The tunnel was too quiet.

  Bradley led the group down the tunnel, with Penelope right behind him. It was later than when she’d started the first run, but this time, she had an idea of where the monsters were. She wanted to get her group to the intersection by the large room where she’d died as fast as possible.

  Eldri could only cast a single barrier, which was barely enough light for Frederica’s group to follow. The monsters had preferred to fight in the rooms, so Penelope hoped that the slower pace of the other group would allow her to reach them before the potential two groups of enemies could ambush them.

  “Watch the door.” Penelope moved four of her into the doorway of the room they’d entered the first time. She tapped Bradley on the shoulder. “Alright, let’s go.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The nervous blond continued forward.

  Penelope kept a pair of balls spaced out ahead of them and a pair behind them. The tunnel was free of debris, which helped not to trip over anything because there was a lack of light around the group once she left her second spell to guard the doorway.

  They reached the first intersection without any trouble.

  “Which way?” Bradley looked at her over his shoulder.

  “We’re going right.” Penelope pointed deeper into the Dungeon. “Watch for rooms, and I’ll keep more lights behind us until we’re all down the hall.”

  “Where are the Demons?” Circe held a in one hand with her bow in her left. The younger woman had tried maintaining more than that, but one was the most she could manifest at a time.

  “Hiding. Waiting to ambush us. Watching.” Penelope shrugged. “I don’t know, but we need them to stay away until we meet up with the others.” She pointed down the tunnel. “Let’s go!”

  “I’m going!” Bradley shuffled down the tunnel, Kent right behind him. Robert was staying close to Marlow, with Circe never more than an arm’s reach from Penelope.

  I asked him to stay in the back so we’d have someone who could fight close up! Penelope grumbled to herself.

  “He knows that you aren’t going to stop the group to get on to him, so he’s taking a chance to test your authority.” Jeru floated behind the older man and kicked his foot up through Kent’s armored pants. “Make an example out of him!” The blue Elf grinned as he turned back. “If you leave him behind, the others won’t question you one bit from here on out!”

  I’m not killing him to make a point. Penelope shook her head.

  “What?” Circe moved in front of her.

  Penelope glanced behind them. “We’re not in formation. If we get attacked from behind, there’s no one to protect the Casters.”

  “Your spells are going to do more than I will.” Kent fired back.

  “You should listen to her. She’s killed Demons. What have you done? Broke rocks with your head?” Circe snapped.

  “We don’t have time to argue!” Penelope raised her voice, then flinched as she heard the echo. “Door on the left and right!” She gathered her spells and split the balls between the two entrances, leaving them with only a single ball in front of them.

  “Are you even old enough to carry a weapon?” Kent stopped to turn around and face the younger woman. “I bet you pee yourself and scream like a girl the first time you see a monster!”

  “I bet you—”

  “ENOUGH!” Penelope pulled one of her away from the door. The ball squished, elongating into a three-foot-long spear that spanned the distance between the two arguing members of her team.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “This is not some vacation! We are at war, and there are things around us that are waiting to kill every one of us, so if you can’t stop your bickering, then I’ll just finish you off here before you do something that gets us all killed.” Penelope glared at both of them.

  “Sorry.” Circe bowed her head and took a step back, pushing herself up against the wall.

  “I bet you think you’re so strong since you went into the first floor, but you got lucky.” Kent sneered.

  Penelope moved the spear tip up against his throat, forcing him to push himself up against the wall on the opposite side. With a mere thought, she sliced through the chinstrap holding the hood in place. His eyes bored into her, but she refused to meet his challenge, keeping the spell against his throat.

  “The other group could be dying, and you’re making some power play?” Kent scoffed. “Some leader you are.”

  “You’re right, the other group might be dead because we had to stop and deal with your insubordination.” Penelope growled as she pulled the spear away and rolled it back into a ball. “You should be old enough to know how to follow orders from someone with more experience. So stop acting like a toddler and listen to someone who’s done this, and maybe you’ll make it out of here alive.”

  Kent pulled himself off the wall; the hood fell off now that it was no longer secured. “Now what am I going to do?” He picked up the broken hood, checked it, then threw it on the ground. “This is trash!”

  “Don’t get hit.” Penelope looked at Bradley. “Keep going. Kent will stay put and bring up the rear.”

  “I won’t forget this.” Kent growled as the younger man moved away.

  Penelope shrugged. “We need people who can follow orders. You’ve proved you can’t, so you’ll be sitting at base once this is over.” She eyed the rest of the group. “We’re on a clock and don’t have time for someone who is going to be petty or ignore orders. If you don’t like that, you can sit out too, but…” She waited a moment. “It was the low-level people near the portal who died first when the bosses got out. If we don’t have enough people to force the fight to stay in the boss room…” She let the implication of that sink in.

  “You’re evil.” Circe whispered as the pair followed Bradley. A grin crossed her face. “I like it!”

  “I’m just telling him the truth. He volunteered to come down here, and now he wants out. Unfortunately, that means if we fail, he’s going to be one of the first people to die.” Penelope shrugged. “Some decisions we can’t take back.”

  “Still, you were a badass back there.” Circe held up her arrow. “You have to show me how you changed your spell’s shape.”

  “Once we’re done with this square.” Penelope promised. I’m not sure I know how I did that.

  “Spell shaping is another part of control.” Jeru laughed in her mind. “You’re reaching the point where you can manipulate the mana the system is pulling out. You’re still not at the point where you could call it out for yourself, and I doubt you could change into something like , but you’re gaining enough control over the light element that you’ll be able to change the spells of that affinity soon.”

  So you’re saying that if I went back to the beginning, I’d be able to practice with each element until I could master them all?

  “Whoa!” Jeru appeared in front of her and waved his arms. “I never said anything about mastering an element. To do that, you’d have to be able to convert the raw mana into the element you want. You’d also have to be able to increase the intensity of the spell to the point that it gets more powerful without the system doing that for you. You’re still years away from that kind of ability!”

  It was just a thought... The noise of fighting stopped her from continuing that thought.

  “I told you we wasted time back—”

  “Not now!” Penelope pushed past Bradley and dashed down the tunnel, Circe only a step behind her.

  “What are you doing?” Jeru demanded as she ran by the second door on her right without putting in it.

  If I get ambushed, I’ll know for the reset. Penelope left a pair of behind her and moved the other six closer to her. But if we lose people from Frederica’s group, then this is a reset anyway.

  Frederica’s group had made it to the intersection. Oakley was pushing back a pair of Wulfs farther down the tunnel, while Eldri strained to hold a barrier over the doorway to the large room. A dark-skinned woman lay dead on the floor, a struggling Wigon leaking green fluid over her, while Frederica stabbed at a second one of the large, hairy, flea-looking bugs.

  Ding!

  Experience +3

  “PEA!” Frederica screamed as she yanked her sword through the bug's neck, slicing off the lesser Demon’s head. “BEHIND YOU!”

  Penelope turned around and saw the blue-feathered Chom dodge around the pair of that she’d left behind the men. Kent ducked out of the way, leaving nothing in between the monster and Marlow.

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