Cat Core, Chapter 21.

Chapter 21.

The twin with the club bashed in the exit door to the Home for Unwanted Goblins. From the goblin room, the path in her home led them next into the library, the room that adventurers normally entered after the hallway. Zeus waited, seated at the table in the center of the room with Fluffy and Fluffy Jr. standing guard in front of him. Angry growls erupted from the wounded hound who slipped his leash and bolted into the room, eager to kill more of his hated foe.

Her precious Zeus gave a smile, which of course is possible for a cat if you look hard enough. The smile seemed to enrage the dog further, causing it to ignore anything but the cats in front of it. As it neared the table, the two fluffy guardians snapped into action as the traps hidden in the bookshelves triggered. The wands hidden inside activated, sending two small bolts of light slamming into the dog. Both penetrated the oversized creatures thick hide, but from past experience with the adventurers who made it this far, it wouldn’t be too much damage.

While the pair of magic traps, which were even now recharging for another go, didn’t do much damage, they did throw off the dog’s charge a bit, allowing both Fluffy’s to avoid the snapping jaws of the beast and launch their own counterattack. Claws raked along the dog’s side as they passed, then both cats latch on to the back legs of the dog and pulled, keeping it from turning far enough to snap at them. The twin with the axes ran to assist the hound, only to eat a face full of lightning bolt from Zeus. The intruder dropped to the floor twitching from the shocking blast.

“Zeus and his friends are doing very well,” Florence said.

“Yes, and look back in the hallway, more help is on the way,” Doug told her. Shifting her focus, Florence could see that Bob and Stubbs had left the sewing room and were charging toward the sounds of battle.

Skinny lashed out with his whip, the weapon wrapping around the chest of Fluffy, or was that one Fluffy Jr.? Florence hated to admit she had some trouble remembering which was which. With a strong yank, Fluffy was pulled away from the dog’s leg, tearing the appendage to shreds in the process and causing the hound to stumble. Freed of one burden, the hound could now twist enough to reach Fluffy Jr. who was still tearing into his other back leg. Seeing the problem, Fluffy Jr. leaped away from the dog to engage the twin with the axes even as Zeus unleashed another bolt of electricity into the hound, who dropped to the ground twitching alongside the twin with the club.

Fluffy pulled hard against the whip that was slowly crushing off his air, the leather constricting tight against his chest, the barbs at the end of the weapon prevented it from being dislodged. When skinny tried to haul on the whip to increase pressure, the cat changed tactics, charging the man who wasn’t expecting it. Skinny fumbled for the dagger at his waist, dropping the whip for the time being. Fluffy slammed into him, front claws lodged into his chest while the back feet began to kick, shredding skinny’s belly with every swipe.

“We’ve got them on the run now,” Florence cheered as Bob and Stubbs joined the fight, one attacking the club wielding twin while the other slammed into the struggling axe twin. Zeus got back into action as well, launching his third bolt of electricity into the hound, keeping it out of the fight for a bit longer. Her electric charged little baby had enough juice in him for one more blast, but it would take a few seconds for the ability to refresh.

Seeing that now was the perfect time to put the final nail in the coffin of these creeps, Florence used her Summoner ability. Three cats formed instantly where she wanted. These weren’t all fancy like her other kitties, these here summoned ones were plain old grey cats without anything to tell them apart. They were on the average side, just the ability had told her, but were plenty fierce, which was just what she needed. The three cats swarmed the club twin, one falling to a lucky flailing blow as he tried to keep Stubbs away from his throat, the other surviving summoned cats latched onto the man’s legs, digging in and dragging him down.

“No, my brother!” Club twin shouted as Stubbs ripped the throat from the axe wielding invader, who was still struggling to fight off Fluffy Jr and the summoned cats. Club twin tried to rush to his brother’s aid, only to trip as Bob latched onto the man’s feet. With the axe twin dead, Fluffy Jr., Stubbs, and the summoned cats joined the fight against the club twin, who did some weird spinning thing, his huge club obliterating one of the summoned cats, but allowing all her other kitties to dig in.

