Cat Core 3, Chapter 9.

Chapter 9.

Before Florence had a chance to respond to George, her vision blurred and she found herself back in the core room, hand resting on a now rapidly crumbling core gem. Light glowed in the gem as it turned to powder, but unlike the sickly light coming from it before, this time, the green light from the gem seemed healthy, like a force of nature, not some kind of corruption from the lich. As the last of the gem crumbled, she could hear a distant shout of pain and fury in her mind. The light coalesced into a humanoid form. Standing there in front of her was none other than George.

“Easy there, everyone, this here is George and he’s going to join us on our little adventure,” Florence said as Doug and Fizz readied themselves to attack what they likely thought was a threat. George looked like he was in shock as he took in his new physical form. Now, Florence Valentine dealt with the change and transition back to a physical form easy enough, but poor George didn’t have a Doug of his own to help guide him, and the big hairy guy seemed more than a bit confused.

“What happened? I’m back in my old body, at least I think it’s my old body, it’s been so long, I can’t remember if this is what I looked like, or it’s just the form you created for me inside the gem,” George said.

“Okay George, we got a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Let me get a good look at you and see if we can’t figure out how you fit into all this,” Florence said. She could feel a connection to George, just like she could with the others, but it was stronger than the one with Fizz like this former core was more directly linked. She told the others to be patient and give her room to concentrate as she focused on George and the slew of system prompts that started popping up.

Congratulations! You have defeated one of the cores that the lich Berikoz had infected. Not every victory comes through martial or magical prowess, sometimes, the greatest victories are won through words and actions. You have convinced the core known as George to join you in your quest against the lich. He has been transformed into a Core Fragment. A Core Fragment is linked to your core shard and should you fall, so will this fragment. Should the fragment fall, he will be reformed over the course of 24 hours. George’s level will always match your own, his power improving as yours improves. As a reward for defeating or recruiting a core fragment, you have been granted a level. Please review the changes to your core.

Florence Valentine, Hybrid Entity.

Core Gem/Catomancer (Domestic Housecat Subtype), Level 2. 756/3000.

Health: 100%.

Mana: 138/200.

Core Shard Traits:

1. Indomitable Will. Your ability to resist mind control effects has improved, and this ability will continue to improve based on your current level.

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 very small chance of summoning a minor champion or summoning two of your standard defenders.

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.

2. Soulbound Armor: Your armor has been integrated into your clothing, and currently provides the same protection as Padded Armor with leather reinforcements at critical points.

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. Beware, this ability does not discern between friend and foe.

4. Enhanced Durability. When in your hybrid form, you resist 5% of all damage types. This ability will improve as you level.

Florence wasn’t expecting to have gained a level just from freeing the hairy guy, but she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The system didn’t even try to cheat her out of anything. It could have just topped off the experience needed to gain level two and call it a day, but nope, they had given her a level and let her keep all the experience she had gained so far, not a bad deal if you asked her. Of course, each level was going to take a lot more experience than the previous ones did, but if she got a free level with each infected core she dealt with, they just might be able to give Berikoz a run for his money. Once she was done reviewing her changes, Florence was able to take a gander at what George was bringing to the table.

George, Core Fragment 2/Berserker Beast 2.

Health 81%

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. Initially, all the fragment-created defenders will populate the room with your final champion. 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 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. Once his rage hits a threshold he will transform into a berserker beast, improving his combat abilities, durability, and damage output. The rage threshold for transformation is 100. Once transformed, George will have difficulty determining friend from foe, so it is advisable to keep your allies away from his melee range.

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 period of time. Slam requires 25 rage to activate and can only be activated once every 30 seconds.

George looked like he was going to be a powerful addition to their group and the top candidate for their tank. Doug was going to be more than happy to give up the role, he was a bit too whiney about it, and George didn’t seem like the kind of guy to be scared in a dungeon. His health was slowly recovering from the transformation, but in just the time it had taken her to review the updates, he had gained another percent.

“I’m feeling…free. Berikoz is gone from my head, his taunts no longer torment me. Thank you, Florence, I can feel our link, but there is nothing evil about it, it is something beneficial to us both, not an attempt by you to drain me of my existence. I shall fight for you, and together we will free the others that are still oppressed by the lich. What is our next step, Florence?” George asked.

“The first step is to get out of this place, and then I need to find where the next corrupted core is hiding,” Florence said.

