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Chapter 4 - The Skeleton Lord
🕑 Added 2025-09-01 18:14:51 +0000 UTCA skeleton lounged on the cold stone throne, a bloodied crown spinning on its fingers, it had an eternal grin on its face, but now it truly felt its smile as it placed the golden crown on its head. The lord fingered a knife hidden in its ribcage.
A single elf had been completing his dungeon by herself. She seemed nervous, uncertain and unpracticed as she fought off his skeleton guards.
A solo Trialist, a Destined… Perhaps…
The Skeleton Lord looked at the woman before him. She had picked [Rogue] for his own class, that was the greatest sign of her lack of knowledge.
“You must be so confident to have picked me.”
His voice rasped and clicked, unearthly and coarse. The elf paused to hear him speak.
“Why is that the case?”
Excellent.
“Tell me did the Manager call you a pioneer?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, before we fight would you like to know a little secret about the Realm and the Trial?”
She tensed at that. The lord cursed, now that it knew she was a pioneer it wished she had chosen the [Mage] instead.
“Please.”
She tried to sound cold and confident. How perfect!
“The secret is that killing your fellow Trialists and facing challenges alone will lead to better class and skill upgrades in the future!”
She took a moment to think about this.
“And I am supposed to just believe you?”
“Believe it or not, the other pioneers are being told the same thing. But here I offer you a deal!” The skeleton lord knew this would trigger the Trial System.
Quest updated!
Objective
Kill the skeleton lord
Or
Take tutelage from the skeleton lord and make an oath to kill one other pioneer.
Note: this decision may impact all your future trials, classes and skills may reflect this
The elf’s eyes widened, she looked at the contents then closed her eyes. Foolish, but the skeleton lord would wait for her decision. She then snapped her fingers and shook her head.
“Ah, a prisoner’s dilemma. Are you finished? I decline the deal.”
“What?”
The skeleton lord was annoyed now, this little pioneer would lose her life. The Lord was a [Rogue], this elf, a mere realm zero [Mage].
He leaped, more than a little bloodthirsty as he threw his knife to incapacitate, he would torture her before killing her so that she would never try the Trials again. Better to be rid of a rational Pioneer.
She leapt back while taking out a shimmering shield from behind her robes and he cursed.
The elf held a magic shield in front with her introductory staff. It was pointed at the skeleton noble like a spear. One orb of [Magebolt] ready, spinning around the end of the staff pointing at him. The skeleton paused as he landed.
The elf’s stance no longer looked uncertain, it was now a practiced one that brooke no fear. She had been pretending the entire time.
The skeleton noble looked at its single shortsword and then looked up.
Now that wasn't fair.
–
Ryan hid behind a tree near the road, a five-minute jog from the entrance of the dungeon. He had been waiting for over an hour until he finally heard the steps of the drake jog past him.
That was the first part of the plan. Wait for the drake soldier to realize something had gone wrong and double back to check on his team members.
He hopped back onto the path and into the dungeon. He knew the steps but didn’t know if he could act well enough to fool the boss.
He made it past the burnt down inn. As far as he could tell, all the zombies had been taken care of. He unsheathed his sword and swung it around, checking his own movements while he walked. Each strike flowed like a dream as he wondered if this was what the truly talented people felt on Earth. The children of adventurers.
A realm 0 [Rogue]. Peak physical talent comparable to any Olympian on Earth. Enough talent to react to a highly skilled soldier from Earth. If he could have moved like this, he would have had more than enough talent to get sponsored for a slot in the Trial System.
Ryan shook his head, shaking away the fantasies.
Then he cut the first tripwire at his ankle height.
He kept his head on a swivel. The tripwires themselves weren’t dangerous. It was mainly to slow adventurers down for the zombies. Had they decided to flee from them.
There was even one hanging loosely at neck height. He shuddered as he remembered one particular recounting of an adventurer in the earlier generation. They had panicked when one wrapped around their head and the zombies ate him alive.
Bastards they may have been, but the Settler generation had it rough.
The tripwire-riddled tunnel opened up into a well-lit chamber with three more exits. There were [Magelights] on the ceiling, giving the room an odd, multicolored hue. His eyes scanned the chamber until he saw the only other thing in the room. A corpse leaning against a wall.
