Biting Off More Than He Could Chew

Thirteen watched these battles with half-lidded eyes as he continued to drink the rest of his Champagne. 

'This body is really weak,' Thirteen thought. 'I've only had a single glass of Champagne, but I already feel sleepy.'

Suddenly, he saw Terence walking in his direction with a smile, and he instinctively knew that the moment had come.

'You already tried twice, and you still want to push your luck?' Thirteen finished the rest of his drink. 

Although he didn't want to admit it, he was already quite drunk. Only his strong willpower was keeping him from making a fool of himself in front of everyone.

"Cousin, why don't we spar a bit?" Terence asked. 

"Zion is already sleepy and drunk," Lady Callista said firmly. "He is not fit to spar. Look for other children to play with, Terence."

Lady Callista already knew that Terence was specifically targeting her grandson. As an adult, she didn't want to get in the way of the matter between children, but she was biased toward her grandson.

Hearing the displeasure in Lady Callista's voice, Terence decided that it wasn't worth it to make her upset over this matter.

Because of this, he decided to take a step back and apologize for his rudeness.

But before he could do that, the five-year-old boy took a step forward and pointed at his face.

"A weakling like you dares to challenge me?" Thirteen asked. "Junior, you court death."

"…" 

"…"

"…"

"… He's drunk."

The people at the party looked at the peppy five-year-old whose face was flushed.

They didn't know if they should laugh or feel sorry for him because, clearly, he wasn't in the right state of mind for calling an eleven-year-old boy a junior, when he himself was only five years old.

"What's wrong?" Thirteen asked. "Are you *hic* scared? *hic* If you're scared then go away. I don't fight with weaklings."

Lady Callista frowned and motioned for Hans to take Zion to her room so that he could rest.

However, Arthur's laughter spread in the surroundings, catching everyone by surprise.

"This is interesting, a snot-nosed brat daring to call someone older than him junior?" Arthur smiled. "Terence, make sure to give him a handicap."

Seeing that his grandpa had approved of his challenge, Terence nodded his head and looked at the boy, who had made him lose face twice.

"Don't worry, I will only use one hand, and I won't move from my spot. I will also not attack you. If you can land a hit on me then it's your win," Terence stated.

He only wanted to make Thirteen make a fool of himself to entertain their guests. This was what Terence was thinking at that time, and since he had given so many assurances, he was certain that even Lady Callista would agree to let the five-year-old spar with him. 

Just as Terence expected, Lady Callista reluctantly agreed to it. 

Since Terence wouldn't be attacking her grandson and promised to only stand in place, she decided to let Thirteen spar with him.

However, she still gave Arthur the "after this, I will have a nice and long talk with you" gaze, making the handsome middle-aged man smile.

"Hans, be the referee of this spar," Lady Callista ordered. Her voice was firm, and it indicated that she wouldn't allow anyone to oppose her.

"As you command, My Lady," Hans bowed his head and even helped Thirteen walk toward the arena so that he could spar against Terence.

For some reason, although everyone in the room thought that this was going to be a funny spar due to the younger boy's current state, Hans had a feeling that all of this was part of Thirteen's scheme.

Ever since he interacted with the boy, he no longer treated him as a child.

He still found it weird that he thought this way, but there was something in Thirteen that made him feel unconditional trust toward him.

This feeling was something that he only had for Lady Callista, and now, he was feeling the same for a five-year-old, whom he had only met two weeks ago.

When the two children were finally facing each other, Hans raised his hand and declared the start of the spar.

Thirteen then laughed as he wobbled drunkenly, heading toward Terence, who was laughing at him due to how funny he was acting.

The other guests were either chuckling or smiling, thinking that the five-year-old's antics were very funny. 

There were even times that they thought that he was about to collapse to the floor because he was wobbling so badly.

When he was only a meter away from Terence, he tried to punch the eleven-year-old, but the latter only deflected it with his hand.

