Cat Core, Chapter 25.

Chapter 25.

“Should we just slop this stuff on?” Florence asked, looking at the soul bond jar.

“That may be problematic, seeing as how neither of us have opposable thumbs,” Doug said. That Bartleby didn’t leave no instructions with his products, save for the cat which had a big old manual sitting in the bottom of the cage. She had given Doug the task of figuring that out, after all, she had trouble setting the clocks after the time change and there was no way she could figure out some mechanical war cat thingy.

“Let me call in Boss Chuck, maybe he can help us out,” Florence asked. Boss Chuck turned out to be willing enough, especially after Florence created him a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies as a reward. As the liquid hit her core gem, she could feel a comforting warmth encompass her and she felt more at ease knowing that she would survive an attack. Well, she would survive so long as the goop did what Bartleby said it did. It wasn’t like he had a shop somewhere she could go for a refund, not to mention that if it failed, she would be too dead to complain.

“Hmm, these instructions are a bit, well, strange. I don’t believe I’ll ever quite understand the gnomish way of engineering. I prefer goblin engineering, at least with them you can rest assured the device will explode at some point and plan accordingly,” Doug complained, pawing through the oversized manual. From what Florence could see, there was a lot of technical mumbo jumbo and a few pictures that seemed more there for decoration than to help the reader understand. One picture even showed the mechanical cat shredding a dragon to bits with cheering gnomes in the background, an outcome she didn’t figure would ever happen.

“What’s that?” Florence asked. Doug had the book open almost to the end of the manual where it showed other products and accessories for the various mechanical monsters these here gnomes made. The one she had him stop at looked almost like a giant worm that filled an entire hallway and spit out magic beams out of the front.

“Well, it says that it’s part of their Derelict collection and is called a Death Contraption Thingy. There’s another restriction, we have to possess a red hat of command in order for it to function without a crew,” Doug told her. It weren’t no problem, she wanted cats, not stupid giant worm monsters.

“Hey Doug, it just hit me, you said goblin engineering? How’s that possible? Our goblins are, well, dumb as a box of rocks, don’t you think?” Florence asked.

“True, low level goblins are rather lacking in cognitive ability, but as they level, some will exhibit a mechanical aptitude. Mind you, they’ll still be a goblin in every other way, but they will be able to tinker and create surprisingly complex machines. Of course, like I mentioned before, their inventions tend to explode which can be used as a beneficial design feature if you plan correctly,” Doug replied. Florence weren’t too sure she believed him. Old Boss Chuck was the highest-level goblin and he had trouble picking his nose without poking his eye instead.

“While I try to decipher the instruction manual to this contraption, why don’t you try to use the experience gem. Be careful, I’ve heard these things can be a bit finicky depending on the dungeon it was gathered from. On second thought, you better wait until I can help you with it. Things like that can typically be explored by both the core and its assistant. Being a fragment of another dungeon, it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Doug said.

“Keep working with the robot, I can figure this out on my own,” Florence said, upset that he didn’t trust her.

“No, Florence you really should…” Doug’s voice trailed off as Florence found herself link with the gem in front of her and was drawn immediately to somewhere else, someplace she didn’t think she wanted to be. It was a long dark tunnel that she instinctively knew was part of another dungeon. This one weren’t at all like her nice little home, no siree, this place was straight out of one of them monster movies. The dark tunnel was lit with flickering torches and Florence could see figures moving in the darkness.

Florence watched as a party of adventurers walked down the passageway, they looked much better equipped than any who had explored her home so far. She could see there were two heavily armored warriors along with some dopey guy wearing a robe and holding one of them magic wand thingies in his hand. The final members of the party were a lady with pointy ears and a glowing bow, along with some short guy that she thought was a kid until she saw he had a beard and moustache.

“These were my last moments, watch and learn,” A voice whispered to her.

“Hey, who’s that talking all mysterious?” Florence asked.

