Chapter 383: Hot-Headed Youths
Of course, being an ’adult’, Timothy had duties to attend to as well.
He originally lived in the Balfour March’s capital of Martin, but when Celestina returned from the South-West Province, Timothy had moved to Misty City to join the Raging River Legion and serve in the military, something that was mandatory for every core member of the Balfour Family.
Not all of them remained in the military for life, but 10 years of service was considered the absolute minimum.
That would only happen a few months from now, though, so Timothy usually found himself somewhat idle.
Now, however, he was assigned the task of playing host to all the other young geniuses from around the Rockwell Kingdom.
This was a role Timothy proved himself quite capable at, but his lack of interest in subtler details quickly became an issue as his carefree personality sometimes grated against the sensibilities of the more conservative noble children.
Fortunately, Lucas and Christina were always close by and stepped in to mollify the situation whenever Timothy slipped up, something the young man was honestly quite thankful for.
Eris’ presence was also a Heaven-sent blessing as she could rapidly make friends with just about anyone regardless of their background or age. Her cheerful presence alone made it difficult for most people to stay upset for long.
There was one person, though, who Timothy simply couldn’t get along with; Gabriel Roth, the 21-years-old leader of the Roth Family’s younger generation.
The feud between the Balfours and Roths was famous, but the dislike Timothy and Gabriel had for each other had nothing to do with that complicated history; instead, their dispute stemmed from something much simpler.
Timothy was casual, carefree, and uninhibited in his behaviour, while Gabriel was cold, logical, and extremely strict when it came to propriety.
In other words, their personalities were completely incompatible.
Every time the two young men met, they would inevitably get into an argument, with Timothy quickly raising his voice in frustration while Gabriel sneered back at him disdainfully.
Tensions built between the youths for half-a-month before something set them off and the two young men drew their weapons, ready to exchange blows to settle their differences once and for all.
It was at that point that Lucas swept in and made a proposal.
A tournament, one open to anyone from the younger generation who wanted to fight and prove their strength.
This was a simple and effective way for all the hot-blooded youths to vent some of their energy and to show off their skills.
As for the prize, Lucas announced it would be a private lesson with the Royal Ancestor.
When Lucas said this, the dozens of gathered youths were momentarily flabbergasted before they all burst into cheers. The only ones not smiling were Timothy and Gabriel who just glared viciously at each other, silently vowing to beat down the arrogant/uncouth man before them.
.....
"Lucas, how did you get Ancestor Ariana to agree to this?" Christina quietly asked him at the time, to which the young boy invoked his right to remain silent and averted his eyes.
Realizing her Senior Brother had just told a bold-faced lie, the princess felt like face-palming; however, remembering who she was dealing with, Christina just let out a sigh and muttered, "Well, I’m sure you’ll figure something out."
Scratching his cheek awkwardly, Lucas flashed a wry grin before quickly going over all the possible ways he could convince the former queen to agree to this small request.
A few days later, 64 members of the Rockwell Kingdom’s younger generation gathered inside the largest sparring ground in the Raging River Legion’s headquarters and drew lots.
The tournament was divided into 2 categories, those in the Body Tempering and Vein Opening Realms, and those in the Core Formation and Sea Establishment Realm.
Such an event, no matter how hastily arranged, of course drew the attention of all the gathered delegations and many locals, with hundreds of people showing up to cheer on these promising youths.
As for the prize, it had cost Lucas a few blueprints and ideas he had wanted to keep to himself for a bit longer, but he had managed to convince Royal Ancestor Ariana to agree to his request.
In all honesty, the former queen would have agreed even without Lucas paying anything, but after some of their recent interactions, the merchant in Ariana simply couldn’t resist probing the boy’s brain a bit.
Sugar, soap, farm machines, sponge cake, water boilers... It was like there was an unlimited number of ideas crammed into the young boy’s head, all of which the Vast Ocean Trading Company Elder figured could make her a hefty profit.
Since Lucas was offering her the knowledge for free, why refuse?
Besides, teaching a couple of talented youths from her homeland was something Ariana was always happy to do.
With several Commanders from the Raging River Legion acting as referees, multiple matches could be run simultaneously to quickly whittle down the number of contestants.
In order to make things as fair as possible, while regular armour was allowed, only blunted weapons could be used, with each match lasting until one side lost the ability to fight or the referee judged a fatal blow would have been landed.
Such rules might seem a bit brutal, but none of the youths who signed up to participate was unfamiliar with accidents or injuries. They weren’t ordinary children who were raised in carefully sheltered environments, they were the best the Rockwell Kingdom’s younger generation had to offer and were thus trained thoroughly by their respective forces.
Christina participating in the tournament was expected, even though she was ’only’ in the Third Step Core Formation Realm, but when both Lucas and Eris took to the field as well, many in older generation were quite surprised.
Lucas was by far the youngest fighter, being barely more than 10. Sure, he had advanced to the Fourth Step Body Tempering and Sea Establishment Realm a few days ago, but that was still much lower than any of the other youths who he would be fighting.
In fact, there were only 5 youths in the Body Tempering Realm who decided to participate in the tournament at all, Eris and Lucas included.
Eris had also recently made a breakthrough, reaching the Eighth Step Body Tempering Realm, but she had also lost her dominant hand only a few months prior. How was she supposed to fight properly after so little time had passed?
Up in the spectator stands, many praised Celestina for her Disciples’ bravery, commending their fighting spirit and willingness to test their limits, but it was painfully obvious that none of them were expecting much from these three.
If they were being honest, most of the older generation were internally shaking their heads, thinking Lucas, Eris, and Christina were acting impulsively, letting pride blind them to the obvious reality that they were too young and weak to compete in such a competition.
For her part, Celestina said nothing and simply nodded, knowing full well what these people were thinking and what their reactions would be when the dust settled.