Jeru had already confirmed that the test would work, but they’d still needed to do it so the others would know. Once the new plan was confirmed, all that was left was for them to divide the group that Patrick selected into their teams and then wait for the next air blast to signal it was time to go in.
“It’s really hard to scratch an itch in these things.” Cecil Ashworth scraped his gauntleted hand against his armored rear. “I feel like I’m in a sardine can.”
“Weren’t you like a plumber or something?” Felix Galloway bounced the [Earthen Warhammer] off his shoulder. The stoic 55-year-old bartender wore leather armor despite using Ula’s two-handed weapon.
“Just because I crawled under houses doesn’t mean that I like wearing metal.” Cecil knocked on his helmet. “If I wanted to wear a hard hat, I would have gone into construction.”
Their Tank was in his mid-thirties, putting him in the middle of the other two groups. Riva was a year younger than Felix, while Skylar was a year younger than Penelope. The age difference had the Tank on edge as he began rambling on about horror stories of things he’d found and crawled through while repairing plumbing under houses.
Penelope looked over at the young Healer. Skylar Mansfield’s blue eyes stayed locked onto the two men, a frown crossing her face as Cecil got louder. The prospective librarian had a look on her face that suggested she was struggling to hold in a “SHHH!!!”.
“What do you think?” Circe whispered from Penelope’s right.
“This last minute is taking forever.” Penelope glanced at the timer on her menu. There was only a few seconds left, but each one seemed to tick down in slow motion as she waited for the signal.
Whoosh…Screech!
“Let’s go!” Penelope pointed down the tunnel, illuminating it the moment she stepped inside. “Cecil, keep your shield up. Everyone else, behind me. Circe will watch our backs.”
“Which way am I supposed to go if there's a fork?” Cecil hesitated as he pointed at the opening in the tunnel ahead of them on the left, then the one a little farther down on their right. “Or a door?”
“Stick your shield in the door and turn it sideways. I'll light up the room, and if there are monsters, Circe and I will shoot them down.” Penelope glanced back at her younger friend to make sure everyone heard. She looked over at the older woman beside her friend. “Riva, you can debuff stuff if you want or watch our backs while we're focused on fighting.”
“I’ll keep an eye out.” Riva motioned at the group. “Without Eldri, we won't have a lot of light in the tunnel. Gotta keep them alive so they can get those monster parts.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Penelope marched forward, a step behind Cecil.
When he reached the first doorway, Cecil stuck his shield through the door and turned it horizontally.
“Like this.” Penelope rotated the shield so that it was diagonal with both ends braced against the inside of the doorway. She cast her
The room was 250 feet long and 50 feet wide. Doors leading closer to 12B were on the side walls, but otherwise, the room was empty.
“I’ve seen this room before.” Penelope backed away and motioned for Circe to take a look.
“What do you mean, before?” Felix scowled as he looked over Cecil’s other shoulder.
“The rooms start repeating themselves.” Circe nodded as she checked the room, then pointed down the tunnel, the way they’d come. “The room right there in 11C is just like this, same size and everything.” She turned to Penelope. “Weren’t there two of them in 12A?”
“And one in 12B too.” Penelope looked at the older man. “It’s like the Demons only have a handful of different rooms that they could put in here, so once you start recognizing a room, you know what the places it connects to look like.”
“And that tells you what?” Felix let the head of the warhammer hit the stone floor by his boot.
“That if we go through that door, then we’ll end up next to the other group.” Penelope pointed to her left.
“Both doors actually will take us to the tunnel on the other side.” Circe pointed out. “But you want to take the interior one in case there are monsters near the middle of the Dungeon.”
Penelope nodded as she motioned for the group to go inside.
“Aren’t we supposed to stick to the tunnels?” Skylar adjusted her glasses. “What if the others go into rooms too and we can’t find them?”
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The system answered before Penelope could.
Ding!
Experience +0.75
“Someone is fighting, which means we need to hurry!” Penelope slipped around Cecil and ran towards the door closer to the 11 column. “Come on!”
“You need to wait for the Tank.” Jeru appeared in front of her. “You don’t have any defensive skills.”
I can keep the little ones off of me! Penelope stopped at the doorway and looked back at the others. Circe had waited by the door, putting the others in between the two damage dealers. Cecil was right behind her, though his shield was by his side instead of in front of him.
