Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The bottom of the pond was masked by the deep blue light of the water and if one wanted to see what was at the bottom now, they had to dive deeper.

Utilising the sturdiness and power that came with recent level-ups, Simon steadily delved deeper before penetrating through the blue dome of light that covered the bottom of the pond.

Words couldn't describe the sight he saw, the bottom of the pond which was closer to the mystical veins had changed dramatically. Many treasures of varying shape and colours dotted the place, mysterious bubbles and speckles of light roamed the area and the mystical veins underneath the earth could be seen pulsing with energy as if they were alive.

The Sight was so striking that Simon completely forgot that he was at the bottom of the pond where the mystical energy was more concentrated than the surface. The moment, he pierced through the dome of blue light and arrived here, a great pressure the like of which he never experienced before came crashing down on him.

The mystical energy here was so berserk and pure that he felt this skin was burning just by being here and the circulation of mana within his body even with help of [Mana Lines] had slowed marginally.

Snapping his mind from the grandeur of the sight, Simon grabbed at the thing that was closer to him before hurriedly surfacing from the water.

"Huff… huff.. the mana on the bottom of the pond is even scarier than what it is on the surface. Good thing I surfaced before forty-five seconds were over any second later and my body would have been burst apart" he mumbled out loud.

It seems his body was still not powerful enough to endure the bottom of the pond where the mystical energy was far more dense and concentrated.

Nevertheless, the experience itself was not that bad as Simon could distinctively feel his body and powers reaching new heights after only soaking in it for a few seconds.

Immersing in it every day was bound to make him more stronger and powerful steadily. The altered pond of serenity really turned out to become one of his greatest treasures.

Propping himself up, he checked the object which he had picked from the bottom of the pond. At that time he did not have enough time to give it a careful look but now that he was out, he had no other concerns plaguing his mind.

The object in his hand was circular shaped and as big as a marble with no particular colour to speak of. It was translucent, gave off no aura and appeared to be ordinary; however, an object harvested from the bottom of the pond, how could it be something ordinary?

Simon was sure that there was something more to this marble than what meets the eye.

Using Analysis on it, displayed the name of the object. Skill Crystal Grade [1] Rank [C]. A Crystal that is capable of storing any skill or magic of the appropriate tier for a long period of time or until the skill crystal is used. <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

Once the skill or magic is stored inside the skill crystal, anyone possessing it as long as they have sufficient mana, will be able to cast it. The higher the grade of the crystals, the more powerful the skill or magic it can store.

Note that once the skill imbued inside it is used, the Skill Crystal becomes unusable until a new skill or magic is stoned inside it. Can be destroyed.

Simon blinked his eyes a few times and read the information displayed by the Analysis. The thing that he harvested from the bottom of the pond was called a skill crystal and it can store any kind of magic or skill inside it.

Well, not any kind as the grade of the skill crystal needed to be higher to store powerful magic and skills. But even then, there was no denying the usefulness of the skill crystal.

If one just looked at it objectively it might not appear so incredible; However, its usefulness depends on the user and how he uses it.

Depending on the situation, the skill can even turn the situation around. Thinking of it like this, a person caught in a precarious situation and is unable to get out might even change the situation with the aide of this Skill crystal which can store any kind of magic.

He can use this to his advantage and dish out an attack that the enemy has no knowledge of.

The skill crystal can serve as a great diversion or a tide turner depending on how it is used. Simon could already picture thousands of scenarios in which he could the skill crystal to his advantage.

As of now, the Skill crystal in his hand appeared translucent indicating that it was empty with no skill or magic stored in it. The bottom of the pond of serenity had many of these growing it and some of which were even bigger than the one he had in his hand currently.

That was not all, the bottom of the pond was just like an unplundered treasures trove brimming with all kinds of rare objects and treasures. Although it was asking too much from him to plunder all those treasures right now, but with time Simon was sure that he would be able to discern all of the secret hiding at the bottom of the pond.

Tossing the marble in his [Inventory], he focused on restoring his HP and MP that has been drastically shaved after his endeavour inside the pond before returning back to his palace.

These past twelve days, nobody came to disturb him and he was able to focus on increasing his strength worry-free. Now that he was free of his training, he naturally wanted to check on the other floors and see if there were any other changes occurring besides on his main floor.

The first thing that came to his mind was the newly created floor for the Null Elemental. Previously when he brought Wisp to the floor, it disappeared inside the floor like an incorporeal being and he did not know what happened to it after that.

If not for Irene's words that insistently praised the abilities of the Null Elemental, Simon wouldn't have created a separate floor just for it.

Thinking that there might be some unexpected surprise waiting for him back on the floor, he couldn't help feeling giddy. After all, the ball of light which he named Wisp, was something that had appeared from the black spiral after he used four emblems on it.

It would be a lie if he said that he didn't have a high expectation for it.

The next floor on his list to check was the Forest Spring Spirit village that he made a mental note to visit in the future. These Forest Spring Spirits were a race loved by the nature and wield abilities that are far more mysterious and profound.

Their power to manipulate nature to their will and accomplish things that would have been otherwise seen impossible, made them an important race for the development of his dungeon.

Simon was aware of some of their incredulous ability and it would not be an exaggeration to find the floor completely changed than before.

Entering inside the white palace, he searched for the presence of two other inhabitants that lived together with him in the white palace.

Sensing that the presence of Cecilia was nowhere to be found, he frowned his brows. "Is she not on the main floor? Well, she might be with her clansmen on the forest Spring Spirit floor" Simon mused and went up to the dining hall.

It had been more than twelve days since he last ate anything and honestly he was starting to miss some of the food he used to have back on earth dearly.

While it was true that he can go on without eating or sleeping for months since the mystical energy was enough to sustain his body, it cannot recreate the delicious taste of the food nor could it satisfy his appetite.

Arriving inside the dining hall, Simon made himself comfortable in one of the seats before opening the [Shop] option of the [Main Menu] and ordering some food and desserts.

While he was busy picking the food of his choice, his eyes coincidentally went towards the kitchen adjacent to the hall. The kitchen had been lying vacant ever since he installed the white palace and everything inside it was left untouched.

Since all of the food can be easily bought from the shop, up until now Simon felt no need to enter the kitchen. However, looking at all of the gadgets and wear, he felt like it was quite a waste to not make use of them.

The kitchen was prepared with those entities from the 12 heroes in mind; but now that the menus have merged and the [Hero's Altar] has disappeared, the kitchen was left with no more use.

In his previous life, Simon had created the twelve powerful heroes with much difficulty and various ideas in mind. Each of them had their own abilities and powers that set them apart from one another and were set in a way that they become the best of companions for the players.

He sighed in disappointment at the thought of them disappearing for good. He had created them with all of his abilities, there was no way he won't feel disappointed at their disappearance.

There was no point in lamenting now that everything had already occurred, he could only accept the situation he had no way of reversing