CHAPTER 209: WEAK

Riven was confused. Why would Quin suddenly ask that he attack him? He wanted to speak, but Quin spoke first.

"Don’t ask, just do it."

Hearing that, Riven threw caution out the window. He got into his stance with the sword in front, tilted forward a little, and his legs spread apart.

If he went all out, this wooden sword might only be able to take one hit before its destiny, so he had to make it one hit that would be good.

He channeled all his flames into the sword and lunged forward. As a two-circle battle mage, and with all the leveling up he had done, he wasn’t the same person as before.

Quin was shocked to notice that Riven had two Spirit Zone levels now, but rather than be happy, it served to reinforce the reason he was doing this.

Without hesitation, Quin threw a punch. His fist collided with the sword and obliterated it. Boom. The showcase sent Riven flying; he slammed into the ground and skidded for a few meters.

When he got up, he saw Quin standing there, no scratch, no dirt, nothing at all.

"That was your best? Maybe it was the wooden sword. Pull out your real sword," Quin said, speaking in a calm tone.

Riven got on his feet. Normally, he would refuse to use his real sword, scared that it would harm Quin, but now, there was no holding back at all.

He pulled out Twilight, and without a moment of hesitation, he lunged forward. Quin stood there unbothered, and when the first flash came, he stepped to the side and dodged it.

"Weak," he said. His words enraged Riven. He attacked harder, thrusting with all his strength, but Quin parried it with his bare hands.

"Weak," he said again. Riven frowned. He pulled back and slashed multiple times, firing flame arcs in rapid succession.

Quin simply raised his hands and swung down. The force of that swing destroyed all the flame arcs.

"Weak," he spoke again, his tone getting colder with every time he said it. The words were getting to Riven.

He gritted his teeth and used Flame Blast. Quin raised a brow when he saw the attack, it was better than any of the others till now.

Quin slashed with his hands. It hit the attack, and an explosion happened. Quin walked out of the cloud of smoke, there was not a single burn on him.

"Weak," he said again.

At this point, it was no longer a test or whatever—Riven wanted to cut him down. When he looked at Quin’s eyes, he saw Quin looking down at his strength, and that hurt him for some reason.

Riven set one leg back. He gritted his teeth.

"I’ll show you weak. I’ll make you see," he muttered in a growl. His flame turned blue. His eyes changed as well. He looked at Quin. They locked eyes, yet Quin was unbothered.

"Inferno Domain," Riven muttered, and the flame domain spread. Quin looked around him, he could feel the rapid rise in temperature.

"An area of effect technique? That’s pretty nice. Only this one is too WEAK to hurt me," Quin said.

"It’s not meant to hurt you," Riven replied and lunged forward. He released another barrage of flame arcs, and this time they were several folds stronger than before.

Quin looked at the attacks and raised his brows.

"They got stronger," he muttered. He coated his hand in a thin layer of mana and then cut through them like before, causing small explosions that covered his sight.

"Try this for a weak attack!" Riven yelled from above, coming through the explosion that he had used for cover. At close range, he used Flame Blast.

The intensity almost doubled. Quin looked at it. He threw a punch, and his fist collided with the flame.

Booooom.

The explosion was loud and resounding. It shook the ground and the entire building. Quin was pushed a few meters back, while Riven was thrown back and slammed into the floor.

Riven looked up from the ground. He saw some bruises on Quin’s hand. He was certain that he had finally landed a hit. He was filled with happiness, but Quin’s next words shattered that happiness.

"Is this really the best that you can do? Weak," Quin said.

Riven got on his feet. He wasn’t having any of it. He was about to release all his power and enter into dangerous territory, he was going to go all out.

"That’s enough, Riven," Quin then said. He pointed at him.

"What did you feel just now? Explain all the feelings," Quin said.

Riven, who was still in rage and battle mode, was shocked by the question. He looked at Quin with eyes that said what the fuck?

He took a deep breath and then spoke.

"The emotions I felt while facing you? Anger, sadness at my own weakness, helplessness," Riven said, dropping his head low.

"When I called you weak, I was not holding you by the standards of your age. I was holding you by my standards.

In reality, you are one of the strongest of your age, and that’s a fact. But by my standard, you were not just weak, you are very weak.

I can tell you for a fact that even if you went all out, I could take you down as easily as swatting a fly.

I’m saying this not to step on your feelings, but to paint you an image. There are people that I consider very strong, and all of them are in service to the kingdom.

So, since you have seen what I consider very weak by my standard, what do you think will be very strong by my standard?" he asked and then walked closer to Riven, standing in front of him.

"Now that you have an idea of this kingdom, do you think you could escape their grasp if you wanted right now? Answer truthfully," Quin asked.

Riven looked at Quin. He clenched his fist. He didn’t like this reality, but this was the reality.

"No," he responded.