The Shadow Caster stopped midswing.

  “Light Arc! Light Arc! Li-”

  The first one connected, but the second one went wide because she wasn’t aiming. The third one got interrupted because she had to dive out of the way to avoid the air spell. Penelope came up in a crouch and stole a glance at the ceiling to keep up with where those two monsters were. She didn’t want a repeat of dying to them again.

  ROAR!!!

  The tip of the staff moved to track her.

  “Light Ball!” The spell formed in Penelope’s right hand. She threw the ball at the Shadow Caster as she stood up and started running.

  The Demon moved out of the way to avoid getting hit, which meant it missed her as the wind went to Penelope’s right while she moved left.

  She looped around and started running the other way while the Shadow Caster oriented. There wasn’t a lot of room on the north side of the square before she’d be in the next room. Two Demonic Beetles and three Demonic Bats were attacking the barrier on that side. The hooded Demon leading them had a wicked dagger in its right hand and a claw in its left. It stalked behind the minions, ready to cut her apart if she crossed into its square.

  Given that the Shadow Caster was using wind, there was a good chance that she could get blown through the barrier if she took a direct hit, which was why she wanted to be closer to the center of the room.

  Each square was a little over five hundred feet wide, which gave Penelope plenty of space to move once she was away from the border. Two more blasts of wind followed her; the first went over her shoulder, but the second clipped her on the hip and almost knocked her over.

  Penelope’s fingers touched the stone floor as she tried to regain her balance. Her eyes widened as she realized that she’d been still for too long and the staff was pointed at her. She rolled forward and came up in a crouch as wind blew through the spot where her belly had been.

  “Light Arc!” She pointed with her right hand and caught a blast of wind to the chest. The air cut slices in her shirt and knocked her on her back.

  Penelope ignored the burning in her chest and how her green shirt now had finger-length holes in it as she rolled over. The exchange had also damaged the Shadow Caster, though the only visible effect was that it was angrier.

  ROAR!!!

  Two more blasts of wind forced her to move as the Shadow Caster started firing spells back-to-back. Penelope was able to dodge because of the distance between them. As long as she was moving and the staff was pointed at her, she wasn’t in the same place that the blasts hit.

  ROAR!!!

  The Shadow Caster changed from pointing the staff at her and moved it in front of her.

  Penelope skidded to a stop and twisted to run the other way. Three blasts of air cut through the direction she had been running.

  The Demon stomped toward her, but it was slower than she was. Penelope had been counting how many spells the Shadow Caster had used and was at eleven, counting the one right before she had entered the square. She didn’t know what its stats were, but it was reasonable to guess that it had close to the same stats that she did.

  Penelope rubbed her chest. She didn't want to take another one of those hits. She’d been fortunate that it hadn’t knocked the wind out of her, because if it had, then she’d be starting over. There was a part of her that had expected Jeru to start taunting her about it, but the blue Elf was still quiet.

  The tip of the Shadow Caster’s staff was pointed at the floor, but if she stopped moving, the Demon would lift up the staff, daring her to try to cast.

  Penelope bit her split lip; she couldn’t keep this up forever, but she was also confident that she had more mana than the Demon. She just needed to find a way to use that to her advantage.

  “Light Ball!” A sphere of light formed in her right hand. She smiled as the Shadow Caster lifted its staff and fired at her. They were about thirty feet apart, which was still enough space for her to move before she got cut.

  She threw the ball while moving; her aim wasn’t the greatest, but while the projectile was in the air, she pointed. “Light Arc! Light Arc!”

  The finger-sized projectiles traveled faster than she could throw the baseball-sized magic bombs. As soon as the Demon moved left to avoid the ball, she used the Shadow Caster’s leading scheme with her other spell. She missed with her first two spells, but the last one connected with the monster’s chest.

  A high-pitched scream sliced through her ears as the monster disintegrated.

  DING!

  Experience +48

  You are now Level Four

  Stats increased: Speed +1, Magic +1

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  You have learned: Light Bolt

  Penelope put her eyes on both Ceiling Creepers to make sure they weren’t going to drop on her head anytime soon, then took a moment to stop and catch her breath. While she waited, she pulled up her stats.

  That explains why I’m winded.

  Penelope looked back up at the monsters on the ceiling. “Might as well try it. Light Bolt!”

  A bolt of light zigzagged its way to the monster, leaving a continuous stream of magic between her finger and her target.

  “Cool, but it still takes more than one to kill it.” She tapped her cheek. “I wonder…” She shrugged. “I’ll have to try that out later. Light Bolt!”

  DING!

  Experience +12

  Penelope targeted the last monster and cast her new spell twice. The streak of light zigzagged as it closed the distance between them.

  DING!

  Experience +12

  The wall between her and the safe zone fell while the monster died. She walked over to her stash and ate the last of her peanuts and drank what remained of her soda on her way to check out the Shadow Caster’s corpse.

  “Jeru. Will you come out and explain this stuff to me?” She sighed. “I’m sorry I complained about dying.”

  The blue Elf appeared in front of her wearing a glare. He pointed at the pile without looking at it. “It has two mana potions and an infernal water. All the gear is common, which won’t provide any extra defense, but you’ll still want to put on the robe; it’ll protect your arms and head at least.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, the necklace is worth wearing too, and you should use the staff for casting.”

  Penelope picked up the spiked staff. The warm metal felt foreign under her fingers, yet right at the same time. She put it down so she could sit down and rifle through the rest of the pile.

  Under the robe was a pair of black pants and a belt. The potion strap was secured on that. Penelope set the strap to the side and held up the pants. “These are…”

  They looked like clown pants. The belt that kept them up was just a strip of cloth that had been tied in a knot. Penelope put both to the side and picked up the silver necklace. The silver curl was more of a decoration than a pendant, but she clasped the chain around her neck.

  As soon as the pendant hit her chest, she felt a warm sensation flow through her. She lifted the pendant with one hand to look at it. “Jeru, what did this just do?”

  “Pull up your interface and look.” He huffed, then vanished.

  “You don’t have to be rude.” Penelope shook her head, then called up the interface.

  “So it gives me more Magic and mana.” Penelope moved over to the gear tab. The space for neck showed that it was filled. On a whim, she reached over and grabbed the staff. The space for Main Hand was filled while Off-Hand was grayed out. Penelope closed the menu and picked up the robe. Long sleeves would cover her arms, while a hood would hide her head. The Shadow Demon had been taller than her, but the robe had only reached its knees. On the shorter woman, the fabric reached all the way down to her ankles. She grabbed the strip of cloth that the Demon had been using as a belt and tied it around her waist. Most of the front of the robe from the waist down was missing, but that just provided her with the freedom to move around.

  That left the pants as the only thing that she hadn’t pilfered, which she wasn’t going to put on. She slipped the potions into one of the robe’s pockets, folded up the pants, then looked at her equipment window.

  “Well.” Penelope stood up and looked at the next square to the west. “On to the next one.”

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