Penelope checked the time.

  Ula’s group was in 2H, which gave her an hour before they were going to finish the second column. It was approaching noon if Penelope’s time hadn’t been interrupted, and the peanuts had only taken the edge off her hunger as a replacement for breakfast.

  Penelope looked north at the next room. Demonic Turtles as big as her sedan and Demonic Lizards that were three feet tall at the shoulder waited for her in the next column. The Shadow Knight glared at her from behind its shield.

  “You should work on getting food.” Jeru motioned at the frog. “Not much on it worth eating other than the back legs, but it's white meat.”

  “Yeah…” Penelope glanced to her right and left. “Is there anything else I could use in this column?”

  “The archer over there has a crossbow that will shoot projectiles made out of magic.” The blue Elf motioned at 5E. “But that doesn’t seem like your combat style.” He gestured at 5C. “A necklace over there that gives a point of Recovery and electric resistance.” Jeru shrugged. “After that is a War Hammer and a metal helmet. Nothing really worth focusing on.”

  Penelope nodded. “Let’s wait on clearing anything more here until I’ve got a better source of fluids.” She looked southeast. “Which means I need to get that ring.”

  “Dawson isn’t going to like it.” The blue Elf warned. “He can be very territorial about Caster gear.”

  “What do you suggest?” She looked at the incorporeal companion.

  “Easiest way is going to be a trade.” Jeru pointed southwest. “There’s a belt he’ll want in 3B, though the knight there is going to be tough even with your torrent spell.”

  “It’s going to take them another hour before they finish the second column, so I’ve got time.” She took a deep breath and started jogging towards 4C. “What’s special about this one?”

  Jeru floated beside her. “The archer has a crossbow that fires thorns that drain your mana and give it back to the Shadow.” He looked over at her. “I don’t have to tell you that you don’t want to get hit.”

  “Use the shield, got it.” Penelope hefted the metal barrier as she moved. If her Power had been higher, she wouldn’t have as much trouble carrying it, but that wasn’t something she was going to be able to fix any time soon.

  “Also, it can tank spells better than anything else you’ve fought so far, so don’t expect to hit it twice and win.” He thought for a moment. “On the other hand, there are four crows, so you won’t have to worry about minions as much.”

  “Anything else to watch for?” Penelope stopped at the northeast corner of 4C.

  “Treat it like that metal caster, and you shouldn’t have a problem.”

  Penelope nodded, took a deep breath, then walked into 4C.

  “Light Torrent!”

  Four appeared behind her as she brought the shield in front of her. The monsters seemed surprised for a moment as she approached them, then the demonic Centipede charged.

  A flick of her wrist was all it took to kill it with one of the .

  Penelope stepped to the side and hunkered behind the shield as the body of the giant bug rolled past her.

  CLINK! POP!

  Magic projectiles bounced off the shield, letting her know that she was close enough to hit the Shadow Shooter. Penelope flicked her wand again and sent the last three of her projectiles in the direction of the shooting.

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  “Light Torrent!”

  Four more , each with their miniature copy, appeared behind her. Those she sent at the crows that were trying to get behind her.

  CLINK! CLINK!

  The birds fell out of the air as her spells connected, leaving her with only the Shadow Demon. More bolts of magic bounced off her shell as she maintained her sheltered march. A few peeks let her know that the Demon was trying to stay out of her range, like the minions in the last room, but that was just a matter of backing it up until the Shadow Shooter was out of room, then Penelope could finish it off.

  ROAR!

  The Demon charged, unleashing a barrage of shots in her direction.

  “Light Torrent!”

  Penelope flicked her wand, sending the projectiles to intercept the advancing Demon.

  DING!

  Experience +12

  The barrier to the east fell to merge with the rest of the safe zone.

  Penelope walked over to the loot pile and collected the potions and . She put the Healing Potion in her left pocket and the Mana Potion in her right. The and vial with the slime leftover from the Shadow Demon went on the potion sling, which she tied on her belt. It wasn’t the best way to carry the extra items, but until she got a bag, it was the best system that she’d found.

  Penelope opened her menu and looked at the weapon.

  “Six percent?” Penelope looked over at Jeru. “That’s new.”

  “The Earthen War Hammer had eight percent.” The blue Elf shrugged. “Some gear is better than others. The belt is better than anything you’ve seen so far.”

  “That’s why Dawson will trade the ring for it?” Penelope glanced east.

  Ula’s group had just started 2G and after that they had 2F to finish all of the squares in the second column.

  “He’ll…” Jeru sighed. “He’ll think it’s his outright because it’s poison gear. It doesn’t matter that it’s a utility belt and not for a Caster, but he only sees the shiny and—”

  “Wait. A utility belt? Like with pouches?” Penelope stopped walking south.

  “Your pockets will work fine; the pouches aren’t that big.” He shrugged. “Though having access to potions without having to dig for them is nice.”

  “Giving it to him isn’t going to come back and haunt us, is it?” Penelope glanced over at Ula’s group, then hurried towards the barrier separating her from 3C.

  “He’s someone that I regret bringing here.” Jeru sighed. “But I needed humans, and there were a limited number I could pull from Earth without messing up the timeline too much.”

  “Didn’t you coming back mess up the timeline?”

  The blue Elf winced. “More people died when the University fell because I wasn’t there, but they would have died later if this wasn’t stopped.” He waffled his head. “Messing with time is a tricky business, but there was enough chaos during the awakening that everyone I pulled here didn’t change the immediate future.”

  “You’re saying we all died.” Penelope paused. “Wait, you said that the awakening was in five years. Did you pull us all from the present or—”

  “I took everyone back five years.” Jeru nodded. “I thought about trying to pull people from the present, but that started spinning everything out of control, and I couldn’t afford to waste magic to chase all of the threads.”

  “So what happens if we clear the Dungeon? Our past selves are on Earth right now. Can we go back?”

  He snorted. “The Demons destroyed the gate here when they launched the invasion. Even if you clear it, there isn’t anyone around that is powerful enough to project off the planet until the awakening.” Jeru shrugged. “You’re stuck here until the point that I grabbed you.”

  Penelope looked at the barrier for a moment, then turned to her companion. “What about you? Aren’t you strong enough to—?”

  The blue Elf held up his hand. “This was always a one-way trip for me. I stop the universe from ending, then fade away.” He smirked. “You’ll be the hero, and I’ll be the guy who just disappeared.”

  “That’s…” Penelope didn’t have words to express how unfair it was.

  “It is what it is.” Jeru snapped his fingers in her face. “But that’s years from now, so let’s focus on the battle in front of us.”

  Penelope nodded. There was time for her to think about it later, but for now, she needed to work on her run. She pointed at the Caster in 3C. “What’s this one do?”

  “Shadow Buffer, but not much in the way of resistances other than being able to give allies Steelskin.” He twirled his finger in the air. “Everything in here is going to be harder to kill, but other than that, avoid the and you’ll be fine.”

  “Another shield fight…” Penelope hoisted the shield. “I don’t suppose there is a shield that gives bonuses I could use?”

  Jeru shook his head. “There’s one, but I doubt Patrick is going to let you have it, especially since it’s on their side.”

  “Gotcha.” Penelope pulled out her wand. “Let’s do this.”

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