***Congratulations on your reincarnation Carrie Blackburn! You've now become a [Undead], type Lesser Skeleton. May your new life be better than your last.***

Is what a blue box says to her face far too cheerfully for any given circumstance, let alone the one she's just found herself in. She's in a crypt of some sorts, walls and ground made of cold hard stone thats aged for who knows how long. The air smells faintly of dust and the faint scent of something not quite right, like a forgotten apple in the back of a fridge. Carrie, or what's left of her, looks down at her hands. They're bone, pure and simple. She can see right through them to the grey stone beneath her bare feet. The weight of the realization settles on her like a ton of bricks as she slowly moves her boney legs around carefully.

She does the same with the rest of her body, proving what the blue box had just called her. She's a skeleton now, a Lesser Skeleton to be precise. Dressed in nothing but rags to cover what little decency she had left. Carrie tries to remember her past life, but the details are as murky as the light in this crypt. Her mind is a foggy mess, only snippets of moments coming back to her. She was human, that much is clear. But why is she here? What happened to her?

Than like a tidalwave, it all comes back. The misery her life have been, that single spark that put the entire shitty house her lousy apartment was part of on fire. Her desperate screams as the flame consumed her flesh and her soul slipped away. The pain was so intense that Carrie actually felt grateful to be nothing but bone. Her mind reeling from the horror, she tries to stand up, but her body feels so strange. Every movement is jerky and uncoordinated, as if she's forgotten how to control her own limbs. The sound of bones clacking together echoes through the crypt, and she winces at the noise.

And then realize that she is not the only skeleton in the room. Theres several others that are shambling about, seeming to struggle to move just as much as her. If not worse as some lack limbs or even half of their body, but still crawl around nonetheless making the same clacking noises as her. If not more.

Carrie feels a strange kinship with these undead beings, despite the fear that claws at the back of her mind. She takes a tentative step forward, her bones scraping against the stone floor. One of the skeletons notices her and shuffles over, its skull tilting to the side in curiosity. The creature opens its mouth in what might be a greeting or a warning, but no sound comes out except for the dry rasp of its jaws moving.

Then quickly losing any intrest in her and walked away as best as it could. Its then that something just snapped inside her.

'[Undead]!?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?! And a Lesser Skeleton at that?! What kind of joke is this huh!?' Carrie's thoughts raced as she looked around at the other skeletons. They didn't seem to be in any rush or have any clear direction. They just... existed. Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion, fear, and anger. But she knew she couldn't stay here, not like this. She had to find a way out.

But it seems fate had other plans for her once again, as suddenly a door that had not been there before appears on the wall of the crypt with a loud creak that echoes through the chamber. The sight of the wooden door, that looked as old as the crypt itself, has an odd power to it that made every skeleton in the room suddenly walk towards it. Carrie included as her body shambles along with the others without her doing anything.

'What the fuck is going on now?!' she screams in her mind, the effort to do so physically causing her jaw to clench with an audible clack. The other skeletons seem oblivious to her outburst, their hollow eyes staring straight ahead. Carrie tries to resist, to pull away from the door, but her legs march on, driven by a force she doesn't understand. Her curiosity battles with the horror of her new reality. The door swings open, revealing a dimly lit corridor that stretches far beyond the reach of her limited vision.

And for what feels like an age, yet could be no longer than an hour or two at best, she along with the rest of the other skeletons walks down the corridor until they reach another door that opens up as soon as it felt or sensed their approach. On the other side of the door is a large room, filled with what looks like ancient artifacts and dusty tomes scattered across a table, with a figure hunched over them.

The figure was a creepy ass looking, half rotting human like thing dressed in a black rob that looked like it had seen better days. And had a gaze that made Carrie's bones shudder in disgust and unease. Its voice was no better, as Carrie found herself thinking nails on a chalkboard would have been far more pleasent sound to hear right now.

"Ah the newest batch is finally here." It says with a bored tone and a professional decor that only comes with having to do whatever this is a million times and then some before. It just adds even more confusion to the already very mixed feelings Carrie is having today.

"Let's get this over with quickly. If I'm lucky I might have the time to visit the succubuses quearters for some fun." It continue on as it moves its left arm in a strange way that formed a pattern of some sort. Said arm also starts to glow a sickly greenish hue as well.

Then a strange circle filled with all kinds of runic words, symbols and what not appare infornt of the table. Then the half rotten thing points at the nearest skeleton before it and say "You first." as it picks up a large book, a inkwell and feathery pen.