He didn’t hesitate. Ryan rushed over to the body and promptly stabbed the body through its eye socket. The blade went through the bone and he felt something squelch as the sword hit the brain. He took out his blade and gagged.
He really needed to get a stronger stomach.
Three exits lay before him but he wouldn’t need to check around. The map the soldiers had taken from the inn had made it clear which tunnel contained the boss. Sometimes the other tunnels would have extra loot but it wasn’t worth getting cornered by the drake soldier or the boss.
The skeleton lord could leave its chamber if you took too long, and Ryan had no idea how long the Trial had been going on for.
It only took ten more minutes before he encountered more undead. Two skeletons in front. One holding a greatsword and another with a sword and shield. The one with the sword and shield charged first, the other following close behind.
He threw his knife as it thudded uselessly into the shield. The skeleton hadn’t even needed to block because his throw had been so bad. That was on purpose for later.
These skeletons were quick, probably just as fast as a regular human. He noted the purple flame in one of their eyes.
He did a front kick, the very same kick the [Mage] soldier used, onto the skeleton’s shield. They might have been quick, but they were still just bones. The front skeleton fell back, knocking into the one behind it.
He leaped forward and slashed at the front skeleton’s sword hand, knocking the blade away from him, then he stabbed forward into its skull. His keen brown eyes met the purple flames as he made it clear he knew exactly what was going on.
Before the other one could recover, his foot stomped on its greatsword and the other foot kicked its head off its socket.
He heard a clattering and looked up. Six more skeletons appeared in his vision. Each paired up and in tight formation. The boss wasn’t pretending anymore, it wasn’t going to give him a fighting chance.
“Right, a three scaled dungeon, I guess this is as far as I go.”
He shook his head and pretended as if that was it, that he was just going to walk away. A clattering voice called out from up front. A skeleton with blazing purple fires in its eye sockets.
“Would you like to make a deal?”
Ryan looked at the skeleton then glanced back to where he had come from, like he was weighing his options. They clambered and moved aside, backs to the wall of the tunnel. They stood facing each other as they revealed the entrance to the boss room.
A stone gate, enchantments carved into the grey stone.
He grit his teeth and walked forward, wary of the possibility that the skeletons could attack at any time. If he had a [Cleave] skill he could probably clear them from where he stood. Unfortunately, he was just a [Rogue]. The boss knew that too.
Three orbs flew out from the stone gates.
[Warrior], [Mage] and [Rogue]
These were crimson compared to the golden spheres in the Manager’s abode. All of them depicted a skeleton in different gear. Like a cold, evil reflection of the choices offered in the abode. He didn’t hesitate, he picked the [Mage] orb.
The other orbs shattered as the orb he held pulsed once, then twice, then shot back into the stone gate behind him. Ancient red enchantments pulsed throughout the gates. He would have liked to watch the light-show but he kept his eyes locked onto the skeletons behind him.
If they even twitched, he’d rush forwards and try to slam down the boss. Not that it was likely. The skeleton noble was well aware that it was just a Trial boss.
A situation like this was what it lived for.
Almost as if reading his thoughts, a voice rasped from one of the skeletons.
“It seems you already know so much, tell me, boy. How long has the Trial been in your world? What are the comings and goings of your version of The Realm?”
“I’m not a boy, and I know enough not to tell you that.”
The skeleton behind him clattered with an undead mockery of laughter. “Fair, fair, but 5 or even fifty, all of you are children to me. Come on in.”
The stone gates pulsed and opened inwards, bringing a heavy rush of air with them. A vibrating static washed over him, a sense he had only felt from afar when he had seen an adventurer do a live demonstration.
Magic.
The gate opened as he walked in. He was calm and focused. He knew the steps. He’d practiced them when he was younger, he had daydreamed about this, the steps were even in his dreams. Now it was just a matter of execution.
Sure, if he died he was dead. No free lives, no bailing out of the Trial, no allies to cover his back.
For some reason, this felt right. This was where he was meant to be. This was where he belonged.
The room slowly lit up as he stepped deeper into the chamber. [Magelights] appeared next to pillars to make the throne room brighter.
