Both items worked better for Frederica, but the unconscious woman needed a good night’s sleep, and to get her that, they needed to find somewhere to camp for the night. While the space they were in was open and now well lit, but there were four different places they could get attacked from.
“Camping in one of the rooms isn’t going to help a whole lot.” Jeru commented. “There’s almost 500 feet between that corner and any of the openings. Plenty of time to get an attack ready.”
But only if Oakley can grab their attention. Penelope glanced over to the armor-clad man with their leader in his arms. The way he carried the older woman like a princess was something that she was sure Frederica would have enjoyed.
“What is your plan then? Hunt down the remaining two groups with Bradley, Circe, and Caleb?” Jeru groaned. “You’re seriously thinking about that?”
Penelope pointed at the handful of people on the other side of the barrier. I’ve got an audience, and they just saw Frederica get skewered. I need to show them that we’re still strong!
“Why?” Jeru eyed her.
Hope. Penelope scanned the faces of the lower-level people. They need to see that we can do this.
“They? Or you?”
Penelope paused midstep.
“You could just reset and switch routes with her.” Her parasite offered.
That’s half a day to relive, and this run isn’t botched yet.
Penelope continued walking over to others.
“What are we doing now?” Kent looked at Oakley.
The armored man laid Frederica down, then turned to Penelope. “Pea?”
“No, no, no.” Robert piped up. “You’re second in command, not this girl.” He snorted. “I’ve got shirts older than her.”
Oakley walked up to the older man and looked down at him. “You want us to take orders from your clothes?” He snorted. “Just because something is older doesn’t mean that it’s better.” He pointed his thumb towards the woman behind him. “I’d rather listen to her than your shirt.”
The red-haired man blanched as he sat down.
“The faster we clear this square, the safer it’ll be for her to recover.” Penelope nodded towards the senior Healer. “I’m leaving Marlow and Robert with you.”
“You’re leaving us?” Kent exclaimed.
“Safest team for me to take to clear this is Bradley, Circe, and Caleb.” Penelope looked over at the younger woman. “Leaving you here would increase their chances to survive an attack, but if I get jumped by the other half, I’m going to need more firepower to keep us from getting killed.”
Circe covered her mouth as she squealed and bounced from foot to foot.
“You do realize that Caleb is going to heal you for peanuts?” Jeru snorted. “The penalty that is applied to healing up is…” The voice in her head tapered off. “You’re only bringing him for the Tank?”
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Just be quiet while I talk to the others. Penelope shook her head, then focused on the men.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Robert looked at Oakley. “What happens if the monsters decide to attack us while she’s in some other corner of the Dungeon?”
“You’ve got half of the square that’s wide open. You’ll see them long before they get here.” Penelope motioned at Marlow. “He can kill little ones too.”
“But not the big ones.” Kent countered. “Who’s going to do that for us while our leader is taking a nap?”
TWACK!
The punch came so fast that Penelope jumped. She hadn’t been expecting Oakley to swing nor for the large man to get knocked off his feet.
“Say that again.” Oakley stomped over to where Kent was pushing himself up.
The older man glared at the Tank but only wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Look, I know everyone is on edge, and we’re letting that stress show itself in bad ways.” Marlow moved in between the two men. “But I think we can agree that we all want to survive this.” He looked at both men before pointing at Penelope. “Pea has killed more of these monsters than anyone else.” He looked at Kent. “She was clearing whole rooms by herself on the first floor. So if she says that this is the best way, I’m going to follow her lead.”
No one made a sound until the Dungeon decided to fill the silence.
WHOOSH…SCREECH
“The longer we stand here, the more likely the other two groups are going to pair up.” Penelope cleared her throat. “I know you don’t like this, but I think it’s too risky to move Frederica towards a fight just to keep us all together.”
“Go.” Oakley didn’t take his eyes off the crouching man. “The sooner you end this, the better.”
Penelope bit her lip as she looked at the Healer.
“They’ll be fine.” Marlow waved his hand over Kent’s split lip; the green glow blipped for a second, then the crack was gone.
“I’ll leave the light spell up so that you all can see.” Penelope cast her most-used spell. The four orbs, along with their echoes, hovered over her.
“Isn’t that going to weaken your fighting ability?” Marlow motioned at the lights.
“Better that I have to keep recasting than you all are blind.” Penelope pointed at the barrier. “That’s only good for twenty feet. Add in Eldri’s spell, and you’re only seeing maybe sixty feet away.” She motioned at the clearing. “Taking this down weakens you a lot more than it does us.”
“Then take me with you.” Eldri stood up. The dark-skinned woman pointed at her menu screen; only people beside her could see what she was pointing at. “I learned
Jeru?
“Jeru, do this; Jeru, do that; Jeru, do something else.” The blue Elf ranted, then waved his hand and smirked. “There.”
“Those would come in handy.” Penelope looked at the older woman. “I’m guessing you’ve already used
“There’s a group that way.” Eldri pointed to her left, towards the tunnel that led west.
“Is that the only place there’s monsters?” Kent snorted.
Marlow smacked the back of the kneeling man’s head. “Don’t be an ass.” He smiled as he turned to the Buffer. “What information does it give you?”
“Just an arrow.” Eldri shrugged. “But it’s something.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that there were monsters coming when we got ambushed?’ Rockwell stood up.
Penelope looked at the 21-year-old man. The black-haired, brown-eyed young man had been silent so far, which she’d liked. There were already enough troublemakers in their group.
“Because I got it when she killed that last monster.” Eldri pointed at Penelope. “When we all leveled up!”
“How was I supposed to know that? It’s not like there’s a notification telling us what everyone else knows!” He shifted against the barrier.
“Why don’t we all talk about what spells and skills we know while they’re out.” Marlow’s pleasant tone left no question that it had been an order. He motioned for the group to gather up. “That way we’ll know how our Buffer and Debuffer can help out the most.”
“Let’s go.” Penelope turned towards the tunnel that would lead them to monsters.
Circe skipped up to her while Bradley hung back with Eldri and Caleb.
“Thanks for letting me come!” The younger woman bubbled.
“Settle down.” Penelope took a step to her right to give herself more time if Circe decided to try to steal a hug. “You’re a good attacker, and you can keep your cool.”
“That’s why you didn’t take Robert?” Circe smirked. “Because he’s not cool?’
The memory of Robert refusing to follow her lead floated to the front of her mind. Penelope stuffed it back down along with the warning Jeru had given her about how previous runs would influence her decisions on future ones.
“I had to leave one of you there, and Robert is more likely to do some damage with the distance.” Penelope stopped at the mouth of the tunnel. “I doubt there’s another room in this square this size.”
“We’re really doing this?” Bradley walked in front of her as the other caught up.
“If the monsters spread out, then it won’t matter if I can see them coming; we’ll still get overwhelmed.” Penelope glanced behind her at the other group, then turned to the Tank. “This way, they have to come at us two at a time, which I can handle as long as you can keep them off of us.”
“As long as the Healer can keep me up.” Bradley stuck out his fist.
“I’ve got you.” Caleb bumped the other man’s fist.
“Alright then.” Penelope moved a
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