Penelope suppressed a shiver.

  “Buy some off her?” The other Caster glared at her. “She’s cheating somehow.” He motioned to 2E. “How else could she clear a room by herself that a whole group couldn’t?” Dawson glared at her. “We shouldn’t have to pay her when we’re all trying to clear this nightmare.”

  “Daw.” Ula’s warm tone turned firm as she looked at the young man. “Hush.”

  “We don’t have much that would be useful to you.” The gray-haired man dug into his pocket and pulled out a red vial. “Maybe a Health Potion?”

  “Marlow! You can’t give her those!” Dawson motioned from their group to the ginger. “There’s four of us and one of her, I say—”

  “If I hear one more word out of you, the only thing that there will be four of is my fingers where the sun don’t shine.” The grandmother’s sweet voice left no question how real the threat was.

  The twenty-two-year-old man looked at the other two men for support, but neither of them showed any indication that they were going to go against Ula.

  “Fine!” Dawson threw up his hands. “Do whatever you want!” He stormed away from the group.

  “He’s cranky.” Ula kneeled down in front of Penelope and pulled out a red and a blue potion.

  “How about one of each?”

  “That’s…” Penelope didn’t know what to say. She had plenty of potions, and with four of them at lower levels, they needed all the extra help they could get.

  “How about we butcher one of the moles and you take the potions to cook them for us?” The graying woman shook her head. “Dawson has poison magic, Marlow can only heal, and Patrick and I don’t have any magic.” Her kind smile warmed the atmosphere. “I’d appreciate it if you’d consider it.”

  “It’s fine.” Penelope motioned at the steaks. “I cooked too much anyway. I just thought it’d be a waste to heat up the shield for just one.”

  She looked the group over. Patrick was wearing the metal gear from 1D that she’d left for him, but had acquired a short sword and large shield in one of the rooms to finish out his gear. Ula was in metal gear that they had found, and a red battle axe was strapped to her back.

  Marlow was in leather gear and had a bow despite being their party’s Healer, while Dawson was wearing a robe like the one Penelope had on. She had been about to offer them some of her gear, but there was only one item that she had that wasn’t something common.

  “Aren’t you a sweetie!” Ula patted the girl’s leg. “I could help you butcher one of them so you’d have some meat for later if you’re wanting to take a longer break.” The older woman motioned at the cut-up mole. “That’s…” Penelope looked at the timer.

  There were seventy-eight more rooms to clear and ninety-one hours to do it. That would be plenty of time for her to finish the floor, even including time to sleep. But working with Ula would mean being around the group longer.

  “You should do it.”

  Jeru’s voice made her jump.

  “Oh, it’s okay, Sweetie. Daw is just cranky because he’s hungry.” Ula smiled. “I’ll make sure he has his nice face on.”

  “Thanks.” Penelope used her trick of looking at the person’s cheek just below the eye. Most people would take not being looked in the eye as either disrespectful or that she was lying. It had taken her half her life to know where to look so that she didn’t have to break the gaze a few seconds in and be thought of as dishonest. “I’d like that.”

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  She pointed at the warhammer over at her stash. “That’s a really good weapon, if you can use it.”

  “My weapon gives me plus one to Power and increased fire damage, though I don’t have a fire skill.” Ula used one of the daggers to pick up a steak. “How good is it?”

  “It gives one Power, does more Earth damage, and gives an Earth attack.” Penelope motioned at herself. “I can’t use it, and I can’t take it out of the Dungeon to sell it. If it will help you, take it.”

  "You’re so sweet.” The grandmother smiled at her as she held the steak out for the men to take. “Hey!” She slapped Dawson’s hand as he reached for the dagger’s handle.

  “How am I supposed to eat it?” The young man stomped.

  “Like jerky.” Patrick took the meat off the dagger and smiled at Penelope. “Thank you.”

  “Yes. Thank. You.” Marlow emphasized the words while looking at Dawson. The older man took the meat that Ula offered him, then nodded towards the women. “You need to thank her unless you want to go eat some raw.”

  Dawson looked like he was about to argue, but Ula cleared her throat and shook her head.

  “Thank you for cooking the meat so we could eat it with our hands.” The brown-haired young man took a steak and glared at the Healer. “Happy?”

  “Ecstatic.” Marlow grinned, then took a bite out of the tough meat.

  “Ugh! It’s burnt! Why is it…” Dawson let the rest of the sentence die as his eyes met Ula’s. He grumbled under his breath and trudged off to the other side of the square.

  “He’s a good kid.” Ula shook her head. “Just needs a heavy hand sometimes.”

  “If he’s a good kid, then I don’t want to meet the one you think is a bad one.” Patrick chuckled and took a second steak off the shield.

  Marlow said something back, but Penelope wasn’t listening. She was focused on chewing the tough, oily meat. She was also trying to have a conversation with Jeru in her head.

  Why did you want Ula to teach me how to butcher the moles?

  “Look at your menu.” Jeru didn’t offer any extra advice, and his voice made it clear that this was an area that he wanted her to figure out on her own.

  Penelope pulled up her menu and saw that there was a new tab labeled .

  What type of bonuses do those give? Penelope looked over at the four dead moles. There weren't enough of them to level her in skinning, but if she cut up and cooked them all, she could level both and .

  “It’ll make the jobs easier to do, and once you reach level ten, you’ll get a stat point.”

  That was helpful, but Penelope tried to weigh how much time it would take to level each one to ten. As well as how many monsters she’d have to cut apart.

  “Jobs are knowledge and experience.” Jeru cleared his throat to keep her from interrupting him. “Not like the experience you get from killing monsters. This is actual experience that stays with you. Take Ula, for example. She has dressed many animals in her lifetime and cooked many meals. The system has given her levels in , , and for that. She also has levels in , , and

  . If you knew how to do more than pour milk in a bowl, you might get some points in something else too.”

  Penelope tried not to take it as an insult. She could do math and logistics all day long, but the practical skills were things that she’d never been introduced to because she lived in the city.

  “It’ll be fine. Just learn all you can. I promise, you’ll thank me.”

  She hated that the Elf was cryptic, but she felt the least awkward around the older woman.

  Ula poked her arm. “Hey.”

  “AH!” Penelope flinched away and blinked to bring herself out of the inner conversation.

  “I asked if you were okay.” The grandmother smiled. “You poor thing. You don’t have to be doing this all by yourself. We can take another person into our group.”

  “I-I-I…” She tried to think of a good way to say, ‘I prefer being by myself’.

  “It’s fine, Sweetie.” Ula smiled wider. “There will be a place with us for you as long as we have room.”

  “Thank you.” Penelope tried to smile, but her face never displayed the expression correctly.

  “Now, how about we start cutting up these monsters?” Ula clapped her hands. “Come on, boys! Time to earn your lunch!”

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