Cat Core, Chapter 16.

Chapter 16.

“Look,” Shara said as the group gathered around their campfire to cook the evening meal. Walking back from the dungeon was the other party of adventurers, and they were short a person.

“Sad, it looks like the new guy with them didn’t make it,” Vanderman said, confirming what they were all thinking. “I hope this doesn’t mean the dungeon is becoming too powerful for us. Our two dives inside didn’t exactly give us enough coin to improve our gear. When we go back in, we’ll need to be careful and take things slowly. If we take a beating, we’ll call it quits for the day,” Vanderman said. Shara nodded her agreement with the rest of the party.

The other group arriving just after the goblin raid was a surprise, she had hoped they would have a week or two of having the dungeon to themselves. Sadly, this other group’s arrival meant that the adventurers guild rules were in place and a queue was established. Since there were only two groups, they could alternate their delves, but once more showed up, it would mean several days of waiting for their turn in the rotation. There was a complex and secretly held formula to setting someone’s place in the queue, but Shara knew that since they were the first to explore the dungeon, they would always have some preferential treatment when it came to their place in line.

Ben seemed happy about the development, it turned out he was authorized queue keeper. Every group wishing to explore the dungeon was required to pay him a copper piece per head to secure their place in line, a small fee that the guild had established to reimburse the queue keeper for their time. As the dungeon grew in power, so would the guild fee to enter. The parties joining the queue had to sign up in his shop, which would give Ben an advantage over his competition when it came to selling gear and buying loot for the adventurers.

“We’re still going in later, aren’t we? Roland asked.

“Of course, that’s what we’re here for. We’ll not let some other groups mistake keep us from earning a living,” Vanderman confirmed.

“I’m going to see if I can help. They have a healer, but she must have hit her mana cap,” Shara said, following over to the area the other adventurers were camped at. While there had been some tension between the two groups, it was more friendly competition than real anger. Vanderman was upset that the others were better equipped and felt they looked down on their group, but Shara thought most of them were okay, except for their leader who seemed to have a cruel streak with the way he had treated their new, and now deceased, member Dale.

“Can I help you out with some healing?” Shara said, approaching the camp. Korbo looked at her without answering.

“Yes, thank you for your help, I’ve hit my mana limit for the day and poor Vernon is in quite a bit of pain,” Lilly said. Shara got to work, healing first Vernon’s injuries, then taking care of several minor slashes, cuts, burns, and bites they had all picked up while battling the dungeon defenders.

“Looks like you’ve been through the wringer, what happened in there?” Shara asked.

“None of your business. Thank you for the healing, but that doesn’t entitle you to our knowledge. Unlike your party, we don’t sell our knowledge, not that your raggedy band could afford it if we did,” Korbo snapped.

“Korbo, stop. Shara was being kind and using her magic to help us, she wasn’t prying any great secret from us. Nothing much to know anyway, bunch of different cats in there and a few traps,” Lilly replied.

“I’m sorry for his rudeness, I know that spending your mana on us may limit what you can do for your team during your run today,” Lilly said. It was true, Shara and all mages, whether they be healers or any other type, had to deal with not only their personal mana pool, but also a hard cap on how much they could regenerate each day. Higher levels and certain class abilities improved this, but every caster had the same restrictions.

Heading back to her party, she could see they were serving up dinner. This time, Roland had snagged a rabbit in the woods, giving them some real meat to go with the potatoes and carrots they had bought for a few coppers from Ben. It smelled and tasted kind of bland, but a hot meal was just what all of them needed.

“Are you going to be good on mana for our delve?” Vanderman asked with concern.

“Yes, as long as we don’t try to push too far,” Shara replied. She was going to hit her regeneration cap pretty early if it proved a difficult run, but at least her mana pool was back to full after eating.

“If you’re good, everyone can finish up their meal and let’s get moving before we forfeit our place in line,” Vanderman said. The put out the fire and gathered their meager gear before heading toward the strange dungeon. To Shara’s eye, the place felt comfortable, in a creepy dungeon kind of way. It was more like someone’s home than dark caverns she had been expecting to see with their first dungeon.

Entering the dungeon proper, she looked back to see the stone close over the entrance. The dungeon sealing the exit freaked her out a bit. She knew she could leave at any time, but what if the dungeon went mad and trapped them inside? It was known to happen, and a high-level party from the adventurer’s guild would find a way in to kill the core if the worst happened. Of course, they wouldn’t get there in time to save her party from being killed by the defenders or starving to death. A crazed dungeon was almost unheard of, but if it did occur, it was usually during the early stages of the dungeon’s development.

“I’ll take out the crossbow trap, the rest of you keep an eye out for the cat that always tries to ambush us here,” Vanderman said while trying to keep the small wooden buckler between him and the trap. True to form, the trap triggered, and the bolt was launched at Vanderman who, more by luck than by skill, blocked it with his shield. He hacked apart the trap, the simple device collapsing after only two swings. Despite the trap going off, there was no sign of the cat that was usually out here.

