Chapter 023: Carter's Journey Begins

Carter woke up on his hard wooden pew. He was mysteriously in his spirit form, and Ella sat beside him.

"You're finally awake? What happened to you? We found your body chained to the stage and your spirit floating above it," said Ella.

"I'm not sure. I came here to sleep, and then I woke up," said Carter.

"There seems to be some damage to your body, but we can't find out what it was. When Red entered it, he came out screaming," said Ella.

"Why is Red going into my body?" asked Carter.

"He wanted to know what happened to your body," said Ella.

Carter floated himself out of his pew and headed for his body. He rounded the corner, cast the Possession spell on himself, and entered the body. The pain in his chest hit him hard, and he started to scream.

He stood up and cast the Sanitize spell on himself. He followed it with a steady Healing spell covering his whole chest. The pain started receding, and he could start breathing again.

Ella, Leahtrix, and Era stared at Carter, not knowing what to do.

"What is going on?" said Leahtrix.

Leahtrix had a large mirror on the wall next to her bedroom. Carter walked over to the mirror and looked at himself in it. He only had his pants on. His muscular chest had very little hair on it and was intact. Nothing was showing.

Ella walked up, touched his back, and said a small cantrip of Detect Status. His status showed up on his back. "Level:11 Warrior, Level 8 Mage, Level 8 Necromancer, Level 8 Cleric, Level 1 Nature's Pride."

"Are all humans like this? I've never seen a status this high before. What's Nature's Pride?" said Leahtrix. Ella threw her hand up in the air.

Carter didn't care about the stats on his back; he was too busy looking at the dragon design covering his chest. One hundred shapes are interconnected together to form a dragon. The Red, Chiba, Ella, and Queen Era symbols were there too.

Carter turned around, and the women saw what he was staring at.

"What is that? Where did you get that?" asked Ella with wide eyes.

"Did you do that to yourself, Carter?" said Leahtrix.

"How could he do that? The pain would stop a normal person on the first burn," said Ella.

Carter upped his healing spell, and the image of the dragon started turning white.

"How is he doing that cantrip? It's not coming from his fingers but from the body itself," said Leahtrix.

The pain was finally subsiding, and the status cantrip had turned off. Carter found his shirt and placed it back on.

"Any ideas on what just happened," said Ella as she floated in front of Carter.

"No, let's just forget about it," said Carter.

Red walked in and said, "He's awake. Good. Let's finish the ceremony, and he can start working."

Carver returned to the stage, and Heltorn and Vulture were there with their weapons. He massaged his chest for a moment and took off his shirt.

"We may be dead, but hopefully, through you, our legacy will live on," said Heltorn.

"You like the son I never had," said Vulture. Red let out a loud laugh. "You mean never ate!" said Red.

They both stabbed him through the chest at once. A symbol of a Vulture appeared on one side, and a symbol of a skeleton head on the other. The pain was terrible, but it seemed to exacerbate the dragon on his chest. He held in his scream.

Everyone clapped and then patted Carter on the back. The glow started on his chest, and he healed himself.

"Let's celebrate and eat some spirits!" screamed Red. The others seemed into it and grabbed their weapons of choice.

"Coming, Carter?" asked Ella.

"I'm going to pass this time," said Carter, holding in his pain.

"Stay off the stage this time!" screamed Queen Era. "I don't want to see you naked anymore," she added.

Carter smiled and walked into the Rectory where Leahtrix was. He sat down, looked at Delila, and smiled.

"She's fertilized," said Leahtrix with a cross look.

"What?" said Carter.

"She can have babies now," said Leahtrix, "I take it that was you?"

Carter turned red and didn't say anything.

"I asked Heltorn to try his Possession cantrip on her again because her chemistry had changed, but he said he was tired. Would you like to try?"

Leahtrix opened the light jar and dumped the soul out. It floated to the ground and stayed there.


"Motherhood is something that gives most people purpose," said Leahtrix as she looked at Carter in a different light. She touched his shoulder as he looked down at the spirit.

He picked the crumpled-up spirit off the ground and cast a Possession Spell. He held the spell inside him and fed it more mana to make it powerful. He released the spell as he shoved the spirit into Delila's body.

A loud gasp as air drew into her lungs, and her eyes opened.

"Where am I?" said Delila.

Leahtrix gasped as she saw Delila unstrap herself from her verticle bed. She landed on her feet and looked around. "I was going into the Forest," said Delila as she started to cry.

Carter walked over to his bed and lay down. His head started hurting as he put all his remaining mana into that Possession Spell.

Leatrix ran up, grabbed Delila, and gave her some water. "You are in the Forest. We saved you from the spirits," said Leahtrix. She started explaining everything, and Delila seemed to understand and kept her mind open.

After a few hours, Leatrix woke up Carter and said, "Can you exit your body and show Carmen your spirit form."
"Carmen? Is that Delila's real name?" said Carter.

"Yes," said Leatrix. Carment stood there with an innocent look as if everything was new to her. Carter remembered that feeling. It was usually followed by pain and death.

Carter looked at her and then exited his body. Carmen was scared for a moment, but then Leahtrix calmed her down.

"I see. Some of the spirits are good, and some are bad," said Carmen.

Carmen walked up to Carter and touched his spirit slowly. "It feels like energy. It tingles," said Carmen.

Carmen stopped for a moment and then sat down. "What's wrong, Carmen?" asked Leahtrix.

She stammered momentarily and said, "I can have children?"

Leahtrix gave Carmen a long hug, and Carter flew back into his body.

Leahtrix looked at Carter while hugging Carmen and said, "Give us a moment."

Carter walked out the door and mumbled, "I think I should have taken that biology class with Professor Mineva at the Castle when I had the chance."

He walked out the door of the Rectory and climbed onto his pew.

Ella and Queen Era floated in the door and saw Carter sitting there. Queen Era sat down on her pew, and Ella floated over to Carter. She sat down on his lap. "Why do you look upset?" said Ella.

Carter looked at Ella and said, "Delila is awake. Oh, I mean Carmen, and she is...fertilized?"

Ella jumped off Carter's lap and looked over at Queen Era. Queen Era floated first, followed by Ella as they flew to the back room. A scream came from the room, and then all was quiet.

Carter laid down and fell asleep.

"Wake up, Carver of Eternal Rest," said Red as he kicked Carter in the foot.

"Is it morning already?" said Carter as he sat up.

"How would I know? You are now ready for the 1st Tower. I wish I could tell you what to expect, but I've never been there. I fought real monsters in wars, not those fake ones," said Red.

He looked around and saw only Red. He was hoping for a going away party, but it seems it won't happen. He stood up and started following Red out the Cathedral's door. "I placed two weeks' worth of water in your haversack and that stuff that Leahtrix calls food. Queen Era says all you have to do is think of what you want from the bag, which will appear before you. The rucksack has a capacity of hundreds of weapons that can be called out by just placing your hand near it and thinking of the weapon you want. You have your sword, bow, and the quiver of arrows in it."

The rucksack was on his back already. He lifted his hand near his neck and said, "Sword." His short sword appeared in his hand. He then said "Sword" again, and it disappeared.

"Whatever you do, don't say sword in the middle of fighting. It is not fun," said Red as he laughed heartily.

They reached the tower after an hour and a few hundred spirit deaths. Red turned around and said, "See you later. Don't disappoint me," and left.

Carter lifted his head to try to see the top of the tower. It looked like it was twenty stories high. It was hard to tell because the tower was painted black and had no windows.

He looked around one more time. Screams of Shriekers filled the woods. "I hope the scenery is better in the tower than it is out here," said Carter as he opened the tower's door.