Cat Core 3, Chapter 20.

Chapter 20.

“While I would like to see a better return on our investment, I agree that it’s time for us to leave,” Patricio agreed, leading the party back through the first floor of the dungeon.

“Hurry up Fizz!” Florence shouted. The gnome kept falling behind, and even Florence had been outrunning him. She could tell the dungeon defenders were gaining on them, and the last thing they wanted was for the entire horde to corner them inside. At least outside the dungeon, the core’s connection to its minions would be broken, causing the defenders to slowly weaken the longer they were outside.

George came to the rescue, snatching the gnome up and throwing him over his shoulder. Doug snickered something stupid about inventing gnome football in this world, but Florence was too busy trying to think of their next move to worry about his foolishness. Eventually, the dungeon exit was seen, and it was none too soon since the horde of enemies couldn’t be more than one or two rooms behind them now.

Thankfully, it was still dark outside, so they weren’t blinded by the bright sunlight. Patricio waved them toward the small patch of trees, which seemed like a good idea. Because they hadn’t followed the rules, the guards stationed outside the dungeon began to shout for them to halt. Florence had forgotten about them but wasn’t going to let them get steamrolled by the dungeon creatures.

“Hey, get out of here, that crazy dungeon is about to spit out a slew of monsters!” Florence shouted. The guards caught on pretty quickly, given that they could hear the cacophony of monster noises coming from the dungeon. Since there were only three of them, the guards wisely decided to hightail it out of there. As Florence fled for the brush and trees that should hide their retreat, she summoned a kitty and got lucky with summoning the commando kitty, Buddy.

Ordering Buddy to hide, the nearly invisible cat watched the horde emerge from the dungeon entrance. Florence’s group was out of sight by the time the first dungeon defender appeared, but the guards were a little bit slower, and the monsters charged them since there were no other targets in sight. Fighting was heard in the distance as Patricio led them on the roundabout route back to town. When they finally made it back to the town, they had surprisingly little trouble reaching the inn without being harassed by the guards.

Given the sounds of combat in the distance, it seemed that most of the guard had assembled to defeat the dungeon horde. Once back inside and at their table, Florence reviewed what Buddy had seen of the fight, her little kitty being a smart fella, stalked the dungeon creatures as they pursued the guards. One of the guards must have had some magical means of getting out word of the attack, since it didn’t take long before a line of guards were strung across the road, with a few adventurers joining the party.

The dungeon had spit out over a hundred defenders and the variety was surprising. There were more wolves and troggs, some were the stronger versions with more powers from the lower floors, but that wasn’t all. Creatures that looked like dwarves on fire were there, along with blazing lava beasts, shaped like hounds. Others were more frost monsters, ice snakes, and the like. She also spotted at least one floor champion and his cronies, a burly ogre with a club formed out of ice along with some orc warriors in support.

With over a hundred attackers, including powerful ones from deeper in the dungeon, the guards shouldn’t have stood a chance. Lucky for the guards, the dungeon defenders started taking damage the moment they were outside of the influence of the core. By the time the battle was joined, many of the lower-level defenders were almost ready to keel over and the more powerful ones were showing signs of decay, just like the champion from George’s dungeon had.

Florence didn’t’ get to see the end of the battle, her summoning time with Buddy was over before long and he popped out of existence. She contemplated summoning another and sending him to watch the fight, but it was a risk and a waste of mana she didn’t need. Before Buddy disappeared, she could see the guards were holding back the dungeon creatures, with several spell casters doing good damage to the masses of weaker creatures. A few organized adventurer parties that had been roused were taking on the champion, their skills and experience having little trouble dealing with the rapidly decaying ogre champ.

“They got things under control,” Florence told the group. Fizz and Patricio ordered a meal and some drinks while they tried to calm themselves down.

“A foolish waste, and one that we should capitalize on. The dungeon will be weaker for a time. Think of all the mana those defenders represent, and not a single point of it will be recovered by the core,” Doug offered.

“Yep, and I’m willing to bet it was already feeling the pinch because there haven’t been any adventurers coming around since they closed things off,” Florence added.

