The next difficult column was 28

  “We’ll have another set of thirties once this column is finished.” Patrick looked at the ten-foot-high wall on the other side of the barrier.

  “Are we going to have enough time to bring another set up?” Ula looked at the two people who were there in the morning.

  The three of them had gotten into the routine of showing up at the starting spot every morning. Some mornings Riva or Archer would be there, while other mornings, they’d wait at the dining hall and come when the others finished breakfast.

  “If the boss square was on the end, then we could manage it, but since we can only three-team 30D and 30F, that takes away an entire square for experience, so they’re going to be 29.”

  “Do you have a group ready to go?” Ula looked at Penleope.

  “Most Casters are picking up the passive at level two, so there’s not a lot of need for target practice. I’ve been working with the leveled Casters on shaping their spells, but the level ones get frustrated quickly.” Penelope bit her lip. “But I think I know four more Casters we can bring up.”

  “That gives us twenty teams to fight the bosses with.” Patrick chuckled. “This should be pretty easy.”

  The memory of Stephen over the Balisto and it exploding washed over her. Penelope shivered.

  “What?” Patrick adjusted how he was holding the helmet in the crook of his arm as he eyed the younger woman. “You don’t think it’s going to be easier?”

  Penelope bit her lip. “I think we shouldn’t drop our guard just because we have the numbers.” She gestured at the barrier. “We have a burrower and an exploder in this column. What happens if the boss from here can go underground, then shoot bombs up from underneath us?”

  “Then we’ll rely on you and the other Casters to us out of there before we get blown up.” Patrick shrugged. “Easy.”

  “Only a few of us can keep multiple spells going at once.” Penelope sighed. “It’s specifically a Speed secondary thing.”

  “Then we’ll have the Buffers keep up with things. We only need one person on lookout, besides…” Patrick tilted his balding head. “Aren’t you getting papers to all the spell people?”

  While they didn’t have the passive to take someone with them when they , anyone with 10 Magic was able to learn the basic ability. With a few elixirs or a couple points on their gear, they were giving most leveled people the ability to move around quickly.

  “I guess.” Penelope looked toward the wall between 27E and 27D. The nearest portal was in 27C, so the others had just over half a mile to walk from the portal to the staging area. A few people were starting to filter in, but it was going to take a little while longer for everyone to get there.

  The walls obstructed her eyesight, but with , she could see just fine. If Penelope wanted to see farther, she could stick her hand through the barrier and use to double up her range, but the monsters had learned long ago to stay well out of her range. With the wall up, there was no way for the monsters to know if she was on the other side, so they stayed on the other half of the square.

  “Why are we even bothering with a gate building?” Circe sighed as she approached the group. “The monsters haven’t come to us in days!”

  “It helps people know where the middle of the squares are.” Patrick grumbled as he looked over at the brunette.

  “And he likes building them.” Ula winked at the balding man.

  It didn’t take too much longer after that for everyone in the three main teams to gather. Once they were all there, they got into position and walked into the square. helped everyone get into position faster and once they were all on top of the building in the middle of the wall, they down to the ground.

  “The Tanks here can burrow, so if you feel the ground shake, move.” Patrick pointed his sword at the other side of the square. “Looks like the Flying Monkeys are carrying the Pine Soldiers.” He looked over his shoulder. “CASTERS! Pull them down!”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Penelope spread out her going eight wide, then cast through each one of them. She pulled all eight of the Flying Monkeys she’d lashed together, slamming them to the ground.

  Judah cast centered in that spot, with Riva pulling the ninth Flying Monkey into the cluster. Eldri created a in front of Patrick’s , while Archer and Oakley tried to use their to encircle the pillar of fire with dirt.

  Allis cast through her own floating , creating even more of a cushion between them and the explosion.

  BOOM!

  The detonation shook the ground.

  CRACK!

  SHATTER!

  Eldri’s barrier shattered like a window and cracks spiderwebbed all over the stone wall in front of them. Mud flew over their heads, while a cloud of dust obstructed their view of the other half of the square.