“Do it!” Skinny shouted toward Tabak, who had stood there useless for most of the fight, unarmed except for his remaining totem and without enough mana to cast a spell. The man looked shocked and continued to just stand there. Without waiting to see what Tabak would do, skinny raised the leash in his other hand, the arm shaking as he slowly bled out from the continued assault by Fluffy. The leash moved on its own, some strange magic force seeking out the hound. When the leash attached to the stricken hound, the green glow connected the two once more.

This time, instead of healing energy, which Florence believed was all used up, something horrible happened. As she watched, skinny began to whither, like he was being sucked dry from the connection. The hound stood once more, reinvigorated by the lifeforce it was draining from skinny. It didn’t take long for the already seriously injured skinny to die and the hound to look around the room. Florence thought the monster was looking for its next victim, but instead, she caught the gleam of intelligence in its eye as it surveyed the battlefield.

Club twin managed to shake off the cats swarming him, his club swinging in a wide arc that caught Fluffy Jr in the side, crushing her precious boy. The man only had a brief respite as Zeus fired his final lightning blast into the invader. While the blast didn’t stun him like it tended to do now and again, it did cause him to pause, just long enough for the magic in the traps to finish recharging and fire once more, both bolts hitting the club twin in the chest. The cats attacking the club twin were reinforced by Fluffy who leaped from the now desiccated corpse of skinny to help finish off the mortally injured invader.

Seeing that now was the perfect time to put the final nail in the coffin of these creeps, Florence used her Summoner ability

“Dog, run, find our folk and tell them of what transpired here today. Bring us vengeance,” Tabak called out to the hound as he shouted a final profane word to activate his last totem. The hound fled the room running as fast as he could toward the exit, the cats let him go, focused on club twin and Tabak. This time, the word of power that Tabak shouted made Florence feel worse than the others had, even poor little Doug felt it, the little guy was retching at the side of her chair.

The totem slammed into the library floor; its magic glow flared to blinding intensity as the totem exploded with a blast that Florence felt all the way into her core room. Smoke quickly cleared from the library; her home wouldn’t abide with that kind of mess for too long. When she could survey the damage, she saw it was complete. The entire room had been obliterated all her kitties, all the intruders, and every stick of furniture had been burned away. The only survivor was that cursed hound who even now was charging toward the exit of her home.

She watched for as long as she could, seeing the giant beast rush past Korbo’s, attacking as it passed party who were still gathered outside the dungeon. Their healer Lilly took a nasty looking bite to her waist, the others dragging her back toward the town while the hound disappeared into the forest. Florence knew this wasn’t the last she would see of these crazy dog people or their horrific pets. To take her mind off her worry, Florence went about resetting her home for the next group of adventurers. She would rather have a party full of folks as annoying as Roland rather than the creeps who had just invaded.

“Well, that ended rather well for us, despite the damage the intruders caused. I must say, you performed admirably, Florence, they enemy might have regained the upper hand if your summons hadn’t landed at the perfect time,” Doug said. Florence took a moment to gloat.

“Now, how did these here dog lovers show up, I thought the dungeon was advertised by them guild folks to their members. These losers said they weren’t no part of the guild,” Florence asked.

“There are two possibilities and the first is that they bribed or intimidated some guild rep to find out about us. While I greatly desire that possibility to be the correct one, I believe the more likely reason is due to this deity they follow. Kunrax is not the kind of entity to allow a specialized cat-based dungeon to thrive anywhere he had followers. Now, I know this is our home and not a dungeon, but the followers of Kunrax will not care what we call ourselves. To them, we are an affront, a blight that must be eradicated,” Doug said.

“Yeah, I’m a feared that the dog folks will be back, I didn’t like the look in the dog’s eyes there at the end. After he absorbed up that skinny feller, the hound seemed smarter than before,” Florence said.

“I’m not sure of the exact ability that the hound handler used, but it’s effects are more than likely temporary. Still, we should be prepared for them to return, this time reinforced with greater numbers and more powerful allies. We will need to redouble our efforts at defense, which should be a bit easier since it looks like your core has gained another level, congratulations Florence,” Doug said. Florence had been too worried about getting her home back in order that she only now noticed the blinking light on her interface. She pulled up the information, excited to see how her growth would affect her home and her babies.

Florence Valentine

Cat Core Level, 3.

