The other group was fighting before her mana regenerated.
Eleven shots, I’ve got this.
Penelope took off down the length of the barrier, with the Demonic Ants running after her. She stopped just before she reached the other barrier and turned around, leaning into the square while pointing at the monsters.
“Light Pulse!” Hit. “Light Pulse!” Hit. “Light Pulse! Light Pulse! Light Pulse!” All three missed. Penelope took a deep breath and focused. “Light Pulse!”
One of the Demonic Ants crashed headfirst to the ground.
DING!
Experience +30
Penelope pulled out of the square. “What was that?”
Jeru appeared in front of her with a raised eyebrow. “I know you’ve played MMORPGs.”
“How do you know…” She glared at him. “So you know lots of stuff about everyone’s past?”
The blue Elf shrugged. “I’ve been in this loop for almost seventeen hundred years…” He sighed. “You pick up a few things when you listen.”
“You’ve been doing this for…” Penelope blinked. “That means each looper has spent over forty-one years each in here.”
“Most tapped out after a year.” Jeru sighed as he shook his head. “Thirty loopers gave up before they reached eighteen years.”
“That’s…” Penelope swallowed. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Talk less, kill more.” Jeru motioned at the Demons.
“Right…” She flipped her red ponytail out of the way as she looked at the Demonic Beetles and Bats clawing at the barrier behind her. The two groups had died again, and now the Demons were all focused on the only person on the floor.
She took off down the length of the barrier. Her aim was worse when she used her left hand, so she laid down with just her shoulders inside the square.
“Light Pulse! Light Pulse! Light Pulse!”
Two out of three connected, dropping another Demonic Ant.
DING!
Experience +30
“Jeru, how much mana do I have left?"
“What am I, your personal assistant?” The blue Elf groaned. “Why can’t you read it yourself?”
“What else are you doing to help?” Penelope pushed herself back into the safety barrier. “Because you aren’t a very good mentor.”
“Tried that. David quit after one year. Jean didn’t last that long. I figured out a while ago that the ones who I didn’t handhold until they cleared the third floor stuck around the longest.” Jeru shrugged. “Besides, you usually didn’t even start participating in the fights until the fourth floor.” He grimaced. “When you lived that long.”
“When I…” Her green eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “Whatever. But be quiet if you’re not going to help.”
The blue Elf vanished without a word.
“Menu, menu…” Penelope flipped through the menus until she found her status screen that had her mana displayed.
Penelope Flynn
Experience 60/100
Stamina 25/30
Mana 13/36
“Enough for four more spells, but it looks like I get about four mana back in the time it takes me to run to the other end.”
Penelope left the menu open as she waited for the monsters to get to where she was, then she took off towards the other end. When she reached the other side, she had eighteen mana. She kneeled down so she could aim better as she leaned into the square.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Light Pulse!” Hit. “Light Pulse!” Hit.
Another Demonic Ant went down, leaving her with only one more.
DING!
Experience +30
She steadied her breathing. “Light Pulse!” Hit. “Light Pulse!” Hit.“Light Pulse!” Hit.
DING!
Experience +30
You are now Level Two
Stats increased: Speed +1, Magic +1
You have learned: Light Arc
The box of notifications popped up before she realized that she’d killed the last one. Penelope pulled out of the square so she could read the notifications. She flicked the menu across the screens.
Penelope Flynn
Level 2 - Caster
Experience 120/200
Stamina 24/32
Mana 5/38
4 Power
3 Defense
9 Speed
11 Magic
6 Recovery
3 Aura
She grinned as the walking, metal-encased shadow stopped. Its helmet was focused on her as it stood as still as a statue.
Penelope took a deep breath and changed the menu to where it listed her spells.
Spells
Light Pulse (Mana Cost: 3): Fires a fist-sized projectile of Light Magic. Weak Tier 0 damage.
Light Arc (Mana Cost: 3): Fires a thin tendril of charged Light Magic. Minor Tier 0 damage.
Passives
Light Affinity: Increase Light based damage by 40%.
The cost of the spell didn’t increase, but the damage it did went up. Though without hard numbers for the difference between weak and minor, Penelope wouldn’t know how much stronger the spell was. Penelope closed the menu and walked towards the front of the Dungeon. She had twenty minutes until her mana regenerated, and she wanted something that she could lean against while she waited.
The Shadow Demon stalked beside her as she walked, content to be an arm's length away from her while she stayed on the safe side. Once she reached the other side, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes while she thought.
Eleven shots before I have to rest, with three shots to take down one of the ants. So I can’t just walk into a square, or I’d still have one of the ants and the metal can left. Plus, I don’t know how many shots it would take to kill it. So I’m going to need at least one break, and that’s once I can start hitting 100% of the time.
She sighed and opened the menu back up to see what other menus she could look at while she waited. There were a few blank menus that she couldn't activate, but there was one useful button she found.
Dungeon Floor 1
Time Remaining: 3:21:07:41
Penelope looked over at the Shadow watching her. With ninety-seven squares and her taking almost three hours to finish one of them, there was no way that she would clear the Dungeon on her own in that amount of time. Even if she cleared as much as she could, there were still going to be a lot of monsters that got turned loose.
But with ninety-six hours on a fresh timer, that would only be a little under an hour to do each of them. But that’s only if I don’t sleep.
Penelope’s stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten.
Going to have to make time to eat too. What do I even eat or drink down here?
Her finger twirled the end of her red ponytail while she thought about how she was going to survive without being able to go back outside. It wasn’t long until her mana was full. Despite her stomach grumbling about how empty it was becoming, she got up and ran to the other end of the wall with the Shadow chasing after her.
At the other end, she leaned into the square and pointed at it. “Light Arc!”
A finger-sized shot of white electricity shot off of her finger and zapped the metal-clad Demon. The spell crackled as it washed over the armor, causing the Shadow inside to jerk. Not wanting to waste the easy target of a stunned monster, Penelope continued to blast it.
“Light Arc! Light Arc! Light Arc! Light…”
DING!
Experience +60
The armor fell in a disorganized pile, the chest piece leaking smoke through a fist-sized hole she’d burned in the center.
“Huh.” Penelope got up and dusted herself off, then stepped through the barrier into the square and walked over to the pile of metal. She squatted down in front of it and poked at the hot metal with her finger.
“Ow!” She stuck her finger in her mouth.
The chestpiece was too hot to touch, but the other pieces weren’t. Penelope picked up the helmet and raised it over her head to put it on.
Her vision vanished as something warm and wet landed on her and wrapped around her head. It felt fuzzy, like a caterpillar on the outside, but slimy like a slug around her head. Her fingers clawed at the fuzzy outer layer while the weight of it toppled her over. The hide was squishy, but still too thick for her to tear off.
It wasn’t long until the bright white light claimed her.