Cat Core 3, Chapter 30.

Chapter 30

“I could get used to this,” Doug said, stretching his tiger-sized body across the comforter of the bed. He had been enjoying the free room that Scythe had given them more than he should have. Their rooms in the inn were nice enough, but Florence really didn’t need sleep, so she was kind of just bored most of the time. After fighting for her life or walking day and night to reach the next dungeon, she wasn’t sure what to do with the time on her hands.

“It’s too noisy up here. Don’t people have jobs to go to tomorrow?” she complained. The later it got, the more the noise from the tavern below grew. It was worse than when those college kids down the street used to play their music too loud on the holidays, and there weren’t any police here she could call to file a noise complaint.

“Do you want to go back into the cellar again?” Doug asked. She spent a lot of time down there, trying to find the best place to set up her home. From what the rogues guild had told them, the sewers were just below the cellar and the dungeon was attached to it somehow. There were three known entrances to the dungeon, each along a well-known path in the sewers, and they were all guarded and monitored by the adventurers guild and the city watch. The dungeon was a goldmine for the city, and they were smart to protect it.

Scythe’s people had told Florence of a hidden entrance their people used, most often to sell access to adventuring groups that ran afoul of the authorities. Florence let them know she wouldn’t need to use the entrance and would instead create her own. Scythe tried to negotiate for control of the new entrance when they left, but Florence told them the dungeon wouldn’t be there by the time she was done. She didn’t know if she’d have another ally joining the party or would have to destroy this core, but either way, the dungeon would be gone. In appreciation for her honesty, Scythe had upgraded them to a pair of nicer rooms in the inn, but even the good rooms were still subject to the noise of the tavern revelers.

The pair left their room and walked through the tavern to reach the cellars. Florence was nervous in public. She never really liked people all that much, and after being killed in broad daylight, she didn’t want to risk another possible assassin lurking about. Who knew what powers the lich had at his command? Maybe he could track her down and send that guy with all the weapons at her again. This time, he wouldn’t find her such an easy target. She had grown in power, as had her team. Not only that, but they were also inside a huge tavern that was owned by the rogues guild, and Florence doubted they would let some assassins operate on their turf.

Florence’s other concern was that the rogues would sell them out to the adventurers guild or that crazy king fella. The fact that she hadn’t paid yet was probably the only thing keeping them from doing that. There was also the fact that the rogues were the reason she escaped in the first place, but that wouldn’t stop Scythe and her people from trading Florence for a quick buck and some kind of pardon for that particular crime. The only thing she could do was wait for the time to come when she could transform into her home, and once she started cranking out reward chests, the rogues would be rather distracted.

Patricio had made himself useful, gathering all the information he could about the dungeon. It was going to be a challenge; the place was full of slimes and gross stuff like that. Her kitties might not be able to even harm the hostile defenders, but Doug was pretty sure the core energy that created her babies would allow their natural weapons to harm the slimy goop monsters.

Other than slimes, jellies, and cubes, there were also lots of vermin. Giant rats, along with swarms of their lesser kin, were everywhere in the dungeon, and her kitties were going to have a field day with them. The dungeon was rated as a moderate challenge, a bit tougher than the last dungeon they faced, and while she had leveled up since then, this dungeon hadn’t been experiencing any symptoms of corruption just yet, so she would face its full might. The final champion of the place was rumored to be inside a huge room with several different environments. Each environment had a separate type of slime champion, and they would try to join together in the middle of the chamber, getting more powerful for each slime that was added. The key was to take out each one before the merged. It would be a difficult task for her weary defenders after they fought through an entire hostile dungeon.

Nobody paid any attention to them in the tavern, likely figuring that her giant kitty companion, Doug, was just somebody’s animal companion. The place she was planning to use as the entrance to her home was an empty storage cellar just below the fighting ring, three levels below the tavern. Only a few meters of earth and sewer would separate them from the dungeon. Since the entrance was under the tavern, she wouldn’t have to worry about wandering creatures coming in and would be able to focus her entire efforts on the coming battle.

The cellar she was going to use had been cleared of the garbage and debris that had accumulated in it over the years, but Fizz had insisted a lot of it be left behind for his “work.” A pair of guild rogues kept watch over the place, providing security for Florence and likely spying on her every action at the same time. A worktable had been dragged in from somewhere, and Fizz was spending most of his time creating weapons and gadgets for his gnomes. He even claimed that his newest design, the Fizzbolt 2000, was problem-free and ready for battle. The guy had built a half dozen of the weapons, and she was worried that the entire gnome home would be electrocuted to death before they managed to do much to the enemy.