The former dungeon was quiet now, and Florence could feel the residual mana in the place slowly drain away. In a day or so, this would just be a normal cave, just like her old home. It made her sad, the ruins of her home had likely dissipated as the mana faded, she would have liked to at least left behind the empty home for people to explore, even if it didn’t have any defenders inside. Who knows, maybe some of the folks that explored inside would pick up design tips from the way she organized things. Heavens knew this world could do with a decorator’s touch, and everybody in the county knew that Florence Valentine kept a neat home.

Once outside, Doug checked the perimeter of the clearing to make sure the locals weren’t waiting outside to ambush them. Once he gave them the thumbs, or in his case, paws up, they walked out into the sunlight. Florence pulled out her map and started to concentrate, focusing on her objective and trying to feel the pull of the next dungeon. A cold chill coursed through her bones and she noticed a place highlighted on the map. It was a bit further north, at the base of a mountain where a modest town had grown up near the dungeon. Based on the notes that Shara had written by it, the dungeon is a bit much for novices, but a good step up once a group gained a few levels and acquired some improved gear.

While they were only level 2, Florence believed that her team was much more powerful than an adventuring party consisting of normal humans. The journey would be a long one, but doable on foot. Given that they could travel for much longer than most folks, they should make the journey in only a few days. Fizz would need to sleep, but maybe they could rig up something to haul him along while he was sleeping. George would be more than strong enough to haul the gnome and his bag of junk while the little guy took his nap. Florence really wanted to make it to the new dungeon before she was forced to turn back into her home. It would be tight, but if they moved quickly, it was possible.

“Okay, I’ve found our target, it’s going to be a bit of a slog, but if we hustle, we’ll make it before I turn back into our home. Fizz, you’re the one that still needs to eat and sleep a bit, but maybe George could carry you while you sleep?” Florence asked. There was no way she would be able to sleep with some big lug carrying her around, but gnomes were weird, so it might fly with Fizz.

“I don’t know about carrying me, but maybe I can rig something up that George can pull,” Fizz said. He rooted through his bag pulling out several short metal rods that he screwed together to form two poles. He wound the straps on his oversized pack to the poles and made a little sled that he could perch on when he finally got tired.

“Good work, Fizz, as long as that contraption doesn’t blow up or electrocute us, it looks like it’ll work. Let’s get moving, we got to put some miles under our shoes and the sooner we’re out of this area with the murderous locals, the better,” Florence said.

The map helped to guide them out of the forest and toward some real roads. George’s dungeon had been out in the wilds and unlike other dungeons that had grown over time, his had never really developed into something that would draw civilization to it. Doug warned them that they were being followed and he became a brave enough kitty to sneak ahead and see exactly what was going on. It was just a few of the locals, shadowing their party, but not making any moves, at least not yet.

Their concerns about another possible ambush faded as they pressed toward the edge of the forest and the watchers decided it was time to head home. Florence knew enough about hillbillies to know they weren’t keen on moving too far from home. Of course, this world’s version of them might behave differently, but a quick check with Fizz confirmed they had little to fear as they left the site of the old dungeon far behind. They traveled through the night and the next morning; the forest began to recede. The map proved accurate, and they soon found a narrow dirt road that would take them in the right direction.

Florence’s hopes to make it to the new dungeon before her transformation were dashed as the route proved a hard one. About every twelve hours, depending on how hard the trail they were on was, Florence felt pain in her joints and her health started to drop a bit. Finding a good spot to sit down and rest, they were ready to go in an hour or two. While they didn’t need to sleep—except for Fizz—it turned out the core shard and fragment folks did need a rest now and then. The stops were more frequent as their path headed up into the foothills and the weather became colder and colder.

Fizz turned out to be right handy with a map and pronounced they were about a day and a half from the new dungeon when Florence felt the worst stomachache she had ever felt. It was worse than the one she got after the church potluck back in ’98 when Esmerelda left her potato salad out in the sun too long and made everyone sick as a dog. A notification confirmed that it was time to turn back into her home, but she wasn’t happy at all about the lack of warning that the whole process would hurt this much!

You are transforming into a dungeon core. While you may stay in this form as long as you wish, the minimum time in your core form is 24 hours. Only part of your dungeon will be available to you, increase your level to unlock more of your dungeon.