When Alex and the others arrived at the hall where the guests were waiting, they were surprised to find out that only Lilith and Artemia were missing from the group which had come.
''Long time no see, my friend!" Leon stood up the moment he saw Alex; he opened his arms, asking for a hug, and Alex didn't hesitate and hugged him back. By slapping Alex with a bit of strength, Leon laughed.
''I missed you. You have gotten stronger; I almost couldn't rivalise you.''
''You have become stronger as well. Let have about after.'' Alex declared while also slapping Leon's back; the latter laughed, happy to soon fight Alex.
When the two got separated, Alex turned to face the others.
''Welcome back, Pandora, Zwei, Drei, and Eri. It's good to you guys again.''
''Greetings, Alex.''
''Greetings Master !!"
''I'm happy to see you guys as well. Kuina, you seemed happy, good for you.'' Eri said while looking at Kuina smiling; the latter rolled her eyes at Eris's blatant teasing.
Everyone laughed as they sat around the table; Leon and others briefly shared their experiences.
The meeting lasted around one hour before it was dismissed; naturally, the five immediately joined Alex's guild, whose name had been changed to Heaven Guild. Because most of them had been exhausted due to the long travel, they immediately excused themselves to their rooms to rest.
However, Leon was an exception; he forced Alex to join him for a drink.
Inside Leon's room sat two men; one had a beast feature while the other had heterochromia eyes. The two were silently drinking, four empty bottles lay on the table, and the scent of heavy alcohol filled the room; just with this scent alone, one should get drunk, especially those who were weak to alcohol.
Despite these four empty bottles on the ground, the two showed no signs of stopping.
Finally, after the sixth bottle became emptied, Alex lifted his head albeit, with difficulty; the alcohol had started to kick in, he was drunk so was Leon, what had started as a simple drink between friends evolved into a competition where the two wanted to see who between them would get drunk first, they emptied each one bottle after another, the result it was a draw with them drinking each three bottle of Spirit Ale, not the strongest alcohol but it was not far from it, its alcohol percentage hovered between 30-45 percent.
''Burp! Let's consider this as a draw!" Alex declared; Leon immediately responded.
''Let's call it to draw! My head is spinning. Competition between friends can help one improve, surpassing your previous level. My limit was a two Spirit Ale bottle, yet today I have surpassed this limit.''
From Leon's words, Alex learned something, which was that this wasn't Leon's first time competing when it came to an alcohol contest, this left Alex curious, and he almost asked to satiate his curiosity.
''I see. Tell me with who you had your first competition.''
Upon hearing that question, Leon couldn't help but feel a little amused as he remembered a forgotten past; this made the corners of his mouth perk up.
''It was against Kuina!" Leon answered; his answer shocked Alex as he hadn't anticipated this.
''You must be joking, right?"
''Hahaha! I'm serious, my friend. I remembered that time we were only fourteen, yeah, only fourteen. As you might have noticed, we don't get along; we were always on each other trying to prove that we were best than the other. Seriously, that period had been one filled with craziness, competition, and full of youthfulness. I do miss such period again.''
When Leon was saying those words, he had a look of nostalgia on his face, Alex could feel it, but he said nothing, just patiently waiting for his friend to continue.
Finally, Leon, who had regained control over his emotions, continued his tale.
''Like we used to compete regularly, that day wasn't an exception. Instead of competing in other subjects such as fighting, calligraphy, politics, we decided to compete by drinking alcohol. As you know, because a man was naturally superior to a woman, I thought that I'm superior; with this feeling of superiority, I challenged her.''
''And the result?" Alex asked while fighting against the drowsiness threatening to overwhelm him; even though he already knew the outcome, he still asked as he was curious; he wanted to hear the result from the concerned party's mouth.
Leon chuckled before pointing five fingers at Alex.
''Five what?" Alex said, confused.
Leon merrily laughed at Alex's confusion; he decided to explain it to him, like that he would better understand.
''While I'm on my second bottle, that girl, no monster, had cracked five bottles."
This declaration was like a bolt of lightning striking Alex directly on the head; he couldn't believe it and stood up.
''You must be joking, right?"
All drunkenness seemed to have disappeared from his body; he pricked his ears to ensure that his hearing was still working. Fortunately, it was still working; unfortunately, this would mean that he didn't hear wrong.
''Hahaha! I'm serious. I'm not lying, at that time I couldn't believe my eyes, so I rubbed them so hard that they reddened, it thought that it was some illusion; however, my old man watching the competition from afar told me that it was real, that Kuina was a real monster, that five Spirit Ale wasn't her limit. Even he was not sure if he could win against her. I couldn't believe my ears; a fourteen years old girl beating my dad said to be comparable to the now fallen dwarf when it comes to drinking. This hit me hard. So, I have never forgotten that day's humiliation, I vowed to get my revenge one day, but ultimately I couldn't till this day. Although I don't know her current capacity, I dare say that you and I stand no chance if we ever challenge her. Don't worry; there are plenty of other areas where you can beat her.''
Alex sighed before leaning back into his chair, he still had a hard time believing Leon's claim, but because it came from him, he had no choice but to believe in them. He secretly vowed never to challenge Kuina when it comes to alcohol, as he was sure to lose.
''Hahaha! Let's forget such a painful past and talk!" Leon proposed to enlighten the mood, and Alex nodded; the two continued to chat until late in the night; however, they didn't drink alcohol anymore; they exchanged words. When it came to the subject of Alex deliberately letting Leonardo go, he acted like he had not heard this question which made Leon think that it was a sensitive subject, so he didn't pursue the matter any longer.. Like this, the night passed, and they welcomed a brand new day.