They breezed through the column.

With only melee enemies, the squares were just a matter of tanking the groups while Penelope and Circe shot them down.

"I thought you were strong before, but you've really powered up!" Circe offered Penelope a high-five.

"Tier One <Light Torrent> is powerful…" Penelope slapped the other woman's hand. "But getting that last point in Magic upgraded my class to Spellslinger. Controlling three of them at once is why we're able to breeze through these."

"I can't wait until I'm as powerful as you!" Fae-Anna gushed. "You're just like BAM! BLAM! ZAP!"

"I can cast so many spells because I increased my Speed as my secondary stat." Penelope nodded at the brunette Caster beside Fae-Anna. "Ailis is the one who's going to be able to throw around spells like I do."

"I'm just glad we get to help out now!" Ailis smiled. "Unlike someone who just stands in the back."

The processing team members had hit Tier One at the end of 15D, so starting with 16C, the Casters had been allowed to shoot at things. Though Ailis had been put near Circe and given strict orders not to shoot anything in the vicinity of Frederica. Fire magic was still a non-starter as far as the leader was concerned. Fae-Anna was allowed to throw her water magic in that direction, and given Recovery was her secondary stat, she had learned some healing spells as well, which made her a great backup Healer, not that they needed one.

Penelope followed her gaze over to Robert. The former miner had taken the same approach as Kent, staying back near Marlow and only attacking something if it got close, which almost never happened. While that was frustrating, Penelope couldn't deny that he was one of the hardest workers back at camp, and he put in lots more time than she did.

"He might have picked one of the easier jobs, but he works hard at the end of the day." Penelope tried to lessen the women's ire. "You should go talk to Patrick and see what he wants you to do while we go get the last square started."

"I'm not GOING!" Patrick screamed from across the room. "Cecil is Tier One now, and you saw what type of death machine Pea is!" He jabbed his hand in her direction as he screamed at Frederica. "You have no idea how much work there is to get done down here! And it's not just about making sure we have a livable space! I've got to get things ready for the next floor and the one after that!" He glared at the woman in charge. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to have something other than a hole in the ground to do my business in!"

Penelope glanced at the menu to check the time.

Day 7 - 3:37 pm

Time Remaining 11:16:17:40

They were ahead of schedule even with the breaks they were taking. There were eleven days left, and if Dawson's team had died in 11H, then there were 72 squares left to clear. The processing team could clear the lower-level ones while they pushed ahead, but even if they didn't, that gave them 7 squares a day to clear.

"He spends all that time trying to make a porta-potty and then just buys one once the barrier around the university comes down." Jeru chuckled. "It's kind of funny when you think about it."

I'd rather not. Penelope pushed the questions about what the city was like to the back of her mind. There was an entire floor left to clear before she could start asking those questions.

"Pen." Circe bumped into her, then pointed at the arguing leaders. Both were looking directly at her.

Penelope's heart hammered in her chest. Why are they looking at me?

"Frederica just asked if you thought it would be okay to swap out Patrick for Cecil in the next square." Jeru shook his head. "Actually, she said 'room', but we both know that the rooms are inside the zones, which are inside the squares."

"We don't know what monsters are in there, so I don't know if Cecil would be getting hit a lot or not." Penelope sighed when she realized what they were about to say as Patrick said it.

"You haven't checked?"

Penelope cast <Clairvoyance> as she turned to her right. They were in the middle of 16A, on the north side, because the corner by the outer barrier and 17A was nothing but solid rock. Unfortunately, that meant that there was nothing she could see as far as monsters went. But what she could see was that there was a tunnel 50 feet on the other side of the barrier that ran parallel with the barrier between 16A and 17A. She dismissed the spell and blinked as her vision adjusted to the room she was in.

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"I can't see any monsters, but there's a tunnel 50 feet in that connects the two starting points." Penelope watched the disappointment cross Frederica's face. "There are two doors to rooms on the other side of the tunnel, but they're empty at the moment."

"Ha!" Patrick grinned. "Told you that you don't need me!" He snapped his fingers. "Come on, boys! Pack it up! We've got lots of work to do!" He winked at Frederica. "I'll make sure we're ready to go when you get done with that one!"

"Bye!" Fae-Anna waved as she grabbed Ailis' arm.

"I'm coming!" Ailis groaned. "Seriously, why did I have to pick fire? All they want me to do is incinerate monster guts."

Penelope turned to Circe as the two women left with the others.

