Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

Back on the sidelines, the crowd was praising Lucas liberally. Even though he lost, the fact that he had nearly defeated a Sixth Step Vein Opening Practitioner while only being in the Fourth Step Body Tempering Realm was already an astonishing feat.

As for Brynn’s sudden engagement proposal, none of the adults, including her own father, took her seriously, thinking she was just joking around.

Of course, if she was serious, Brynn’s father wasn’t going to object. Lucas was clearly an outstanding boy, and marrying him would also create a direct connection with the Balfour’s, so there didn’t seem to be any downsides to such an arrangement.

Naturally, there were some who weren’t too happy about this, especially among the younger generation.

Brynn was the young genius of the Campbell Earl Family and was already quite the beauty.

Calling her ’cute’ wasn’t exactly appropriate with her tall stature, toned muscles, and already obvious curves at just 16 years old, but she definitely had a wild allure to her. Coupled with her free-spirited and friendly personality, Brynn had plenty of admirers gathered here today.

If all that wasn’t enough, she was also the grandniece of First Queen Marianne, making Brynn quite the desirable prize, yet now she had publicly mused about becoming Lucas’ fiancée.

It was irksome to more than one of the older boys in the crowd.

On the female side... there were several who were envious of Brynn’s boldness, and at least 2 of them, one with red hair the other with silver, who were grinding their teeth unconsciously, wondering why Lucas hadn’t immediately rejected Brynn’s outrageous suggestion?

Was he interested in that type of girl?

Should they try being a bit blunter with their intentions?

And so, as various thoughts swirled around the crowd, the first round of tournament’s matches concluded.

.....

In order to give the Body Tempering and Vein Opening youths who had just fought a chance to rest, the first round of matches for the Core Formation and Sea Establishment Practitioners were held next.

There were a few talents among this group who were of particular interest to the watching masters.

Timothy Balfour, Gabriel Roth, Korbin Eashan, and Norma Turner were definitely the stars, each of them having already stepped into the Sea Establishment Realm before turning 25, but there were also others who were a bit younger who showed great potential.

Anticipation built as the competitors entered the rings.

8 of the strongest, most talented youths in the Rockwell Kingdom were about to face off, including the young genius of the royal family, Twelfth Princess Christina Rockwell.

Only a select few knew about Tina’s true strength, and obviously she wasn’t going to expose herself in a friendly tournament like this, but that didn’t mean Christina was going to completely hold back.

Thankfully, her Senior Brother and Senior Sister had already displayed strength and skill far beyond what their age and cultivations would normally suggest possible, so showing a bit of her real potential shouldn’t be a problem.

Facing the princess in her first match was a young man named Rowan from the Royal Province, a youth whose smug face made it clear he had a bit too much confidence in himself.

Standing 20 metres apart, waiting for the referee to start the match, Rowan actually flashed his version of a charming smile, gave a noble bow, and called out, "Please forgive me, Princess, but I shall be winning this match. I will be sure to apologize appropriately for any offence I may commit once this unpleasant business is all over, perhaps over tea in a more... private setting?"

Watching this arrogant Sixth Step Core Formation boy openly disdain, then try to flirt with his Junior Sister, Lucas should have gotten mad, and it would be a lie to say he wasn’t feeling slightly annoyed at that moment, but honestly, he mostly just felt pity for Rowen.

Understanding Christina’s personality, and how she tended to react when provoked like this, Lucas could only shake his head and say a silent prayer for this fool.

Beside him, Eris also had a funny look on her face as she muttered under her breath, "Is he stupid or something? Sister Tina is going to flatten him..."

"En," Brynn, who had at some point joined their group, nodded, "I’ve met Rowan several times in the past; he’s always been annoying like this."

Pursing her lips, Eris turned to this ’intruder’ and glowered at her, which was rare for the young red-head as Brynn was exactly the type of girl she would normally get along swimmingly with.

Seeing Eris react like this, however, only caused Brynn to smile even wider and move closer to Lucas, linking arms with him as a knowing glint flashing across the depths of her eyes.

Eris fumed when she saw this, grabbed Lucas’ other arm, and pointed at Brynn, declaring loudly, "I won’t lose to you!"

"Oh? In the tournament... or in something else?" Brynn tilted her head playfully and asked.

"Both!" Eris shouted.

"Hahaha!" Brynn burst into laughter, hugging Lucas’ arm even tighter, "Bring it on!"

Lucas, meanwhile, felt like the temperature around him heating up for a variety or reasons, so he did what any self-respecting boy his age would do when caught in such enviab... such an impossible situation...

He feigned complete and total ignorance and focused all his attention on the match in front of him.

.....

Christina was already in a bad mood after Lucas’ match, and what happened following it, so when this well-known skirt-chaser began mouthing off to her, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

She hadn’t been planning on losing, but now she didn’t want to just win, she wanted to vent.

The referee for this match happened to be Allina, who obviously noticed the faint murderous intent leaking from her little niece.

For a second, she debated trying to warn the poor sap making a fool of himself to stop while he was ahead, but quickly tossed the thought aside, figuring it would be a good lesson for the impetuous youth.

Well... it should be fine as long as Tina doesn’t actually kill him, Allina shrugged internally before lifting her hand.

Seeing this, Rowan elegantly drew his sword, still trying to show-off despite it being a training weapon.

As for Christina, she just stood there glaring, not even reaching for her weapon.

Realizing how angry the princess seemed to be, Rowan simply laughed and shook his head, thinking he had already won and relaxing his stance further.

"Begin!"