They continued chipping away at the Essence, Levi keeping it focused on himself as his minions fought the enhanced essence creatures that formed from the pieces. He was beginning to worry, now, as the fight drew on.

His mana pool was still smaller than he'd prefer, and though he'd refrained from using Beast Bite and draining his pool any more than necessary, just keeping the edge active drained mana steadily, if slowly.

He kept his usage of stamina to tiny bursts only when absolutely necessary, but that too was running dangerously low. At least it regenerated more quickly now, he no longer ran out and ended up completely helpless for minutes on end, but even fifteen or twenty seconds could be an eternity in close combat.

And the Destruction Essence was getting faster.

Level 2++

(Destruction Essence)

Health 74%

He hadn't noticed it at first, as he carved off tiny pieces gradually, but its decreased mass was directly feeding into its ability to track him through sudden reversals.

More and more he found himself forced to use stamina to keep ahead of it. Right now it was still manageable, but if it got much faster he might find himself in trouble. He may end up forced to slice it all up just to avoid being caught, and any one of the essence forms it constituted into was strong enough to give his team more than a little trouble.

He doubted they'd all survive if they were forced to face the whole army of essence forms at once. Levi wasn't sure any of them would survive if he had to do that, himself included.

Reluctantly, he grabbed a stamina restorative and drank it. The only 'combat safe' restorative, stamina types did not directly impact the pools, but redirected all regen from everything into stamina. For the next several minutes, he'd recover no mana or health, but stamina would come back at a significantly increased speed.

The Destruction Essence had nipped him a few times, catching his leg briefly on a few occasions, enough to leave stinging burns in its wake, and to convince him more than ever that he did not want to be properly caught up by it. His health wasn't low, but it wasn't full either, so this was a risk.

The Essence surged at him, and he slashed at it. This time, though, it twisted mid-strike, turning what should have carved off a small, gremlin sized piece, into a much larger chunk. The Essence split in two. For a moment, Levi could only stare in horror, convinced he'd have to face a coordinating pair of the deadly slimes, then the smaller piece formed into the same rust-statue form as the earlier gremlins and scarabs.

But this was neither scarab nor gremlin. It looked like some cross between an ox and a wolf, thick shaggy body, jagged tusks, and a long bristly tail, thought its leg shape was distinctly canine.

Kalvex.

Levi knew them well. Packs of kalvex ran in most higher level Destruction dungeons, a disruptive force that was intelligent enough to use formations and strategy to break teams of delvers and separate them into easily defeated pieces. One on its own would only be a moderate challenge, but this was an enhanced version.

Levi swiped at it as he ducked past, hoping to inflict some damage on it before it could savage his minions, but his strike seemed to hardly matter.

Level 2+

(Essence Kalvex)

Health 99%

This one was going to be rough.

The Essence behind him was still gaining speed, but with his increased stamina regen he could still keep ahead of it, at least until the potion's effects wore off.

This time, though, things didn't go directly as he'd expected. Instead of joining the gremlin and scarabs assailing Skarm and the centipedes, the kalvex came right for Levi.

Too smart. It wanted to pen him against the wall, so the main body of the Essence could take him out of the picture. Then the two of them could wipe out his minions at their leisure.

No. Levi would not allow it.

He surged his stamina recklessly, ran up the wall, and flipped backwards onto the kalvex's back. The creature's hide was spongy, like a congealed pudding, disorienting and uncomfortable, but Levi drove his sword into the back of its neck and bit down with Beast Bite to hold himself in place.

The kalvex immediately dropped its front legs to the floor, leaning down so Levi slid forward, then bucked to throw him off and directly into the Essence fast approaching. Levi grabbed the dog-ox tight between his knees, keeping a two-handed grip on his sword and its ghostly jaws.

Level 2+

(Essence Kalvex)

Health 97%

The Essence began pooling itself against the wall, reconstituting itself from the spread-out puddle form into a mound again. The kalvex lay down and rolled over, pressing Levi against the ground beneath it, but it was smaller than the feral kalvex that roamed other dungeons, and its weight while uncomfortable wasn't enough to do much damage.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaa!" With a shriek of a war cry, Skarm slammed down on the kalvex, horn-first, tearing into its exposed stomach while it lay atop Levi. The Essence surged forward at them. Skarm got in two more quick slashes with his claws, then jumped away, grabbing hold of one leg Centoo held up to swing himself back onto his perch.

Level 2+

(Essence Kalvex)

Health 89%

Levi released the Beast Bite and heaved the kalvex off himself, into the path of the coming Essence, and darted away at an angle. The Essence enveloped the kalvex, then rolled over it and past, leaving the kalvex grinning as it got to its feet.

