Penelope started to grab her face but stopped when she remembered they were full. Her right arm worked now, and even though her face was throbbing, she knew that there wasn’t anything wrong with it.
Her nerves were on fire as her heart raced, trying to match how fast it had been going right before she died. Her brain buzzed as it failed to sync with how it had been feeling moments before.
“Hey!” The large man with a tattoo of a dragon climbing up his arm backed into her from her left again. “Watch where you’re going!”
“This isn’t the time or the place to have a meltdown.”
Penelope ducked around the large man and headed towards the Dungeon.
“HEY, TUTS! I’M TALKIN’ TO YOU!”
She ignored the bald man and did her best to dodge the fighting and the shoving. It was the second time that she’d gone this way right after a reset, but it was already starting to feel familiar.
“Hey! What are you—”
Penelope ignored Oakley and walked into the Dungeon before the intro started.
The musty smell helped to calm her nerves a little. It also helped that the barriers blocked almost all sound as well, giving her a refuge from the suffocating noise on the other side of the portal.
“Let’s try this again…” Penelope put her food down in the corner like normal, then opened her menu and selected
Nothing happened.
“Ugh…” She groaned and refocused on the Demonic Ants. “Back to level one. Light Pulse!”
Penelope had eleven casts of
Taking her time was making the fight take longer, but it also meant that she wasn’t missing as much, and she wouldn’t have the downtime where she was just sitting and waiting for her mana to recharge.
DING!
Experience +30
Experience +30
Experience +30
Penelope had only missed twice in twelve spells, which was enough to kill three of the four Demonic Ants and leave a hit on one of them. She still had half her mana when the first group walked in.
“I thought you’d be dead!” Oakley grinned as he walked over to her.
Penelope flinched at his approach.
The brown-haired man held up his hands as he slowed down. “Hey, just trying to be friendly. The three of us grouped up, and I thought you might want to join us. My name’s Oakley.” His green eyes traveled across the three dead Demons. “Looks like it’s pretty easy.”
“It’s not!” The words rushed out of her mouth. She wasn’t breathing hard, but she was starting to get winded.
“I mean.” She closed her eyes so she didn’t have to look at the rock-covered man. “I mean that…” Penelope’s voice trailed off as she realized what she was about to do.
If she gave him the advice on which way would be easier, then the other group would have to either move forward or join her. She’d watched Ula’s group try to enter the same square as Oakley’s before, but the barrier wouldn’t let them through. She had a feeling that since there were six monsters, the biggest group could only have six.
That would force her to let the other group die or join them. Neither option felt good.
“It’s okay, no pressure. Maybe you can join us later.” He smiled at her, then jerked his thumb towards the group that they always took. “We’re going to get started. If you change your mind, you know where to find us.”
Penelope swallowed the guilt as she kept silent and watched them enter the room that would be their grave.
“Not easy, huh?” Jeru appeared in front of her as she looked away.
“Nobody stays dead until I beat this thing.” Penelope took a deep breath and turned back to the monsters. “I’ll figure out how to save them once I’m better at this.”
“You accepted that you’re going to die again?” Jeru clicked his tongue. “That was brutal last time. A mace to the face.” He grinned. “That sounds poetic.”
“Would you just be quiet and let me work?” Penelope waved him away. “I want to get this cleared before Ula’s group shows up.”
“Already got your favorites?” Jeru grinned. “Fine, I’ll let you get back to monster hunting.”
Penelope took a deep breath and focused on the Demonic Ant in front of her. She needed to keep moving so she didn’t think about letting those people die. With enough mana to cast six more times, she took off to the other end of the barrier and then stepped inside, firing a pair of spells the moment she was inside.
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DING!
Experience +30
You are now Level Two
Stats increased: Speed +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Arc
The last Demonic Ant went down, and she turned her attention to the Shadow Knight. She pointed at it with her right hand as she released all four casts of her new spell into its chest.
DING!
Experience +60
That left her with the mana for one more spell thanks to the level-up. Penelope looked up at the Ceiling Creeper. It took two hits to kill one, so she’d have to run around for a bit. It was far enough away that she could go over to the corpse of the Demon and retrieve the potions. She rolled the blue vial in her palm, then looked at the Shadow Essence drying out on the stone floor.
“Light Arc!”
She threw her last spell at the monster above her, then downed the metallic-tasting liquid.
“Light Arc!”
DING!
Experience +24
You are now Level Three
Stats increased: Recovery +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Ball
With the square cleared, she knelt down and put the Shadow Essence into the empty vial. Penelope started to carry the armor over to the entrance but decided to just take the longsword over when she went to retrieve her soda and peanuts. She put the sword in front of the entrance, pointing towards the armor that she’d stacked as well as she could.
It was going to be another fifteen minutes before Ula’s team arrived, and Penelope didn’t want to wait that long with full mana. She was going to try to catch them if she could, but this Shadow Caster was where the fights started getting harder.
A quick check of her stats confirmed that.
The Shadow Caster hadn’t pulled the minions back or spread them out, so she still had that going for her. She took a deep breath and stuck her hand through the barrier, except she didn’t aim at the monsters.
“Light Arc! Light Arc!”
Both hit the Shadow Caster, which stumbled as it tried to blast her hand with air.
Penelope ignored the cuts on the back of her hand. It was just a glancing blow compared to what she’d received last time.
“Light Arc!”
DING!
Experience +48
Penelope yanked back her hand as the first Demonic Ant reached her.
“Yes!” She pumped her fist. With enough mana for eleven spells, she had plenty to clear the square, but it was almost time for Ula’s group to enter.
Penelope ran across the cleared safe zone. Without anything to do but wait, her eyes wandered to where Oakley’s team was struggling against the enormous beetles and bats. Guilt hollowed a hole in her stomach as she tried not to think about what was minutes away from happening. She didn’t have to wait by the armor long.
“Hey!” There was a tingling in her chest as she waved at them. She pointed at the pile of armor. “You can use this!” She pointed at the room to the east. “The row closest to the wall is easiest!”
Penelope didn’t wait for them to say anything; she just turned and ran back to her barrier. The monsters were all waiting for her on the other side. When she reached the barrier, she turned and ran back the other way. Once she was far enough ahead of them, she ran into the barrier and didn’t stop until she was at the Shadow Caster’s corpse.
Penelope picked up the staff and pointed it at the Demonic Ants, firing her best spell. “Light Arc!”
DING!
Experience +18
Experience +18
Experience +18
You are now Level Four
Stats increased: Speed +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Bolt
New Class Unlocked!
Caster -> Greenhorn
New Passive Unlocked!
Doublecast
Not a single one of the six spells missed their mark. The staff helped to stabilize her casting, though she was starting to get the hang of it. With
With the main threats taken care of, she had enough time to pick up the silver necklace and put it on. The robe didn’t enhance her damage in any way, so she left it on the ground. She turned her attention to the two Ceiling Creepers.
“Light Bolt! Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
Experience +12
She glanced at her stats as she put on the robe and folded the pants.
Penelope put the Healing Potions in the left pocket and the Mana Potion in the right one. She didn’t have an empty vial at the moment to save the Shadow Essence, so she held it in the palm of her hand while she moved her stash. She left the Infernal Water with the rest of her stuff and allowed herself a small break before she was ready to do the next one.
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