The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 128: A stark contrast

Chapter 128: A stark contrast

The dawns in the mountains were a beautiful sight to behold. The golden hue on the distant horizon with tall dark mountain tops in between created a soul-stirring contrast.

’I wonder how long before I will be able to see this again,’ Hex sighed, before looking down at the three graves before him. Two were covered in grass while the third one was clean. Not a speck of nature grew upon it.

"M-Mother...Mother...s...and grandpa...I am leaving for a while. I don’t know where the road will end up bringing me, but thank you for creating me, giving me life, and giving me roots."

He bent down and hurriedly cleaned the two graves. Suddenly he noticed something. Amidst the graves grew a plant with intertwined stems. Each of the stems had different roots. One came from the Witch’s grave, while the other from the baroness’. There was a flower bud growing on top of the stems. A closer look revealed two-colored leaves. One was black, while the other white.

"What is this?" Hex wondered out loud.

"A Twin Datura!" Hex heard a familiar voice exclaim behind him.

Hestia hurried to his side and kneeled. "This is an extremely rare plant. I only read about it in ancient texts. According to some of the scriptures, this can heal the soul and body. Some even claim that it can bring someone back from the dead."

Hex noticed she wanted to touch it, so he held his hand, blocking her. "Leave it."

Hestia wanted to protest but seeing Hex’s serious gaze, she wisely withdrew her hand. "Sorry. I never thought these flowers existed in reality. But how can it grow here with so much grass around it? The texts said it needs more nutrition than any other plant. It leaves the ground around it barren."

Hex listened attentively. The last part made him look at the third grave. "Like that?" He asked.

"Yes but how?" Hestia couldn’t wrap her head around it. Shouldn’t the flower extract nutrition through its roots?

"Who knows? I guess sometimes parents look after their children, even after they are no more," Hex said enigmatically.

"Are we ready to leave?" He asked, preventing Hestia from asking more questions. He wouldn’t be able to answer without revealing secrets he wasn’t ready to let out yet.

...

When Hex arrived at the stalls where the mountain goats were kept, he saw a large crowd had assembled. Mountain people were early risers but rarely were they in the mood for a gathering, especially after a feast that had continued to the mornings.

When the people of Grindeston saw Hex, they parted to make way for him. He walked to his goat, with Hestia and Althea on his sides.

No one spoke. A heavy silence hung in the air. The three of them mounted on their goats. Hex felt his heart grow heavy, looking at many familiar faces, the castle that had become his first home, and the scenery around him to which he was used.

He tapped his mount lightly, letting it move slowly. When he exited the coral, Mart stood before him. At his side was the busty girl of last night.

"Chief, please take care of yourself," he said emotionally. "We will miss you. Return as soon as you can. And...please allow us to name our first child after you."

The corners of Hex’s mouth twitched. "Child?" Hadn’t they met just last night?

The girl didn’t mind Mart’s words though. She smiled happily. An elderly woman behind them chipped in.

"Chief, you should take their example. Find a wife. A few if you want," she said, her eyes moving between Hestia and Althea. "But make children. We need more people in the town."

"Yes, Chief. Return with a platoon of children," someone else shouted.

"Take a few ladies from the south with you when you return. We need more females," another man shouted with a trembling voice. He looked old but there was a passionate glint in his eyes.

’These people,’ Hex sighed inwardly and urged his goat to increase its speed. An emotional moment was ruined just like that.

"Chief!" They shouted collectively as he left them behind. "Return when and how you want. This is your home, we are yours, you...ours!"

Hex didn’t stop or turn. He slapped his goat a bit harder, letting it break into a run. His sudden outburst caught Hestia and Althea by surprise. They hurried to catch up.

’Idiots!’ Hex thought but there was no hiding the smile on his face. The air against his face felt nice and the burden on his mind had lessened.

...

After riding for a few hours, Hex decided to focus on his frost dragon technique. He wasn’t going to shoot out ice spikes but he was contemplating the feeling and attuning with the soul of the dragon bear.

The first hour Hex had felt excited. It was the first time so far out of the town, but hours of monotonous rocky landscapes with scattered bushes became boring after that.

Although he wasn’t making much progress with his control in this way, he felt his affinity with the ice element increase. He was happy with that progress too. He believed that a better affinity would increase his control and his cultivation of the ice element.

The elements were cultivated and increased in amount by refining and absorbing crystals of the fiend stage. His experience with refining crystals gave him enough confidence to consider that the easiest part of his training. That’s why he decided to allocate more time to the other things.

The journey was pretty mundane. Even the always-chattering Hestia was silent. She looked around her. She hoped the scenery would change soon.

Suddenly, she noticed something different in the distance. She looked at Althea, who confirmed seeing the same.

"Hex! Look over there," she excitedly called the boy lost in his world.

Her shout broke Hex’s focus, nearly causing him to snap at her. But when he saw where she was pointing, the words remained stuck.

Everywhere he looked down, there was greenery. He even saw a few water holes nearby. Hex was used to barren ground. Trees and grass were scarce. Down below, barren ground seemed an oddity. The hills, the forests filled with trees, and in the distance, he even saw flatlands filled with grass.

"Wow," was all he could say at the stark contrast between what he knew about the world and the sight before him.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.