They still had a funeral.

  None of the people who had gone down into the Dungeon had perished, but there were two casualties from infighting on the surface. Penelope watched as branches from the trees in the parking lot were laid in one of the mole holes, then the two bodies were placed inside. Judah provided the flames to cremate the fallen while a small crowd gathered to watch.

  Ula made a speech about solidarity and not fighting each other, but Penelope didn’t stay for that. Instead, she went to find Patrick, who was organizing the next group.

  “I need people who can help build a camp while we’re out fighting!” The balding man shouted at the crowd gathered in the square where they’d arrived. He had used his skill to create a mound beside the portal to stand on so he could see everyone in the crowd.

  “I know how to put up a tent!” Kingsley Dorr raised his hand. The nineteen-year-old oozed eagerness as he hopped up and down while waving his hands.

  Penelope walked over to the mound and stepped up onto it so she could talk quietly to Patrick. “We’re also going to need more people to fight.” She kept her voice just above a whisper. “There’s no way the Dungeon stays the same size for the next floor.”

  “Good call.” Patrick nodded. “We’ll have to vet these people and see who we want to bring up.” He shook his head. “It’s going to be difficult if we have to wait until the seventh column again before we can start leveling the ones.”

  “More monsters should mean more experience, so we should hit the cap faster.” Penelope looked out into the crowd. There were a few other people that she recognized as people who were part of the teams on the second and third floors. “I can start recruiting if you want me to.”

  “You want to talk to people?” Patrick wrinkled his brow. “I thought Ula said you were one of those social pariahs.”

  The moniker stung, though considering how well she knew Patrick, she guessed he’d run whatever Ula had tried to describe her with through his filter. “We need a dedicated water Caster and it wouldn’t hurt to grab another fire Caster as well.”

  “Oh, you’re talking about rounding up Casters.” Patrick chuckled. “I thought you wanted to put together whole teams.”

  “If I find a couple Casters I can work with and Circe can put together Archers for her to train…” She glanced out at the crowd. “Do you think we put Rae in charge of the Healers?”

  “Marlow has that title.” Patrick shook his head. “I can send Oakley to find a couple good Tanks, which will free me up to make sure I’ve got a good camp team.”

  “We should still level the camp team.” Penelope thought about how many teams they’d need on the next floor. They’d be able to run eight teams instead of just two, which meant a lot more people they’d need to level. “I’ll try to find six Casters to work with so we can have main and backup teams.”

  “Sounds like a plan!” Patrick turned back to the crowd. “King, you’re in! Go with Pen and help her wrangle up some more Casters.”

  The brown-haired young man saluted, then ran over to Penelope as she turned to face the crowd. “I need Casters to go over to this side!” She pointed to the alley that led to the Star Tower. She swallowed as she noticed Derek, Dawson, and Ren standing in the alley. All three men were watching her with contempt.

  They’re going to be a problem, aren’t they? Penelope took a deep breath as she stepped off the mound and headed towards the three men.

  “All three are going to try to join up with you.” Jeru sighed. “And you know they’re just going to sneak in if you don’t bring them along.”

  Which is why we need people running the camp that can stand up to them. Penelope thought about all of the shadow essence that they’d gathered so far. She’d be able to mix it with various monster parts to brew elixirs to raise people’s stats as well as give them experience, so she knew she’d be able to set up a decent team to watch camp, but she wasn’t sure how well things were going to go. Ula was definitely in charge this time, which had Frederica hanging around Oakley instead of giving orders. The two of them hadn’t had much time to talk, but there wasn’t the same level of contempt thrown her way by the Assassin. Without the iron fist that Frederica had used to run things on the second floor, Penelope hoped they wouldn’t have nearly as much friction with everyone.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “You need Casters?” Derek stepped forward and motioned at the three of them. “We’re ready to do our part.”

  Penelope paused and looked over at Ren Bigelow. The large, bald man flexed his sleeveless arms to show off the dragon climbing up each one.