“It is I, the core that once ruled this realm,” the voice replied.

“Well, are you going to tell me your name, it’s kind of rude to just talk to a lady without introducing yourself. I tell you what, I have never run into so many folks with bad manners as I run into here,” Florence said.

“No insult is meant; I am fading and no longer remember my name. This is my last act, a chance to impart some of my knowledge into another and help them survive,” the voice told her.

“I appreciate that, how about I call you Steve? I know it probably isn’t your real name, but it just don’t seem right to call you strange voice guy,” Florence told him.

“Thank you for that small kindness, Steve will suffice for a name. These last invaders were from the guild, rightly ending my reign of terror. Observe my defenses and how even the powerful forces I assembled, crumbled to their onslaught,” Steve said. Florence watched as the party pushed deeper into the dungeon. Somehow, she knew the party had proceeded down several levels already, easily defeating the defenders there and using up hardly any of their resources.

From the sides of the passage, small openings appeared, like the ones her cats used in the hallway of her own home. Creepy bugs that looked like centipedes with claws and stingers dropped out, each about a foot long. There were dozens if not hundreds of them pouring out, some even landing on the party. A blue globe encased each member of the party, the guy in the robes pushing magic out to keep them safe even as the others slaughtered the creepie crawlies. When each bug died, they left behind a green cloud which grew with each defender’s death.

“I layered my defenses, granting my creatures multiple ways to harm an invader. Find multiple uses for your defenders, do not just count on them fighting directly. Your traps should complement your defenders, and sometimes, like with these hive cloud grubs, your defenders can hold the traps inside their bodies,” Steve told her. Florence could see various designs being pushed into her mind, but sadly, most drifted away, her restrictive dungeon type not allowing for whatever those memories contained.

Charging down the passage were huge versions of the creepy bug things, these slammed into the two armored invaders, knocking them over and shattering the protective globe around them. Both the warriors started gagging and puking as they entered the green cloud from the smaller bugs. Arrows from the pointy eared girl, who she figured was one of them there elves that Doug thought the licking skeleton was, flew into the monster. While the arrows didn’t look like much on their own, but each one exploded when they hit, blowing holes in the big bug things. The last of the smaller bugs were taken down by the short guy and the two knives he was poking around with.

“Thus, the last of my defenders fell, and only my final champion remained,” Steve told her. More knowledge was imparted to her, more efficient ways to expand her dungeon, using every square inch of the territory her influence covered. When the last defender fell, the green cloud dissipated, but the two warriors were still coughing from the poison. The short guy handed the two warriors some red and green potions, the drinks seemed to fix them up good as new.

Florence’s view changed into what was undoubtedly the champion’s room. It was a huge open area, the décor resembling a hive, almost like them wasps she had to knock off the rain gutters that one time. She sure gave the bug man a piece of her mind after that, imagine him trying to tell her that she only paid to have the inside of her house sprayed. She shouldn’t have had to pay anything at all, since them bugs in her house were due to them filthy college kids that lived down the street. Her house was spotless, just ask anyone.

“My final champion was powerful and had defeated entire parties on his own before, but these adventurers where there for me. They had prepared themselves for exactly this fight,” Steve said, causing Florence to concentrate on what was going on in front of her and not old memories of pest control disputes.

The party entered, deftly avoiding some areas of the floor as if they knew there were traps or something like that. The large hive in the center of the room crumbled away to reveal Steve’s giant champion. It was another bug, what kind of dungeon core was this Steve fella? Who would want their home to be covered with bug gunk? Nope, she would stay with her kitties, that was for sure. Well, this final bug looked like them praying mantis things that always kind of scared her, but that her neighbor, Tim Hardin, told her were good at keeping the other pests off her plants.

