Desert Merchant: the Desert's secret quests (10 secret levels)

The Desert Merchant is a quest NPC added by Update 30 to the Desert, in the First Sea. Set up under a wooden stall near the Desert Bandits, he is the one who gives and validates the island's secret quests: Save Hasan and Prickly Harvest, 5 secret levels each, 10 in total. Once Prickly Harvest is done, he also hands you a Refreshing Drink.

How to get it

He is in the Desert (First Sea), under a wooden stall, near the Desert Bandits. No secret passage and no requirement to talk to him: he is always there, it is his quests that are not always available.

His secret quests

Quest	Reward	How it starts
Save Hasan	5 secret levels	Passage under the Silver Chest, near the large pyramid
Prickly Harvest	5 secret levels + a Refreshing Drink	After some time on the island, the dialogue line appears at his stall

That is 10 secret levels in total, out of the 200 awarded by the 40 secrets of the First Sea.

The island's third secret, Rune Cleanup (dust off the eight monoliths to the right of the temple with melee or sword M1s until the cutscene plays; "Clean the Runes" until 28 September 2026), does not go through him: the source's Island Secrets and Desert pages have it turned in to the Desert Adventurer. We had written the opposite.

Save Hasan, step by step

Find the Silver Chest near the large pyramid. Right below it, a patch of dark sand can be walked through: that is the entrance.
Follow the small tunnel into the pyramid: Hasan is being attacked by a skeleton.
Beat that first skeleton, then the three others that come out of the tombs one at a time: four in total. They are level 50 Desert Skeletons, their entry details the fight.
Talk to Hasan to finish saving him, then go back to the Desert Merchant to validate.

Prickly Harvest, step by step

This quest is not always available: you need to spend some time in the Desert, or server hop, before the dialogue line shows up. The Desert page specifies that cacti bloom at random after a few hours in a server.
Talk to the Desert Merchant and accept his quest.
Hit the cacti with M1s to collect 10 Cactus Petals.
Go back to him: 5 secret levels, and he gives you a Refreshing Drink (the Desert page calls it a "desert juice", in all likelihood the same item).

The Refreshing Drink

It is Prickly Harvest's little bonus. On consumption it gives a small strength buff and recognizable visual effects: the screen takes a pink tint, an off-center spiral spins, and your character grows. You can only hold one at a time. Its entry has the details.

Good to know

He is one of the four quest NPCs added by Update 30, along with the Angel Guard, the Secrets Master and the Emperor.
For waiting quests like Prickly Harvest, server hopping is the fastest way to land on the right window.
If a secret NPC only gives you 2 levels instead of 5, it is a known bug: keep talking to him until you get the rest, and do not leave the game before.

Update history

NPC : Desert Merchant·Released : Update 30

Update 30 28 septembre 2026 Adjustment
- Rune Cleanup (formerly Clean the Runes) is turned in to the Desert Adventurer, not the Desert Merchant: fixed from the source's Island Secrets and Desert pages (28 September 2026).
See update 30
Update 30 5 septembre 2026 Release
- Added to the game with the First Sea rework, as the Desert's quest NPC.
See update 30