  “Ren is a Hitter, not a Caster.” Penelope shook her head. “And Dawson is a poison Caster, which we’re not looking for right now.” She cleared her throat. “We need water, fire, and nature mostly before we spread out to the other elements.”

  “So the light Caster gets to join, but the rest of us aren’t good enough?” Dawson sneered.

  “It’s okay, Daw.” Derek held up his hand. “I’m sure Red can find us somewhere to be useful.”

  Penelope suppressed a shiver as he used one of her least favorite nicknames. “Maybe once we get down to the second floor and we get settled, but right now, I need to work on making sure our basic needs are met.”

  “Then why does the dirt guy get to join?” Dawson whined. “That’s not one of the elements you said you wanted.” He clenched his fists. “First you tell me that you don’t want me on the first floor, and now you’re letting other guys in that aren’t what you’re looking for, but you still won’t let me kill stuff.” He glared at her. “I’m starting to think this is personal.”

  “It is.” Penelope shook her head. “I don’t like your entitled attitude.” She turned to look at Derek. “Look, I need people who I can trust to do what I say needs to be done and Dawson acts like all he cares about is killing things.” She sighed. “That’s not what we need right now; I’m sorry.”

  “You will be.” Dawson sneered before he turned and stormed away.

  “Don’t worry, Red.” Derek gave her a smile. “I’ll talk to him and explain it better. Maybe on the next floor.” He gave her a two-finger salute, then tapped Ren on the shoulder and headed down the alley after Dawson.

  “Wow.” Kingsley’s eyes were wide as he turned to look at Penelope. “You’ve got stones!”

  “Dawson is just a bully.” Penelope shook her head. “All bark and no bite.”

  “Oh, he’s got bite.” Kingsley laughed nervously. “You should have seen what he did to Carl.”

  Penelope pushed the image of the dead man out of her mind. She’d seen enough to know that Derek had let Dawson poison the murderer to death. It hadn’t been an execution; it had been a warning to everyone not to mess with the Star Tower.

  “Let’s focus on the task Patrick gave us.” Penelope turned to face the crowd. Some of the Casters who had been part of the larger crowd had simply left instead of following her over to the alley.

  “Fae Anna Mason.” Penelope pointed at the redhead, then pointed at the brunette beside her. “And Allis Hayes. That’s water and fire…” She tried to think about who else had been part of the teams on the third floor. We didn’t have a nature Caster.

  “Allison Harvey was a backup, but she joins up with the Star Tower usually.” Jeru floated up into the air to get a better look at the small crowd of Casters. “You really need to add some men, but there aren’t any male nature Casters.” He chuckled. “All the water Casters are women too.”

  Joy… Penelope looked at the crowd for another familiar face. “Stephen Frye.” She pointed at the mid-fifties man near the back of the crowd. “That’s three fire.”

  “So another water and a nature?” Kingsley stepped in front of Penelope and raised his voice. “Who has the nature affinity?”

  Only two people raised their hands. Allison was one, while the other was a dark, brown-haired woman in her mid-forties dressed in jeans and a yellow t-shirt.

  “Caelyn Ford.” Penelope pointed at the older woman. She took a deep breath as she turned her voice inward. I’ve got two guys; is that enough or do I need to do an even split?

  “You’ve worked with Macy, but you might want to take Paul Holden.” Jeru floated over to the short man with jet-black hair. “He usually doesn’t go into the Dungeon because he has a gentle soul, but he’s a spellshot, like you, so maybe you can inspire him to greatness.”

  Unlocking violent potential isn’t greatness. Penelope pointed at the eighteen-year-old. “Paul Holden will be our last.” She smiled at the crowd. “Thank you for your willingness to help out. I know that Patrick is going to set up groups to cook the monsters we’ve killed so that there will be enough food for everyone while we’re on the second floor.”

  The crowd slowly dispersed, with some of them going back over to where Patrick was still trying to find a group to put in charge of processing all the monsters on the first floor.

  Penelope looked at the six people in front of her. She knew it wouldn’t be long before they were all fighting on the second floor. She just hoped that this would be enough to get through the next boss room.

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