Yes. It's worth it. It must be.

You're not even the only dark caster present. Your associate can cast buffs to even things out, your spell effects don't stack anyway. Really you don't need to feel much guilt at all. Probably.

As such, you Hex all of the monsters. You decide not to Curse them though, as to mercifully give them a moderately higher chance of succeeding. Just in case. And also to save your mana.

The party shows up from around a corner, consisting of a rogue, a warrior and a cleric. At the sight of the monster squad, they attack. You watch as the fight begins, noting that they're at least not doing terrible. Glancing to the side, you see your fellow dark caster buffing them and debuffing the heroes like he's supposed to, balancing out your tampering.

But despite the best efforts of everyone involved but you, the monsters fall one by one. Soon Gobu is the last one standing, and all three heroes are still alive. He doesn't give up, letting out an only somewhat feeble war cry, apparently believing that this is the glorious battle where he defies all odds and ascends to the third tier.

He doesn't though. Because he dies. His last words being "Fuck, fuck, FUUUCK, NOOO-!"

*Ding!*

And has he dies and his ambitions are smashed, you are rewarded with the sound of a level gained. You're eager to see the change, but you're also eager to get away from the three heroes. They walk towards you menacingly, and you don't think they're going to spare you. They might confuse you to have been the one to be buffing them. In a shameless attempt to straighten out that misunderstanding, you push the other dark caster forward, pointing at him in an accusing manner like a child telling their parents that their brother was the one to shit in the sandbox.

The rogue chuckles. "D'aww, that's kinda cute... Can we leave that one? He's funny in how spineless he is."

"Fine, they give shit XP anyway..." the warrior says. "They're really just annoying."

You take the opportunity to cast a Hex on the dark caster before his head is bashed in by the warrior's mace, earning another cutesy sound from the rogue. You don't like it when people find you cute, but this time you'll make an exception since it means not getting killed.

The party moves on, the rogue even waving to you. You're puzzled by her appreciation for your actions. Maybe she just likes studying monster behavior? Doesn't matter though. The heroes have left and you have leveled up. Now you want to see what that level brings, and thus you open your stat menu.

Dark Caster
Lvl: 7
Melee Attack: 0
Ranged Attack: 0
Armor: 0
Weakness: Melee
Special Abilities:
Hex: Reduces target's damage resistance by -35% for 25 seconds.
Curse: Reduces target's attack damage by -35% for 25 seconds.
Ward: Increases target's damage resistance by +35% for 35 seconds.
Empower: Increases target's attack damage by +35% for 35 seconds.
Corrode: Damages target's armor and weapon by 30 durability.

Ability Gained!
Shadow Trick: Blinds target for 5 seconds.

Your heart sinks. Another debuff. You are so sick of debuffs. You want a direct spell. A fireball, a lightning bolt, anything! You do comfort yourself with the fact that your new spell does seem more useful than the others, especially for the purpose of preserving your life. Making heroes blind so you can flee seems very useful in theory.

Then suddenly The Keeper steps out of the wall like last time. This time you don't freak out though since you know what he is here for, but you still jump at his sudden appearance. He grabs your legs and walks off with you just as carelessly as before, and you hope for a short walk as you swing about, sometimes hitting a wall.

Once more you are dropped off in an unfamiliar place, and you stand back up and look around as The Keeper disappears. The part of the dungeon you're in looks the same as before, and you go for a walk to inspect further.

Indeed not much is different. Still the same stone bricks, same general furniture, all that's different is the somewhat stronger items. Well, that and one much more notable thing: The monsters. There are no giant rats, instead giant spiders. Nor are there goblins, which have been replaced with orcs, raising the average height of the dungeon's inhabitants significantly. The skeletons, slimes and dark casters are all the same though, only higher level.

The orcs stand out to you the most. You decide to make your post in a corridor close to two of them talking in the orcish language. It's weird to have actual human-sized monsters around. Sure, the skeletons count, but... they're skeletons. That's different. Their height is balanced out by their insane scrawniness. These orcs have thick bodies covered in muscle, with broad shoulders and various amounts of clothing. There are no females from what you can tell, same as with the goblins. Which disappoints you somewhat, as you've never gotten laid and would like to. But on the other hand, even if there were females in the dungeon, and these females were attracted to dorky little wannabe warlocks, you still couldn't get laid due to certain... design choices.

The dark casters are in fact their own species. A magically engineered species, not naturally occurring. They're created for the sole purpose of serving as low-level combatants, like yourself, and thus they are created with an inborn magical ability as well as everything else necessary to make for a passable spellcasting monster. Which unfortunately means you have no dick. A bit of an issue you don't see being solved through leveling up. But who knows... Maybe a magical solution to your problem will come your way.

For now you have a bigger problem. You have reached what is supposedly the deepest section of the dungeon, and still you have yet to obtain your goal. So now what? Explore the section some more, talk to people, keep grinding, or... Well, the boss room must be accessible from this section. You wonder if something can be done with that...