Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

All sorts of rare fruits and plants that he had never seen, and which had effects that could even be said as outright magical was presented to him.

One must know that Forest Spring Spirits that were living there were the escapees that had successfully managed to throw off their pursuers. The new settlement that they built there didn't even have the necessary recourses to grow rare plants and herbs.

But they still managed to do all that with what little resources they brought with them while escaping. Simon couldn't even start to imagine the rarity of plants and herbs that they used to grow back in their village.

If he could provide the Forest Spring Spirits with seeds of rare plants and herbs, they would be able to grow them easily and without much effort.

Next, he purchased another pond of serenity and placed it at the northwest of the floor.

Staring at the pond of serenity, Simon fell into a deep contemplation. The original pond of serenity was supposed to look like this, clear blue and giving off a serene feeling that soothed one's heart.

The one that he had installed on his main floor behind his white palace had gone through mutation thanks to the slowly manifesting powers of Cecilia and completely became something else.

The purity and concentration of mystical energy inside the pond had reached such a level that even with his Demon Viscount body, he couldn't endure it for more than a minute. Just the sheer volume of mystical energy that the pond was oozing with was on a whole different level.

He could understand why Irene said that the pond of serenity became a great asset for him that could make him stronger. Just immersing himself inside the pond for a minute was enough to make Simon realise that his base MP (Magic Points) had risen by a lot.

If not for the intolerable pain, Simon would have dived inside the pond a little more. Not to mention there were numerous peculiar objects such as the scarlet mutation crystals growing inside the pond.

If that was not enough, as of this moment the mystical energy inside the pond was still getting stronger and all of that energy was being funnelled towards the twenty or so Trees of mana planted nearby. Even without the need to check, Simon could feel the density of mana inside his main floor increasing day by day.

By now, the entire backside of his white palace where the pond was located, was covered by a thin white mist that endlessly lingered there. Although the effect was apparent only on his main floor, but Simon had already seen the magical effects of the Trees of Mana.

For his next step, he needed to plant the Trees of Mana on multiple floors to make the effects more ostensible.

Increasing the density of mana inside his dungeon was one of the crucial key points in increasing its rank. Fortunately, his plan was going smoothly since he managed to acquire the help of Forest Spring Spirits.

Furthermore, he browsed for other items like the obsidian slate from the [Shop] and placed them near the pond.

The Obsidian slate is a type of rock that absorbs energy from the surroundings and fuses it with anything it is in contact with. In this case, the obsidian slate will absorb the mystical energy present in the air and fuse it with the pond of serenity.

That is not all, the obsidian slate is even able to absorb magic to some degree and release the mana stored back inside the pond. In other words, the obsidian rock will be able to absorb the residue energy from the magic used in the surroundings and deposit it back into the pond.

The slate was black in colour and had an unusual gloss to it. Simon bought seven slates for a total of 525,000 DP and placed them around the pond.

He further bought another twenty or so Tress of Mana and planted them across the pond. After finishing all the preparations, he teleported back to the main floor only to find the Forest Spring spirits making a neat row, waiting for his arrival.

Seeing Simon teleport in front of them, they all bowed their heads in unison. Simon nodded and declared "Alright if you guys are ready, then we can move to the floor where you people can make your new village".

His voice was not loud yet it could be heard clearly all across the main floor.

When they heard his words, all the Forest Spring Spirits showed excited faces and just when Simon thought that they were all ready, Fennel stepped forward and spoke for all of them.

"Lord Simon we cannot even start to show how grateful we are that you saved us from this peril. We Forest Spring Spirits from this moment on will be eternally loyal to you and serve as your subordinates".

He bent his body more than ninety degrees and one could feel his sincerity through his tone. It was not only him, all the Forest Spring Spirits behind him were similarly bowing their heads displaying their allegiance.

Simon was lost for words. Although he did save the Forest Spring Spirits, he did all that for Cecilia and his dungeon. But it seemed that it didn't matter to the Forest Spring Spirits as they were deeply grateful to Simon for saving the children, the hope of the Forest Spring Spirits.

