I ran. I’m not ashamed to admit that. It was a tactical retreat, not fleeing. I would struggle to fight just one of the stone-skinned behemoths. Two was out of the question.
A tongue shot towards me. I leapt to the side as it crushed the stone where I’d been with incredible force. I scrambled back towards the tunnel where I’d defeated the snakes.
The toads groaned their frustration at losing me. I padded back down the corridor, thinking furiously about how I might be able to defeat these toads. It had to be possible. I could think of nothing I’d done that would have violated the rules of Forced Fairness, and, thus, the dungeon should still be operating under the same covenant. It had to be possible to complete…I just needed to use my head and find the solution.
The snakes still lay on the ground, lifeless eyes staring into the darkness. Suppose I could use Telekinesis to remove their venom sacs…I might be able to use them. They were in the head, just above and behind the fangs. If I could just get them out…
Wait…was that really true? How did I know that…it didn’t seem like the kind of information a cat would know. Of course, I’m a paragon among cats, and, therefore, a god among men, but still…where had I learned about snake anatomy?
System Activation of Welcome to Atria
Entering Atria by invitation will allow the summoned creature to retain all memories of its previous life.
Hold on, hold on. Amsiii, wasn’t I summoned as a familiar? Amsiii replied, giving a very similar summary as the one it had given me in the forest above.
Name: Unknown
Species: Cat, Familiar
Type: Fiend
Level: 3
Titles:
Witch’s Familiar
Aptitudes:
Environmental: 3
Internal: 0
Energetic: 0
Enervation: 0
Abilities:
Soulbond
Resistances:
Corruption Resistance I
Spells known:
Telekinesis I
Description: A summoned familiar created with the purpose of protecting the summoner from harm.
I was right. I had been summoned. Obviously, the summoner was a great witch capable of powerful magic, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to summon me. That summoning would have required an invitation, right? Why had I been left with no memories of the event? Or of anything in my life before?
Instead, I’d been left with strange, though admittedly helpful details. Still, I couldn’t help but feel indignant that my more personal memories had been taken away.
I began ripping into the snakes with my claws. It was dirty work and a task that was only possible thanks to Telekinesis I. Even then, two of the sacs ruptured during the process and were dripping uselessly onto the floor a few feet away from the four sacs that I’d successfully managed to extract.
They were so small, though. I doubted that they would amount to much against the much larger toads.
I flicked my tail in irritation. There had to be a way. I was cleverer than this dungeon, if I could just prove it. I padded back to the safe room to wash my paws in the water before returning to the fight.
As I dipped my paws in the glowing pool, I considered my options. Maybe it would have been smart to pick up spells in other classes than just Environmental. Enervation, for example, might have helped me to slow the toads or weaken them in some way. A tool to even the odds certainly wouldn’t go amiss, but without the aptitude points, I couldn’t cast any spells from Enervation.
Put that way, the solution was obvious: get more attribute points. To do that, I needed more levels. To get more levels, I needed more monsters to kill. That seemed like something the dungeon would be more than eager to provide…
I poked around the edges of the mushroom forest. I’d taken the first path I’d come across, but I hadn’t really explored much of the safe zone. Sure enough, a thorough sweep revealed that there were actually two paths I could explore. Granted, the one with the snakes and the toads was still the one that actually led upward towards the surface, but this other path may yield what I needed to get past the toads.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The new path was well lit by many of the glowing blue threads hanging from the ceiling as it followed a stream of water further underground. I wasn’t a huge fan of the water, but a cat’s gotta do what a cat’s gotta do.
The water was actually a rather relaxing companion as it babbled down the tunnel at my side. Or rather, it was relaxing right up until the sound of something big underwater reached my ears.
I felt my eyes dilate as I crouched in anticipation. Under the water, it could be the most delicious and wonderful thing in all the world. It would probably be a very scary variant, but that didn’t stop me from licking my lips as I peered into the water.
There, in the shallow current, was a fish. My heart leaped in excitement as I stared at the thing. That fish would be my dinner! I just needed to catch it.
It threw itself from the water, desperately biting at my head with teeth as long as my forelegs. I scrambled back. It fell back in the stream. It was deeper than I thought…to harbor a creature that was at least as big as I was.
I peered over the edge. Once again, it threw itself from the water to snap down at me with vicious teeth. This time, however, I was ready. The magic in my stomach swirled. I wasn’t sure if I could use Telekinesis on creatures. I’d never tried, but these seemed as good a time as any to test it out.
Unfortunately, the fish slapped back into the water a moment later, my spell slipping off its scales. It hadn’t been a total failure, though. In the brief moment I’d had it, the fish had slowed, as if caught in a net that was not strong enough to hold its weight.
I tried again, peering into the water to lure the thing out. This time, when it leapt from the depths, I pushed more of my magic into the spell. Telekinetic energy surged forth from me in a powerful wave that yanked the fish towards me.
It sailed through the air, teeth bared wide to fight back against its would be predator, but it didn’t realize its doom! I was a strong and powerful cat! I was the natural predator of the weak and helpless fish! I would not be defeated!
Continuing to pour as much of my magic as I could into the spell, I pinned the fish against the wall. It would soon suffocate and die, but it would fight and bite with those teeth every moment until it did. I didn’t want to risk being caught too close.
Congratulations. Level 2 Dungeon Piranha defeated. Experience gained.
Telekinesis I upgraded to Telekinesis II
Hmm…so Telekinesis could be leveled up, just like me. This was excellent news! Amsiii was a wise being to reward good practice. If I continued on, maybe I’d get more and more precision with the spell.
