Patrick stayed with the group.

  The lower path started much closer to the line between 13A and 13B than most of the other squares, leaving them with a single door on the right. The exploration-hungry Tank waited for the damage-dealers to get close before he braced his shield in the door.

  “Huh.” Penelope looked in the rectangular room as she cast in it. It was the typical 150-feet long by 50-feet wide, but it didn’t have any other doorways on the outer walls. “I thought there’d be monsters in there.”

  “Maybe they’re in there.” Patrick pulled his shield out of the doorway and pointed at the opening at the end of the tunnel. Most crossroads were a T or a Y, but this one was an X, with three branches they could take.

  “That’s a room.” Skylar pointed her arm directly in front of them. “And there’s monsters in there.”

  “Still think it’s weird that a Healer has .” Circe teased, then turned to look at Penelope. “We hooking a left or taking out this group?”

  “Robert can wall over the doorway.” Jeru offered as Penelope mulled over her options.

  “Can’t hurt to look, can—” Patrick bit off the rest of his question as the room lit up. “How’re they in there already!”

  “GO!” Penelope activated and surged forward with Circe right behind her, the Archer travelling in her shadow.

  If the room is already lit up, then that means… Penelope stopped just inside the room as she took in the size of it and everything that was in it.

  Ding!

  Experience +2

  “All four groups are in here!” Jeru counted for her as Penelope came to grips with just how large the room was. 450 feet wide from south to north and 700 feet long from west to east, it was larger than one of the squares on the first floor.

  Nameplates appeared over the heads of the monsters, but the first thing she checked was what the Shadows were.

  “Healer on the opposite corner! Deal with the Caster on your left while it’s out of range, then burn down what you can until you get close enough to nuke the Healer!”

  Patrick ran past her, angling for the Shadow Knight in front of her near the other wall. It was too far away to have to worry about the taunt, but splitting up like that would also keep Marlow from being able to heal her if she got hurt.

  A pair of was launched from a four-foot-tall, purple-feathered monster. The very tall chicken monster squawked as it spread its wings and threw another pair of ranged attacks her way.

  Penelope out of the path of the Cockrel’s attacks, then blasted it with twice.

  Ding!

  Experience +2

  Experience +2

  Metal shrapnel peppered where she’d landed, forcing Penelope to again, this time moving further back.

  “STAY BACK!” Penelope motioned for Skylar to back out of the room. “It’s too dangerous for you in here!” She sent a pair of twisters at the group of monsters doubling back at her to give her a chance to bark orders.

  “Circe! Go with Marlow and Robert and cover Patrick. I’ll handle this group by myself!” She glanced at the doorway. Should I have Robert wall Skylar out of here?

  “Too risky.” Jeru pointed at the wall behind her. “Better that she’s in here where we can see her. This room is big enough; she should be able to stay out of range of the monsters!”

  “Skylar!” Penelope pointed at the wall. “Stay back there and out of range. It’s safer for you not to get hit, and your heals aren’t going to do much for us in this fight, so just stay out of range!” She didn’t wait for the blonde to acknowledge her; there wasn’t time. The Shadow Caster was almost in range again, and that would make Skylar a target.

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  I could really use a shield or something. Penelope chuckled as she remembered the way she’d dealt with those types of Demons on the first floor when it had just been herself.

  “Hold onto that thought and kill two of the little ones.” Jeru pointed at the porcupine-looking monsters, except the Chillon were the size of wolves. A pair of them rolled into a ball that spun like a wheel as it sped towards her.

  WHAT! Penelope pulled her other wand off her belt and blasted out of both wands. The one on her left slowed down, tricking the homing aspect of her spell to send the bolt meant for it into the one on the right as well.

  Ding!

  Experience +2

  She turned her attention to the other one but got her notification first as Frederica’s group took out the Shadow Knight they’d been fighting.

  Ding!

  Experience +5

  You are now Level Sixteen

  Stats increased: Recovery +1, Magic +1

  You have learned: Mage Skin

  I thought—.

  The rest of her thought vanished as the spinning monster slammed into her. Instead of knocking her down or tearing her up, the quills scratched up her crossed arms.

  Penelope out of range of the Shadow, orienting herself in front of Skylar, then releasing a pair of blasts at the monster that had just scratched her up.

  Ding!

  Experience +1.5

  A dull orange glow covered her scratches, stopping the trickles of blood dripping down her arms. The spell from Skylar was about as effective as a Band-Aid; it wasn’t going to heal on its own, but it would contain the bleeding.

  “Thanks!” Penelope called over her shoulder.

  Ding!

  Experience +1.5

  Experience +1.5

  Circe and Frederica were putting in work, but the latter was getting overwhelmed by giant ladybug monsters. The slow Lemugs weren’t very tall but were over four feet wide, which gave them significant bulk. Fredeica’s daggers left shallow wounds, which the Shadow Healer was repairing as fast as she could leave them.

  “They can’t hold out like this for long. It’s only a matter of time before the buffs fail and her support starts dying.”

  I can’t leave Circe to deal with the Caster. Penelope watched as the last two monsters in her group approached her. The Killons stood upright and were just shorter than her at around five feet tall. Despite their reptilian features, including a broad tail, they were covered in dark gray skin. The lack of any clothes let her know these things were mere beasts, which was accentuated by the hunger on their faces as tongues longer than their maws licked the air.

  Each lashed out with a braid of air that latched on to her wrists and pulled her towards them, into the swarm of metal shards.

  Penelope
  “KILL YOU!”

  Another barrage was her response as a pair of lashes cracked through the air towards her. Penelope again, fighting back the nausea of using her movement spell so many times in a row. The experience announcement pinged, but she dismissed it, focusing on her fight.

  Shards erupted out of the Shadow Caster, peppering the area where she had been. Penelope farther away from the Caster and closer to Frederica’s group to get out of the spray. The lashes whipped towards her again, but she was too far away for them to reach her. The ropes of hard air didn’t go past the Demon; instead, they each wrapped around an arm.

  “WEAK.”

  “SKYLAR!”

  Penelope realized what the Demon planned to do at the same time Jeru warned her. She once, then again to get in in front of the cowering Healer. She moved as close as she could to shield as much of the other woman as possible from the stream of metal shards.

  “TORNADO ALLEY!” She didn’t need to say her spell, but it helped her brace for the pushback as she turned the twin twisters horizontally. Without a solid surface to set as the base for her spell, Penelope chose the only available thing.

  Herself.

  Razorsharp wind blew up her sleeves, slicing rivers on her arms. She squinted as much against the pain as to protect her eyes as her hood was blown off. The violent air turned her red hair even redder as each strand became a whip against her face. Her lungs begged for air that refused to fill them, but stopping the spell meant allowing the storm of metal through, and that wasn’t something that she was going to allow.

  The cloud of shrapnel turned on its master, slicing the trio of monsters until there was nothing left but a pair of corpses and an item pile.

  Ding!

  Experience +1.5

  Experience +1.5

  Experience +4

  The spell ended, sending her forward since there was nothing pushing against her anymore. Penelope dropped her wands, landing on her hands and knees.

  “PEN!” Circe turned around, heading to help her friend.

  “NO!” Penelope met Circe’s brown eyes and didn’t look away. “Finish that.” She dug in her pocket for a Healing and Mana Potion. She gulped both down as she stood. The shards of metal that had made it through her blast fell out of her body as she focused on the battle on the other end of the room.

  “I’m ending this.”

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