I survived the rat run. Bought Witchalok, which was great for farming, but useless for the wraith boss.

Still, there were two level 7 meat men and a level 8 as well. Between Platemail and Witchalok, I was able to efficiently take them down at levels 2-5. But Witchaloking cost me a lot of would-be JJ piety, so it was rough going. Spoon and the Schadenfreude subdungeon saved the boss fight. There just wasn't enough gold or blackspace. I only corroded the boss two or three times, and then mana-spiked it down within one melee hit. Had to fireball and heal, hovering its health at 25 or so until I could get a melee hit for the kill.
Pretty rough run. A different boss would've made the shop pool nicer. Soul Orb might've been a better buy, but not by much. I don't know how this could've been cleaner. I had a hard time.