Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Ohh! You seemed to have some guests over. Is that why you are in a good mood?".

Vesgard asked as he spotted the village that the Forest Spirits recently made. Although he was a little amazed, it wasn't an unusual thing to find a rare race or two deep inside the Ghastly Winding Forest.

"Haha, it as you say. There are some promising individuals amongst the guests that makes me want o look forward to their future growth".

Aldebaran smiled as he remembered his conversation with Simon.

"Hohh!" Vesgard said immediately losing interest. He wasn't bored enough yet to watch over the growth of someone else. Only a truly old man like the one in front of him would have the time in his hands to do something like that.

Although he was a little curious as to see who was this person that had caught the eye of one of the Seven Kings, he wouldn't deliberately ask it himself if Aldebaran didn't reveal it. The only thing he was interested in was to increase his own strength.

After reaching the realm he was in, every level forward would take many years unless he found some treasure that could immediately increase his level by a fewfold.

Aldebaran stared towards the distant village before gulping the contents of his bottle down and said to the person seated beside him.

"I believe it wouldn't be long before we can open that thing". As soon as those words came out of his mouth, Vesgard's emotions were riled up. Truly the man wore his emotions on his face.

"Hehh! you must have some basis to say all that right?" Vesgard asked.

Aldebaran continued to look towards the forest spring spirit village and said with a mysterious smile "At that time there would be no need for us to team up; after all, we would be on the same side".

-----

Simon with Cecilia in tow walked back towards the village.

Cecilia was in a good mood as she tiptoed around and looked at Simon's wide back and felt a sense of reliance and safety. Even she did not know why she believed in Simon that much. Just that whenever she looked at him, she could feel a sense of comfort wash over from deep within her.

And being a Forest Spring Royal Spirit, she could easily sense the evil within a person. For some reason, she felt safe whenever she was around him.

"Hehe" Cecilia smiled as she followed behind Simon.

Seeing that Cecilia was smiling over something, Simon became curious and asked "What is it that is making you so happy?".

Cecilia smiled brightly and said "It's nothing… I was just thinking that big brother and big sister Irene looks so good together".

Simon stumbled and was about to fall face-first into the ground. He did not know what gave Cecilia such an impression. Ahem… forcing a cough, he increased his pace back towards the village.

"Ah big brother wait for me" Cecilia said as she hurried along. It didn't take long for them to return back to the village and as soon as he entered it, Simon was amazed to see the people inside busy packing their things.

Everyone was scurrying around doing something to the point where none of them were standing around for long.

"W-what is going on?" He asked Cecilia beside him. But just like him, Cecilia was also out of clues regarding the actions of her clansmen.

At this moment, Fennel came out of one of the bamboo houses and immediately spotted them. He came near Simon and immediately bowed his head and said.

"Congratulations lord Simon for winning the trial. It was truly a magnificent scene to have witnessed it with my own eyes. I hope that from now on, lord Simon can take good care of us".

His voice was respectful and the way he seemed to look at Simon, was clearly reverential.

Simon was stunned by the way the elder of the Forest Spring Spirit was addressing him. It was as if the old man already recognised him as his lord.

"What does elder Fennel means?" Simon asked glancing at the forest spring spirit who were bowing towards him as soon as they spotted him.

"Hoho, lord Simon does not have to be polite. You can just call me Fennel. As for the meaning, I believe it is as clear as the day. All of us here have been moved by your valiant and sincere actions. Not only are you our great benefactor, but you are even kind enough to bring us into your dungeon and protect us. Us Forest Spring Spirits cannot be anymore indebted to you and are willing to serve you as your subordinates".

Fennel explained why these people were looking at him with such reverence in their eyes.

Simon was absolutely gobsmacked. While on their way, he was thinking of various ways as to how he would convince them. Never did he imagine that he wouldn't even have to expend his efforts trying to convince them as they had already taken him as their lord and were willing to come back with him to his dungeon.

"Truth be told, we were already deliberating over whether we should move into your dungeon as there is no future to the Forest Spring Spirit clan without the children. Once we learned that they were safely rescued and are inside your dungeon, I was thinking about when to bring this issue to you. I would have never guessed that lord Simon was already thinking the same thing".

"We Forest Spring Spirits aren't good in combat but we can support lord Simon in various other ways and would be eternally loyal to you. Lord Simon can leave the management of the dungeon to us ". Fennel said trying to clear up the confusion Simon had on his face.

Simon looked at all the surviving members of the Forest Spring Spirits and each and every one of them was bowing towards him. Appreciation and reverence deep within their eyes.

"All of you please get up. I'm deeply thankful to you people to be willing to come to my dungeon. I shall promise you all, that once you become my subordinate, I shall not do you any unfair and protect you for as long as I live. I only hope that you all support me and help me manage my dungeon".

Simon said matching the gazes of all the people that were staring at him. What he said was the truth and his sincerity was felt by the Forest Spring Spirits as they became excited and bowed their heads even deeper.

Fennel on the other hand smiled as he looked towards Cecilia who was grinning from ear to ear as if this was all her achievement. He now knew why Cecilia looked up to Simon since he himself couldn't help but admire the young man.

To have the protection of such a person who was destined to reach great heights was their fortune. This way, their entire clan would gain a strong protection and can peacefully live inside the dungeon. Giving their service in return, was just a trivial thing.

"Patriarch can you see this… it was your daughter who had found this person. She really is the hope of our clan" Fennel said as he looked towards the sky.

At this moment, the ancient voice of Aldebaran came from the distant and rang across the village.

"It seems I was worried for nothing. Young man, your charisma is strong enough to even charm the people from the Forest Spring Spirit clan. Hahaha, indeed I was not wrong you are quite the extraordinary fellow. I shall open a teleport near your dungeon. Consider this as my parting gift".

Aldebaran said as a vast energy travelled through the earth and instantly crossed hundreds of miles of land. The energy that travelled through the ground felt quite similar to Cecilia's.

However, unlike her the energy that Aldebaran released was far less pure and felt similar to the energy released by a Forest Spring Spirit clan member. The released energy from Aldebaran quickly travelled through the lands of Ghastly Winding Forest and soon located Simon's dungeon.

The enormous energy that travelled through the ground quickly spotted Simon's dungeon and just when it was about to probe inside, a repelling force so strong that it nearly made the energy disperse came from inside the dungeon.

"What?!" Aldebaran who felt his energy being repelled immediately became stunned. Who was he? He was one of the Treants that had survived through the Ancient Times and was one of the Seven Kings of the Ghastly Winding Forest. The level and power of his energy was unimaginable and wasn't something that could be matched by anyone other than the seven kings from the forest.

"But the force that repelled my energy felt different than any of those six fellows that I am aware of" Aldebaran contemplated as he thought about the force that came out of the dungeon and repelled his probing attempts.

He looked towards the distant village of the Forest Spring Spirits and stared at the clueless face of Simon. Aldebaran had reached a level of power where he could see large distances that would be absolutely impossible for ordinary people, from a bird's point of view.

"What could it be?... No, he is the new holder of the Fragment of Pride it would not be unusual to see strange things occurring around him and his dungeon" Aldebaran thought.. He credited the peculiar force that came out of the dungeon to Simon's fragment.