Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Simon had been using [Ga??????] every day for the past couple of weeks, but he was still yet to get any heirlooms. Though he got was some decent items, it was still not what he was looking for.

From the training and from the incident that happened on the thirty-sixth floor that day, Simon understood how important it was for his subordinates to also have good weapons.

He knew the value of a good weapon since he himself was hogging an [A] tier weapon that most of the time covered up for the massive gap in stats between him and his opponents.

Since he is unable to give them the original heirlooms that they were used to right now, he wanted to at least create an imitation of it, if possible.

The Wisp became silent for a while, the light around its body pulsated frequently as if saying that it was thinking deeply. After a few seconds, it transmitted its thought back to Simon.

It said that it was unable to create such high level weapons without the appropriate materials. Even if it created an imitation from the existing materials, it would break apart after one use.

Simon thought over his options, if the imitation broke apart after just one use, it would be a waste of material and time.

"Would the imitation have the same power as the original heirloom?" Simon asked, the Wisp did say that the heirloom would break after one use however, it did not say anything about its power and other things.

<strong>[BEEP-BOOP-BEEP]…</strong>

"Really? How long will it take? More than a month? Fine then, just create one set of these heirlooms for now" Simon requested, the reason why he was investing his limited materials on making imitations that would break apart is because according to Wisp, it was able to create an imitation with fifty per cent of the power of the original.

The number might not seem high without understanding how powerful the heirloom is. However, Simon who was the developer of these weapons in his previous life understood how powerful these Heirlooms were.

If one had to compare the heirlooms by the standards of this world, even the most ordinary heirloom was around the tier of Crimson blade that he was using. Thus even if the imitation would only be able to output fifty percent of the power of the original heirlooms, in the hands of the Valkyries and Heroes, they would be able to display power far beyond their tiers.

Additionally, it was better to use the weapons they had mastery in since their skill gives them a buff when holding that specific weapon.

After discussing the matter he came here for, he bid goodbye to the Wisp and teleported back to his Main Floor.

The place he teleported to was the shore of Serenity Pond, the treasure that was an indispensable part of his dungeon now. The serenity pond looked as picturesque as ever with speckles of light and mist surrounding it. The light breeze that came from the pond had an added effect of calming one's mind and body, similar to the ability of the serenity stone.

Simon stood in front of the pond gazing at its deep blue water that contained an unimaginable amount of mystical energy. Ever since the mystical veins on his main floor were in their process of becoming heart veins, the serenity pond that was at the centre of all the veins, was also undergoing massive changes.

Not counting the numerous treasures that were forming at the bottom of the pond and being nourished by the abundant mystical energy, even diving inside it was an agonising yet fruitful experience.

In the past few weeks when Simon had dived inside the pond to get the numerous mutation crystals of varying attributes growing in there, he felt the high concentration of mystical energy mixed with the water electrocuting his body, seeping through his skin and attacking every part of muscles and bones.

The process was so painful that had it not been for Simon's uncanny resistance to pain, he might have lost consciousness right there. His personal record which was around three minutes before was reset back to two minutes again.

The experience of diving inside the pond might have been painful but it was not like it was without any benefits. As always, the pond of serenity provided massive assistance not only to his dungeon but also him.

The many injuries that he had suffered while fighting against his opponents be it on his trip or while defending the dungeon were all healed. The scars on his body were gone replaced by speckless skin and his physique too was slowly but surely becoming many times stronger than what a Demon Viscount should have.

Not only that, the pond also had the added effect of increasing one's aptitude and talent over the time. Simon could feel that he was inching closer to the mystery of Infernal magic and on the brink of gaining enlightenment in it.

His other elements too were showing signs of improvement whether it be his gale magic or lightning magic they all were slowly improving.

All of these qualitative changes weren't displayed in his status but Simon could genuinely feel the changes that were occurring in his body. It was all thanks to his efforts and the benefits provided by the Serenity pond.

Hence, Simon was once again here to bathe in its benefits, also to challenge his limits and see what other treasures were forming inside the pond.

BREATHE… Simon took a deep breath composed of his mana flowing inside his body before diving inside the pond.

SPLASH… the moment he dived in, his entire body started aching from the extreme amount of pain and from the mystical energy that was trying to seep inside his body like a flood. This foreign mystical energy was like a rampant beast that had to be brought under control before it starts wreaking havoc inside his body.

Simon used his [Mana Lines] and with much difficulty, circulated the energy thorough out his body. The early acquisition of the skill was what allowed him to stay inside the serenity pond for so long.

Simon opened his eyes and slowly started diving towards the bottom of the pond. He knew his limits, thus he did not waste any time reeling and agonising in pain.

Before long, the bottom of the pond appeared in front of Simon. Due to a large number of mystical veins that were interconnected with the pond, the bottom where the treasure formed was a sight to behold.

Usually, the mystical veins are something that runs through the ground and aren't something that could be easily seen. However, this place was inside of a dungeon which is located in a special plane. And amongst these special planes, Simon's dungeon was even more special due to the existence of Cecilia, the Forest Spring Royal Spirit.

Because of her heaven defying powers, the dungeon was growing at a rate that should be otherwise impossible for a low ranking dungeon.

After she started actively interacting more and more with the nature, the mystical veins on his main floor were starting to undergo an evolution to become heart veins.

Typically, a mystical vein that carries the purest form of mystical energy can be said to be the size of a rill. However, the mystical veins in Simon's dungeon were as big as a creek.

Now though, due to them undergoing an evolution, they were starting to become as big as a stream. When Simon laid his eyes at the bottom of the pond, he scouted numerous crisscrossing fissures along the crust from where a multi coloured energy was seeping out.

The energy that slowly dissolved with the water was so pure and potent that just by looking at it Simon felt his whole body stiffen up. He was sure that as he was now, it was clearly suicidal for him to even think about absorbing that energy or come in contact with it.

If one looked carefully through the gap in the fissures, one would be able to see the mystical veins that carried the purest form of mystical energy. They were like a wide stream of a river that interconnected with each other and spread across the entire floor.

It was due to the presence of this many mystical veins that deposited their mystical energy here, that the serenity pond was so special. Simon examined the fissures lines, he could see that some incredible treasures were forming along the borders of those cracks absorbing and getting nurtured by that energy.

Currently, those areas were out of his reach since the level of viscosity and the concentration of mana there was just too high. Therefore he decided to explore the area where there were far less fissures forming.

KUH!!... the pain and the pressure from the mystical energy, was starting to become unbearable. Simon knew that he was approaching his time limit and thus did not dilly dally any more. He hurriedly grabbed whatever treasures that were near him and started ascending back to the surface.

"PUAHH… Huff.. Huff…" as soon as he came out of the pond, Simon lied on his back taking hurried breaths of air. His body jolted time to time from the pain of straining his body to its limit. His MP was almost but out and his HP had also gone down a little.

"Two minutes ten seconds… haa… it seems that is my current limit" Simon muttered estimating the time he was inside the pond.

After composing his breathing, he found a large rock nearby to sit on before taking out the item he grabbed from the pond.