Her problem the last time had been staying in the same spot for too long. While the Demonic Beetles could take a beating, they couldn’t change direction on the fly once they started charging. By heading in a circle, she was able to keep them from boxing her in.
She had to keep one eye on the ceiling to make sure the Demonic Bats weren’t about to attack her. After the initial movement of the Demonic Beetles, the entire cluster was staying near the middle of the square, all six sets of eyes focused on her.
Penelope flicked her wand towards the group of monsters. “Light Orb! Light Orb! Light Orb!”
The three main orbs were each followed by a smaller version thanks to
The monsters on the ground split, with a Demonic Beetle arcing to her right to get around the three projectiles, while the third one backed up behind the Demon.
“Light Bolt! Light—” Penelope fired a spell at the one on her left but changed targets when both Demonic Bats swooped down towards her.
…Bolt! Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
“Light Bolt!” She missed with two of the three and had to roll to her left to avoid the flying monster. She changed her target back to the wounded Demonic Beetle. “Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +12
You are now Level Six
Stats increased: Speed +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Blast
Penelope spun around and pointed the wand at the attacking Demonic Bat.
“Light Blast!”
DING!
Experience +6
A fireball hit her left shoulder, burning a hole in the fabric of the black robe and her green shirt. When Penelope turned back to Shadow Caster, she saw another fireball flying over the third Demonic Beetle that was now charging straight for her.
Penelope ducked out of the way of the spell, then backed out of range of the Shadow Caster. She had a charging Demonic Beetle in front of her and one on her right that was almost on her. She didn’t need to have to worry about dodging fireballs as well. The problem was that backing up was boxing her into the southwest corner.
“Light Bolt!” She fired behind her as she ran northwest as best she could. Once the Demonic Beetles started charging, she couldn’t outrun them, and if they were chasing behind her, she couldn’t rotate enough to throw them off of her.
The Shadow Caster mirrored her move and shot a pair of fireballs towards her, forcing her to back up. The Demonic Beetle coming at her from the middle began to arc from the north, giving her an opening if she charged to the middle, but that would move her into range of the Caster and block off her exit.
Penelope rotated her left arm in front of her, holding her hand open with the thumb pointed towards the ground as she backed away from the spells. She pointed the wand at the wounded Demonic Beetle to her right and waited until her spell would hit both of the monsters.
“Light Blast!”
DING!
Experience +6
Penelope slid her left palm along the horn of the dead monster and pushed. She was still spun by the faster-moving monster, but the roadrash was worth putting the dead Demonic Beetle in between her and the last living one.
She pulled a Healing Potion out of her left pocket and downed the spicy liquid. She dropped the empty vial as she scrambled out of the way of the rolling corpse as the remaining Demonic Beetle crashed into the dead one.
Penelope pointed her wand at the monster as she scooted away from the rolling corpse. The monsters were the size of a large dog, but they weighed over four hundred pounds. Having one roll on top of her wouldn’t kill her, but it’d hurt.
“Light Blast!”
DING!
Experience +6
The rolling monster slowed enough that Penelope was able to scoot out of the way as it continued for a few more rolls until it hit the barrier. As much as she wanted to celebrate her victory, the fight wasn’t over.
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A quick check of her mana showed that there was fourteen left, which was enough if she didn’t miss. She brushed herself off as she stood up.
There was a mana potion in reserve if she ran out, but the Demon had her cornered, which pushed that worry to the bottom of the list. She could run either direction, but that would put her in the range of the Shadow Caster without anywhere to retreat. There was more room to her right, but that put her closer to being in the corner, which was a really bad place to fight from.
Without a good way to attack and fade, Penelope gritted her teeth and charged.
“Light Bolt! Light- UGH!” A fireball hit her in the chest, slowing her progress. “...Bolt!”
The spell didn’t activate, and fire burned away more of her robe.
