Cat Core 2, Chapter 26.

Chapter 26.

“Jess, did your run go well? Greetings Matron,” Junior asked as Shara led the party into the shop, his eyes locked onto the berserker and only noticing Shara at the last moment.

“Yes, Ben, we did pretty well overall. I think we all gained a level this time, and the loot wasn’t horrible,” Jess replied, using his real name rather than the man’s nickname.

“You two work out our purchases, I’m going to enjoy a hot meal and an ale,” Shara said, making her way over to the tavern portion of the business. It was time to loosen the reigns on her charges, not to mention that even she could see that Junior had a crush on Jess and she seemed to be pretty taken by the shopkeeper as well.

Shara didn’t need any gear, but the others in the party would, this scorpion shard seemed like a tough challenge. At least it was one that she felt perfectly fine in joining. Delving a low-level dungeon would greatly dilute their experience, and possibly their loot, but creatures outside a dungeon didn’t operate by the same rules that the system imposed on dungeons. If they contributed to the battle, everyone would receive a decent experience award. The ratio of individual experience would be skewed a bit to give the higher-level party members a greater share, but the system was much less punishing outside a dungeon.

They had all leveled up on the last run, a good thing to see. It would give them some confidence and reassure them that their hard work would generate results. Training in the keep had its limits, and once the party had reached level two, training could no longer be used as a means to gain experience. The training still served a purpose, experience points and levels weren’t the only important thing for an adventurer. Learning to fight smart, knowing your enemy, and working as a team could be the difference between life and death.

For their first two levels, Shara had guided them on abilities and the choices they should make based on their class options. Now, they were on their own. Choosing a solid foundation had been taught to them, but if they chose foolishly at this point, it was on their head. As a group, they had worked well together, but Shara was still not happy with the healer, Isa. It was clear that the light had some hand in guided her to the group, but was that for a purpose other than helping the party? It wasn’t something she could figure out at this moment, choosing instead to focus on the hearty bowl of stew that had just been delivered to her table.

“Matron, would you like me to place us into the queue again?” Jess asked.

“What do you think?” Shara replied, there wasn’t any heat or criticism in her tone, she just wanted Jess to think things through without relying on her mentor for everything.

“No, we should wait until we return from our quest. The dungeon quest is unusual and should take priority,” Jess answered.

“Exactly, not to mention it would be poor form to return to the dungeon without having at least attempted its quest,” Shara added. Jess nodded and ran off to finish her shopping.

Knowing the party had limited funds, despite a successful run, Shara called over the server, giving her a pouch of coin and instructions to head into the store and purchase whatever antivenom or poison antidote potions that Junior had for sale. Scorpion venom was no joke, and she had doubts whether the party would think of spending their limited funds on expensive potions to counter the venom. A few minutes later, her purse was sufficiently lightened and another small pouch with six antivenom potions was now safely waiting in her pack.

She would like to go immediately to wipe out her scorpion nest, refusing the creatures a chance to replenish their numbers. Sadly, her body was all done in for the day, and without a good night’s rest, Shara would be useless, and she had a bad feeling they would need her power before the quest was completed. The party returned to join her in a hearty meal, showing off their new purchases. It wasn’t much, but each new piece of equipment was a small victory for an adventurer. Shara found herself caught up in the excitement, remembering her first runs into Florence’s home and the rewards her friends had found inside. Shara thought a lot about her old friends as the party returned to their tents and tried to rest before starting their quest to destroy the scorpion creatures.

“Does everyone have their gear ready?” Jess asked the group. Shara would have liked her to be more assertive, but she was doing what she should do to verify the group was ready.

“Yes, let’s get moving,” Tipp whined. Jess shot him a harsh glance and then verified everyone had what they needed. It turned out they didn’t have enough coin to purchase any of the pricey antivenom potions, but they did purchase some bandages that were enhanced with magic to help them shrug off the effects. Bandages like these were a poor substitute for a potion, they worked slowly and didn’t completely remove the venom from your system.

“Each of you, take one of these, keep it handy, these scorpions have potent venom,” Shara interjected, passing out a potion to each party member. She didn’t keep one for herself as she was immune to such things, a trait her class was granted at higher levels.

They made their way toward the tunnel, waving off a tense moment when another group thought they were trying to cut in line. Explaining about the scorpions and the threat they represented, the other group gladly waved them on. Shara equipped her armor and hammer, the weapon giving off enough light for them to see by, but Frex also conjured a globe of light that would follow the party, providing a backup source and not requiring anyone to hold a torch instead of a weapon or shield in one hand.

While the main tunnel passage led toward Florence’s home, there were several side passages and large openings, any one of which could harbor a hostile creature. Most ended in a dead-end or tightened up further in enough that the dog-sized scorpions couldn’t fit through. One passage, though, was larger than the others, and when they followed it, they found more than enough evidence that it led to the nest they were seeking. Bits of clothing, armor, discarded weapons, and ominous bloodstains were found here and there.

