A few days later, Skarm and Two both reached their second thresholds within three fights of each other.

Levi held off until they reached the third treasure room, midway through the second floor of the dungeon, before immersing himself in their ability upgrade options. It wouldn't be a good idea to stand around distracted in any dungeon, especially now that their levels were inching up closer to closing the gap. While Levi himself remained level 14, their loop of dungeons was leveling rapidly and closing in on levels 5-6. A good half of the dungeons had second floors now, with one dungeon having even added a third.

It was getting to the point where getting through two dungeons in a day was a good run, with most taking ten to fifteen hours to clear.

At a quick glance, Skarm and Two each had different sets of options, based on which ones they hadn't taken the first threshold.

Horned Gremlin Abilities (Skarm)

Corrosive Slash

Claws obtain the Destructive quality and cause lingering damage.

Sneaky

Increased stealth, and increased damage from stealth.

Gorer

Horn obtains barbed protrusions, inflicting more damaging bleeds.

Scamper

Gains the ability to compound movement speed over moderate distance far beyond normal limits.

Horned Gremlin Abilities (Gremlin Two)

Sharpened Claws

Increase damage dealt by unarmed attacks.

Echo Mimic

Gains the ability to imitate natural sounds or animal noises to confuse pursuers.

Gorer

Horn obtains barbed protrusions, inflicting more damaging bleeds.

Leap

Ability to jump is doubled, and attacks landed from the air deal significant additional damage.

Skarm's new options were based on damage and movement, while Two's seemed based on stealth. Appropriate given their specializations so far.

But as interesting as their new ability options were... there was something else that was far more tempting.

Horned Gremlin: Stat Boost (1/5)

Horned Gremlin minions will gain 1 extra stat point on level up

Horned Gremlin minions will gain 2 extra stat points on level up

(Upgrade: 2 ability points)

It wasn't even an 'every few levels' thing like Pack Leader, but a straight multiplier. Each additional point was another point per level, both retroactively and from then onward. Gremlins may have minimal gains compared to other creatures, but with this particular ability they were poised to have exponential power jumps at higher levels.

Levi assigned two of Skarm's points to claiming level 2, then two of Two's points to bringing it up to 3.

Horned Gremlin: Stat Boost (3/5)

Horned Gremlin minions will gain 3 extra stat points on level up

And with that, Skarm and Two each had another 20 stat points, while Ward had ten.

But before he moved on to stats, Skarm and Two also each had one ability point remaining. Levi considered the new ability unlocks a moment longer, but ultimately decided to hold off on anything new. Instead he put Skarm's into the next level of Sharpened Claws, and Two's into Sneaky. Why mess with what worked? This would further increase Skarm's melee damage potential, and Two's ambush damage and stealth ability.

That done, he brought up their stat pages and stared at them, noticing the same jump in their health and stamina as Cen had. Well, not exactly the same, but they'd quietly gained a lot more from hitting level 10 than he'd expected.

Skarm: Level 10

(Horned Gremlin)

Strength: 9

Health: 145/145

(+12/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 0/0

(+3/min)

Spirit: 11

Stamina: 210/210

(+14/min) Gremlin Two: Level 10

(Horned Gremlin)

Strength: 7

Health: 135/135

(+10/min)

Psyche: 2

Mana: 6/6

(+4/min)

Spirit: 11

Stamina: 210/210

(+14/min)

Even before assigning their many bonus points from the species-wide ability boosts, they'd gone from less than half as much health as Levi to over two-thirds. Their mana remained abysmal, while the stamina had jumped from 160 at level 9 to 210 at level 10.

He'd have to keep tracking this, it seemed there was something going on with minions at level 10. And he couldn't help but think it must happen with normal dungeon monsters too. If so, it could help explain their sudden jumps in power.

He split their points - and Ward's - pretty evenly between Strength and Spirit. That brought them up to around 200 health and 300 stamina, rivaling the centipedes for health and entirely unmatched for stamina. Not to mention their regen, being around one every 3 seconds, made even Becca look slow.

With one quick once-over of everyone else's points, he was ready to move on.

