Protection (1)
The giant beast raised its head.
It was as large as a five-story building. Du-ho’s shoulders drew in of their own accord. The beast’s slit pupils narrowed even further as it fixed its gaze on Du-ho and Isto.
The silence was suffocating. And to make matters worse, that pitch-black body—so ill-suited to the desert—looked even more menacing.
No way…
Am I supposed to fight that thing?
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
◈ Guard the Black Dragon’s Egg
Time Limit: None
On Refusal: The Black Dragon turns hostile
Reward for Success: Convenience Facilities
Accept / Refuse
After patting down his startled heart, Du-ho read the contents and took in the situation.
“Protect the… egg?”
Only then did he realize what that colossal beast was.
So I really am looking at a dragon…
And the moment he saw the refusal condition, his expression hardened.
Good grief.
That dragon would become an enemy?
In other words, it wasn’t an enemy yet.
Du-ho slid down the sand dune with Isto beside him, the two of them skimming downward in a rush.
Beneath the Black Dragon’s chest, they found an egg about the same size as Isto.
Looking at the dragon curled protectively around it, Du-ho was reminded of his parents, always trying to shield their family.
But then a question occurred to him.
“Isto, is it normal for a Black Dragon to lay eggs here?”
He’d never read anything about dragons appearing on the second floor.
Hmm…
-This is a good place for laying eggs, hamda. From the north to this desert, iiiii and do-do-do…
He got only that far before a question mark began blinking in Isto’s LED eyes.
Du-ho shook his head.
Isto’s memory lockdown couldn’t be helped.
Still, he could piece together some of the fragments.
It’s just a guess, but…
The extinct Ancient Forest first floor. The new first floor, the desert. And the Black Dragon said to have come from the north.
Maybe…
…this world was split into floors?
That thought flashed through Du-ho’s mind.
For now, though, this quest bothered him deeply.
“Can we really protect the egg?”
Isto looked up at the Black Dragon.
-Protecting the egg alone should be fine, hamda. But if you think about it, this quest may as well mean protecting the mother who’s brooding over it too… so I can’t promise anything, imda.
The oasis edge was exposed on all sides.
It was the worst possible spot, where anyone could come after it.
“R-right.”
Du-ho nodded.
A brief silence passed.
-Refusal would be the rational choice, hamda.
“……”
-If you’re scared of that dragon, you can just go into the Garage. I’ll clean things up, hamda.
Isto clenched his fist at once.
Du-ho frowned.
“...Isto. Put the fist down.”
-Ah! Yes, sir.
Then it happened.
Kiiiiiik—!
A sharp cry tore down from the sky.
Isto lifted his head.
Hmm…
-Going by the call, those guys are getting organized, hamda.
“Those guys?”
-Drake Runners and Cobalt Scales, hamda. They’re saying they’re coming to join in right now.
“The Drake Runners are fast and the Cobalt Scales are tough, right?”
-Yep, that’s right, hamda. If they all pile in…
Trailing off, Isto looked at the dragon and made a suggestion.
-Maybe you should just refuse the quest and kill every beast here, including the dragon, to farm experience, imda?
“What about the dragon’s egg?”
-If that’s bothering you, I can handle it—
Thunk!
Du-ho bonked Isto on the head.
Ow ow.
In the end, the only one hurt was Du-ho’s hand.
-Huh? You okay, hamka?
To be honest, Isto wasn’t wrong.
Maybe that really was the right answer.
But…
The dragon, curled protectively around its egg, kept getting in Du-ho’s way, as if it were branded into his vision.
Isn’t there… some way?
His thoughts deepened.
His gaze drifted toward the oasis.
At its center sat a tiny island.
What if we moved it there…?
It was far too narrow for a dragon to stay on.
He lowered his head again.
My abilities are just metal manipulation, really…
Then sand caught his eye.
Wait a second.
Manipulation?
Maybe this could…
Work?
He immediately pressed a hand to the ground.
He applied his metal-control ability to the sand.
Shrrrkkkk—.
Ferrous sand writhed and surged upward together with the surrounding grains.
It formed a huge tangled mass of sand.
“Got it!”
Huh!
-Du-ho nim, you can control sand too, hamda?
“Isto! There’s a lot of ferrous sand mixed in here!”
-O-oh~ I didn’t know that, imda!
Du-ho mixed the sand and ferrous grains together again, haphazardly, forming another massive lump.
“Isto! Throw all of this around the island! Hurry!”
-What exactly are you trying to do…?
“No time! Keep moving it until I say so!”