Carrie finds herself greatful that she's in the back of the small group of skeletons, as it give her a chance to see what the circle do as the pointed skeleton walked into it. And make confusion being the main thing she feels about all of this. For as soon as the skeleton is standing in the circle, it glows the same sickly greenish hue and a strange barrier comes about that reminds her of the northern lights. Just filled with a lot of runic words. It does a little dance around the skeleton, while the half rotten thing just start writing something down in the book. Nodding and mumble things she can't hear.

Then when the circle is done, the skeleton moves to the right side of the table as the rotten thing points to another skeleton to come forth. This repates on and on again, one skeleton at a time until it is finally Carrie's turn.

Much like how that door appeared, her body moves automatically to stand in the circle. The lich, as Carrie has come to call the thing before her, having the same bored look as the magic spell (cause theres noway it was anything else) under her starts to work.

That bored look though quickly disappear as whatever he sees in the spell quickly gets his attention.

"Thats weird." The lich mumbles, setting the book and feathery pen aside as he walks closer to get a proper look at Carrie. She feels the coldness of his stare, like ice was running through her nonexistent veins. "You're different." His voice sends chills down her spine, the words spoken with an eerie excitement that makes her want to run.

But she stand still as the lich walks back to table and fish out a small hand held bell. Its softh rings making Carrie not feel any ease at all.

And once the bell stops ringing, a new magic circle appear, though this one red as blood with a glow to it that would make hair stand on end. Out of it comes out what Carrie can only call an imp due to its very short stature, bat like wings, pointed tail, red skin, hoved feet and a tiny set of horns on its head.

"You called lich?" Its voice a strange mix of childlike curiosity and malevolence as it looked at the mention being in the room with expectation.

Said lich pointed to Carrie as it spoke "We might have a varient with this one here or one that is already getting a class. The Appraisal spell indicates that this one is in the process of either of the two and thuse we need to move it to the quarantine quarters until its done." It simple tells the imp before it, who gains a look of surprise on it face.

"Already? That sure is rare. How long have this one been active?" The imp asks as a small black hole appear before it. And the imp is quickly sticking one of its arms in it to look for something inside the hole.

The lich shrugs, "I don't know. This one just woke up with the others, but it's clearly not the same as them. It's more... aware than the usual fresh ones." He says, studying Carrie with a mix of curiosity and caution.

The imp just hums at that and then smile as a simple black dog collar and leash comes out of the hole. The smile turing into a wicked grin as it speaks. "Well no matter, the higher ups will deal with it once the process is done."

Carrie felt the cold metal of the collar snap around her neck before she could even react. A sudden jerk from the leash and she stumbles forward, the imp already pulling her towards another door at the far end of the room. The other skeletons watched her leave with their hollow gazes, seemingly unphased by her plight.

Shortly after going through far too many halls, rooms and doors than Carrie cared to count, she finds herself in a cell that was more akin to a prison than a quarantine. The walls are made of the same cold, hard stone as the crypt, with bars made of metal that looked like they've been here since the dawn of time. The cell is lit by a single, flickering torch that casts eerie shadows on the floor.

It also sports a bed made of dyr hay and a bucket filled with fresh water that was put there shortly after she got into the cell. Though she has no idea why she was given water since as a skeleton she has no need to drink or eat. Or sleep for that matter now that she thinks of it.

"So thats why this lesser thing is here." Says a new voice, deep and holding a tone of power that makes Carrie's boney spine shiver. The voice of the imp follows shortly after.

"Indeed Warden Lord, as you can see this one is a peculiar case given that not much time as gone since its rise from the dead." The imp holds up the leash tightly, giving Carrie a little shake. "I shall leave it to your capable hands. I have other matters to attend to."

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The Warden Lord, who was certainly a demon of some kind as a well though far more scary looking with a much bigger build and meaner looking features than his smaller counterpart, just rolled his eyes as the small imp quickly left once it had handed the leash over to him.

Said leash quickly found itself off the collar Carrie was sporting, but thats was about the only thing he took off her before he spoke.

"Well this should at least prove to be some interesting days at least. You're lucky that I've got a soft spot for the unusual." The Warden Lord rumbled, his deep-set eyes studying Carrie intently. He was a towering figure, his red skin stretched taut over a frame of dense muscle and bone, his horns curving back like a ram's and his teeth pointed like a shark's. Carrie could feel the power emanating from him, and it was unlike anything she had ever encountered in this new life so far. He most certainly had a lot more power than that lich or imp had.

