Myria says "That makes sense and having more people with levels will help against the demons. Should we start encouraging people to convert?"

"I don't want to pressure anyone, but you can lightly encourage people who don't already believe."

Core says "How about we just spread some stories about Ash and his interactions with the goddesses?"

Myria says "Do you think that would be enough?"

Core says "Don't underestimate how many people revere Ash!"

Myria says "I guess that's true and a little terrifying at the same time!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

Myria just laughs at me instead of answering and even Core giggles a little. Since I am done catching them up I try to speed things up to get them to leave sooner. I really can't wait to go see what is up with the hallway and the doors.

Myria says "Why are you trying to get rid of us? What are you up to?"

"I have just barely escaped the maker, I want to move to somewhere safer. Just in case she can somehow follow me."

Myria says "Is that all? Are you sure?"

Core says "What do you think he is hiding?"

Myria says "I don't know, but knowing Ash it is something dangerous!"

"No! Nothing else! I just need to get back to the elves, I've been gone for weeks. I also need to check on the tree and then start on the ship!"

Core says "Alright, Ash, I will talk to you later."

Myria says "Don't do anything stupid!"

"I won't! You two take care!"

Finally the two of them leave, but Myria gives me a suspicious look right before she disappears. It would seem that I haven't fooled her, but it isn't like she can stop me anyway. So, I exit my soulscape and return to the hallway, then I approach the first door.

The doors are staggered a little, so the door on the right is the closest. May as well start with that one since I have no way of telling where they go. When I open the door all I see is a colorful, swirling vortex, so I step into it.

After a few moments of dizziness I find myself in a peaceful looking forest glade. The first thing I do is turn around and make sure there is an exit behind me. There is, which is an immense relief, but I realize that it felt weird when I turned around.

When I look down I find that I don't have a body, I am a ball of white energy. That's right, the dragon said something about traveling as a soul and needing to build a body. I struggle to remember exactly what the dragon said, something about using native energy?

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Sensing my surroundings I look for energy that I can use, it takes me a few minutes. It would seem that I can only use a little of the energy from each source that I find. In the end, it takes me about an hour to make a body and it is a little disappointing.

For one thing the body is weak, it doesn't have my stats, for another it is naked. For some reason I can't use the energy to make clothes or anything else. Considering that I decide to go with my normal body instead of a humanoid.

At least this way I will have my claws and teeth, it is better than nothing. It feels really strange to move around, almost like I am trying to walk underwater. I am too used to moving with my crazy stats, now I have to get used to being normal again.

As I am moving around the glade I suddenly hear movement within the forest. When I turn towards the noise I spot a goblin with a club coming out of the trees. It also sees me and it immediately charges towards me swinging the club.

I attempt to dodge, but my reflexes are slow and the club ends up hitting my shoulder. It hurts, it hurts more than anything I can remember, why does it hurt so much? Wait, I am in soul form, meaning the attacks hit my soul, that must be why it hurts so much!

If the attacks are hitting my soul, with how damaged it is, I probably can't take many attacks. As soon as I think of that, as the goblin is getting ready to swing, I attack. Before it can swing I crash into the goblin and we both tumble to the ground.

Before the goblin can react I bite its neck, filling my mouth with a horrible taste. Then I claw at the goblin with all four legs, using the bite to keep close to the goblin. The goblin screams and tries to fight back but I am attacking it too quickly and shred its entire body.

1 Goblin defeated! 20 Soul Exp gained!

Alright, so it did give me soul experience, but even now I can feel the hit from the club. It would seem that this is a lot more dangerous than I thought, even a goblin could kill me. However, since I got the soul exp I pull up my character screen and take a look, there is a new tab.

Soul Form: Ash

Soul Level: 0

Soul Exp: 20/1000

Soul Hp: 11/100

MP: 6216/6216

'Only eleven HP? I really did almost die!'

Considering one hit from anything will kill me I immediately run back through the gate. As soon as I am back in the hallway I try using a healing spell, but it doesn't work. Since it is my soul we are talking about I am not too surprised, just disappointed.

It would seem that in soul form I cannot use divine power, which limits my options. The only good thing is that I still have my mana, meaning I should be able to cast spells. However, before I go back I want to talk to the goddesses so I return to my soulscape.

Once I am inside I again take a look at my character screen, but nothing has changed. My soul hit points are still at eleven, that probably means my soul is too damaged to heal on its own. I have too many questions and not enough information so I invite Seronia and Krenocia.

Both appear and say "Hi, Ash!"

Seronia says "What is going on? Did you see the maker?"

"Oh, yeah I did."

Krenocia says "So, what is it?"

Before I can ask my questions I have to tell them about the maker and everything that happened. It turns out they were unable to keep watching me once the seal broke fully. I guess the maker has some way to prevent gods or goddesses from seeing her directly.

Krenocia says "She was able to take control of your gate?!"

"Not exactly, she was able to stop me from closing it. I got the feeling she was doing it through raw power rather than skill."

Seronia says "Does that mean she can't gate on her own?"

"I don't know, but she hasn't followed me, so I am hoping that is true."

Krenocia says "Well, I still can't see the island you were on, that should mean she is still there."

"Well, that's good because I might have to go back."

Seronia says "What? Why?!"