Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

A dark smile crept upon his face and he continued to press the issue.

"What's the matter? Don't have any words to refute? I bet you were silently watching the campsite develop into a battlefield after luring the group of Battle Bears. If not, then tell all of us what were you doing yesterday night when all of us were desperately fighting the monsters?".

Simon narrowed his eyes and frowned in irritation. The man was coming up with one reason after another to frame him as the perpetrator. If he stayed quiet at this moment, the other party would no doubt choke him with their nonsensical arguments.

"That doesn't prove anything. I might have been late but had I not arrived, someone's life would have been in jeopardy. Additionally, I also did my part and took care of their leader, the Battle Grizzly" Simon indifferently pointed.

His words convinced those that were having some other thoughts. It was as he had said, the adventurers and the guard alike were having a hard time stopping the battle bears and the battle grizzly.

Chuck was busy defending the bane Moose whereas the guard commander couldn't leave her post beside the client. In such a situation, if not the young man who knows how many casualties and injured they might have had.

Seeing the provisional adventurer shift the suspicions off of him due to his achievement, Bignosio couldn't help but force out a laugh.

"You took care of the Battle Grizzly? Don't overestimate yourself, the battle grizzly was already worn down by the many adventurers, guards and the guard commander. You just simply took all of the credit by attacking it when it was close to being defeated".

The onlookers went silent once again, his words made the ones who were in doubt of the young man's strength think over it carefully. Those that were not knowledgeable about magic, felt that the battle grizzly died quite easily in the hands of the young man.

Alvara who was the most aware of how powerful the battle grizzly was, found those words absurd and full of flaws. Though she found the situation a waste of time, she however did not intervene and simply stared at Simon waiting to see how he would resolve the situation.

"If you knew that the battle grizzly was in its last breath, then why didn't you give it a final blow? Or perhaps were you waiting for it to recover its strength before dealing with it".

The provisional adventurer's reply immediately made the surrounding people laugh. His words made Bignosio seem like a clown and also at the same time pointed out the flaw in that argument.

Bignosio' s face twitched and hot air flared from his big nose, he stared at Simon with a murderous look and pointed his axe at him. Now that words were not working against his opponent, he had no choice to take the crudest method and fight it out with him.

"Hmph, I'll prove to everyone that you only have a sharp tongue and no ability to back it. Fight me, I challenge you in a one on one duel. If you run away from this fight, it'll prove to everyone that I was right about you all along".

<br/>OHHHH~ everybody revealed an excited and interested face when they heard Bignosio issuing a challenge to the newbie. All of their gazes turned towards the young man waiting for his response.

The forest was a boring place with not many things to entertain themselves hence all of these people wanted to see the two of them duke it out to relieve their boredom.

Since backing down from the issue would look like him running away from his opponent, Simon naturally did not reject the challenge and swiftly agreed to it. In any case, the adventurer was getting on his nerves and if he let him be, his words might even cause the pride fragment to trigger.

He wanted to avoid that kind of situation at all costs.

Seeing the young man nod his head, the intensity of the excitement around the area instantly rose to its peak.

While there were those that commended the young man for his courage, there were also sighs of disappointment. From their perspective and the strength that Simon had shown yesterday, they thought that his class was a mage and hence he did not need to wear any armour.

A mage fighting a level 289 [Sword Master] in a closed space… there was no need to think about the outcome of the match. A warrior class held an absolute superiority against a mage when it comes to close combat, therefore these people thought that the young man had acted rashly due to repeated taunts.

Of course, there were some exceptions like the rare classes however, they were few and far between.

Chuck looked a little uncertain but chose to remain silent, he knew that the reason behind Bignosio challenging Simon, was because he thought that he held absolute superiority against him in this closed space.

"Hehe, if anything I commend your courage for not backing out. Let me tell you I'm level…"before Bignosio could complete his self-serving conversation, Simon's annoyed voice rang out.

"Shut up, let's get done with it".

The young man's defiant and impatient attitude showed that he was not cowered even when he was fighting with a handicap. Bignosio's expression was contorted in an extremely ugly manner, he ground his teeth and said in a vengeful manner.

"If I can't defeat you in three moves, I will never call myself an adventurer anymore".

Immediately after his voice sounded out, he stepped forward and sped towards Simon with the momentum of a bull.

There was no faint, no special abilities used and was a clean frontal attack. Bignosio immediately closed the distance between him and the young man before bringing down his cherished axe.

The blade of the axe made of whitesilver made an arc around the air as it came swinging down on his opponents head. Just when everyone thought the young man was unable to even move from his spot and his defeated figure appeared in their minds, the scene that happened next made them widen their mouth until it hit the floor.

When the blade of the axe was a few inches away from him, Simon unclenched his hands and a small fireball that was created at an unknown time, gently brushed against the opponent's body.

WHOOOSH… at that moment, Bignosio's entire body became a human torch that blazed with extreme intensity.

AARRGHH… a miserable scream sounded out across the campsite and all the onlookers had to hold their breath at that moment.

With a clench, the fire blazed for a while before it was put down by Simon. A burnt figure with much of his facial hair burnt, appeared in front of everybody. From his looks a few moments ago to his current appearance, took only a few seconds and made it hard for everyone to discern who the adventurer was. 

THUMP… BIgnosio's body fell onto the ground seized a fetal position all the while his body trembled from burns he suffered all around his body.

The campsite around the fireplace, which was brimming with excitement just a few seconds, was deathly silent. Nobody expected this kind of result from the clash between a veteran adventurer and a newbie.

The scene where the young man was at a disadvantage due to him being a mage did not occur and instead, the result was him winning by a landslide.

"Leader?!" the members of Bignosio's team anxiously ran towards him and checked his injuries, they only sighed when they found that the damage he had suffered was not fatal. However, the next second they brought out their weapons and pointed at Simon.

"How dare you sneak attack our leader? Do you have no shame?" some of them angrily cursed. They were ready to pounce on the young man who faced them all alone.

Looking at the display of these adventurers encircling a single provisional adventurer, Chuck clicked his tongue and was just about to step up with his team when Adalinda who was quietly watching all of this giggled.

"Hehe, these pests indeed do not know their place. It wouldn't be bad if you teach them a lesson". Her childish soft voice had an added depth of darkness onto it.

"What?" being looked down on by a little girl, how could these adventurers who were used to being held in veneration take it?

They immediately took a stance and activated their skill when a crimson light so glaring that it even shook their souls flashed in the depths of Simon's eyes.

"Take one more step and I won't show you any more mercy".

A coarse menacing voice that could give chills to anyone hearing it sounded out. A pressure that engulfed the area around the lot of them descended and immediately made their faces pale with dread. Their legs trembled like a newborn fawn and the weapons they gripped tightly in their hand escaped their grasp and fell onto the floor.

The member of Bignosio's adventurer party fell on their butts and dared not utter a sound anymore.

Simon turned his body and simply left, following behind him was Adalinda who was giving them a gloating smile.

EXHALE~ at this moment, the members of the convoy who had forgotten to breathe, finally exhaled a deep breath of air after the situation that had escalated so fast died down.

All of the people whether they be guards, adventurers or staff of the Serene Palace merchant guild all of them were throwing shocked gazes as they stared at the figure of the black-robed young man. Who could have predicted that the provisional adventurer would hide this much of powers?