Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

The second round of the tournament began half-an-hour later, with the winners from the Body Tempering and Vein Opening Realm division taking to the stage again.

The battles this time were even more intense, with elimination by knockout becoming far more common rather than one side forcing the other to surrender.

Audrey and Eris both fought hard, but were unfortunately defeated in this round as they met significantly stronger opponents who no longer underestimated them.

Even so, no one in the crowd thought less of them as it was clear they were still quite young and had plenty of room to grow.

Brynn, on the other hand, managed to win her match even though her opponent’s cultivation was a Minor Realm higher than hers. She would now advance to the quarter-finals.

In the Core Formation and Sea Establishment division, Timothy Balfour and Gabriel Roth both advanced without issue.

Surprisingly, Norma Turner and Korbin Eashan, the two other Sea Establishment youths, were matched together by the random draw.

Perhaps thanks to her slightly higher cultivation, Norma ultimately managed to eliminate her opponent after a long, difficult fight, much to the disappointment of the Eashan Marquess Family.

Olivia Roth was also eliminated in this round as she found herself up against Christina.

Unfortunately for Olivia, her talent had always been in the field of Alchemy rather than combat, so despite having excellent sword skills and a solid Eighth Step Core Formation cultivation, she was quickly overpowered and overwhelmed by Christina.

It was frustrating for Olivia, but she managed to maintain a dignified manner even in defeat, bowing politely before turning silently to leave the stage.

”Oliv... Lady Roth!” Christina suddenly called out.

”Hm? Is there something more, Your Highness?” Olivia turned back and asked faintly.

”I...” Christina started, then paused, wrinkling her brow.

Resisting the urge to purse her lips, which would be unbecoming of her, Olivia waited patiently for the princess to continue.

Eventually, Christina met eyes with the slightly older girl and declared, ”I don’t think we should allow others to define our relationship for us.”

For a brief moment, Olivia’s cold expression cracked, allowing genuine surprise to shine through. Still, this didn’t last long as the young lady quickly managed to compose herself and nod, ”I will take your words into consideration, Your Highness.”

And with that, she turned once more and left.

Frowning ever so slightly, Christina started at Olivia’s departing back, seriously wondering if there was some way to repair their friendship.

Christina was the young genius of the Rockwell Family while Olivia was the most outstanding young lady from the Roth Family. The two of them were also quite close in age, so they had first met when they were very young, an age where it was much easier to make friends and play with others.

As they grew older, however, people couldn’t help comparing Christina and Olivia, which inevitably resulted in tension forming between the girls.

Over the years, their friendship became strained, especially when Christina’s overwhelming cultivation talent began to shine, causing many to quietly whisper about how Olivia was ’inferior’ to her.

The two of them never became enemies or developed a deep animosity towards one another, but the words spoken by everyone around them still hurt and slowly widened the gap between them.

After all her recent experiences, though, Christina realized how stupid all that was and wanted to find a way to re-connect with one of her few real childhood friends, but trying to fix something that had been chipped away and damaged over more than a decade wasn’t easy.

Christina also couldn’t just apologize and ask for Olivia’s forgiveness because, even objectively, she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Saying ’sorry’ when you didn’t mean it and while not knowing why you were apologizing wasn’t just pointless, it was insulting. Christina wasn’t going to make such a foolish mistake.

But then, how was she supposed to make up with Olivia?

Pondering such complicated issues, Christina left the stage and returned to where Eris, Brynn, and now Audrey were waiting for her.

.....

Timothy, having won his own match handily, returned to the sidelines where he was greeted warmly.

Misty City was the second largest city in the Balfour March, so it was only to be expected that the Young Master of the Balfour Family had plenty of people cheering him on today.

Among this small crowd, Lucas was finally able to relax somewhat and chat freely.

Kaden, who was part of the Patterson Family’s delegation, was also standing beside the young boy, clapping loudly as he watched the matches with great interest.

”You know, this might be a good chance for you,” Lucas commented to the burly youth, ”I’m sure Audrey would appreciate you comforting her after her loss.”

”Uh... um...” Kaden, the gentle giant, stuttered, his gaze drifting between Lucas and the girls on the other side of the sparring field.

”That’s right,” Timothy, who had just arrived, gave the boy an encouraging pat on his back, ”A man should act decisively.”

”Bu... but...”

Others who were nearby and overheard this interesting conversation also began prodding Kaden, some of them genuinely trying to advise the indecisive young lad, but most just joining in because of how amusing it seemed.

Eventually, with a bright red face and a dozen people literally pushing him from behind, Kaden worked up the courage to start walking in Audrey’s direction.

Whether he would make it there or chicken-out halfway... that remained to be seen.

”You know, Lucas...” Having lost their source of entertainment, one of the Balfour youths turned his attention to the next possible target.

However, Lucas was far more bold and cunning than Kaden, so he swiftly intercepted the older boy’s attempt, ”If you think those two need comforting, you’re welcome to try. How you die isn’t any of my business.”

”How about letting them comfort you, then?” Another member of Misty City’s younger generation, a troublemaker named Scott, grinned and teased.

Rolling his eyes, Lucas shot the boy an amused look, ”Sure, right after you go comfort your dear ’Lady Roth’.”

”Hey! I was just cheering for... I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking...”

Laughs burst out from all around, causing the young man to lower his head in embarrassment.

Just now, during Christina and Olivia’s match, when all of them should have been on the princess’ side, Scott had loudly been cheering for the latter instead.

Now, there was nothing too surprising about Scott’s behaviour, Olivia had long silky dark-grey hair, mesmerizing dark-green eyes, an alluring face, and an outstanding figure, easily making her one of the most beautiful young ladies in the kingdom.

She also had a cold, aloof personality that made her seem pure and unapproachable.

In other words, she was the kind of young woman that tickled the fancies of many boys.

(Illustration)

Scott surely wasn’t the only fan Olivia had amongst their group, but he was the only one who had expressed such thoughts out loud just now, so he naturally became a valid target.

”You guys should quit while you still have ’some’ dignity left,” Timothy shook his head wryly.

Unlike most of the boys here, Timothy had done more than just casually interact with Lucas, he had worked together with the young boy several times on a variety of things and understood one fact very clearly.

There were plenty in their generation who were stronger than Lucas, but none of them was smarter. In fact, Timothy doubted there were many in the generation above their own that were a match for Lucas’ intelligence.

As far as he was concerned, trying to outwit the Matriarch’s First Disciple was more foolish than trying to test how hard an iron plate was by hammering it with your head.