From there some days passed by, or so at least Carrie thought. It was kinda hard to tell when one did not have anything to actually tell time. But those days wasn't wasted.

Carrie quickly came into the habit of listing the days in her head, using the changing of the torch's light as a makeshift clock. The Warden Lord visited her daily, bringing a sense of routine to her otherwise chaotic existence. And brought with him a few more items that was added to her cell.

One of which was actual clothes, sort of. It was only a simple tunic but it was better than nothing. Though the fact that it was made of what felt like spider silk, made her skin crawl even if she didn't have any, she still felt something. And that something was not pleasant. None the less she wore it as helped her feel at least some normalcy.

She also started to listen for the Warden Lord's voice and others as well to figure out what exactly was going on, as the big demon was not the only one who worked in this area. Nor was she the only one who was locked into a cell for that matter. While she could not see who the others were, but from some of the painful shouts or screams she would occasionally hear made her think they weren't as lucky as her at the moment

And she had finally understood why she was here to begin with thanks to all her effort on eavesdropping. The lich mention of her being in the process of becoming a varient or getting a class, whatever those things were or meant, seem to have set her apart from the other skeletons she'd woken up with. The Warden Lord was the only one that talked to her on a regular bases and he did so with a certain amount of curiosity as to what exactly she was going to be. He not only did it out of curiosity though, as it was his duty to regularly check upon her due to this.

Especially since her case was a very rare one to happen, as most of the time this sort of this happens after one has been around for a few years. Instead of the moment one is born or in her case raised form the dead. It also appeared to be a process that could take weeks to finish as well, if what the Warden Lord has said was anything to go by.

Frankly speaking, Carrie wanted nothing more than to hit her head agains the cell walls at this point. But she was still having difficulties moving her new body naturally. Which have ended with her making a fool of herself more than once, which the Warden Lord found quite funny when he had the spare time to watch her stumble around in her cell.

At least she had a few things to do now with her ample free time. Especially after the Warden Lord came back with what she could only describe was a wooden box filled with simple wooden toys usually meant for kids.

She has no idea if this was to humiliate or help her. But by the end of her first week, she was using them as a way to not go insane from boredom. Or stop herself from once again to count the straws in her hay bed.

Of course that did not mean all things was going well for her. Some of the Warden Lord's fellow colleagues or those under him seems to have taken a liking to torment her when they had the chance.

Like now, as a skeleton guard was currently using a rusted sword of kind to slowly make a awful noise that made Carrie cringe. Beside it was another imp, one that was most certainly not the same one who had taken her here days before, grinning like it was the most hilarious thing it had ever seen.

"Oh how I wish I was allowed to whip you instead." It said, with a slight sadness to its surprsingly female like voice. It was filled with the same childlike curiosity and malevolence as the previous one. Though there was a slight edge to it that Carrie did not like.

"But rules are rules, and I'm a good imp to my Lord. Beside, I don't want the mess to come should I end up killing you. You lesser skeletons aren't exactly know to be very robust." The imp continued on as the skeleton guard continued to mindlessly make more of that awful noise.

Carrie cringed again, but this time for another reason. While the Warden Lord have been the main source of her knowing what is going on, it did not mean she haddn't managed to listen in on what the other demons or beings that came and went through the day.

There seems to be some sort of war going on. For what she has no idea of, but its clear that had it not been for this 'varient' or 'class' process, she would have been sent to the frontlines to be a mindless drone. And she had a feeling that the process she was in was the only thing keeping her from that fate. Which left her wondering just what exactly she was going to be once it was said and done.

She got her answer for what seems like the end of her third or fourth week in the cell when a bounch of blue boxes popped out of the blue. Literally.

*** Varient and Class process finished. New class and element affinity gained! Titles gained! Soul has properly been integrated. New stats updating.....updating.....updated complete. Opening [Status Window] is now available.***

Was what the first box said. ' What the-' Carrie's thought was cut short as a sudden burst of blue light enveloped her. Her bones tinglinged and burned, her mind racing as it felt like it was being rewritten sideways. Her body spasming and shaking until suddenly, it stop.

When she finally felt she could open her non existence eyes without feeling like she was on fire once again, a new box was before her saying the following.

Status Window

Name: Carrie Blackburn

Race: Undead; Type: Lesser Skeleton

Class: Cook lvl 1

Elemental Varient: Fire

Health: 57/83

Mana: 23/23

Stats:

Strength: 9

Agility: 17

Endurance: 18

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 10

Dexterity: 12

Luck: 5

There where other things as well in the box too. Skills, Spells, Blessings, Titles, Quests, Maps and more was available as this strange little tag like things she felt she could touch to learn more about. So did the rest of the stuff she already read. But before she even had a chance to do any of that, the Warden Lord's voice rang out.

