They spent the next few days breaking apart items and gear.

  The moment they hit level ten in salvaging, Krek gathered up all the supplies and left the room. The yellow Goblin hadn’t said anything that didn’t pertain to breaking apart gear or items. His quiet and straightforward demeanor allowed them to hit their target in less than the three days they’d allotted.

  The next Goblin, Sibak Bisabar, took a very similar approach. By the end of the fifth day, they’d reached level ten in jewelry making.

  On the morning of the sixth day, they were brought into the kitchen instead of the solitary back room. A bald orange man with pointy ears greeted them.

  “You’re my newest aides?” He looked down at them. “I bet you’ll burn water!” He threw back his head as he laughed.

  “I’m Penelope Flynn.” Penelope stepped forward and offered the big man her hand. How does someone so tall and large fly? She looked at his shoulders. There was no bulge under his shirt and no wing on his back.

  “Their wings hug their bodies like a tattoo. While they might be thin, they’re very strong. Also, even though he’s over six feet tall and would weigh nearly three hundred pounds if he were Human, I’d bet he weighs less than you.”

  So he’s like a bird? Penelope tried not to look away as the large man gripped her hand. Despite the lightness of his hand, it was unnaturally firm.

  “Zazzle Norjey.” He glanced at the other two. “You’re the noobs the lady sent?” He took back his hand and gestured at the smooth silver surfaces. “You’re going to help us keep the buffet topped off.” He chuckled as he walked by the ranges. “Things are about to start moving fast, so you’ve got to keep up. We’ll keep you on the easy stuff, like mixing and gathering ingredients for the others. Once you get the hang of things, we can move you to things that will get burnt if you do it wrong.” He sighed. “The lady said I’ve only got you for three days, so I’ll pound as much knowledge as I can into you.” He slammed his fist into his palm.

  A group of hairless, orange people entered the kitchen. Each one carrying vegetables, grains, and various other ingredients.

  A knife was put in her hand and Penelope was guided over to a sink. One of the Sively dumped a basket of potatoes into one side, then hurried away to give Rendhe her task. Penelope looked at the crude knife in her hand and tested its sharpness with her finger.

  “You’d think they’d have better tools.” Jeru clicked his tongue. “Though they probably don’t trust you with the good stuff.”

  At least I can make my own. Penelope squeezed just enough mana into her spell to create a single knife. She altered the style of the blade to be curved, then went about her task of peeling the brown vegetables.

  The day became a swarm of chaos that melted into the next, then the next. By the time they got back to the house at night, they were all too tired to do anything more than go straight to bed.

  On the morning after their last day, Penelope opened her menu to look at her level in cooking.

  Fourteen. She closed the menu and looked over at Circe. The brunette was still snoring in her bed, the first rays of light illuminating the room enough that Penelope could make out her friend’s features. My levels are going to keep going up and theirs are going to reset every time. She sighed and rolled onto her back. It doesn’t seem fair.

  “There’s a way to give each of them a boost in their job experience.” Jeru floated above her. “Whoever is within close proximity to you when you reset will find that they learn jobs a little easier on the next run.”

  Seriously? When did you figure that out?

  “Honestly, it was you.” The blue man chuckled. “Against my better judgement, Nate decided to tell you everything about the loop. You began observing the changes and having him record how things progressed between different resets. After a while, he realized that he wasn’t the one who was really being the looper; you were.” Sadness crept into his voice. “But you were limited on what you could experiment with during each loop and resetting all the way to the beginning forced him to have to spend precious time bringing you up to speed, which limited what you were capable of.”

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  That’s why he chose me to be his successor? Penelope closed her eyes as she thought back to the first loop she could remember. She winced as her neck pinched in phantom pain. Her hand grabbed the side of her neck where the man who had claimed to have loved her had stabbed her.

  “He tried to give you the card a couple times.” Jeru swallowed. “He tried to guide you through the Dungeon floors and teach you everything he could remember, but once you knew the cost, you wouldn’t let him do it. After a couple full resets, he finally decided that the only way to turn things over to you was to just force a reset at the very beginning.”

  Couldn’t he have guided me after he gave me the card? Penelope opened her eyes and looked at the Elf.

  “Until there’s a reset, the card doesn’t actually bond with the person’s soul. So even though he gave you the card, you would always give it back to him.” He shook his head. “You were adamant that you could find a way to save him and figure out how to finish the last floor, but…” His voice trailed off. “That last floor… we both knew you had to be the looper to solve it.”

  What do you mean? To solve it?

  “The floors begin to add mechanics and the last floor begins to respawn the Demons within the squares after a few days. To make matters worse, the boss room moves around, so it’s impossible to run straight to the boss room. We only found it once and it moved again before everyone could get gathered. And since the Demons respawn on the last floor…”

  When the timer runs out, we get overwhelmed. Penelope coughed as she choked. How am I supposed to figure this out?

  “You thought there was a pattern to how the squares moved around and how long it took each square to respawn.” Jeru shrugged. “I tried remembering what I could of it, but I didn’t see the pattern you were talking about.”

  Great, so I’ve got an unsolved puzzle waiting for me on the last floor. Penelope grumbled as she rolled over to face the wall. Her inner thoughts became a jumble of feelings that she couldn’t name. Guilt rose to the surface of all of them.

  “You didn’t kill him.” Jeru answered before she could give a voice to the question. “He knew what he was doing and what it would likely cost him.” The blue man shrunk down to a couple inches tall and landed on her bed in front of her face. “He chose to believe that you could end this and he was willing to pay the ultimate price to give you the best chance to do that.”

  And that is part of what is weirding me out. Penelope rubbed her eyes. I don’t know what to think about him. He’s someone who gave me this incredible burden. I’ve never had feelings for anyone, so I don’t understand how he would be willing to throw his life away just to help me. A tear rolled down her cheek. I want to hate him. I feel like he took advantage of me, but if he loved me that much, how couldn’t I have loved him back at some point?

  “Love is weird.” Jeru touched her cheek, the water rolling through his incorporeal hand. “And just because you don’t remember it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.” He sighed. “And I get how you might feel violated.” He pointed at the woman lying on the bed behind Penelope. “Just like she’s likely to feel violated that you have all of these memories of her that she doesn’t, but that’s a burden for you to bear to protect your people.”

  What do I tell them?

  The blue Elf shrugged. “Nothing. Your knowledge of things they do in loops that you erase will shape how you view them. You’ll never be able to trust Dawson again because of what he did to Ula and Oakley, but there are routes forward where he could be a valuable ally.” Jeru sat down on the bed in front of her face. “You also get to pick futures where some people are the best versions of themselves. It brings up the debate of whether or not you’re able to control people since you’re able to pick which future to save.”

  That’s too much responsibility.

  “Which is why you’re the best person for the responsibility.” Jeru shrugged. “You may get overwhelmed by people, but you do care about them. I have no doubt that the future you choose to follow will be one where everyone becomes the best version of themselves that they want to be and not the version that you choose for them.”

  Penelope let his words sink in. The responsibility was so great. She touched her neck again, remembering the pain of Nate’s knife, then the pain of being gored. Each mark that should have left a scar on her body was hidden under smooth skin. Her body bore no marks, but her mind remembered them all.

  How many other marks have I forgotten?

  She sat up and shook her head. What happened before she became a looper was like something that happened to another person. All she had at the moment was the memories she’d collected and the direction she was headed.

  One last class. She swallowed as she swung her legs off the bed. Let’s get this over with.

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