My…heart’s desire? How on earth did the dungeon know what my heart’s desire was? Even I didn’t know what I wanted…

That thought gave me pause. I absentmindedly crouched, wrapping my tail around my paws for comfort. What did I want? How could I know that without knowing who I was before? My instincts told me that a warm, sun-soaked rock was the height of pleasure, but…

A burning desire for more surged in my heart. I poked at the feeling, trying to figure out what it wanted, but it came up blank. “More” was what it wanted, but it didn’t know what “more” meant. Every time I tried to picture “more,” the image of it faded, the details swirling in an ephemeral fog.

Not that “more” was becoming very likely to come my way. The life that I could remember had just been a rather short string of unfortunate problems. I’d been chased by murderous butterflies, swallowed by the earth, nearly drowned by a giant axolotl, and, after all of that, I was still trapped.

Worse still, my time was running out. I could feel it. Though my mana pool was refilling steadily, I was starting to feel a tingle in my paws that was unlike the burning of the poisonous axolotl. Amsiii had said that the Soulbond allowed the summoner and I to share mana between each other. It figured that the more I used, the faster the drain would manifest.

By that logic alone, I should have chosen the easy path to the surface. It was right there. It would be a simple matter to climb out and begin searching for the other half of my bond. But, where would I even start? I had no map, no sense saying where they were. The only information I would have to work with was which way north was…but that wasn’t horribly helpful either.

I put my head on my paws. I just wanted to live. I just wanted to make it out of this in one piece so I could keep going and live just a little longer. Though, with the events that filled my memory, that seemed a dim prospect.

Still, maybe the dungeon was smart enough to recognize that. Maybe that’s what it was offering: a chance to live. I didn’t know how it might do that, but it was better than my other options. If I found a terrible monster and died trying to reach the goal, then it would be the same outcome as if I took my chances on the surface, only to waste away into a whisper of memory.

With that realization, the answer was clear. I closed my eyes and began to prepare myself for the coming challenges.

When I’d reached Level 5, Amsiii had given me more than just the attribute point. It had mentioned abilities. Responding to my desires, Amsiii spoke, almost eager to show me the options.

Abilities to select: 1

Ability options provided by: Cat

Size - you become bigger, receiving the strength, stamina, and fortitude associated with a greater size.

Five Pointy Ends - your teeth and claws become infused with your mana, making them stronger and sharper.

Acrobat - your honed reflexes and dexterity are pushed to a new level, allowing you to more quickly move and evade danger. Requires: Internal 1

Hmm…

Tricky choices. Size was tempting. The most challenging enemies I’d faced had been larger than me. Even the Petal Hoppers, when acting as a swarm, were bigger than me. If I was to continue in this world alone, maybe size was the advantage I sorely needed to even the odds?

Amsiii wasn’t finished yet, though.

Ability options provided by: Familiar

Feline Favor - you are built to care for your summoner. When you purr, all nearby friendly creatures, including yourself, are slowly healed of injuries. Requires: Energetics 1

Witchcraft Cat - you were summoned from mana, and mana is woven into you. Spells from your strongest aptitude are treated as one level higher than they are.

Interesting. The options associated with Familiar seemed more magically focused, whereas my simple cat options were more physical. When put that way, it seemed obvious which trait was superior.

Don’t get me wrong, cats, by their very nature, are perfectly gifted in every way. They are gods set upon the earth to enact grand plans to show the lesser species exactly where they stood on the grand ladder of life. But, I was even more perfect than the average cat. I was exemplary, the greatest being of an already magnificent species. I knew magic when many of my kin did not…or at least I assumed they didn’t.

In order to increase my greatness even further, I would be better suited to strengthening my use of mana to weave ever greater magic, spells worthy of my great name…whatever that name was.

Which narrowed the choice down to Feline Favor and Witchcraft Cat. Both were stellar options. One would allow me to recover more quickly from a fight, while the other would help me to win one.

A cold fear crept into my heart. If I picked incorrectly, there may never be a chance to change my decision. If I picked Feline Favor and ended up losing the fight that lay at the end of the dungeon, my wounds may be more than I could heal. If I picked Witchcraft Cat, but ended up being too gravely injured to continue after the monster was defeated…

No. The decision was clear to me. Power and greatness are linked, but power does not make a great being alone. One must be able to continue being great in order for others to recognize it. You lose all the battles you’re too dead to start.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Allocating 1 aptitude point to Energetics

Spell discovered: Heat I

Ability gained: Feline Favor

The mana inside me shifted and surged out from its pool without my bidding. It filled every inch of me, whiskers to tail tip, before rushing back and settling in my throat. A soft, cooling sensation radiated from that point, and I found myself purring without even realizing it.

Magic tingled in my body. The burns on my paws from the poison axolotl faded from an irritating throb to normal. The blisters on my back from the Petal Hoppers, as well as the itching inside my lungs from their powders, were soothed until the injuries were mere memory.

I stood, yowling out challenge for all the dungeon to hear.

Hear me dungeon! I am stronger than you! I am cleverer than you! I will not be beaten down! Do you hear me! I’m coming for you!

Mana surged as I threw open the door labeled: “For greater reward, and your heart’s desire.” I bounded into the darkness, ready for whatever challenge it would throw at me!

The tunnel was long and curved and was soon joined by other tunnels of about the same size. The walls were smooth, with only the tiniest scratches blemishing the surface. I looked around, ready for whatever enemy may await me.

A sound from behind me made me jump. I fluffed up my tail and hissed at the darkness. There was an enemy there, I was certain. It was just waiting to jump out of the shadows.

