Chapter 036: Finally, The Tower

Carter woke up the next day with a pounding headache and a lingering hangover. Indigo just had to bring him that wine last night. His thoughts were hazy, and he wondered what he had done while intoxicated. He felt two arms wrapped around his torso, and he smiled. On one side was Yuma, with her arm wrapped around the front of his waist, and Arista stuck to her back. The other side had Captain Harlow and Indigo. Wait, Captain Harlow? What did he do last night? He sat up slowly, releasing his body from the tentacles of these beautiful women. He rubbed his eyes a few times and looked around.

The other beds in the room were filled with other women. Seth, Hammy, and Carrin were wrapped in each other's arms with covers thrown everywhere. Patches of naked body parts showed through the holes of missing sheets and blankets. A steady stream of light snoring came from Hammy's mouth as she slept on her back. Hands that weren't hers were cupping one of her breasts and her inner thigh.

The other bed contained one lump, and it was Seminole and Teela. They looked happy together.

"When did these other beds get here?" thought Carter.

He went to stand up, and a hand grabbed his arm. "Do you have to go?" said Captain Harlow.

"Yes, Captain, it's time for me to complete my mission," said Carter, tenderly placing his hand on her cheek. She seemed very different from yesterday: pleasant.

He stood up, and she watched him. "I'm sorry for hitting you yesterday," said Captain Harlow.

As if a cloud was lifted, all that transpired last night hit Carter like a brick, and he remembered.

Carter laughed and said, "You already made your regrets known to me last night with that carnal apology."

"It was more than that. I would have accepted the fertilization even if I wanted to kill you," said Captain Harlow as she sat up. Her covers slipped down as her breasts and navel became exposed. Her long hair was messy, but it still looked good.

She slipped out of bed, stood behind Carter, and hugged him. He felt her warm breasts and stomach on his back. "I want you to know, you mean a lot more to me now that I understand my feelings for you," said Harlow. Carter turned around and gave her a big hug. He could feel her love now, where all he felt before was hate.

He kissed her passionately, pulled back, and said, "Apology accepted."

She looked down on the floor at all the unkempt dresses and said, "How many women do you have?"

"Quite enough," said Carter, and he grabbed his haversack and pulled out his last robe. He placed it on and pushed up the hood.

"Still the disguise, huh?" asked Captain Harlow.

"Yeah, There's just too many people living in this Tower," said Carter.

"Nina could be out there," said Harlow as she grabbed a yellow sun dress off the floor. She placed it against her body and saw that it fit. She pushed her hair out of her face.

She looked at Carter and said, "Can I have this?"

"Sure, it looks better on you than me," said Carter as he laughed.

"Who is Nina?" asked Carter.

"Nina? Oh, she is the warrior that came before you. She fought many times to floor seven but could never make it past that. One day, she stole a whole bunch of Manna, weapons, and armor and left. She never came back," said Harlow. She slipped the dress over her curvy body.

Captain Harlow ran over to Carter and placed her hands around his neck. "Can't you just stay here with us?" asked Harlow with a sincere look on her face. Her blue hair reached down to his hands, which wrapped around her waist.

"He needs to beat both towers so he can get us out of here and back to the real world," said Seth as she stretched her hands above her head. Her large, untanned breasts were lying on top of Corrin's head, who was lying on Seth's lap.

"Is that possible?" asked Harlow as she released Carter's neck and walked towards Seth's bed.

Seth frowned briefly and said, "That would be up to Carter's prowess and how fast we can run to the forest's edge.

They started laughing.

"We should probably wake everyone up. We will need them to help with the big move from the village," said Arista.

"Move?" asked Carter.

"Yeah. You'll have another one hundred and twenty-five women to pick from," said Captain Harlow with a smile.

He has had enough problems with just a dozen women, let alone over a hundred. "Just another reason for me to resume my mission," said Carter.