“Look out!” Tipp shouted, one of the daggers in his hand flashing as the halfling threw it a scorpion they had all missed. The monster bug was hanging from the tunnel ceiling, hidden among the shadows created by the passages' rough-hewn surface. The dagger flew true and sunk into the armored carapace of the scorpion even as Jess, the monster’s intended target, leaped to the side. With a clattering sound, the scorpion missed its target, righting itself before trying to continue its attack. Chamm was ready, conjuring shards of sharp ice that pelted the monster, slowing and damaging it. Jess finished off her attacker with a slash of one of her axes.

“Eyes out, these things can attack from any direction, Shara advised,” she was ready to fight, but given the limited endurance she had, Shara’s power would best be unleashed on a target the party couldn’t handle. Random individual scorpions should pose them little risk. The tunnel opened up into a larger cavern complex. Unexpectedly, the cavern opened up into a huge chamber, the center of which was dominated by rubble and the remains of collapsed buildings.

“Matron, you said that the shard of a dungeon core may be responsible for these creatures?” Frex asked. She had told them as much as she could about the threat they faced while avoiding giving away Florence’s secrets.

“Yes, that was the information I received,” Shara replied.

“Perhaps this is where it once laired, these collapsed walls and piles of rubble are not ancient, this happened not that long ago,” Frex offered. The young mage was right, this could have been some old dungeon that had collapsed in upon itself when the core that held it together was destroyed. Movement among the rubble caught her attention.

“I believe you’re right, Frex. Not just because of the ruins, but also because of what is lurking in them,” Shara replied, drawing the party’s attention to the swarm of scorpions that were charging out of their hiding places.

“They’re all around us, Frex and Chamm, thin them out. Tipp stay with the group,” Jess ordered, taking control of her party.

Blasts of fire and ice hit the approaching horde as the twin mages went to work. Their area of effect spells weren’t powerful enough to destroy the creatures, but the damage slowed them and made it easier for follow-up attacks to prove fatal. Shara placed herself near the thickest concentration of scorpions, hammer ready even as she activated an armor-enhancing ability, strengthening the protections on the party around her.

Tipp threw a pair of daggers dropping two of the attackers while Isa tossed down one of her totems. Shara could feel the power inside the magical device activate as it pierced the ground. A swath of ground around the totem erupted in a cluster of grasping vines, tying up several of the attacking scorpions, at least for as long as the magic held out.

Jess laid into the horde, her axes a blur as she activated her class ability, losing herself into the red haze of a berserker. It made her an opponent more powerful than a simple warrior, but the longer she stayed in that state, the more she would have trouble telling friend from foe. Shara was proud of the team she had trained, they were working well together, and other than a few swings of her hammer, they needed little additional support.

In less than a minute, a dozen of the creatures were shattered and bleeding out on the ground, a similar number retreated into the rubble, chased by blasts of magic from the fire and ice mages as they retreated. There was no quarter against creatures such as these, no honorable warrior code to follow, and killing them while they fled was better than fighting them again later.

“I think around ten escaped, do you think we killed enough of them to satisfy the quest?” Tipp asked, helping the other check the corpses littering the ground were truly dead and recovering the knives he had thrown. Shara would have liked to see him develop a better ranged attack skill, but the halfling was fond of his daggers.

“There is something here that is creating these monsters, we need to destroy the source if you want to earn your quest rewards,” Shara advised.

They pushed on, deeper into the ruins, finishing off two more scorpions that didn’t pick the best of hiding places. Jess led them toward the center of the rubble, where the cause of this trouble likely resided. The scorpions made several attacks as they progressed, but the monsters were coming two or three at a time. Her charges didn’t escape unscathed, Tipp and Isa’s dog both took bad wounds from the powerful claws on the monsters and one of the scorpions was able to sting Chamm. The mage wasn’t doing all that hot but waved off attempts to give him one of their limited antivenom potions. An enhanced bandage was keeping the venom from overpowering him and, given enough time, the adventurer would shake off any ill effects.

“Oh, this doesn’t look ominous or anything,” Tipp said as they discovered a stairwell leading down into the dark. Carvings of monstrous insects were seen in the areas around the doorway where the passage of countless scorpions had brushed back the dirt.

The diminutive rogue disappeared as he used a class ability to hide. Hiding in the shadows might not be all that effective against monstrous creatures like the scorpions they faced, but the darkness was comforting to adventurers with Tipp’s particular skill set. Shara’s hammer and the light globe hovering over Frex illuminated the passage. They entered what must have once been the champion room of the dungeon. As the party entered the large chamber, scuttling noises could be heard on the stairwell behind them.

