Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

A beautiful figure wearing an azure dress moved her lithe body as if dancing. She looked as calm as ever, even while facing an enemy dozens of levels higher than her. Her well-rounded curves enthralled one's soul and vision, and every move she made had a noble grace and elegance.

Currently, a group of ten orcs five meters in height, with a tanky build wearing monster hide and crude armours, surrounded her. These orcs had boar-like snouts and moved as coordinated as an army. The Orcs in front of Irene were different from those Simon met in the eastern region of the forest.

They were another tribe of the orcs and an evolved species living on the west side of the forest called the High Orcs. Each of them had green skin and was above level 190, the one leading in front had four sharp fangs protruding from its jaws and was the most powerful of them all at level 200.

From the looks of it, the four fanged orc seemed to be the leader of the band. Its distinctive feature was the huge scar on the left side of its face that took away one of its eyes.

"Grrrrugaahh" a garbled voice that was very unpleasant to hear, came from the four fanged orc's mouth. It roared and smashed the huge spike club that its stout arm was holding onto into the ground. The club was made out of the bones of different monsters and gave off an eerie aura.

THUD...

A dull heavy sound rang out and immediately after, the surrounding high orcs charged at Irene using their skill [High Orc Charge]. The way the orcs charged was very organised and whenever their heavy body moved, the land within the surrounding area would tremble along with them.

The huge frames of the orcs was just like a wall that came ramming towards Irene with a momentum of a truck.

But before they could even reach a few meters around her, an azure blue light shined out from Irene's pearly white hand as she swiftly backstepped and twisted her body around. The way she moved seemed illusory, just like a beautiful dance.

The hem of her clothes fluttered in the air as she made a graceful turn, the azure light coming out of her was gentle yet so piercing that it covered hundreds of meters of land in an instant.

WHOOOOSH...

A clear freezing sound spread across the horizon and a chilling breeze blew past. Moments later, a wide span of land completely covered in a thick layer of ice came into view. Everything that the azure light shined upon got frozen till the core without any exception.

The tress, the land, and even the unfortunate monsters that were lingering around the forest got caught up in the radius not to mention the real target of the magic, the High Orcs were all frozen solid.

It was as if they were encased in ice for centuries and even the tiniest bit of life couldn't be sensed from them. At this point, they just looked like statues that were carefully and vividly crafted.

Frosty air rose all around the area while Irene swiftly turned around and left. Her calm and beautiful face carried a gracefulness and nobility that her simple dress failed to hide. Simon who was watching the battle from the backlines did not know whether to laugh or cry.

The might and the degree of skill that she displayed, was in a completely different league than him. Though he was aware of the disparity in their strength, he didn't think that the gulf would be this big.

Ever since they starting the exploration of the western part of the forest two days ago, she had repeatedly shown her overwhelming might. Even while facing opponents hundreds of levels above her, she displayed her massive superiority in magic and skills.

Even in the western region of the Ghastly Winding Forest where the strongest monster lived, most of them were just like sitting ducks in front of her. It was to the point where Simon was forced to realise that the monsters roaming around the outer region was no match for her. If they want to increase their levels, they could only head deeper.

It wasn't that the monsters were weak in the outer region, it was just that before they could even display some of their might, they would be frozen solid in an instant. Just like those High Orcs who were not even able to swing their clubs and display their powerful abilities.

When he said in an instant, he really meant a fraction of a second. For Simon to launch magic of that breadth, he would have to use intermediate tier wide-area magic that needed several seconds to cast not to mention the amalgamation magic that took even longer. However, Irene could dish out the magic of that level with just a swing of her hand.

Looking at the alluring back of the figure that was delving deeper into the forest, he could feel the immense gap between their strength. the gulf between them was as big as an ocean.

In the past two days, she had risen from level 1 to level 54. It was maybe due to his Pride fragment that provided a buff in experience when gaining levels that also affected her now that she was in his party, but mostly it was due to her constantly hunting higher level monsters in large quantities, that she was able to leap levels.

The number of monsters in the western region that were turned into ice statues, before they could even utter a peep was in thousands.

As Simon saw her fleeting back and realised the huge gap that would only get bigger in the future, he couldn't help but clench his hands. He couldn't just allow himself to be left behind in the dust, he has to try even harder than before.

If he can't match her pace as he is now, then he has to start running at his full speed. No matter how big of a difference, Simon wasn't among those people who easily gave up without even trying their hardest. Even in his previous life, Simon was the type who tried his best to overcome any difficulty that came his way.

He remembered those times during his early years in working for the Astro Revolution gaming company, he had to struggle hard to keep up. His seniors who had years of experience and knowledge in this field easily outpaced and outshined in every aspect possible. Barely hanging on was all he could do at that time.

The effectiveness and efficiency in which they did their work, was in a completely different realm than him. At that time, he had no choice but to recognize the immense gap between them. The difference between their skills did not dishearten him but on the contrary, motivated him even further. He bridged that disparity through his efforts and hard work. That was how Simon became one of the elite game developers of the company.

The same goes for his current life, he couldn't just give up after meeting someone who had an overwhelming superiority in skills and magic over him. How could he just give up? That was not like him. If he did that, then wouldn't it mean that all the burden which I have to carry as a dungeon master would fall on Irene's delicate shoulders?

Even if Irene was a Guardian appointed by his dungeon to protect it, as a man, he couldn't forgive himself for shrinking away from his responsibilities. And "Didn't I just declare a few months ago that I would make the dungeon, make Laplace the best among all dungeons out there? How can I back out after all that?!".

Simon Clenched his hands and renewed the convictions that he made after reincarnating into this world once again as flames of determination burned intensely inside him.

He looked at the beautiful figure that was so charming that she looked just like a goddess that had descended from the divine realm. No matter how transient she might look from his standpoint, he would keep trying his best to reach her.

Simon subconsciously lifted his hand in her direction and made a motion that seemed to be trying to reach her.. At this time, even he was unaware as a different goal started sprouting inside his heart.