While Catten was still flustered by his junior’s confession, the Frost Giant continued explaining.
“This duel is meant to prove how effectively a warrior can utilize strength and mana.”
“I see. Understood.”
Lee Han answered cautiously.
Judging by the glacier’s ice, the fact that mana could melt it was definitely advantageous for him.
He had recently gained practical experience handling mana through Orichalcum, so that knowledge would likely help here as well.
‘Still... there might be an even better option.’
If he made a hasty choice only for a more favorable duel to appear afterward, it would be disastrous.
Lee Han calmly waited for the explanation to continue.
“The next duel is this.”
THUD!
“...?”
The Frost Giant dragged over a collapsed companion and dumped him onto a nearby rock.
Lee Han and Giselle stared in shock.
What kind of duel was this supposed to be?
“You strike this guy’s head hard enough to wake him up.”
“...I don’t know much about Frost Giant anatomy, but if you hit someone in the head that hard while they’re unconscious, he might sleep forever.”
“HAHAHA! Challenger, you understand nothing. This helmet is a magical helmet.”
The Frost Giant laughed and pointed at the fallen warrior’s helmet.
Sure enough, magical power radiated from it.
Even with Lee Han’s excellent mana perception, he hadn’t noticed it until it was pointed out.
‘Amazing. Is Frost Giant magic structured differently? Even accounting for that, this is impressive.’
A helmet capable of concealing its magical properties that thoroughly was no ordinary artifact.
“It’s an invincible helmet that blocks all impact.”
“...But he got knocked out earlier.”
“I punched his face. Even an invincible helmet can’t protect what it doesn’t cover.”
The Frost Giant looked at Lee Han as though he had asked the stupidest question imaginable.
“Then you wake him up by punching his face?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? If you strike a fallen warrior’s weak point directly, he might sleep forever. Naturally, you hit the helmet.”
“You just said it was invincible...”
“It is invincible. But if you hit it hard enough, some impact still gets through. That’s exactly what this duel tests.”
“...”
At that moment, Lee Han decided to assume that roughly half of everything Frost Giants said was exaggerated boasting.
For an invincible helmet, it wasn’t particularly invincible.
‘I see. A contest of applying enough impact through the helmet to kill— no, wake the target.’
This duel was also advantageous for Lee Han.
Since the helmet blocked impact through magic, disrupting the magical structure itself would likely disable the effect.
No matter how sophisticated Frost Giant magic was, Lee Han felt that Baldoron’s Mana Hammer should at least be capable of interrupting it temporarily.
‘There doesn’t seem to be any separate anti–mana hammer structure built into it. High chance of success.’
“Junior.”
“?”
At some point, Catten had quietly approached from behind.
The beastman senior lowered his voice anxiously.
“Will you really be alright? If you give the signal, even now...”
“Ah, I’m still fine. Let’s hear the rest first.”
“!!!”
Catten looked deeply shocked.
He had approached to verify things personally in case Giselle had misunderstood, but Lee Han gave exactly the same answer?
“Are there more duels?”
“That’s right. The final duel is especially enjoyable. A contest of drinking poisoned liquor.”
Drinking contests involving strong alcohol weren’t unique to Frost Giants.
Similar customs existed all across the Empire, and giants and dwarves were particularly fond of them—
“It’s liquor infused with magically brewed poison.”
“...Pardon?”
Lee Han asked again, convinced he had misheard.
Unfortunately, he had heard perfectly clearly.
The Frost Giant rolled over a massive barrel and explained proudly,
“It’s liquor mixed with poison crafted by our shaman. When a warrior wishes to prove toughness, he gulps this down.”
The Frost Giants apparently didn’t stop at strong alcohol.
They actively added poison to it.
Occasionally, giants genuinely died from drinking too much, but Frost Giants viewed that no differently than combat casualties.
No giant would stop fighting simply because some people died.
This time, Catten immediately made up his mind.
“I’m drawing my sword, Junior.”
“Luck is on my side. This worked out perfectly.”
“?!?!?”
Catten stared at the delighted White Tiger Tower junior in complete disbelief.
...Could it be that he and Wardanaz actually weren’t close?
‘No, they definitely seemed close...’
***
The duel naturally ended in Lee Han’s victory after he chose the third contest.
“Urrgh...”
“...”
Despite winning, Lee Han found himself unable to celebrate.
The number of collapsed Frost Giants had increased from one to two.
“Poison... too much poison...”
“If you collapse, who’s supposed to guarantee my honor? Senior, do you know any way to neutralize this poisoned liquor?”
“Junior. Of course I don’t.”
Catten answered with complete confidence.
Very few people could declare ignorance that confidently.
Somehow, Lee Han found himself nodding along.
‘Fair point.’
“I’ve never even seen this liquor before. Besides, it’s Frost Giant poison.”
“Has House Moradi never fought Frost Giants?”
“Not every family spends its time battling monsters from other dimensions.”
Arguing with Giselle would accomplish nothing.
Lee Han quickly changed tactics.
Gonadaltes’s Yeongnak!
Normally, this bizarre spell—which transferred another person’s status ailment onto himself—had limited practical use.
But in a situation like this, it was different.
Lee Han could absorb ordinary poisoning with relatively little risk.
COUGH!
The Frost Giant, whose complexion had turned dark from poison, abruptly regained consciousness.
“You’re awake?”
“Did... did I lose?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t remember! I refuse to accept it! Let’s duel again—”
SHING—
Catten’s sword stopped at the Frost Giant’s throat.
