A room full of small and mobile creatures, while something Levi's normal team could blaze through with hardly a pause, could well be the worst possible setup for them right now. At least a few large creatures they could hope to manipulate with Lash's ability, or outrun with pure stamina and evasion skills.

Rather than follow the river they headed directly for the exit. There was no reason to prolong their visit to this particular room, and every reason to get out of it as quickly as possible. The hills were low enough not to be much of an obstacle to Levi's stamina-fueled run.

Between biting, stabbing, and spiky fish, the constant harassment from the dire-turkeys, and the occasional dinosaur pack, it was a bit of a desperate run.

Still, if not for the sabercats, they might have been able to escape relatively unscathed.

Lash was good at keeping the fish corralled by swatting them away with his many bladed-whip tendrils, and could even pick up and throw an occasional dire-turkey. Levi's newly-upgraded leg armor was doing a marvelous job of rebuffing the turkeys who managed to reach him, and Skarm hopped about using Levi as a springboard to stab flying fish and claw at turkeys before returning to his position.

But the moment the first sabercat came into view, Levi knew they were in trouble. Longer and leaner than Becca's more blocky form, but no less large and deadly, the sabercat bounded toward them at an angle to cut them off.

Level 18

(Maned Sabercat)

Health 100%

Levi knew at a glance this was a conflict they couldn't afford to get tied up in. It wasn't a plus, so on its own if they were careful they could probably beat it eventually. But it would be a long and drawn out fight. Not one they could manage while dodging swarms of fishes and flocks of turkeys, the latter of whom were high enough level that even two or three of whom could pose a serious challenge if Levi ever stopped running.

The sabercat was still a good distance away, but closing the gap quickly. Continuing straight across the huge area would only put them into its path sooner. If they were going to escape a prolonged and extremely dangerous fight, he had to act now.

Sabercats owned the grasslands, turkeys and dilophosaurs the hills, and the fish the river. Of all the enemy types... they were most likely to survive the fish.

Grumbling and cursing the swarms, Levi veered away from the charging cat and sprinted toward the river instead. He didn't want anything to do with the fish. Swarms were his nemesis. But if he had to fight something in its natural habitat he'd rather take the fish than the lion.

Skarm leaped off Levi's shoulder, once again bringing down a spiky fish with a stab of his horn, its health dropping to 2%. It seemed to be the last of the spiky fishes in their immediate vicinity, though there were plenty of the stabby and biting types left.

However, instead of finishing the practically-dead fish off, Skarm raced after Levi to offer the monster to him with a grin.

Level 11

(Jagged Bladefin)

Health 2%

"I get enough sass from Becca. I don't want your dead fish."

Skarm shook his head. He gripped the thrashing fish in his pointy teeth, then scrambled up Levi's leg and chest. Clinging to Levi's necklace with one hand to keep his precarious position while they ran, he pulled the fish out of his mouth with the other hand and waved it in Levi's face emphatically.

"What, you want me to tame it? That thing is useless."

Skarm shook the fish even more insistently. It promptly tried to twist and bite his hand, but wasn't flexible enough and its attempt came to nothing.

"Fine. But I reserve the right to say I told you so when this turns out to be a waste of time. Tame."

The fish fell still in Skarm's grip, its border shifting to allied.

Tame: Success!

Would you like to name ‘Jagged Bladefin’ at this time?

He dismissed the window without reading it. No, no he did not want to name the stupid fish. He had no time for this.

They'd reached the river. Levi leaped out across it as far as he could, landing near the center with a splash. As soon as he surfaced he set off swimming downstream with the current.

Skarm released Jagged Bladefin and it swam after the nearest attacking fish, one of the narwhal-horned ones. What ensued was the shortest and saddest fish-fight Levi could have imagined. Jagged Bladefin hadn't regained any health from being tamed, remaining at 2% - or 1 health point - and managed only a small spiky bump against the other fish before it spun its horn on the hapless creature to impale it.

If not for Lash snatching Jagged Bladefin away at the last second, it would have been the shortest-lived minion ever.

"So glad I wasted mana and stamina taming that," Levi scowled at Skarm. "What was your--"

But now wasn't the time for a debate. The pursuing turkeys hadn't hesitated in diving into the water after them, and it turned out turkeys were actually decent swimmers.

Cursing again, Levi grabbed the useless fish from Lash, freeing up the soul-seeker's tendrils for more important things.

"Into my bag and don't come out," Levi ordered. He needed his arms for swimming and had no time to mess around with useless fish. It immediately dove into his backpack with a tremulous dart. It clearly understood how little patience he had for its existence at present.

One unexpected benefit of being on the water was a dramatic increase in Lash's ability to redirect the turkeys. They didn't have as much traction in the river, their momentum more easily turned against them.

Lash did take his share of damage in retaliation; the turkeys and fish alike took umbrage at being denied their primary targets and took it out on the soul-seeker with gusto.

The other big advantage of the river was that it did significantly slow down the dinosaurs. They weren't built for swimming.

Levi's team were perhaps a quarter of the way across the room by now, but following the river would take much longer than their former direct route. It didn't take genius level math to realize that at this rate Lash wouldn't survive the trip. And without him, Levi wasn't sure any of them would survive.

As if to prove his fear, the sabercat appeared over the nearest hill, loping down toward the river with no appearance of slowing.

"LASH!"

The soul-seeker twisted, bringing his eye level with the sabercat, and Levi minutely relaxed as the cat froze, trapped in Lash's nightmare gaze.

Of course, with the soul-seeker's full attention on holding the sabercat, that left the turkeys and remaining fish free to resume their attack. And now they were all swimming Levi no longer had the protection of height.

Skarm gripped Levi's shoulder with his legs, holding on as he slashed at the encroaching fish, but it wasn't hard to see that they'd only traded one problem for another.

Levi shifted his path, aiming for the far shore. If Lash could keep the sabercat distracted long enough, they might be able to make some headway against their smaller adversaries. The turkeys may be able to keep up with Levi on land, or in the water, but he could run faster than they could swim.

Any minute advantage could be what allowed them to survive. Lash was already down to just over half his health again, and Skarm's regen was the only reason he even still had a third of his.

If they had to do this the whole rest of the way through the dungeon, they weren't going to make it.

He needed another plan, and he needed it fast.