Greg Segarra is an undead skeletal warrior. He went from Level 1 to Level 2 after killing a giant pig monster with an iron short sword and simple round shield, which he conjured out of thin air. If Greg was human, he would be freaking out, but as an undead? After surviving getting smashed to pieces? Only kept alive by the briefest instinct to put up his shield just before the moment of impact? Well, Greg has to rapidly reevaluate what is normal.

For example, how he’s holding several Poison Cloud blobs inside his chest cavity as they travel parallel to the well-trodden game trail leading to the dungeons entrance. Matt is still adding more when the spell comes off cooldown as they travel carefully through the underbrush. Matt mumbles something about the mana inside Greg’s body keeping the poison cloud from simply falling down, but Greg is only half listening because the entrance to the dungeon looms ahead.

From the skeleton’s perspective, the dungeon entrance is nothing more than an unassuming cave. An open wound in the earth that could be housing a bear or an army of slime monsters. It could have been an abandoned mine in real life, Greg figures… but a haunted one. Because something draws him toward it. Despite knowing that more pig monsters are up ahead, a fascination burns inside Greg as he gets closer.

“This is like looking at some random house, and being told you used to live there when you were 10…” Greg thinks.

However, the thought makes Greg shudder, which, thankfully, Matt doesn’t notice as he’s still focused on creating more Poison Clouds to shove into Greg’s ribcage. The skeleton ponders his role as a decoy, the hope being that when the orcs rush in to smash Greg to pieces, the dozens of Poison Clouds will explode, killing the orcs, leveling up Matt and Greg, and allowing them to enter the dungeon with one less threat to worry about. Assuming, of course, that there aren’t more orcs inside the dungeon, something Matt insists isn’t the case, but which Greg is…more skeptical about.

The problem is, he barely survived getting hit by one orc, so he can’t imagine what would happen if he’s attacked by the three Matt mentioned should still be waiting in ambush. So, Greg rotates his skull to face the necromancer and asks upfront-

“What is leveling up?”

Matt looks at the skeleton warrior, eyes narrowing upon realization that he ignored the System announcement that his minion leveled up. A minor detail that wouldn’t be a problem except—

“Minions don’t level up.”

Greg's shrugs. “I did.”

Matt uses Identify on Greg and holds back a scream.

Greg Skeleton Warrior

Level 2

Strength : D+

Magic Power : B

Speed : D-

Defense : C

Difficulty Rating : D

Status : Undead (Should be hard to kill, unless you crush their head.)

“You gotta be kidding me!” the necromancer growls in a whisper. Matt’s mind swirls with all the questions that he decides to ignore like, “Why is he gaining levels?”, “Can he learn skills?”, “Can he learn spells?”, “What the actual fuck did I bring over?” For a second Matt can feel a headache brewing, but then a stroke of genius hits him. Well not literally, more of a figurative spark of inspiration as the evidence and esoteric knowledge coalesce into one theory.

Matt crouches down and waits for his skeleton warrior to do the same, then he begins, “Look… if I’m to take a guess, you’ve been reincarnated. Not sure why you don’t know about the System, but Leveling Up increases the options related to your class. You have to tell me what they are for me to help you with that.”

Greg looks confused for a moment; his eyes glow dully as if the words should mean something but he just can’t see it. He thinks to himself, You can’t just look inside yourself and see— before the System kicks in and shows him what he is.

Greg Skeleton Warrior

Level 2

Class Skeleton Warrior

Innate Skills

Shield Bash

Forward Thrust

Upgrade(s) and New skills available.

(3) Skill Points Remaining

Excitement rushes through Greg as he realizes, This is just like an RPG! as the System goes even deeper

Bone Warrior (1)

Level 1

Shield Bash (1)

Forward Thrust (1)

Skeletal Swordsmanship (0)

Skeletal Archery (0)

Level 2

?????

?????

Bone Commander (0)

Level 1

Rally Cry (0)

Bone Formation (0)

Level 2

Bone Legionnaire (0)

Bone Synergies (0)

Bone Sorcerer (0)

Bone Spears (0)

?????

Level 2

Bone Coffin (0)

?????

Greg looks at his options and realizes that he used Shield Bash and Forward Thrust before, when killing the pig monster, however he doesn’t remember selecting those skills. As if for some reason he skipped character selection.

Well, nothing I can do about it now, Greg figures and moves his mind over to the three skill trees.

Bone Warrior Be the best you can be. Bone Warriors are the toughest soldiers in the army of the dead! And the first to die.

Bone Commander An oxymoron in a world of necromancers and demon lords, however ranks in this will make surrounding undead obey you, unless your orders contradict their master.

Bone Sorcerer The infinite magical potential of an undead minion with no formal magical training.

Greg mind shifts over to the spells listed under each skill tree, some but takes special note to read what he already unlocked.

Shield Bash Increase your Defense by Score by 2 Grades briefly in order to block an attack, deal damage to an unblocking opponent.

Forward Thrust Increases your Strength and Weapon Score by 1 Grade, and if you land a hit on a vital area you critically hit.

Critical? Greg thinks, his mind instantly reflecting on the feeling of his simple short sword getting lodged into the throat of that pig monster… and how strangely satisfying that felt. A weird exhilaration fills Greg’s thoughts. Despite not knowing how to fight, he managed to kill something many times his size… So the question running through the skeleton warriors mind becomes, Do I double down on being a Bone Warrior or branch out into other tech trees?

Greg can’t help but feel that exploring the tech tree is his best option, so he skims through the ability description-

“The orcs!” Matt hisses, breaking Greg's internal world of menu screens and permanent life choices. Both minion and minion master watch as four orcs stumble out of the dungeon, their collective hearts sinking as those in front of them are larger and seemingly more robust than the one they just killed.

“They can smell us…” Matt whispers, the beginning of an acid arrow twirling in his hands. The short break Matt took hours before has restored half his Magic Grades. So, ideally, he can strike one down with a well-aimed bolt and make a run for it.

Greg, on the other hand, unlocks both Bone Commander and Bone Sorcerer in rapid order and is gifted Rally Cry with the last skill point. Greg's eye sockets shine with determination, and without hesitation rushes out into the open, a warrior’s battle cry bellowing from his undead frame.