For the first time in the Trial, he felt a little underwhelmed. A lot of the artistic renditions of this chamber had made it look solemn and menacing. Shadows had crept up onto this ancient tomb where the lord would greet you. In reality it wasn’t like that at all.
This was more of a decrepit dusty place, worn down by time and long forgotten.
The Skeleton Lord sat upon its cold throne of stone, elevated by large steps. It gave him a height advantage as it looked down at him, like a lord would to its subjects. The [Mage]-classed skeleton wore a dusty grey robe with a cracked golden crown on its head. A wand lay carelessly on the handle of the throne. An obvious gesture that the boss did not consider him a threat.
“An interesting scenario,” the lord mused. “Three bloodthirsty soldiers trying to keep their identities secret and a young Destined who seems to know all the tricks and traps of the first Trial. It must have been at least three decades since the Trial has graced your world. Hmm, I would bet on five.”
That was eerily close. He just shrugged.
“It’s been five hundred years.”
“Five hun - now, we can’t have a civil conversation if you simply start by lying to me like this. Best remember, boy, I control your fate now. It was sealed the moment you entered this chamber.”
He crossed his arms. “Sure, it’s been sixty years since the first Trials appeared.”
“Interesting, interesting. So all my actions and behaviors have been thoroughly documented.” The skeleton lord tapped his chair, contemplative.
“Very well then, you must know what comes next. I offer you a deal.”
Trial quest updated
Objective:
Kill the skeleton lord
Or
Take tutelage from the skeleton lord and help him kill the other trialists.
Or
Flee and get the villagers to safety
Note: this decision may impact your future. Classes, skills and trials will change upon your choices.
“If you don’t accept, I will kill you. There is no path for either of us. Those soldiers are far too competent for us to have a chance.”
The skeleton lord was aware of anything in the dungeon that the [Magelights] illuminated. The very reason he was being offered something like this was because the lord knew it's likely be fucked without help. Well, it didn’t really know that the two soldiers had already died.
He sighed as if he were contemplating his choice and reading over the system prompt.
“Hurry up little [Rogue].”
“Fine, I accept your deal.”
He took a few more steps into the chamber and the skeleton lord raised a hand to stop him. The ‘little [Rogue]’ put his hand out. The skeleton looked at the outstretched hand from half a chamber away. It tilted its head.
“And what is that supposed to be?”
“A gesture from my world. When we accept a deal, we shake hands.”
The flames in its eyesockets flickered. Clearly, the idea of a [Mage] shaking hands with a [Rogue] was absurd in any world. It decided to take it as a bad joke instead.
“You cannot be serious. Go join my soldiers and slay the others. Then we shall talk again.”
“You cannot be serious. I know what you’re like. You’re going to use me as fodder the moment you can.” Ryan tapped his head. “Well documented, remember? Come down here, I want a deal on even terms.”
The skeleton Lord stood up, this time in anger. “I won’t expose myself to some lowly [Rogue] - Hey!”
He started sprinting at the lord.
Plan A: Get the [Mage] Lord riled up and go in.
Ideally, he wanted the skeleton soldiers to have been in the middle of the fight with the last soldier, but the lord was being too cautious. Ryan grabbed a throwing knife from his chest strap as he made a throwing motion.
The Skeleton Lord ducked.
Ryan threw his knife for real as it went–wide. Both [Mage] and [Rogue] looked at the knife as it flew past its head by a fair margin. The lord opened its jaw as it stared at the bad throw.
“You should have practiced a little-Hey!”
He started sprinting the moment the skeleton lord broke eye contact. He could hear the skeletal warriors rushing back towards the chamber while their lord had tried to stall him with banter. The distance had closed to fifteen feet–but the problem was that the lord was on an elevated platform. And the lord had grabbed his wand.
The wand pointed at his head as a shimmering orb of red went flying at him.
He barely dodged, the orb whizzing past his shoulder as it landed on the ground behind him. It exploded on impact, and he winced. The skeleton lord had [Firebolt] not [Magebolt].
Longer cooldown, but one hit and he would be done.
The lord stepped back. The distance was twelve feet now. Three stairs he'd have to climb. A difficult task while the [Mage] Lord had a wand tracking him. Three orbs of red light spinning around it.
