Penelope didn’t care, because she knew that with
The strange red glow covered the three Demonic Ants as they charged her. A
“Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
“Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
“Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
The Ceiling Creepers were too far away to be a threat, but she remembered that if she killed them second, she got less experience.
“Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
“Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
“Now it’s just you and me.” Penelope pointed the staff at the Demon.
“Light Bolt!”
She pulled out the Mana Potion and downed the repulsive liquid. “Light Bolt! Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +36
You are now Level Five
Stats increased: Recovery +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Orb
Penelope walked over to the pile of items and took the
She was making a lot better on the time as well.
A pang of guilt ran through her as she remembered Oakley’s team. She looked over at the square, but his team was already dead. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was nothing she could do about it this run.
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She turned to the last room on her side of the row. This wasn’t a fight that she was looking forward to, but none of them really were. They were just obstacles for her to get her life back.
Penelope found herself thinking about home and if she’d want to go back. This was an alien planet, which meant that there were a lot of unknowns for her to explore. She swallowed. Deciding if she wanted to stay would have to wait until she cleared the Dungeon.
“Okay.” She stepped through the barrier and pointed her staff at the monster. “Your turn.”
ROAR!
The four Demonic Ants ran towards her. Four
DING!
Experience +6
Experience +6
Experience +6
Experience +6
She stepped into range of the other Caster, who jabbed the wand in her direction.
“Light Bolt!” Penelope ignored the stings on her chest. “Light Bolt! Li-”
DING!
Experience +24
“Well, that was easy…” She looked up at the last demon and cast her current favorite spell once.
DING!
Experience +6
“Twenty more experience…” Penelope shook her head and closed the menu. She walked over to her stash and drank the last of her soda, put the three Shadow Essences she’d collected inside the empty bottle, then snacked on her peanuts as she walked to the loot pile.
She licked her lips as she put the half-eaten bag down. “Should’ve eaten those before I finished the soda.”
“You could drink the water if you’re thirsty.” Jeru spoke in her head.
“You want me to drink Infernal Water?” Penelope raised an eyebrow. “How do you think my body is going to handle water from the infernal plane?”
“If it kills you, then you’ll know next time.” The blue Elf chuckled. “Seriously though. It might taste bad, but it’s mostly harmless.”
“Mostly?”
“Smell it.” Mischief smothered every word.
Penelope opened one of the vials, but she didn’t have to bring it up to her nose to know what it smelled like.
“That’s sulfur water!” The rotten egg smell filled her nostrils. “I can’t drink that!”
“Sure you can. There are lots of people who drink sulfur water.” He hummed. “Isn’t there a city near where you live that you can get it out of the tap at the park?”
Penelope frowned. “I know what you’re talking about, but that’s gross.”
“Grosser than how thirsty you’re going to be in three days?”
Penelope looked at the vial in her hand. It held five ounces of liquid, which wasn’t going to get her anywhere close to the amount of fluids she’d need in three days. But the annoying Elf had a point. She was going to need fluids.
She pinched her nose and drained the vial. The familiar metallic taste filled her mouth, but it didn’t make her gag, which was a plus. She hated that Jeru had been right and it did quench her thirst.
“Ha-Ha Ha! Told you.”
“You were right. Now quit reading my thoughts.” Penelope put the rest of the items down and clutched the wand.
She suppressed a shiver as she looked at the next square. She had the same tools that she’d had last time but hadn’t thought of a way to not get overwhelmed before the Demons were on her. Once they reached her, she was done.
“You don’t have to do the same room.” Jeru’s voice had grown serious.
Penelope looked at the next room over. The Shadow Caster over there was red with a staff that burned with fire on the end. Its red eyes were locked onto her. Casters had been the hardest Demon for her to take head-on, but that wasn’t what made the room more enticing.
There were only three Demonic Beetles. It was still more than the Demonic Bats, but she only needed two kills to take her to level six, where she would get an AoE spell that could deal with the chargers.
“You’re helping me now?” Penelope gave one quick glance at the Shadow Warrior before she started walking east.
“I didn’t tell you anything.” Jeru scoffed. “Just pointing out that there are other options. How do you know I wasn’t talking about joining Ula’s group or taking on one of the other rooms?”
Penelope’s heart sped up at the thought of joining a group. She shook her head. She was fine with staying solo until she wasn’t able to push forward. Only then would she think about joining up.
She looked at the other two squares. To keep things straight, she assigned each row the number of the level of the monsters, then going from west to east, she alphabetized them. The Shadow Warrior was in 2A and the Shadow Caster was in 2B.
2C had a Shadow Assassin that hadn’t stopped spinning the blades in its hands every few seconds. It was like it had too much coffee and needed an outlet for all the energy inside it.
2D was led by a Shadow Swordsman. A menacing spectral aura emanated off of its armor, while the core of the sword’s blade would pulse every few seconds with a dull red glow.
The assassin was the least enticing to her, especially since it had four of the Demonic Beetles with it. The Warrior was a much better option since it had three of the bugs like the Caster.
The only reason why Penelope wanted to do the Caster first was because of the possible loot. The Warrior wasn’t going to give her anything that she could use.
“How do you know that?” Jeru interrupted her brainstorming.
Penelope shook her head. “What could a Power-type monster have that I need?”
“A ring of Speed?”
“Does it?” She turned to look at the barrier. At least the faint reflection in the magic let her feel like she was talking to someone instead of herself.
“Hey!” The blue Elf appeared in front of her. “You ask for my help and then treat me like a hallucination?”
Penelope eyed him. “You were the one bragging about knowing where everything was on the first floor.” She folded her arms. “So answer the question. Does it have something that I can use?”
Jeru sighed. “Fine. No, the item that it has is a Sword of Power. The rest is just defensive gear that you’re not strong enough to wear.”
“See?” She motioned at squares 2B and 2C. “What about those?”
The blue Elf raised an eyebrow as he rubbed his chin. “Caster has Magic Sandals. Assassin has a Speed Ring.”
“So both would be helpful.” She nodded at the monster that had killed her on the last run. “And that one?”
“Greaves of Power.” He folded his arms. “Are you done with the encyclopedia of Jeru?”
“Do you have anything else helpful that you’ll tell me?”
Her answer was the Elf vanishing.
She would level in the next square, but then it would take two more to level again. Penelope stopped in the middle of the barrier to 2B. She might as well give herself the best advantage that she could.
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