The Scorched Black Tower
Is it the Black Tower that's charred pitch-black? Today marked the moment when my full-fledged career as a hunter truly kicked off.
It looked just like the White Tower dipped in black paint, but its overwhelming size made it the main stage for hunters. From here on out, it was real combat.
"Shall we head in?"
I boldly placed my hand on the door, no hesitation like some noob agonizing over difficulty. Obviously, it had to be Mystic mode.
Mythical being detected.
Difficulty automatically fixed to Mystic.
'Well, I didn't really have a choice anyway.'
The difficulty was a bit brutal, but the sweet rewards made it bearable.
Black Tower Floor 1 - Mystic
Objective: Defeat 5 Hell Salamanders
The moment I stepped in, a dry sandstorm greeted me in a blistering desert. The scorching sun beat down, the heat rising from the ground so intense it felt like my soles were melting.
"Hot hot hot!"
I hopped from foot to foot, standing on one at a time, wondering if they were actually cooking. You can't fight strong if you can't even walk properly. To escape the superheated ground, I polymorphed into dragon form and took to the air.
Mana reduction detected in wearer.
Recharging mana from ambient air.
Current air status: Low mana density
But inheriting the black dragon made me one too, and black was the perfect color for absorbing light and heat. Ugh, I'm dying here. Still, compared to the ground's inferno, it was tolerable, so I scanned the area for my Floor 1 targets: Hell Salamanders.
"Is that one?"
A black lizard-like shape with a red glow, flames running from crest to tail tip screaming "not your average lizard." Come to think of it, Hell Salamanders were fire-born creatures. They probably had high fire resistance too.
If I were a full-grown dragon instead of a hatchling, I'd roast it without blinking. But I'm just a hatchling. Better to hit its weakness for max effect.
I spread my hand, prepping Basic Elemental Magic: Water Bomb toward the Hell Salamander—
"Urk..."
The insane heat made me dizzy, blurring my chant. In that split second, the Hell Salamander spotted me and unleashed a massive fire pillar straight at me.
Black dragons are fire-born too. Dragon form skin and scales had some fire resistance, but human instincts kicked in hard. I dodged reflexively and refocused on the water bomb—
"What the hell."
Fire pillars erupting from all directions forced me into pure evasion mode. The culprits? Hell Salamanders, of course—the full five I needed to kill, clustered together spamming pillars in perfect rotation to conserve energy. I was stuck dodging nonstop.
Fwoosh!
"Guh!"
A pillar nailed my belly dead-on. A regular D+ hunter would've gotten fourth-degree burns, but dragon skin limited it to grabbing a boiling-water-filled metal pot by mistake. Still hurt like a bitch.
Dodging more pillars while brainstorming, I spotted a portal that had appeared at the start point.
'Right, Black Tower has exit portals at the spawn unlike normal modes.'
With this otherworldly heat and their hyper-organized attacks, bailing to rethink wasn't a bad idea. Best to retreat from bad fights. No point stubbornly tanking and breaking. Timeless wisdom.
I entrusted myself to the portal, planning for round two.
Towers aren't newbie-friendly. But this wasn't my first tower climb. Meaning, I could leech walkthrough from guides.
"How the hell do you block with a shield when five salamanders swarm you...?"
Turns out, normal difficulty only spawns one salamander. Yeah, one and I'd have smashed it no guide needed. Plus, these were Hell Salamanders—the damage matched a B- monster attack.
"No... Hoo... I gotta tough it out since I'm clearing Mystic..."
The ultimate difficulty no one's beaten. Humanity's frontier—that's me. Sure, aside from it being harder with better rewards, I had no clue what made it special... But hey, top difficulty means I'm the pioneer, right?
"To block damage, I need durability anyway."
Checking my durability stat crushed me. Was I always this fragile...? Eating magistones might boost fire resistance with it, but the growth per stone was too low. No telling how many I'd need—rejected.
Otherwise, it'd bankrupt me worse than leverage trading without liquidation.
"Mmm..."
I lazily munched magistones while browsing Hunter Gallery. Maybe info on useful items...
Content was just selling various potions. One gave strong heat resistance... Bought it at a decent price.
...Long story short, the potion was total garbage.
Even chugging it before entering, the buff was too weak—the Hell Salamanders' heat pierced right through.
"Ah... This ain't it."
I aimlessly scrolled Hunter Gallery with a cold pack on my fire-pillar-burned belly from last fight. Habit to forget frustration temporarily. Didn't solve problems, but soothed the soul.
'Do I really gotta grind magistones till durability's enough?'
I'd grow past hatchling someday, but not efficiently now. Hunting gates for stones? Money crunch incoming. Geumryeon Guild had gate drops, but selling uninspected was dumb.
Would be nice if solutions fell from the sky, but nah.
"...Huh?"
Hunter Gallery trade posts popped up sometimes. For folks avoiding auction fees or shady deals. List items openly are legal; Telegram link are illegal.
Click.
Black market broker? Still, legal domestic stuff pictured for accessibility.
But I didn't need mats—I ain't a crafter. Cursor to back button as interest waned—then a super familiar item.
Black scale, decent luster. Why so familiar...? I slyly maneuvered my tail in front of my eyes.
No difference no matter how I compared. That's my scale?
'This crap sells...?'
Dunno how they got it, but if they're selling, it has uses. Time to pry info from the seller.
"This the place?"
The meetup with the broker was at some hotel. Late night, past the quiet desk, into the elevator.
'Can I just wander like this?'
Elevator dinged at Floor 5. Straight to Room 507.
Knock. Knock-knock. Knock. Knock-knock. Knock.
Delivered the pre-shared code knock. Click. Door unlocked—come in.
Opening up, a suited middle-aged guy with a hefty gut eyed me puzzled.
"What? ...Kid. This ain't for you. Scram."
"...I'm here to deal."
"A kid?"
"I'm an adult, looks notwithstanding."
"Hmph... Whatever, not my problem."
I handed over the black briefcase of cash. Broker peeked inside, surprise flashing as he looked at me.
Judged it fair value—nodded, spoke.
"Not some clueless rookie, huh."
He pulled a cigar, puffed deep clouds.
"Dragon scale... What info you want?"
Tons I wanted: how obtained, knowing it's dragon's, future supply... But no way he'd spill all. Some questions cost extra and still nada.
So, the key one now:
"Uses."
"Crafter? Fine."
"One known use: potions."
"Potions?"
"Heat resistance ones. Grind the scale in, performance maxes out."
"...Reliable info?"
"No trust, no biz in this game."
"Hmmm..."
"Don't buy it? Here's a freebie."
Broker tossed me a vial of orange liquid from his bag.