Experience: 114/1000.

Funds: $198/$250.

Defender Expense: $189/250.

Your defenders have increased in power to match your new level.

The summoner ability has improved. Your summons now have a chance at becoming copies of any of the named defenders inside your dungeon, except for your champions.

Defender subtypes have unlocked. Current defenders have been assigned a subtype based on their previous experience. When creating new defenders, you may now choose their subtype. The named defender ability may override these initial selections over time. As you level, other subtypes may unlock.

Subtypes Available:

Brawler. The brawler subtype gives your defenders enhanced strength and stamina, their natural defenses are enhanced, and they can take and give more punishment in a fight. Brawlers are melee focused and lose some of their natural agility and have enhanced vulnerability to magic.

Commando. The commando subtype focusses on stealth and agility, they strike from the shadows, deal damage to their foes and then retreat from view. Commandoes have average strength and stamina along with a higher chance of landing a critical strike against an unwary foe. They have enhanced reflexes and will take less damage from area of effect attacks.

Mage. The mage subtype focusses on using magic power to destroy enemies, control the battlefield, or support their allies. There are a wide variety of magic types and since your dungeon does not have a specific elemental affinity, a random magic type will be assigned when creating your defenders. Mages are physically weaker than all other classes and should be protected to maximize their use.

Notification: One of your defenders has developed the new subtype of Plague Mount. This subtype is a branch of the Brawler type and must be unlocked via experience and cannot be reproduced during defender creation.

Plague Mount. Your defender Spud is now classified as a plague mount. He works in tandem with another dungeon inhabitant to enhance the combat prowess of both. The plague mount gives off noxious fumes that weaken enemies within five feet of the defender. A plague mount can activate charge every thirty seconds, giving its rider a higher hit, damage, and critical chance on their next blow.

“It looks like we’ve had quite the upgrade with this level, surprising as it is normally at level five when more powerful options like subtypes become available. Perhaps the fact that your defenders are named creatures with the individuality trait have caused them to change early?” Doug pondered.

“And you were all whining about me making that decision, weren’t you?” Florence said, taking a dig at her kitten advisor.

“I still feel that having more defenders would have been the correct choice,” Doug argued. Florence ignored his whining and took a look through her home, curious what each of her babies had developed.

On the front porch, it was no surprise that Obi and Shadow had the commando type. What did surprise her was the fact they were much harder to see. Now, she could always tell where her babies were, but these two would be much harder for anyone else to spot, in fact, the grass barely shifted when they prowled through it.

In the living room all four of her kitties were brawlers. With some of them liking to leap down from above, she thought one or two would pick up that commando thingy, but nope, they were all brawlers. She could tell they were more powerful than they had been, the commando kitties had looked about the same, but these here brawlers had all grown and added muscle. The adventurers were going to be in for a nasty surprise the next time they took a spin through her home.

In the hallway she saw that Buddy, Princess, and Mortimer were all commando kitties, the type would be perfect for jumping out, slashing an invader, and hiding again. Stubbs and Bob in the sewing room were Brawlers, as were Fluffy and Fluffy Jr. from the library. Old Zeus was a mage of course, and now his name showed a subtype as elemental/electricity which were no surprise to her.

Old Spud had become the plague mount type, and even now she could see him sitting high as hog in his sandbox with the goblin Gabsug petting him. The other goblins avoided the pair, whether it was from fear of the angry cat, or from his smell, she couldn’t be sure. In the bedroom, her champions Chubbs and Zork were showing as, well, champions. It looked like the system didn’t’ have any other designation for them, at least not yet. Chubbs did look a bit fatter than he had before, so her champions had also gotten a power boost from the new level.

“So, Florence, my dear, what plans do you have for our new windfall of defender expense?” Doug asked. It were a good question, she had just about everything she wanted on the main floor, but there was one room she could still build out, her house needed a bathroom.

“I’m a working on one, Doug, but where should we place the new room?” Florence asked, getting the kitten’s input since she weren’t too sure were it fit best.