They looted the trap and then made their way to the front door when a pair of furry attackers charged from the planter in front of the porch. One leaped directly at Shara and she swung her hammer at the cat, connecting with its front leg, doing little damage, but throwing its attack off course. She readied herself for another attack when an arrow appeared in its side, Roland had been ready for the attack. Nala finished off the creature with her rapier. The other cat had clawed up Vanderman some, but his leather breastplate had stopped the worst of the damage. He waved off any healing as they looked for loot.

“Another small bag of coppers again, and a doily. Hey, this one is a bit nicer than the others. Do you think Ben might pay something for it?” Roland asked. The new doily was embroidered with the image of a cat along with its name. This one said Obi, which she recognized as one of the ones that had just attacked them. The family pictures on the wall in the next room had named each of the creatures for them. As Roland said, this doily was well made, though Shara doubted there was much coin to be had from selling it.

“Maybe a copper or two if we’re lucky,” Nala said.

“In that case, I think I’ll keep it. Maybe I can start a collection of these, one for each of the creepy cats inside this place,” Roland said, carefully placing his treasure inside his pack.

“Ok, if the great collector is done. Let’s head into the next room,” Vanderman ordered. They pushed on to the strange room with the fireplace and sofas with the mysterious coating on them. The cat, Midnight, was in her usual spot on the sofa, standing and readying herself as the intruders entered the room.

“Hello there pretty kitty. I wish I didn’t have to fight you Midnight, you’re just doing your job, aren’t you,” Shara cooed to the dungeon defender. Strangely enough, the cat meowed happily in reply before launching itself into attack.

Vanderman held back, watching, and waiting for the inevitable attacks from above they knew were coming. Nala and Ox met Midnight’s attack, the huge mage’s axe dealing the cat a fatal wound as the other pair of defenders jumped down onto Vanderman. Roland got one shot off, missing in his haste, and Vanderman sliced into another of the cats as they started mauling him. A quick heal kept Vanderman on his feet as they fought back against the blur of claws and teeth. With Ox and Nala joining in, they outnumbered the cats and were able to flank them at will. Nala took a nasty slice on her forehead before the two defenders were taken out.

“I’m out of regen for the day, my mana pool’s full but that’s it for this run,” Shara advised as she healed up the minor injuries that the party had sustained.

“Looks like another doily, Bhargath this time, a small pouch of coins, and the matching steel bracer for Vanderman,” Roland advised. Vanderman equipped the bracer, glad to have even a small bit of extra armor. Shara watched with interest as Nala disarmed the trap in the fireplace, pulling a green doily from it as loot.

“Sorry Roland, this one is just a normal doily,” Nala said as she handed it to him.

“Yeah, the cool ones seem to drop from the cats, the traps usually give off worse loot, so I’m not too disappointed,” Roland said.

“Are we good to push into the next room?” Vanderman asked.

“Sure, there’s that hidden cat in there, so be careful,” Shara said. The party moved out, walking into the hallway. As the adventurers scanned the ledges above, A cat popped out from a hidden door below, raking his claws across Nala’s legs before leaping onto Ox. The big mage swung his axe but in the close confines of the hall, the blade caught on the wall next to him. The cat landed on Ox’s chest, claws digging into his unarmored body as the long teeth of the beast tried and failed to reach the giant man’s throat. Instead, the cat contented himself with taking a hunk out of the human’s chest.

Shara watched another cat leap from above, but it had already been spotted by Vanderman and Roland, who killed the oversized feline with blade and bow. Ox, now bleeding profusely, grabbed the cat’s neck and squeezed. A horrible cracking sound was heard and then the cat went still.

“Hang on Ox, I’ve got you,” Shara called as she poured healing into the big man. The flow of blood from his wounds stopped and then new flesh began to knit itself over the wounds. Another blast of healing magic took care of the wounds on Nala, the blow had severed muscles and nerves preventing her from joining the fight and taking up a lot of mana to heal.

“I think we should stop for the day, my mana is low and I don’t think I can do more than another small heal,” Shara advised, feeling bad for not having enough power to see them through to the end of the dungeon.

“Don’t worry about it, we did better today with the loot than we’ve done before. Besides, I finally gained enough experience to raise my level. Let’s get back to camp so we can sort the loot and make our choices for new skills,” Vanderman said. Indeed, Shara could feel that she too was now ready to ascend to the next level. It would mean at the very least more mana and, more than likely, a new ability to choose.

The final battle in the hallway had left them with a good quality, but not magical, dagger that both Nala and Roland wanted. In addition, another small pouch with copper coins and two silver was found. The dungeon opened to let them exit, Shara feeling relief to have made it out alive once again. Once back at their simple camp, they pooled the loot and began to divide things up.

“Okay,” Vanderman began. He was in charge of dividing up the loot, and in return he got last pick for any disputed items to keep things fair. “We came away with eight silver and 146 copper pieces, the new and improved doilies, a dagger, and the bracer that I’m wearing. I’ll keep the bracer unless anyone objects, and give up my share of the silver to cover it, that way everyone else can get two silver and I’ve reimbursed the party for the pair of bracers I’ve taken,” Nobody disagreed and the coin was divided evenly.

