Level up

[Hugo]

Wikipedia describes its use in role-playing games:
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In games derived from Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), an accumulation of a sufficient number of experience points increases a character's "level", a number that represents a character's overall skill and experience. To "level" or "level up" means to gain enough XP to reach the next level. By gaining a level, a character's abilities or stats will increase, making the character stronger and able to accomplish more difficult tasks, including safely battling stronger enemies, gaining access to more powerful abilities (such as spells or combat techniques), and to make, fix or disable more complex mechanical devices, or resolve increasingly difficult social challenges.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experience_point#Level-based_progression

Here's a 1991 from Usenet:
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https://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video/msg/18d29e325c144ac2
rec.games.video, Dec 30 1991
Tip to get better levels: Get a level up just before placing the stone in 
the statue, then get your bonus XP, and bingo, ya get another level-up. 
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Hugo
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