The Stonehearted Knight-Chapter 451: At the root

Hex left the shop with a heavy heart. His mother’s plan, ingenious as it sounded, only elevated his worries.

Before meeting her, he worried more about his safety and how to escape the clutches of Orosol.

If he followed his mother’s plan, he risked exposing his greatest secret. Not only would it paint a target on his back, he also risked losing all current and future allies.

In the end she promised to leave it up to him. It would be his choice. To flip or not. She wouldn’t force him.

And he believed her. Though, it opened another can of questions. If he chose to abandon the plan, what then? What would she do then?

Because there was no doubt in Hex’s mind that she would try something. Everything she had done so far and everything she would do from here on, all had a purpose.

She wouldn’t just leave a fragment of her soul for nothing. It wasn’t a mere coincidence she possessed someone the one time he was around.

Everything had been planned. Not now. Not a month ago. The plan dated before his birth. In fact, he believed his birth, or creation, was part of her plan.

He believed her claim of being willing to bring change. What he didn’t believe was that she would remain in the background. As a support.

No way.

’I won’t be able to stop her. Nor can I stop the Crack from falling. The only thing I can do is to disrupt all the plans in motion. And to do that I need to do one thing. Find my Knight Path.’

...

The day of the following round arrived. They had been informed about the format.

This round wouldn’t be held inside the arena. Hex and his team joined the other teams.

"Wow."

"Do you see those giant roots?"

Some of them whistled at the sight before them. Hex, too, was left in awe.

The place they gathered at was at the base of Wrixia. Right where the tree began. It was so massive, it filled his entire vision.

Even he, with his enhanced vision, couldn’t see the edges of the trunk. The roots filled the ground.

He sensed them coil up and down. They were standing with about a thousand people and they still couldn’t occupy like twenty percent of a single root.

To his right, about a thousand meters to his left, another root could be seen disappearing into the ground.

On top of that one, he saw multiple buildings. It was twice the number of buildings, at least, of Grindeston.

"That’s Wrixone." Hestia said when she noticed everyone looking in that direction. "It is believed to be the first city to exist."

"Seriously?" Quid whistled. "Perhaps we could pay it a visit. Who knows what secrets the city has to tell."

Quid appreciated historical sites and wonders the most. Hex learned that through the daily packages that arrived at the inn.

The guy loved to buy antiques without having the eye for it. It wasn’t a wonder he had been duped quite a few times. He hadn’t learned from the past, ironically.

"Outsiders aren’t welcome."

A beautiful young woman said from the side. There was no malice in her voice. She smiled politely.

Her clothes, green vests over dark green trousers and black boots, showed that she belonged to the Touch of Life team. She was a Dryad.

"And why is that?" Quid asked with a frown. "If this is where everything started, shouldn’t everyone be allowed in? It’s like an ancestral home to us all."

How shameless. Hex nearly rolled his eyes. The Dryads laughed, genuinely amused by it.

"You would think that, wouldn’t you?" The woman who had spoken first, said in mock anger.

"But nowadays it’s used as the training ground for Dryads and Druids. Not every Dryad and Druid. No, no. You have to be one of the best. If we win this round, we will be allowed to train there. As will one member of every other team who passes this round."

Realization dawned upon Hex. Indeed. That was one of the benefits at the start of the tournament.

He had heard Hestia tell him about it. It was one of the main reasons she had joined Ella’s team.

Hestia was driven with a desire to improve herself. She hadn’t spoken about it. He sensed it.

After witnessing the castle’s destruction and the baron being captured by Heaven’s Vault, she nearly died in Notresol.

She wasn’t the only one who looked smitten by the city on top of the other root. Elron appeared to be drooling. The twins sighed.

Hex confessed, in his mind, he too looked forward to learning more about being Dryad and a Druid.

Ding!

Right then, they heard a loud, clear noise, pulling their attention. The representatives, Elders, and the judges had arrived.

The main representative, the one with the irritating smile, and overwhelming amount of narcism, took the center stage.

Smiling. As if the world wished to see more of his teeth. With outstretched arms. As if he wished to hug everyone present.

All teams took a step backward. In unison.

The self-absorbed representative didn’t notice their repulsion. He just stretched his arms wider.

The leaf he stood on raised higher than everyone around him. Only then did he start to talk.

"Welcome everyone," he said, in an awfully cheery voice. "The next round is about to begin. Before I explain the rules...and the rewards, which is what we all truly want, isn’t it?" – he winked at them playfully. Even Sven met Hex’s gaze as if to ask whether the guy up there was serious – "let’s see the names of the remaining participants."

A couple of green leaves sprouted from the ground and opened wide. Each grew up to tens of meters. The eight names shone brightly on each leaf.

Alliance of Cursed Ones

Heaven’s Army

Eye of the Sky

Tyrannical Trident

Divine Servants

Wrixian Heroes

Touch of Life

Shifting Sands