Harlow let out a laugh and started waking the other women up. After breakfast, Seth, Corrin, and Hammy were the only ones left at the mansion. They showed Carter the room where the clothes machine was, and he recharged the magic stone for them. He made a light shirt and pants from material he thought felt like cotton. He then made a cloak and hood to cover up his head. He looked in the mirror and thought he looked cool. The back of the cloak had a long slit in it where his rucksack would go. A few sets were made and stored.

He slipped his hand into his bag and pulled out his red carapace armor. He placed it over his shirt, and it fit perfectly. A small trace of mana fed into the magic haversack again, expanding it to an unknown size.

Corrin laughed and said he looked funny, like a red turtle.

He hugged Corrin, Seth, and Hammy farewell and left for his next odyssey.

Tower Floor 7

The shiny green scales of the periscoping, poisonous giant snake glittered in the sun as it sized up Carter as prey. Carter's neck strained to look up at the twenty-head-tall beast. If this situation wasn't bad enough, there were two of them.

They were spewing acid from their mouths and trying to ram him with their heads. The monsters fought very well together. One snake would ram him, and the other one would try to bite him. It was very invigorating and challenging.

"One hundred women. I wonder if I bypassed stopping at the Mansion on the way back altogether if I would get into trouble?" questioned Carter as he jumped over the head of one of the snakes. He slammed his sword down into the top of its head, and it died instantly. The other snake hissed with anger and threw itself at Carter. That was a grave mistake. Carter hastily moved to the side and sliced it open. Both the creatures disappeared and left gold coins and some snake meat.

The snakes were fast, but they were predictable. He knew what they were going to do before they did it.

"Snake meat?" said Carter. He threw it into his haversack and decided he would eat it later.

A loud horn blared over the floor. A few hundred feet away, a group of snakes slithered off to some unknown, underground home, seemingly scared by the loud noise. He hadn't used his Detect Area spell, so he didn't know what this level held. The horn blew again, and Carter could see a group of three people heading his way.

The seventh-floor temperature was in the 25-degree Celsius range. It's not as hot as the desert, but it's the equivalent temperature of a nice summer day in New York City. The people heading for him wore long, white, padded gambeson armor, white breeches, white shin armor, and swords on their belts.

With the sun blaring down on this floor's occupants, white reflects more sunshine, making you cooler. He wished his armor and cloak were white right now. He started walking north so as not to cross their path intentionally. They readjusted their course to intercept Carter's path.

Carter abdicated his current plan to kill every monster on this floor and sat down on a rock, waiting for the inevitable troop of people interrupting his mission. He could see their long hair flowing in the wind, even at this distance. One had pink hair, while the others had darker-colored hair. Both colors stood out against their white armor. He could now see the curves of their bodies and knew they were female. The pink-haired woman lifted a horn to her lips again and blew a loud sound.

The women walked up to him, holding their sword's hilts with their hands. They stared at him without saying a word. It made Carter feel awkward.

"You scared my snakes away," said Carter.

"Did Arthur send you?" asked the pink-haired lady.

He lifted his hand and touched his hood. It was still around his head.

"No," said Carter.

"Who are you?" asked the pink-haired lady.

"My name is Carter. I'm just passing through."

She looked at the other women beside her and said, "How did you get here?" She looked back at Carter and pulled her sword out.

"Is there any other way that I don't know of? The staircase, of course," said Carter. He hated being a smart ass, but they were asking stupid questions.

A low rumble began to gain volume as something was heading toward their position.

"Oh, Nature, they followed us."

"It was the horn. I told you not to use it."

"But the snakes?"

"Carter, we need to leave this place. The clamor you hear coming this way is an army of Goblins being led by a Giant Goblin commanding them. They have been hounding us for days now. We can't get back to our command post," said the pink-haired lady.


"That's okay. I'm fine," said Carter. The Commander looked at him funny. A loud horn came from the cloud of dust coming over the horizon.

"Seems like Arthur is not training them properly anymore. Let's go, Oz, Raz," said the pink-haired Commander.

"Yes, Commander Shi," said Oz.

