Chapter 172 - Monke's Expedition
"Lina? What happened?" Catalina huffed as she bent down and grabbed her knees, sweat dripping from her glistening skin.
"I… I need to cash in that favor." Catalina looked up at me, her eyes relaying to me her seriousness. I tensed up and waited for her request. "Send reinforcements to my Dungeon now. I'm being sieged, and I'm losing."
This got me to straighten up my posture, a possible future going through my mind as I looked at Catalina.
"How many do you need?" As of now, I only have a handful of primates that are available for sortie, but they are still in the middle of their training and sending them to a fight which might result in their deaths without a respawn is the height of foolishness.
"As many as you can spare." Looking her in the eyes, I got the feeling that she was in a very bad spot right now. Looking to my side, I looked at Drake with pleading eyes. He sighed, then approached me with serious face.
"I'll come with. Something tells me you might need me." I gave Drake an appreciative nod as I looked back to see Catalina giving us a beaming smile.
"I'll also bring some capable monsters with me. Nicholas, you're in charge here while I follow Catalina back to her Dungeon." Nicholas and Catalina looked at me wide-eyed. The former, I could understand, but the latter, I did not. "Catalina, when I asked for reinforcements, I didn't expect you to come here of your own volition. I'm doing the same, so shut up and let me help you."
At my statement, Nicholas sighed but accepted my decision, while Catalina quickly rushed at me and gave me a sloppy kiss on the lips. Beside me, I saw Drake blanching at seeing an incredibly beautiful catwoman kissing a gorilla.
"I'm so happy right now, I could fuck you until tomorrow comes, but my Dungeon needs me. I'm going on ahead." Giving me a grin, I laughed at Catalina's quick 180 in attitude.
"Drake, go with her. I'll go as soon as I'm ready." The mood now back to its more serious state, Drake gave me thumbs up, even if his face scowled at me for striking a beautiful girl and getting laid before him, and followed Catalina back to her Dungeon, the two of them sprinting to the portal. "Nicholas, go to the ogres house, tell them to meet me at the portal zone as soon as possible. Luke, call the trolls and tell them the same. Once you're both done, tell the rest of the residents to increase the security."
"Understood." The both of them said at the same time, and quickly got to do their tasks. Once they were out of eyesight, I quickly made my way towards the portal zone while contacting Domino.
"Mu… Papa…?" Domino tilted her head, the holographic screen showing her cute movement.
"Domino, please take care of the Dungeon while I'm gone." Domino quickly straightened up as she gave me a frown with her limited facial features. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon. Mama just had some problems in her Dungeon. I'm helping her with it."
At my words, Domino calmed down as she gave me a tiny smile.
"Okay… Come back safe…" I grunted and cut the connection off. Reaching the portal zone in record time, I decided to pass the time waiting for the ogres and trolls to arrive by grabbing the Wind Manipulation skillbook I got from the hidden quest I completed from inside my inventory.
'I still need to figure out how that quest thing works, though…' I shrugged and placed that thought in the back of my mind for the time being. Right now, what's most important is to get ready for an incoming battle, even if I already had hax on in the form of Drake fucking Espinosa.
'Huh… I forgot his family name… Good thing I learned it again…'
Touching the book, I quickly absorbed its knowledge, the fundamentals of how to use said magic ingrained in my head.
[Wind Manipulation (Erika von Reinhardt style)] learned!
Wind Manipulation (EvR Style) – Manipulate the wind around you in Erika von Reinhardt's style. Can only form incredibly sharp winds and pressurized bursts of wind. Passively increases AGI and DEX by 50, Int and WIS by 10, and VIT and END by 5.
I've been meaning to look for something that could increase my AGI and DEX stat. Looks like I've found one. That said, the [Wind Manipulation] skill I got is heavily favoring direct combat and swift finishers. Not very versatile, but very useful as the main method of ending a fight in a split second.