Minions Name Lvl Type Str Psy Spirit Health Mana Stamina Skarm 10 Horned Gremlin 20 0 20 200/200

(+23/min) 0/0

(+3/min) 300/300

(+23/min) Gremlin Two 10 Horned Gremlin 19 2 19 195/195

(+22/min) 6/6

(+4/min) 290/290

(+22/min) Cen 10 Stone Centipede 5 2 3 215/215

(+8/min) 70/70

(+5/min) 155/155

(+6/min) Centoo 9 Stone Centipede 6 0 3 160/160

(+8/min) 30/30

(+2/min) 85/85

(+5/min) Becca 7 Rift Cat + 3 4 0 405/405

(+16/min) 220/220

(+10/min) 70/70

(+2/min) Shadevine 7 Shadevine + 4 3 0 85/85

(+18/min) 160/160

(+16/min) 40/40

(+10/min) Ward 4 Horned Gremlin + 8 0 8 230/230

(+18/min) 0/0

(+1/min) 260/260

(+18/min) Crackle 4 Rust Scarab + 0 3 1 50/50

(+1/min) 100/100

(+8/min) 55/55

(+2/min) Maggie 4 Magma Serpent + 1 2 1 155/155

(+4/min) 130/130

(+6/min) 70/70

(+2/min) Drok 4 Cave Ogre + 3 0 1 300/300

(+12/min) 20/20

(+1/min) 120/120

(+4/min) Tink 3 Mirror Sprite + 0 3 0 50/50

(+1/min) 255/255

(+8/min) 50/50

(+1/min) Firelord 3 Kobold Magus + 0 3 0 30/30

(+1/min) 190/190

(+4/min) 70/70

(+1/min) Skarm: Level 10

Horned Gremlin

Strength: 20

Health: 200/200

(+23/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 0/0

(+3/min)

Spirit: 20

Stamina: 300/300

(+23/min) Gremlin Two: Level 10

Horned Gremlin

Strength: 19

Health: 195/195

(+22/min)

Psyche: 2

Mana: 6/6

(+4/min)

Spirit: 19

Stamina: 290/290

(+22/min) Cen: Level 10

Stone Centipede

Strength: 5

Health: 215/215

(+8/min)

Psyche: 2

Mana: 70/70

(+5/min)

Spirit: 3

Stamina: 155/155

(+6/min) Centoo: Level 9

Stone Centipede

Strength: 6

Health: 160/160

(+8/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 30/30

(+2/min)

Spirit: 3

Stamina: 85/85

(+5/min) Becca: Level 7

Rift Cat +

Strength: 3

Health: 405/405

(+16/min)

Psyche: 4

Mana: 220/220

(+10/min)

Spirit: 0

Stamina: 70/70

(+2/min) Shadevine: Level 7

Shadevine +

Strength: 4

Health: 85/85

(+18/min)

Psyche: 3

Mana: 160/160

(+16/min)

Spirit: 0

Stamina: 40/40

(+10/min) Ward: Level 4

Horned Gremlin +

Strength: 8

Health: 230/230

(+18/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 0/0

(+1/min)

Spirit: 8

Stamina: 260/260

(+18/min) Crackle: Level 4

Rust Scarab +

Strength: 0

Health: 50/50

(+1/min)

Psyche: 3

Mana: 100/100

(+8/min)

Spirit: 1

Stamina: 55/55

(+2/min) Maggie: Level 4

Magma Serpent +

Strength: 1

Health: 155/155

(+4/min)

Psyche: 2

Mana: 130/130

(+6/min)

Spirit: 1

Stamina: 70/70

(+2/min) Drok: Level 4

Cave Ogre +

Strength: 3

Health: 300/300

(+12/min)

Psyche: 0

Mana: 20/20

(+1/min)

Spirit: 1

Stamina: 120/120

(+4/min) Tink: Level 3

Mirror Sprite +

Strength: 0

Health: 50/50

(+1/min)

Psyche: 3

Mana: 255/255

(+8/min)

Spirit: 0

Stamina: 50/50

(+1/min) Firelord: Level 3

Kobold Magus +

Strength: 0

Health: 30/30

(+1/min)

Psyche: 3

Mana: 190/190

(+4/min)

Spirit: 0

Stamina: 70/70

(+1/min)

With so many hovering on the edge of new thresholds, it would be a toss-up whether the next would be Centoo, Ward, Crackle, Maggie, or Drok.

