silently adjusting his grip on the dagger, Leo inhaled. The flower twitched.

All at once, the appendages shot forward.

Leo twisted, narrowly avoiding two flying at his head and torso. A third one whipped forward, and he brought his dagger up just in time to deflect it. His foot slid slightly on the crushed grasses beneath him, and he leapt over the next appendage that swept low across the ground.

Just as he landed, a hand shoved him and he swerved in time to see Spade raise her blade, blocking an attack aimed straight at his back.

Leo didn’t have time to process, because at that moment, the ground started to shake.

He didn’t think. He jumped forward and attempted to shove the [Executioner] away. The push was unsuccessful; it felt like trying to move solid rock. Thankfully the impact was enough to draw Spade’s attention, and she pushed the appendages back and leapt away just as the ground split open and more of those tendrils shot upwards like spikes.

Stray rocks rolled down the slope, and Leo jerked around, eyes widening. Allan was still sleeping at the bottom of the dip, caught in the field of Silence and unaware of what was happening.

The [Fragmentholder] ran forward, activating his [Sprint] skill and half sliding down the grassy slope. Above him, a smoky limb arced overhead. Leo jerked around, raising his dagger to block it before it could reach the sleeping [Healer].

This one was different from the earlier attacks, the smoke a mere thin coating around an otherwise significantly more solid base. Leo’s hand shook from the exertion of keeping it pressed back, and this one showed no signs of dissolving.

His feet slid, and he felt them hit Allan’s sleeping form. Without looking, he kicked back with his heel just as, atop the slope, Spade’s sword came swinging down, cleaving the appendage in two.

Instantly the pressure was gone, and Leo released a harsh breath. He was fast enough to dodge the things, but they needed to end this soon, especially when the field of Silence showed no signs of leaving. Another Echo could appear at any time.

The [Fragmentholder] felt something bump into his shoulder and glanced over. Allan appeared beside him, axe in hand and dark eyes rapidly scanning the situation.

Spade seemed to be holding out on her own fairly well, but she couldn’t get closer to the Echo with all her attention focused on blocking. Leo’s eyes landed on the flower blooming on the creature’s head, constantly cloaked by more smoky appendages. The [Fragmentholder]’s eyes narrowed.

He elbowed Allan, who turned in his direction. Nodding, Leo pointed at the flower with his dagger. Then he gestured to the twisting limbs Spade was still fighting off. The [Healer]’s eyes gleamed in understanding.

Allan raced forward, axe in hand, to where Spade was. At the same time, Leo swerved around, sprinting around the Echo and leaping and ducking around whipping tendrils.

Closer to the creature’s main body, the smoke thickened, and a thin haze shrouded it in a blurry fog. More appendages sprouted from its back aimed towards where Allan and Spade were blocking attacks with their weapons.

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Allan swung his axe down, cutting into one of them. More rushed at the two of them, but Leo forced himself to focus. They would be fine.

He studied the waving of the tendrils, how they curved and twisted and the smoke danced around them in a strange, almost hypnotic rhythm. Pushing and pulling like tides.

In the corner of his eye, both Allan and Spade blocked two attacks at the same time. Leo surged forward.

Activating [Sprint] again, he wove between rippling limbs and whipping attacks. The smoke thickened, but the white of the center flower remained visible even as the mass of appendages grew increasingly dense.

Leo reeled his arm back, but just as he readied to attack, the swirling mass of the Echo’s torso bubbled. His eyes widened.

The [Fragmentholder] threw himself to the side. He felt something sharp graze his arm as a barrage of solid grey rushed forward. He felt himself fall, the earth rapidly approaching his vision.

Gritting his teeth, Leo twisted around, eyes focused on the flower.

With all his strength, he hurled the dagger straight at its center.

The [Fragmentholder] hit the ground hard. A cloud of loose dirt rose around him from the impact, and Leo grunted.

His eyes widened and he scrambled upwards. In his ears, he could distinctly hear the sound of dirt shuffling as he moved.

“Leo!”

Allan’s voice sounded in his ears, and he turned to see the man hurrying forward, axe still in hand and swinging behind him as he approached. Spade walked at a comparatively more calm pace.

The smoke had cleared, leaving only the fresh night air. When Leo looked around, all that was left of the Echo was a pile of white petals sitting in an innocuous mound. His dagger lay just outside the main pile, and he moved to pick it up just as Allan reached him.

“Are you okay?” The [Healer]’s brows were furrowed in concern.

Leo nodded, poking at the shoulder he’d landed on. It was probably bruised, but nothing more serious than that.

“I’m fine,” he said. Even the place where he’d felt one of the appendages graze his arm was, on closer inspection, only a faint scratch.

“That was a weaker Echo,” Spade commented. The [Executioner] eyed the being’s remains with a clinical, detached gaze.

Leo had to agree with the assessment. He was no expert on Echoes, but from what he’d heard the one they’d just fought would be considered on the lower end of the power spectrum.

[You have gained experience! Experience shared with [2] other party members]

[Progress towards next level: 13%]

Leo paused, blinking at the notifications. His brows furrowed.

“Hold on. You both got that notification just now too, right?”

They nodded, and the [Fragmentholder] frowned. Every class earned experience from different things; his old [Thief] class, for example, had leveled up by stealing. Defeating an Echo would still grant a small amount of experience to everyone, but definitely not that much.

Leo’s eyes landed on Spade. Allan was a [Healer], so it definitely hadn’t been because of him. “Does [Executioner] get experience from Echoes?”

“A bit, but to be frank, it’s not nearly as much as I get from humans.”

“You’re way too fucking casual about that, you know.”

The [Executioner]’s responding smile was almost infuriatingly calm.

“It comes with the profession.”

Leo glanced over at Allan, but the man was frowning at Spade with that oddly serious look in his eyes again. The [Fragmentholder] shook his head.

“That must mean the [Fragmentholder] class gets experience from killing Echoes,” he deduced aloud. Or at least, that was one of the things that granted experience. He’d have to figure out what else could be done to level up, but it was nice to know at least one of the things for certain. Still, killing Echoes felt like an odd thing for the class.

There were multiple theories about the Silence and its origins with no true consensus. Some thought of it as a natural disaster while others theorized that it had something to do with the Ancients. That was currently the leading theory since the Silence seemed to show up less often in places like Scaga, where there was a higher population of surviving Ancients.

Another hypothesis, however, suggested that the Silence and Echoes were a sort of system error, though that had gotten some pushback from those who worshiped the [Administrator] and argued that a god wouldn’t make such mistakes. Others thought it was a sort of trial to test if humanity was worthy of the System.

Leo had never leaned too hard on any one theory himself. What mattered most to him was that the Silence and Echoes existed and how to survive them. The experience gained did suggest some sort of connection with the System, though.

Around them, the night breeze whistled past. The soft rustling of grasses was a welcome sound after the field of Silence had swallowed everything up. It was still fairly early in the night, Leo noted.

“We should try to get some more sleep. We can go back to the planned watch.”

“Are you sure?” Allan looked worried.

“The Silence won’t appear in the same place in one night,” Leo argued. “If anything, it’ll be easier to sleep now. Besides, we’re gonna need energy to keep traveling tomorrow.”

The [Healer] slowly nodded. After a quick discussion, they moved a little further up the road. There was still a dip to rest in without drawing immediate attention, and it put them further away from the lingering cracks in the ground where the Echo’s attacks had hit.

As Leo settled down again to continue his watch, his eyes lingered on the pile of petals sitting further back in the center of the path. They seemed almost to glow under the moonlight, yet they remained undisturbed by the wind. From the distance, they could easily be mistaken for a snowy burial mound.