Level 2+

(Essence Kalvex)

Health 100%

Levi cursed vehemently. So the Essence could heal its split off pieces if it came in direct contact with it. It seemed to have cost it a bit of its own integrity, but that was going to add a new layer of difficulty and Levi was running out of tricks.

The kalvex posed a level of threat which couldn't be underestimated or dismissed. Levi could deal with it on its own, or he could deal with the Essence alone, but both of them together posed a whole new level of challenge.

He couldn't put it off any longer.

"Guys, be ready, things are about to get crazy."

He dove for the essence and drew on stamina to slash it as quickly as possible. He managed to get most pieces small enough that they could only form scarabs, but a few came out as gremlins and the Essence stopped cooperating with his assault toward the end and his final slice split it into two more kalvex.

Not what he wanted, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about being dissolved by its slime form any longer. Three kalvex, eight gremlins, and thirty or so scarabs. All enhanced.

Not ideal by a long shot.

The kalvex immediately gravitated toward each other, forming into a wedge of death. The scarabs swarmed at everyone, biting and clawing, and it was all Levi could do to keep them at bay.

He began to second guess his decision to make as many small pieces as possible when the second managed to bite him and he felt its signature paralytic burning its way through his blood. He couldn't afford to be slowed now.

His stamina restorative had worn off by now, allowing his health regen to begin fighting the venom, but it also left him with his stamina drained completely as he kept using it as fast as it recovered.

The kalvex were keeping the centipedes pinned down, backed up and coiled on themselves for protection as they lashed out at anything that came near. Skarm was taking full advantage of the distraction, jumping to snag scarabs from the air, or doing quick strikes at the kalvex from above, before retreating to his protected space atop Centoo, from which he helped watch the centipedes' backs against scarabs flying in to attack their more vulnerable hide.

There were still too many of the scarabs to be stopped or contained, and these were much, much tougher than those in the first stage, each requiring several hits to down.

They'd not be so much of a problem if not for the kalvex and gremlins, but the combined effect of the three monsters together made for an insanely tense fight. Levi could see now why an Essence escaping was such a major concern. Aside from the fact that its destructive nature enabled it to kill and wreak havoc with impunity, there was contained within each the ability to spawn a whole army. If this was the kind of force an Essence could produce at level 2, he didn't want to see what it could do at level 20, or 120.

His health continued to drop and his movements slowed, barely offset by his regens, as the scarabs and gremlins continued to swarm him. He slashed and kicked and punched and stomped, but they were sturdier than their level 1 unenhanced counterparts and refused to go down easily. Twice he thought he'd finished something off only for it to come back at the brink with a vengeance.

He backed into the protected area beside Centoo, no longer able to maintain the running evasion with his stamina perpetually low. With the mobility of the scarabs in flight and the sheer quantity of adversaries, it wasn't advantageous to be on his own any longer. They'd do best fighting in formation.

But no amount of strategic positioning could easily overcome the sheer quantity of foes arrayed against them. Scarabs fell, and gremlins, but the kalvex were strong and very dangerous even individually. While Levi and Cen steadily cleared out the easier opponents, Skarm and Centoo were steadily losing ground against the concerted attack of the three wolf-like beasts, eager to shred Centoo and trample Skarm into the ground. One jumped at Skarm, mouth open to bite him in two, and only a quick combination duck from Centoo and leap from Skarm spared him from being a kalvex snack.

Centoo twisted his lower body and lashed out with all his legs, catching the kalvex in midair, but even that surprise attack only brought its health down a few percent.

Levi finished off the last essence gremlin, his sword flickering as his last mana drained, regen not able to keep up with the blade's power demands.

Cen and Centoo had already used their strengthened armor abilities, their own mana reserves depleted. Skarm had no mana at all, his stamina rising and dipping as he leapt and fought and retreated in quick skirmishes that played to his strengths without exposing himself more than necessary. Still, he'd taken more than a few hits, and his health was hovering around 20. One or two good strikes would be enough to take him out of commission again.

Levi fought desperately, drawing on every bit of remembered skill he could dredge up, straining to force his untrained body to move how he wanted it to. Stamina helped, but still his movements weren't as fast or smooth as they should be. He finally gave in and drank a second stamina restorative, unable to match the kalvex without the added boost.

With his stamina recovering as fast as he spent it, though, he was able to draw attention away from his flagging team and start chipping away at the ox-hounds' health in turn.

The odds were against him, so what? The absolute certainty that unless he fought at his very best they would all die pulsed through him, familiar and empowering.

Levi was used to overwhelming odds. Though he'd been no one special the first time around, he had been one of those who survived the longest, whether by luck or skill or sheer tenacity. He knew how to keep fighting long past hopelessness.

He had too much left to live for this time.