But as it turned out, two dungeons later, it was Levi.

Congratulations, Levi Morrison!

You have 1 level available.

Applying to default class.

Tamer level increased to 15.

Tamer threshold 3 reached!

+22 health, +22 mana, +22 stamina

Unassigned Stat Points: 1

Unassigned Ability Points: 4 System-guided crafting is now available.

One simple notification, and a whole new set of interfaces became available. If one knew how to access them. It had been long enough since Levi accessed the basic recipes interface that it took him nearly fifteen minutes to retrain himself to think in just the right arbitrary sequence at the correct speed, but he knew it would grow more familiar with repetition.

Once into the crafting system, Levi mentally toggled the recipes panel and a whole host of options appeared. Most of them were represented by a greyed out 'LOCKED' icon, but a handful were open. Mostly elixirs, ones he had experience with in the past and wouldn't even need the system's help to create, but also a few new ones that he'd not used in the past.

Crafting behaved pretty similarly to abilities. By using and unlocking recipes in a line, later recipes in that line would also be open for you to unlock. The further down the line you got, the more experience and practice you needed to unlock the next recipe in the line.

The biggest problem with his plan was that he wasn't a crafter in the first timeline. He knew a handful of basic elixirs for emergencies, some repair abilities for his equipment, but otherwise he was a fighter and didn't put much thought into what the crafting system might be capable of.

He was familiar enough with the elemental caltrops; one of those handy trinkets that were always on hand but never ended up very useful. Against lower level creatures they could be a little useful perhaps but against higher level dungeons or demons they were little more than an annoyance at best.

Still, if that was where the recipe chain started, it wouldn't be where it ended. There should be some more useful items too. He remembered there being grenade type things, and shields that could be deployed and left. Setups for advanced automated spellcasting like turrets. Most of those required power stones in crafting, but the biggest reason they weren't more widely used were the constant requirement of tokens to stay charged.

Which left him staring at a dozen potential paths and no way to tell which one would have Summoner at its end.

Probably something in one of the Tinkerer categories, rather than Weaponcraft, Armorcraft, or Alchemy sections. Those were easy to rule out. But was it the elemental caltrop line? Or the weapon ability modification line? Would he get there faster by focusing on creating tracings, or on combining raw materials into advanced materials? A track requiring exotic ingredients? One based entirely on tokens? He knew some tokens were required to craft the Summoner unlock item, but tokens were required for almost everything. Did it also require other exotic ingredients?

The fact that the recipes required both a certain level of crafting experience and the ingredients to be in your possession before they'd unlock was a major annoyance.

He'd known this choice was coming, but it didn't make it any easier now that it was here. He'd just have to hope Laurence had collected enough ingredients. If he was going to have to pursue multiple lines to ensure he got the right recipes, he'd burn through raw materials fast.

Though he'd half hoped that having the list of options in front of him would narrow it down, the locked tiles didn't even provide names, let alone descriptions. Each was a simple blank grey rectangle, taunting him with its impenetrability.

At least he had the options now for where to start, even if he wouldn't be diving too far into the actual crafting until Laurence returned with the materials.

Not that they were bereft of options themselves. He'd obtained dozens of elixirs throughout their trip, most the level 1 variety but a handful of more powerful ones. Between pieces of armor from the various dungeons, both he and Gordon were up to fully-equipped status, even if it didn't all match.

Then they had various ingredients just from the past days running dungeons; glitterling dust, kalvex spines, two bunches of frost fur, crystal shell fragments, sparkburr seeds, two blocks of stone, and even a vial of Control essence. A whole lot more tokens; 4 Control, 1 Nature, 3 Lightning, 3 Beast, 6 Fire, 6 Destruction, 3 Stone, and 1 Ice, in addition to those they'd already accumulated. For power stones, they'd received 2 Stone, one each for Control and Nature, and three more Destruction.

But even that seemed like a small quantity compared to the amount of progress he needed to make. Even assuming he could fragment the tokens to make two or three items from each, he couldn't help but feel daunted by the sheer quantity of locked recipes between him and even a chance of creating the item he wanted.

With a sigh, he set aside the crafting tables for now and returned to the ability list. At least here he could make some meaningful decisions.