“True, but it may be some time before we get another chance at that place, given the commotion our visit has caused. It may not be smart for me to even try to reestablish communication with my contacts. I doubt they’re happy, given how we were the cause of the dungeon attacking them,” Patricio said. He was right, she hated to say, and Florence could only hope none of the real people were hurt in the attack.

“Let’s lay low for a few days, after all, Patricio still needs to sell our loot,” Florence said.

“I think we can all agree to that, is there any loot we should keep?” George asked. It was a good question, if they ran into something that would be an upgrade for one of them, it might be smarter to keep it rather than turn it into cash.

“I’d like to keep a healing potion, but when I touch the vial it says my association with a core will make it ineffective on me,” Fizz said to his disappointment. The gnome also wanted to keep the enchanted dagger to use in one of his contraptions, but curious as she was about what the gnome would come up with, the magic dagger was the most valuable piece of loot they had found. To help console the gnome, they let him keep the regular steel dagger. It wasn’t worth all that much, and the gnome could always find some use for a good knife.

They spent most of their time in the inn, Florence not willing to risk exposing herself outside in case that killer was waiting for her. Patricio was sure the guy was gone, and Doug agreed, the killer had no way to know she would pop back to life a day later and he would be gone until the lich, or whoever sent him, figured out she was still kicking. Despite the risk being low, Florence wasn’t going to push their luck and wander about town in full view of any potential killers.

Patricio did end up keeping the healing potions, they normally sold quickly and for a good price, but without any delves going on, the demand had dried up. Given that Patricio was only linked to her through a contract, he could use the potions normally. Patricio’s contacts did take their other loot off their hands, giving them a nice chunk of gold for their efforts. It wasn’t quite enough to cover the cost of their delve, but they were going to have to find some other way into the dungeon anyway since Patricio’s contacts were more likely to turn him in than accept another bribe.

There was a bit of good news from their delve, clearing the first floor of the dungeon and taking out the champion had bumped Florence to level three. With George and Doug’s level being keyed off hers, it was a good bump in overall power for their party. It normally wouldn’t be anywhere close to enough to best the final champion of this dungeon but given that the place was likely starved of resources, and the fact Florence’s group was much more powerful than their level would normally indicate, they had a chance. A quick review of the improvements showed that she had hit quite a few upgrades.

Florence Valentine, Hybrid Entity.

Core Gem/Catomancer (Domestic Housecat Subtype), Level 3. 111/5000.

Health: 100%.

Mana: 250/250.

Core Shard Traits:

1. Indomitable Will. Your ability to resist mind control effects has improved and will now bestow a somewhat limited version of this ability to everyone in your party.

Catomancer Traits:

Hybrid Class Abilities:

Magic: You have access to the following spells.

1. Summon Defender (Catomancer): This spell requires 25 mana and will summon a single random cat defender from those you created inside your dungeon. Your defenders will protect you for 1 minute per level and will have powers and abilities that are scaled to match your current level. This ability now has a small chance of summoning a minor champion or summoning two of your standard defenders. This spell will now function while you are transformed into your core, but the mana cost is double.

2. Empower Beasts (Catomancer). This spell has been upgraded and now will affect all your summoned creatures as well as your companion. When cast, the spell boosts the level of your summoned creatures and champion by 1 and doubles the total time of their summons. The cost for this spell is now 100 mana. Empower Beasts can only increase the level of a creature by a maximum of 2, and any additional casts will not affect those already at their maximum level, other than extending the duration of the summons. This spell will now function while you are in your core form.

3. Instant Dungeon: This ability can be used once per day and lasts for one minute per level. The ability is only available in your hybrid form, and when activated, Instant Dungeon will anchor you in place and allow you to re-create any room from the first floor of your dungeon, except for the floor champion room, in the area around you. The room will be populated with the defenders and traps that were present when your core controlled the dungeon, but the other items inside will be illusions. As you level this ability will improve.

Companion Abilities:

1. Mimic Defender. Doug can choose which of the three main types of dungeon defenders to mimic. The choice includes Brawler, Commando, and Mage. Additional choices may be unlocked as you level. Changes to Doug’s defender variant can only be made once every 24 hours. Doug will be granted abilities to match the variant he has selected.