The Skeleton Lord was supposed to be the equivalent of a realm one [Mage]. That was one realm ahead of what people started off. It still meant its physical abilities weren’t higher than his. The problem was the skill slots. It had two. That alone would have still been an easy fight. Especially considering it had just used a [Firebolt].
Unfortunately, this battle was scaled to three people. The wand allowed the lord to multicast. He wouldn’t be surprised if the lord had a stored spell in that wand. It was fucking terrifying. Ryan stopped where he was and the skeleton lord chuckled.
“Was that your opening? Seems - stop it!”
He charged again. The lord was surprised as it jumped back. He closed the distance, five feet and one more big stair. The Skeleton Lord fired, practically at point blank.
He charged headfirst into a red orb - as it harmlessly dissipated into a cloud of bright magical light. He smiled as his gamble worked.
A [Magelight] made to look like a [Firebolt]. A classic, predictable if you knew how the boss thought.
The Skeleton Lord opened its mouth in surprise.
–
The Skeleton Lord was about to launch a real [Firebolt] as the [Rogue] jerked to the side. Its hesitation had let the boy get a little too close, but this was good too. If the fool thought he could survive a [Firebolt] to the face, then let him try.
It leaped back and got ready to launch the real [Firebolt], the one that it had kept stored in the wand. The Skeleton Lord saw the [Rogue] stop suddenly and pull out a throwing knife. That was fine, a mutual shot would be worthwhile. His bones were tougher than ordinary skeletons and a [Firebolt] would do more damage to the [Rogue] than an errant knife to his head. Besides, the boy had been such a bad shot.
The risk was worth it. It still had the other Trialists to prepare for.
As the finger sized [Firebolt] launched, a knife hit it in midair.
A perfect shot. Completely unlike his previous throws.
Magic met metal as the [Firebolt] exploded right in front of the Skeleton Lord’s wand. The explosion shattered the enchanted wood and flung the lord to the other side of the raised platform. It tried to spin to soften the landing, but a shadow covered its body as the boy-
No, as the [Rogue] looked down at him.
A foot came crashing down on its neck as the boss of the first Trial could only applaud the little monster.
–
The drake soldier made his way back to the entrance. The footprints leading back into the dungeon suggested that he’d been played. It didn’t matter, he walked down the dungeon, completely kitted out for a solo clear. He’d looted everything the villagers had. He still wasn’t confident he’d complete it by himself.
Not this late into a Trial
The inn was burned down, the zombies all destroyed, tripwires taken care of, a corpse stabbed through in a chamber. The [Rogue] that had ruined their Trial knew what he was doing, and it showed. That was still fine. The wounds on his allies and the aversion to facing him showed that the kid wasn’t confident in his hand to hand abilities.
All of it just tricks.
Then he came across two broken skeletons. That gave the soldier pause. The skeleton guards shouldn’t have been that easy to defeat. The skeleton lord would gain more control over its soldiers as time went on.
Not that, two skeletons shouldn’t have been the entire group. The footprints indicated that there had been more skeleton soldiers around, but the [Rogue] had walked through them.
If the [Rogue] accepted the skeleton lord’s deal, he’d have to run and use guerilla warfare in the forest.
The drake shifted to a shield and a villager’s crossbow. He wished he had a gun instead. The gates were already open.
There was no ambush of skeleton soldiers. Instead, the bones were scattered haphazardly all around the chamber. But he didn’t focus on those. A chill went down his spine as he looked forwards, and up.
The human [Rogue] lounged on a stone throne. One leg draped over the handle of the throne. He was throwing a skull up and down. The skull of the skeleton Lord. The [Rogue] had been waiting for him. The spread-out [Rogue] just raised a bored eyebrow at him.
How had he soloed them all?
“You took your time.”
The drake had seen the corpses of his allies. If he didn’t have scales, he’d be sweating. Where the hell had a kid like this come from? He’d managed to solo the boss in the chamber with the solders?
He gulped. If he could say the right things to complete his Trial quest, then he could teleport out of here. At least then he’d keep his safety life.
“It didn’t have to come to this, adventurer. We could have gone our separate-”
“Ahahaha!”
