The extra 15 XP was nice, but Penelope’s heart pounded from the moment she received the first notification until they met up. Every time Frederica had fought by herself, there had been major injuries, and with it being their first time in this column, the odds of another death were high.
All six people stood in the hallway. They were covered in filth, and Caleb wheezed as he leaned against the tunnel wall.
“Everyone okay?” Patrick’s voice rose as he saw the fourth type of lesser Demon. He ran over to the six-foot-long corpses.
The Werth corpses, as the nameplate over the bodies called them, were brown and segmented, like a giant earthworm. Except this Demon sported T-Rex-like forearms that were too small for the body they were attached to. The front of the monster was nothing but an opening with rows of serrated teeth. A pair of horns that curved away from the mouth was the final adornment to the new creature.
“We’re fine.” Frederica pointed down the tunnel behind her. “We looked in the room, but there wasn’t anything, so we kept moving. We didn’t check any of the adjoining rooms, which is where this mess must have been hiding.”
“I got
The placement of the monsters made more sense. The armor pile was farthest back, while the monsters were spaced out. The dread in her stomach subsided as Penelope realized what that meant. As long as Frederica’s group fought in the tunnel, it would always be a one-on-six fight.
“Here!” Frederica picked a short-handled axe off the floor and threw the weapon to Patrick. “We got a Tank weapon.”
The older man’s eyes lit up as he swapped it out for a weapon without any bonuses. Penelope scanned it before he slipped it into a holder on his belt.
That’s an upgrade. Penelope saw Robert give her a glare and kept her gaze away from meeting it. So far, they’d only found one piece of Caster gear. The miner could be jealous all he wanted, but she couldn’t give him what they hadn’t found.
“Is everyone good to go?” Oakley pointed in front of him, towards the boundary to the west. “Were there any more tunnels that way?”
“A couple.” Patrick grumbled. “Big room in the middle of the zone with doors leading to tunnels in the cardinal directions.” He stood up and wiped the gore off his hands after he’d dug around in the bisected Werth body. “She wouldn’t let me see where they went.”
“They were fighting, and we needed to find them!” Penelope huffed. “Frederica already told you that exploring is for after we get caught up on time!”
“We’re flying through these rooms!” Patrick countered. “If we finish a column a day, then we’ll have three full days to prepare for whatever the boss room has.” He knocked on the stone wall beside him, his metal gauntlets sending an echo out in both directions. “By the look of it, this column isn't going to be a problem for us, so why are you so worried?”
All eyes went to Penelope. The pressure made her feel the size of a toddler, and every nerve in her body screamed at her to run.
“Take a deep breath and focus on what you want to say. Don't take his bait and argue with him.” Jeru’s voice in her head soothed her nerves. “They can disagree if they want, but your logic was sound.”
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Penelope cleared her throat. "But we didn't know that.” She pointed at the dead monster at his feet. “There was still an unknown monster in this column, and when we're apart is when we’ve had our injuries.” She almost said that Frederica’s group had injuries but remembered Bradley hadn't been able to fight the day after she'd split the party.
“Everyone is okay, and we have plenty of time.” Frederica moved in between the two of them but kept her gaze on Patrick. “Think of it this way. If we finish early, then you’ll have a couple days to explore uninterrupted while we prepare for the bosses.”
For a moment, it seemed like Patrick was going to argue. Oakley took a step towards the other Tank, and the tension dissolved.
“Whatever.” The older man shrugged. “You're the boss.”
“Good.” Frederica pointed the way Penelope's group had come. “Lead the way until we find a room, then we can reorder ourselves better.”
“Yes, ma'am!” Patrick put too much emphasis on his reply as well as the exaggerated salute he gave her.
The next group was in the corner by the outer barrier and 3A. Two groups against one made the fight trivial and earned Penelope another 15 XP. The Shadow Sniper left behind a pair of pants with +2 Speed. Circe claimed them since Frederica already had a pair that was better.
Once the group recovered their mana and stamina, they moved away from the outer wall towards the original safe zone. A Shadow Knight led the last group in a room near the corner of 13A and 12B. They’d defeated so many of the slower-moving armored Demons by this point that rotating the ranged people around to attack the Shadow Knight’s back didn’t require any communication.
Penelope found herself keeping her eyes near the floor whenever there was a new group. Dread filled her every time she noticed a Dowl in the group, and she launched her barrage into the monster right away. The anxiety of having to stare into the monster’s eyes was powerful enough that if she hadn’t been with a team, she wouldn’t have wanted to continue in the column.
The Shadow Knight gave them a defensive necklace. Oakley was wearing one looted from the first-floor bosses, so it went to Patrick. The whispered grumbling between Robert and Kent increased, but the two men were smart enough to keep their voices low enough that Frederica couldn’t hear.
They kept moving through the next square without a hitch. While fighting the last group in 12B, Penelope got the level-up notice, but she ignored it as they finished off the Shadow Buffer. She already knew what new spell she had received but wanted to wait to use it, and they were taking a break after this fight.
Once the lights came on, Penelope sat down and looked at the message.
You are now Level Fourteen
Stats increased: Recovery +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Bolt T1
“What did you get?” Circe dropped next to her.
“One of my spells upgraded.” Penelope closed her menu. She’d been focusing on Recovery-based actions since her last level-up so she could take off one of her rings and replace it with the one they’d found from a Caster in 12B.
“I got Expert Dark Affinity for hitting level ten.” Circe downed one of her vials of water in a single gulp.
“I think we all got the expert version of our affinities at level ten.” Penelope drank one of her waters herself. They’d been taking a break after every fight to rest, which had increased their clear time. Right now, they were in the lull between squares when Patrick walked off to find the harvesting team and give them their orders for how he wanted the previous square harvested.
It gave them plenty of time to regenerate their resources, but it added a lot of time to how long it was taking them. Penelope looked at her menu; it was well past noon.
“Have we done enough for today?” Kent stretched and smoothed out his yellow leather pants. The drop from one of the Shadow Warriors awarded him with +2 Power and +2 Defense. He’d been taking every opportunity to humble brag about getting the item. “That makes four zones we’ve cleared.”
“Ninety-seven zones in thirteen days means that we need to clear…” Frederica looked over at Penelope to finish the math.
“Seven point four—”
“So eight.” Frederica turned back to the other melee attacker. “Have we done eight rooms today?”
“Well, we’ve cleared a lot more rooms than that.” Kent smirked.
“You know what I meant!” Frederica snapped. “There were only rooms on the first floor, so that’s what we called them.” She glared at the older man. “We’re not stopping until we’ve cleared at least eight of the barriered zones, so stop asking if you can be done for the day!”
Kent muttered something under his breath, which drew a smirk from Robert and Rockwell. The 21-year-old Buffer had attached himself to the older men. The trio did nothing but make jokes even when they were in combat—not that their contribution was needed, but it was irritating that none of them even attempted to help during the fights.
“Frederica!”
Everyone turned to see the balding Tank running towards them. He’d shed his metal armor, running around in the unenchanted leather clothes that had been looted from the Shadow Demons.
He braced himself with his hands on his knees as he looked up at their leader. “We’ve got a problem!”
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