“Let’s review. We have the front porch leading to the living room and then the hallway that connects to either the library or the Home for Unwanted Goblins. The hall also has the side door leading to the sewing room. After the library we have the kitchen, dining room, bedroom with our champion and then our core. From a pure esthetic standpoint, I don’t think we should have it anywhere near the kitchen or dining room, that would be uncouth. Perhaps we add another door off the hallway and make the restroom facilities optional like our sewing room is?” Doug offered.

“I think that dog will hunt, and it will add another roving defender if the adventurers try to bypass the room,” Florence said, getting started on making a new room. Her bathroom at home was small, but she had to expand this one to fit adventurers, kitties, along with decorations, traps, and whatnot.

She made the floor a lovely powder blue linoleum with matching around the tub that she placed on the far wall. The sink and medicine cabinet was on a side wall with the commode in the corner. Around the tub, it were one of them fancy tubs that has them feet on the bottom, she had a curtain with dolphins on it that could be drawn for some privacy. All it needed now were cats and a trap or two, she had to admit that it was a perfect place for traps.

“Hey Doug, how about one of them magic cats in here? Too bad I can’t pick the magic type,” Florence asked.

“While we can’t pick the magic type, I believe it can be influenced by the environment the defender is assigned to. Go ahead and make one, we’ll see how it goes,” Doug replied. Fair enough, Florence funneled ten dollars int a new kitty, making sure to select mage from the three options. A light grey and white cat emerged, Florence summoning her defender directly in the room in case that helped. The cat looked around, gave a raspy sounding meow and jumped into the bathtub, splashing the warm water all over the linoleum floor.

“Oh, I have the perfect name, may I try this one?” Doug asked. With a sigh, Florence let him have a turn.

“This is Scylla, it’s a sea monster from your world’s mythology,” Doug said excitedly. It was kind of a weird name, but at least it was from Earth, better than the Obiwhositwhat that he made up earlier.

“Fine, that will work, I suppose. Do we do two defenders in here? One seems kind of not much of a challenge,” Florence asked.

“I agree, two defenders would be best. As far as traps, there are several I can think of, just let me know how many you would like. Oh, before you name the next cat, please consider Charybdis, I know its not your traditional style, but the two monster were located near each other in the myth,” Doug asked. She was okay letting him have the weirdo name room, but she was a goin to name the next ones on her own.

“Fine, here come Charybdis,” Florence said, this time choosing a brawler class since the combination of magic throwing cat plus a big old brawler seemed to work out pretty good. A fluffy white cat emerged that she named Charybdis.

“Okay Charybdis, do you want a nickname, so the other kitties don’t make fun of you?” Florence asked. The cat looked up at her and gave an exasperated meow, seemed this kitty liked her full name. She thought for a minute, they gave permission for Doug to make two traps in the room, it was time to ramp things up.

“There, I think these traps will work well,” Doug said, obviously proud of his efforts. Florence could see the two traps and was a bit confused over them. The first trap was the floor itself, a thin sheen of water on the linoleum hid a trap that was also, somehow, a creature.

“What gives with gooey thing, how is that a trap?” Florence asked.

“Oh, you’re referring to the slime hiding under the puddle in the floor. Yes, it is a living trap made from a little know variety of slime. Some dungeons specialize in slimes, a decision I find disgusting, but the one I’ve used is a very weak version, which is incredibly slick. Any adventurer stepping on it will slide helplessly across the floor,” Doug explained.

“Nope, you change that this instant, I won’t have my guest thinking my house ain’t clean and is full of slime, no siree, you make it a different trap right now,” Florence demanded.

With a sigh, Doug changed out the slime trap. In its place he created a pit trap, the surface of which was hidden by the wet floor, it would be difficult to detect, at least the first time that adventurers encountered it. He thought he snuck one over on her, placing the second trap at the bottom of the pit, it was another of them slimy things. Florence let him have this one, it was at the bottom of the pit and not her concern now.

Scylla seemed perfectly happy to sit in the half-filled bathtub, her magic type was showing as elemental/water. Charybdis hid herself in a compartment under the sink, ready to jump our and engage anyone going after Scylla. The pair seemed to get along just fine, but Charybdis didn’t get too close to the soggy Scylla, nope she was perfectly happy in the cabinet under the sink, where Florence created several comfy bath towels for her to cuddle in.