Chapter 48: Twelfth Floor, Pearl in the Sand (1)

[Black Dragon Herkest]

I dismissed the notification window immediately. Now wasn’t a time to be distracted by unnecessary information.

My focus needed to be on the massive creature in front of me. The dragon’s deep emerald eyes gleamed through the settling dust and sand, sharp and unwavering, boring into mine. Its gaze made the situation feel even more unsettling.

None of the foes I had faced would have prepared me for a dragon. I had only encountered humanoid enemies up until now. But this... this dragon was something else entirely.

Sure, the tower is trying to challenge me, but a dragon?

I had to stay composed.

The dragon’s expression wasn’t immediately hostile—it seemed more inquisitive than aggressive. It didn’t seem like it planned to attack me just yet, which gave me a small window of time to think.

Two possibilities crossed my mind. Either the “pearl” in the notification window referred to a treasure buried beneath the sand or the dragon. Seeing it rise from the sand made me suspect that the dragon could be the prize.

I can’t decide on one possibility, but...

Either way, killing the dragon was out of the question. Doing so would probably bring the twelfth floor to an abrupt end, and I wasn’t ready for that.

I needed to either locate the pearl or, if the dragon was the pearl, figure out how to befriend it, as I had done with Doppy.

But how do you forge a bond with a dragon?

I racked my brain, recalling Seo Ho-Su’s stories about mythical creatures. His words echoed in my memory.

“Dragons are usually the most powerful beings in any world. They covet treasure, are incredibly intelligent, and can live for millennia. Most of them are masters of magic too..."

Right. If his stories were accurate, dragons were highly intelligent beings.

Maybe I can communicate with it?

“Uh… hey, there?”

The dragon’s body tensed as soon as I spoke. Its long neck twitched, the muscles rippling along its throat as if something were about to happen.

What’s going on?

It didn’t seem like it was about to respond. Instead, its abdomen started to swell.

No way... is it preparing to unleash a breath attack?

A sense of dread surged through me. Without thinking, I bolted to the left.

“Krrooooaaarrr—!”

A torrent of black flames erupted from the dragon’s maw, scorching the ground where I had stood moments before. Its head swiveled in my direction, the fire following my movements. Luckily, it wasn’t quick enough to catch up to me. R̃αNȯ𝐛Ê𝒮

After a few seconds, the stream of fire stopped.

What the hell? I thought dragons were supposed to be smart. Was Seo Ho-Su wrong?

The breath had filled the small desert with acrid smoke, and the warmth was unbearable. The sand emanated all the heat it had absorbed, making the environment even more suffocating. Waves of heat shimmered around the area where the flames had scorched the ground.

I breathed in the thick smoke and suddenly felt my throat burn, causing me to cough uncontrollably. Something didn’t feel right.

A black dragon… green eyes… venomous smoke… Is the dragon’s breath poisonous?

I quickly glanced at the notification window.

[Black Dragon Herkest]

- An adult dragon with limited intelligence due to an unknown illness it contracted as a youngling.

- Unable to differentiate between friend and foe.

- Incapable of using magic.

- Has only learned one racial ability: Venomous Breath (flawed).

So... it’s a stupid dragon.

That explained a lot. The curiosity I had seen in its eyes before the sudden attack now made sense. It couldn’t think clearly.

And the breath attack? It was dangerous, but nowhere near as lethal as I expected. The black flames had looked terrifying, but the "flaw" mentioned by the window probably referred to the poison that didn’t do much more than make my throat burn slightly.

I guess that’s one small mercy. Wait, hold on…

If the dragon couldn’t distinguish allies from enemies and had no real intelligence, then how could it tolerate guardians?

Something wasn’t adding up. Trying to make sense of the situation, I theorized this dragon had to have some sort of protector...

Is there another room after this? And there could potentially be something inside that room... perhaps its mother? That would be seriously dangerous.

Animals, in general, were fiercely protective of their offspring. I had heard countless stories about people reaching too close to an animal’s young and being attacked.

And this wasn’t just any animal—it was a dragon. If its mother was truly in the next room, killing this dragon was out of the question.

“Krrooooaaarrr!”

Before I could think any further, the dragon unleashed another blast of black fire. I dashed across the sand once again, barely avoiding the deadly flames.

