Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



That being said, the motive behind him coming to the garden was also to meet the dryads.

"I have a favour to ask of you all, can you grow a flower from this seed?"

Simon took out the ruby coloured seed he got from Melinda. It was the seed of the Six Nether Flower.

One of the Dryads took the seed from his hand, inspected it for a second or two before nodding its head. It appeared that it was possible to grow a flower with this incomplete seed, as expected of a race that is held as the caretaker of the woods.

With this taken care of, Simon no longer had to worry about eating his own words. Although at that time he said to Melinda that he would be able to grow the seed into a Six Nether Flower, he was not entirely sure.

However, with the confident nod of the dryads, he didn't have to worry about it anymore. Simon could have also gone to the Forest Spring Spirits for this task but he felt like the Dryads more suited.

Of course it was not like the Forest Spring Spirits are unable to grow the seed, after all, the two species had similar kinds of powers. However, it must be noted that a Forest Spring Spirit is blessed by the nature and has the ability to control and produce all kinds of things associated with it.

Whereas, a dryad's power is focused more towards the control of plants, trees, flowers and such. It is said that the communication they hold with the flora, is very strong.

A forest spring spirit with the exception of royal like Cecilia, is unable to understand the words of a plant or a tree. As could be seen when the forest spirits had trouble understanding the infant spirit tree. However, that was not the case for dryads whose abilities shine in this forte.

They could perfectly communicate with the flora as if it was a part of their own. In a way, it could be said that the dryads were the assistants of the Forest Spring Spirits who maintain the forest for them.

As such, Simon felt like it would be better if he gave this task to the dryads.

After handing out the seed, Simon was just about to leave the place, when he saw the clouds above rain down mystical energy. This was a part of the endless mystical cycle of condensation, precipitation and evaporation.

With his dungeon ranking up, the numerous Mystical Veins underneath the Main Floor, had evolved into Heart Veins. As such, the density of mana had reached a point where the condensation of mystical energy was no longer confined to the area near the vicinity of the pond.

Instead, the clouds now covered almost the entirety of the Main Floor. That was not all, the Heart Veins contained such enormous amount of mystical energy, that they started leaking out of the ground of the Main Floor in a spectacular display of light.

The presence of the abundant amount of mana was what nurtured the various treasures present on the Main Floor.

As Simon marvelled the changes that occurred on his Main Floor in these past ten months, out from the corner of his eyes he saw two balls of light, one black and one white, jump in and out of the clouds as if swimming.

These intertwining black and white objects might look like balls of light, but they are not. If one looked carefully, they would be able to see that inside each of the two lights was a fish. One black and one white, the lights were instead coming from these fish.

Yin Yang Koi Fish… that was what Irene called them. That's right, these fish were summoned from that mysterious abyss like option of his Main Menu when he used two emblems of his dungeon.

Simon was hoping that he would be able to summon the other heroes after the twins, but instead, he got these fish.

So what did these Yin Yang Fish do? Were they as powerful as the twelve heroes? Simon did not know, the evolved skill of analysis, [Appraisal] did not work on these fish.

When he asked Irene what these fish were? She told him that they were the Yin Yang Koi fish while making a face full of surprise.

Just like the time when she first saw Simon summoning the Null Elemental, this time too, she wore that rare stunned disbelief expression. She told him how she couldn't believe he was able to summon the thing that should have been swimming in the river of samsara and started looking at the Abyss in a bizarre way.

After that, she started talking about things like how the Yin Yang Koi fish represents the duality of the world, balance and harmony.

Things that are opposite and at the same time inseparable and forces like black and white, darkness and light, positive and negative, male and female, good and bad… She kept going on.

"In any case, it is an extremely good symbol and one that will have a great impact in your destiny. The fact that they came here from the River of Samsara, means that they had seen through your past, present and future and have acknowledged you".

"You might not be able to comprehend their importance right now, but in the future, you will surely do. Additionally, and I can't stress this word any more, but 'protect' them at any cost. The Yin Yang koi Fish, are now deeply connected with your fate and destiny. As such, they must never come to harm at any cost. So protect them".

With Irene asserting so much, Simon could only nod his head at that time. He did not understand how they were related to his fate and destiny but what he did understand was that something very bad would happen to him if these fish were ever harmed as such he must protect them at all cost.

"Even if you say to protect them, how can I do that with them moving all around my dungeon" Simon muttered to himself as he looked at the Yin Yang koi Fish swimming in the mystical clouds.

The concept of spatial laws did not apply to them as such, they could move all around his dungeon. Right now, they were here, but soon they will start swimming towards a different place.

No one can control the movements of the Yin Yang Koi Fish. So how do he protect them? Fortunately for him, Irene told him that she would take care of their protection for the time being.

However, Irene was already busy as she was now, he felt bad to pile up even more work on her shoulders. That being said, he could only leave their protection to her until such a time came where he could guarantee their safety.

"I need to summon the other heroes"

That was the only natural conclusion he could come to. If Simon had more of the Twelve Heroes with him, he could assign one of them with the protection of the Yin yang Koi Fish all the time.

That way, even if they were to swim up to the upper floors, he wouldn't have to worry.

The Valkyries were sworn to their maid duties, the twins might be powerful; however, they were still a child.  Their carefree and playful nature would only serve to worry Simon further if he assigned them with the protection of the Yin Yang koi fish.

"The best option should be her huh" Simon had the image of a particular hero in mind which was the best person for this task.

"Well with the option being as unpredictable and random, who knows when I'll be able to summon all the Twelve Heroes"

It might take him years or even a decade. Nevertheless, he at least knew that it was possible to summon the Twelve Heroes from the [????????] option.

Simon watched as the Yin Yang koi fish move away from the main floor and got moving too. The next time he appeared, he was already on the [Training Floor]. Irene was waiting for him there.

"It took you a while, did you meet with the Dryads?" she asked.

"Yeah, it turns out that they can grow that incomplete seed into a flower" Simon responded. Irene knew that he was planning to use the Six Nether Flower as the carrot to move the heart of the Queen of the Harpies and slowly instil loyalty into her.

"Anyways, how did you feel when fighting the queen of the harpies?"…

"I could tell that I have definitely grown; however, there was still a definite gap between us" Simon responded after recalling his battle with Melinda.

"That's obvious, her level is far higher than yours. Even if she is the weakest among the seven kings when it comes to pure physical strength, the fact that you can stand your ground against her means that you can fight an opponent one rank higher than you without falling into a disadvantage. Plus if we also train your magic control and mana, you might even be able to defeat them".

Irene clarified, she was more clear than anyone on how high Simon's ceiling was. He not only had a better foundation than most beings out there, he even had the ability to freely rank up without worrying about the restrictions of the world.

Just these couple factors alone made him one of the most unique beings in this world. However, with the addition of his training in magic, he might really become an existence that can jump ranks in a battle.