Catpurr 11: Summon Skeleton

Catpurr 11: Summon Skeleton

“Uuuurgh.” Adam groaned, his eyes fluttering awake as the disgusting stench of the outhouse he took shelter in hit his nose. He was no stranger to the smell of death and decay, but fermenting pee and feces was a different matter altogether. He winced, stretching to undo the kinks of sleeping on a hard wood floor. Still, he was dry now, even if the smell seemed to cling to him as he opened the wooden door to the freedom of fresh air.

“Ugh…” Adam winced, the harsh golden rays of sunlight beaming down on him from above, already ruining his day.

[60:23:44]

Adam eyed his timer, it was time to get to work.

After last night’s escapade, Adam had spent hours sifting through the rubble in the rain. Hoping upon hope to find his quest objective. From what he knew from his brief stint as a thief, bakeries of all kinds had some form of storage room where extra food and materials were stored throughout the season, away from prying eyes. And he was right, fortunately, his tenacity paid off, revealing to him a hatch in the kitchen, one buried by ash and other large debri. Unfortunately, he didn’t possess the strength, tools, or minions to clear the obstruction, forcing Adam to abandon his efforts and seek shelter from the rain.

Shifting his eyes across the remnants of the burned down town and lack of fleshies, Adam decided to go on a stroll, searching for materials he could use. After all, there had to be something he could use to clear the rubble, plus…. he was tired of being naked.

[57:59:24]

After spending a couple of hours combing through the town, Adam realized how barren the place really was. Outside of one building with multiple bunks and strewn linens, none of the places were remotely lived in, almost as if someone had decided to just burn down an empty ghost-town.

Although Adam was curious about the circumstances surrounding the town, the fire, and its lack of evidence of any life, he ignored that question, instead focusing on finding items he could salvage as his timer ticked down.

Some bundles of rope, a half charred greenish floral robe, a burnt kitchen knife, a cast iron shovel, and finally, and probably one of the most important items that left many questions in his head, several gold coins.

The currency was different than anything he’d seen before, and engraved in a language he didn’t understand, but a gold coin was still a gold coin, no matter the nation or world. Still, it helped to confirm that he was in an unexplored region.

Wearing the robe and fastening it to his body with the shortest length of rope, Adam walked to the bakery carrying the cast iron shovel. Standing amidst the carcass of the store, he eyed the large beam that blocked the hatch and a nearby tree, formulating a plan.

Rope+Tree+Skeleton+Iron Shovel+Leverage=Mission Clear. Adam surmised, already using the shovel to lift the beam just enough to tie a bit of rope to the tip of the rubble.

Now came the next part, summoning his minion.

Moving to the back end of the orphanage, Adam stood now in front of several graves, preparing his skill.

After everything he’d gone through so far, Adam was a bit nervous. In the past the system he’d use was efficient, easy to understand, and easy to abuse. All he had to do was hang around battlefields earning XP as the fleshies killed one another and then use the fresh corpses to deal with monsters that would appear via the stench of death. Earning him even more experience.

It was a useful system, one that benefited everyone involved. Adam got to level up, the meatbags got to slaughter one another, and then Adam would provide a monster clean up service for free! Protecting nearby towns and other areas that would otherwise be ravaged by hordes of monsters seeking fresh meat.

This system however, didn’t earn him any experience from killing it seemed. That, or his XP multiplier was incredibly nerfed with heavy restrictions imposed on him. And there was no telling what exactly the CATSIFICATION curse did in terms of skill usage.

Adam opened his menu, reading over the curse, wondering what exactly “Catsify skills” meant, seeing as it had done nothing to Animate Bone. At least nothing he noticed.

Sighing, Adam decided to chance it and raised his little arm, palm outstretched. He needed help, in his current form he was just too weak to lift debri of that caliber, however with an activation cost of a hundred mana, Adam would only get one chance at this.

“Sorry for this, but I need your help. Summon.” Adam whispered tensely, the mana in his little body twisting and churning, leaving his body to create a blue summoning circle on the ground beside the grave.

[SUMMON SKELETON [½]

He could feel it, his power, his energy condensing as the earth began to part ways, releasing magical steam from the sigil as the forces of arcana bent to his will, conjuring a servant of bone to do his bidding. However, something was wrong, the sigil was a bit bright, actually it was getting brighter, TOO BRIGHT and ODDLY IN THE SHAPE OF A GRINNING CAT!

[CATSIFICATION CURSE ACTIVATED!]

[SKILL CATSIFIED!]

OH CRAPBASKETS!

Adam shielded his eyes as the cat-faced sigil exploded, releasing steam, dirt, and ash everywhere that forced Adam backwards, away from the sigil.

Blinking and now covered in soot, Adam opened his eyes while coughing, the dust dissipating to reveal nothing in the spot where a humanoid skeleton should have been.

Impossible! Where is the skeleton! I can feel the connection! Adam looked around frantically, trying to search for the being he’d used all his mana to summon. He needed it!

Finally his eyes looked down, spotting his summon.

Ah… why am I not surprised…

Adam clenched his teeth before slowly turning his head skyward toward the blue skies above.

“WHY?!” Adam demanded, screaming in frustration.

Instead of a full-sized humanoid skeleton that could help him clear the debri to complete his quest, what Adam got instead was a minified skeleton, tiny bones arranged in the shape of a small house cat. It looked up, gazing at its master with ghastly yellow eyes before suddenly, and without warning, it flooped sprawling out on it's boney side..