The giant immediately nodded.
“...Requesting another duel after defeat would disgrace me as a warrior. I will guarantee the challenger’s honor in my own name.”
“Thank you!”
The Frost Giant then woke up his helmeted companion lying nearby.
All while grumbling under his breath.
“What’s wrong with deciding honor after two or three matches instead of just one...”
“...”
“...”
The helmeted Frost Giant slowly regained consciousness and shouted,
“I should’ve used my fists instead of a club... What happened!?”
“The challenger passed the trial. I promised to guarantee his honor.”
“You idiot...! You should’ve left it to me! You stole the honor from the rest of us!”
“Hmph. Then you should have challenged first.”
The recovered Frost Giants began snarling at one another.
And once their argument ended, they kept glancing toward Lee Han.
“Perhaps another duel could bring the honor of challenging one recognized by the king...”
“Honestly, isn’t one duel too few? True honor requires multiple battles...”
“What the hell is wrong with these people?”
Giselle muttered in disbelief.
They looked like a majestic warrior race, but their behavior was somehow even pettier than the giants living in the Einroguard mountains.
They had lost fair and square, yet they kept lingering around with comments like ‘one duel isn’t enough’ and ‘a few more would be nice.’
“W-what are you talking about? We never said anything.”
“We will not tolerate insults from outsiders!”
Apparently stung by her criticism, the Frost Giants finally stopped pestering them and led the group onward.
Inside the valley stood a fortress built from snow and ice.
The Frost Giants stationed there reacted in confusion upon seeing the visitors.
“Who are they? What business do outsiders from another dimension have here?”
“They are honorable challengers acknowledged by the king.”
“What!? Then that honor should belong to me—”
“It’s already settled. I challenged and lost, and I promised there would be no further duels.”
“Who are you to decide that!?”
The Frost Giants immediately swarmed around their comrade in outrage.
Because of this selfish idiot, the opportunity for glorious honor had vanished.
“I understand your disappointment, but what can you do? Everyone should just let it go...”
Even after Lee Han said that, the Frost Giants refused to give up.
One of them muttered quietly,
“If the one who made the promise disappears, wouldn’t the agreement reset? Then we could duel again.”
“Indeed! ...Wait, could you come over here for a moment?”
“How dare you?! You’ll never eliminate me!”
The Frost Giant being dragged away by his comrades shouted furiously.
But the others were just as serious.
Since the chance to earn honor recognized by the king had disappeared, they genuinely wanted to remove the one responsible and reclaim the opportunity.
“That’s enough, you trash. Are you seriously still fighting over something so trivial?”
At the voice of the human mage behind them, the Frost Giants turned in anger.
No matter how much recognition these outsiders had earned, Frost Giants were not a race known for patience or mercy.
“What insolent fool dares— Gasp! Gonadaltes!”
“G-Gonadaltes!”
“Gonadaltes!?”
The Frost Giants froze in horror the instant they saw the mage standing at the valley entrance.
No matter how poor Frost Giants were at distinguishing the appearances of other races, there was one face they could never forget.
The nightmare of giantkind.
Gonadaltes himself.
The mage stood at the entrance with a group of attendants behind him.
“What brings you here?”
“A disciple of royalty arrived as an envoy, yet things were taking far too long.”
The White Tiger Tower students following behind the Insane Doppelganger nodded repeatedly.
Whatever else the Skull Principal’s projection might be, right now he was on their side.
‘Please crush those Frost Giants properly!’
“Gonadaltes’s disciple, you say?!”
“I already showed mercy once.”
The Insane Doppelganger’s voice turned cold.
“There will not be a second time. Watch your tongues carefully.”
The Frost Giants immediately lowered their heads.
“So he really was that Archmage’s disciple...”
“...That’s right.”
The fact that the Insane Doppelganger had shown up after ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the duel ended was admittedly irritating.
Still, Lee Han decided it was better late than never.
Thanks to his arrival, the Frost Giants’ clingy obsession with further duels vanished completely.
‘Just what exactly did he do to giants in the past?’
Lee Han himself had witnessed the young Skull Principal rampaging through giants, demons, and practically everything else in ancient times.
But for the Frost Giants to remain this terrified even now—
Especially as a race from another dimension—
‘No. That’s not important right now.’
“Everyone stop obsessing over honor and duels already! Let’s finally move on to the actual issue.”
Lee Han immediately pressed the advantage.
Now that the Frost Giants were intimidated, he needed to shut down the duel issue permanently.
“Understood. We’ll discuss the real matter.”
“But wait a moment first.”
The Frost Giants nodded, then each pulled something from their pockets.
Wax memo pads.
Lee Han watched the enormous giants scribbling on them and grew curious.
He grabbed the helmeted Frost Giant—the same one who had been knocked unconscious earlier—and asked,
“What exactly are you all writing?”
“Challenger, can’t you read?”
“...I don’t know Frost Giant script, but I can read plenty of other languages.”
“Learning letters is important.”
Being pitied by someone effectively monolingual was somehow deeply irritating.
Still, Lee Han endured it.
“So what does it say?”
“This part means ‘honorable challenger acknowledged by the king.’ It describes you, Challenger.”
“...And the line underneath?”
“That means ‘disciple of the mage Gonadaltes.’ Another modifier describing you.”
“And the last line?”
“It says that since you possess two honors too valuable to yield to anyone else, we must claim them before the others do.”
Lee Han slowly nodded.
Then he firmly decided that Frost Giants should never again be allowed access to writing materials.