"Well, that didn't go the way I wanted." Frederica marched over to them.

"Sorry." Penelope hung her head.

"Not your fault." Frederica sighed. "I'd rather be disappointed than to have to lie to try to get the outcome I was hoping for." She glanced at the door Patrick had walked through. "It's not like he wouldn't have known in less than a minute that you knew he wasn't needed."

"I promise I'm not going to be a burden!" Cecil piped up, which drew a chuckle from Kent, Robert, and Rockwell.

"Shut it or you're going to be doing the tanking!" Riva growled, then turned to Frederica. "Seriously, you'd think they were teenagers and not grown men."

"Growing up is a myth." Frederica grumbled. "You don't respect people more as you age; you just learn when you can get away with being disrespectful and when you can't." She glared at the three men. "This is one of those times when you don't want to test me."

"Yes, ma'am." Kent saluted.

Frederica shook her head. "He's your problem for the next few minutes." She motioned at the exit on the western wall. "Go ahead and go high this time and make your way to us. We should be able to meet in the middle."

"But…" Cecil tapped on his chest. "What if the monsters show up?"

"You're the Tank. Draw their attention." Frederica nodded at her team. "We'll head your way as fast as we can. There shouldn't be anything to stop us, and we'll be able to see each other almost as soon as we get in that zone." She flashed the worried man a smile. "You'll be fine."

"Is it too late to swap out?" Kent groaned as soon as Frederica left.

"Yes, now get in position." Penelope walked through the door and over to the barrier. She stuck her hand through and cast <Light> on the other side, lighting up the tunnel. "Come on, if we hurry, we can meet up with Oakley, and he can do most of the tanking."

"What if we wait here for Frederica's group to circle around, then go in?" Kent crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the tunnel wall.

"Shackle."

Chains of shadow latched themselves around Kent's wrists and neck. Circe gripped the other end, pulling the chains forward.

"HELP!" Kent wailed as the younger woman dragged him towards the barrier.

Robert took a step forward but stopped when Marlow put his hand on the other man's shoulder. The graying man shook his head.

"What are you doing?" Cecil's eyes widened as he watched Circe drag the Assassin towards the barrier.

"He thinks he's all that, so I'm giving him a chance to prove it." Circe slung the older man towards the barrier.

Kent managed to fall to his hands and knees to stop himself from going all the way through, but he was in from his waist up, which was more than half.

"I can't get back in!" He turned and looked at Penelope. "Tell your freak of a friend this isn't funny and to let me back in!"

"He's got a point." Penelope shook her head. "It's not funny to threaten to leave an ally on the other side of the barrier." She walked through the barrier and summoned 8 <Light Balls> complete with their echoes. "But she's not the one who was making a joke about leaving someone over here." Her voice hardened. "Kent, I'm tired of having to dictate morality to you. So I'm only going to say this one last time. Quit being a dick, or next time, I won't walk through to cover your useless butt."

"Patrick would never let you get away with that!" Kent screamed. "You think anyone would follow you once they know you're just like Dawson!"

Circe's bow slapped across Kent's face, knocking him out.

"Sorry." Circe adjusted her grip on her bow. "I couldn't listen to another speech about how he was the victim."

"It's fine…" Penelope glanced behind her to make sure there weren't any monsters, then turned back to the group. "Robert, you're going to have to carry him. We'll let Frederica decide what to do to him." She looked at the Tank. "Cecil, I need you to get into position." Her <Light Balls> were blocking the tunnel going deeper into the square, but the monsters had shown that they could cancel them out before.

"Yes, ma'am." The compliment stung, despite the earnest voice behind it. Cecil hurried through the barrier, his shield ready to deflect any attack.

"Too much?" Penelope looked over at Marlow as the graying man walked into the square.

Marlow watched Robert pick up the unconscious man and shook his head. "Examples have to be made, and order has to be maintained." He turned to Penelope. "But he has a point. Executing him won't endear you to the public, and even though he's a blight, he does have a following."

"You think he's going to jump ship and join Dawson?" Penelope didn't want to think about how much stronger that would make the Poisoner's faction.

"No, he hates Daw too much to even ally with him." Marlow hung his head. "But that won't stop him from starting a third faction."

Jeru's warning about multiple factions rang in her ears.

"We'll just have to deal with that when it happens." Penelope turned to her left and pointed at the tunnel that would lead them to the other group. "For now, let's focus on the monsters in front of us."

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