Penelope reached down and picked up the ring and slipped it on her right ring finger. A cool sensation flowed through her as the extra stat point took effect.
She knelt down and picked up the potions and put them in her pocket with the others. She folded the robe and pants, then tried to pick up the Shadow Essence.
The black, slimy liquid oozed off her hand and fell back to the dirty stone floor.
“Jeru, how do I use this?” She poked it again with her finger.
“Do you ever talk to me when you don’t want something?”
“I’d talk to you more if you weren’t so grumpy.” Penelope looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear her talking to herself.
“You’ll have to put it in something. Drink one of your Mana Potions and put it in that.”
She took one of the blue potions out of her pocket and unscrewed the top. Penelope stared at the liquid for a moment, then brought the vial up to her lips and touched the tip of her tongue to it.
The sensation was like ice water, yet it traveled through her entire body, not just her tongue. She almost dropped the vial but caught herself.
The salty liquid had a hint of metallic twang. It wasn’t something that she would have drank for a beverage, but if it restored mana, then she could get right back into the fight.
She squeezed her eyes tight as she tipped the vial into her mouth. Despite the salty flavor, it didn’t make her more thirsty, which was a good thing since she only had potions to drink.
The chill ran through her body as she shivered a few times. Then the cold vanished like it had never been there.
Penelope looked at her mana and saw it was full at fifty-two. Before she could get to the next fight, she had a few things to take care of first.
She held the vial that was as thick as her thumb and as long as her finger in one hand while she picked up the slimy black Essence with the other. The Essence filled up over half the vial, so she couldn’t fit more than one in it. She looked back at where she’d killed the other two Shadows and wondered how long the essence would stay before it dissolved.
When she walked over to her stash, she remembered the empty soda bottle. Penelope gathered up the other pair of pants and walked over to where she’d killed the first Shadow Caster.
The black slime was still there, but drier and not as sticky. She picked it up and put it in the soda bottle. She couldn’t find the essence of the first one. Either it had evaporated, or it was stuck inside the armor that Patrick had put on. Penelope shuddered as she thought about the slimy material touching her as she moved in battle.
With all of the housekeeping that she could do tidied up, Penelope made her way over to the last square on the first row to the west. Inside was another Demon Caster, but this one carried a wand instead of a staff.
The monsters were a mirror of the first square she’d cleared. Four Demonic Ants and one Ceiling Creeper. They were all bunched around the Caster in the center of the square, which was too far for her spells to reach. For a moment she thought about testing her
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Penelope took a deep breath and walked through the barrier.
As soon as she was completely through, the Demons charged her, including the Shadow.
Not wanting to get boxed in against the wall, she ran towards them. Just before they were in range, she unleashed her magic.
“Light Bolt!” Penelope targeted the closest monster. She started walking backwards to stay out of the range of the Shadow Caster, who had started shooting dart-shaped seeds at her.
“Light Bolt!” She shot the same one again and watched it go down.
DING!
Experience +6
I’m going to run out of room if I keep backing up. Penelope swept the staff in front of her. “Light Orb! Light Orb!”
The two slow-moving globes began traveling in front of her. The Demonic Ants were forced to split in order to not run into the balls of death. One moved to her right, the two moved to her left.
Penelope began stepping to her right and released the streak of magic twice.
DING!
Experience +6
The lone monster fell, leaving the pair that had moved to her left to face her as she backed up to the north.
“Light Bolt! Li—!”
Her first spell hit its mark, but the second one never fired because she got hit in the side of the head with a volley of sharp projectiles the size of sunflower seeds. It felt like she’d just been slapped across the face by the bristle side of a metal brush, with some of the seeds sticking in her cheek.
I’m in its range! Penelope brushed the barbs off her cheek and wiped the drops of blood off with her free hand as she moved out of range of the next volley.
“Light Bolt!” She aimed with one hand and pulled the hood more over her face with the other. That earned her two green seeds in the back of her left hand, but it was better that her hand got hit than her face.
