The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 185: Ranking and recuperating (1)

Chapter 185: Ranking and recuperating (1)

Darkness reigned everywhere!

It obstructed his senses. All his senses. No matter how hard he tried, none of his senses relayed any information to his brain. His struggle too came from his physical awareness not from his mind.

He remained clad in darkness till his senses picked the first buzz. It was faint. Involuntarily, being prickled by the first sound, his ears twitched. The buzz turned sharper and sharper, till his mind recognized something.

"...wake up..."

The sound was far yet close. Somehow it increased his heartbeat.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

The muffled beating of his heart fell on his ear. His body strained itself more.

Something sweet entered his nose. His nostrils flared wide open on itself, inhaling it completely. The high note in the fragrance prickled but reminded him of the summer flowers in the valleys of the Endless Mountains.

Gradually, his senses returned. Hex never knew that air had a taste but the moment his tongue ’touched’ the air, an indescribable sensation appeared. It was sweet yet sour.

But the enjoyment didn’t last because the next sense to return was the sense of feeling. And he felt everything at once. He felt it completely. The pain, the overwhelming pain nearly knocked him out again. The pain was everywhere. He couldn’t even scream. The instant his lips parted, a burning sensation appeared in his throat. It was comparable to having swallowed embers.

The immense pain pushed his eyes wide open. The first thing he saw was the back of a figure clad in soft leathery armor disappear through the flap of a tent. Bearing the pain, he tried to move but to Hex’s horror, nothing happened. He didn’t move even a single centimeter.

’I can’t feel my body.’

He knew his body existed. The grueling pain in each part proved that. But the lack of control over his nerves disheartened him yet he didn’t panic. He gritted through the pain as bits and pieces from the past returned to his mind.

His eyes roamed around, observing the things in his view, studying the patches of dirt and dried blood on the once-white flaps of the tent. For the most part, the tent seemed empty, except for a small chair and table with some empty glasses and dirty dishes.

’I wonder what they fed me?’ He thought about random things and then grinned. ’What does it matter? I am alive, aren’t I? And I doubt they found something worse than those sewer rats I ate barely cooked.’

He must have dozed off at some point because a glass’ shattering roused him out of his sleep. Looking around, he saw Paula putting the dirty dishes on a tray and replacing them with a few dishes that smelled mouthwatering.

Grumble.

His stomach grumbled, attracting a look from Paula.

"Y-You are awake?" Paula’s broad smile put Hex in a good mood. It was only now he noticed the pain subsided substantially. And even some control over his muscles returned. The twitch in his fingers and toes filled him with joy.

’There is still some hope.’

Paula noticed the twitch. She stared slackjawed at Hex, eliciting a raised brow from him.

"What happened?" Hex wondered whether something else twitched, which was perhaps not covered. ’Well, based on stories he heard from people like Vitor and Greg, his thing seemed well above average. For a moment, he even wished that thing reacted, hoping to see how Paula would react. But Paula didn’t even look at his middle.

"Your fingers...moved." She stammered. "But...how?"

Seeing her reaction, Hex had a bad premonition.

"According to the healers every nerve, muscle, bone, and blood vessel in your body was damaged. Your survival alone was a miracle beyond their understanding. I can’t imagine how they will react when they see you move."

"That bad?" Hex asked calmly. Hearing Paula, his mind triggered the memory of him blasting the Calamity with Quid’s tool.

"Worse. When the Commander brought you, you were barely alive. The healers used almost every nature-filled crystal on you. Only when you stabilized after three weeks of continuous healing, did the healers leave."

’Three weeks?’ Hex’s eyes widened but he didn’t ask anything. ’That is a long time but like she said, I should appreciate surviving the ordeal.’

"By the way, congratulations," Paula beamed at him. Seeing his confused expression, she laughed. "You are ranked first. Elsa and Tarquin are even a thousand points behind you."

"I got lucky...in more than one aspect." Hex was surprised that his reckless act rewarded points on the list. It was a good chance for the second prince to pull him out of the ranking with some superficial rewards.

Paula excused herself to notify the healers. Hex heard her mutter things like this isn’t what I saw and fate strings but the sight of his inner space distracted him to pay much heed to those ramblings.

A thick plasma-like blob filled his inner space. The space stood devoid of colors and elements. He looked at his monolith, which hummed softly as it tried to refine the plasma. Each speck it sucked out from the plasma seemed to put a strain on the monolith.

’So thick?’

Based on his experience, Hex noticed an increase in density and volatility with each increase in stage. The chaotic energy inside a Disaster’s crystal was many times higher and more volatile than a Demon or Fiend crystal but was only a large speck before a Calamity’s energy.

’I wonder if this energy entered my inner space during the explosion. The others should be pissed off after their efforts turned to dust.’

Hex pitied the three Refined Knights from the three largest factions. They battled the Calamity, putting everything on the line, only to end up with nothing. Hex didn’t think they knew it entered his inner space or they would have done something while he was knocked out.

Seeing the monolith refine the speck, Hex wished to observe how many drops of energy he could get out of one speck. He also wished to measure the time it took to refine it. After all, it should take longer to refine such a dense energy.

As he waited for it to finish his mind wandered to the battles against Disasters and even the Calamity.

’The importance of elements becomes clearer in battles at higher levels. Up to the Knight level Techniques and amount of energy play a significant role in determining the winner. But against Disasters and higher stages, the variability elements bring to the battle is far more important.’

Against Disasters, his ice element helped enormously. And the black swirl brought even more destruction than he anticipated.

’The baron told me it would help with going berserk and increase in attack powers. It seems it isn’t limited to me. It can also let energies go berserk with increased attack power.’

That was the only explanation he could come up with about the way the swirl affected the chaotic energy. Although he needed to test his conjecture, he was almost certain it was the right explanation.

All his experiences so far helped him increase his understanding of the elements and the role they played in a battle. For example, if the currently barren land in his inner space were lush and filled with nature’s elements, his recuperation would accelerate with leaps and bounds.

He lamented the loss of elements in the crystals during the refinement. He focussed only on increasing the amount of energy, not paying much attention to the elements.

’It seems I need to increase my skills in refinement and study the elements more.’

The Knight’s Path instructed to gain full mastery over an element before forming an element circle but due to his limited experience, he failed to comprehend the importance of doing so. But it wasn’t too late.

Buzz.

A soft tremor in his inner space roused him from his thoughts.

’It’s finished?’

Observing the amount of energy formed, he noticed an increase of fifteen drops. It did take a bit longer than he spent on a Disaster’s crystal but he was already satisfied with the result.

’With the amount filled inside, I can gain at least three thousand more drops of energy!’ Even if he didn’t hunt creatures, he was assured of obtaining a total of over four thousand drops of energy. With his passive increase, he could reach the peak before the age of twenty.

Hex, of course, wouldn’t sit idly. But at this moment, he didn’t regret the limited mobility. He could spend the time on refining as much as possible.

The process did make him weary. His eyes almost drooped when he heard the flap of the tent move.

"How are you?"

Althea’s beautiful face filled his sight as he opened his eyes. Her scrunched brows, coupled with the strands of hair falling over his face and her big clear eyes always increased the speed of his heartbeat. Even the refinement increased slightly.

"Now I feel much better," he replied, looking straight at her. She bit her lips but didn’t avert her gaze.

"Good. Rest well. You are the best sparring partner I have."

Hex smiled. His smile turned broader when he noticed the soft leathery armor on her.