They pyed twames but Fiona came on top every siime. Cato was her level in the first pce, but his performance was even duller than usual today. It seemed that being the captain of the Leopards truly took its toll on him.

  Two hours flew before anybody noticed. It was time to the chess games.

  "Well then..." Cato pushed himself off the sofa, a simple a that felt like it required too much effort at the moment. His body felt like lead, heavy and stiff.

  She pletely mopped me. itted, if only to himself. Looks like I've really lost my touch. I better resume my regur practice, or else she's going to run all over me every time.

  "If you are not too tired," Fiona started. "May I trouble you with a few duels in Cssmancers?"

  "Oh, that again?" iled impishly. "Last time, things didn't go that well for you~"

  "As they say, failure is the best teacher. It is important for me to test my mettle against a petitive pyer from our se, especially against somebody who pys for the stroeam in the region. I believe it is not too much to ask, sidering I always honor your match requests."

  "That's right!" Karen tuned in. "Sis always crams your chess games into her packed schedule, so you got nht to refuse here.”

  "My, such pressure." iled wryly. "It's not like I had any iion of refusing in the first pce. With that said, I do need a little break. My brain is a little fried at the moment, haha."

  "Very well." Fiona nodded. "Do you want coffee, perhaps?"

  "Coffee, huh. Let's see..." Cato ted how many hours have passed sihe st time he ied caffeihough it was a very helpful substa wasn’t good to overdose on it.

  I st drank coffee before the club meeting, so at least three ho. Cato o himself. “Yeah, a good time for coffee."

  "Very well." Fiona called a maid and requested coffee for Cato and Karen, as well as tea for herself.

  Yes, she indeed called a maid. This huge mansion wasn't just for show. It even had maids and butlers w here, as well as private guards and whatnot. Truly, it was like a mansion straight out of a movie.

  I wish I also had somebody serving me everything like that. Cato grumped. Maybe one day, once I bee the overlord of the world, I’ll have such privilege... Yeah, right.

  The trio ed their drinks of choice while engaging in chit-chat. Half an hour ter, break time was over.

  "Shall we begin?" Fiona asked as they reached the puters room.

  "Whenever you're ready to take these Ls." iled at her.

  "Hah, look at this guy going." Karen crossed her arms. "Just so you know, sis has been practig reaaaaal hard. She's WAY better than you now!"

  "We'll see about that."

  "Also hey, lemme py too!" Karen requested with a mischievous smirk on her face. "Let's do a 1v1v1."

  "Hell no." Cato shot that idea on the spot. "Yoing to team up with your sister against me."

  "Who? Me? Naaaaah." Karen ily rolled her eyes.

  "You were totally pnning that, huh." Cato gave her a look.

  "Do not worry, Karen," Fiona reassured. "It has been a couple of months since we st sparred. I am no lo the level I was back then."

  "Yeah, that's true, sis." Karen nodded. "You're a total pro now! Cato boy, you better watch your ass here~"

  "Karen, nguage."

  "Whoopsie, hehe~"

  The entire exge ended with them smiling meaningfully at each other. It seemed they both agreed that Fiona improved substantially sihe st time she faced Cato in a duel.

  I destroyed her quite decisively st time. Cato thought. It was crushing enough to disce her from asking for any further spars for a while. So, she must be rather fident about her progress.

  How much could a pyer improve in just a couple of months? When it came to Fiona La, any amount would be believable.

  Not to mention, she ractically a newbie the st time they pyed. Talented new pyers usually improved at an amazing rate, so there was that.

  "Alright, let's see what you got." Cato sed the game's QR code with his phone, granting him an easy login with his at.

  "As a fellow Jungler," Fiona said. "I will be thankful if you pick a Jungler css. o hold back against me."

  "Well, if you're sure." Cato went for Vampire, one of his favorites. It was the ideal css for testing the waters because it had tools to deal with practically any situation. No matter what Fiona brings to the table, Cato was fident he'll be able to get out of any trouble.

  Besides, she deserves to be bullied a little~ irked. I 't quite get my revenge on her in chess, so Mancers will have to suffice.

  The duel began. Fiona picked Lionfolk, a css she ofte fainst Cato. It must've been one of her favorites.

  Quite fitting for this lioness, if you ask me. Cato o himself. But, right now, she's just a cub.

  And so, the ning phase began. However, for the most part, their exges were minimal.

  They threw a few hits at each other, but overall they focused on clearing minions as effitly as possible. They respected each other's tools and didn't overextend.

  Her farming got er. Cato thought. She has pretty much mastered st-hitting. I remember she missed on a lot of farm the st time we pyed, but now she gets all st-hits even when I try to distract her.

  The st time they pyed, things went incredibly smoothly for Cato. He simply triumphed over Fiona in the ning phase, getting far ahead in farm thanks to his trai-hitting skills. From there, it was simply a question of getting ahead in level and gold, then crushing Fiona via raw stat advantage.

  But, not this time. Fiona has clearly done her homework. She realized her farming was g, so she made sure to remedy that problem.

  She's also ign my harassment more now. Cato frowned.