Florence could tell the big champion bug wasn’t able to move, his six legs were dug into the floor. As she watched, the spiked tips of the legs shot out from the ground and would have impaled anything standing there, but unfortunately for Steve, the adventurers had known of the ability and avoided all the spots the legs could emerge from. For its next attack, the mantis lashed out with his arms, the bug’s razor-sharp claws would have sliced anything it caught in half. The adventurers were prepared for this as well, the warriors activating some ability to make it look like there were multiple copies of them.

Blow after blow landed on the fake images, causing them to disappear, the whole time the elf was peppering it with arrows that either exploded, melted the bug with acid, or froze its shell brittle. The little guy kept appearing out of nowhere, stabbing the monster bug from unexpected angles and disappearing afterword. The guy in the robes was the most effective, he dropped spell after spell on the champion blasting chunks out of it and causing electricity to jolt along its entire shell.

The monster squealed in agony, but kept on a trying, one of its arms finally landing on a real warrior. With the sharp claw holding it in place, the other arm flew in, decapitating the defenseless adventurer. Steve’s champion didn’t get to capitalize on the small victory, as it finally succumbed to its massive wounds. The adventurers paused to drink potions and loot the champion before entering Steve’s core room. His core room was a simple affair, his glowing core floating gently atop a short pillar of bug gunk.

Old Steve wasn’t out of tricks just yet though, a small wasp buzzed by, but it didn’t stay small for long. The wasp grew to nearly five feet in length and unlike the bugs that invaded her rain gutters, this one was covered with spikey things that dripped green goo that she knew must have been some kind of poison or what not. The adventurers were caught off guard and the wasp slammed into the mage, several spikes piercing him and the spear-sized stinger of the monster digging deep into his belly.

“This was my assistant, our bond was strong, and I could infuse him with my energy in an emergency, causing him to become my final defender. I regret that I didn’t give him a name like you have so kindly given to me. Since you have been generous to me in these last moments, I shall help you as much as I am able,” with that, Florence felt Steve pushing information to her, this information stuck in her mind and Florence found a new way to use her assistant to help defend their home.

You have learned the ability Deadly Doug. When your core is threatened you can push funds into your assistant, granting him more strength and power to defend your home. This ability is only useable when invaders are in your core room and can only be activated once per week. The Deadly Doug ability requires $25 to activate. Once activated, your assistant will grow and become empowered as if he were a champion. This ability will improve as you level.

Florence was interested to see what Doug would think of her new power. She weren’t real sure he was up to a fightin, but the little guy might like the chance to become more powerful. Her attention was jolted back to the battle, the mage was down and didn’t look like he was going to get up ever. Despite taking out the mage, the other three easily handled the giant wasp. The bug was able to get a good first lick in, but after that, its mobility was limited and the other three just hacked and shot it apart.

“Thus, my end was achieved,” Steve said as the warrior gave his sword a powerful overhead swing that slammed into Steve’s core, shattering it. The party gathered the pieces, gave the room one final inspection for any undiscovered loot, and made their way out. Florence could feel the life slowly leave the dungeon, the areas that once hummed with core energy became cold and quiet.

“I’m sorry Steve, they shouldn’t have done that to you,” Florence said, feeling sad for the guy, she could feel her connection was starting to slip as whatever was left of the core began to dissipate as she absorbed the last of his knowledge.

“They did nothing wrong, I deserved everything I received. Let my final gift to you be a warning. Don’t fall to your dungeon desires, I gave in, I allowed the hunger to consume me and in return, I sought to consume all that entered my realm. I was…” Steve’s last thought drifted off unsaid as Florence drained the last of Steve’s memory. She sat there for some time after her focus returned to her core room, thinking on the poor man’s experience.

She didn’t get a chance to ask, and it was unlikely he would have known who he had been prior to becoming a dungeon. Was he a man from her own world or was there some other world that his soul was snagged from and turned into a core? Was that her eventual fate, killed by adventurers with nobody to mourn her passing? Was that even different than her real world passing? She had no family on Earth and no real friends other than her kitties and some acquaintances. Her funeral would have gathered quite a crowd, but that more due to the fact the old folks in town seeing a funeral as a chance to socialize. By now, she doubted there was a single person alive on Earth that remembered her.