“Isa and Chamm, cover the stairwell,” Jess ordered. The rest of them approached the only other way out of this room, a partially collapsed stone door that led into a dark chamber where the core room would normally be located. A huge claw appeared from the dark, closing around the door ripping the remains out of the way as the creature responsible for all this appeared.

“So, the food comes to me, for once, thank you, I’ll need a good meal if I’m going to create enough pets to take care of the other core,” An otherworldly voice said as the new monstrosity showed itself. Shara heard the sounds of combat behind her but didn’t turn to see. Chamm and Isa should have no trouble holding back the remaining scorpions trying to assault them from the rear. The staircase made a natural chokepoint, that was easily defended. Shara would be needed here, against this new abomination.

Standing nearly seven feet tall was an amalgamation of half-man, half scorpion. A human torso was melded to a scorpion’s body. One scrawny human arm hung lifeless from the torso, and the other arm was replaced with an oversized claw. The human head’s normal features made it even more disturbing than if the creature had held the visage of a monster. A scorpion tail swayed over the creature waiting for the right time to strike.

“This foe is mine, the rest of you handle the smaller scorpions,” Shara ordered. She didn’t know how powerful the dungeon core turned monster had been, but she could tell it was beyond the ability of the rest of the party.

“Old woman, you will be tough and stringy, but that will not matter, my venom will tenderize your flesh,” the monster said as it scuttled forward toward her. It was then that Shara noticed it was drooling, the spittle cutting a trail through the gore of previous victims that stained its mouth and chin.

“Begone abomination! I have slain more powerful creatures than you,” Shara said, answering his charge with one of her own. A new aura surrounded her as she activated one of her paladin abilities. The claw tried to grasp Shara even as the stinger-tipped tail shot forward. Claw and stinger skid off her protective barrier, unable to penetrate or find any purchase. In response, Shara charged her hammer with power and slammed it down on the overextended claw, shattering the carapace and pulping the sickly flesh beneath.

“No, make the pain stop, no, we know the pain only stops when we eat. Eat the old woman first then the more succulent young ones,” the mad creature muttered to itself. The glow covering Shara faded, the energy required to keep the powerful barrier up was draining her mana more quickly than she could sustain as her age made itself felt even in the short time she had been fighting. She needed to end this now, before her elderly body betrayed her.

The sting was fast, but her plate armor was not only thick but also enhanced with numerous enchantments to ward against just such a strike. Greenish-yellow venom sizzled on the surface of the armor, but the sting did not penetrate. A second swing of the hammer slammed into the tail even as it jabbed over and over again in an attempt to find some weak point in her defense. A horrible squeal burst from the monster as the destroyed tail dropped to the ground with a wet slap.

“I end your suffering, may you find the light in the next world,” Shara said as she brought her hammer down for the third and final time. The weapon crushed the head of the monster ending its foul existence. The sounds of combat faded behind her, Shara turned to see the stairwell full of dead and dying scorpions. When the master controlling them died, so did they. Shara had seriously underestimated how many of the things there had been. She figured her party had faced off against six or seven, but there must have been nearly fifty of those things wedged into the stairwell.

“This is just gross, but I’m glad all of them didn’t try to ambush us outside,” Tipp said.

“Yes, it must have taken time for them to gather, or for some reason, that poor creature didn’t want them to interfere in his kill,” Shara offered. She couldn’t help but shake the feeling that at some level, the monster secretly wanted her to end its existence.

“I’m going to have nightmares of that thing for a while, I think,” Isa said feeding her antivenom potion to the dog, Gnaw. From where it was slumped over, the beast must have held back the bulk of the attacking scorpions.

“If you choose the life of an adventurer, the odds are that you will see even worse things than that abomination,” Shara advised.

“Too bad it doesn’t have pockets, let me check out its lair,” Tipp said skirting past the monster as it went into the now vacant core room. Shara followed him in, curious to see what was there. Engravings of various bug-like monsters adorned the walls, and tiny bits of red gemstone littered the floor. The room was cold and quiet, the last vestiges of the will that had once run this dungeon, were now gone.

“Nothing, not a single copper for all this effort,” Tipp said with frustration.

“Uh, Tipp, you might have some treasure out here, if you want to grab it,” Jess said.

Shara followed the rogue out of the core room, only to find Jess poking at the ruined head of the monster. There inside the pile of gore was a faintly glowing stone. Tipp poked it with his dagger, unwilling to bring himself to touch it.

“Gather that up, it will prove we have completed our quest,” Shara ordered. Pulling an old rag from his pack, Tipp used it to pull the gem from the carnage. With a sickening pop, the gem came free, the rogue wrapping it in the cloth so that he didn’t have to touch it with his bare hand.

“Now, let’s go get our reward,” Tipp said with a dopey grin plastered on his face.