The sinister laugh cut him off. The [Rogue] continued to laugh as he looked at the drake covered in blood, the blood of the remaining villagers he had slaughtered. He stared into those eyes and knew they were well past words.
He raised his crossbow to take aim and-
That was when the surrounding bones started to animate themselves. They rose up and picked up their weapons. When he turned around to run, the soldier had realized he messed up. The two skeletons in the tunnels had reanimated too. They held shields up as they stood side by side, blocking the exit.
Then he heard laughter, he turned around to see the [Rogue] wearing a broken crown. He stood up from the stone chair, holding up the skeleton lord’s skull. Its eyes flickered with a purple fire.
The skeleton lord had still been alive.
All of this had been a trap.
“What? You didn’t think I’d fight fair, did you?”
–
Trial Quest Objective Complted!
Other objectives still availabel
Completed objectives:
Kill the skeleton lord. Completed!
Take tutelage from the skeleton lord and help him kill the other trialists. Completed!
Failed objectives:
Flee and get the villagers to safety
Ryan didn’t even have to do much. He just stuck to the pillars and let the skeletons go to work. The soldier refused to turn his back to him, and being surrounded by six coordinated skeletons was a death sentence for even the best realm 0 adventurers.
The soldier hadn’t even seen it coming. It wasn’t that unknown that you had to destroy the skeleton lord’s skull to kill it. Plenty had died from a stray [Magebolt] from the skeleton lord’s skull before. What was really unexpected was for him to have beaten and tricked the skeleton lord into working for him. Now that was niche knowledge nobody ever used.
The skeleton lord cackled.
“Well done! Well done! Now come let us make sure all the villagers are killed.”
“I’m done.”
He said as he angled his sword, tip first, at the skull’s head. It spluttered in shock.
“Wait! You promised to let me guide you!”
“Well, I lied, I am a [Rogue] you know.”
The skeleton’s eyes dimmed a little at the joke. It decided to continue its tirade instead.
“Just a little more and your achievements will increase further. Help me, and I will set things up to optimize your future Trials. You can be great, as great as your pioneers!”
That was an offer that the skeleton lord couldn’t deliver on. It was also a double-edged offer. ‘Optimizing’ Trials meant making his future Trials really difficult. He just sniffed.
“No thanks, and we call them the Tyrants these days.”
The skeleton Lord, still trying to find a way out, found its ray of hope. It desperately attempted to weave a tantalizing offer.
“Ah, a common situation. Why not rise up to match them? You’re already penalized by knowing so much, but I can help set things up. Help me, and I shall help you overthrow your tyrants.”
Ryan ignored the quest change notification. He just looked at the bone-head in confusion.
“Why would I want to overthrow the Tyrants? You’re not really making sense here.”
“What?”
“I mean, I’ve already won the Destined lottery. I can just relax and take the easy route, find a team, pick up a gun and get to the fourth realm in a year or two. I’ll grind the lower sectors and be pretty rich in a few years. It’s not as glamorous, but it’s the sensible choice. You know?”
The Skull Lord looked at the [Rogue] who had just played chicken with a [Firebolt]. Who had just outmanoeuvred three experienced soldiers, who the Manager had clearly picked out for a reason, plot the most ambitionless path possible.
“...Are you really a Destined in a world with tyrants?”
Ryan paused. He tried to figure out what the talking head’s angle was. Then he realized what the misunderstanding was.
“Oh yeah, sorry, we call them the Tyrants because that’s the name the nations on Earth gave them while fighting them. Honestly, I’m on the side that they saved the world from nuclear war. Most people are.” He just shrugged. “They really redefined the word, I guess.”
The skeleton lord gaped, its jaw hanging low.
“What in the gods has your world been up to?”
“Sounds like it’s your fault. All seven of the Tyrants are alive. Seems like your other versions didn’t do a good enough job.”
He aimed the blade at the center of the skull.
[Double Stab]
[Double Stab] leveled up!
[Double Stab] level 1 -> 2
The last thought that crossed the Skeleton Lord's mind was wondering exactly what the entity managing the Trial System was doing.
Calculating realm achievement score…
Realm 0 achievement rating: S-
Congratulations!
Adjacent classes available! Teleporting you to the Manager’s Abode
