“Oh you've got to be kidding me,” I said as I looked through my cat’s eyes at an obvious group of thugs.

“House?” asked Midnight.

“Remember the dwarf from yesterday?” I asked.

“Yes?” replied Midnight.

“He's back with friends,” I said, “and they're armed.”

“Anything we should worry about?” asked Carmen.

“Not really, it's just bricks, chains, daggers, axes, and a few firebombs. Those might be a problem,” I rambled.

“I can take care of the firebombs,” Midnight said before teleporting to the front of the warehouse and walking out.

“Mr. House, I know you don't like violence, but I think we should try out the new security system. We won't know how well this will work out until we use it,” Carmen said.

“You're right,” I groaned, “I hate it but you're right.”

“Midnight, lead them in once you take away their firebombs. Right through the front door, would you?” Carmen asked.

“I suppose,” Midnight said, stretching out in the sunlight.

“Oh this is going to be so much fun!” Carmen said with glee.

“You two might look like cats, but that doesn't mean you aren't monsters,” I thought as I shook my proverbial head.

At least there weren't any customers right now.

***

“I told you wizard, my boss isn't going to be friendly forever. This is your last chance, ya dig?” called Rex from outside.

Midnight replied by letting out a big yawn.

“Allright, this is ridiculous. FIRE OUT!” exclaimed the dwarf as he lit the rag at the end and tossed it at me.

Midnight caught it midair with telekinesis and set the jar down gently to the side.

“What are you waiting for? He's casting through the cat. Throw all of them!” shouted the dwarf.

The rest of the thugs pulled out firebombs, but they were quickly encompassed in Midnight’s telekinetic glow and were pulled up into the air.

“Uhh boss,” said one of the thugs before Midnight slammed the jars of oil in a semi circle behind them.

“Your cat is going to pay for that,” shouted the dwarf as he pulled out a wood cutter’s ax and stepped forward.

“Boss, be careful!” called a thug as Midnight pawed at the still lit firebomb that the dwarf had thrown.

The jar tipped over and rolled into the puddle of oil Midnight had made. The oil ignited and formed a flaming semicircle behind the thugs.

Midnight smiled a smug smile and teleported into the warehouse.

“AFTER THAT CAT!” roared Rex before the thugs rushed into the warehouse and away from the fire.

“Well done brother,” said Carmen.

“Thank you, sister,” replied Midnight, “I'll keep an eye on the fire. Don't play with them too much.”

“Only just enough then,” joked Carmen.

“Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer,” I warned as the two of them split up.

“I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Mr. House,” Carmen said as she hopped up on a coin pusher to meet the incoming thugs that were filing in through the security checkpoint.

I sighed and watched nervously as the thugs drew weapons and approached my scion.

Realistically, I knew that we had this in the bag, but I couldn't help myself.

Sure we could have just gotten rid of the firebombs and then just closed the door and called it a day, but idiots like this would have just come back tomorrow with more people.

We needed to send a message that we weren’t going to be an easy target. Besides, being constantly harassed by thugs would be bad for business and like Duke said, I’m doing a valuable service for people in the community.

“How is Carmen doing, House?” Midnight asked from outside.

“It feels like I should be playing Yakety Sax in there,” I replied.

“Yakety Sax?” asked Midnight.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

“Nevermind,” I said, “she's fine.”

Carmen was toying with them. Between her ducking, dodging, and teleporting, the thugs had done more damage to each other than to Carmen. Several of the coin pushers now had cracked glass, but the iron grate I had put up in front of the glass had prevented a complete break, so at least that was working as intended.

“Hey Carmen, I think we’ve tested the durability of things enough,” I said as Carmen zipped around the room, “let’s get these guys out of here.”

“Oh can we let the new mobs take care of it?” Carmen asked excitedly.

I rolled my non existent eyes and sighed, “sure Carmen, let’s do that. Might as well test out the new ‘traps’ while we’re at it.”

I double checked to make sure that the thugs were away from the coin pushers before activating the security screens.

My specially designed iron gates with silver filigree shot up from the new grid pattern that I had made and went flush with the ceiling.

The intention was that they could serve to control the ‘terrain’ on the casino floor. They served a dual purpose of defending the equipment and guests should the need arise as well as dividing and conquering a larger group of people, such as I was currently dealing with.

