As he made his way through the halls of the great coliseum in Peters City, Lothur stood beside his wife and sister-in-law, the first holding one of his hands and the latter hugging his left arm.
Viktoria found it a little strange how close her sister was to her husband, but she was not suspicious of Annaliese. No, if it were Lothur hugging her sister, she would see trouble. But the opposite was no big deal for her to bother with.
Everyone knew she was his wife. So, no one would think wrong things of this careless behavior of Annaliese.
Thus, Viktoria had only the matters concerning the Province Conference on her mind at the moment.
"Are you confident about doing all these tests on the same day, Lothur?" She asked him, alternating her gaze between the way ahead of them and his eyes. "Each test will consume your energy, so you may not have the strength to fight at the end of each night."
He smiled confidently and said. "Don't worry, my endurance is much greater than you think, dear.... Or maybe you already know that, don't you?"
Hearing Lothur's playful tone and the shameless smile on his face, Annaliese immediately understood what he was talking about. 'This scoundrel talks about these things like that, without any ceremony...'
As for Viktoria, she blushed and said. "Don't be full of yourself! It's not just physical endurance that matters in situations like this competition! You'll be exhausted mentally. That's what I'm talking about."
"It depends on the level of my opponents..." He pondered this and asked her. "What is the average strength of the participants? Are they more like you or like Anna?"
"Hey, don't talk like that! I'm way above average!" Annaliese complained as she pinched Lothur's waist, unhappy that he had made such an unfair comparison.
Viktoria laughed. "The average strength in terms of cultivation should be between the 7th and 8th Transformation. So, only the strongest, probably one or two per family in the case of the strongest organizations in the province, are at the 2nd stage."
"Unless you are very unlucky, most of your competitors will be people about your level."
"Oh? Then it won't be so hard. I'm better than those of the same level as me..." He peacefully commented.
"Tsk!"
"Don't talk like that. Cultivation and talent don't necessarily go together!" His wife corrected him while squeezing his right hand harder. "Some formations masters at the 7th Transformation are better than others who are already at the 8th!"
"That doesn't matter. I'm the best 1-star formation master in the city, dear. So unless a 2-star one appears before me, I won't lose."
Lothur was not arrogant. He talks about facts. Since he knew few 1-stars were on his level, this young man had no difficulty saying those words. But he would not say the same thing about, for example, the battles. After all, competitions of this kind depended on factors he could not judge, such as bloodline, physique, techniques, etc.
If someone asked him, he would be confident in making statements about his performance relative to his three spiritual professions. But not regarding his skill as a warrior.
"You are very confident. Then I will believe you," Viktoria commented, feeling good internally, as this would help her family get more points in this competition.
She was already worried about the absence of two talented young people in her group, two individuals who could actually help them a lot. But with Lothur, this card up her team's sleeve, Viktoria could not help but feel a little more hopeful.
Obviously, she did not think he would get House Frost to 2nd place just by his participation. That would be ridiculous since there were 14 members in their group, all of whom would need to perform well for the family to reach such a place.
But if Lothur performed well, it would be easier for the family would at least not lose power!
Then, Viktoria felt fortunate for his participation in this event, which was so crucial for her family's future.
She then said. "Anyway, spare yourself as much as possible and not show all your skills. That is not to protect you from enemy probing but to save your energy."
"Hmm, I'll do that..." He commented as they were about to walk down the stairs in front of them to leave the coliseum.
However, as they walked through that part of that majestic building, Merten's group appeared ahead of Lothur's.
This time, this young man from the Baier family was not leading the group but alongside the strongest competitor from House Baier in this edition of the Province Conference.
"Viktoria, it seems that the rumors about your marriage are not as true as I had thought..." The person leading that group commented while smiling at Lothur's wife.
Viktoria made an icy expression and said to that level 10 young man. "My marriage is not something for you to discuss, Erich."
"Hehe, no? But I must say, I am surprised you dare to show such intimacy with this fellow..." He looked at Lothur as if he were watching a bag of shit. "Different rumors, not pleasant ones at all, will spread because of this."
"And what does this have to do with you?" Lothur asked as he looked at that individual while running one of his hands around Viktoria's waist. "Forget that. Considering you're standing next to this guy, maybe you're just another idiot..."
Seeing Lothur looking at him, Merten turned red with anger but was prevented from acting against his enemy by the leader of his group.
"Lothur, eh? I want to see if you'll speak up later when the competitions begin." The black-haired young man said this with a provocative smile on his face.
Meanwhile, several people in the surrounding area had stopped their conversations to observe these two groups, many looking at Erich with good thoughts for him.
Many people in this city were envious of Lothur because he married the most beautiful woman of the younger generation of the province. As many of them were gathered in the coliseum this day, there was a high concentration of those interested in Viktoria in the area, all mentally giving icy looks to the silver-haired young man.
But Lothur knew that bothering with the ugly stares in his surroundings would get him nowhere, so he merely focused on the fool in front of him. "I want to see it too, hehe. I think it will be an interesting show for the audience..."
He walked a few meters, sidestepping this group, and then looked back to say. "But I recommend that you guys don't try to rush whatever you have in mind. Remember, your family's future will be at stake!"
,m "Tsk!"
"A coward! He's trying to hide by using these threats!" Merten brandished as he saw Lothur and the twin sisters moving away from his group.
"Leave him," Erich said as he looked at Viktoria's ass. "Soon, that person will no longer be a problem. Just follow the patriarch's plans, and everything will end well."
"Yes, sorry about that, cousin Erich. I just got a little carried away because of how disgusting that bastard is..."
As they talked and several dangerous glances were turned towards Lothur, Anneke followed in his footsteps.
...