You have defeated a [Skeleton Juggernaut - Level 33 (Combat Power: 1104)]!

You have absorbed its Physical essence!

You have defeated a [Skeleton Archer - Level 22 (Combat Power: 567)]!

You have absorbed its Physical essence!

…

You have advanced to Level 28!

- Arcane Essence +40

I stared at the fallen skull as the light in its eyes faded. Its passing words echoed in my mind— a greeting from the Lich Lord of the Dungeon himself.

“I’ll be waiting… for you…”

He knew we were here. I didn’t know whether or not he’d already known the entire time, but now we knew for sure he was aware of our presence, and he was ready for us. It was almost chilling. The magic he’d used against me— the level of attack power and durability he’d given the Skeleton Juggernaut despite its similar Combat Power to mine— was intense.

I had wondered why this area had been different. Previously, Fissyah and I had only run into small patrols— no more than half a dozen regular Skeleton Warriors and Archers. But here, there had been a dozen of them led by a Skeleton Juggernaut.

The walls were chiseled unlike at the entrance of the Dungeon. Pillars jutted out of the walls like supporting beams, holding up a cobbled stone ceiling. The tunnel descended into a soft decline. The ground was paved into a steady path that led to a set of grand double doors at the end.

A thin layer of ice wrapped over the stone doorway. Motes of frost wisped off its misty surface like frozen embers. It blocked us from proceeding any further, and we had no other tunnel to follow.

“Is that it?” Fissyah gulped.

“Let’s see, I guess,” I said, starting ahead of her.

I bounced forward, pushing an appendage against the cold surface. It was a heavy, foot-thick stone door, but I didn’t have too much trouble moving it. Fissyah stepped after me as we took in the circular room within.

It was a massive arena. One made of ice and stone. Giant frozen spikes stabbed out of the ground— a dangerous hazard in addition to the slippery floor. I could just stick to the ground so I wasn’t too worried about myself. Fissyah, however, didn’t have that ability.

She nearly slipped and slid across this icy landscape, but I caught her. And as she steadied herself to her own two feet, the same ethereal voice from earlier echoed in this chamber. A robed skeletal figure stood at the very center, shrouded in a cloud of frost.

“Welcome, intruders, to my—”

And I didn’t let him finish. I snapped to him, firing an [Arc Shot]. His skull broke off the wall and rolled on the ground to his feet. I thought that was it— that it was finished. But no notification popped up.

His gaze bore into me: a pair of glowing, ethereal eyes that held power unknown. That did not falter even when separated from the body. He opened his mouth—

“Hey— what was that for?” he protested.

“Uhm, what?” I stared at him, confused, even from this distance.

“You interrupted me in the middle of my speech!”

“That’s…” I trailed off, at a loss for words.

“You can’t just interrupt someone when they’re speaking! That’s just rude! I demand an apolo—”

I exchanged a confused glance with Fissyah, and she shrugged. “I’m just going to— [Arc Shot]. Yeah.”

I fired another projectile at his skull. It slid and bounced off a nearby ice spike, spinning before facing me again. His jaw dropped.

“You did it again! You just interrupted me when I was in the middle of saying something again!”

“Why aren’t you dead?” I asked, sending another [Arc Shot] his way.

His body reacted as he brought a skeletal hand up. His skull floated out of the way, landing on his open palm. The Lich Lord of the Dungeon strode forward as his aura of ice raged behind him. He attached his skull back onto his head, raising a shimmering icicle our way.

“You intrude into my lair and attack me when I’m trying to speak? Do you not know who I am? Do you not know who you’ve angered?”

He pointed at us as the chilled winds grew stronger. Fissyah and I backed up, tensing and preparing for this battle.

“In my life, I was a Great Mage— a scholar of magic that you have never seen in your mortal lives! I studied under the greatest Necromancer in all of the Hollowdark! I have transcended death! I have become the ruler of this Dungeon!”

I used [Appraisal] on him, and the results didn’t bode well for us.