Combat Traits and Abilities (Hybrid Form Only):

1. Soulbound Weapon: Your cane now has the option of choosing the damage type you wish to inflict with its attack. Either bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage may be selected. The default damage type for your weapon is bludgeoning. This weapon is now considered to have a minor enchantment and will be effective against creatures with resistance to non-magical attacks.

2. Soulbound Armor: Your armor has been integrated into your clothing, and currently provides the same protection as Leather Armor.

3. Shake the Cane: This ability can be activated once per day. When activated, you will vigorously shake your cane, creating a wave of force that will slam into any targets within ten feet of you. This ability will now discern between friend and foe, making it safe to use around your party.

4. Enhanced Durability. When in your hybrid form, you resist 6% of all damage types. This ability will improve as you level.

Things were good all around, and except for the huge cost bump to Empower Beasts, she was pleased with her progress. She couldn’t even really fault the increased cost, given that the spell now affected all her kitties and could be used when she was transformed into her home. George had also improved; she was happy to see. He was evolving to fill his role in the group as their tank.

George, Core Fragment 3/Berserker Beast 3.

Health 100%

Rage: 0/100.

When you are in your dungeon form, George will also revert to his dungeon form, placing his fragment near your core. Core fragments will also contribute additional defenders to protect your dungeon. Fragment-created defenders are no longer locked to your final champion’s room and can be placed wherever the fragment desires. As you level and the fragment’s power grows, additional defenders will be spread amongst your other rooms. These additional defenders are powered by the mana generated by the core fragment and will not encroach upon the mana you generate for your defenders.

Hybrid Form Abilities:

George is a melee fighter that focuses on unarmed combat. He can wield simple weapons but prefers to fight without any. As a core fragment, George’s health is dependent on his level, and his body can resist damage as if he were wearing studded leather armor. His durability will increase as he levels, as will his unarmed attack abilities.

1. Berserker Rage. When George is in combat, he will build a rage resource. As his rage builds, George will increase in strength and improve his durability. Once reaching his max rage limit, George will transform into a powerful beast with greatly improved stats and enhanced health regeneration. When transformed, George’s rage will drop rapidly and once it reaches 0, the transformation will end.

2. Slam. George can join both his fist together in a powerful single blow that will not only deal damage to the foe but also push them back. This ability has a small chance to stun its target for a short time. The slam ability requires 25 rage to activate and can only be activated once every 30 seconds.

3. Roar of Challenge. This ability generates a rage-filled shout that forces all nearby enemies to focus their wrath on George. Roar of Challenge requires 25 rage to activate and has a 1-minute cooldown.

“Now that I have a choice, I think I will go with Commando for my variant,” Doug said.

“Hey, what happened to consulting with everyone before making decisions,” Florence chided.

“You should talk. Don’t worry, I can respec if we have a particular need for another variant,” Doug replied.

“Your upgrades are all well and good, but if we can’t get into the dungeon, we’re out of luck. I’m afraid to say I’m stumped as to how we’ll accomplish our task,” Patricio said. It sure looked like it hurt him to admit he didn’t know what to do.

“I’ve got an idea, Patricio, don’t you worry,” Florence said.

“Here we go again,” Doug mocked. Getting bumped up a level and unlocking a new ability sure make the kitty companion insufferable.

“Hush, Doug. Now, if we wait a few more days, we won’t need to get inside the dungeon, we’ll just need to get close,” Florence said.

“Oh, that’s not a bad idea,” Doug admitted, realizing what Florence meant.

“What? What’s not a bad idea, I’m sorry, but I don’t follow,” Patricio said.

“Well, Patricio, we’re going to fight fire with fire. In a few days, I’m going to turn back into my home, and then we’re going to invade this other dungeon. I just need to find a good spot close to the other dungeon so I can shape an entrance from my home into it,” Florence said.

“You do realize that the other dungeon is a higher level than you are?” Patricio warned.

“Yep, and he’s half-starved and likely low on defenders, while my place will be newly refreshed and chock full of defenders ready to go,” Florence said. She felt good about this plan, even if Patricio seemed unconvinced.