He glanced over all the species-specific options that were available to him. He could improve any of them, but it would seem like a waste if he did so without having a good number of the creature.

Of course, he could always tame more if he decided one was worth investing in. He was going to have a ridiculous number of minion slots open, after all. He could spare a half dozen or so to making an elite sub-squad. Maybe he should collect more gremlins, since they were shaping up to be ridiculously powerful little critters. So far they'd exploded in viability far beyond his expectations. Even if their stats were technically lower than some of the others, it hardly mattered. As soon as another gremlin reached threshold, he could increase their stats yet again, and then they'd blow even Becca out of the water.

But for now he should at least look at the new options before ruling them out.

Horned Gremlin: Experience Increase (0/5)

Horned Gremlin minions will level at a 20% increased rate

(1 ability point)

Horned Gremlin: Stat Boost (3/5)

Horned Gremlin minions will gain 3 extra stat points on level up Horned Gremlin minions will gain 4 extra stat points on level up.

(1 ability point)

Stone Centipede: Resistance (0/5)

Stone Centipede minions will gain 5% resistance to all exotic damage types

(1 ability point)

Stone Centipede: Enhanced Health (0/5)

Stone Centipede minions will have all health totals increased by 20%

(1 ability point)

Rift Cat: Enhanced Stamina (0/5)

Rift Cat minions will have all stamina totals increased by 20%

(1 ability point)

Rift Cat: Drift (0/5)

Rift Cat minions can adjust falling speed by up to 10% at will

(1 ability point)

Shadevine: Enhanced Drain (0/5)

Shadevine minions will drain enemies 20% faster

(1 ability point)

Shadevine: Advanced Elongation (0/5)

Shadevine minions can stretch or thin themselves up to 20% more

(1 ability point)

Rust Scarab: Eternal Swarm (0/5)

Rust Scarab minions will gain an automatic duplicate every 5th level. Killed duplicates will return at a rate of 1 every 24 hours until the maximum is reached. Eternal Swarm duplicates do not require mana upkeep.

(1 ability point)

Rust Scarab: Potent Paralysis (0/5)

Rust Scarab minions’ venom will increase in potency by 15%.

(1 ability point)

Cave Ogre: Toughness (0/5)

Cave Ogre minions are 10% more resistant to physical damage

(1 ability point)

Cave Ogre: Forceful (0/5)

Cave Ogre minions will deal 20% more damage with physical attacks

(1 ability point)

Magma Serpent: Inner Furnace (0/5)

Magma Serpent minions can increase their internal temperature 20% more and gain faster control over temperature adjustments

(1 ability point)

Magma Serpent: Increased Mana (0/5)

Magma Serpent minions will gain an additional 15% maximum mana

(1 ability point)

Mirror Sprite: Increased Range (0/5)

Mirror Sprite minions can create illusions up to 20% further away

(1 ability point)

Mirror Sprite: Mirror Image (0/5)

Mirror Sprite minions obtain a perpetual mirrored double at no mana cost.

This mirror image is visual and audible, but cannot be harmed or interact with physical reality.

(1 ability point)

Kobold Magus: Increased Mana (0/5)

Kobold Magus minions will gain an additional 10% maximum mana.

(1 ability point)

Kobold Magus: Heatwave (0/5)

Kobold Magus minions will gain an aura of heat which can be focused or withdrawn at will.

(1 ability point)

There was.... a lot there. He'd kind of lost track of exactly how many different types of minions he had, so it wasn't until skimming through the list of all their potential upgrades that he realized how truly ridiculous his leveling would become if he continued to expand his team at his current rate.

His other ability options were still the same.

Tamer Abilities

Avatar

Perceive the world through the senses of a chosen minion

(Only one minion at a time can be designated as Avatar.)

Empower

Your minion is granted a 10% boost to all attributes for 1 minute

(Must be touching minion to activate)

Dismay

Decrease a creature’s resistance to mental abilities by 5%

(Can only be used on creatures with less than 5% health remaining. Target regains 10% of its maximum health.)

Conduit

10% of Tamer’s experience is instead echoed to all active minions

And his favourite ability, Pack Leader, was just one point away from being maxed.

Pack Leader (4/5)

Add an additional minion slot every 2nd level

Pack Leader 5

Add an additional minion slot every level

(1 ability point)