  As Vampire, his basic attacks had a longer reach. So, he rally took advantage of that to harass his ne oppo as much as possible. That was a big part of what made Vampire fun in 1v1~

  Normally, such harassment was very distrag for the enemy. It frustrated them, making them want to retaliate against the offender, or at least ge something, ANYTHING, about that annoying situation. And, more often than not, that pushed them toward itting a bunistakes~

  Even Fiona wasn't immuo this at first, for there was a sore loser hiding underh her stone-cold expression. No matter how “rationally” she tried to deal with Cato's harassment, there was always a breaking point, even for her. And, beyond that breaking point was where Cato usually struck his oppos down~

  But, looks like we got a real fight on our hands this time. Cato cluded.

  There were no signs of Fiona g in. She pyed calmly while Cato's harassment struck her time and again. Not only did the harassment fail to tempt her into mounting a terattack, but she even dodged many of Cato’s attacks. There was no sign of her being triggered by this routine.

  Good, good. Cato nodded. It's not fun when a toy breaks too easily~ Struggle with all your strength, struggle until the very end. I want to have fun breaking you apart~

  Fiona was a mentally strong girl, or at least that's what her persona vinced everybody of. In chess, she never showed any signs of g under pressure, save for a few very rare occasions. And, the same mental strength exteo Cssmancers as well.

  That's how it should be. iled in delight. It won't be fun breaking her apart unless she es across as strong as she does in chess.

  Eventually, the duel transitioned into mid-game, with both sides finishing half of their builds.

  My, that's quite the aggressive game pn you got there. iled as he examined Fiona's build. It trated mostly on power, leaving little room for protes.

  Is she building like that because I py Vampire?

  Vampire was a sneaky css whose e was great fetting out of trouble. As such, it was difficult to lock a Vampire in pd pummel him to death.

  Therefore, the more DPS Fiona had, the easier it'd be for her to deliver a lot of damage on Cato before he uses any of his escape tools. At least, that's probably what she was thinking.

  Well, she isly wrong. Cato thought. There is some merit to the way she's building her Lion. Question is, does she have enough skill to see that aggressive game pn through?

  Their iable csh was drawing nearer and nearer. No matter how peaceful they were trying to a was iable for them to start dueling at some point. After all, the name of this game mode was her than “Duel”.

  Not to mention, ne trol was never born out of thin air. They had to establish it with their own two hands.

  But, you'll be the one ing at me. irked. If you don't, I'll suck out your blood little by little, one drop at a time. I'm a very patient vampire~

  Cato advaoward the middle of the ne, fired a few bats at Fiona, and then immediately backed away. This was the legendary "Esmeralda Strat". At least, that's how Cato and Matthew jokingly called this ultimate form of harassment, which assed to them by their former mentor.

  "Just tickle them a little, then back away." That's how the woman described this harassment strategy. That was certainly an iing way to phrase it, but it made perfect sense for somebody with a charmingly sadistic personality like hers. That woman must've treated all her oppos as cute little animals to be tamed.

  Unfortunately, I have to tame a whole lioness here. iled wryly. Then again, I find that extra iing in its own way.

  The "Esmeralda Strat" was very effective. By repeatedly going in and out, Cato reduced Fiona’s HP all the way down to 70% She was starting to approach dangerous HP levels, especially for somebody who built as few protes as she did.

  Maybe I should go on the offensive now? Cato wondered for a moment, then perished the thought.

  There was no need for any drastic measures quite yet. As long as he keeps harassing Fiona like this, he'll win the fight in the long run. So, there was no reason to take any unnecessary risks here.

  Even against a pyer who was clearly below his level, Cato preferred to win slowly but surely. After all, it'll be far too embarrassing for him to lose this fight due to rashness.

  And so, the "Esmeralda Strat" tinued. Poke, retreat, poke, retreat. A simple, effective tactic.

  I’m still waiting for her to properly respond. Will she get frustrated enough to open an attack soon?

  Most oppos Cato faced in Duel fell for these types of traps. This poking tactic was great for pushing people’s buttons~

  Therefore, at some point, the oppos threw caution to the wind and chose to aggress on Cato. But, little did they know Cato especially trained himself to ter such reckless aggression.

  For the better or the worse, Fiona didn't fall for that trap. At least, not so far.

  Judging by the way she’s pying now, she’ll probably only aggress if she gains suffit advaherwise, she'll keep pying it safe.

  And indeed, once Fiona's HP dropped to 40%, she retreated from the battlefield and recalled. Cato could try pursuing her with his ult, but why risk it? It was easier to just keep pushing the ne while the enemy was absent.

  I'll just slowly strangle you to death. Cato found himself snickering at the thought. I wonder, what kind of expression is she wearing right now? Is that beautiful stoic face of hers filled with any ago~?

  The mere idea that his tactics were causing distress to Ms. Perfect filled him with great joy. It was sweet, sweet revenge for all these years.

  Until now, there was not a sihing in which Cato surpassed Fiona. The queen fwlessly quered any field she tried her hand in. Even in academics, her scores were always superior to Cato’s.

  But, Cssmancers was an exception to that rule. Cato started pying it long before Fiona did, and the girl wasn’t even an avid gamer in the first pce. As such, it was only natural for Cato to be superior here.

  Finally, there was ohing in which he surpassed Fiona! At long st, after all these years of losing to the queen ihing, Cato will have his vengeance!

  DarkestCymore