I didn't stay in the burning dome for longer than I had to evolve the abilities I needed. My abilities grew again. I added no new ones, but the levels and power of those I already had increased. My carapace grew stronger. My wind blades—sharper. My senses—more acute.
The most important upgrade was that, when I added enhanced taste and touch to my senses, I could merge all my senses together with my blind sight into an ability called 'Enhanced Awareness'. It was like blind sight, but… for every sense. For those that required touch, it was very weird. I could tell the taste and texture of everything around me at once if I concentrated on it.
I preferred not to. Thankfully, 'Enhanced Awareness' included all my previous enhanced senses, and even allowed me to use blind sight and normal at the same time. Most importantly, it just made scouting with mental projection easier, since it could not only see now but also hear and feel scents.
an unlikely alliance