Levi led them to the next Destruction dungeon, a nice quiet level 1 which should pose a moderate challenge to Irene and Peter without being too dangerous.

He did only have half his team with him, but that wasn't a major problem. He suspected Skarm and Centoo could clear the place with ease. But that wasn't the goal today. Today was for Peter and Irene.

Peter walked at the front of the group, one hand on Henry's side as the dilo's frill flared and his head bobbed and darted, twisting to look at everything. Irene walked close behind him, Gremlin Two walking at her side with his dagger ready in case anything decided to skip Henry and go straight for the healer.

Levi followed just far enough behind to give them space, close enough that with a quick burst of stamina he could intercept any truly dangerous attacks before they could reach his family.

Peter spotted the first ambushing gremlin a moment before Henry did, exclaiming and pointing. He had Levi's Beastly Shortsword, loaned for the trip until he could get something of his own. He hadn't quite gotten the hang of pushing mana into it just yet, but it was a magic sword so he was trying his hardest. He pointed it at the gremlin, the blade flickering a moment as it almost activated, then dulling again to its default faint glimmer centered around the power stone.

Henry spat a glob of bright green at the gremlin, then leapt on it with his claws and teeth. The gremlin wasn't defenseless; it twisted its head to stab the dinosaur through the chest as he reached it, raking its claws down Henry's sides, but its struggles were destined to be short lived. Level 3 dinosaur vs level 1 gremlin: dino wins.

Peter ran up and stabbed the gremlin once, contributing at least enough to gain a little experience.

Irene hurried forward, checking Peter over first.

"Mom, I'm fine, help Henry..."

She ignored his protests and completed her own inspection, not trusting the 100% tag over his head until she'd verified its veracity, and only once she was satisfied turned to the injured dinosaur.

Her base Medic ability was called Assess, and provided her a detailed readout of any injuries and how best to treat them. The ability took thirty seconds to complete, however, which made it impractical for combat usage. It did mean that she could apply restoratives more adeptly than simply pouring them over an injury and hoping for the best, the added efficiency decreasing the quantity required, at least by a little.

It was still less efficient than drinking it, at least for now, but Levi knew that her abilities would grow more powerful as she reached higher thresholds. While he didn't have much personal information in the way of Medic class details, he did remember being treated by some highly effective specialized elixirs in the early years of the fight, before all their healers were picked off in the slow retreat that drove them into a single city and left them on the brink of utter destruction.

Henry hissed happily and bobbed his head, eager to get going. Levi did one final check over everyone, then nodded for them to proceed.

He'd considered using his beast-sight lens to check over the dungeon, but decided to let things unfold how they would without his interference for now. He was confident in his ability to protect everyone here if something went wrong. If something did happen it could be important experience - the real something-happened-to-me kind, not the points toward leveling kind.

They reached a second ambush which neither Henry nor Peter spotted, this one managing to get a claw swipe in on Peter's arm. He yelped and grabbed his arm, stunned for a moment by the pain - gremlin claws weren't corrosive to the extent of scarab stings, but they certainly cut deep.

Henry jumped to his master's defence with a high hissing screech, charging the offending gremlin and knocking it off its feet.

Levi had to consciously hold himself back from doing the same. He could see that the fight was no real danger, it was only a claw swipe, and Peter would learn more doing things himself than having Levi do them for him. Though his paternal instincts still urged him to jump in, Levi was able to hold himself back for now.

Henry had no such restraints. He burned stamina hard, Levi could tell by the speed of his attacks as he bit the gremlin's chest and face again and again, finishing it off before Peter got a hold of himself. Then Henry stomped once on the dead gremlin for good measure, hissed at it angrily, then hurried over to Peter. The dilo hissed uncertainly, tilting his head this way and that as he stared at the bleeding gashes across Peter's arm.

Irene jumped in the moment the fight was over, her partially-used elixir already in her hand, a fresh daub at the ready. Levi exhaled in unexpected relief, watching Peter's health stop dropping and begin rising again. He was sure he would get used to it as they continued fighting and leveling together, but at the moment it still felt wrong to stand by.

