Cat Core 2, Chapter 31.

Chapter 31.

Durg took the lead, pushing aside the swordsmen that were forming up in front of the laundry room door. He kicked the door and charged inside, Arya and Q were already starting to summon creatures to defend them, but the armored orc wasn’t going to let that happen. His charge took him directly into the clothesline traps, but the armor and shield he bore snapped the razor-like cables easily. A single goblin was summoned, but Durg’s axe was already going to work, easily dispatching Florence’s poor babies. The little summoned goblin jabbed the armored warrior with his wood spear, doing nothing before being turned into a pincushion by the archers who were waiting in the doorway.

“At least the rest of the gnomes are going to make it,” Florence said to Doug, watching as the overburdened little guys made their way from the library into the game room, waddling ever closer to the core room.

The library was a bloodbath, Durg lead the way once more, but this time he was met by a bolt of lightning magic from Zeus as well as hits from the magic missile traps hidden in the room. Fluffy and Fluffy Jr. were level two brawlers, but they stood no chance against the armored killing machine. That didn’t stop her babies from trying though, and they were further reinforced when Loki wandered in to help. Loki used the charge ability from his raider class landing the first hits other than magic damage that seemed to bother the orc.

A spiked shield met the raider’s next attack, and poor Loki impaled himself. The minor champion was tougher than a regular kitty, but even his prodigious health pool couldn’t withstand the rain of axe blows that Durg hammered into him. Zeus was dropped by the archers as a pair of rogues took out the magic missile traps, one of them eating a blast before he could disarm it, adding another wounded invader to the others shuffling along at the back of the formation.

“The armored fellow seems to be hurt a bit,” Doug said, watching as Durg waved the swordsmen and archers forward to take the lead, downing what must have been a healing potion.

“Good, how many of those things can they drink down before they don’t work?” Florence asked. Potions were supposed to be expensive in this world so the orc wouldn’t have used one unless he needed to. Lightning from Zeus was the perfect attack to use on the metal armored opponent, not to mention the magic missiles and Loki’s battering hits.

“There is a limit to what potions can heal. The maximum is usually around their total health pool, but the number is affected by their constitution rating, which means that our armored friend there can probably heal quite a bit. After the limit is reached, healing potions begin to become toxic, dealing damage instead of healing,” Doug advised. That was good news, they couldn’t just sit there and drink potions to survive forever in her home.

Inside the game room, the attackers were having some trouble dealing with all the threats. Florence wasn’t playing around and didn’t activate the game mode, instead, she let all four kitties go to town, not to mention the rather effective roulette trap. Milk Tea kept up the buffs on the other kitties, letting them hit harder and move a bit faster. Astrid, Jurgen, and Clementine were fighting well, each having taken down a swordsman.

The battle turned against her kitties as Kam entered the fight, his twin scimitars were a blur of sharp death, easily fending off incoming blows and killing her babies before they could lay a claw on him. An archer was killed by the roulette trap, which, along with the three swordsmen casualties, left a good dent in the number of remaining invaders.

“Let’s finish this,” Kam said waving forward Durg and Harmon. The adventurer was getting frustrated with the delays and lack of results his hirelings were getting.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” Doug said with an evil grin on his kitten face. The adventurers had entered the kitchen, looking confused that there were no foes inside.

“We must have eliminated most of the defenders, I think we’ll only have a final champion to deal with before we reach the core,” Kam speculated.

“Oh, he is so wrong, wait for the party to make it to the dining room, Doug,” Florence said. Doug watched as the three adventurers tore into the defenders protecting the dining room, the remaining hirelings were waiting inside the kitchen and staying out of the way. Several cabinet doors in the kitchen creaked open and a handful of figurines dropped to the floor, landing with a flash of light.

Screams and roars of anger thundered in the kitchen as the trapped creatures found themselves in an unfamiliar location and under attack. An orc warrior, an orc shaman, a one-armed troll, and a displacer beast were added to the room full of hirelings. The orc warrior hacked into the nearest rogue while the shaman started to cast a spell.

Magic energy fizzled as the orc shaman was grabbed by the one-armed troll. Green blood pouring from the stump of his severed arm, the seven-foot-tall troll chomped down on the shaman, tearing into the flesh, using the food to speed his powerful regeneration ability. Already, the blood spurting from the stump had slowed to a trickle. Two dagger-wielding thugs stabbed at the troll, but you needed fire to put a troll down for good.

The displacer beast was even more impressive, no doubt because it resembled a big kitty with tentacle thingies. It was completely obliterating the mass of thugs in the room with its teeth, claws, and spikey tentacles. The troll reacted to the rogues that were stabbing it, hurling the dead shaman at one, and grasping another to feast upon. His comrade dead, the orc warrior wasted no time in attacking the troll, the mighty blows of his axe cleaving the remaining arm from the monster.

“It appears our troll has been disarmed,” Doug offered with a smug look on his face.

“That’s pretty bad Doug, and don’t think I missed the fact your trap is spending as much time fighting itself as it is fighting the invaders,” Florence replied with a groan.