Better news was that I had a lovely meal! I dragged the fish back to the safe zone. I’d come back to that later. For now, I still had work to do and levels to gain.
Congratulations. Level 2 Dungeon Piranha defeated. Experience gained.
Congratulations. Level 2 Dungeon Piranha defeated. Experience gained.
Six times Amsiii praised me for the offerings I gave it. The Piranhas were stupid things, fueled only by their own territorial urges. Each time, I dragged the fish back to the safe zone and added it to my growing feast of fish. There was enough there to last me several days, should I need to spend that much time down here. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but if it did, at least I wouldn’t starve.
Finally, I came to the deepest room on the wet water path. It was wide and mostly filled by the giant pool which gathered the water from the stream. Tiny pebbles shimmered at the bottom of the pool reflecting the light of the short blue threads back at the low ceiling. It was beautiful and serene…suspiciously so.
Where was the monster lurking in these depths? Would it be another of the delicious piranhas? Or something more sinister?
I padded to the water’s edge, dipping a paw in carefully to see if the hidden dangers would react to my presence. Nothing happened, so I dipped my paw again.
Water gurgled beneath the surface. Something was here. I swiveled my ears, trying to pinpoint the location of the movement, but it was difficult through the water. I dipped my paw again. Again, the creature moved. It was on my left and getting closer. I took a deep breath and dipped my paw again, ready to leap back at the first sign of danger.
That danger came in the form of an enormous maw darting from the waves. It had no teeth, only a hard bit of bone beneath a pale gray snout. I leapt back, hissing and growling at the new creature. It was maybe twice my size, with smooth gray skin that blended in with the mottled pattern of the stones at the bottom of the lake. From its head, protruded six stalks, three on each side of its head. It flared the appendages the way I would fluff my fur to ward off a threat.
It slapped its tail on the surface of the water and hissed at me. I hissed back, asserting my dominance over this strange amphibious creature. In response, it darted forward, trying to snap me up in its jaws once more. I darted to the side before leaping onto its back with claws extended. It reared its head, trying to slam me into the low cavern roof. I pressed myself down, clinging to its back with my claws as I began to rake through its soft skin.
My paws began to burn, just as they’d done with the Petal Hoppers. Its skin was covered in sticky fluid that began to work its way into the fur of my forelimbs, but I would not be deterred.
It reared its head again, this time so high that it slammed its own head into the ceiling…and me along with it. The force of the blow left me seeing stars as the salamander threw me from its back. I landed in the shallow water near the edge of the pool.
The cold water seeped into my fur, weighing me down. The monster slipped noiselessly back into the water, content that I was now out of my element and right in the middle of its lair. I scrambled across the smooth stones of the pool, finding myself back on dry land just as the monster thrust forth its head once more, trying to snap me up.
From the relative safety of dry land, I watched the creature. It watched me back, its head just above the surface. For a long, tense moment we watched each other. I’d wounded it, I was certain. It had burned my paws. Our traded blows left each of us with a mutual respect for the capabilities of the other, but only one of us would leave this chamber alive. I was determined for it to be me.
Without warning, the monster withdrew beneath the waves and the water began to roil and churn. I couldn’t pinpoint its location with all the swirling water. I crouched, watching the water with worry in my heart. If I didn’t know from where it would strike, would I be able to dodge it?
It lunged forward, this time accompanied by a wave of water that raced towards me like a tsunami of cold and death. For a mercy, controlling the water must have thrown off the creature’s aim, as it slammed into the stone to my right instead of snapping me in half. In fact, it was so close, that the frills on its head brushed my flank. I prepared myself for the sting of the sticky stuff that coated its flesh…only it never came.
The frills weren’t covered in poison like the rest of its body. I could use that!
Before it pulled away, I gripped the nearest frill in my teeth and pulled with all my strength. The creature howled and jerked its head away, trying to free itself. I poured magic into Telekinesis II, pulling on another of its frills. Teeth and magic combined, I pulled and pulled, digging my claws into the stones for greater purchase.
It thrashed its head, nearly yanking me clean off my paws several times, but it seemed hesitant to show the same strength it had displayed at the beginning of the fight. Were these frills too sensitive?
Ha! That just made me want to pull harder…which I did try to do, but I was already pulling my hardest. I put more magic into Telekinesis II, growling at the thing with everything I had.
With a RRRRRRRRRIIIP! The two frills I’d latched onto ripped away, taking a decent portion of its skin with it. Not wasting a second, I latched onto the last frill on this side. Magic and might combined and I ripped the last one off, too. It fell to the ground and the creature writhed and slapped the water with its tail. Blood colored the water, mixing with the blue of the cavern roof until the entire place shone purple.
It thrashed and splashed. Though I couldn’t reach the other side of the monster with my teeth without jumping in the water, I still summoned forth the magic inside me to pull on the far frills. One by one, they snapped off, too.
With all its frills gone, the creature writhed and splashed with panicked fervor in the water. Soon, though, its movements began to grow sluggish, like the fish had when I’d pinned them to the wall. It suffocated, then stopped entirely.
Congratulations. Level 4 Poisonskin Dungeon Axolotl defeated. Experience Gained
Level up to Level 4.
One Aptitude point available.
I purred to myself. The fight had been hard won, and now I had what I needed.
Yet, the fight had not been without cost. The warmth that usually swirled inside of me was cold, and my limbs felt like lead. I needed rest before I could take on the toads. Luckily, there was still a feast waiting for me back at the safe zone.
Yes…rest first…then I’d deal with the toads. This dungeon would rue the day it challenged me. I’d see to that…