“I’m taking down the light in the hall.” Penelope pointed at the other door. “Riva, keep an eye on that door too!” She swapped the light from the hall and cast the spell into the next room before Cecil could get his shield in the doorway.
“It’s empty; let’s go!” Penelope headed into the room with Cecil on her heels.
Ding!
Experience +0.75
Experience +0.75
The next room, a mirror of the first one they’d entered, was empty as well.
Ding!
Experience +2
That’s got to be Frederica’s group if they put down one of the bosses. Penelope ran to the doorway leading to the tunnel. Her spell lit it up as she stepped into the tunnel.
“PEA!” Marlow pushed his way around Peter Spencer, the Tank for his group. Though with all of the metal armor, the only way Penelope knew his name was because of the nameplate floating over the Tank’s head.
“You weren’t the one fighting?” The graying man hurried over to her. “We saw the notifications and worried you might have found some monsters.”
Ding!
Experience +0.75
Experience +0.75
The two of them froze at the notification.
“That was six.” Circe motioned for the others to move towards the tunnel entrance.
“Either the Demon stole minions from one of the other groups or…” Penelope’s heart sank as she realized what had most likely happened.
“He wouldn’t do that. Not with a bunch of level ones!” Marlow groaned as he heard the words out loud. “Of course he’d get bored and start exploring.”
“We’ve got to help him.” Penelope looked down the tunnel and pointed at the opening on her left. “Usually three sets of rooms on each side, with the Demons hanging out in the corners.” She turned back to the pair, which had turned into a trio with Kent joining them. Penelope froze for a moment as she processed the change in party members. Robert should have been there instead, but that was a question for later. “He’s in there.”
Ding!
Experience +0.75
“You good?” Penelope looked over at Circe.
“I’m always with you.” Circe held out her bow. “Leave the others?”
“You can’t be serious!” Kent slashed his hands in front of him. “You’re going to leave me with your level ones and take the Healer?”
“I’m only taking Circe.” Penelope took a step down the tunnel, but Marlow caught her arm.
“The two of you can’t do that alone. You don’t have a Tank or a Healer.” He tugged on her arm. “Wait for me to talk to the others.”
“They have a Tank and a Healer, but all they’ve got is Robert, which is probably why Patrick went exploring in the first place!” Penelope pulled her arm out of the other man’s grip. “Watch them, and we’ll be back as soon as we clear this group!”
The pair took off down the hall, not stopping as they ran into the room on their left. Penelope lit it up the moment before they entered.
Ding!
Experience +0.75
“Seven.” Circe counted as she ran into the room.
The diagonal walls of the sides of the room let Penelope know that it was one of the octagon-shaped rooms.
“Right!” Penelope cast her spell into the room on her right as the pair kept running.
Ding!
Experience +0.75
They ran through that room and found Patrick’s group in the next one. The Shadow Archer turned to look at them as the pair ran into the room.
“THANKS FOR THE LIGHT!” Patrick cackled, his shield glowing from the doorway. Stone cones short over the top of the shield at the pair of Belch Rats running around the Demon’s feet.
An arrow of light slammed into Penelope’s chest as she took in the scene. Pain erupted in her chest as the magic of the arrow burned a hole in the robe and forced its way into her body. Foreign magic clashed with her own as her nerves burned and froze at the same time. Her lungs tightened, and if she’d needed to speak to be able to cast, it would have been impossible, but that wasn’t a problem for her now.
Penelope dropped to a knee and caught herself with her left hand. Rage burned in her eyes as she looked up at the Demon across the room and aimed with her wand. The
Ding!
Experience +0.75
Experience +0.75
“Penny! You okay?” Circe knelt down next to Penelope, rooting in her pocket for a potion.
“Not… dead… yet…” Penelope squeezed the words out through clenched teeth. She let a third bolt loose, connecting just as the ground rose underneath the Demon, slamming it into the ceiling.
CRUNCH!
Ding!
Experience +2
Penelope dropped to the ground, rolling over on her back. She smiled at Circe, who was holding out a Healing Potion.
“Just… get… Marlow.” Penelope closed her eyes as the brunette began yelling at the other group. It would be a waste of a healing potion, especially for the list of debuffs on her. But while she had the chance, she was going to rest for a bit.
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