Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Their first dungeon run was over within the wink of an eye. They had chosen a portal dungeon with monsters ranging from lv.35 to 40. The dungeon was a kind of dark forest with mutated woodland creatures. Despite everyone trying to hold back, most mobs died in one strike.

They blazed through the dungeon without much trouble. Especially with the two overpowered vanguard, the party had almost no chance for any kind of party play.

Monique and Jonah could easily carry the party on their own. After the dungeon boss keeled over without Alison even getting the chance to finish her spell, it was clear this didn't work. This dungeon's level was simply too low for their party.

The materials were okay but not overwhelming. The item drops were mediocre at best. The only uncommon drop was a cursed dagger.

<Skinning Dagger

Uncommon

Damage: 120-200

Durability: 80/400

1. 50% of any damage you deal is reflected on yourself

"True bliss is only found in one's own pain." >

The only use for this was maybe in the hands of a berserker or something? Seth couldn't find the dungeon core to press something better out of it. Although they had successfully finished the dungeon, this trip could only be counted as a failure.

"Let's go to another one."

The day was still young, and they decided to try another tower-like dungeon. Similar to the Third Hospital, this was a dungeon with several floors of increasing difficulty. It was a building complex with a mix of shops and bureaus before it turned into a dungeon.

It was one of the first dungeons that had formed in Y-City and it had not been fully cleared until now. The level of the monster started at 30-40 and kept rising every ten floors. Of the 50 floors that made up the building, only the first thirty were barely explored.

Since it was never completely cleaned out the levels in the dungeon also kept constantly rising. When it first appeared, the lower floors started at lv. 10. Many people died overestimating their own skills and going too far, facilitating the further growth of the dungeon.

As long as they did not repeat their mistakes, it should be able to give them a challenge and they would still have the chance to turn back if things became dangerous. There was also hope that there would be better loot since the dungeon had never been completely cleared. As long as they reached the unexplored floors, there might be real goodies.

It wasn't that Seth thought dungeons could make better items than himself, but there were some effects and enchantments on dungeon items, he was not able to replicate with his current skills.

One trait many of these urban dungeons shared was that their inhabitants were humanoid most of the time. Seth understood that it was more practical since all the buildings in the city were built for humans. But he didn't really get why dungeons did not just change the inner structure. They could do that, it was proven. Instead, these dungeons tended to just add on top of the original structure.

The enemies on the first 10 floors were a kind of bird-warriors. It was a stretch to call them humanoids, but they looked like downsized Terror birds with arms. The greatest obstruction on these floors were the numerous traps, more than the bird monsters that attacked with primitive spears.

Their bodies were strong and their damage high, but they lacked any visible cleverness. Link and Evee scouted the surrounding, while the monsters could be left to the two vanguards. Tekar, Seth and Alison simply followed and enjoyed the show.

On the tenth floor came the first boss room. There was one every 10 floors. This was the only place where the structure of the previous building had been changed to make a big arena-like space. Inside was a giant terror bird up to 6m in height.

Although just lv. 40, with its giant body, speed, and magic power it was fit to be a mid-boss that made any ordinary party struggle. Its beak was massive and easily smashed the stone floors and was hard to dodge.

For an ordinary party that is. For their party, it was like a giant target. The stone-smashing beak held no power against Tekars defense. And while the tank blocked the attacks, the rest of the party let loose.

Evee, Seth, and Link were occupied with layering various debuffs and status effects on the beast with their attacks from afar. Monique and Jonah shaved away chunks of its health up close. It was only thanks to the beast's enormous vitality, that Alison got a chance to finish a spell and cut open the bird throat with a wind scythe. "Alison, I know you want to train the stronger spells in combat, but it would be better if you saved your mana here and used those with a lower cast time. I know that we have some leeway here, but it could become a bad habit and detrimental in serious situations."

