Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Irene gently caressed the emerald hair of Cecilia before observing Simon. Noticing the changes that Simon had gone through in the span of just two weeks, she couldn't help but arch her brows in surprise.

Even she didn't expect that Simon would be able to imitate the mana lines he had experienced when activating his Phantasmal tier skill so soon. Although it was still imperfect and nowhere near the original one, he was still able to recreate the paths for his mana to flow in from the bits and pieces of his memory.

From what she could tell, the mana flowing inside Simon's body was starting to flow in a fixed path while still being irregular most of the time. When Simon is able to fully will the mana flowing inside his body to circulate in a fixed path, will he be able to acquire the [Mana Lines] skill.

"Your training is going rather smoothly. You can take this chance and head for the  Forest Spring Spirit floor for a change of pace. Even if you rush it, there is no guarantee that you would get the skill at the earliest. Instead, it may hamper your progress" Irene said as if seeing through the inner thoughts of his mind.

It was just as she said, Simon was consciously or subconsciously trying to rush things once again. Deliberating over her words, Simon calmed his mind and nodded his head. He agreed with her request and prepared to teleport with Cecilia when she pulled Irene along.

Irene made a complicated face but seeing the sparkle in Cecilia's eyes, she knew that there was no escaping her clutches.

Opening his [Main Menu] which had merged with the dungeon's menu and had become one, Simon used the teleport option of the [Dungeon] function to swiftly teleport them to the floor where the Forest spring Spirit village was.

As soon as he teleported to the new floor along with Cecilia and Irene, Simon was astounded to see the view in front of him. The place in just a short amount of time looked completely different than the last time he saw it.

The floor which he designed similar to the tall forested areas of Ancient Treants, had changed to become a completely different floor. The tall trees covering the area had varied colours and shapes.

Even their type and species was something that was unregistered in his [Main Menu]. That was not all, the plants and herbs growing around the area were filled with vitality to the point where they looked fresh and brimming with life.

Each and every grass had a utility of its own and the vast diversity in which they were growing, made Simon widen his eyes like saucers.

A breeze bringing along the fresh scent of fruits and plants blew across the area making it quite an appealing sight.

The path to the village at the centre of the floor was laid out with stones that made treading on it quite easier and also displayed the taste of the Forest Spring Spirits that were said to be the overseer of the forest.

The farmlands cultivated near the village, had ample fruits and berries some of which Simon had seen back during the banquet they had in the Ancient Treants territory, releasing a sweet scent.

Just past the farmland was the bamboo forest and beside it was the new village that the Forest Spring Spirit race had built. The place was so beautiful that Simon was stunned briefly.

As with their previous village, the houses they built were also made with bamboo which was decorated with their native artistic sense.

Wandering inside their village, Simon felt like he had arrived in a completely different place that was outside of his dungeon.  While he was internally marvelling at the scene, the Forest Spring Spirits that spotted him hurriedly bowed their heads and showed their respects.

It didn't take long for a crowd to gather near him and before long, the only remaining elder of the Forest Spring Spirits, Fennel came to greet him.

"Lord Simon, it is our pleasure that you greet us with your presence in our village. On behalf of all my clansmen, I welcome you to the Forest Spring Spirit village". Right after he said that, the rest of the villagers also followed suit.

"We welcome you to the forest spring Spirit village".

All of them bowed their heads deeply, Simon was not only their saviour/benefactor but from this point on, also their protector and lord. The respect and reverence they showed to him was no less than what they showed to their patriarch or maybe even more.

Simon who was not used to being held in such veneration, couldn't help but make a troubled face. Although he felt uneasy, he didn't stop them since their action represented their loyalty and conviction they held for him.

After the crowd settled down, he asked Fennel the reason behind calling him here. He did not believe that he was called here simply to marvel at the changes of the floor.

It was as he had expected, after hearing Simon, Fennel didn't seem surprised. Glancing at the centre of the village, he smiled earnestly and said "there is indeed a matter I wanted to discuss with our lord about and something I wanted you to see".

Right after saying that, he turned towards the direction he was glancing and started walking. Simon did not ask any further and simply tagged along. Behind him followed Irene, Cecilia and rest of the villagers.

While on their way, Simon remembered that the direction that they were walking in, was where he had set up another pond of serenity beside the altered one he had on his main floor.

'Did some changes had taken place in that pond of serenity too' Simon thought as they approached closer and before the thoughts in his mind could settle down, the answer was laid in front of him.

The pond was bright and clear, there was no apparent change from when he last installed it. But that was the least he was concerned about. It was as Simon had thought, there had been obvious changes since the last time he had modified this area.

Instead of the pond of serenity, it was the obsidian slates that he had placed around, that got affected. The seven or so obsidian slates that should be around the pond had disappeared and what was around was a huge black stone tens of meters in size that appeared to be a gigantified version of the obsidian slate at first glance.

'What was going on?' was the first question that popped up in his mind when he saw the scene that lay in front of him.

The huge obsidian slate sat at the centre of the pond and released waves of pure mystical energy that cleansed the surrounding land and air. Even from this distance, Simon felt chills when the waves of energy brushed past his body.

If the energy is this strong even from this distance, he couldn't imagine what the effects would be if he approached near the stone. Bending his body, he touched the surface of the water and felt that the density of mystical energy within the water was quite thick but other than that, it wasn't affected much.

Simon immediately understood that the only thing that got altered was the obsidian slate. That would mean that the meter and a half big obsidian slates that he had placed around the pond to absorb the excess mystical energy around the area had suddenly in the span of a few days had become tens of meters huge.

Obsidian slates although was able to absorb mana to some extent, it shouldn't be able to expand in size. The sheer size of the black stone made Simon unable to believe that it was the same meter and a half obsidian slate he had placed around here.

"This?..." even Simon was speechless when he saw the spectacle in front of him not to mention others who had no idea what the huge black stone was in the first place.

Fennel caressed his beard and added, "I don't know what these huge black stones that Lord Simon had placed here are but from the energy they are releasing, I surmise that it is something very precious'¦ is it alright to keep them here?".

The way he spoke was as if he believed that everything that had happened was according to Simon. Simon who was still out of sorts, felt embarrassed when he heard Fennel phrase it like that. If he had to be honest, even he did not foresee this kind of change coming.

Although he had guessed that there would be some changes after the Forest Spring Spirit clan that can harness the power of the nature settled here, but even he couldn't have guessed that the one affected wouldn't be the pond and instead the obsidian slates he placed around it.

Simon's mouth twitched and he was about to say something when he finally noticed the peculiarities in Fennel's words.

"Wait a minute'¦ what do you mean by huge black stones?" Simon asked as if suddenly remembering something.

"Ehhh?... Does Lord Simon not know?" Fennel blinked his eyes a few times before saying "There are seven of these huge black stones spread all across the floor. I thought it was Lord Simon who placed them there'¦ isn't that so?".

Simon was too focused on digesting the words that Fennel had just said than answering him. 'Seven huge black stones'¦ there is no mistake those should be the seven obsidian slates that I placed here.. But how did they spread all across the floor' Simon had many questions that he wanted the answers for.