The next day started like the first time we went into the dungeon.
We all ate breakfast with each other, chatting and catching up.
Hunter had joined an organization that was basically a mercenary group.
It was a good pick for him, and apparently it was paying pretty well.
By the time we actually got into the sewer, we were in good spirits.
From what Merlin told me, the dungeon would have the same layout, just slightly different encounters.
Now Zach was here though. I could tell Sheral didn't care for him, but that was what it was.
With a team of five people, all of us at least ten levels over the boss, the dungeon should be pretty easy.
"Alright, we ready to do this thing?" Jake says, standing up and equipping his hammer and shield.
"Ehh, yep," I say, equipping my staff.
The item I got from the dungeon was a small red orb that could be tied to the end of my staff, so it was.
I hadn't used the item much because of its demonic roots.
It seemed like in this world, demons were definitely the 'big bad' of the world.
So I was only using it for its stat benefits.
As we all got up and started walking to the dungeon, I looked to Zach.
"So, you're level thirty-seven now, right? What did you decide for your class?"
"Ohh shit man, right! I did Ice Mage at adventurer level ten, right? Then I did that to level twenty and got the class Elemental Summoner of Ice."
"So, you got summons?" I ask, looking smug.
"Yah yah. They're okay summons, big moving blocks of ice. It also let me use ice spells in general better, so that's nice."
"Good, just be ready for this dungeon because it's going to suck."
"Sure, man."
We went to the sewer again, Sheral blessing us with her magic so we didn't have to smell the terrible scent as we went in.
Like last time, we were in a diamond formation, but this time Jake took the front while Hunter took the back, with me and Zach on either side of Sheral.
Deadman stood in front of us all, and Hunter's new bird, also named Falc, sat on his shoulder.
He had swapped Falc out for a large vulture elite he found in the Crooked Hills.
"Now Zach, you're going to need to really give this your focus, okay?" Sheral says.
"Hate to agree with her, but yes, don't slack," Jake said before Zach even had a chance to respond.
"I know, guys! Chill. I got this," Zach says as he summons an ice elemental by our side.
[Level 37 Ice Elemental (Elite)]
It was a large and hulking creature with spikes where its hands should be.
"Send it to Jake's side to widen our front."
As its hulking steps shook the sewer, and as it moved into place we were attacked by a fan of knives.
Sadly, we couldn't even see their source, but that didn't matter.
A golden barrier appeared in front of us as Jake shrouded the group in protective magic.
It took Sheral only a second to say a prayer as our eyes were blessed by her magic.
[Blessing of Sight]
Once we had the Blessing of Sight, we could see our enemies clearly. They looked the same as the ratman assassins we had fought before, but again, their eyes gave away their intellect.
[Level 28 Ratman Backstabber (Epic)]
I felt a little bad as I watched an arrow blast through one's chest while a lance of ice shot through another's.
For my part in it all, I did my usual, a massive array of magic missiles pinning the ratmen down.
To my surprise, they were pretty good at dodging the magic missiles, but nonetheless my missiles were a dime a dozen, and distracted them from bigger threats.
"That wasn't hard?" Zach says, lowering his staff.
"Ehh, we're ten levels overleveled. I may have been overexaggerating," I say, laughing as we continued on.
For the next section, the flood of ratmen, it was an even simpler fight.
As Sheral guarded us with her magic, I lit the room in a wash of fire.
With Sheral's magic much more powerful now, and my own massive mana pool, it was pretty easy to deal with.
Going into the King Rat's room, we felt pretty confident in ourselves, it only compounding as we saw he was still only an [Epic] level mob.
"Guess the last boss is the only thing worth a damn," I say, swarming the area in magic missiles while we loosened the formation a bit, letting us each have a little more freedom with our spell choices.
Zach's magic was very effective, slowing the fast assassins to a crawl as Jake shattered their frozen bodies.
Even the boss seemed a little lost on what to do, as he placed multiple explosives that were disregarded by Sheral's magic.
In the end, Hunter killed him with a well-placed arrow.
Sadly, he didn't drop anything this time around.
After the first clear of the dungeon, the boss wasn't guaranteed to drop anything anymore, and Zach had already used the regular difficulty of the dungeon to slingshot his level.
"Okay, the last boss will be a bitch, but it's very doable. He's going to throw us in a pile of shit, then taunt us and summon things. He can transform into a very strong beast, but I doubt he'll be stronger than the elemental, and certainly not stronger than the elemental, Deadman, and Jake together.
Let's take it slow and do this, guys!" I say, trying to hype them up a bit.
"Mhm," Zach and Hunter say almost at the same time.
"Okay bud, let's get this done," Sheral pats my back and says.
"Fuck my life," I say quietly, but loud enough for them to hear and laugh a little.
As we walked around the boss room for a while, we were finally attacked by it.
The floor seemed to collapse under us as we fell into the collection room.
Before we hit the ground, I started casting Mana Push, both on everyone to lessen the force of the fall, and on the ground to disperse the filth.
I had no intention of being filthy after this.
Looking up at the ceiling, I saw it glaring down at us, but this time we were overleveled and a man up.
Without a second thought, I sent it flying from its perch as Zach threw a few ice lances at it.
It instantly transformed, starting to threaten to burn us alive with the same hellfire.
Thankfully Sheral was more than strong enough to protect us all, allowing ice lance after arrow after magic missile to pelt the creature.
Even with its crazy defense, it couldn't take the assault we were sending at it.
In the end, it landed with a crash, and Jake didn't waste his time bashing it with his hammer.
Its entire seven-foot-tall body rattled and even lifted from the ground under the beating of Jake's strikes.
Jake himself seemed to glow with golden light as he vanquished the demon.
Of course I didn't expect to get anything from the boss, but to my surprise the luck wheel spun, and landed on ninety-five.
[Demon Blood]
[Drinking this blood will grant you enormous power no matter your level]
F-hu-huck no!
I wasn't going to get anywhere near that.
Sometimes personal protection truly is as simple as "don't drink the demon blood."