Max glanced at the clock. 1:47 PM. He had time before Velara's group run at 8 PM. Time to dive back in and experiment.
But first, food. His stomach was growling, and his mother would kill him if she woke up and found he had skipped lunch.
He made himself a quick meal—instant ramen with an egg, nothing fancy—and ate while scrolling through more forum threads.
The game's community was already developing meta strategies, tier lists, and preferred builds.
**
Max materialized back in the Fractured Abyss, the familiar purple-tinted landscape greeting him. The three moons hung in their usual positions, and the upside-down mountain loomed in the distance.
He pulled up his character sheet immediately, verifying his stats and equipment. Everything was as he had left it—level 5, decent gear from the dungeon run, and most importantly, the Shadow Echo waiting dormant within him.
Time to experiment.
Max walked away from the main quest routes, heading deeper into the crystalline wastes where Void Watchers spawned in greater numbers. Other players were scattered around—he could see their username tags in the distance—but the zone was large enough that he would have plenty of space to work.
He found a good farming spot: a cluster of crystal towers where Void Watchers respawned every few minutes. Three of them floated in a patrol pattern, their tentacles writhing beneath their massive eyes.
[Void Watcher – Level 3] x3
HP: 150/150 each
Max drew his rusty shortsword, then activated his summon skill.
[Summon Contract: Shadow Echo]
[-20 MP]
[Duration: 10 minutes]
The shadow peeled itself from the ground, rising and twisting until the familiar humanoid form materialized beside him. The Shadow Echo hovered at shoulder height, its purple-glowing eyes fixing on the Void Watchers.
Through their bond, Max felt its eagerness. It wanted to hunt.
Let's see what you can really do, Max thought, sending the command through their connection.
The Shadow Echo shot forward like a bullet, closing the distance to the nearest Void Watcher in a heartbeat. Its form solidified partially as it raked spectral claws across the creature's body.
-35 HP!
[Void Watcher: 115/150 HP]
The creature shrieked and fired an energy beam, but the Shadow Echo phased through it effortlessly, becoming intangible at will. It struck again.
-32 HP!
Max charged in, his sword finding gaps in the Watcher's defenses. Together, they fell into the rhythm they had discovered yesterday—the Shadow Echo drawing attention, creating openings, while Max delivered the killing blows.
The first Watcher fell within thirty seconds.
[Void Watcher Defeated!]
[+50 EXP]
The other two lunged at them. Max activated Shadow Step, teleporting to a nearby crystal's shadow, and the Shadow Echo dove at the closer target with savage efficiency.
The battle was easier this time. Max was learning the Watchers' patterns, understanding how to exploit their weaknesses. And more importantly, he was learning how to fight with the Shadow Echo rather than just alongside it.
When both Watchers fell, Max checked his EXP bar. About a third of the way to level 6. At this rate, with dedicated farming, he could gain several levels in an afternoon.
The Watchers respawned three minutes later.
Max and the Shadow Echo killed them again.
And again.
And again.
The repetition continued. Pull, kill, loot, wait for respawn. The game's combat system remained engaging even through repetition—every fight required actual skill, not just button mashing. The Shadow Echo's movements became more predictable as Max learned to read its intentions through their bond.
[You are now Level 6!]
The notification appeared after his fifteenth or sixteenth kill—Max had lost count. His stats increased, and he distributed his new skill points into Intelligence and Agility, boosting his MP pool and movement speed.
He kept farming.
Other players occasionally passed by, some stopping to watch him work. A few sent party invites, which he politely declined. He needed to understand his class alone before revealing its capabilities.
[You are now Level 7!]
The sun began its descent toward the horizon. Max checked his real-world time: 5:23 PM. He had been grinding for over two hours straight, and his body was starting to feel the fatigue of constant combat.
But he was making incredible progress. Level 7 already, and the Void Watchers were becoming trivial. Their patterns were burned into his muscle memory now.
Max summoned the Shadow Echo for what felt like the hundredth time, preparing to clear another spawn. But as the spirit manifested, something felt... different.
The Shadow Echo seemed more solid than before. Its form, usually shadowy and constantly shifting, held its shape more consistently. The purple glow of its eyes was brighter, more intense.
Max activated Soul Sight, examining the entity more closely.
[Shadow Echo – Rank D]
Level: 7
HP: 280/280
Abilities: Phase Shift, Shadow Claws, Drain Touch (NEW)
Max froze.
Level 7.
The Shadow Echo was level 7.
The same level as him.
His heart started pounding. He pulled up the entity's stats from memory—when he had first contracted it yesterday, it had been Rank D with no specified level. But now...
Max opened his skill interface and checked the Shadow Echo's information:
[CONTRACTED ENTITY: SHADOW ECHO]
[Bond Rank: D]
[Entity Level: 7]
[Experience: 847/3,200 to next level]
[Synchronized Growth: ACTIVE]
[Stats]:
[STR: 12 | AGI: 18 | INT: 15 | VIT: 14]
Abilities:
[Phase Shift (Rank D) – Become intangible, immune to physical damage for 3 seconds]
[Shadow Claws (Rank D) – Spectral attacks dealing dark damage]
[Drain Touch (Rank E) – NEW – Absorb HP from targets on successful hit (10% lifesteal)]
Synchronized Growth
The Shadow Echo was leveling with him. Every kill he made, every bit of experience he earned, was being shared with his contracted spirit. It was growing stronger alongside him, gaining new abilities, evolving.
Max's hands trembled slightly as he processed this information. He pulled up the forums on his phone, searching desperately:
"Soulbinder contracted entity leveling"
12 results – all speculation, no confirmed mechanics.
"Contract levels with player"
0 results
"Synchronized growth Soulbinder"
0 results