-Understood, hamda!
Plop!
Isto hurled the massive clump into place.
Plop—another one.
Du-ho kept blending sand and ferrous grains together, creating massive piles one after another.
“Don’t stop!”
Kiiiiiik! Kiiik!
Another cry from the Drake Runners rang out.
“Isto. Move faster!”
-Yes! Yes, sir!
Skill Proficiency Increased
Skill Proficiency Increased
Skill Proficiency Increased
Seriously, for something like this… it counted as training?
So it really does count for proficiency…
And maybe that was why.
Silver nanobots burst explosively from the tips of Du-ho’s fingers.
Now he could process a far wider area of sand in an instant.
And thanks to Isto hauling the sand masses nonstop, a substantial artificial island took shape in the center of the oasis.
Good!
Now I just need to build a bridge.
Du-ho walked forward and extended a straight bridge of ferrous sand toward the artificial island.
It was a narrow, precarious span.
The LED eyes on Isto’s face popped with exclamation marks.
Oh! Oh!
-What an inventive strategy! As expected of Du-ho nim, hamda!
Du-ho immediately sprinted toward the dragon and shouted, “Move over there and brood over the egg. It’ll be much safer!”
But the Black Dragon didn’t so much as twitch, merely continuing to brood over the egg.
“I’m telling you it’s dangerous here! Damn it, how am I supposed to communicate this?”
Du-ho grabbed his head, then looked at Isto.
“Can you talk to the Black Dragon?”
Isto answered calmly.
-Black Dragons don’t get up once they’ve settled on an egg until it hatches, hamda.
“I’m going to lose my mind.”
The island would be safer…
-Don’t do that. Harden the ground around the Black Dragon instead. I’ll move it, hamda.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Isto was much smaller than Du-ho.
And yet—
-I’m Isto, hamda.
In the end, Du-ho quickly hardened the sand and built a pedestal around the Black Dragon.
He’d pushed himself hard enough to make his head spin, but he clenched his teeth.
I’ve come this far… I can’t give up now!
“Isto!”
Crunch, crunch!
At Du-ho’s signal, Isto took a Kings Ratkin magic stone from his pouch and chewed it down.
The next moment, a fierce light exploded from Isto’s chest.
Wheeeeeeeeeee—!
With the output pushed to its limit, scorching heat poured off Isto’s body.
Isto grabbed the edge of the structure Du-ho had made and heaved with all his might.
Easy to say, but there’s no way that should work…
As if to prove him wrong, the ground began to rumble.
And then, together with the hardened sand base, the Black Dragon’s massive body slowly rose into the air.
Du-ho’s jaw dropped.
Isto’s strength was…
…at this level?
But then Isto’s body turned bright red.
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 3%
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 4%
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 5%
The damage readings kept hammering at Du-ho’s ears.
His lips dried out.
Should I stop this here?
-No, hamda. I… I’m Isto, hamda!
And then, little by little, the Black Dragon was lifted away with its pedestal intact.
Its roar sliced through the sandstorm.
Kiiiiiik!
From the dust emerged a bipedal reptile.
It was slightly smaller than a human.
Its entire body was covered in hard brown scales.
Between them, a pair of glittering golden vertical pupils locked precisely onto Isto.
Swish—.
A long tail slashed over the sand.
In an instant, a cloud of grit rose.
A Drake Runner armed with a spear charged straight at Isto.
When Du-ho tried to stop it—
-Just leave it, hamda.
Fwoooosh!
The charging Drake Runner burst into flames the instant it touched Isto’s superheated body.
I gained experience.
How hot is that thing?
The Drake Runners that followed suit met the same fate.
Fwoosh, fwoosh!
Kiiik—.
They burned up like fireballs and became experience.
I gained experience.
I gained experience.
I gained experience.
But at the same time—
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 7%
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 8%
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 9%
The damage kept climbing as well.
Even so, Isto silently carried the Black Dragon all the way to the center of the island and set it down safely.
Then he blocked the bridge entrance and said,
-This looks doable now, hehehe.
Watching him, Du-ho felt a sudden ache in his chest.
“Huh!?”
-Du-ho nim. Why do you look sad, hamka?
“People can be… like this even when they’re happy.”
-They can, hamka?
Right then—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ground trembled.
A massive beast covered in gray scales began crossing the bridge.
Cobalt Scale.
It was a hulking monster, its whole body hard as stone.
Unlike the swift Drake Runners, this one was threatening simply because of the force behind its charge, like a rhinoceros.
