Levi looked over the gremlin's ability options. As much as it was tempting to put Skarm's ability points into maxing gremlin stat point gains, that had always been applied retroactively for past levels as well so waiting wouldn't hurt anything.

Right now, they desperately needed more attack power, and that wouldn't be helped by giving Skarm a few more stat points. He had plenty of stamina and regen, and with his new evolved form he could move far faster than his base version. Against enemies of this level, a little more health wouldn't matter. Two had his next threshold level available as soon as Levi could revive him anyway.

Leap and Sharpened Claws had been serving Skarm well so far. Levi put the first two points into maxing Sharpened Claws before moving down to Leap. But before he could assign the other two points, he noticed an alert.

Sharpened Claws (5/5)

Type: Flickering Gremlin

Ability evolution requirements met.

Conversion available.

"So monster abilities have to reach their maximum level before they can evolve with their species upgrades?" That was different from class upgrades, which evolved everything at once regardless of its ability level.

He brought up the details on the new upgrade.

Piercing Claws

Claws gain an extendable/retractable nature for dealing extra damage on impact, and allowing more flexibility in claw usage.

Convert 'Sharpened Claws' to 'Piercing Claws': 1 ability point

If he knew anything about evolutions, it was that an upgraded version of a thing was often significantly better than the base version; judging by Skarm's dramatically increased speed and stealth capabilities in his upgraded form, that belief held true for people, weapons, and monsters even if the specifics looked a little different for each.

He selected the upgrade, then paused before putting the fourth and final point into Leap as he'd planned.

"Baseline time. Skarm, I need you to jump up and scratch the wall as high as you can reach."

Skarm, who'd begun playing with his claws - withdrawing them completely like a cat's claws so they all but disappeared from his fingers, extending them so they were longer than his hands, staring down at where they should have been way too long to fit into the hand - scowled up at Levi.

"We don't have all day, you can play with your new evolutions later. I need to know how much this improvement is."

Skarm hopped up and down half-heartedly.

"Come on, full effort here!" Levi wondered at Skarm's attitude, but now wasn't the time to get in a fight with his own minions.

With Levi's full weight of focus on him, Skarm grinned cheekily, then took a running jump and soared about halfway up the wall, his feet a bit above Levi's head, his outstretched claws a couple feet further than that.

Without waiting to be asked, he repeated the jump, making a second scratch fairly close, then did two more from a standing start. Those ones were actually a little higher, so it seemed part of Leap's power was converted into forward movement as well when already moving.

Skarm tilted his head to one side, arms crossed.

Levi allocated the point, and Skarm repeated the tests. His first running jump slammed him into the wall hard enough that he toppled to the ground dizzily instead of making his mark and had to pause to recover his stamina before trying again.

This time he jumped from a good bit further back, running diagonally up the wide dungeon hallway and jumping for the wall. The mark was a good three feet higher than before, and the horizontal distance was significantly increased.

Jumping from a standing start, he made it closer to three-fourths of the way up the wall. The second time, instead of simply slashing a mark into the wall, he stabbed deep into it with all his claws, hanging there a moment, then started climbing. His forceful claw extensions left shattered divots wherever he stabbed, looking more like bullet holes than anything else, and he made it all the way to the ceiling despite this patch of wall being completely flat and unornamented, with nothing to hold on to.

Levi whistled softly. He didn't know how much of the baseline movement speed and height were due to the evolution rather than Leap 1, but Leap 2 was looking like a solid increase either way.

"Good. As you were."

Skarm promptly sat down to check his foot-claws, tail coiling up around his waist.

Levi took another minute to stare at him, again taking in the murky-clear horn and claws, the deepened purple of his hide, the dark grey patterns in streaks very much like camouflage. If he wasn't mistaken, Skarm's tail seemed thinner and longer as well, the point at its tip a bit narrower and sharper.

It would take some getting used to. He felt he'd miss the pale version, even if the new one looked much deadlier.

Skarm noticed him staring and stared back, one leg still tucked up on his lap, hands still wrapped around his ankle. His eyes slowly widened, lips twitching, and Levi abruptly realized the gremlin was struggling not to smile.

"I'll never understand your sense of humor," Levi told him, deadpan.

Skarm blinked up at him innocently, but the extraordinarily pointy-toothed smile he gave along with it rather ruined the effect.

"You look like you're about to eat my cat or something."

Skarm's tail twitched and his grin widened, showing even more pointy little teeth.

"Hmm. Glad you like it."

Skarm's upgrades taken care of, Levi turned his attention to the remainder of the team. Lash was still alive, hopefully still leading the remaining kalvex on a chase. He was one of the few who hadn't leveled from this. Plus creatures were turning out to be much slower than base creatures to level. Even the harpy swarm had leveled, and they were still who knew how far away.

It was enough to make Levi consider grabbing more basic creatures to level and evolve. The bosses were stronger at first, but with the slowness in leveling Levi was seriously questioning their long term viability. Perhaps 'bigger number' wasn't always the way to make decisions.

Bolt hadn't leveled, nor had Packrunner. Unsurprising. Since they weren't underleveled for this dungeon there was no reason they should level especially quickly.

The rest of his dead minions were still dead. Gordon hadn't revived anyone in his group yet, or if so only someone of his own.

Then Skarm abruptly jumped to his feet, half crouched as though ready to drop to all fours and start running somewhere.

"What is it?" Levi's senses were instantly on full alert. If something had his minion worried, he needed to know what.

Skarm gestured back toward the tunnel entrance where they'd left Bolt and Packrunner on guard while they recovered.

"Lash?" Levi checked his minion panel. Lash was fine, his health still at around half and steady, but Bladefins were dropping fast. Between Levi opening the panel and glancing down, another disappeared, leaving only four. Two of whom were with Levi. Well, around the prison tunnels somewhere, he wasn't actually sure where the fish had flown off to.

Then Lash's health did drop, not by much, just enough to be notable. And it didn't continue to fall, so he hadn't been pinned down.

Levi raced to the tunnel entrance, Skarm keeping pace easily. They passed the rest of the volunteers, some of whom turned to watch Levi sprint past, but he didn't have time to give instructions.

By the time he reached the mouth of the tunnel, Lash was engaged in a furious four-way battle against a very large, very angry Roc-Lobster. The two kalvex had dutifully run out to help the soul-seeker, currently Bolt hung from the monstrous flying lobster by one giant claw while it snapped at him with the other, while Packrunner had one of its wings pinned down to keep it from flying after Lash.

"Time to move!" Levi shouted, his voice echoing back into the tunnel as he ran. "Looks like phase two is starting early!"