Doug assured her that the gnomes were good at what they did, and while their devices didn’t always work as advertised, they had an uncanny ability to survive just about all but the most catastrophic of failures. Whatever happened was on Fizz, but if even half of the strange devices he had created worked, there was going to be a lot of unhappy slimes in the near future. That future seemed like it was getting close, since Florence was starting to feel the uncomfortable pains that signaled another transformation into her core form.

“Doug, Fizz, I think the time is getting close. Gather up everyone and we’ll get ready to go,” Florence ordered. It didn’t take the gnome long to gather everyone up. George was just relaxing in his room, trying to remember something about his past, and Patricio was enjoying himself a bit too much inside the tavern, liberally abusing the tab Scythe had let him run.

“I have arrived. Is our home ready to go, my dear?” Patricio said, slurring many of the words, which told Florence that if he wasn’t drunk yet, he was well on his way.

“You better sober up really quick, Patricio. I’ll not have some alcoholic on my team. We’ve got important work to do,” Florence said, not at all happy about the bard’s condition. One of the rogues guarding the entrance was gone the next time she looked, telling her that Scythe understood she was about to change. The scar-faced guild leader would likely be storming into Florence’s home as soon as the transformation was complete. Well, she would have to wait, because Florence wasn’t going to have any visitors until her place was good and ready. She had created a beautiful home and didn’t want her guests to see it in disarray. As the pain became worse, Florence stopped talking and tried to concentrate on where she wanted her entrance.

“Excuse me, good sir, but you might want to consider backing up a bit. While it may be perfectly safe, we’re not quite sure the effects that Florence’s transformation might have on bystanders,” Doug warned. The guard looked at whatever was happening to Florence and beat feet out of there, wanting no part of it. Florence’s mind went blank again as the transformation process began.

This time, she was able to handle it better; her mind overcame the pain of the process enough for her to wake early and watch her home construct itself. The entrance was placed about where she wanted, on the floor midway between the door and the furthest wall of the room. It led down about fifty meters at a slight decline, where the front lawn and her pavilion were would be located. The house started next, each room growing quickly as she used her mana to shape the nearby materials into the forms she wanted. The first level was complete, and she was glad to see that since she hit level 5, the entire second floor could now be constructed.

Florence had been missing only two rooms, but one of those was the attic, where the powerful second-floor champion, Spud, lived. The other room, the closet, wasn’t much of a challenge, only having the sweet-looking kitty Vala and her creepy puppets. Still, every kitty she could field was one more to help stop the enemy and add to her attack. Her core room was attached to the attic. A door was created between the two as Florence’s mind cleared completely as she returned to her core.

“You okay there, George?” she asked the small fragment of his core that hovered near her.

“I’m doing just fine. Once you get your defenders spawned, I can start adding mine to the mix,” he advised.

“What are you able to bring now?” Florence asked. She hadn’t gotten enough time to go over the details of George’s new level before they were kidnapped by the adventurers guild and the king guy.

“The wolf pack is up to a total of six now, and one of them is the frost wolf template and can breathe out an ice cloud. The yeti is still here as a minor champion, just a bit stronger than before with the new level. The battle boars increased to two pairs, but we can’t really choose where to place them. They’re showing as wandering defenders. Once they sense intruders, they’ll charge toward the danger, and they’re pretty strong fighters and can absorb a lot of damage before going down.”

“That’s not bad,” Florence said. “Why don’t we keep the wolves on the lawn? They’ll draw the attention of any attackers and my stealth kitties there can get a good ambush on the invaders. The yeti can stay in the same place as well. He seemed to get along well with Zeus and the two Fluffies. They make a pretty good team.” She got to work, resummoning her babies and placing the traps. Sadly, her ability to alter traps and trap locations wasn’t available to her as a hybrid entity, but Fizz and his gnomes came through, promising to build some extra traps for her once they got themselves organized.

Florence was just about as happy as Fizz to see the gnome home back in business. The only exception was Surly, who gathered a pack full of gear and left his buddies almost immediately to join Spud in the attic. Florence had finished up the last of her defenders and George was hard at work when Patricio came running into the home, looking a bit soberer and a good bit more nervous. Scylla and a whole slew of rogues and assassins followed behind him.

“Hey, we’re not ready just yet. Can you give us a few more minutes?” Florence asked, trying to be nice despite the guild rudely barging in before she was open for business.

“We’ve waited long enough. It’s time to pay up.” Scythe stopped as she took in the pavilion, lawn, and front of Florence’s home.

“What is this?” Hendry asked, his simple mind confused over the home that seemed to have suddenly appeared under their establishment.

