Levi stood a bit shakily, still feeling the aftereffects of pushing himself past any sane boundary again and again. But that was how he'd survived for seven years the first time around, and he had even more to fight for now.

He crossed to the doorway to watch as the room filled back to capacity, then most of the monsters ran off back through the first floor. They'd be going out the front entrance, to be waiting in ambush when he exited himself.

The run wasn't over yet. He still had to draw them all far enough away that once he lost his hold over them they didn't immediately turn back and slaughter all the escapees.

And for that, he'd need something faster than Snip.

He stared down at his hand, still pulsing faintly with the unnatural orange glow of Destruction, and again marveled at its power. He could feel the presence of several more Destruction items in the boss room, weapons and shields brought by the slaughtered dungeon clearing team.

If not for the extreme rarity of essence, Levi would be tempted to give one to everyone in his family and come back to this dungeon to get some fast levels. Unfortunately, between the two essences he'd already fed to the Dungeon Seed and the one he'd just used, that was all he'd found for close to a month of running multiple dungeons every day. Even with his Secret Seeker + title boosting dungeon rewards, they could expect less than one essence a week. He still had the Beast essence, but that wouldn't do much against this particular dungeon.

"I see why you didn't want to tell me exactly what your plan entailed."

Levi tensed. "Can we do this later?" He wasn't in the right headspace to have a discussion right now. He'd known Irene would be unhappy with how dangerous this was, but it had to be done. And right now he needed to be planning his next move, not defending his choices.

To his infinite relief, she murmured in assent and dropped the subject. "What can I do to help?" she asked instead. "Pack up this pile of stuff?"

He glanced back at the treasure pile, scattered across the floor by their too-fast entrance. "Yes. I'll need whatever mana elixirs are there. I'm good on stamina and health."

While she collected and packed up the pile of treasures, Levi scanned the crowd of furious beasts still gathered outside the door. At least he had plenty of options to choose from.

One sabercat caught his attention, prowling determinedly though the bulk of the rest of the monsters had already rushed off to ambush Levi when he emerged. Most of the bladefins remained, some turkeys, a handful of tyrannosaurs, but this one cat was the only one of its kind not to go racing off to set the ambush.

The cat was smaller than a tiger and scrawnier than Becca, but still pretty large. More importantly, the fact that it was pacing in measured strides meant that it was likely to have more stamina regenerated than some of the others. Stamina was the hardest attribute to replenish, since mana and health could be restored directly, while stamina restoratives only improved regeneration.

If he could grab it, stab it, tame it, and get it back into the treasure room before something else killed him and it both...

He wasn't completely confident of its mount viability, but from what he'd seen the cats were reliably in the forefront of the pack. Without any way to tame a plus, this was likely the best he could hope for.

He'd need to move fast. The monsters had already proven their ability to spread out and block his exits, their strategies growing more complex and less mindless-killing the longer the chase went on.

"Gonna be a very rapid bonding experience, you and I," Levi murmured. The next time the sabercat prowled past, he leaped out at it. Slashing through the bladefin swarms on the way, he drove the sword down into its back. It twisted and yowled, biting down on his leg before he could do more than begin his attack.

Level 18

(Prowling Sabercat)

Health 99%

Levi's eyebrows rose involuntarily as the cat's health slowly dropped, despite how heavily he was surging mana through the Destruction essence and down his sword. It wasn't falling nearly as quickly as he'd anticipated.

Or maybe it was the fact that he was being sliced, pecked, clawed, and otherwise severely injured this time, instead of having the relative safety of a giant spider-skunk or tyrannosaur. Being on ground level amid the chaos was... not fun.

Twice he had to retreat into the treasure room to quickly drink a health restorative, adding one of mana the second time for good measure, but with all the monsters gathered so closely it was almost too easy.

He cut down another few hundred bladefins, beheaded a handful of dire-turkeys, and after what may have been the longest thirty seconds of his life, finally chipped his target down to 5%.

RESISTED

"Not giving up that easily."

Tame: Success!

Looked like today, level 18 was his lucky number.

Immediately, his new cat dropped his foot and bounded into the safety of the treasure room, the monsters behind it surging forward to try and finish it off before it could recover.

Only once they were both safe did Levi open the page to view his new acquisition's stats.

Sabercat: Level 18

(Prowling Sabercat)

Strength: 18

Health: 34/930

(+30/min)

Psyche: 8

Mana: 74/160

(+20/min)

Spirit: 12

Stamina: 219/530

(+24/min)

No wonder they'd been able to keep up with him throughout the entire dungeon. Despite having lower gains in both base health and health-per-strength-point, the sabercat actually had more health than the tyrannosaur had.

This did mean that Levi's health restorative only managed to bring it up to around 15%, but he'd take it. Right now he had more restoratives than he'd need.

"Let me."

Irene fed it another three, bringing it up to full and leaving five more for Levi in case of emergency.

She lingered a moment after handing them off, one hand hovering somewhere between her chest and Levi's arm, as though unsure if she should advance or retreat.

"I have to go."

"Promise you'll come back."

"Of course I will."

She rested her hand against his cheek, looking up at him with glistening eyes. "Promise."

Levi met her gaze with his own intense focus. He put his hand over hers, nodded once. "I promise." His voice was low, but it carried every ounce of his absolute conviction.

He'd lost his family once to ignorance, and very nearly lost them a second time to carelessness. Never again. No matter what it cost him, he was going to see to their survival this time. This was still just the prelude. The true threat was still months away.

He would survive and he would return. There was no other option.

Irene managed a faint smile and stepped back, letting her hand fall to her side. "I'll be here when you get back."

Levi turned back to his new cat. Time to see if it was usable as a mount. If it wasn't, he'd need a new plan fast.

Luckily, the giant cat's back seemed almost perfectly shaped for a human rider. He did need to hold his legs awkwardly bunched up so they didn't trail on the ground, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as he'd feared.

He gripped the sabercat between his knees and grabbed its thick dark mane for support. It turned its head to give him a 'really?' look, but apart from a mildly irritated hiss and flick of its tail, it didn't overtly object.

"Now, let's see what kind of speed you can manage."

He nudged the cat into motion, and it ran a quick circuit of the treasure room. He couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed by the results. It was a bit faster than his usual stamina-drag running speed, but that was before he glanced at its stamina bar.

The cat's stamina was still regenerating even as they ran. This was its unamplified base running speed.

A smile twitched at the corner of Levi's lip. This could still work.