Level Three  

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE REACHED A NEW TIER IN YOUR EVOLUTION! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL THREE!]

Only Ath3na and the Game Master who was watching from his tower could see this announcement.

Ath3na expected something similar to what had happened to her when she'd evolved the first time, but there was no cocoon of light engulfing her now. No drastic physical change to her spiritual body as well, although she did feel stronger — much stronger.

Several notification windows popped up in front of her.

[ATTRIBUTE INCREASES: STR +1, DEX +2, CON +2, INT +1, WIS +1, SOUL POWER +3]

[YOUR SOUL CORE HAS EXPANDED, ALLOWING YOU TO STORE AND CONSUME MORE ENERGY: 10% INCREASE.]

[THE FOLLOWING ABILITIES HAVE SHOWN IMPROVEMENT: [SPECTRAL AEGIS: activation period increased to fifteen seconds], [SPECTRAL CLOAK: accumulated activation period increased to two and a half minutes], [BATTLE TEMPO: increased resilience to damage increase], [SOUL PULSE: spiritual lances increased from seven to ten lances], [WRAITH CHAIN: can now pull on heavier objects in proportion to STR], [LIFE-DRAINING TOUCH: faster absorption of target's life force]]

[REACHING WRAITH WARRIOR LEVEL THREE HAS EARNED YOU A NEW [FEAT]. PLEASE SEE GAME MASTER FOR AVAILABLE OPTIONS.]

Ath3na's level up lasted seconds. Not nearly enough time for Mr. Bones to react. Still, he did manage to keep giving her the middle finger.

"Wow," Ath3na whispered once she'd finally gotten her bearings. "I feel amazing!"

Gone were her wounds and fatigue that had nearly caused her to collapse. Gone was the feeling of uncertainty and fear that threatened to weaken her spirit. All these things had been replaced by growing confidence, the confidence that she was now strong enough to go toe to toe with the lesser lich.

Mr. Bones must have sensed this as well. Or at least some form of danger radiate out of Ath3na. In response to this new threat, he raised his scepter forward and began casting a new spell.

Eight emaciated hands burst out of the barren earth between Mr. Bones and Ath3na, each one stretching out to touch the sky like the long limbs of a spider. These grotesque limbs extended even further out of the earth and launched themselves toward Ath3na in an attempt to grab her. They just weren't fast enough.

She pushed forward and easily dodged the hands that made a grab for her.

It seemed Ath3na's increased DEX attribute just made her as swift as Lyghtning, an uncommon trait for a heavily-armored warrior. But Ath3na was never what one would call normal.

"Let's see what else I can do with this new and improved me," Ath3na said.

Ever the tactician, Ath3na chose to combine her newfound swiftness with [SPECTRAL CLOAK], and its intangibility making her almost weightless resulted in something that made Ath3na grin from ear to ear.

"Lord of Death… is she flying?" Donatella asked the audience.

Well, not so much flown as launched herself off the ground and leap so high she'd missed her mark and gone over Mr. Bones' head. And while he looked up at her with disbelief plastered on his face, Ath3na landed a few yards behind her enemy.

This lucky accident meant there were now no mobs between her and her enemy. No extended hands seeking to trap her in their grip. It was a clear path forward now.

Mr. Bones was no longer laughing, and if the flesh on his face wasn't already stuck to the bones underneath, Ath3na might have seen his brow furrow. Still, his cracked lips did manage a pretty good frown.

"Eugh, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Ath3na asked. Then she too frowned. "Holy sh*t, I'm doing banter while in battle… that's Lyghtning and Thorminator's thing, not mine. Focus, Ath3na!"

Mr. Bones pointed the tip of his scepter toward Ath3na, and the ground began to rumble underneath her.

"Not again!" she sighed.

Ath3na leaped forward just in time for a head to poke out of the ground right underneath her.

"Great… more fodder to waste my time," Ath3na rolled her eyes at Mr. Bones. "You're a one-trick pony, aren't you?"

Three more reanimated corpses crawled out of the ground between Ath3na and Mr. Bones. Each of them tried to make a grab for her but she avoided each one by jumping around them and kicking at their heads just like her favorite web-slinging, spandex-wearing superhero.

"I am seriously loving this new me," Ath3na laughed. "I don't know what I was so afraid of."

"Doesn't she look like she's enjoying herself," Morgue commented.

"Well, she is the first-ever level three substitute reaper of Adventour," Donatella replied. "I say she's earned the right to be happy about it."

The audience cheered along with the two commentators as Ath3na finally landed on Mr. Bones' carriage. They cheered even louder after she swung Red Death and cut into her enemy's gut.

Unfortunately, the wound was shallow and did nothing to stop Mr. Bones from casting another spell against Ath3na.

Lightning sparked out of his free hand, and like Emperor Palpatine, he sent it streaking toward Ath3na.

She cast [SPECTRAL CLOAK] to avoid the brunt of the damage, but the lightning still hurt her somewhat. Even worse, it had caused a momentary [PARALYSIS] on her body. It was just enough time for Mr. Bones to smack the side of her incorporeal face with his scepter.

It was a wasted effort. Ath3na handled physical damage much better than magical ones. It would have served him better to cast another spell within that time. But Mr. Bones didn't really strike Ath3na as a conventional thinker.

[PARALYSIS] left her body, and as it did, Ath3na launched herself into the air. After reaching a good distance up, she pointed Red Death's spear tip down on Mr. Bones and yelled, "Death from above! Spirit Pulse!"

Ten spiritual lances exploded out of Red Death, and with no other enemy close enough to lock on to, all ten blasts homed in on Mr. Bones.

In response, he raised his scepter high and summoned an arcane shield to defend himself with.

It took all of Ath3na's spiritual lances to shatter Mr. Bones' shield. And while Mr. Bones looked up in smug satisfaction, Ath3na cleared the smoke caused by the clash of magic and sent Red Death crashing down on her enemy's chest.

Ath3na pierced deep into Mr. Bones, causing the smug lesser lich to screech in pain for the first time that night.

"Hh~hrr~raa~ahh~h!" he screeched.

It was a screech that was mimicked by the undead nearest to him which was then cascaded down the line to the undead that were already past the two watchtowers and were making their way into the city.

As one, they turned their heads toward Mr. Bones and then began running toward their master.

"Holy sh*t… did you just summon reinforcements?" Ath3na asked.

She had both hands gripping tightly onto her halberd which had at least two feet of its shaft planted deep into Mr. Bones' body.

"Um, guys, now would be a nice time to wake up from whatever dreamland you're stuck in," Ath3na called over her shoulder.

The unconscious forms of her allies remained unmoving.

"Sh*t… I guess you could say I'm in a pinch," Ath3na sighed.

Mr. Bones struggled against his impalement but Ath3na held on and kept him in place. This was a temporary solution, however, for his forces were getting closer and closer by the second. They would be able to free him soon enough.

"I'm not one for prayer… but maybe I'm close enough to Adventour for its reaper to hear me…" she wondered out loud. "Oh, great Morgana… I really could use a miracle right about now… help!"

Ath3na wasn't sure if it was a dev or an actual NPC who'd heard her plea, but someone did respond.

She heard the disembodied finger-snapping that was now a common sound for players in the Abyss, and soon afterward, the groaning of people waking from unconsciousness.

"Do you hear that?" It was Ath3na's turn to look smug. "Oh, you're in for a world of hurt, Mr. Bones."