“Well, come on in, but I don’t need your whole guild tramping dirt on my carpets. Bring Hendry and a few others. We can do business in the living room, just past the front door,” Florence advised. Scythe looked like she was going to argue but didn’t press the issue, waving for Hendry and three other rogues to follow her, including the mage that had teleported them all from the adventurers guild tower.

“That’s the biggest kitty I’ve ever seen. I mean, I’ve seen tigers and stuff, even that big white one that follows the lady around, but this one just looks like a huge old regular kitty,” Hendry said, staring at Mo in his enclosure as they walked by.

“Don’t worry. You’re seen as neutral by my defenders. They won’t attack your people unless they do something to deserve it,” Florence said, noting that the keen-eyed rogues had no trouble spotting Obi and Shadow lurking in the tall grass and stalking the visitors.

“I’ve never seen a dungeon like this. My compliments to your creativity, Florence,” the mage said.

“That’s kind of you. By the way, I never got your name before,” Florence said. The guy was nice enough, and she wanted to be a good hostess for their visit. To that end, she went ahead and created a whole passel of appetizers and drinks for the group, covering the whole coffee table and ordering her kitties inside to leave the refreshments alone when she spotted Bhargath licking his lips at the ham and cheese cubes.

“My name is Reginald, but the guild calls me the Dark Deliverer due to my affinity with teleportation magic,” the mage said.

“I’ll just call you Reggie, if that’s okay. I’m not one for nicknames that sound all mean and whatnot. Just let yourselves in. I can’t greet you in person when I’m transformed into my home,” Florence said.

“Oh, can we eat?” Hendry asked as soon as he saw the spread.

“Help yourselves. I’ll get started on your reward chests. You came early, so I haven’t had time to get them ready ahead of time,” Florence said, still a bit peeved at the guild’s early arrival but not wanting them to know it.

She had just over eighty mana regenerated and started turning out minor chests at five mana per chest. She was a bit worried that her mana wouldn’t regenerate while the visitors were here, but since they were designated as neutral, it seemed they didn’t hamper anything. In fact, they were slowly providing her mana just by their presence. The revelation about mana regeneration triggered another plan she had been working on, but it was a plan that could wait for when she wasn’t facing imminent death.

“Keep a count, and the rest of you, start opening them and gathering loot. There’s no need to wait until all five hundred chests are made,” Scythe ordered.

Florence conjured the chests next to the sofa and chairs so her guests wouldn’t have to go very far to open them, but Hendry decided to plop down on the floor and open them as fast as a kid at Christmas. The cats kept their distance, realizing these were guests but also a potential danger to their home, so they kept a wary eye on them. Well, all except Bhargath, who kept getting closer and closer to the action.

“Hey, you, stay away from the fireplace. There’s a trap in there and I don’t want any accidents,” Florence warned one of the rogues who’d followed Hendry’s lead and had started working on the floor near the fireplace.

“No worries. I can disarm that simple thing,” the rogue said, pulling a set of tools from his belt.

“Woah there, guy, stand back. You go disarming traps and my home will classify you as an invader, and I don’t think any of us want that,” Florence warned. Looking at the two rather large brawler kitties glaring down on him from their ledge, the rogue thought better of his actions and scooted closer to the sofa before resuming his work.

“Can I pet the kitty?” Hendry asked, looking at Bhargath, who was curled up just out of reach, doing that thing that cats did when they wanted you to pet them but they didn’t want to make it too easy for you to accomplish the task.

“Sure, just ask the kitty first, but I think he likes you,” Florence said.

“What’s his name?” Hendry reached out to pet the kitty, who didn’t look too sure that he wanted the rogue getting that close.

“Oh, that sweetie is Bhargath the Foe Render. He’s a good boy,” Florence said. Hendry jerked his hand back when he heard the name of the kitty, remembering this wasn’t some pet and was, in fact, a deadly core defender. It turned out Bhargath did want some pets. The big fluffy guy took a few steps closer to rub his face on the oversized rogue. Hendry smiled and started baby-talking to Bhargath and giving him some good scratches.

“Can you clowns just get to work? We can’t be here all day,” Scythe grumbled.

“Hey, they’re guests. I don’t mind if they stay a while and enjoy themselves. Besides, I’m nearly out of mana and need a break to recharge a bit,” Florence said. Scythe didn’t look all that happy about the situation, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing a cookie off the refreshment table and perking up a bit when she realized it was providing her with a buff to her stats. The longer they stayed, the more they leeched mana into Florence’s home and paid for their own visit, so Florence was glad to play hostess for as long as they wanted.