The screen changed.
“That’s not the one you want to be on.” Jeru sighed, and the screen shifted.
“There we go! Light Pulse and the Light Affinity passive.” His voice took on a singsong tone. “Now we just need to get you into the Dungeon, and you can start using your magic.” There was something about the way he spoke that hinted at jealousy.
Penelope closed the menu with a thought and looked across the empty parking lot. “Do I need to go now?"
“There’s four days on the timer. The longer you stay out here, the less loot there is for you to pick up in there.”
“There’s loot?” She took a deep breath.
“Of course there’s loot! Every one of the captains is wearing something worth picking up. The good news is that they don’t respawn like your typical Dungeon, bad news is that no respawns means limited loot and experience.”
“Right.” Penelope shook her hands. “How hard can this be?”
For once Jeru was silent, which was more telling than anything he could have said.
Penelope walked out of the bushes and hurried across the open space. She stayed close to the right side of the wall as she walked down the alley, the noise of the arguing crowd getting louder the closer she got.
She slipped over to the left side of the alley and stopped at the end of the building. The shouts were inaudible, but there was a big guy in a butcher’s smock shoving a woman that was half his size, except she wasn’t budging. Penelope couldn’t hear what they were yelling about, but a large part of the crowd was watching the pair.
The distraction was what she needed to slip over to the large door. She stole a glance up at the countdown as she passed under it.
3:22:54:25
A chill shot through her body as the magic of the door let her through. Electricity played on her skin as the cold washed over her.
Penelope blinked as soon as she was on the other side. The sounds of grunting, screaming, and dull thuds hit her ears before she could take in the sight. The air was damp and had the smell of a dirty basement. Once she adjusted to the noise, she was able to look around.
Barriers split the underground like a checkerboard, which helped to provide some light in an otherwise dark place. The floor itself resembled a basement, complete with stone floors and walls. Ten-foot-high ceilings looked down at the groups of giant ant monsters that were trapped in each square, to her left and right.
A nameplate floated above the monsters on her left, like a gamertag.
Demonic Ant
“528-foot-long walls for each square. Each floor has ten squares in each direction.” Jeru’s voice burst with pride. “Since you’re about to ask. And here’s a handy little map!”
An image appeared in front of her.
“I even put cardinal directions on it for you!” The Elf sounded pleased with himself for adding that feature.
“Thanks…” The sound of fighting pulled her attention and drowned the rest of her response.
The entrance took up two squares and was flanked on each side by squares. A group of four and a group of three fighting against Demonic Beetles in the two squares in front of the shielded area around the entrance. Each Demonic Beetle was bigger than a wolf and had different patterns of red and black on their chitin. Their horn was forked like a mutated horned beetle on steroids. Commanding each group of Demonic Beetles was a Demon that looked like they were made completely out of shadows. The one on the left was healing the Demonic Beetles that were fighting for it, while the one on the right was shooting arrows at the people in the square.
“They’re going to die.” Jeru sounded remorseful at the declaration. “Six hundred humans, and only seven come down here in the first hour.”
“Should I help them?" Penelope looked at her right hand. She was regretting not spending more time learning how to use the spell that she’d learned.
“Not unless you want to reset.” The Elf returned to his snarky self. “You need to go west.”
“Why?” Penelope winced as a group of man-sized Demonic Bats with three-foot wingspans dropped off of the ceiling to swarm the group on the left. The group on the right watched in horror as the other group died, only to add their own screams as the monsters didn’t stop just because they were distracted.
In less than a minute, Penelope was the only human on the floor.
“They died…”
“Yep, don’t worry; it happens all the time. Once you reset, they’ll be ready to die all over again, just like everybody else. Death is just as common as life in a time loop.”
After a moment of silence to let her process the mortal danger the monsters posed to those who weren’t ready, the blue Elf answered her earlier question. “Because you don’t want to fight level twos by yourself.” Jeru clicked his tongue somehow despite not being visible. “The ants and worms are easier to fight, plus there’s an item up there that you’ll want.”
“How do you know that?” Penelope crossed her arms in front of her. “I thought you said that it was impossible to tell where things were going to be.”
“I know where all the pieces are going to start.” Jeru corrected her. “I don’t know where they are going to move once everything starts progressing.”
“So you’re saying you know that all of those shadow things are wearing at least one good piece of loot because—”
“Because I’ve been with someone who has killed each of them.” The Elf sighed after he interrupted her. “And this isn’t like those games that you have in your world. If you poke a hole in the armor, it’s broken, so try not to be too violent.”
“Ri-i-ight.” Penelope looked at the group of four Demonic Ants that were attacking the barrier to the west. They were the same size as the Demonic Beetles and had the same red and black patterns. “One more thing. How do I use this spell?”
“Just point and say the name.” Jeru sounded smug. “With the Mantles, you don’t have to worry about learning the fundamentals of magic, you just have to point and speak. The Mantle takes care of everything else for you.”
“Point and…” Penelope pointed at the monsters on the other side of the barrier. “Light Pulse!”
A single pulse of light shot out of her finger and washed against the barrier.
“What are you doing!?” Jeru screamed in her ear, though it was probably just in her mind, but her head still throbbed. “Are you trying to turn them loose on the town!?”
“Sorry.” Penelope stuck her hands in her pockets and walked over to the barrier that she’d just shot. There wasn’t any indication that anything had been damaged on her side, which both relieved and worried her.
“Are you sure I can do this?” She reached out her hand to touch the barrier. Her hand went through it with no resistance.
The shadow demon screeched something, and the Demonic Ants scurried over to where she was.
Penelope pulled her hand back and stared at the Shadow. The metal armor covering it gave it the look of a knight. The long metal sword added to the lethal glare its glowing red eyes held.
“It’s like reading your favorite book. Every time is easier, and you learn a little more.” The incorporeal Elf tried to cheer her on. “Just don’t let them get close to you.”
Penelope tried to scowl at him, though that was difficult when he was just a voice in her head. She wasn’t going to walk through the barrier where she was, not with four Demonic Ants on the other side. They moved with her as she tried to go to her right, then to her left. Since outmaneuvering them wasn’t going to work, she took off in a sprint and was able to outpace the monsters. Before she reached the end of the wall, she moved through the barrier and pointed her right index finger at the monsters that were running at her.
“Light Pulse, Light Pulse, Light Pulse!” Her first two missed, but the last one hit the Demonic Ant in front in the face. It stumbled back, but the other three didn’t stop running at her.
Penelope hopped to her right to get back into the safe zone, but she bounced off the barrier and fell on her rear.
“Seriously!?” She tried to get to her feet, but the Demonic Ants were on her before she got up.
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