Penelope watched the Demon and waited until it shot another fireball. She hopped to her right. “Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +24
The barrier behind her went down, letting her know that the fight was over. Penelope peeled out of her damaged robe as she walked over to the dead Caster. She put the Shadow Essence in the empty vial, then lifted up the red robe.
“It says that, but it doesn’t have any damage to it.” Penelope shoved one of her arms through the sleeve, then wrapped it around herself and tied it with the belt. This Demon had the same potions as the others, which gave her two Mana Potions and four Healing Potions. The Infernal Water went next to her damaged robe that she’d folded. She folded the red pants and put them on the robe. All that was left were the sandals.
Penelope’s feet were small enough that she was able to slide the sandals on over her shoes, but when she pulled up her interface, it still had her footwear listed as sneakers.
“You can’t stack gear like that.” Jeru clicked his tongue. “I mean, from a defensive point, if you wanted to put on all of those robes, you’d get some insulation from attacks, but the bonuses that gear provides only applies to the layer closest to your skin.”
“You mean I have to stick my feet in those?” Penelope wrinkled her nose.
“You’re going to do worse before this is over.” The blue Elf chuckled. “Which would you rather do: stick your feet in a Demon’s shoes or get burned?” He nodded at her chest that was still warm from the fireball.
“Ugh!” Penelope slipped off her sneakers and began lacing up the sandals so they would fit her smaller feet. She kept her socks on because she didn’t want to feel the surface of the footwear with her bare feet.
The straps helped to fit the sandals tight so that she wouldn’t slip when she ran. She gathered up the loose items and brought them over to her stash and added her loot to the pile. With another square down, she turned her attention to what she needed to do next. Penelope pulled up her stats.
“That’s eighteen minutes until my mana is full.” Penelope touched her stomach. She was starting to feel hungry, but she’d already eaten all of her food. “Jeru. I can drink the water I get off of Demons, but what am I supposed to eat?”
“What are you talking about?” Jeru swept his hand over the cleared rooms. “There’s food all over the place.”
Penelope paled even more than her skin tone. “You want me to eat monsters?”
“You eat cows.” He raised an eyebrow. “It’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not!” Her hunger turned into nausea. “Those are… Those are…”
“Free meat?” Jeru chuckled.
“BUGS!” Penelope found the word that had been eluding her. “How do you expect me to eat bugs? Are they even safe to eat?”
“You’ll want to cook it well, but you’ve got your light magic, so that won’t be a problem.”
“Won’t be a…” She shook her head. “There’s got to be something else.” She pointed at the other rooms. “Are you telling me that none of those Demons brought anything to eat?”
Jeru grimaced, then sighed and nodded towards the square that Oakley’s group had attacked. The only sign that there had been anyone in there was a shoe that one of the Demonic Bats was gnawing on. Otherwise, there was no trace of the humans.
Penelope turned green.
“They planned on letting their beasts eat the people in the city above.” Jeru shrugged. “Why not do the same to them?”
“Because…” She groaned. “Is there at least something out there that isn’t a bug?”
“Demonic Frogs are in the fifth row. Demonic Boars are in the ninth, and Demonic Rabbits are in the tenth.” He eyed her. “At the rate you’re going, you’re not going to make it that deep before the hunger starts distracting you.”
With each square taking her twenty minutes to clear, it would take her seven hours to clear her half up to the fifth row. It’d been just before eight in the morning when she’d been taken, which would be around five in the afternoon for her. That was like a day where she skipped lunch, except she’d also skipped breakfast that morning for a quick snack. And the squares were going to take longer the farther she went.
Penelope sighed as she relented that Jeru had a point. Not that she was going to tell him that.
The smile that spread across his face reminded her that he could hear her thoughts.
“I’m going to keep going.” She took a Mana Potion out of her pocket. It would top off her mana, and she could keep fighting as long as she had one in reserve.
Penelope looked to the square to the north. “What loot does that one have?”
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