It didn’t seem like there were any significant limitations on how frequently it could unleash these attacks, which was... problematic.

Hmm?

I continued dodging the incoming streams of fire, although I noticed something strange. Each time the dragon used its breath, it appeared to be in pain. There was a slight wince, a subtle sign of distress.

I remembered the fourth line from the message.

- Has only learned one racial ability: Venomous Breath (flawed).

Is the dragon’s illness preventing it from releasing poison properly? Is the venom building up inside its body, reducing its intelligence?

Suddenly, inspiration struck me.

What if the "pearl" is some kind of cure for the dragon’s illness?

Maybe the goal of the hidden mission was to find the pearl to heal the dragon.

I can’t be sure, but I won’t know until I look for the pearl.

But to do that, I had to calm the dragon down.

How can I do that?

At that moment, I remembered the skill I had acquired on the eleventh floor—Shadow Veil. It was a skill that cloaked the area in shadows, making it difficult to see. Animals often calmed down when they couldn’t see their surroundings.

That could work on this dragon… it’s at least worth a try.

I doubted a normal dragon would be affected by something like this, but this one wasn’t exactly typical and likely lacked the intelligence to see through the ploy. If I could use the Shadow Veil to soothe it, I might have a chance.

Wait… and the Cloak of Locomos grants resistance to magical attacks…

Suddenly, it all made sense. The connection between the eleventh and twelfth floors wasn’t a coincidence. These two floors were designed to complement each other. The dagger and cloak I had obtained on the eleventh floor were the keys to solving the puzzle on the twelfth.

I had managed to dodge the breath attacks because I was stronger than the average climber, but for the majority, they were likely intended to block the flames with the cloak.

Though the cloak was torn, I easily avoided the attacks, and the dagger was in perfect condition.

This must be the right way to use them.

With the mana I had recovered during my brief rest, I activated Shadow Veil. The spell consumed much more energy than anticipated, draining my mana rapidly.

Shadows surged from the dagger, spreading across the room like a blanket of darkness.

Just as I thought.

Since I had activated the skill, I retained my ability to see through the darkness. However, It wasn’t like my regular vision and it seemed like I was watching the world through an old black-and-white film.

Through the grayscale haze, I spotted Doppy’s wide-eyed and bewildered face. It was completely lost as to what was happening.

I needed to clear its vision as well.

“Kyaaaah!”

In the pitch-black room, the dragon roared furiously and thrashed about in panic.

Thud, thud—

It smashed its head against the walls and ceiling, firing off random bursts of fire in every direction.

Thankfully, Shadow Veil seemed to be working on the dragon.

Judging by how fast my mana is draining...

I estimated I had about five minutes left before I suffered from mana exhaustion. Shadow Veil had expanded to cover an area about the size of a soccer field, which meant the spell was consuming a lot more energy.

Five minutes left to find the pearl.

A sinking feeling crept over me as I gazed across the vast sandy expanse.

How would I find a pearl hidden in a desert?

This was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Doppy, can you sense anything? We are looking for a pearl buried in the sand.”

“

Kriee!

Nothing!”

I had hoped Doppy would have some insights, but its answer provided nothing.

Thump! Thump!

No sooner had Doppy finished speaking than the dragon began to stir again. It was more sensitive to sound than I had realized. I needed to tread carefully.

Sadly, even my instincts weren’t offering anything.

I don’t have the strength to dig through all this sand...

Still, I had to try something.

I sprinted to the center of the desert and started scooping sand away. My efforts proved futile, however, and the soft dunes poured back into the holes as quickly as I could dig them.

Damn it. This isn’t going to work. What if I can’t find it in time?

It was obvious what would happen—the dragon would go wild again.

Should I just knock it out? Maybe a few solid hits would do the trick.

Even if I hit it with my 70,000-point gauntlet, I doubted a dragon would die in one blow, even if it was ill. It wouldn’t be bad to try... but now wasn’t the time.

That would be a last resort. For now, I had to focus on finding the pearl.

***

Three minutes passed with nothing to show for it. Every time I dug, more sand slipped back into place.

After spending that time shoveling sand around, it finally hit me how absurd it was. Finding anything in this massive desert was next to impossible.

