''Whatever, I'll eliminate it right now.'' Carl frowned and prepared to trigger his skill [Plasma Breath].
He also wanted to witness the power of his wife's skill. It would be an exciting experiment for him.
However, Carl's eyes were suddenly drawn to a strange presence behind the piles of corpses, and his chest shrank, disabling his flame breath as he realized he shouldn't strike unless he wanted to risk his mission to fail.
''It's odd.''
It looked bizarre — its body was almost made of blue fire, floating above the corpses as if they were some kind of luxurious feast for that flame.
''I need to take a look.'' Carl stepped closer, and everything was just getting more exciting to him. He smiled.
''Well, what luck. I've finally found you.''
''But how can I capture it without trouble? Seems like it's some odd creature without an actual body.''
Staring at the phantom guide — or maybe a ghostly soul draped in shabby clothes — Carl scratched his chin, his mind weighed down with different ideas.
Suddenly, he felt a ticklish itch on his chest as the black dragon crawled out of his shirt. It climbed onto his right shoulder and let out a weak roar, as if trying to say something. Then, it glanced at Carl and shook its head.
Carl barely understood. He thought his pet just wanted to get some fresh air. Clicking his tongue, he tried to comfort the black dragon.
''Well, if you want to take in fresh air, just wait. This basement's air isn't good for you. A baby dragon needs a better spot to sleep.''
Carl rubbed the dragon's head and pushed it back against his chest, even though the dragon resisted a little.
''Come on, I promise I'll let you breathe fresh air once we get out of here. Just be a good boy.''
The baby dragon groaned in helplessness under Carl's shirt until a familiar sound rang out.
Ting!
[Systems]: Let the phantom guide Cobb to handle it. Cobb can do it better than you.
''Huh?'' At that moment, Carl froze and let the black dragon crawl out of his shirt again. His pet seemed a bit sulky when Carl had stopped the dragon's effort to help. The black dragon sat on Carl's right shoulder, arms crossed, staring off to the side without giving Carl a single glance.
''Come on, my boy. I'm sorry.'' Carl sighed and rubbed its head, trying to cheer it up.
A few seconds later, after enduring Carl's constant head-rubbing, the black dragon finally started to feel better. It tried to hide its satisfaction while sighing out a short burst of flame.
Carl just lifted his eyelids slightly, catching on. He realized something interesting: the dragon couldn't hide its emotions. Of course—it made sense. That kind of skill was only for humans, creatures who always fooled each other.
The moment later, the black dragon turned into a cloud of darkness, lunging at the phantom guide.
The phantom guide was quickly restrained by the black dragon without any chance to fight back. Of course, against a dragon's strength, a weak soul like that couldn't do anything.
—--------------------------------------------------------------
Ting!
[Systems]: You have captured a phantom guide.
You've received your rewards: An Invisibility cloak.
Short Description: [A shadowy cloak that absorbs all light, allowing the wearer to blend completely with their surroundings].
Effects:
.Grants invisibility, undetectable by targets below C rank.
.Reduces footsteps and minor sounds.
.Continuously drains mana while the cloak is active.
—----------------------------------------------------------------
"Great!" Carl shouted in happiness as he obtained a cloak like that. He could even be invisible like some special ability of the Dragon Classes. He had always felt jealous that they possessed such a useful ability. But now, even a stoker class like him could use it.
"Hehehe. They'll be so furious if there's something similar to their ability existing in this world." Carl quickly claimed his reward and equipped himself. He wanted to test it right away.
In just an instant, he vanished in the basement as the cloak covered him completely. Yet, he couldn't tell if it was truly effective—he needed a personal test.
Carl smirked; his pet was the perfect creature for the experiment.
The black dragon flew around the cage, roaring rapidly to find him, but nothing happened.
"Cobb looks panicked… I shouldn't tease it anymore."
Carl rubbed his chin in satisfaction and disabled the Invisibility cloak, revealing himself again in the basement.
"What a reward. It even erased all my tracks. Even a sacred creature couldn't find me."
"I could be a robber… even…" But Carl quickly shook those perverted thoughts out of his head.
"Not good. I already have a beautiful wife."
Ting!
[System Notice]: Anyway, this reward also has its limits. If someone of Rank C Individual or higher shows up, they can still detect you. A borrowed power always has certain limits.
"Ah… of course, my wife. I supposed so." Carl smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit regretful that his reward wasn't perfect.
He let out a long breath and walked toward the phantom guide, which was still restrained by his pet.
"Hmmm, I should escape from here instead of returning to the candidates. That would be a better choice. After all, they're all my enemies in this exam."
"Tsk!" Carl clicked his tongue and made his final decision.
"Let's go. You'll guide me to the exit of this weird place. This place makes me sick."
Under the black dragon's control, the phantom guide obeyed him and led the way out of the second floor of the dungeon.
Once again, Carl resumed his bored footsteps, walking through the basement hallways and across several other floors. This time, he felt more at ease since he barely ran into any deadly traps. But as time went on, unease started creeping in.
They reached the deeper parts of the basement, shrouded in darkness and dust. There was nothing but rats and skeletons scattered around. Not even a single monster appeared.
A streak of suspicion ran through his mind.
"Hey! Ghost guide. Are you trying to deceive me?"
But there was no response. The phantom guide only let out a ghostly laugh.
"It seems we've been fooled… but never mind. I've got an Invisibility cloak. In a Rank F dungeon, no one can stop me from fleeing." Carl scoffed and nodded, continuing his journey. He wanted to see what the ghost guide was plotting against him
''Playing a trick on me?... I will devour you in the most brutal way.''