[Lich Lord - Level 57 (Combat Power: 3500)]

His magic came to a sudden halt. The room was overcome with a quietus that prefigured what was to come. His eyes burned with a cold intensity as he stared down at me, like looking at an insect.

“I am the Lich Lord of the Karhid Caves. I am a being far beyond your feeble comprehension!”

He spread his arms wide, finishing his declaration.

“I. Am. Bob!”

“...Bob?” I repeated after him. “Your name’s Bob?”

The Lich Lord nodded sagely. “Indeed.”

I snickered. “Seriously? You’re named Bob. I’d have thought you would have a cool sounding name. Like… Xander. But Bob? That’s a stupid name for Lich Lord.”

“Insolence!” He raised the shimmering icicle, sending a blast of cold wind my way. I threw myself to the side as the gust missed me by a hair’s breadth. “My name exuberates majesty. It is befitting one such as I!”

“Mmm, nah.” I hopped around the frozen arena as he continued his onslaught of ice-related attacks.

A volley of ice shards appeared at the tip of the shimmering icicle before launching out at me. I hid behind a frozen spike, using my environment to my advantage. I returned with the occasional [Arc Shot], and the Lich Lord laughed.

“Do you think such pitiful attacks would harm me?” He brought a hand up, essentially catching the projectile. “It is— ouch. That stings!”

“What about this?” I pointed at him and shouted. “[Arcane Blast]!”

“What? Impossible—” His eyes flashed as he braced himself, raising a barrier of ice. A snowy semisphere aimed in my direction. He waited for my [Arcane Blast] to come— to impact his protective shield.

Nothing happened. I couldn’t use that Skill, after all. His barrier lowered, and he stared at me.

“Were you actually going to—”

“Now, Fissyah!” I shouted, and from behind him, the Gremlin unleashed a storm of flames at the Lich Lord.

He spun around as the fire bore down on him. It wasn’t made efficiently since it was created entirely using [Basic Fire Magic], but it was likely equivalent to a [Fireblast]. The Lich Lord raised his arms as he was engulfed in the flames.

At the same time, I loosed a flurry of [Arc Shots] as Fissyah fired a handful of [Arcane Flameshots]. Our attacks let up after a second, and from the mixture of steam and smoke, the Lich Lord stepped forth. A dark curtain wrapped around his back— a barrier made entirely out of arcane energy.

It protected him from the attack, and it vanished in an instant with the snap of his fingers.

“That was actually a bit dangerous. The two of you are strong for your levels, huh?” he muttered and faced me.

I paused, peering at the Lich Lord. There was something… amiss here. Something very odd. Not only did his behavior stand out to me, but there was also something to his magic, and yet I couldn’t place what it was that felt wrong to me.

It was only when he continued waving the shimmering icicle— which was abundantly clear to me now that it was a wand— around as he cast ice magic, did things begin to fall into place.

It finally clicked.

* * *

Something was wrong. Fissyah could tell that something about the Lich Lord was amiss. She watched as he conjured up an ice lance with a flick of his wand. It shot out at Violet— the Arcslime narrowly avoided another attack.

Fissyah really wanted to be able to help out. But she was exhausted. Going from fighting the Skeleton Juggernaut straight to this battle with little rest was a bad idea. Even worse was the level gap between the Lich Lord and both Fissyah and Violet. Or was it a level gulf?

Even if they could’ve used [Arc Symbiosis], the girl knew they stood no chance. His Combat Power would still more than double theirs. It didn’t make sense.

It was ridiculous that Oblec thought they could have won this battle. The bearded Gremlin had been somehow confident that Fissyah and Violet could win. There had to be something to it. Something that Fissyah wasn’t seeing. And she remembered the instructions given— the task that had been asked of them.

To recover the Lich Lord’s treasures.

Fissyah heaved out another [Arcane Flameshot]. It used up the last of her Arcane Essence. And it was easily blocked once by an ice wall created from the flick of the Lich Lord’s wrists. Or, at least, the flick of the wand he was carrying.

That is his treasure, the girl had the epiphany. It was the source of the Lich Lord’s power. His magic was located in the wand. It had to be. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so reliant on it.

