Frederica and Judah were busy attacking the dead beetles, and Oakley was having trouble getting into the gear by himself. With the first group distracted, she was free to point Ula’s group east, then she proceeded with her usual run.
Penelope killed the Shadow Healer in 1B first to level to five. After that, she mopped up the minions and collected her loot. Instead of the point in Recovery, she got a point in Aura, which wasn’t where she wanted to put points, but she had done a lot of talking between level four and five.
She moved into 1A, killed the lesser demons, then the Shadow Caster. It was annoying to have to dodge the thorns, but she wanted the extra experience when she hit level six.
Penelope got her point of Recovery here like normal, but her total Recovery was sitting at nine, so she didn’t have any of her other passives. She had
2A was simple to clear, but before she could move to 2B, Oakley’s group walked up to her.
“Fighting without us?” Frederica glared at the younger woman.
“You can have the gear.” Penelope tossed the Leg Guards towards the blonde woman.
The tennis skirt Frederica was wearing left her legs bare. While it allowed her to move around better, it also left her exposed to attacks.
The older woman held up the leather pants. “You want me to wear this?”
Penelope shrugged. “You’re the only one who can benefit from it; if you don’t want to wear it, then don’t.”
Frederica glared at the younger woman before sitting down and taking her shoes off.
Penelope started moving towards 2B, but Oakley headed her off. “We can help, you know.”
Penelope looked from Oakley to Judah. “How much is he missing?”
“I hit it every time!” The other man puffed out his chest.
“From ten feet away.” Frederica grumbled as she pulled the pants up.
“The point is.” Oakley cut in. “That you can help us and we can help you, if you’ll let us.”
Penelope closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the deal.” She looked at the Tank. “I get first pick of all the magical gear and all of the Mana Potions.”
“Why do you get all the Caster gear?” Judah looked from Penelope to Oakley. “I should get some!”
“Because.” Penelope didn’t look at the other Caster. “Right now, I can speedrun you through these rooms, but to do that, I need gear. Once I’m geared out, it’ll make getting gear for the rest of you easier.”
Oakley held out his hand. “Deal.”
“You can’t be serious!” Frederica finished putting her shoes back on and stood up. “You’re just going to let her have whatever she wants?”
The Tank shrugged. “She’s given you a weapon and pants; I would’ve thought you’d be happy to get more free stuff.”
“But…” Frederica’s shoulders sagged. She glared at Penelope. “Fine.”
“I don’t like it.” Judah crossed his arms.
Penelope shrugged. “Then go practice more on the dead monsters until you can clear the rooms by yourself.”
The other Caster grumbled under his breath, but didn’t walk away.
Penelope nodded at 2B. “Alright, let’s do this one next.” She didn’t wait for the others to agree; she walked past Oakley and entered the square.
“ARRRGG!!!” Oakley roared as she started running.
The Demonic Beetles switched to the Tank, which also changed Penelope’s strategy. Without them bunched up on her, she wouldn’t be able to use
“Light Bolt! Light Bolt!” Penelope took down the closest beetle to her.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
DING!
Experience +1.5
“Wow.” Penelope shook her head. The experience that she gained by being part of a team was a lot smaller than what she was used to.
“Shadow Strike!” Frederica stabbed a beetle only for her sword to bounce off.
“Fireball!!!” Judah shot his spell... and missed.
Penelope shook her head and turned her attention to the Shadow Caster. Oakley would be able to hold off the two beetles until after she took care of the Demon.
Penelope ran towards the group in the middle and pointed her wand up at the ceiling. “Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +1.5
One of the two Demonic Bats fell down while the other one tried to fly away. Penelope could have dropped it, but in order to maximize the experience for the others, the Demon had to go next.
She dodged a fireball and flicked her wand. The
“Light Bolt! Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +6
With the Demon dead, the bat turned around and swooped at her, only to fall to another cast of
DING!
Experience +1.5
Penlope looked over at the cluster around the other group. The beetles had gotten into melee range of Oakley, which negated the monster’s strongest attack. The Tank was holding his own and keeping them at bay while Frederica kept hacking at the one she’d chosen to try to kill. Judah was still trying to land a hit on the other beetle, but he was learning that hitting a moving target wasn’t as easy as hitting a stationary one.
Penelope walked over to the item pile and picked up the Red Shadow Sandals, the potion sling, and collected the
DING!
Experience +1.5
Penelope looked at the notification and turned to see who had claimed the kill. Frederica was standing over the body of one of the beetles while Judah was just staring at the one he’d been trying to hit.
Penelope shook her head and walked towards them. As soon as she was in range, she pointed her wand at the last monster.
“Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +1.5
It only needed one of her spells to kill it since Judah had managed to land one of his spells.
The barrier came down, and the trio collapsed.
Penelope sat down and started putting the sandals on.
“You make it look so easy.” Oakley took off his helmet and walked over to her.
Penelope just nodded as she put on the footwear. Once she was done, she pulled the Healing Potion out of the sling and offered it to the Tank.
“No comment?” The young man teased as he took the vial.
Penelope fought to keep her lungs from breathing too fast. “They’ll get there.” She nodded at 3C. “Hang back a bit until I take care of the Demon, then you can help mop up the minions.”
“You can’t be serious!” Frederica stood up. “My stamina is still in the single digits!”
“You just have to be in the square; you don’t have to fight.” Penelope looked at the blonde woman. “You’ll get some upgrades after this next fight.”
“So are we just going to keep doing fight after fight without any rest?” Judah whined.
“It’s been just over two and a half hours.” Penelope looked up from her menu. “We have to do this for five years.” She waved her hand towards the boss room to the north. “If we don’t clear this Dungeon, then a lot of people are going to die.” She shook her head. “After we finish this floor, we can go out there and get backup, but right now, there are only eight of us in here, so it’s up to us.” She shrugged. “If you’re not up to it, then you can sit next to the barrier while the rest of us fight.”
Penelope started walking towards the barrier between 2B and 2C.
Oakley walked up beside her and put on his helmet. “Come on, you two, you can rest while you’re getting experience!”
Frederica grumbled as she walked over with Judah on her heels.
“Stay back until I deal with this Demon.” Penelope took a deep breath, then ran through the barrier. The Shadow Assassin eyed her as she ran the beetles on a chase until they clumped up. As soon as they were close enough, she unleashed her spell.
“Light Blast! Light Blast!”
DING!
Experience +1.5
Experience +1.5
Experience +1.5
Experience +1.5
She waited until the familiar moment that the Demon did its
“Light Blast! Light Blast!”
DING!
Experience +6
She turned and pointed her wand at the bat that was only a few feet away from her.
“Light Blast!”
DING!
Experience +1.5
Penelope walked over to the item pile and picked up the
“It’s all yours.”
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