Maybe I was wrong... Is the dragon itself the pearl?

If that were the case, I would need to figure out how to help it release the venom it was holding back.

The unknown illness… Could any of Doppy’s healing spells work on it?

“Doppy, you can use healing spells, right?”

“

Kriee!

Of course! Heal Wounds!”

A warm light enveloped my perfectly healthy body.

That was not what I had meant… I was too dumbstruck to even respond.

Is Doppy really this clueless?

“No, not me. The dragon! And I’m not talking about healing wounds. Do you have anything that would help mental issues or fix mysterious illnesses?”

Doppy had told me its holy spells had grown stronger after we conquered floors. It was evolving, just like I was. I hadn’t paid much attention to its buffs since I rarely needed them, but maybe this time they would prove to be useful.

“

Kriee!

Mysterious illness? Not sure! Goblin try!”

“Go ahead and give it a shot!”

“

Kriee!

Recovery!”

“Krroooaaarrr!”

The dragon’s body glowed brightly, but instead of stopping, it narrowed its eyes and began spewing fire randomly.

Nope, that didn’t work.

Only about two minutes remained, and I had to keep searching.

With Doppy’s healing spell failing to help, I couldn’t think of any other way to cure the dragon’s illness.

I can’t believe the dragon can shoot out so many breath attacks.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The dragon could still perceive the glow of holy energy, even amidst the darkness.

I turned my attention back to the sand. Then, a faint glimmer caught my eye—inside the dragon’s head.

What’s that?

I focused my gaze on the dragon’s skull. Channeling mana into my eyes, my vision sharpened. My vision changed again, going from hazy and old-timey to sharp shades of black and white.

The black dragon was almost entirely dark, except for its glowing eyes. But deep inside its head, I saw something sparkling faintly. It was barely visible, just a tiny flicker. If not for my heightened senses, I never would have noticed it.

Could that be the pearl? Do I have to kill the dragon to retrieve it?

No. I looked closer and saw it twitching slightly like a parasite.

Wait... a parasite? Could this be the mysterious illness? Has this parasite lodged in the dragon’s brain, causing it to act erratically?

Of course! The pearl isn’t located in the sand.

The eleventh floor had given me all the tools needed for the solution. Even though the cloak was torn, it still offered some defense, and the dagger that had remained intact provided the key to victory.

Shadow Veil had revealed the parasite hidden inside the dragon. Luckily, I had discovered it in time.

But how am I supposed to kill it?

The parasite was deeply embedded in the dragon’s brain, and I had to destroy it without harming the dragon itself.

Do I just smack its head as hard as I can?

No, that wouldn’t work. The dragon had already smashed its head against walls and the ceiling earlier, but the parasite was still alive. I couldn’t just slice open its skull either...

If the parasite burrowed deeper and killed the dragon, I would lose the hidden mission.

Lightning?

Right. I had Lightning Essence to work with. I could use it to kill the parasite. It was risky, but if I was careful, it would work.

Lightning Essence wasn’t unique-grade for nothing. It wouldn’t cause severe harm to my allies even if I targeted them. Although it might sting a bit, that wasn’t a big issue.

I still need to be cautious.

I had to focus the lightning directly on the parasite lodged in the dragon’s brain without damaging the surrounding tissue.

Time was running out, and only one minute remained before the Shadow Veil wore off. I had to act now. I sprinted across the sand and leaped toward the dragon. Using the power of Kashatum’s Sky Shoes, I propelled myself higher by kicking off the air.

This had to be quick. Summoning too much lightning, for too long, could cause brain damage. I activated Lightning Essence, sending a burst of lightning directly toward the parasite. Desperately wishing my plan would work, I chanted over and over in my head.

Target: parasite. Dragon: ally. Target: parasite. Dragon: ally…

“Kyahhh-aaah-aaah!”

The dragon let out an agonized scream as the lightning struck its skull.

Moments later, the sound cut off abruptly. The dragon stood still, its body trembling as it convulsed violently.

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has completed the hidden mission ‘The Parasite Even the Dragon Didn’t Know About.’ He has been awarded 2,000 achievement points.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has cured the Black Dragon Herkest of its illness. The Black Dragon Sarkeiz, who appears on the fourteenth floor, will now be friendly toward Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok.」