The curvy group of women wearing white armored jaunted over to a cluster of rocks with a large gap that sunk into the ground. Raz pulled out her horn and played it loudly into the mouth of the dark tunnel, and then they disappeared from view.

Carter stood up and looked at the dust storm of Goblins approaching him. He placed his hand above his head and started to evoke his Fireball spell. The orange ball started growing larger as he concentrated on his target.

He thought about attacking them head-on, but something was odd about this monster group. The small army was led by a boss monster: a 16-head-tall Giant Goblin. They could be more dangerous being organized.

Carter released the fireball, and the air sizzled as it flew toward the unsuspecting goblin horde. The fireball's large explosion kicked up dust, dirt, and goblin parts. Small pieces of goblin meat impacted near him on the ground and then disappeared. He pushed himself off the rock, looked toward his massacre, and observed the damage that he caused. Out of the dust, the enraged, mace-wielding Giant Goblin, who was lit afire, locked eyes with Carter. A few dozen goblins that had survived using their boss as a shield ran out before him with spears in the air.

A small smile came over Carter's face as he ran towards the melee. Goblin's spears got parried away, and heads rolled on the ground in the wake of Carter's force. The ground exploded as a mace the size of Carter nearly hit him into a paste. He twisted around and jumped in the air. His sword was about to hit the Giant Goblin in the face when a bright purple light blinded Carter's eyes. When he landed on the ground, a small goblin's head was stuck to the end of his sword. Carter placed the stuck goblin's head on the ground and pushed it off with his foot. He looked around and saw the mace heading for him again. The mace hit the ground again, making a resounding boom through the Tower's floor. This Giant Goblin was playing for keeps. He ran behind the towering beast and went to stab it in the leg. The bright purple light flashed again, and his sword found the side of a small goblin, cutting the poor thing in half.

"Transportation magic?" said Carter to himself. He noticed that a dozen or so Goblin's were standing a hundred-heads away.

A few goblins ran up to him with their spears, trying to outmaneuver him with numbers, but it didn't work. He stabbed the last goblin in the heart. Carter didn't even hear the overgrown Goblin approach as its large mace hit him in the side, sending him flying hundreds of feet away. The Giant Goblin pressed his attack and was on top of Carter even before he landed. The grotesque, overweight monster was fast and silent. Carter landed upright and defied gravity by jumping back towards him. Carter's sword was slashed with such force it cut the beast's weapon's handle in half, and the momentum of the sword allowed him to cut off the Goblin's arm at the shoulder. The monster promptly disappeared and appeared several heads away, its arm twitching on the ground.

The Giant Goblin wasn't running. He was waiting, holding his bleeding shoulder, as his few remaining henchmen ran towards Carter. As the seven goblins ran up to Carter, the Boss smiled as he lifted his mace to the sky.

"So that's what you're up to," said Carter, aiming his sword at the goblin before him. They all had their spears pointed at him. Carver pulled back his sword, feigned a jump forward, and then twisted around. A bright purple light blinded him as he stabbed his sword upwards. A howl of pain bellowed out of the bloodied mouth of the Giant Goblin as he fell to the ground. His head ran through with a great sword, killing him.

Five spearheads entered Carter's legs as he landed back on the ground. He uttered a primal scream and spun around, slicing the goblins still holding onto the spears. They fell and disappeared in a swirl of blood. Carter pulled out the spears, stumbled onto a rock, and sat down. Blood was pouring out of his wounds as he started to heal them with his magic.

He opened his bag, and all the gold, silver, and copper coins flew in it. A small scroll of paper flying to his haversack caught his attention, and he grabbed it. He opened it and read the words on it aloud: Tempus Invisibilia. Carter felt the spell enter his stomach, and the scroll disappeared.
"Nothing?" said Carter as he looked around.

No, scratch that. His whole torso, covered by his cloak, was now invisible. He placed his hood back on and stood up. He looked at his feet and could only see the inside of his hood, floating hands and feet cut off at the knee. Everything that the cloak covered was invisible.