Another sound echoed down another tunnel. It was a buzzing, like the sound of an angry insect. It echoed down the tunnel, sound ricocheting and amplifying off the walls until I couldn’t tell where it was coming from anymore.

I pressed myself to the arched wall, trying to keep as small and quiet as possible until I understood the creature I was facing. My fur stood on end, and I trembled with every passing moment. As far as fear tactics went, it was quite good. The environment amplified the sound perfectly. Every inch of my fur rippled, preparing me to sprint ahead as soon as the danger revealed itself.

But, nothing ever came. The buzzing just echoed louder and louder. Flashes of vague fears raced through my mind: a tunnel with loud noises that stabbed into my thoughts. I’d been in a similar situation before…with sounds so loud and dangerous that my head ached and my thoughts became muddled.

Instinct screamed to run, but to where? For all I knew any direction I picked would send me right into a swarm of horrible insects worse than the Petal Hoppers! If I could just stay where I was…just…a little…longer…

I put my paws over my ears, trying to block out the sound long enough to think. It did nothing, so I pulled them away, only to find droplets of blood coating my pads. This wasn’t just a fear tactic. It was an attack. My mind had just been too rattled by the sound to feel that the pains were real.

With the new information, my mind now agreed with my instincts, and I took off down the tunnel. Staying still would only kill me slowly. I could not fight what I could not find.

My eyes scoured the dark tunnels as I flew by, searching for the danger. Eventually, I hit the end of the central tunnel. Two paths branched off to either side of me. Coming to a stop, I listened as carefully as I could, swiveling my hurting ears for any difference between the sounds coming from each path.

The right one seemed slightly louder, though I couldn’t tell if that was because it was actually louder or because wishful thinking was giving me false hope of finding this monster. I sprinted down the tunnel. At the next intersection, I did the same. I paused to determine which option yielded the loudest sounds. It wasn’t much to go off of, and I was quite certain that I was making decisions with near random accuracy.

A scent flickered into my nose, surprising me. It was…vivid. Had my senses been dulled by the Petal Hoppers’ attacks? Had Feline Favor healed it?

I followed the scent down a twisting and turning path through the tunnels. It was reminiscent of the slithering scales of the venomous snakes I’d first encountered in the dungeon, but with a more pungent smell of venom. This thing would be dangerous.

Finally, I spotted the tail of the serpent disappearing around a corner. I raced forward, desperate to silence the terrible buzzing it created.

Rounding the corner, I suddenly came face-to-fangs with a giant snake that looked at me with beady eyes that shone with a deadly hunger. It hissed, flicking out its forked tongue as it coiled itself into a pile. Its tail poked from the center of its coils, furiously shaking a rattle affixed to the end. That was the source of the sound, I was certain of it.

But, how on earth was I meant to deal with something this big!? It could have eaten the stoneskin toads in one bite, and I was much smaller! It wouldn’t even need the venom dripping from its fangs in order to end my life.

Focus was coming with greater difficulty. That rattle was the first problem of many, but only one could be dealt with at a time. I needed to silence it.

The snake reared its head and lunged forward. I darted back. It was much faster than the rest of the monsters the dungeon had offered. I would meet my match for speed, here. Its fangs closed on open air as I raced around the corner. It lunged again, slamming its head into the stones where I’d been standing a moment before.

Mana leapt to my command as the stones cracked and pieces of the floor came loose. I snatched them from the floor before spinning around and leaping over the monster’s head. I threw the rock with all my magical might, aiming for the rattle affixed to the snake’s tail.

The stone slammed into the rattle, denting several segments. The sound, though not quite silenced, was quieted drastically, damaged as it was. I breathed a sigh of relief. The first problem of many was dealt with. Now to deal with the next one: the enormous snake who was already lunging at me again.

I wasn’t quick enough. My dodge out of the creature’s attack range was fast enough to prevent me from being swallowed whole, but a fang sank into my haunches. Acting on instinct, I summoned mana to me. Drain I and Chill I surged together as one, startling the serpent enough to back off. I scrambled away into the darkness, to find a quiet spot to regroup.

Venom coursed through my veins, but I didn’t have time to wait and purr the problems away. I needed to kill the stupid snake before it caught up with me. Still, it was hard. The venom already hurt so much, and I could feel a churning in my stomach making me unsteady already.

I resolved to work the plan as I went, just to save some time before my growing odds of dying caught up with me. Following the sounds of the rattle once more, I crept back up on the enormous snake. It waited exactly where I left it, its tongue flicking over a bleeding segment of its own tail. Had it caught its own tail in the attack that injured me? The injury was already swelling, not unlike my own.

That meant it was not fully immune to its own venom. I could do this. Leaping out of the shadows, I raked my claws over its scales. It hissed and lunged, just missing me as I ran past its head to stand with the rest of its body.

Lifting the heaviest rock I could find, I threw it at the snake’s head. It was not stupid, but desperation and disorientation might just work.

The snake hissed and blinked slowly. I growled and let out a hiss of my own, puffing up my fur to be a better target for the monster. I needed it to attack me.

I raked my claws over the scales next to me. It hissed and lunged, having pinpointed my location. I scrambled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as the creature sank its teeth into its own length.

It hissed and writhed. I ran. Venom would hopefully finish the job now. I needed to hide and wait it out.

Through twisting tunnels, I raced until my nausea and pain grew too great to stand anymore. I crouched, wrapping my tail around my paws and letting my chest rumble with terrified purrs which slowly soothed my wounds.

I waited…and waited…but Amsiii never spoke. The snake had not died…

I sighed. It would be too easy to hope that it would be vulnerable to its own venom to the same degree I was. For one thing, it was bigger than me. It could probably tolerate more.

Which meant this fight was only just getting started…