She had slipped up.

Jeru! Why didn't you warn me that they were called two different things? Penelope fumed as she eyed the now confident orange Elf.

"Hmmm…" Jeru rubbed his chin. "It's never come up before."

You've done this thousands of times and no one has ever pointed out that we shouldn't know the term system worlds? Penelope closed her eyes.

"I see you're able to grasp the situation you're in." Cirdor sat down on the steps. He was far enough up that he was equal height to her but far enough away that she wouldn't be able to reach him through the bars even if she lunged.

"I wouldn't try that." Jeru tapped on the bars. "You'll get a nasty shock if you stick your arm through here." He waved his hand and a blue barrier appeared around the cage. "Plus there's a barrier, so even if you can withstand the shock, you have to be able to push through the barrier, which isn't something that would be easy for even Nina."

Penelope took a deep breath and leaned against the back of her cage as she glared at her captor. "What do you want to know?"

"How do you know the term 'system worlds'?" Cirdor tilted his head.

Penelope folded her hands across her chest. "Jeru told it to me."

"Ha! That's your answer for everything, isn't it?" Cirdor snorted. "Pity you claim he's dead so he can't verify your story."

"He's not dead yet." Penelope waffled her head. "But it's easier to say that than to try to explain what happened to him." She motioned behind the Elf with her hand. "The less information that the Demons can get, the better."

"Oh, really?" Cirdor leaned forward. "So if he's not dead, then what happened to him?" He held up his hand. "Wait. Why did you say, 'the less information the Demons have, the better,?" His yellow eyes narrowed. "Are there fanatics among you?"

Fanatics? Penelope tried her best not to look over at Jeru, but it was difficult to look in Cirdor's direction and the blue Elf was the only other thing moving in the building.

Jeru moved between the two of them so he'd be almost in her line of sight. "It's a term some people use for the people who are loyal to the Demons and are trying to aid their return." He took a deep breath. "You can't tell him about any of the locals that he suspects are fanatics, and telling him that you suspect there are humans who might be fanatics is only going to encourage him to detain and interrogate every one of you individually."

She cleared her throat. "I got pulled here from Earth to fight against a Demon incursion." She shrugged. "I find it hard to believe the Demons would have chosen this place without sending some spies here first." She swallowed, then hurried to continue before he could respond. "People talk. And even if there aren't any fanatics, as you call them, that were brought with me, how am I supposed to know that one of them won't say something to an agent of the Demons who got trapped in the city when the dome went up?"

"How do you know we're trapped?" Cirdor shot back. "Just because you couldn't leave the dome around the campus doesn't mean that I couldn't open a door in the one around the city like I did with the one around here."

"Please." Penelope rolled her eyes. "You waited for the timer to expire, then walked in. You're helpless to do anything to those barriers."

Cirdor's eyes narrowed. "If I'm so helpless, then why are you stuck in that cage while I'm out here?"

Jeru? Penelope closed her eyes. You told me back when we first started this that I could channel my mana to open the door to this building. She opened her eyes to look at him. Will that turn off this cage?

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"It can…" Jeru glanced at the other Elf. "But he isn't going to like you overriding his control like that."

I don't really care if he can't handle not being the strongest one in the room right now. Penelope tapped her finger on the bar behind her as she straightened up. Tell me how to get out of this.

Jeru sighed. "Touch your hand to your chest and run mana through your hands. You're not casting a spell, just letting your mana build so that it can access the card."

Penelope felt her skin buzz as she reached for her mana. Her head throbbed as the energy evaporated before she had a chance to hold it.

"You can't cast spells in there!" Cirdor laughed. "I already told you. The Elders themselves made that cage. You'd have to be one of their agents to be able to shut it down from the inside."

Penelope closed her eyes so she could concentrate. Using mana without the system casting a spell was like trying to suck a marble through a straw. You couldn't have made this thing easier to use?

"It IS pretty easy to use, just not in a mana-blocking cage." Jeru shrugged. "In hindsight, I should have built in a better way to access it, but needing it in such a narrow situation can easily be rectified by simply restarting."

You have access to restarting the loop, but I can't use mana? Penelope fumed. How is that even possible? Aren't you a part of me?

"I'm also a part of the system and while the cage does block you from using spells or building mana, you can still access your menu."

Penelope opened her eyes and looked at the screen in front of her to see that what he was saying was true. An idea popped into her head.

"I mean, I guess technically, that will work…" Jeru frowned. "It's cheating but go ahead."

Penelope kept focused on the menu and pictured the card that Jeru had shown her on her first day in the loop. The words PLOT ARMOR appeared on the screen, which shrank down to the size of an index card.

Jeru snicked. "Best name for a looping device, ever!"

Penelope ignored the cackling Elf as she took a step forward, pushing the screen into the bars, then reached out and touched the screen. The bars melted back into the floor.

"How did you do that?" Cirdor tried to scramble to his feet, only for a pair of <Shadow Chains> grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the steps. He struggled against his bonds as the mana he built up vanished the moment he called on it.

"I told you, Jeru Bannem brought us here." She looked at the stairs. There wasn't a single trace of the bars that had trapped her a few moments before. Penelope turned back to the orange man. "It took me a moment to figure out how to work it, but…" She smiled. "I think that proves I'm working for your Elders."

"It doesn't prove…" Cirdor hung his head. "It just proves that you're at least as strong as the Elders."

"Really?" Penelope glanced over at Jeru, who shook his head. She looked back at the sulking Elf. "I seriously doubt that I'm that strong." She took a deep breath. "If I were, then we wouldn't be on the third floor out of ten."

"You're only a third of the way done?" Cirdor looked up.

"Each floor is bigger than the last." Penelope shook her head. "If things keep growing the way they have been, then the tenth floor is going to be 100 times bigger than the first floor." She did some quick math. "If that's true, then we're barely over 3.5% of the way finished."

Cirdor's jaw dropped. "THREE PERCENT?"

Penelope shrugged. "And a half." She gestured at the chains. "If I let you go are you going to attack me again, or have I proven that I'm working for Jeru?"

The orange Elf bristled. "Master Jeru might not be an Elder, but he's still hundreds of years old. He deserves his title to be used with respect."

Penelope rolled her eyes. Is he serious?

"He's something of a fanboy of the Elders." Jeru grinned. "It's nice to have someone appreciate me."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Penelope smirked at the blue Elf. "He seemed kind of like a parasite to me."

"PARASITE!" Cirdor strained against his bonds as he attempted to stand up. "Young lady. Master Jeru was slaying the Dark Legion back before you were born! He's a hero and deserves nothing less than our respect!" The orange man sputtered. "PARASITE! The indignity!"

Penelope turned so she could hide the grin crossing her face. Dark Legion? Is that another name for the Demons?

"They're different, but a lot more Demon allies amongst the Dark Legion, especially within the Dark Masters." Jeru sighed. "IF you survive this, they're who you're going to have to fight on the other side."

A problem for future me, gotcha. Penelope took a deep breath as she looked back down at Cirdor. "So, are you ready to show me what you have on the system worlds?"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.