Chapter 346: A Duel

"I can't see this," Riven muttered, his hand dramatically shielding his eyes.Soren's blade glinted in the light, pressed dangerously close to Leon's throat. Leon only grinned, smug as ever, like a man who hadn't spent the last twelve hours bouncing off walls on a coffee high.

A few hours before…

"Up! Up! You can't loaf around all morning after that! Get up and move!" Leon barked, practically dragging Riven out to the courtyard. His eyes still looked unhinged, caffeine rushing through every vein like liquid lightning.

Riven, however, flopped to the ground with all the dignity of a lazy housecat. "Absolutely not. I don't wanna."

Leon dropped down and started cranking out push-ups at alarming speed. "You want to admit defeat to me already?" he taunted, not even out of breath. His arms flexed with every push, muscles tightening under his shirt like some infuriating show-off display.

"Yes!" Riven shot back without hesitation. He was lying flat on his stomach, cheek pressed to the cool stone as if it were a lover. "I admit defeat, you win, you're the king of exercise, the titan of muscles, now let me go."

Leon scoffed and upped his pace. "Pathetic. Don't you have any pride?"

"Nope." Riven's voice was muffled against the ground. "None. If admitting defeat means I don't have to move, then I will personally crown you the victor of everything forever." Other men might have some ego, and some pride compelling them to prove Leon wrong, but they just did not care.

He was too lazy for this. He was lazy in his past life, he was lazy here. He would be the king of lazy.

Leon wasn't letting up. "I'm not convinced. You've got to at least try. Come on—just a lap around the courtyard."

"My heart is already running laps," Riven groaned, clutching his chest like a playwright dying onstage. "Why would I chase it?"

Leon sprang to his feet, still buzzing from his caffeine high, and started jogging backwards in front of him, waving his arms like a madman. "Come on, just one lap! Or are you scared?"

"Yes, I'm scared of you, let me beeee!" Riven whined and stretched the word.

Leon smirked. "Figures. You're all talk."

"YoUr aLL tALk." Riven had the energy to mock though, he would never get tired of that.

Leon crouched down, face irritatingly smug, eyes sparkling with too much energy. "So… You surrender."

"Gladly. You win, you're the bigger man, literally and figuratively. No go."

Ah, the floor was nice and cool, Riven was sweating from the caffeine, and this was just so comfortable, he really should not drink alcohol.

By the time Soren walked in, Leon was doing situps with a crazed look on his face.

"I should probably ask them to throw that coffee away," Soren muttered. The effects were kind of scary.

"Soren…" Riven muttered weakly, ears drooping low like a kicked puppy. His entire body sagged, but his theatrics made it look like he had been through war.

Soren sighed, he should've stopped Riven from drinking. Still, he leaned down, scooped Riven up effortlessly, and placed him gently on a nearby bench. Riven clutched his chest like a fallen hero, whispering, "So warm… But also so cold..." He acted like he was on his deathbed.

Meanwhile, Leon was practically vibrating with energy, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an overgrown golden retriever that had just sniffed out trouble. "Wanna fight me?" he said with a grin so wide it was almost blinding.

Soren's gaze flicked over him once, unimpressed. "Didn't I beat you on the battlefield? Was that not enough of a crushing defeat for you?"

Leon leaned forward, hands on his hips, his voice booming with confidence. "WE did not duel. Therefore, you did not beat ME." He puffed his chest out like this was a royal proclamation. "Come on then, I want to see your strength."

He was taller than most, and taller than Soren by an inch or two. This was enough to make him feel confident, a lot of unearned confidence.

Soren didn't move. He didn't even blink. He had no intention of indulging Leon's antics. Until-

"Afraid of hurting your pretty face?" Leon said with a smirk.

It was like he'd flipped a hidden switch.

Soren's eyes sharpened dangerously, his posture shifting just enough to radiate threat.

If Riven had been close enough to hear that, he would've sprinted over, thrown his body across Leon's mouth, and begged him to shut up before he accidentally triggered the Beast of the Snow Leopard Clan. But Riven was still slumped dramatically on the bench, groaning like his soul was leaving his body.

Leon, oblivious, tilted his head back and gestured grandly with his arms. "That's what I thought! You're scared, aren't you?"

Soren unsheathed his sword in a smooth, icy motion. The blade gleamed like fresh snowfall—cold, merciless, inevitable.

Leon's smile widened. He looked far too delighted to be staring down steel. "Finally."

"What the-"

"You wanted a duel? Fine."

Soren's voice was low, steady, almost too calm for the situation. Each step he took forced Leon backward, until the two of them ended up in the very centre of the courtyard. The benches surrounding the circle made it feel like an arena, though their audience consisted of only Riven—still sprawled on the bench like he had given up on life.

"Ughh..." He groaned. He had his eyes closed, so he did not see what was happening.

The cold bit at Leon's skin. Snow clung to the slanted roof above, dripping faintly at the edges, and the frigid air would have made any man shiver. But Leon, still buzzing from the monstrous amount of coffee in his system, ignored it entirely.

"Give me a sword too," Leon demanded, puffing up his chest. "You're an honourable man, aren't you? You won't attack an unarmed opponent."

The corner of Soren's mouth twitched—not quite a smile, more like the expression of someone fighting the urge to scoff. Honorable? No.

He would have cut off his tongue right now, but he held back because of Riven.