Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



"I bet you will like it" Prime beckoned Simon as he led him to the place where he kept the item that he invented.

Due to him hyping it up, Simon naturally got interested in what this Lumynar was working on. However, when he arrived at the place and saw what Prime was working on, his eyes couldn't help but widen.

The expression in his eyes wasn't surprise, but… anger. 

Kept in front of him, in a haphazard manner of display, were several weapons, armours and artefacts that were collected from the last invasion force. Given their large numbers, there was quite a lot of loot that was collected.

But of course, not everything that shined was gold. Many of the items that the adventurers had, either broke, were abused, incompatible or just couldn't be used after the last battle.

Things that could be used were collected and those that couldn't were discarded. The ones in front of him were the items that were discarded in the junkyard of the [Workshop].

However, it didn't mean that they were scraps anymore. From the way they were shining and put back together, it appeared that Prime had restored them back to their original condition.

No, he might have even upgraded them to a new level because Simon could feel the distinctive aura coming from these items was clearly far more stronger when they were in their prime condition.

Given that Prime had resorted the items he discarded as junks to their peak condition, he should be happy. However, there was no happiness in Simon's eyes. The reason for that was none other than the huge item that was sitting at the centre of all of these items.

"Oh? It looks like you found the item I have been meaning to show you. Yes, the others are just samples, the main item of the show is this. I found this thing discarded among the junks and after looking at its design, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Look, I even upgraded it. Now it's more powerful than ever. Hm?... hey wait what are you doing?"

Prime who was in the midst of self-retrospection suddenly noticed the flames blazing to life in Simon's hand.

The golden flames that appeared, raised the temperature of the magma chamber to ever higher heights and quickly formed into a spear.

"Get out of the way. I must destroy that thing".

"Huh?! Wait why do you need to destroy it".

At Prime's flustered question, Simon pointed at the item he was working on and explained "That thing you are working on back there, do you know what it is? It's the floor buster, the foul machine that nearly brought down my dungeon".

"This thing did what?".

The reason why Simon was angry was because Prime has been working on the Floor Buster.

"Get out of the way, it's an eyesore, I need to destroy" Simon was just about to launch his infernal spear magic on the machine when Prime asked him to stop.

"Wait..wait… I don't know what kind of grudge you have against this thing, but it's an excellent item with quite some thought put by its inventor into it. After I upgraded it, it has become even better"..

"Then all the more reason for me to destroy it. If it's allowed to be used on the [Workshop] then… In any case, destroy that thing" Although Simon did not continue his sentence, he was worried about that if the floor buster was used so close to the [Main floor] it might reach the white palace where the dungeon core was.

"Haah!! seriously this brat… will you listen to me for real. I know what purpose this machine was made for. However, using it that way was just wasting the potential of this machine. That is why, I altered the machine while drawing inspiration from its design".

"Now its purpose is different than what it was intended for. Look it doesn't have that drill pointer anymore".

On Prime's mention, Simon finally glanced deeply at the Floor Buster and noticed that it had been altered greatly. Be it its frame, structure, or the crystal that was used as its core, everything was tinkered greatly.

More importantly, the Floor Buster no longer looked like an auger machine that could destroy floors.

But then if it did not destroy floors, then what did it do?

"You said that its purpose now is different than what it was intended for initially?".

Seeing Simon finally willing to listen, Prime sighed a breath of relief "I will explain, but first snuff that magic of yours. Do you have any idea how valuable the materials and equipment are here? They are from my home world before it was destroyed. As such, it could be one of its kind in this whole universe".

Prime jumped up and down asserting that Simon put his magic away. For every inventor, the workplace was like an extension of their life, the culmination of their efforts and dedication.

Seeing it get destroyed was the last thing they wanted to see and would be a huge blow for them. It was no wonder that Prime was so flustered after seeing Simon conjure his magic here.

After looking at Prime, who seemed earnest in his plea to spare the machine, Simon finally lowered his hand and dispelled the magic.

"Fine, I won't destroy it," he relented, "but you better explain what you've done to it.".

Prime sighed a breath of relief seeing that he finally managed to convince Simon.

"You won't regret it," Saying that, he led Simon towards the modified machine.

As he approached closer, Simon could indeed see that the drill pointer, which was originally meant for destruction, had been removed. In its place, Prime had installed a series of intricate mechanisms that seemed more focused on precision and finesse.

"I've repurposed the floor buster to be more of a precision tool" As Prime began to explain the modifications he had made to the machine, his excitement was palpable.

He gestured animatedly, pointing out various parts and components that he had tinkered with, increasing their output, changing their placements, and even utilizing scraps from the junkyard to improve its functionality.

The end result was a  remarkable transformation that turned the destructive Floor Buster into something entirely different.

"And so, after I adjusted the core, it should be able to create a specialized effect that covers a wide area," Prime said, his eyes shining with enthusiasm.

"What do you mean?" Simon questioned raising an eyebrow.

"What I'm trying to say is, when activated, the machine interacts with the mana particles in the air, strengthening and weakening certain conditions and aspects in the surrounding area. For instance, with this machine, I can weaken the gravitational pull in certain areas, making it easier for the Andromedas to lift and transport heavy materials. The opposite is equally possible too".

"It is not only limited to gravitational pull, by interacting with the mana particles, the machine is able to induce disorders in natural orders of the laws. For example, this machine can create energy tides that can bring forth various kinds of elemental hazards. Like typhoons, snow, lightning, extreme heat and so on and so forth" Prime declared with a proud smile.

Finally starting to see the true potential of this new invention, the anger inside Simon disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by surprise and astonishment at the machine that Prime had created.

There was no reason why he would not after all, what did it mean to be able to interfere with the natural orders of laws? What did it mean to be able to create elemental hazards?

Prime was talking about being able to manipulate environmental change and laws, something that should only be possible through a certain option when the dungeon reached a high rank.

Yet here it was in front of him, a machine that could achieve a similar effect to an Environmental Change. How could Simon not be surprised?

Similar to Afflictions that can bestow certain kinds of status effects in the form of nerfs, detoriation in condition, debuffs that can weaken and so on in particular floors, Environmental Change just like what it means can alter certain aspects of the dungeon.

Using this option, it is possible to manifest various natural phenomena like clear blue sky, pouring rain, gusts of wind, or even lightning storms inside the dungeon. It was a feature that provided strategic advantages and challenged the adventurers exploring the dungeon.

However, Environmental Change was a high-ranking feature that became available to dungeons as they advanced and grew in power. It allowed Dungeon Masters to create artificial environments inside their dungeons, altering certain aspects of the dungeon to their advantage.

So when Prime said that he can induce environmental hazards like typhoons, lightning and such, Simon's mind was blown. Something that could otherwise be possible only after dungeon Laplce reached the high rank, this machine in front of him can reproduce an effect similar to it.

As absurd and disbelieving as it sounded, he knew that Prime would not play a joke on him. That is to say, this machine was really capable of doing what Prime mentioned.

If he can mass produce this machine and set it up on various floors of his, wouldn't he be able to alter the environment, making certain areas more challenging for adventurers or granting buffs to the dungeon's inhabitants, thus increasing the strategic advantages in combat situations?

The more Simon thought about it, the more he saw the potential of this machine to be an invaluable asset for Dungeon Laplace.