“On hindsight, I perhaps should have distributed them a bit differently,” Doug admitted.

The hirelings were all down, and the party was just now realizing there was a threat behind them, having easily taken down Florence’s dining room defenders. Harmon held the party back, a ball of fire growing in his hand. With a gesture, the fireball shot into the kitchen, another spell growing in his hand even as the first detonated. Flames whooshed from the doorway and Florence could feel the impressive heat the spell had caused. This mage was going to be trouble, but at least the trap had eaten up a couple of higher-level spells. The second fireball finished off the charred troll and the displacer beast who was barely able to stand after the first blast.

“We’re on our own now,” Harman noted.

“Not a problem, that just means we don’t have to pay them,” Kam added.

“Go,” was all that Durg said, indicating the door to the master bedroom where Zork and Chubbs waited.

Following his own suggestion, Durg burst into the bedroom only to eat a swarm of magic missiles cast by Zork. The spinning ball of cuddly fur that was Chubbs rocketed from under the bed and slammed into Kam, who was just entering the room. A bolt of lightning flew from Harman, striking Zork. Florence figured that the mage was sharp enough to realize he should take out the caster first. Durg roared in anger, charging the mage champion while Kam got into the fight, fending off Chubbs’ blows, keeping the pudgy champion from rescuing his buddy Zork.

He was a champion, and even if he was only the champion of the first floor, Zork wasn’t a pushover. Florence’s little mage kitty blinked from view just as the orc’s charge reached the bed. Her baby reappeared on the dresser, orbs of magic already swirling around his head. Harmon spotted the move, a glob of acid hurling toward Zork even as three more magic missiles slammed into Durg, the magic seemingly able to ignore the heavy armor the orc wore.

Chubbs was holding his own, activating an ability that made his fluffy fur turn sharp and spikey. Every time Kam landed a blow, bristles of fur dug into his hand and arm. The defensive ability was distracting enough to allow a swipe of two from Chubb’s claws through Kam’s defense. Things might have gone better for her chunky champion if he wasn’t forced to face all three adventurers at once. Zork hadn’t survived the combined damage from a blast of lightning, an acid blob, and a few hits from the orc’s axe.

“Considering the probable level advantages their opponents had, our first-floor champions didn’t fare too poorly, did they?” Doug said.

“Yep,” and look they’re having to gulp down more of their potions. Do those mana potions do the same thing as the healing ones do?” Florence asked.

“Yes, they do, it doesn’t matter which type you consume the toxicity is combined so you can’t down mana potions to your limit and then consume the healing variety without ill effects. I should also mention that the mana potions do nothing to increase your daily mana limit, that still exists, and the potions only help them to regenerate faster,” Doug assured her. That was good, she hoped the mage would get hurt and be forced to drink some healing potions, since giving him more mana was dangerous with the powerful spells at his disposal.

“So much for this dungeon core being the equivalent of a toddler,” Kam said, gesturing toward the stairwell leading to the second floor.

“It doesn’t matter, the second level will have more dangerous defenders, but it will be smaller than the first. We’ll be done shortly,” Harmon assured the others.

The trio of evil adventurers crept up the stairs, stopping at the landing and peering inside. While it appeared vacant, there were not only five hidden kitties, but also a pair of crossbow traps waiting to trigger as soon as someone entered the room. Durg raised his shield and Harmon crouched behind him casting. Kam followed up last, ready to engage any defenders that appeared. Harmon finished his spell just as the kitties went into action, three brawlers charging forward while Winter began to summon her ice magic. Willow slunk around in stealth mode, trying to creep behind the attackers. Durg and Kam met the brawlers, their skills and weapons holding back Winston, Pudding, and Buttercup without much trouble.

Harmon’s spell turned out to be another summoning. This time it was a large armored beetled with an oversized sharp pincer of a mouth. The summoned creature materialized right next to Winter, pincers closing around her winter mage kitty. Winter pelted the bug with ice shards, slowing it and cracking its shell, but it could do nothing about the pincers that clamped down hard.

“There goes Winter, I’m really sick of bugs,” Florence commented.

“I have the same sentiment, my dear Florence,” Doug agreed.

The beetle ate it when the twin crossbow traps triggered, the bolts easily penetrating the already damaged shell. Kam and Durg were dominating the three brawlers, burning down their health, while the mage hung back, conserving his mana. What Harmon didn’t count on was Willow striking from behind with a surprise attack. Her commando kitty didn’t hold back, continuing to land blows and distracting the mage from casting a spell. Florence was on the edge of her seat, waiting for the mage to bite the bucket when he teleported across the room, using a spell similar to the one Zork had used earlier.

“Durn it, I thought we had him there,” Florence said.

“No matter, he’s seriously injured and was forced to use up more mana,” Doug replied. She was fine with that, the mage already slugging back a healing potion, bringing him that much closer to the limit.