But—
Thoom!
Isto’s light punch flattened it.
It tangled with the beasts following behind and tumbled straight into the oasis water.
I gained experience.
I gained experience.
I gained experience...
As expected, the battlefield had turned in their favor.
Now the beasts had no choice but to come in through the narrow bridge.
* * *
How much time had passed?
Splish, splash—.
Frustrated, a few Drake Runners and then several Cobalt Scales threw themselves into the oasis.
But they merely floundered, then crawled back to the shore.
Meanwhile, the stone-like Cobalt Scales sank under their own weight.
The corners of Du-ho’s mouth curled upward.
So this is what a moat can do.
But his satisfaction lasted only a moment.
Whoosh—thunk!
A spear stabbed into the sand beside Du-ho.
Then—
Whizz, whizz, whizz!
Arrows and spears began raining down.
“Shit!”
Du-ho hurriedly scattered nanobots.
The silver dust nudged the incoming spear trajectories just enough to throw them off. But he couldn’t redirect all of them.
That was when Isto shouted,
-Du-ho nim! They’re coming in force, hamda!
Fifteen Drake Runners charged down the narrow bridge.
Kiiiiiik!!
They howled in unison, weapons—spears and axes—raised high.
Isto spread his arms.
How dare they!
-A bunch of Drake Runners!
The situation was far from easy. Stones hurled from the shore interfered with Isto’s vision.
Ting! Kang!
Flames roared within Isto’s LED display.
-You’re annoying me.
Using the opening, the Drake Runners tried to leap over Isto and make it onto the artificial island.
Clatter, clatter!
Their scales scraped, making a dry, abrasive sound.
Almost like they were threatening Isto.
Snap! Crack! Crunch.
Thanks to the joint upgrades, Isto was able to block them with quick movements.
But this is getting shaky…
As Du-ho thought that, he desperately redirected the incoming arrows with nanobots.
The limit was obvious.
So he twisted his body with the Assassin’s Arts footwork and let the remaining arrows and spears slide past him.
Then!
Bang!
A massive boulder slammed straight into the artificial island.
Rumble-rumble-rumble…
The whole island shuddered.
The Black Dragon, thrown off balance, lurched—and the egg in its arms began to slip.
In that hair-raising instant, the dragon twisted its body with force, wrapped its tail around the egg, and pulled it back to its chest.
Thud, thud, thud…
Arrows and spears poured down like rain.
They didn’t strike the dragon’s back, but they kept planting themselves around the egg, scattering sand in all directions.
Kwooooaaaar!!
The Black Dragon’s roar rolled across the battlefield.
It was a cry of rage, or perhaps a warning—Du-ho couldn’t tell which.
His expression hardened.
Damn it… if this keeps up, the egg is in danger.
Another barrage of arrows came down.
Whizz! Ting! Kang!
Du-ho barely deflected them with his nanobots.
Meanwhile, a spear that had its path shifted lodged itself in the ground.
But he couldn’t stop everything.
Arrows and spears kept driving in toward the egg in the dragon’s arms.
Kwooooaaaar—.
The dragon’s scream rose again.
The island trembled, and the air itself quivered.
Dizzy…
Du-ho’s vision swayed.
Was he burning through too much mana?
Honestly, this is rough…
He turned his eyes to Isto.
Plop!
The little robot grabbed a Drake Runner and hurled it away.
The one that fell into the water thrashed once, then went limp.
I gained experience.
WARNING! Isto Damage Rate: 18%
Along with the experience, Isto’s damage kept growing worse and worse.
It made sense, in a way.
He’d pushed his body hard while moving the huge Black Dragon, after all.
Still, if there was any hope at all—
Du-ho opened his status window.
Just a little more!
Thunk! Thwack—.
With a double punch from Isto, two Drake Runners burst apart in midair, scattering blood and flesh.
I gained experience.
I gained experience.
And then, at last—
Warm energy spread through Du-ho’s whole body.
Fatigue vanished in a flash, and strength surged back into him.
> Super-intelligence summoning is now available.
> Would you like to summon?
Accept / Refuse
“A-accept!”
At those words, the super-intelligence positions began spinning around like a roulette wheel.
『Close-quarters combat type.
Defense-specialized type.
Medical support type.
Manufacturing...
...』
The list slowed and slowed.
Clank—!
It stopped on one position.
The Garage expands.
A super-intelligence has been summoned.
Du-ho hurriedly called forth his new companion.
Then, from the rippling air—
Phwooo—
A blue flash shot straight out.