Name: Jionni
Age: 0
Gender: Male
Race: Gorilla
Class: Tank
Level: 16
Exp: 1650 / 16000
HP: 7750 / 7750
MP: 2592 / 2592
Str: 92 (+150) => 242
Vit: 132 (+123) => 255
End: 97 (+158) => 207
Agi: 59 (+80) => 139
Dex: 66 (+95) => 161
Int: 57 (+125) => 182
Wis: 56 (+125) => 181
Cha: 41 (+10) => 51
Luc: 1
Checking my stats with the new bonuses made me smirk. Since the ogres and trolls were still taking their sweet time, I decided to take my new magic skill for a test run.
'Okay, how did she do it again? Coat herself in wind, making her something like a kamaitachi?' Deciding to try out her style of use, I gathered the mana within me to manipulate the winds around my body, forcing them to rage around me. 'Just like my Flamegod mode or Thundergod mode, except this time, it's wind.'
I felt the wind around me rage, my mana draining at a rapid pace. Opening my eyes, I took a look at the veritable storm around me and became a bit miffed.
"It isn't sharp… It's just like a normal tornado…" I grumbled as I cancelled the spell. When I looked at my mana pool, I noticed that it was extremely draining to my reservoir.
MP: 2392 / 2592
200 mana in just two seconds… Yikes, this is one mana-costing ability. I'll need to level it up more to lower its cost.
Just as I was pondering about it, I heard footsteps approaching my area. Looking at the five ogres, each of differing color, I gave them a wave and they approached me with a friendly gaze.
"You called Chieftain?"
"Yes. Prepare yourselves, we're going to help defend a friend of mine from invaders."
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~ Third Person POV ~
"Lovely town. Good looking hotels too. Too bad all of them are closed…" Drake sighed dramatically as Catalina walked beside him like she was stepping on eggshells.
"Uh… Drake. You've known Jionni for a long time, right?" Drake raised an eyebrow at Catalina's question. An inappropriate question regarding the situation, but he guessed that it was something that could lessen the tension the catwoman was feeling.
"Yes, I knew him a few years back. That said, I'm assuming you know his past?" Catalina nodded, and Drake hummed. "We were friends back in our past world… Well, as close as friends could get when one of them always gave you the cold shoulder."
"Does it have something to do with his parents?"
"Yep." Drake nodded and continued where he left off. "He was, for the most part, socially distant, depressed, and moody. Very moody, a far cry from what he is now."
Drake smiled as he recalled the human-turned-gorilla giving him a smile so genuine, he would've called the gorilla an imposter taking on the name of his old friend.
"Catalina, please promise me to take care of him. He's had enough suffering in his life." Catalina looked at Drake with a straight face, before giving him a smile.
"I will." For once, not acting like she was walking on eggshells, Catalina relaxedly walked towards the frontline of the invasion. "Come on, we're close."
"I can tell. The smell of blood is getting stronger." Drake summoned his gauntlets as the stench of blood grew thick. Arriving at a gate where a bunch of monsters, humans, and demi-humans alike were waiting for the inevitable clash, both the Dungeon Master and the reincarnate pushed through the swarm of bodies.
The residents, noticing the return of their Dungeon Master, parted ways to give their leader a passage to the front. They also noticed a cloaked figure following her, his arms covered in gauntlets.
"Lima, gather some of the felines and go to the Transport Hub and tell them that reinforcements are coming. Just ask their name, and if he responds with Jionni, let them come here."
"Affirmative." A bipedal cat the size of a human wearing heavy armor saluted and gathered about a dozen similar looking bipedal cats. They then marched towards the Transport Hub, as Catalina dubbed it so, and moved on forward, Drake trailing behind her, ready for combat.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Drake asked Catalina, to which she responded with a savage grin.
"Why, they wanted a siege. We'll give them a siege." Catalina then regarded another feline, this time wearing mechanic's overalls instead of knight's armor, and gave her command. "Load up the cannons. Let's see how strong their shields are."
Besides her, Drake couldn't help but chuckle darkly, his sadistic tendencies showing.
'Well, maybe it's time to relieve some stress after that… horrible affair…'