25. Dungeon Diving

"There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met." — William Butler Yeats

The next day, after finishing farming, Paul and Claire found a level 25 zone and began rounding up enemies and killing them in bulk. 

Honestly, it was extremely simple: aggroing as many enemies as possible while running around before combining Suppression Seal and Stellar Collapse would kill everything. The Suppression Seal kept all of them stuck in the Stellar Collapse, damaging them over time and shredding their HP. 

With their rapid pace, it only took them an hour and a half to get Claire to the higher end of 26 and Paul to 25. This unlocks their next abilities and allows them to enter the level 25 dungeon, Blaire's Retreat.

After that, they had agreed to meet Eagle's Light and a tank she was friends with in Aurorin, the town in the level 10 dungeon, Venomgrove Depths.

Taking a carriage was peaceful this time, with them not having to fight bandits or take any detours.

When they finally arrived in the town, Paul noticed a significant decrease in players compared to the last time he was there. Instead of packed streets and lively conversation, it was mostly people who started playing a few days late and were trying to find people to level up with or run the dungeon.

After arriving, it didn't take long to find the two highest-level players in the area, Eagle's Light and a young man named Bob Builds.

The level 34 Templar healer stood out among all the players, exuding a seductive elven charm. Next to her was a level 29 Sentinel, the stereotypical tank class.

Compared to their matching armor and assertive demeanor, Claire and Paul walked up completely calmly, not appearing arrogant or particularly powerful.

Although they had received some new armor pieces from their recent leveling, they were neither matching nor visually appealing.

"Hello, Holly. It has been a week since we last saw each other. I was surprised when you asked for my help, but thankfully, my cousin Bob was willing to tank for us; with you and your friend, we need 1 DPS, and we can blow through these dungeons."

"Thank you, Light. With your help, we can level up faster and improve Scavenger's Sight much quicker."

Stepping forward and extending his hand, Bob greeted them.

"Hello, I'm Bob. I'm happy to help two crafters such as yourself. Even in our guild, we don't have enough people leveling up their professions."

After exchanging pleasantries, they began to look for a fifth.

"How do you guys want to pick a 5th player?"

Lazarus told them he would take care of it before walking into the middle of the town square.

"LOOKING FOR 1 DPS TO RUN THE FIRST FOUR DUNGEONS BACK TO BACK, HIGHEST LEVEL GETS SPOT!"

There were online methods to find groups, but in this situation, where pretty much anyone at a high enough level would do, there was no need to make things complicated.

While his three group members looked at him in surprise, various people came forward to try to get the DPS slot.

It was not long before a level 28 Nightwalker applied to join, and Paul closed the slot. Unfortunately, there was drama as a level 27 Nightwalker came on board, saying that he was higher level and should replace Paul on the team.

After a short argument, Paul began a duel with the other melee DPS and almost instantly killed him, surprising most people in the area and causing Eagle's Light to whisper to Holly.

"Your friend seems to be very good at dueling; not only did he read that players' movements even while they went invisible, but he also instantly combined them to death."

Looking over at the elf, who was asking something without saying it, she pretended to be dense.

"I know; I have dueled him a few times and been folded like a lawn chair every time."

After that, the level 28 Nightwalker came over with Paul. It was a woman who seemed slightly older than Paul and Claire and had a strange clarity in her sapphire blue eyes as she looked over the new party she was joining.

"Hello, I am Off Button; I play melee DPS and look forward to getting some quick clears."

Looking at the strangely named woman, Claire felt like she was a very odd person. 

After that, they all joined Eagle's Light, who had become the party leader due to being at the highest level and made their way to the first dungeon.

Arriving before the entrance to a cave that was the entrance to Venomgrove Depths, after picking normal difficulty, the five entered and were greeted by a miner who began expounding on the mission of the dungeon: to defeat the massive spider boss and some of the miners. She took to be food.

"This is the start of the quest. We can take it slow so that you can complete all the steps."

He was hearing the healer's words. Paul shook his head.

"We have both seen full runs online and know what to do; it is fine if we just blow through this one and the next one as quickly as possible."

"Ok, sure, let's do that then."

As level +25 players, they ran through the entire dungeon, slaughtering every enemy in the same fashion. Whether it was regular ads, elites, or minibosses, they all died within a minute of being pulled.

Compared to the people attempting to clear the dungeon on the first day, which took hours, they arrived at the final boss in around one minute.

"Hey, Holly, doesn't this guy look similar to that event boss we met fighting?"

"Yeah, it does. This one does much less damage and has much less health, though."

"Duh, that one was fighting over 100 players at once; of course, it has to have an ungodly amount of HP."

It was time for the final boss.