“How about the dagger, it’s nothing special, but it sure beats the old hunting knife I’ve been using,” Roland argued.

“I could use it as well, my fighting style will evolve into dual wielding and the dagger would make a perfect off-hand weapon for me,” Nala offered.

“How about this, I give up the dagger to Nala and get to keep the new doilies with the cat images on them,” Roland offered.

“Deal, but once you get any duplicates, I want to start on my own collection, Nala said.

“Me too, I want some kitty pictures,” Ox added. With the treasure divided up, they all took some time to make their new class decisions. At this point they were all close enough in experience to level up at the same time, later, the times would vary as their various class restrictions and the experience necessary to advance to the next level changed. Shara’s second level granted her the option of two class paths, one was that of a cleric, but Shara didn’t feel the pull to any particular god and didn’t want her choice to lock her into worship of some minor deity she didn’t approve of. The second option, and the one that she chose, was that of a light mage. A mage of light could shape healing effects and at later levels, would unlock several powerful offensive spells in addition to various protective barriers.

By becoming a mage of light, Shara unlocked a ranged ability for her healing power. While it consumed more mana than direct contact with the injury, she could now heal up to fifteen feet away, allowing her to support her friends while they were still in combat. In addition, she could feel her mana pool expand slightly, which would help to offset the additional cost of her ranged spell.

She could also now cast a light shield over one of her companions in combat. The shield would absorb a small amount of damage before dissolving, but it lasted for an hour which let her cast it before entering the dungeon and still have time for her mana to regen. The spell was a mana hog, taking half her of her mana supply to cast, making it less useful once inside. When she gained higher levels, she would be able to cast it on multiple party member, but for now, she could only maintain one shield at a time. With the coins burning a hole in their purses, the party wandered off to Ben’s half-built shop to see what he had in stock. The first wagonload of goods had arrived today, and they all hoped to find some inexpensive upgrades to their gear.

“Hey Ben, how’s the shop coming along?” Roland asked as they entered.

“Not bad, should have the shop done in a couple of days, the inn will take a bit longer. I’ve got some items in that might interest you, there’s not much to choose from yet, but I will be getting regular shipments now,” Ben told them.

“Yeah, we noticed you had a delivery earlier and with our last dungeon run we hoped to improve our gear. While we’re at it, here’s five copper to put us back on the dungeon delve list. Is that other group ahead of us? Vanderman asked.

“Yes, they’re slotted for tomorrow morning, but your team can take the evening slot if you wish. From what the wagon drivers are telling me, word is getting out and things should start to pick up around here. I suggest you get as many runs in as you can before the list gets crowded. You should also update me on what you’ve found, I expect the dungeon will change a lot over the next couple of weeks as it continues to grow,” Ben offered. They took the afternoon slot and began to peruse the various wares that he had started to stock up.

Much of the gear either didn’t fit what they needed or was simply too expensive for them. In the end, Vanderman replaced his ragged leather breastplate with another of similar design and quality. He also purchased a small wooden shield that should offer better protection than the buckler he had borrowed from Shara, who got her buckler back. She could equip up to medium armor with her new class, the system downloading the knowledge of how to move and fight while wearing it. Shara passed on purchasing any armor for now, she could only afford leather and wanted to save up for at least some chainmail for better protection. After trading in the buckler, she did opt for a shield like the one Vanderman upgraded to.

Ox didn’t want anything yet, telling the party he needed a couple of more levels before he could equip light armor and still cast arcane magic. Nala saved her funds as well, happy with the addition of the dagger they had gotten as loot. For Roland, he replenished his arrow supply and showed off his doily collection to Ben, who seemed to at least feign some interest in the ones with the cat images on them, offering to buy complete sets that he could sell as souvenirs.

All of them replaced any damaged clothing, of which, Ben had a decent stock of durable and cheap items for them to choose from. That was one thing she hadn’t counted on with adventuring, the fact that you can heal wounds, but destroyed clothing and armor stayed that way. Ox said he would eventually unlock a mending spell at level three that could help fix at least some of the damage to armor and clothing, which would be a big help.

“What’s going on with your new competition over there?” Nala asked Ben, gesturing toward the new buildings going up.

“Oh, that dump?  I guess some people might want to drink and sleep in that ramshackle building, but I wouldn’t want to eat that woman’s food, she didn’t strike me as the type to wash her hands before cooking, or perhaps ever,” Ben said with disgust. Shara hadn’t gotten a good look at the other building or its proprietor yet. The new inn was being built across from Ben’s place, creating an instant rivalry between the two establishments. She could see how a new dungeon town like this could grow, the main street starting between the first two buildings and moving on as the place expanded. Shara looked forward to seeing how things developed as they tried to make their fortune inside the cat dungeon, as they had all taken to calling the place.