Levi’s next several minutes were a frantic rush, tagging the kalvex and ogre frequently enough to hold their attention, while also pushing himself to his limits to keep out of reach.

Reinvigorated by his levelup, Centoo laid about him into the swarm of gremlins and scarabs with abandon. His flashing bladed legs accounted for so many that the swarm noticeably thinned even in the brief glimpses Levi got of them between desperate sprints across the enclosed room.

Skarm was in his element, refusing to stop even though his health hovered right around the single digits, screeching and slashing at anything that got through Centoo’s defences.

Gordon was up again, but Levi wasn’t sure for how much longer. He’d lost his sword somewhere and was surrounded by four gremlins and a half dozen scarabs, swatting and kicking and stomping, but clearly wearing out faster than he was inflicting damage.

Cen has reached level 4!

Cen has 1 stat point available.

Levi had lost track of Cen, but when he looked back he saw the centipede had taken down one of the kalvex chasing him and immediately jumped on a second, wrapping it up in his plated coils and stabbing it viciously. If he weren’t coming straight off a levelup, it would have been a near-suicidal move, but, though his health dropped steadily at the kalvex’s retaliation, Cen was clearly coming out on top.

There's a point in every fight where the balance tips, where what was before two sides fighting desperately becomes one side winning and the other losing. Sometimes it happens near the beginning, sometimes only at the end, but right then Levi could feel things shifting in their favor.

It wasn’t fast, but Centoo and Skarm came to Gordon’s aid in clearing out the last of the gremlins and scarabs, then all three of them came to join Cen in taking on the partial pack of kalvex hot on Levi’s heels. With the wolf-ox things finally occupied, Levi was able to return his attention to the ogre.

Congratulations, Levi Morrison!

You have 1 level available.

Applying to default class.

The levelup caught him completely unprepared. He’d hardly participated in the fight, and hadn’t killed much of anything yet aside from a handful of scarabs. Shouldn’t it have taken much longer before he leveled again?

Tamer level increased to 7.

+6 health, +6 mana, +6 stamina

He wasn’t going to question his good fortune. Levi immediately spun on the ogre, launching himself at its leg, stabbing in with a Beast Bite to stagger it.

It swung a fist at him, but fully restored now he slipped aside easily.

"What else ya got?" Levi taunted, gripping his sword in both hands in preparation.

The ogre’s fist descended in a lightning-fast strike. Levi met it point first with his upraised sword. The force of the attack knocked him to his knees, but it also drove his sword into the ogre's hand up to the hilt.

“Hah. Gotcha.” Levi grinned, and activated Beast Bite.

The ogre's hand exploded as the spectral beast jaws sprang to life and snapped shut from within, sending detached fingers flying. Levi flung off orange-bleeding chunks of ogre flesh from his blade, and dropped back into his fighting stance. The ogre bellowed and clutched its quickly closing-over stump to its chest, its eyes going brighter as it focused in on the source of its ire.

Levi took advantage of the opening to pull out his bow and start firing into the ogre's chest at close range. He didn't trust his aim enough yet to go for its head, and with the sturdiness of its health it would probably be less than immediately effective to shoot it in the eye or mouth. It was too strong for anything but gradually working its health down, but his stamina and mana pools were large enough now that he could make a good dent in its health very quickly. He ran through his last remaining mana, firing into the beast as fast as he could draw. The others finished their fights and joined him as weariness began to return, the ongoing fight stretching on as the overpowered Essence Ogre continued to not die.

Then, finally, it was over. Levi and Gordon stood side by side, sweaty and bloody, injured but alive.

Cen and Centoo flopped down on their backs, while Skarm sat giggling weakly.

"I can see why you do this," Gordon said quietly, once they'd caught their breath a bit. "Apart from the driving existential dread."

Levi glanced over, and saw Gordon had been healed completely. "Leveled? Yeah. Say that again while you're bleeding and battered, and I'll believe it more."

"It's not just that, it's... it's not like anything else."

"It's horrible and painful and guaranteed to kill you and the people you care about given enough time," Levi said bluntly.

On the one hand, Gordon being less opposed to necessity was a positive improvement. But on the other hand, those who got too addicted to leveling and fighting usually ended up rushing into things they couldn’t handle and dying.

Levi had nearly been there himself, in the early days before he’d come to terms with the reality of being in the past, and he knew how easily one could slip into the lure of levels at any cost.

Gordon kept grinning, not catching Levi’s sudden seriousness. "But it's also fun."

"Fun? You think getting your body half melted away is fun?"

"Well, not that part. That was..." he shivered, his grin fading. "I'd rather not think about that part."

"You can't pretend it away. The more you level, the less you'll get of this," Levi gestured at Gordon's healed and restored body, "and the more you'll get of that."

"But it's so satisfying. I don't think I've ever been as terrified in my life, but we made it out and we won, and it feels amazing! Before, it never felt this... real. Maybe because I was half asleep for it all."

