“Can you check a few things for me?” Levi asked, while they waited for Henry the dilo’s health to recover. “I’d like to know his stats.”

“Sure!”

Henry: Level 1 Dilophosaurus +

Strength: 0

Health: 85/85

(+1/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 5/5

(+1/min)

Spirit: 1

Stamina: 55/55

(+4/min)

Levi recorded the numbers as Peter relayed them, then had him double check to verify that he'd gotten them right.

Strength: +10 Health, +2 H-Regen Psyche: +5 Mana, +1 M-Regen Spirit: +35 Stamina, +1 S-Regen

So far, even plus creatures had followed a pattern of having more regen for stats they gained more for, but Henry seemed to break this pattern by gaining double health regen per strength point, while only gaining a single stamina regen despite stamina being by far the most numerically efficient gain.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, I want to check something.”

Gayle sat looking horrified by the whole thing, and Levi paused. In an impulsive moment, he changed his plan. “Two, I want you to find me a dilo and bring it back if possible.”

Gremlin Two saluted, jumped on Centoo - Cassandra had unloaded their supplies to leave the centipedes unencumbered - and they charged off.

“Gayle?”

She jumped, startled, then grimaced in what was clearly meant to be a reassuring smile but didn’t quite manage it. “Levi.”

"Have you decided on a class yet?" He'd described them all during the trip, but Gayle had yet to say anything about it.

"I don't think I want to get involved. You kids want to go off chasing dinosaurs, that's none of my business, but you had better keep your promise to keep my girls safe."

"I will. But this is going to be important sooner or later. You really should have a class, even if you don't want to do anything else with it yet, just to know you're capable of protecting yourself if it comes to it."

"If it comes to a point where I need to protect myself, I'll buy a revolver."

"I can protect you while you do it. All you need to do is attack one of the turkeys and you'll get the Fighter class, and you'll be able to use stamina and health to recover faster. Even if you never do anything else, the energy will be there helping you heal faster and keeping you healthier."

"Mom, I really think you should," Cassandra spoke up, before Gayle could answer. "It may seem weird at first, but he's right. Remember those brambles I walked through on the way in?" She held out an arm to show it completely healed, no trace of the scratches at all. "It'll make me feel better, knowing you're safer."

Gayle was not easily convinced. By the time Cen returned with an angry dilophosaur chasing him, she still hadn't agreed to choose a class. Levi set aside the issue and left the argument to Cassandra and Irene, turning his attention to the dinosaur. He had one test case so far for comparing plus and standard creatures, the shadevines, and wanted more. Since he had a minion slot free at the moment, he decided to at least temporarily grab a dilo to compare with Henry.

At his level, it was a trivial matter to pin down the monster and drain its health down to taming range. It put up a fight, spitting acid in all directions, but Levi kept it aimed safely away from anything or anyone.

Henry: Level 1 Dilophosaurus +

Strength: 0

Health: 85/85

(+1/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 5/5

(+1/min)

Spirit: 1

Stamina: 55/55

(+4/min) Dilo: Level 1 Dilophosaurus

Strength: 1

Health: 50/50

(+2/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 5/5

(+1/min)

Spirit: 0

Stamina: 20/20

(+1/min)

Entering custom data to the system was a painstaking and time-consuming process, but Levi wanted his tables to be accessible when he needed them and persevered until they snapped in place.

Strength: +10 Health, +1 H-Regen Psyche: +3 Mana, +.5 M-Regen Spirit: +15 Stamina, +1 S-Regen

Much more in line with ordinary creatures, and it did highlight the enhanced quality of the plus variation.

He wasn't sure if he would keep the dilo, once he'd looked over its stats. The boss version was significantly better, and between Henry, Cassandra, and Laurence they had enough ranged damage on the team that Levi felt no particular desire to keep the creature.

Before he did anything else, he returned to where Gayle was still arguing with her daughters.

"This will take less than a minute. Here, take this." Levi handed her the sword and had the extraneous dilophosaurus lie down in front of her. "Cen?"

Cen pinned the dilo in place with eight of his legs, and Levi turned to Gayle, who was watching this all with a look of horror. "Just stab the dinosaur and take the Fighter class."

Cassandra looked at Levi with clear irritation in her eyes, but smiled and tried to sound cheerful. "It'll be okay, Mom. I promise, you don't have to do anything more. Just do as he says, and it'll be done."

"And if I don't want to be involved?"

Levi unbound the dilo, which immediately started struggling and snarling, clawing helplessly at the air, unable to reach its antagonists.

Gayle backed away, dropping the sword and holding her hands up. "This feel like you're inducting me into some kind of cult. I'm not interested in your weird magic monsters. I won't tell anyone, but I don't want to be part of it."

"Levi," Irene asked, eyes pleading. "She should know."

Cassandra turned on Levi, eyes narrowing. "Know what?"

"You're sure she won't tell anyone?" Levi asked. "It's not the kind of thing I want known widely."

"We should tell everyone here anyway. If we're going to be working together, it shouldn't be under false apprehensions."

Gordon nodded in agreement. "I know you don't like talking about it, but I think she's right."

"Gordon, could you keep an eye on Peter for me?" Irene asked.

"Maybe take him and Henry hunting?" Levi suggested.

Gordon nodded in understanding and called out. Peter trotted over, Henry running at his side. Gordon and his escort of minions led the way off toward the nearest group of turkeys.

"Levi has seen the future," Irene revealed in a low voice. "He's visited an... alternate future timeline and--"

"HAH!" Laurence shouted. "I knew it! No one knows the kind of stuff you do, and the military doesn't let that kind of info out into the wild."

Levi sighed. "Maybe so. The modern secrecy doesn't last into the demon war more than a year or two. By the time I joined the fight, the information was freely available - what little we had."

"Demon war? What do you..." Laurence paled. "That event you posted on the wiki? It's real. Oh, that's... that's not good."

"No it isn't."

Gayle frowned at them, looking between Laurence and Irene. "If this is supposed to be convincing me, you're doing a very poor job of it."

"I've been to the future, it's not a good place, the dungeons are only the beginning. The powers we obtain here are going to be absolutely essential in saving the world from the bigger problem - a demonic invasion through portals that will open in the next few months. It's nothing we can prevent, or stop, but we can deal with the demons themselves with the help of the dungeon levels and monsters. If you don't take the class, then you'll be vulnerable. If you level, you might have a better chance to survive."

Gayle looked at the thrashing dinosaur, then at Cassandra and Irene, lips pressed together.

"Please, Mom," Irene said. "It won't hurt you and it'll be there if you ever decide to do anything more, and if you don't you'll just be a stronger and faster version of yourself."

Gayle sighed and picked up the sword.