Dungeon Of Pride, Laplace

A part of him also wanted to bring the Lightning Draconic Serpent inside his dungeon, but its size which was so huge, wouldn't fit through the front gate and even if he modified it, the adventurers above the ground would freak out and start attacking it.

He also cannot use the teleport function since the dungeon did not recognise it and unless he learns the space magic in the future, he couldn't bring it inside his dungeon.

Saying what he needed to say, Simon turned around and was about to leave the scene when the Lightning Draconic Serpent suddenly stopped him.

"Wait… Tell me your name demon?" It asked looking at the demon who was now also its master.

Turning his head slightly, the demon replied "It's Simon."

"Simon is it… very well, I hope you keep your words. I will look forward to see if you can subjugate the other two with your own strength as you said" the Lightning Draconic serpent said relieved after knowing that it wouldn't have to live a life of submission under someone.

Nodding his head, Simon left a few parting words before swiftly flying off.

"You better find a secure place for your wounded body to recover or else you will have your plate full trying to fend off the monsters trying to hunt you down".

-----

High up in the sky above the stratosphere, a woman with absolutely beautiful features appeared out of nowhere. Her clothes were exquisite and her well-rounded curves that had developed pleasantly, made her extremely tantalising.

Releasing a subliminal allure, the woman was none other than the one that had met Simon a while ago. At this moment, her tangerine eyes were intently observing the back of the demon.

"Hohh~ so he chose to rely on his own strength rather than to depend on the power of his servant. He is quite the amusing low-rank demon I have met. Hehe~, still the punishment for messing with me must be handed out. By the time he realises it, it will be too late".

Her glossy pink lips parted to make a dangerous yet charming smile. Right after she put her words, she extended her index finger and her well-maintained nails gently drew an arc across the space.

Instantly, a huge gash appeared in the air and a different scenery could be seen on the other side. Gently stepping inside the tear in space, the woman disappeared from the place leaving not even her presence or aura behind.

Simon did not directly return to his dungeon and instead hunted large numbers of monsters using the [Mental Map] skill of his.

The main objective for him coming out of his dungeon was to level up. Though he got caught up in the schemes of the orc general, now that he was free Simon decided to increase his level a few times before heading back.

He was now level 320 and even after hunting large groups of monsters in the northern part of the forest for a whole day, his level only went up by one. This itself showed that how hard it was to achieve each level ups after level 300.

It wasn't like the monsters he was hunting were weak, Evil Helix Bats were each level 180 and are one of the strongest colonies of monsters living inside the northern region of the forest.

At his level, if he doesn't at least defeat monsters above level 250, he wouldn't see much progress in his level.

Simon couldn't go back to the high orc territory to hunt down some orcs since they were now aware of his existence not to mention he had even foiled the plans of one of their orc generals.

The moment he intrudes on their territory, their position would be switched and he would be the one being hunted. He did not know what kind of plans the orc general Berigard would come up with next, hence he had to always be on guard.

Leaving the territories of the High orcs and the Seven Kings, there were only a few other areas within the western region of the forest where he could delve in. However, those territories were very far from where he was now and difficult to traverse.

Giving up on going there for the time being, Simon quickly took out any monsters colony that was marked on his [Mental map] as he made his way back to his dungeon.

On his way, he found a small lake and quickly dived inside to get rid of all the filth and mirth that was on his clothes. He did not want to return back with the disgusting smell still coming off of him.

The tortoise-like monsters called the tortacoasta living inside the lake did try to attack him but their levels were only around 120-150 and so he quickly took care of them.

Arriving near the vicinity of his dungeon, he hid his presence using the skill [Hide Presence] and observed the groups and camps made by the adventurers around the spiral tower.

He had to say that the tower had become quite the splendid landmark for the adventurers to gather near. Loads of carts pulled by monsters that looked like rhinos with five horns were filled with Silver crystals and corpses of monsters harvested by the adventurers delving inside the dungeon.

They would be later sold onto the cities and would become the source of income for these adventurers.

Not only them, but crowds of small and big merchants have also set up their shops looking to buy the stuffs the adventurers would bring from inside. At this moment, they seem to have completely forgotten that they were inside the eastern region of the Ghastly Winding Forest where monster roams.

Although the aura emitted by the dungeon served a huge part, it was also true that the adventurers were capable enough to dispose of any weak monsters that were unintelligent enough to linger near.

Seeing the progress made by his dungeon with his own eyes, Simon couldn't help but feel pleased.

-----

Inside the dungeon Laplace, near the altered pond of Serenity on the main floor.

Cecilia wore an anxious face as she walked around the place. "There is no need to worry it wasn't your fault. On the contrary, I believe he would be quite pleased to see all of these changes taking place" Irene who was seating on top of a large rock, smiled beautifully to comfort the Little girl pacing back and forth.

"But… but elder sister Irene.. those trees were planted by big brother himself. He might become sad or angry to see them suddenly change like this" Cecilia said as her eyes glossed over with tears.

Finding the needless worry of the little girl funny, Irene sighed and rustled her emerald green hair.

"Why don't you ask your big brother himself whether he is mad or not after seeing the changes".

"Wha…" Right when Cecilia was about to say something, Simon suddenly teleported near the pond.

"As I thought you people were here after all" Simon smiled when he found the two of them.

Irene observed him for a moment before immediately taking her eyes away while Cecilia constantly looked down, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?" he asked as he too found a rock to sit on.

"Nothing in particular. Other than the adventurers being able to breach the 12th floor, nothing important happened that needs your immediate attention" Irene said after musing over.

"I see… so why does my little sister looks so downtrodden to not even greet her big brother like usual?" Simon asked teasing Cecilia a little.

Cecilia grumbled and fidgeted around trying to find her confidence.

Seeing her become so docile in front of him, Irene couldn't help but speak out "Why don't you look around yourself, see if you can spot any difference".

Being said something like that, Simon became curious as to what changes Irene was referring when his eyes immediately went towards the Trees of mana that he had planted around the pond of serenity.

It would be right to say former trees of mana since the trees in front of him looked nothing like the sorts.

The trees in front of him were as huge as he was used to seeing them but rather than having leaves and branches, the trees were completely decorated in crystals and looked just like a crystal tree.

The trees of mana that he had planted near the pond of serenity to increase the density of mystical energy within his dungeon and whose growth even astonished him, had become something else. 

What was going on? In his memory that he inherited, there was no mention of Trees of mana becoming something like that.

If it wasn't a natural change, then it could only mean that it was altered by someone. Simon did not have to guess as to know who could bring about such a change.

"I'm s-sorry big brother… I did not know that the trees would become like that" Cecilia said looking like she was about to cry any moment.

Simon observed the transformed trees for a while before using Analysis to better understand them.

The result he got was as such:- Tree of Mana Crystals (Saplings). An extremely beautiful tree born from the exceptionally rich mystical source and contains an enormous amount of mana. Their branches are made up of crystals and only grow in places with a very high density of mana.

The tree if soaked continuously in the energy of the mystical veins, would be able to produce Mana crystals of varying grade.. The older the tree, the better the grade of the mana crystals it can produce.