Levi laughed softly, without humor. "Yeah, it does strange things to a person, this system, these abilities. It's nothing human. It changes you fundamentally, over time, into something else."

"What do you mean?"

Levi paused a minute. "When I first returned to the past, to this time, I rushed into a dungeon immediately to try to recover my levels and strength. I jumped down a hole I shouldn't have had any problem with and broke my leg. I almost got killed by a level 1 ogre. And you know what I did next? Found another dungeon to do it again. Does that sound human to you?"

Gordon turned to Levi, looking at him so intently Levi almost looked away. "Is that why you're avoiding going home?"

Levi did look away, then.

Funny how a few simple words could send his heart-rate spiking as easily as a demon army.

He could imagine everything going well, Irene at his side as a Tamer in her own right, or perhaps she'd choose a different class. A pyromancer or elecrokinesist, perhaps, supporting him with spells and cutting swaths through the armies arrayed against them. He could imagine Peter, safely encased in his own custom power armor, riding a wyvern and commanding his own armies of dinosaurs and behemoths... their family united and facing the coming challenges together.

But he could just as easily imagine everything falling apart.

A look of disgust in Irene's eyes, betrayed uncertainty in Peter's, as they turned away and left him. As they ignored his warnings and were torn apart by the demons.

As he lost them twice over.

Never. He would not let that happen. Whatever he had to do, he would protect them.

His vision was blurred, and he blinked away the tears angrily, glad he was already facing away. He covertly brushed them aside.

"You're not a monster," Gordon said with quiet intensity.

"I know that."

"You're still as human as anyone. Whatever you've been through, however much you've changed, that is still the same."

"Is it?"

"Being a 'system warrior' is just a job. It can only define as much of you as you let it."

"Says the man who a minute ago was celebrating how much fun it is to almost die."

"That's different."

"Is it?" Levi sat up straighter, staring at Gordon directly. "You spent how much of your life as an ordinary person. Now after less than a week you're ready to embrace unending conflict and throw yourself into deadly danger for fun?"

"Well, no, that's not... I..." Gordon frowned, eyes going unfocused as he thought about Levi's words.

"It's only going to get worse the longer you go on," Levi pressed. "It may be exciting right now, but you still haven't lost anyone. You've never been helpless as you watch a friend or a family member or even a stranger who you could have helped breathe their last. It's not a game. However much it may pretend to be one, it isn't."

Gordon swallowed. "I know that," he said, softly. "I'm not going to start jumping into danger for the heck of it. But is it so wrong to try to find some light in the darkness? Some fun in the madness?" He gestured around at the room, empty now, the Essence creatures all dissolved. "This is going to be my life from now on, whether I want it to or not. Is it such a bad thing if it's not all grim fate and oh woe is my destiny?"

"If you take it too lightly, you'll jump into something even I can't pull you out of. Today was too close for comfort."

"And now I've leveled and can get another minion to help it be better next time," Gordon countered. "So, what do you suggest?"

Levi paused. Gremlins were the most accessible, but he wasn't sure about their long-term utility. There were several specialty dungeons in the area that he'd planned to visit eventually. Perhaps now would be a good time to adjust his itinerary.

"What sort of creature do you want?" Levi asked. "Something like Cen, who can protect you? Or an attacker? Flomper already has utility covered pretty well with her stone-swimming power."

"Something that won't be easily squished," Gordon said after a moment's deliberation. "I don't want to be constantly worrying. Flomper can hide in walls and floors, but something else wouldn't have that advantage." He glanced at Skarm, and at Levi's backpack which still contained what remained of poor Gremlin Two who he still hadn't been able to revive yet. "Something sturdy."

Levi considered the options. There wasn't a stone dungeon nearby, and finding another one that happened to be leveled enough to provide more stone centipedes would require more time than they had to spare. Then again, they had two days until the next local meeting.

"Basic creatures, dungeon types... Gremlins for Destruction, Glitterlings for Control, Dire Turkey for Beast, Cynomis for Stone, Frost Spider for Ice..." He glanced up at Gordon. "Frost Spider? They're versatile, but probably the closest thing you'll get at level 1. There’s definitely an Ice dungeon around, and if a local had an Ice token to trade, that’s a good sign that the Ice dungeon might be leveled. We’ll be able to get a level 2 Frost Spider for sure, and might even find a Crystal Crab."

"Crystal Crab?" Gordon appeared skeptical.

"Not as big as Stone Centipedes, but they're very spiky. Can turtle up if necessary, and surprisingly mobile." Levi held his arms out in a loose circle, fingers not quite touching. "About this big, short, but good at jumping."

Gordon considered for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. That sounds like it could work well. Let's go with the Ice dungeon."

“Trade deal first, but that shouldn’t take long. Just need to stop by dungeon 4, then let’s go get you a new minion.”