"Awesome," said Carter. A noise far off caught his attention. The hazy ground obscured his vision, but he could see several Goblins crawling toward him, maimed by the explosion from the previous fireball. Past them was a giant, glittering pile of coins.

"That army that I killed, the treasure," said Carter as he walked towards the destruction. His legs squirted blood from the spear holes as his healing fought to close the wounds.

He was dead tired but wouldn't let those coins go to someone else. Walking across the field, he stabbed the poor, dying creatures crawling on the ground, looking to help their Boss one last time. Hundreds of more coins flew into his haversack, putting a smile on Carter's face.

"Worth it," said Carter as he sat on the ground. He pulled his hands inside his cloak and covered the rest of his legs with the bottom of the cloak. He essentially disappeared. His eyes started fluttering as he started to fall asleep when a horn blew loudly again.

"Not another army," pleaded Carter. Three giant poisonous snakes went flying by him. His invisible cloak flapped from the wind, exposing parts of his body to sight. Small locks of hair appeared from his hood. He slowly stood up and said, "Mmmm, snake meat."

"What the hell is that?" screamed a voice behind him.

"Floating hands and severed legs moving by themselves," yelled Oz.

"Awful, unnatural, evil things!" screamed Commander Shi.

"Hey, that's not nice," said Carter as he stood up and turned around. Just at that moment, his cloak became visible again.

The women jumped back for a moment.

"Isn't that the 'I'm fine' girl?" asked Raz.

"What happened to the horde?" asked Commander Shi.

Carter looked back and forth across the horizon and said, "Must have left."

The women looked at each other and then past Carter. They froze solid with their mouths open. Commander Shi went to lift her horn, and Carter pulled out his sword and said, "Can you not? That thing hurts my head."

He jumped three feet to the side and lowered his sword directly into the middle of the snake's head, killing him instantly. The giant snake had just missed him by inches. He turned around, jumped the disappearing snake's body, and cut the head off one of the other snakes. The other snake pulled back and coiled into a circle. His beady eyes scrutinized the Weakman, who had just killed the other members of his nest.

Carter turned to see Raz, Oz, and Shi taking his treasure and food.

"Hey! I was going to ask if you wanted to take this snake down, but then I found you stealing my treasure. What gives?" asked Carter.

They looked at him for a moment, and then they froze again. Carter placed his weapon in his rucksack and started walking towards the women. They placed their hands in the air and tried to wave him off. Their eyes widened as he got nearer, and they started to backtrack.

Carter heard the snake's head cut through the air, and he moved out of the way just in time. The snake's head stopped a few heads away from Commander Shi because Carter had grabbed it by its neck.

Raz, Oz, and Shi stared with panic as Carter held the massive snake back.

"Should I let it go so you guys can earn your treasure?" said Carter.

They started shaking their heads as they dropped his treasure to the ground. The snake was starting to thrash in his hands, and he tightened his grip until a series of snaps occurred. Carter had broken the snake's neck, and it disappeared in his hands. Raz and Oz started creeping up towards his treasure again, and Carter opened his haversack quickly. The treasure floated away from them and went into his bag.

Commander Shi looked at Raz and Oz for a moment. They lowered their hoods, and Carter got to see the beauties underneath. Each one of them was a beautiful half-elf. He thought of what he looked like as a woman in the mirror, and he chided himself for looking so ugly.

"We would like to invite you to our base on Level Nine. You should meet our leader, Commander Leone," said Shi.

"I guess when I get on Level 9, I can stop in and say hello," said Carter. He walked around the women and headed north. Their heavenly scent drifted into his nostrils. His chest started burning.

"It's to the east. You can't miss the rope bridge," said Shi. She looked at Raz and Oz and jerked her head towards the south.

Carter smiled and wondered how these women had lived in this harsh environment.

He touched his cloak again and used his temporary invisible spell. His cloak turned invisible, and a large smile came to his face. He could copy scroll spells, too.

"Now to find somewhere to cook this snake meat," said Carter, rubbing his floating hands together.