Willow tried to help her fellow defenders, but by the time she reached the fight, the last brawler kitty, Buttercup, went down. The two powerful warriors didn’t have much trouble with Willow, a commando wasn’t too good once they were spotted. The mage was forced to drink a second healing potion, much to Florence’s delight, and others were only lightly injured, choosing to wrap bandages around the few minor cuts and bites they had received in the fight.

The bathroom and bedrooms went by quickly, they were straightforward fights, and other than an exciting moment when Pebbles surprised Harmon when he stepped on her hidden form, they had little trouble clearing things out. Little trouble didn’t mean no trouble, though, and Kam was forced to down a potion, mentioning to Durg that he only had one left. The second-floor master bedroom was next, and her newest minor champion, Tachi had decided to make her stand there, along with the other five defenders.

Harmon began casting even before he entered, tossing a fireball into the center of the room. The five cats that called the room home were partially protected from the blast, each camping out in one of the many hidden attack spots in the room. Tachi was standing right in the center of the room where the fireball was headed, and it looked like curtains for her, at least until she used that Chronomancer magic of hers.

Everything but the minor champion seemed to move in slow motion. Tachi ran forward, landing several powerful blows against the gaps in Durg’s armor before running back out of the way of the fireball blast. Time snapped back to normal inside the room, the invaders at a loss to understand what had just happened to them. Durg touched his bleeding neck, not quite sure what had inflicted the wound. Cats began to erupt from all over the room, way more than Florence remembered placing inside.

“What in tarnation? Where’d them cats come from?” Florence asked.

“Oh, that would be licorice, she’s using her illusion magic to summon false targets,” Doug advised. She’d almost forgot about that, it was getting hard to keep track of all her babies and the special talents they were developing.

“Illusion, I will dispel it,” Harmon told the other adventurers who were finding half their blows were flowing right through their targets. Hits were getting through as the real kitties got to work. Marshmallow, Brownie, and KitKat were all commandos and put their skills to good use, while big old Cheddar just waddled up to the nearest invader, Durg, and started swatting at him.

Tachi spotted her opening, racing forward to engage the mage, her magic speeding her movements, but it was nothing like her earlier spell. A claw got through, shredding Harmon’s arm, but he kept his concentration and summoned a bundle of grasping black tentacles under the chronomancer kitty. The shadowy appendages dug into the minor champion causing her to mew with pain and thrash around as she attempted to get free.

With the immediate threat gone, Harmon sent out a blast of mana, that dispelled the illusions and revealed the actual kitties. In addition to the five cats that lived in the room and Tachi, three more kitties shambled in from behind the adventurers. Acheron, Styx, and Lethe had come back. The undying kitties weren’t very powerful, but they did distract the mage who wasted more mana summoning acid blobs to take them out. Brownie and KitKat also went down when Kam activated an ability and became a swirl of sharp steel that chopped anything he touched to bits.

Durg used Kam’s distraction to deliver powerful blows on the trapped and hurting Tachi. The minor champion managed to get a paw free and swatted back at the orc each time that he attacked, giving as good as she got. Cheddar fell just as Kam’s ability finished up. The warrior was running after Licorice, the last of the room’s assigned defenders that was still on her feet. Having only illusion magic, Licorice made for a poor melee attacker, and it only took a single blow from Kam’s scimitar to dispatch her.

Tachi was free, the spell expiring and freeing her up to paw and bite at Durg. Occasional blows seemed to blur with speed, dealing more damage as a passive time buff ability triggered every few attacks. Harmon had little trouble with the undying kitties, they were too slow in their zombie form to catch him, and each acid blob was able to kill one. Durg was looking a bit ragged by the time the three adventurers finally took down Tachi. Her minor champion with the absurdly small head did a good job, focusing on the orc and really giving him what for.

More potions were consumed and Durg announced that he had reached his potion limit. Kam had come through with only minor injuries and Harmon said he was close to the limit and could only consume one final minor potion. His mana was also reaching the daily limit. They had gone too far to quit now, and the trio moved into the walk-in closet. Junk lined the shelves and Durg shouted in alarm as an old doll stood up and launched itself at him, needle-like claws and teeth out for some orc blood.

“What are these things?” Kam asked as more and more toys came to life and attacked.

“Now that’s just creepy, Doug,” Florence said of her baby’s power.

“And you were worried that Vala was just here to entertain children,” Doug said.

“We better not let any kids see that, they’ll get nightmares for sure,” Florence added.

The dolls proved to be somewhat disappointing despite their disturbing appearance. Vala had to poke her paw out from hiding to work her magic, and Kam eventually spotted her, his blade ending the creepy puppet show. Kam had been lucky on the floor so far, but when he reached up to pull down the ladder, his luck ran out. The ladder slammed down into his face with unexpected force as caltrops showered the party. Florence thought she heard bones crack as the man dropped to the carpeted floor, stunned.

A box opened to reveal a crossbow trap, but Durg was on the ball and got his shield up to block the attack. The trap didn’t get a chance to reload and after pouring a healing potion down Kam’s throat, they started up the ladder. It was up to her floor champion, Spud to stop them. Florence knew her third floor held the home champion, but there were now very few kitties standing between her and the invaders.