Despite not being on target, the streak of magic found its way to the Shadow Caster. I guess I don’t have to aim this one perfectly. Penelope smiled as she turned her attention to the two charging ants. She could have her spell duel once the melee monsters were dead.
“Light Bolt! Light Orb!”
DING!
Experience +6
The first Demonic Ant died when the orb exploded, but the second plowed into her, knocking her to the ground as it snapped at her neck with its mandibles.
“Get off me!” Penelope gripped the spiked staff on the ends and forced it between the vice around the monster’s mouth as she strained against the Demon on top of her.
Claws that regular ants didn’t possess dug into her sides while she kicked against the ground in a vain attempt to push herself out from under the heavier being. Penelope let go of the staff, trusting in her reflexes as she grabbed the sides of the monster’s face. The spikes near the end of the staff pierced her side as the tip of the staff was buried in her armpit.
“AHH!!!” She shifted her grip to the underside of the monster’s neck with her left hand. “LIGHT BOLT!!!”
DING!
Experience +6
The Demonic Ant fell on top of her; the weight alone was almost too much for her as she struggled under it.
The Shadow Caster peppered the body with seeds as she wiggled out from under the dead monster. Her robe was keeping the seeds from embedding in her skin, but it was getting shot full of holes.
The smell of blood, both hers and demon, filled her nostrils. The metallic air filled her lungs every time she drew a breath.
“Light Bolt!” The streak of light magic hit the Shadow Caster in the chest. If it could hit her, then she could hit it. The problem was that she needed both hands to hold the monster up; otherwise, it felt like she was being crushed. With both hands pushing, there wasn’t a lot of time where she could cast.
More seeds peppered the parts of her body that weren't covered by the corpse. Penelope’s arms wavered as she struggled to slide out from under the heavy corpse.
The monster slipped, but it slid enough that Penelope was able to roll out from under it. The moment she no longer needed both hands, she pointed at the other Caster.
“Light Bolt! Light Bolt!”
Both spells hit the monster in the chest. That should have killed it, but the Demon sent another wave of seeds at her.
The sound of glass hitting the stone floor echoed through the square. A second clang followed, then the seed barrage resumed in earnest.
“Light Bolt!” Penelope hunched behind the body as well as she could. That was fifteen. With 52 mana, I’ve only got two more spells. I’ve got to make them count. She peeked out from behind her biological barrier and saw an empty vial on the stone floor beside the Shadow Demon. If it took a healing potion, I might need three or four spells to finish it off.
The Demon isn’t the only one with potions! She dug into her pocket and pulled out a red vial and a blue vial. She grimaced at the salty, metallic taste of the Mana Potion, then downed the red one.
“BLEH!” Penelope stuck out her tongue, failing to suppress a cough. The Healing Potion left a burn down her throat like it had been a spicy, cinnamon flavor. She realized that she would have preferred to take the potions in reverse order. Something to remember next time.
The seeds began falling off of her as the healing magic fixed her body. Penelope marveled at the process until she heard a clink on the stone by where her head was hiding. She turned her head and saw her earrings. They were just studs, but when she grabbed her earlobes, she couldn’t feel any holes. She sighed as she picked up the earrings and put them in the robe pocket. Healing Potions work a little too well.
With her mana topped off, Penelope rolled away from the corpse and twisted up so she was crouched on her feet. Her staff was under the Demonic Ant, so she had to use her hands, and she had both of them pointed at the monster.
“Light Bolt! Light Bolt! Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +24
Penelope looked down at her chest. The healing potion had just fixed her, and she was full of the sharp, dart-shaped seeds again. She took a painful breath, yanked her staff out from under the monster, then pointed it at the ceiling.
“Light Bolt! Light Bolt!”
DING!
Experience +6
The last monster died, dropping the final wall of the first row.
Penelope laid back down against the dead Demonic Ant and began picking the seeds out of her. I need to rest a bit before I try the second column.
She pulled up her stat page while she worked.
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