  Penelope could still see, thanks to . The place where she’d gathered all the Flying Monkeys was a crater almost twenty feet deep. The dust cloud was thick enough that the other monsters were staying back, but the Murhanas were coming towards them underground.

  “Burrowers!” She shouted as she spread out her and directed them to hover over where the burrowing fish monsters were.

  Ula slammed her boot on the ground, sending a shockwave out in a semicircle. Two Murhanas popped their flat heads out of the ground, their wide, tooth-filled maws gaping as they were forced to surface.

  Judah created an on the first one, then cast it on the second as the Tank turned to burrow back underground.

  Penelope released a from the over those two, grabbing them and keeping them from going back underground while Judah burned them down.

  The three Tanks each used , knocking all of the Murhanas out of the ground. Once they surfaced, each one was bound to keep it from going back underground. The damage dealers went to work, with Allis using to blast most of them, while Circe and Whitney filled another with arrows.

  “It’s going to be a pain getting these things out of the ground…” Patrick grumbled as he tapped one of the corpses with his boot.

  Penelope touched the slimy fish and used , taking it with her as she moved ten feet away. The monster went with her, appearing on the ground beside her.

  “I stand corrected!” Patrick chuckled. “Pen, Casters are on cleanup after each square in this column!”

  “You had to show him we could do that…” Allis shook her head as she walked past the craters of dead fish monsters.

  Penelope shrugged. It’s not like he doesn’t have us help him move corpses around sometimes.

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t like messing with the slimy ones.” Jeru chuckled. “Circe would be throwing a fit if she had to help move the Murhanas around.”

  At least this one went better than 26. Penelope looked around the square. With the Defense, Speed, and Power monsters taken care of, they only had the Natiles as the Magic threat and the Shadows to deal with.

  The elemental reptiles were hanging back around the Shadows, but both Allis and Penelope would be able to burn them down long before they got in range where they could use their spells.

  “This square is pretty much over.” Patrick announced. “Stay in formation with Freddy’s group in the middle and we’ll run the rest of these things down.”

  The groups reformed as they got around the giant crater and moved over the dirt paths towards the barricades. The floor had been almost entirely grass when they’d first entered the floor, but after the burn squad torched 21A - 21D, the monsters had ripped up most of the grass, trampling it down to leave packed dirt. The underbrush had been piled up to one side as well, leaving nothing for the Humans to torch except the trees as they marched towards the barricades hiding the remaining monsters.

  Not that the barricades did anything to hide the monsters. Eldri, Allis, and Penelope all had on, which allowed them to see exactly which monsters were behind each wooden structure.

  The Shadows attempted a final push, but the doubled range of Penelope and Allis’s spells thinned their ranks before they got close enough to use spells and skills on the main group. Once the Shadows and Natiles were dealt with, there was nothing left with offensive spells. The Fae Dragons did have teeth, but they were very manageable. It took longer to hunt down the last eighteen monsters than it had to fight all the rest.

  Patrick surveyed the square as soon as the barrier went down. “It’s a shame the Pine Soldiers took out the Flying Monkeys, but at least we’ve got fish on the menu again!”

  “Joy, fish…” Circe grumbled as she moved closer to Penelope. “How hard would it be to overcook them while we’re fighting them so there’s nothing left?”

  “Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean that other people won’t like it.” Penelope chuckled. “There’s plenty of other things for you to eat.”

  “Exactly!” Patrick laughed as he took off his helmet. “I’m definitely looking forward to dinner tonight!”

  “I’m glad someone’s happy.” Circe stretched. “I’m going to go get the others while you set up the next two zones.” She vanished before either of them acknowledged her.

  “We just need some good fish soup.” Patrick looked around at the flora. “Maybe we can find some garlic in one of these squares.”

  “Anything is possible.” Penelope looked towards the boss room. “Who knows what we’ll find once we reach the next floor?”

  Rating, Review, Follow, Favorite, or Comment does wonders to boost my morale. If you want to help support my writing or check out advanced chapters, head over to my .

  RR Writer's Guild