Alison pondered for a moment before she nodded seriously to show that she understood. It was good that she was a levelheaded person and understood his advice instead of taking it as an offense.

Seth knew that they had a lot of self-made mana potion, but it didn't mean they could play around. There could be situations where the time spend on the casting, mana used for the spell or spell itself would become important.

If it was on cooldown, she had too little mana or was interrupted during a long cast because she chose the wrong spell on a whim or out of bad habit... They could get into trouble during a really dangerous situation.

The best part of the bird in Seth's opinion was the beak. had a metallic sheen to it. <Beak of the Terror Bird, Crafting material, Rare The beak of a rare giant Terror Birds that can easily smash stone without a single scratch.>

Going up the dungeon floors felt like watching a study on evolution. On the 10-20th floor appeared monsters with levels up to 45. These creatures had a more defined humanoid figure and a glint of intelligence in their eyes. Some even randomly used magic and skills in the fights.

The second boss resembled a really ugly kind of harpy or chimera. It had the upper body of a giant eagle, the lower body of a man, and the feet of a raptor. Whichever God had created this...why did he have the urge to include human legs?

<Lesser Harpy lv.48>

While Tekar and the vanguards blocked the dive attacks of the flying opponent, the ranged attackers dealt damage. It was a shame that many of the debuffs were weakened or did not work at all because of the huge level difference.

In the end, Alison and Seth worked together to take the bird down. Seth used his gloves options to cast <Flamethrower> while Alison cast <Storm>. Although Seth's spell had a much lower rank, it was compensated by his abnormally high affinity with fire and the effects of his items.

Casting these spells together created a powerful firestorm that charred the opponents feathers and made flying almost impossible. The harpy lost much of its flight capability and was forced to land. On the ground below waited Monique and Jonah eager to carve the fat bird.

The materials from this boss were not too interesting to Seth, but he still stored away the uncommon ones.

The bosses were a good training, but so far, their party had not met any real resistance.

Only when they came closer to the 30th floor and the regular monsters got close to level 50 was their party able to train their teamwork effectively. Out of all of them, only Monique was close to lv.50 herself. The next was Jonah with lv.45. Among the others Tekar had the highest level with 40.

The rest of them fought against enemies with 10 levels or more difference. This was only possible thanks to the superior equipment they had been provided. With it came an increased speed when leveling up. Link, Seth, and Alison had each gained a level, while Evee was slowly catching up closing in on lv. 30.

It was not just the power of the monsters, but also their blossoming intelligence that allowed them to train their teamwork at this stage. The birdmen were moving in groups similar to a party and were able to use rough strategies with their formations and skills.

Still, their party had a comfortable advantage over their enemy, despite the level difference. Although the corridors and rooms of the building had changed on the surface into some kind of bird nest-like material, the underlying structure was still the same.

Narrow hallways and manageable rooms. Whenever they encountered a party of featherheads, they lured them into the narrow hallways. Seth, Link, Evee, and Alison stood in the rear, protected by the now giant and tanky Puffles and the small and agile Felix as rearguards.

With their ranged skills, they supported Monique and Jonah fighting in the frontline. Especially the explosive beauty had a great time after finally getting a chance to let loose with her spear. One might think that a spear was a bad choice in a narrow hallway, but that was wrong.

A narrow hallway meant that the enemy could not circle around her or dodge to the sides. With precise swipes and vicious thrusts, she easily kept her opponents at distance or directly reaped their lives.

The claw-wielding bloodwarrior with his flying sword did not much worse in keeping himself safe while taking others' lives. He benefitted not only from the blood he spilled, but also from that of his teammates giving him a huge buff in these kinds of battles.

In between them towered Tekar wearing the imposing dark knight armor. His mere presence weakened the opponents. He made sure that nothing from the front could get to the rear. In these narrow corridors, he could effortlessly block magic and projectiles with the shield's barrier and stop any kind of runaways that got past the two vanguards.

In this manner they soon reached the third boss room.