“Violet!” Fissyah shouted out. “The Lich Lord… he’s—”

“I noticed!” the Arcslime replied as she slid in between a burst of hail.

Violet had noticed it before Fissyah. As expected… the girl grinned.

Together, the pair flanked the Lich Lord from both sides and drew in closer. He couldn’t attack both of them at once. His attention was split, and his offense was long-ranged. He couldn’t do anything. Fissyah distracted him with a concentrated cone of fire, letting Violet slip into his defenses.

The Lich Lord stumbled back as the Arcslime burst up from his legs. She slammed an appendage into his skull, knocking it off once again. With another appendage, she grabbed the wand off his boney hands and tossed it at Fissyah.

“Catch!”

The girl caught it and felt a surge of power washed over her. She stared at the shimmering icicle with round eyes. [Appraisal] told her of what it was capable of, and she gaped.

[Arctic Wand (B Grade) - When in use, the user is able to use the Skills [Advanced Ice Magic] and [Basic Wind Magic].]

“This is…” She held it up. It was a similar feeling to when she’d first advanced to her current threshold. When fire magic became available to her.

It was almost an alien feeling, yet so familiar. One that was reassuring to her. Her eyes closed as she raised the wand, feeling the world obey her with the flick of a wrist. The wind heeded her command, and rime would form as she wished.

Breathing deeply, she turned to the Lich Lord as he picked up his skull.

“You—” he started, and Fissyah exhaled.

“Take this!”

The girl released a storm of ice and fire at the Lich Lord. He halted as he saw the attack coming. It was the most powerful magic Fissyah had ever been able to create. There was no arcane to it, but as Oblec said, she should be focusing on the basic elemental magic first. It crashed into the Lich Lord as his jaw dropped.

The blast ripped apart his body, tearing him to shreds. Violet made a whistling sound as the magical attack crashed into the back wall of the room.

“Nice, Fissyah!” she said simply.

“Did… we… do it?” Fissyah panted, lowering the Arctic Wand.

She stared at the remains of the Lich Lord. As he lay there, a pile of broken bones. Then the bones mended. His body flew back together, with the skull being the last part to reattach itself to the Lich Lord.

The girl stepped back, wide-eyed in fear. “N-no… how…?” she asked.

Violet didn’t say a word. It was no use. They couldn’t defeat the Lich Lord. The level difference was too great. Fissyah raised the Arctic Wand, trying to conjure up whatever she could, but Violet stopped her.

“Wait,” the Arcslime said.

“W-what are you doing?” The girl watched as Violet moved ahead of her.

Each rattling step taken by the Lich Lord brought him closer to the Arcslime. This was ridiculous— Violet couldn’t possibly take him on alone, yet she moved without fear to face him alone. They came to a stop a single foot away from each other, and Fissyah raised her hands.

“No—”

“Congratulations,” the Lich Lord’s voice cut her off.

“So that was it, then? We steal the Arctic Wand from you, and we win?” Violet asked, slightly dubious.

He clasped his boney hands together with a clack, nodding. “And you didn’t even cheat with [Arc Symbiosis], either.”

“Well, I was tempted to use it, but when I realized what was going on, I decided against it.” The Arcslime shrugged, raising a pair of appendages.

Fissyah blinked as they conversed casually— as though they hadn’t just been trying to kill each other.

“What…?” She hurriedly glanced between the pair, before settling her gaze on Violet. “Wait, Violet, what’s going on?”

“It was—”

“A test,” Bob, the Lich Lord, said simply, wagging a finger. He faced the girl with his grinning face and continued. “Oblec had sent you here for a test. And I am happy to say that the both of you passed.”

“Oh,” that was all Fissyah said in response.

You have defeated a [Lich Lord - Level 57 (Combat Power: 3500)] in a mock battle!

You have gained partial experience for passing his test!

You have advanced to Level 25!

- Physical Essence Points +20

- [Worldliness] +10

- Arcane Essence +10

- Skill [Basic Ice Magic] gained!

- Skill [Basic Wind Magic] gained!