MMORPG: Crowd Control

If she didn't know beforehand, then Griselda clearly understood what was going on now with Lei Zhen's behavior.

He was not here to converse with her as an equal but to establish a status of who's the one in charge here.

The rejection of the handshake was Lei Zhen saying she was not worthy enough to shake his hand yet. As for the missing tea, he meant that she was not qualified enough to drink anything from their source.

In other words, he was outright saying what qualified her to have the Commanding Officer post and converse with him.

'This person is indeed not easy…' Griselda thought to herself. She was not offended by this treatment because she would have done the same if the situation was reversed.

After all, she was still a stranger who subtly used a threat on Kate to bring herself here.

"Tea or not, we can always drink some of them later." Griselda smiled lightly, cleverly answering Lei Zhen's provocation.

"Very well, tea isn't really something that we can not drink." Lei Zhen nodded his head. Inwardly, he was raising her some points in terms of intelligence and comprehension.

To be a commanding officer, one must have the wits and the brains to analyze any unexpected situation in the war. Otherwise, an entire army could collapse with the lack of leadership as they failed to adapt to the situation.

Although he was wary of Griselda, Lei Zhen would not outright deny her request since any capable person shall receive their respectful role and position.

She had not really caused any harm to them and if she was really sincere in joining Princess Kate's faction, then by all means, he would welcome her with open arms.

The conversations continued on for a while with the two of them constantly saying some random words that had other meanings hidden behind them.

"Anyway, I've determined that you do have the intelligence to lead an army, but what about your actual combat power?" Lei Zhen suddenly asked.

"I don't really know about my actual combat power." Griselda shook her head before smiling. "How about we have a casual spar so that you can see my strength for yourself?"

Hearing that, Kate wanted to say something, but Lei Zhen held her hand under the table, prompting her to control her emotion.

Of course, Kate was the only one here that knew Lei Zhen doesn't have much combat power.

After all, there was not a single time that she had seen him using some powerful attack skills during the monster's horde or the ambush of the imperial guards.

The only thing he had used for some crowd control skills that most ordinary sorcerers or mages could use, albeit a bit different in usage of duration and power.

However, to her surprise, Lei Zhen nodded his head and readily agreed to Griselda's request.

'Huh? Have Lei Zhen been hiding more of his abilities?' Kate thought.

Meanwhile, Griselda's smile turned bigger as she stood up excitedly. "Haha, as expected of someone who does big things. Swift and decisive in their action."

Lei Zhen didn't bother speaking further and stood up, walking to a nearby empty area.

The other patrolling imperial guards nearby couldn't help but slow their movement down a bit.

After all, this was an opportunity to grasp the ability of Lei Zhen and why he was heavily favored by Princess Kate.

As for Lei Zhen, he knew exactly why Griselda requested a spar. 'You want to test me, but I'm afraid you have overestimated yourself this time.'

Sometime later, Griselda equipped her staff and changed into a new outfit, one that was extremely revealing of her long legs. Her beautiful long legs were on full display, causing some of the imperial guards to start drooling.

"What the heck?" Kate was astonished to see Griselda revealing her long legs and tempting the men.

Kate thought this kind of lowly trick would not be enough for Lei Zhen, but to her surprise, she saw his eyes glittering at the sight of the long legs.

Lei Zhen's eyes were sparkling as he glanced up and down at Griselda's long legs.

"Heh, it seems like my enchanting skills are still impeccable." Griselda smiled and instantly began casting a spell.

She was confident that Lei Zhen was temporarily charmed by her passive skill as an Enchantress Sorcerer Class.

Thus, she was focused on casting her spell to force Lei Zhen to bring out his trump card or possibly destroy the mask that was hiding his identity.

However, right when she was in the midst of casting her spell, Lei Zhen suddenly extended his hand.

"Good spar, Griselda." Lei Zhen calmly said, his eyes remaining crystal clear as he sent out a wave of mana toward her.

"H-How?"

After getting hit by the mana, Griselda was stunned by his skill and was confused by the outcome.

"What just happened? How could you suddenly move when you were charmed by my long legs?" She struggled to move and could easily detect that she was hit by a crowd control skill.

Yet the most astonishing part was that Lei Zhen didn't cast or make any motion of casting a spell. It was just him extending his hand and she was instantly hit.

Why was there no cooldown for his activation?

"It's simple. I'm stronger than you, so I don't need to waste time casting a spell." Lei Zhen said and turned around, prompting the spar to end in such a manner.

Although unwilling to accept the result, Griselda knew she was stunned temporarily for 5 seconds. And if he could immobilize her without her realizing it, then she knew he could defeat her within the 5 seconds margin.

It was just that he didn't do so because it was beneath his level to bully her.

Alas, if only she knew Lei Zhen was secretly worried that Griselda insisted on fighting to the bitter end.

After all, what he used was the "saved" spell slot from the Arch of Magi that can be cast right away.

'Epic rank items are truly different. Luckily there's no level limit for wearing this item. Otherwise, I'm going to be exposed right away.' Lei Zhen secretly thanked his luck silently when opening the mystery??? Box.