They ate a meal, then kept cooking for the rest of the afternoon.

  The water problem was something that impacted everyone. Penelope knew the other group didn’t have a solution, but she didn’t want to tell them about the rings just yet. Once she’d finished cooking, she had taken her share of a dozen steaks and made her way over to the barrier between 3A and 3B.

  “Are you really going to keep going?” Jeru appeared in front of her. “You don’t want to pass out like last time.”

  “Last time I was trying a harder square and was a lower level.” Penelope looked east, where the other group was making camp. “We need to clear twenty-five squares a day.”

  “Which you have.” The blue Elf folded his arms in front of him.

  “Yes, but they aren’t doing any more today, and if things start getting harder, then we’re going to need the extra time.” She hefted the shield on her left arm. “Besides, I don’t think I could sleep right now anyway.”

  “Fine, just be careful.” Jeru vanished. “I’ll let you know when the mole surfaces.”

  “Thanks.” Penelope took a deep breath, then walked into the square.

  “Light Torrent!”

  Plink! Plink!

  The Shadow Shooter was hitting from farther away than everything else had been able to attack her. The shield kept the fiery darts off of her as she charged.

  The four grasshoppers jumped at her, but a flick of her wand sent a at each one. The monsters landed on the cold stone floor and rolled around her as she continued her charge towards the main Demon.

  “Light Torrent!”

  Penelope kept moving as she kept the shield in front of her. The four floated behind her as they waited to be released.

  CRASH!

  One of the orbs shattered like glass and winked out.

  Penelope stopped moving and pulled the remaining three behind the shield with her.

  “Jeru, what’s going on?” She glanced behind her. The ground had stopped shaking, giving her no indication about how close the mole was to her.

  “This one is a sniper.” The Elf sounded impressed as he appeared beside her. “I don’t know how I missed that.”

  “You don’t know how you forgot that the Demon out there could destroy spells?” Penelope grumbled.

  “Just your ball-type spells are going to be hit.” Jeru shrugged. “Something like your bolt or beam would reach it without getting broken.”

  PLINK! PLINK!

  Penelope started to peek around the side of the shield. Pain erupted above her right eye as her head snapped back. She almost dropped the shield and did drop her wand as she cowered behind the metal barrier and touched her forehead.

  Blood wet the tips of her gloves, though not much. Despite the impact, the projectile hadn’t cut her much more than a scratch.

  “Great.” Penelope grabbed the shield and scooted over to retrieve her dropped weapon. “How do I hit something that I can’t see?”

  “Just keep going until you box it in, then blast it once you’re close enough.” Jeru leaned forward to look at the injury. “A little different angle, and that would have been a reset.”

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  Penelope pulled a Healing Potion out of her pocket and bit down on the lid.

  “It’s not bad enough to use one of those.” The blue Elf shook his head. “But you got lucky.”

  “Go me.” She put the unused vial back into her left pocket. “Do you know how close the mole is?”

  Jeru shook his head, snapped his fingers, then floated about fifty feet behind her. “It was right here the last time I felt it move.”

  Her heart thundered in her ears as fear gripped her. Penelope grabbed the shield and ran southwest as fast as she could. Her feet were exposed, and she got clipped once as she closed the distance, but she managed not to drop her metal protection.

  “They can’t move that quietly.” Jeru admonished her.

  “Are you sure?” Penelope stopped 150 feet from the southwest corner. “Why else would it be trying to keep me from moving?”

  “You’re asking why a sadistic entity would want to play with you?” Jeru appeared beside her. “You realize that the answer to that is in the question, right?”

  She took a few deep breaths to slow her breathing. “Can you tell me where this is?”

  He peeked around the side of the shield. “It’s moving north along the west wall.”

  Penelope swallowed. “Light Torrent.”

  Four more joined the two main ones she had. At some point in her running, one of them had gotten broken.

  Her left hand gripped the strap on the back of the shield tighter as she steadied her breathing, then she charged.

  PLINK! PLINK!

  PLINK! PLINK!

  “It’s close enough!”

  Penelope twirled the wand and released the six , turning how the incorporeal Elf next to her pointed. She stuck the tip of the wand around the side of the shield and tried to aim.

  “LIGHT BEAM!”

  PLINK! PLINK!

  Jeru motioned with his arms how she needed to turn the tip of the wand, then waved his arms and started pointing behind her.

  The Demonic Mole had surfaced.

  Despite the speed that the large monster could move underground, it was going to take more than ten seconds to clear the hundred feet between them. This was more than enough time for Penelope to turn the beam shooting out of the tip of her wand in that direction. The monster collapsed the moment the beam connected with its head, dropping like the barrier.

  “Well…” Jeru looked around. “That was something I haven’t seen before.”

  “You never realized that this Demon could shoot farther than normal?” Penelope loosened the larger strap on the back of the shield and slipped it over her head, then tightened the strap to hold it in place.

  “Do you know how many loopers have tried to run this thing solo?” The blue Elf floated next to her as she walked over to the item pile. “I didn’t even try this by myself, and I could destroy entire floors of this thing with a single spell!”

  “You’re saying that I should join Ula’s group?” Penelope opened her menu to scan the items. She stopped at the hand crossbow.

  “I’m not saying you should.” Jeru sighed. “I’m saying you’re going to have to.” He motioned at the Dungeon. “Right now there are six Demons in a room. You can take six party members in a square.” He turned to her. “Want to take a guess as to how many Demons there are in a square on the second floor?”

  “Twelve?” Penelope picked up the potions and harvested the .

  “Twenty-four.” He corrected her. “I was able to limit the Demons by power, but it was power per square. Each floor gets larger while staying a ten-by-ten grid.” The Elf pointed along the west wall. “The first floor is a mile wide; the second floor is two miles.” Jeru turned back to her. “But the barrier will only let six people through within a square’s length.” He motioned with his hands. “Each group has to be at least five hundred thirty feet away from where another group went through the barrier.”

  Penelope stood up and swallowed. “So only two groups can go into a room to start with on the second floor?”

  “Exactly.” He touched the tips of his fingers together to make a ring. “This is also one of the only floors that is completely open. Most of the floors have corridors, tunnels, or rooms. The whole thing becomes a maze, and you’re limited on how many people you can send in, but the Demons can all gang up on an entry point and ambush you. You’re struggling against six. How are you going to handle six-hundred on the last floor?”

  Penelope took a deep breath and looked over at the other group. “I’ll figure something out.” She shook her head. “I’m not ready to team up right now; maybe after a few days around them, I’ll feel more comfortable.”

  “You want to use your resets to acclimate to them.” Jeru clicked his tongue. “You know that they aren’t going to remember you?”

  Penelope sighed. “I know, but... that’s what I have to work with.”

  “Does that mean you want to reset so you can mingle?”

  Penelope closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then shook her head. “No, not yet.”

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