11)
Fortunately, I've set it a gauntlet to run and have three points of magic to use as needed. The first step is to resummon my new champion, who I shall call Wiggler, to my core.
[You can not summon while a beast is in your dungeon.]
...well, that would have been useful to know about five minutes ago. “Wiggler. Head for the core. Now!”
I do not want to get nibbled to death by a rodent. My wife would never let me live it down.
If beasts work the same way adventurers work in dungeons, then I can't absorb any material. Which means I can't absorb the spider silk string holding up the spiked copper plates. I also can't build anything in addition to not being able to summon anything.
And the mice are ripping their way through the three inches of thick spider webbing I had put up as a barrier around my core under the floorboard. And the thin ridged wall behind it was going to hold them up all of a few seconds.
Two of the mice, a fat black one and a thin gray one seem to have little interest in getting sticky webs all over them. But the brown one in the lead claws its way through the stuff with determination. I consider identifying it, but I don't want to spend the mana right now.
For the moment I just assumed that I was dealing with a magical beast. Wiggly and a horde of cock roach warriors are on their way by means of an entrance to the interior of the wall and from there through a gap leading to the space below the floor. But I'm not sure if I want to throw the roaches into a fight with the other two mice. The last thing I need is three mice beasts.
As I ponder the lead mouse is through webs and the barrier behind it. It crawled over one of the storage rooms and paused at the sight of the wall of long thing copper spikes forming my last defense.
I had to leave a hole at least as large as my core for invaders to reach me. But the one in the wall of spikes is ringed with sharp points set at an angle ensuring something trying to squeeze through is in for a bad time.
As this is my last chance. I check the new spells that are available. While at the same time the first two ant scouts arrive and set to chewing on the front two spider silks strings holding up the plate between me and the disaster mouse.
I got three choices.
[ Harvest. Instead of absorbing dead creatures as undesignated material. You may harvest useful material from a corpse in your reach. 1 SP]
[ Translate. You may learn the written or spoken forms of a language. Permanently. 5 SP ]
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
[ Malignant dart. You may strike down your enemies from above. At least within your reach. 1 or more SP ]
Translate! I can read stuff with that. I really, really want that, but… being attacked by the reaper mouse. I think I got to go with Malignant dart here. Heck, in any other situation I would even settle for Harvest.
“Malignant dart please.”
The mouse had already squirmed its head through the hole in the copper wall of spikes by the time I finished.
“Fire bolt one.”
- Crackle -
The first bolt seems to stun it for a moment before it began to thrash and cut itself on the spikes which just makes it hurt itself more.
I feel a little sorry for it. Up until it goes still and starts to make a slow determined wiggling to get through the spikes again. All to reach me.
“Bolt two.”
- Crackle -
I don't target the mouse this time. The bolts destroyed its fur on the way into its skin. Which means Malignant bolt can damage nonliving things. Like spider silk strings.
“Bolt three”
- Crackle -
The front end of the plate drops and drives its spikes into the mouse's back. Something gets damaged on its insides and it can no longer move its back legs.
I consider waiting for Wiggler to arrive to finish it off quickly. But it's so close to my core, and the ants are right there. Trapped and half dead it can't really do anything to stop them.
[ You have killed a base rank 8 beast. 3 BP ]
The other two mice hesitate as the beast dies. But as normal animals, I can make copper spikes appear all around them. Trapping them in place until Wiggles arrives and finishes them.
[ You have killed a mouse. 1BP ]
[ You have killed a mouse. 1BP ]
From now on I want my defenders ready to go near my core. I build a breeder room.
[ You have built your first breeder room. 1 BP ]
[ Congratulations. You are now Base level 6 ]
[ You have gained access to a new room. The Meat locker. ]
[ You have gained a new spell. See the spell list for choices. ]
All in all, I build ten breeder rooms near my core. As I regain magic points, I pay to have them ready to replace six roach warriors, a spider, and Wiggles himself for the next time I am in danger.
Then I recover the copper to build a more resilient copper barrier on all sides of my core room. Then I check the manual.
I can now build a meat locker which is a sort of storage room for parts harvested from corpses. As much as I would love to choose Harvest and use it on the mice. I go with translate. I need to learn what is up with this world.
I do put Wiggles and a team to work dragging the corpses over after I build a Meat locker. And get a point for it. Worst case, the corpses rot anyways and I absorb them as undesignated material. Which is what I would have to do if I didn't try to store them.
I do set Wiggles to dig out the tiny pinhead sized core of the mouse. Which I store right in my core room. After I absorb the clorox. Not sure what I will do with it, but it might be useful later on.
Just before the sun starts to come up. I have enough magic to cast translate.
Now to figure out what this world is like. After all, knowing how to read things will answer all my questions. Right?