There was an insurmountable gap between them. It was like comparing a Demon Archduke with a Demon Baron.

From the Lightning Draconic Serpent, Simon had some understanding of the dragon clan. Just like the demon nobles, they had their own ranks, called the Growth Phases—Infant, Juvenile, Adult and Elder.

The White dragon he saw was at the very least an Elder Dragon or probably even stronger. Maybe as strong as Adalinada and Lucine. The realm at which the white dragon and the two he mentioned were, was still too far away from him. As such, it was difficult to make an assumption.

Now that most of the puzzles and answers were solved, Simon thought that the [Historia] would end here. However, to his surprise, it still continued.

Snow continued to fall in this part of the land in a never ending manner and day and night alternated many times in the blink of an eye. Finally, there was some movement after an unknown period of time.

Marching through the bellowing snowstorm, a figure could be seen walking towards an entity frozen in layers of ice. The passage of time had already eroded most of the ice statues except for one, the Abomination.

The figure stopped in front of the Abomination and took out something from their space ring. Simon glanced at the figure and noticed that they were donned in a pure white robe that covered their figure from head to toe.

Although they concealed their appearance, one could still see their long, bright golden hair move down from underneath their hood as they moved. Simon strained his eyes, wanting to see who the figure was. However, before he could get a good glance at the figure, the vision in front of him wavered and the [Historia] ended abruptly.

The surreal scenes of the snowlands, the abomination, and the enigmatic figure in the white robe dissolved like mist. In their place, Simon found himself surrounded by old, rusty walls that seemed to enclose him in a moderately-sized chamber.

The atmosphere was heavy with antiquity, bearing the weight of forgotten time. The room was devoid of any notable features, save for the dais situated at the far end of this chamber. 

As Simon slowly approached the dais, he couldn't help but be drawn at the thing that lay atop it.

At first glance, it appeared to be a gemstone, its multifaceted surface glistening with an otherworldly radiance. However, upon closer inspection, he realized that it was unlike any other gemstones he had ever seen.

lightsΝοvel One end of this peculiar object was connected to a small wand-like extension, forming an intricate and enigmatic design. He reached out and picked up the object, feeling its weight in his hand.

It was, indeed, a pen, but not just any pen. Its body seemed to be crafted from an ancient wood that bore the marks of countless years, its surface was adorned with intricate carvings, symbols that held meaning beyond his comprehension.

Holding it, Simon felt its uniqueness and tried to inspect it with his [Appraisal]. But just as he expected, the skill was unable to show any information about this thing.

He wanted to investigate more about the pen; however, before he could, he felt a strange sensation coming from his space ring.

The Echomir Plate sitting inside his space ring, was starting to act up at this moment. What was going on? Did something happen to his dungeon?

The ability of the Echomir plates was to transmit messages. When one writes something on the surface of these plates, the same thing would appear on another plate. What's more, it was not constrained by distance, as such, as long as both the parties possessed these plates, they could communicate with each other.

Before coming to the forbidden grounds Simon had given one of the plates to Irene to use it in case something happened to the dungeon. For her to use the Echomir Plates, something must have happened.

Cannot be bothered with the mysteries of the pen anymore, Simon quickly put it away. Because his mind was currently held up with something else, he failed to notice the gemstone on the end of the pen to shine faintly right before it was put away inside his [Inventory].

Simon took out the Echomir Plate from his space ring and his eyes immediately hardened when he read the message.

[Return to the dungeon]

Although the message was short, the content was urgent. For Irene to write such a message, his dungeon might really be in danger. A sense of urgency gripped Simon, he stopped whatever he was doing and took out the Transit Stones.

Just a few meters away from him was the teleportation circle that led further into the trial. However, right now was not the time to continue with his training. He needed to get back to his dungeon as soon as possible.

And so, Simon crushed the rock in his hand and was enveloped by the spatial laws of the forbidden grounds.

.

.

Dungeon Laplace, Main Floor, White Palace.

Sitting inside the hall, was Irene, Cecilia, the Valkyries and the twins.

"It has been more than three months since he is gone. Is Big Brother alright?" Cecilia who was snuggling to Irene for comfort, asked with watery eyes. Her face was masked with worry and anxiousness.

It was not only her, everyone in the hall had a face that showed how worried they were.lightsnovel

"Don't worry, your big brother is alright. Although he tends to do dangerous things, he always makes sure to come back alive. This time will be no different. Perhaps, he got caught up in his training so much that he even forgot the passage of time. I have already sent him a message he should be arriving soon"

Irene consoled, gently brushing Cecilia's emerald green hair.

"Miss Irene is right, there is no way anything would happen to Master" All the Valkyries nodded at Annette's confident words. These sisters had an unbreakable faith in their master.

"Uh-huh… there is no way Master is in danger. Sister Cecilia is thinking too much, what a worrywart"

Theodore shrugged his shoulders. His comment caused Cecilia to erupt into fury and the two started bickering again. This was not an unusual scene in the dungeon, the two children who were not too far apart in age fought like the kids they were. The others were already used to it.

Irene sighed and shifted her attention to Annette "Anyways, how is the investigation going? Have we found the culprit yet?".

The battle maid pushed her spectacles up and shook her head "They are still at it. Although they have found some clues there are no conclusive leads yet".

"I see… tell them to keep investigating. We need to solve this problem soon or else the dungeon would really be in danger. It might take him some time to come, we must… oh?!!"

Irene who was passing out instructions, stopped halfway and glanced at a certain direction of the Main Floor.

"Talk of the devil… he is here" A beautiful smile bloomed on her face as she said that.

"What?!!" When others heard that, they all made a pleasant surprised face and hurriedly exited the hall. All of them missed their master very much and wanted to greet him.

The entrance to the white palace was pushed open and Simon swiftly walked in. The moment he entered... "Welcome back".

He saw all of his subordinates standing in front of him greeting him with all kinds of expressive and delighted faces.

Simon smiled, touched by their genuine concern "Yeah, I am back".

Afterwards, he was pulled by Cecilia and the twins who snuggled up to him and was forced to pamper them.

"Alright.. alright, don't push each other, I can carry all of you" Simon took all of them to the main hall and sat down. He then glanced at Irene and asked with a solemn tone "The message you sent…".

"You just came back from your training, rest for a while. We can talk about other stuff later".

Simon nodded his head and started answering the question of his subordinates who were full of curiosity about the forbidden grounds.

"Master… is the Forbidden Grounds a place full of wondrous and surprising things like the outside world?"…

"Master, why did you take so long to come back? Was your training successful?"…

"Master, can you take me with you next time? I want to see what kind of place the forbidden grounds is"…

"Master, were the trials challenging? You aren't hurt are you?".

All sorts of questions bombarded him. Some were related to his health but most of them were just filled with curiosity about the outside world.

From their questions Simon realised one thing… these people, they have been holed up inside the dungeon for so long and have never witnessed the outside world. Those that did, only went around the forest and never out of it.

Perhaps, he should let them go out on a mission and let them broaden their horizons. Simon made a mental note to send some of his subordinates out to experience the world for themselves when an opportunity arrives.

"Alright everyone, enough with your silly questions. Master just arrived, can't you see that he is exhausted from his training. Give him some breathing room" Being the elder sister for everyone, Annette pulled all those people snuggling up to him like pandas away.

"That' right, give master some breathing room… sniff…sniff"…

"You are not the one to talk"

Smack... Annette smacked the tightly clinging Bea away whose protests were more aggressive than the children. 

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