Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Master does not need to worry, Miss Irene is inside the dungeon. Besides her, there are my sisters there and that warhorse also to guard it" Annette said trying to alleviate some of Simon's worries.

Seeing that his emotions were so easily read by Annette, Simon smiled helplessly and shook his head.

"I know that… it's just being the master of the dungeon, I cannot settle down unless I see the dungeon with my own eyes".

It was not that he did not trust his subordinates, it was simply that being a dungeon master came with some responsibilities. After what happened the last time, Simon had learened his lesson when his dungeon was almost breached while he was training in the forbidden trials unaware of all of this happening.

Even if there was Irene, the Valkyries, Bloodthorn demonic warhorse and the many new inhabitants of the dungeon spawned, mutated or otherwise brought from outside the dungeon to protect it, during times of need a dungeon master's presence cannot be discounted.

Apart from that, Simon was a little concerned about the tower town that was above the ground. The tower town was his source of income where most of the adventurers resided.

At this crucial moment when the town is just starting to build itself, it would be beyond disastrous if it were to be attacked by monsters again. The town could fend off the Normal, Strong or even the Elite class monsters; however, the appearance of a Super class monsters again might really break the spirits of the adventurers there.

Simon had to find a way to stop the same incident that happened before, repeat once again.

After a day of non-stop travel, they were finally out of the western region of the forest. From there, it was just half a day of travel to reach his dungeon which was located ar the eastern region of the forest.

By the way, all of them were travelling using their flight skill. Simon had his inborn wings and [High-Speed Flight] skill whereas the Valkyries were using [Mana Wings] to fly in the sky.

The technique was something that one could only learn when they reach level 500 and the mana within them becomes dense enough to turn into liquid.

Reaching level 500, as simple as it sounded, in actuality, it wasn't that simple to reach such a level. It needed an enormous amount of talent, hard work, opportunities and the purity of one's bloodline to reach such a level.

Once one reaches that level, one can officially call themselves a powerhouse. They can walk these lands with their head held high and countless people fawning over them. Why wouldn't they not, Level 500 represented a realm that differentiated the truly strong from the strong.

The gap was so big that even if there were dozens of level 490+ individuals fighting a person who has just reached level 500, they wouldn't be able to put a scratch on him simply because of the existence of the techniques such as [Mana armour], [Mana Wings] and such.

Other than that, being able to liquify your mana also plays a large role in differentiating the realm from the other levels below it.

Liquified mana essentially possesses more power than your normal mana… if put into quantifiable terms, it would be more than then ten times powerful.

Naturally, when one uses such a mana, the skills and the magic that they conjure would be ten times more powerful as well. Apart from that, being able to turn your mana into a liquid state means that one is able to hold more mana, and their mana pool increases drastically.

The aforementioned reasons are why people look so highly at those that reach such a level. Level 500 was like the natural barrier where numerous people in this world find their progress halting due to their bloodline, talent or lack of opportunities.

They dwindle their time away trying to find a way to break through all their life. From this one could imagine how hard it was to truly break through into level 500 and become a powerhouse around these lands.

Incidentally, most guild masters or the vice guild masters of the strong guilds around the north-western region of the central continent are around this level.

While feeling a little envious of the Valkyries who came with their high levels when he summoned them, Simon and the others reached the dungeon.

The first thing that he did after reaching the dungeon, was to erase his and the Valkyries' presence using the ice phoenix sigh and observe the tower town which was being rebuilt once again.

After the last attack by the orcs, many lives were lost and the town was almost but destroyed with only a handful of building remaining intact. It was no wonder the humans were rebuilding their stores once again, this time making it much sturdier and bigger than before.

The fencing around the town was also upgraded into a wall that enclosed the town within. Gates were installed and crossbows were mounted on those walls. Apart from that, there were also many tall sentry towers built around the wall to alert the inhabitants of any incoming monster attacks.

Although, it wasn't much, it at least gave the people in this town ninety per cent of who were adventurers and the rest traders and merchants, ample time to react.

Seeing the slowly rebuilding town from up there, Simon sighed in relief. Of course, the adventurers and the merchants returned back to the town. Despite knowing that the town might be attacked again anytime, they still risked their lives and came back.

The motive driving them was simple, it was the profit that they were earning from the dungeon. The dungeon might be in an extremely dangerous place, however, it was filled with riches that would go to waste if not harvested.

How could these adventurers and the merchants that buy the stuff from them, be willing to let go of this opportunity? Simon was relieved that he had been trying to make his dungeon lucrative for the adventurers from the start.

The many items that he got from his daily [Ga??????] that he set aside as the reward for the adventurers was paying off.

After getting the taste of profit from the dungeon, even when unwilling and knowing the danger, these people still took the risk to come back.

Most of the buildings in the town were turned into debris except a few and the adventurers association building was one of that few. At this moment, there was a crowd gathered inside the building and it seemed like something was going on.

"Master, would you like to go down and check it out?" Seeing that her master was looking at the adventurer's association building, Annette commented.

Simon shook his head in denial. Of course, he could just use the Grimlock's trinket to change his appearance and go in there if need be; however, Simon felt like it was not necessary.

Finsihed observing the town, Simon opened the [Main Menu] and using the teleport function in the [Dungeon], he teleported to the main floor along with the Valkyries.

"Welcome back master" As expected, Bea who was adept in space magic had sensed the spatial turbulence and was lying in wait for them.

"Un... I'm Back" Simon nodded his head in acknowledgement to her greetings. While the sisters looked at each other and nodded.

"Right! Master, you must be tired. I will immediately prepare the bath for you" Bea smiled in victory towards her sisters.

"Yeah, I'll trouble you. By the way, I don't feel Irene's and Cecilia's presence, are they not here?" Simon asked turning towards Bea.

"Miss Irene and princess Cecilia are in the forest spirit village. It seems that there was something unusual going on with the spirit tree. Hence they went there not long ago" Bea replied.

She was just about to leave triumphantly to prepare a bath for her master, when Alice happily skipped towards her and whispered a few things into her ears.

Immediately, an aura of intense jealousy that was palpable enough to materialise itself, wafted off from Bea.

"Kuhhhh… not only did you get to spend so many days with master, but on top of that you got to eat his cooking too?!!! Even I want to… Kuhhh!!" Bea chewed the edge of her dress and gritted her teeth in vexation.

"Enough"

<strong>TAP…</strong> at this moment, while Simon was wondering what was going on with Bea, Annette arrived before Bea and tapped her head with a karate chop which ultimately shut her up.

"Weren't you going to prepare a bath for master? If you don't want to then allow me"…

"No-No... I'm going. You have already had your fair share of serving master, you cannot take this opportunity from me" Bea responded while fleeing towards the palace.

"As for you Alice, don't incite Bea any further. Look at how dirty your clothes are, go and clean them Asap!"…

"Y-Yes elder sister" leaving those words, Alice too fled from the scene leaving a gawking Simon and the bisque doll like Bianca behind.

Looking at that Annette who immediately brought her sisters in line, Simon couldn't help but laugh helplessly. Just a few simple words from her was enough to make all of the Valkyries cower. She wasn't their elder sister for no reason.

Right after entering the white palace, Simon took a bath. These few days of travel and constant battles had made him want to relax in a hot bath for a while.

"Haaah.. I fell like all my exhaustion is being washed away" Simon muttered laying down inside the sauna.

There was a huge aquarium beside the sauna providing a beautiful view of the different kinds of fish inside.