Of course, Simon was affected by their sincerity as he nodded his head and accepted their heartfelt allegiance. No matter what, now that they have become his subordinates, he would protect them with all of his power.

After declaring his allegiance, Fennel earnestly added"Lord Simon does not need to worry Mistress has already told us about our duties and we shall do our utmost to help our lord".

This time Simon was shocked, his brain failed to register some of the words that Fennel just said. 'Huh?!!... wait a minute… Mistress' Simon thought as his eyes involuntarily went towards Irene, who for some reason was not meeting his gaze.

It was at this moment that from the corner of his eyes, he spotted Cecilia smiling mischievously. Suddenly it dawned onto him.

'So it was all her work. She must have said something to Fennel and the others' Simon sighed internally looking at Cecilia who was trying to make a straight face. Shaking his head, he teleported all of them to the new floor.

The scenery around them changed and quickly became a place filled with greeneries. The moment the Forest Spring Spirits looked at the floor, they became stunned while others became emotional.

The reason for this sudden change was because the new floor that Simon had modelled, looked exactly like the forest where their village was located previously and from where they were forced to escape.

How could they not be reminiscent after being shown such a place? Fennel's old eyes were trembling as he stared at the forest that lay ahead of him and he involuntarily asked "T-This is…?".

"Hm? Ah! This is the new floor where you guys would be staying. I tried to make it as similar to the Ancient Treants territory where your original village was located. Although the things that I could replicate was limited" Simon looked content seeing the reaction of the Forest Spring Spirits.

Fennel and the others looked at their lord once again, touched by his sincerity.

After being momentarily stunned, the Forest Spring Spirits soon began to work on building their new village near the pond of serenity. Seeing them getting busy, Simon silently left the scene and teleported back to the main floor.

He left Cecilia there as she wanted to help her clansmen build a new village.

ROAAAR… a loud demonic roar sounded out and the Bloodthorn Demonic Warhorse came running towards him. The guy mostly hanged around the 29th floor and was kind of like the boss to the Chimera Beers and Savage Warrior Monkeys that inhabited the floor.

Patting the warhorse that came running to him, Simon walked towards his white palace. There was a large difference between the mystical energy on any floor and on the main floor. A refreshing cool feeling assaulted his senses as he appeared closer to the white palace.

The mana inside him also started to resonate with the mystical energy outside and frantically started circulating inside him. The rate of circulation was many times faster here than on the outside.

Simon had a vague feeling that if he kept on bathing in this energy, even without defeating any opponents; he would be able to level up soon. After defeating Laris, he was on the verge of breaking the level 300 hundred threshold.

And after going through the trial set by Aldebaran, he knew that he could increase to level 301 soon. Every hundred level represents a huge threshold that is very difficult to cross and more so when your bloodline is impure.

One needs a great amount of effort, dedication and increase their skills constantly to cross that threshold.

How does Simon know that? Well, after going through the trial that put an immense amount of burden on him, both physically and mentally, he had levelled up multiple of his skills such as the [Regeneration] which had evolved to become [High-Speed Regeneration], [Super Endurance] that had become [Enhanced Endurance]. He had also gained some new skills such as the [Minimal Mana Consumption].

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Name:- Simon

Race:- Demon Viscount

Titles:- Demon of Pride [Incomplete Fragment 1/5]

Level:- 300

HP:- 44,991

MP:- 60,035

Stats:-

Strength:- 2800

Defence:- 3000

Agility:- 3400

Magic:- 3800

Endurance:- 3100

Luck:- 2100

Skills:- Language Comprehension, Analysis, Flame Magic Mastery, Gale Magic Mastery, Electro Magic Mastery, Thought Processing, High-Speed Regeneration, High-Speed Flight, Super Strength, Super Agility, Enhanced Endurance, Super Defence, Body Enhancement, Fire Resistance, Wind Resistance, Pain Resistance, Blunt Damage Resistance, Sense Presence, Natural Recovery, Demonic Eyes, Minimal Mana Consumption

Amalgamation Skills:- [Flame-Gale Mastery], [Electro-Flame Mastery]

Inherent Skills:- Dungeon Creation, Main Menu, Ancestral Symbol Ignition