Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Simon answered thinking back to the time when he entered the auction.

"Then do you know where it was recovered from? Perhaps that place might have some clues as to where the rest of the grimoire is".

Simon thought over what Irene said and tried to recall the words of the auctioneer when he brought that item at that time. Although that old man did say it was recovered from somewhere, he didn't specifically mention where.

It looks like if he wanted to know more about the space grimoire, he would have to go to the auction house which meant going back to the capital of the kingdom of Ellesmere once again.

If it was some other demon viscount, after going through that horrible experience, they would never even think about stepping into a human kingdom again. However, there was not even an ounce of fear in Simon's eyes, only an endless determination and fires of revenge burning in those crimson eyes of his.

'The next time we meet, things will unfold differently' Simon clenched his hands in resolve.

Seeing him get swept away by some different emotion, Irene did not press for an answer. She knew what kind of experience and adventures Simon had gone through when he was outside. Thus she could somewhat tell what he was thinking about.

The same went for the Valkyries who had been watching him from the void. "Master…" they called out in concern.

Simon smiled at them and told them not to worry.

"Right, how about I use the training floor too" Simon declared boldly, his face had a wide grin plastered on it.

"Eh?! Wait master me too, I want to train with you" Bea who was the first one to react, immediately made her request to tag along.

The other Valkyries not wanting to be left behind, huddled around him. Simon glanced at the last person and coincidentally she too was looking at him.

Irene smiled affected by the atmosphere around him and nodded her head. With that, the group teleported to the new training floor.

-----

Ten days passed by just like that.

Tower Town, Adventurer's Association. In the lobby where all the adventurers gather. Near the large quest board, Bolan and his team were searching for an ideal commission for themselves.

They discussed as to which one would be best for them now that they had reached the ninth floor. In the past few weeks, they had recruited a new adventurer who coincidentally was also a newbie just like that guy who disappeared inside the dungeon.

After working together completing commissions and fighting monsters, their group was able to work in coordination to some extent. Thus they were deliberating whether they should risk fighting the monster on the ninth floor or should stick with the commission on the upper floor.

The group was in a dilemma as to what to do when another team of adventurers arrived near the quest board.

"Have you heard that the guy who was presumed dead by the adventurer's association, was recently spotted on the town?" A warrior said to his companions.

"Huh? For real? To have survived inside the dungeon for so long, that guy must be really powerful" one of the companions replied.

They weren't very far from Bolan's group, naturally, they could hear the other party. Bolan was intrigued by that so called adventurer the other group was talking about and thus approached them.

"Wait a minute!! Are you guys perhaps talking about someone this tall, with long black hair and an uncannily handsome face?".

Bolan explained trying to describe the physical appearance of a particular provisional adventurer. Perhaps the other party didn't expect for Bolan to suddenly come butting in between their conversation, they looked a little fazed.

"Eh?! Ah! I don't know, I haven't seen the adventurer in person. I have only heard a few rumours from some of my friends who have spotted him" the adventurer who raised the topic, explained.

Bolan seemed to be a little unconvinced by those words from the other party, thus he pressed for more.

"What did your friends say? Did he tell anything about that adventurer? Like how he looks if he was a newbie or something?".

"Ah.. that".

"Leader, you are troubling them. How many times will you inquire about that guy? There is no way he would be alive after disappearing for so long. It's time you give up" Bolan's teammates came and pulled him away.

"Ehh?!… who is leader talking about?" the newbie adventurer asked.

"Hm? Oh, you didn't get to meet him huh. Well, he was a newbie adventurer who came to this town just like you. He teamed up with us for a mining commission to the eighth floor but disappeared due to some unnatural phenomenon that occurred on that floor that day".

"So there was something like that".

Bolan group conversed they were just about to exit the adventurer's association with Bolan in tow, when the other party approached him.

"Ah! Wait, I didn't know the person you were talking about was your teammate".

"He wasn't a teammate... but someone who teamed up with us for a mission. Well, i guess you can call him a teammate" Bolan's group answered.

"I see anyways, as I told you before I do not know much about the adventurer my friends were talking about but I recalled them mentioning that he was quite tall and was wearing a black robe. He was seen near Marley's pub, he still might still be there".

The other adventurer looked at Bolan who seemed interested in this information.

"Thanks for that information" after thanking the other party, Bolan and his team made a round to Marley's pub; however, they were a step too late. According to the bar master, the adventurer left just a few hours ago.

"So he really was here"

"I can't believe he survived more than two weeks inside the dungeon" Bolan and his team discussed. It was not like they came out empty handed when they arrived at the bar. According to the bar master, the guy who was here looked exactly like the provisional adventurer who had teamed up with them.

"Well, at least he is alive. With that, the association shouldn't give us a bad review" Bolan sighed.

"Right, now leader can put down his worries" his teammates laughed.

"Alright, let's go finish our commission, newbie don't you dare stray too far from us"

"Yes leader" Bolan and his team proceeded to dive inside the dungeon.

Far north from the tower town, deep inside the lush overgrown trees, a figure of a person could be seen dashing forward in a fast speed. The figure was wearing a black hood and a bamboo hat to cover his features.

After diving deep inside the northern region of the ghastly winding forest, the figure stopped on top of a tree and removed the hat covering him.

The person underneath that hat was none other than Simon who had activated the trinket of Grimlock to mask his appearance.

<strong>NEIIGHH…</strong>

TAP… TAP… TAP… Simon turned his head towards the sound to find the Bloodthorn Demonic Warhorse coming out of the bushes.

"I hope you didn't have to wait long" Simon said caressing the latter.

"Think nothing of it my Lord" the warhorse answered "Was the objective that my lord set out to do in the tower town completed?".

It asked looking towards the eastern direction of the forest where the dungeon and the town was.

"Yeah" Simon nodded his head. The objective that the warhorse was talking about was none other than Simon showing himself in the tower town and getting off the deceased list of the adventurer's association.

Of course, with his visit to the pub, he also wanted to see if his face would be recognised or not. Weirdly enough, although the news about the demon that wreaked havoc in the capital had spread to this place, the demon's poster and his features were still not known here yet.

Simon thought about it on his way here but he was still not sure why it was so. He shook his head, got on top of his warhorse before tapping the latter saying "Let's go".

The Bloodthorn demonic warhorse spread its wings and with a blast of wind soared high up in the sky.

Whoosh… Simon looked below at the quickly changing scenery before setting his eyes to the front. The rate at which the Bloodthorn demonic warehouse was travelling was many times faster than its previous speed. After it had gone through its first evolution, its [High-Speed Flight] skill have evolved into [Super High Speed flight] skill.

That was not all, it has also gained many new skills and magic that made it much more stronger and worthy of a disaster class being.

"My lord, we will be arriving there swiftly," the Bloodthorn demonic warhorse said increasing its speed even further.

Simon nodded his head and spread his senses all around. He could feel that the number of monsters around this part was quickly getting lower and lower the further they went in, this also indicated that they were on the right path.

Why were they diving inside the northern region of the ghastly winding forest when most of the strong monsters were on the western side? The reason for it, was simple, Simon was here for one of the three overlords of the northern region of the forest.

The promise that he made with Aldebaran was drawing near, thus Simon was here to fulfil one of them. In the span of a year, he had to subdue all of the three overlord of the northern region of the ghastly winding forest. It had been almost six months since then.

That was one of the promises he made with Aldebaran at that time. Right now, Simon and the bloodthorn demonic warhorse were heading towards the territory of the Deep Sea Alligator king, one of the three overlords of the north.