"Well well well. Looks like its finally done and we just hit the jackpot! Both a varient and class eh? Why Lady Luck most be smiling at us." The Warden Lord said with a smile as he looks at her. Carrie growing both confused and worried that he is somehow seeing the same thing as she is.

Theres a few imps with him this time, all of which are looking at her with curiosity she don't like and makes her want to hide in her hay bed.

"A Cook?" One of the imps speak up, confusion clear in both its voice and face as it keeps looking at her. "What use do we have for a skeleton that can cook?? These things don't need to eat or drink for Lord's sake!" it continuse to speak as it looks up at the Warden Lord for answers.

The Warden Lord just chuckled as he leaned against the cell bars. "Don't worry about it, its for the higher ups to decide. Now you," he points at one of the imps rather impatiently. "Take it to the one of the test rooms. And make sure the room is equiped with what is needed. I want to see what it can actually do now that the process is done. We have a lot of work to do and I don't want any mistakes."

The imp looked at him with a slightly scared look before it nodded rapidly and opened the cell door with a set of jingling keys. Carrie had to admit she felt a slight thrill of fear as she was being taken to this 'test room'. What kind of tests would they put her through? Would they hurt her? Would she even feel pain anymore?

Turned out her worries was a little wasted as where the imp took her after putting the leash back on the collar she has been wearing since the day she woke up here, was a little anticlimactic if she was honest.

The test room was a small chamber with a single stone table and simple wodden chair in the center. The walls were bare, except for a few torches flickering dimly and a stone stove that seems to have had better days. On the table lay a set of ingredients that looked both familiare and strange at the same time. The imp before her had a look of excitement that did not sit well with Carrie.

"All right you bag of bones. You task is simple, make something edible with these," the imp said, her voice filled with a mix of excitement and challenge as she pointed to the ingredients laid out on the table. The ingredients were a motley collection: a few strangly looking vegetables that looked slighty withered, some meat from what was most likely not from any animal she knew of. There was also a few clay jars before her, that despite her lack of a nose, smelled faintly like herbs and spices. There was also a large clay pot with water and to the side of the stove was a large stone shelf that had all kinds of cooking utilities for her too use.

Once the imp had given its instructions to Carrie, it disappared in a could of smoke with a quite 'wosh' sound, leaving the skeleton woman alone.

Carrie looked down at the ingredients, her mind racing as she recall any shred of cooking knowledge she had from her past life. The ingredients looked foreign, but she figured that cooking was cooking. The basics had to be the same, right?

But before that, she had to check out her body once again. Even with being suddenly dragged here, Carrie had notice that she did not have the same struggle with moving her body as much as before. There was still some delay, but as she slowly moved her limbs and body, things was a lot smoother now.

And she even looked a little different now too. Her skeleton hands and fingers have taken on a black hue, with red like vines glowing slight. Her legs also having taken this trait too. And using the pot with the water inside as a mirror, her skull had gained some red marks too.

The marks was glowing just as faintly as those vine like marks on her hands and legs. Though larger and more spread out, giving her a surprsingly simple but cool look than just being a boring old skull. It was like someone had painted her with some red paint that just glowed slightly.

Kinda like war paint in some ways. But Carrie was quick to forget about that when she once again looked over at the 'kitchen' before her and let out a sigh. Which startled her quite a bit.

"Wha-huh-eh! I-I-I can speak again?!" She spoke, her voice still the same but holding a slightly ghosting echo to it now. Her jaws moving slightly more smoothly than before, which was quite the surprise to her.

"What kind of witchery is this?!" She can't help but blurr out, the shock of being able to speak again after weeks of only being able to think was too much for her. The room was silent, except for the faint crackling of the torches. Carrie felt a strange sense of elation at the sound of her own voice, even if it was slightly muffled and echoing.

But she pushed all of these feelings to the back of her mind once she again looked at the kitchen before her, which reminded her of the task the imp had given her. And not wanting to know what would happen if she took too long immediately took a deep breath, or as close to one she could anyways.

"I better get started then." Carrie murmured to herself, the words echoing slightly in the empty chamber. As she walked over to get started, she did not notice the little bat like creature that was hidding in one of the shadowy corners. Its single eye watching and its ears listing to everything that was going on. And sending it all to the watchers of the test.