“Florence, are you well? I don’t know a whole lot about the functionality of these soul gem shards, but what I do know indicates that the experience can be traumatic,” Doug asked.

“I’m fine Doug, just remembering and trying to think my way through this. Hey, what do you think of our new ability, want to try it out?” Florence asked. Doug stared off into space for a bit as he reviewed the changes.

“I think it will greatly enhance our chances of survival, and though I have no desire to engage in personal combat, I stand ready to defend our home if need be. As far as a test run, I think we’d best hold off on that. Should the need arise for me to transform, I don’t want the ability to be stuck on a cooldown. A week is quite a long time to wait for it to recharge,” Doug replied.

“Fair enough, we’ll hold off on turning you into super kitty for now. I have to say it was strange in there, Doug, I could see and feel what poor Steve was going through. The memories and knowledge kind of just poured into my brain,” Florence shared.

“Interesting, other than granting you a new skill, I think you will be shocked to see how far the gem has pushed us toward level four,” Doug told her, causing Florence to pull up her basic system information.

Florence Valentine

Cat Core Level, 3.

Experience: 916/1000.

Funds: $4/$250.

Defender Expense: $243/250.

“Wow, we just made level three not that long ago and now we’re almost to level four. Shoot, I bet you one good delve will push us over the edge. We should get more of them gem thingies from old Bartleby the next time he come around,” Florence said. Excited to learn more and level up in such an easy fashion, but also a little concerned over what she might see.

“We should seek to acquire more, but I do have to warn you that further uses of experience gems will result in diminishing returns. You’re new, so the first gem had a lot to teach you, I suspect that with further gems, your gains may seem paltry. Still, if we have the funds, even a paltry gain can be beneficial in the long run. I don’t want to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but I also want you to have a realistic expectation of how long it will take us to achieve higher levels of power,” Doug advised. She wasn’t too worried, she was a patient woman and could wait for the next level.

“How did things go with the orange robot kitty?” Florence asked.

“Oh, it’s up and running now, I have it calibrating its movement and attack options. Since it’s not part of our dungeon, or at least not linked to your core. I wasn’t sure where you would want it. It has simple commands, like attack, stand down, and the like. I’ve placed both of us as it’s master, so feel free to practice ordering it around. Keep in mind that once it breaks or is damaged, we have no way to fix it,” Doug said.

“I don’t want to break it, how about we keep it here in the core room as an additional defender. Even though it ain’t one of my regular babies, it is sort of a cat so I think it should have a name. You can go ahead and name this one Doug, since you’ve put so much work into it,” Florence said.

“Thank you, I think this one will be called Kyo,” Doug said, not giving any further explanation on his choice of name, but she thought she might have detected a small hint of sadness in her little kitten helper.

“Good one, Doug, I hope this means you’re getting better at kitty naming. Hey, I don’t see that barrel of weirdo’s around, where did you stash it?” Florence asked.

“Ah, yes, one of my better ideas. I took the liberty of turning our barrel of rabid gnomes into a hidden trap while you were on your mental journey. Since the kitchen is unoccupied, I’ve placed the barrel inside one of the cabinets, as high up as it can go. When you desire, you can open that cabinet and drop them down on any unsuspecting intruders. To prevent any mishaps, you might want to disguise and lock up that particular cabinet,” Doug said.

It was a good idea, and the heavy barrel would drop and shatter from the height that Doug had placed it at. She weren’t really sure what a gnome was, the only ones she knew of were them ugly lawn ornaments that were scattered all over Helga Williamsons’ yard. If the monsters in the barrel were all crazy with the rabies like Bartleby said, they might come in handy. She was about to ask Doug how he managed to get the barrel up that high, but her attention was drawn outside where Shara’s group were meandering their way toward her home.