Since his punch had missed, Thirteen's body spun due to the momentum of Terence's deflection.

Everyone thought that the little boy was about to fall over when suddenly, Thirteen's left foot rose up and accidentally kicked Terence's left knee, making the older boy grunt.

"Hehehe, I won," Thirteen laughed as he pointed at the older boy, who didn't expect that he would get hit by the five-year-old's clumsy and unexpected kick. "Weakling hahaha!"

"That one doesn't count!" Terence's face became beet red due to embarrassment after Thirteen reminded him of the condition of their spar.

After all, the older boy had declared that it would be Thirteen's win as long as the latter managed to land a hit on him.

"Ehh? You are *hic* going back on your word?" Thirteen pouted as he swayed from side to side. "That's no *hic* good."

"Then, how about this? If you hit me again, it will really be your win," Terence said.

"No. I don't get *hic* any benefit from it, so *hic* no thanks."

"Benefits? Then how about I give you a Peak Bronze-Grade Weapon if you win?"

Thirteen shook his head. "You only have a *hic* Bronze-Grade Weapon? Is your Grandpa *hic* poor? How come he *hic* only gave you a Bronze-Grade Weapon? He must be *hic* very stingy and poor! *hic*."

A pin-drop silence descended inside the main hall after everyone heard Thirteen's words.

Terence's Grandpa was none other than Arthur Leventis, the Patriarch of the Leventis Family. And a five-year-old child dared to call him stingy and poor?

Suddenly, a laugh reverberated across the hall, which sounded like the peeling of a bell.

Everyone's gaze landed on the old lady, seated in a wheelchair, who was still laughing as if she had heard the funniest joke in her life.

Perhaps, she was the only one who would laugh at someone poking a joke towards the Patriarch of the Leventis Family without worrying about the consequences of her actions.

Seeing her laugh, Arthur smiled and looked at the five-year-old, who had subtly insulted him in front of everyone in the room.

"Mid Silver-Grade," Arthur stated. "If you win, I will give you a Mid Silver-Grade Weapon of your choice."

Thirteen, who was still finding it hard to stand up properly, wobbled after hearing Arthur's statement.

Although his face was flushed and looked like he would fall on the floor at any given moment, a glint of mischief briefly flashed in the depths of his eyes.

'The old man took the bait,' Thirteen thought. 'Now, I won't have to worry about finding a weapon for Mikhail after he completes his Second Wandering.'

Although his family lived a comfortable life, Gerald and Alessia didn't have enough money to buy their children good equipment for their journey in Solterra.

This was also why Gerald decided to go on an expedition—it was to gather enough funds to buy Mikhail a good set of weapons and armor after he completed his Second Wandering.

On the Third Wandering, the children who managed to survive would be allowed to use any equipment that had been obtained by others in Solterra or forged using the items that were taken from Solterra.

Of course, there were still restrictions. 

After completing the Second Wandering, the children would rise from Rookies into Adepts. 

The highest grade of weapons that they could wield at this stage were Mid Silver-Grade Weapons. 

Only children from the Monarch Clans and Prestigious Families could gain this kind of advantage over their peers. 

Of course, there were exceptions, but as long as you were part of this family, even if your talent was mediocre, you would still gain these kinds. This was one of the benefits of simply being born into these families. 

(A/N: Each Weapon Grade has four stages namely, Low, Mid, High, and Peak.)

"Okay!" Thirteen then pointed at Terence. "Prepare to *hic* lose, you weakling!"

Terence looked at the annoying brat with contempt as he raised his right hand.

This time around, he had every intention to attack the boy the moment Thirteen entered his strike range.

Although he said earlier that he wouldn't attack the five-year-old, he was annoyed that his Grandpa would bestow upon him a Mid Silver-Grade Weapon of his choice if he were to lose.

Even in their family, they had to show that they were capable enough to receive such a benefit.

This gave Terence the strong urge to teach the five-year-old a lesson for biting off more than he could chew.