The silver might have weakened the iron bars a bit, but the combination made them nearly untouchable by magic.

“Uhh, boss what’s going on?” one of the thugs asked as Carmen teleported up on the loft.

“No idea, keep on your toes,” said the dwarf.

“Sending out the [Stalkers]” I said, clicking on the menu.

[Stalker]

>Rare cat mob

>Size: Medium

>Invisibility Lvl 1: mob will appear as a shimmering mirage if observed closely. Mob can only maintain invisibility while moving at a slow pace. Mob can only maintain invisibility when not attacking or interacting with an object

>Preternatural stealth Lvl 1: invaders with an ability to sense danger outside of their normal senses will have a harder time detecting this mob. Active only while invisible.

>All other stats within expected parameters for medium feline

One of the thugs screamed as blood seemed to eject from their thigh for no apparent reason before a pitch black panther with two whip like tails materialized.

I winced at the sight of blood before shaking it off and getting my head back in the game.

“What the hell is that!?” one of the thugs screamed before the [stalker] disappeared, “you said there were just cats here!”

“That’s what I was told, man!” shouted Rex.

“Screw this, I’m out of here!” shouted the injured thug as he limped towards the exit.

The other thugs looked at each other before pandemonium broke out as each of the thugs made a mad dash following their injured companion.

“I’m not leaving here without something to show for it, man,” whispered the dwarf with a scowl.

His eyes darted around the casino before landing on Carmen on the loft.

“Oh shit, stop him!” I thought frantically as the dwarf made a beeline for Carmen.

“I think this should be a job for Tom,” Carmen said, watching the thugs scrambling out the cramped exit.

Tom apparently agreed with Carmen as he got up from his usual place around my core and sat behind the door.

“Fuck it, I guess we’re testing everything today,” I thought angrily to myself.

Rex hacked away at the gate with his wood ax.

“What is he trying to do?” asked Carmen from the other side of the gate.

“Hell if I know,” I replied, “it’s not like that ax is going to cut through iron.”

Rex raised his ax and let out a mighty shout, his ax glowing bright red.

“What the-” I said as he brought the wood ax down on the gate.

Sparks shot off the point of impact as the anti magic properties of the gate clashed with whatever power Rex was using.

The technique came to an end with a mighty crash revealing a destroyed and parted gate.

Rex looked down at his now wrecked ax and chuckled, “that’s what you get for not going dwarven make.”

He threw the ax to the side and made his way up the stairs.

“Dammit this world keeps on throwing me curve balls,” I swore, “Tom, you’re up.”

The wood of the desk groaned as Tom stepped down from his usual spot around the desk and sat down in front of the door.

“Knew I should have gotten a real crew together,” Rex muttered as he reached for the door, “nothing but chicken- oh...”

Tom had grown quite a bit from his bobcat size since after I had leveled him up a few times and was now big enough to look down at the dwarf.

[Tom]

>Lvl 4 Guardian

>Size: Large

>Second Wind Lvl 2: restores 20% of health when dealt a fatal blow (120 minute cooldown)

>Last Hit Lvl 2: 20% chance to survive a fatal hit with one Health Point (activates while Second Wind is on cooldown)

>Durability: (+++)

>Strength(++)

>Stealth: (-)

>All other stats within expected parameters for large feline

Tom casually rased his paw above the dwarf.

“Oh shi-” began the dwarf before he was batted backwards by Tom, through the railing and down to the floor with a thud.

The dwarf groaned, rolled over, and began to crawl away from Tom.

“Tom could you show the man the door?” I asked.

Tom leapt down and gingerly picked up the dwarf by the back of his jacket like he would have done for a kitten.

The dwarf struggled for a moment, limbs flailing in the air before Tom tossed him outside. Satisfied with his work, Tom turned back around and returned to his place around my core before falling into another cat nap.

Feeling satisfied with the results, I shut the door firmly behind the dwarf.

! Invaders repelled !

! Delver repelled !

! Mana gained !

! EXP gained !

! (12/10) invaders repelled: Milestone Reached !

“Ah shit” I swore as bright light filled my field of view.

! Alchemy Station UNLOCKED !

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” I asked to nobody in particular.