"I'm fine," Peter said. "Thanks. Next one's mine," he called to Henry, who hissed at him and ran ahead, prompting Peter to sprint after him. Levi increased his speed to keep them in sight, but he needn't have worried. The next room was wide open and contained a very obvious pair of gremlins standing to either side of the hallway moving onward like guards.

"Left," Peter said, gesturing for Henry to take the one on the right. This time Peter ran right in, swinging Levi's sword in his best imitation of proper form. Levi had shown him a few of the basics before they entered the dungeon, but clearly they hadn't fully stuck.

Still, much like how the Doom Raiders had succeeded in beating level 2 monsters without much in the way of actual swordsmanship, even wild flailing was good enough against gremlins. Peter took two hits this time, one across his stomach and another on the leg, a skewer from the gremlin's horn, but he didn't freeze up this time and only yelled defiance as he slashed the gremlin again and again. Its health dropped in quick bursts, then it fell still and then faded.

Henry was similarly successful in his own attack, pinning the gremlin against the wall and spitting acid over it several times in quick succession at point blank range, leaving it to begin losing its definition even before it disappeared.

"Dad, Dad, did you see that?" Peter grinned and spun around, holding the sword up in triumph. "I got one!"

Levi grinned. "Yes you did. Plenty more where that came from."

"I'm going to catch up with you soon."

"I'm sure you will."

Peter stood still while Irene took care of his injuries, then Henry's, not trying to shake her off this time and smiling eagerly at her as she finished. Whatever embarrassment he'd initially felt had faded as the seriousness and excitement of their trip overcame his reservations.

He charged into the next room eagerly, and this time he missed a trio of gremlins lurking in the walls. The three monsters waited until Peter and Henry were past before charging silently at their backs. Oblivious, the pair ran all the way into a second group and engaged them, not realizing they'd been pursued.

"Skarm." Levi said, jumping forward without pausing to think. Skarm urged Centoo forward and a moment later one of the ambushers lay dead; Skarm leapt from his centipede and descended on the next with a powerful slash that nearly bisected the gremlin, and Levi's Destructive Slash did much the same. Within seconds, the three gremlins were disappearing even as Peter and Henry faced off with their next opponents still oblivious of the potential danger.

Levi made a note to mention it to Peter once they reached the end. He'd jumped in out of instinct, but didn't think he'd need to do so again. Judging by his count they should be almost through the dungeon's available forces.

Indeed, there were no more large groups, only single gremlins scattered through the halls and one more pair of guards which fared no better against the boy and his dinosaur than the first group had.

"Yes, level up!" Peter did a small victory dance, then turned to Levi. "Could you show me how to add the stat points again?"

Levi started to talk him through it, but almost at once Peter nodded.

"Right, yeah, I got it, thanks."

There was no midway treasure room, which did happen regularly enough in the level one dungeons. Levi called out to stop their advance when he spotted the boss door at the end of the next hall.

"I'm going to scout it before we decide who's going in," he said, pulling out his lens. An ogre stood beyond, its arms crossed across its chest. Levi grimaced. Of course. Too dangerous for him to let Peter face alone, and something he very much wanted to catch but he didn't have Gordon. He could have Peter get Dismay as soon as he hit his first threshold, he decided. If they were going to be fighting together for the foreseeable future, it would be good to have another reliable way of bringing bosses into the fold. Plus, Peter might need it for himself if he ever ended up in a desperate situation.

"It's an ogre," Levi said. "They hit hard and fast, so the top priority is avoiding being hit."

"Can I tame it?"

"Bosses need to be Dismayed before they can be tamed, and neither of us has that ability right now. This time, we're going to just kill it."

"Okay." Peter didn't seem at all disappointed, in fact, almost eager to fight. "I'll attack from the front, you can go in from the right, and Henry will attack from the left. Mom, you should stay out of the way so you can heal us if anything goes wrong."

Levi chuckled and nodded. "Sounds like a fine plan to me. Skarm, keep an eye on Peter. Two, keep Irene safe." He handed Irene his bow, which she took with a nod. She wasn't adept at channeling mana yet either, but at least if things got frantic she would probably be able to activate it by instinct and it would be more useful in her hands than waiting around in Levi's sheath.

Peter stepped over to the door, then turned back to Levi for approval.

Levi nodded, and Peter opened the boss door.