The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 295: The Greatest Method

Chapter 295: The Greatest Method

The group settled down during the night. Hex sat near the bonfire with Gronke, Sterling, Quid, Rublena, and Dollaire.

During the night talk, Hex learned that the journey would take a month. He also learned more about the Silver Serpents and the Merchant Union.

The Silver Serpent was a world-spanning organization, much like the Temple. Sterling even argued that they might have more followers than the Temples. After all, very few people didn’t like to trade.

In reply, Hex inquired why they weren’t even among the top five factions in the world. To which Sterling grumbled about distrust, greed, and desire to overtake others as the reason for their weak standing.

What shocked Hex was that the Serpents had existed since the Second Age. They didn’t openly reveal this, but neither was it a secret. Their ancestor’s eye and wit helped her build an emporium that even had the Divine among its customers.

In that Age, their name was something else though. What, Sterling didn’t reveal. Based on the curious glances from everyone at the fire, Hex concluded that they didn’t know it either. Not even Quid, who also belonged to one of the main branches within the organization.

The old name was among the secrets only revealed to the heirs.

"Are there several heirs? What are you inheriting if there are many more like you?"

Hex had to ask. Being an heir lost meaning to him when his inheritance seemed irrelevant in the eyes of the royals. They nearly gave it away. Perhaps, Hex thought with a heavy heart, they already gave it away.

Sterling fell silent for a while at the question. The sound of twigs and dried leaves cracking in the fire hung in the air.

"There are indeed several heirs," Sterling said, staring at the fire. "Being an heir isn’t trivial. Merchants rever materialistic things more than they do Heaven or Deities. We don’t want to lose what is ours. Not without proper compensation, at least.

We love it so dearly, we would rather take it with us to the afterlife. But we can’t. So, we leave it to those who have most of us in them."

"You mean looks or something else?" Hex asked, feeling Sterling’s description to be a bit weird.

"Looks are considered but I mean wealth. Or should I say the ability to gain wealth? Our people believe that they have part of the ancestor in our blood. The best way to put that in numbers – merchants love numbers – is by relating it with our business sense. After all, the ancestor was believed to be the best in the trading profession."

’What a weird bunch,’ Hex thought but didn’t say.

"So you all get a piece of the business?" Hex asked instead.

"The heirs will take the branches they stem from over," Sterling said. He sat straight and looked at the people around the fire. "But that is not what any of us wants. Not if there is something better to be gained."

"Better than inheriting a business empire?" Gronke asked, taking the words out of Hex’s mouth.

"Yes. Being an heir means we inherit the branch. But there is one chance...just one, given to us heirs, to become THE heir."

After pausing a little, which Hex believed to be unnecessarily dramatic, Sterling continued.

"The heir is the person who gets to become in charge of the headquarters. That person gets to be in charge of all the mini-empires around the world. All the wealth, resources, and power of an organization spanning multiple Ages and places, will be in that person’s hand. Can you guys even imagine how incredible that is?"

There seemed to be even more stars in Sterling’s eyes than in the night sky at that moment.

"And you are after that? To be THE heir?" Hex asked.

"Exactly."

"How?"

"I don’t know. That’s why we need to reach Wrixia. Only there I will be able to learn about it."

...

Time passed slowly. Hex spent the first few days exploring the place. Aside from a few small birds and other beasts that could live in the air and the water, no other life form existed in the forest.

The others gathered herbs, roots, or whatever they could find, to pass their day. Most of them took the time to rest and relax, some more than others.

With his enhanced senses, Hex heard quite a few moans and groans during the night. Sometimes multiple at once. It didn’t disturb him. He heard more and wilder ones during his stay in the slums.

Most tried to be discreet and sought dark spots in the forest. Sterling and Quid didn’t bother. The cousins and the two females disappeared into the tent. All four shared a single tent. After that, Hex hadn’t seen them.

One or two ladies tried to flirt with him too. Tempting as it was, Hex didn’t go with them. It had nothing to do with Althea or morals. Hex just didn’t wish to taint someone’s fate. Not until he understood how he affected those around him.

It didn’t mean he had nothing to do. On the contrary, he spent these relaxed days with renewed vigor on breaking through the defenses of the Sand Burial Monarch’s core. His progress was steady. And with no danger around him, he could afford to rest.

He hoped to meet the Saint, as he called himself, but no such opportunity presented itself. Hex knew not to let it weigh down on him. Someone at the level at the Saint would converse with him when they desired. He had to be patient.

With so much time available, Hex worked on improving his Techniques. The progress varied. His abundant Ice elements helped with the Frost Dragon Techniques. Techniques relying on Time and other elements were a bit harder to comprehend.

Within a few days, Hex’s control over Ice reached a point where he could conjure the Ice as he wished. His other Techniques such as Frost Armor and Blizzard Strike benefited greatly from his understanding. It took a fraction of a second to cover his body with armor or unleash Ice-based attacks.

The Ice crystals covering his body were better too. Their shapes fit perfectly with each other, creating a more condensed whole. A few tests revealed that the armor could disperse damage better than previously.

Techniques such as Time Freeze proved impossible without Time elements or understanding. Somewhere in the inheritance he had received from the Frost Dragon Queen, he discovered Time-related information but couldn’t access it.

He tried a few times but failed. It felt like he was missing something. But what? He even went as far as calling the Saint for help but nothing happened.

Aside from Techniques, Hex inspected the Methods mentioned too. To his surprise, the baron also included several Methods. There were four types of Methods. For each Method, the baron included at least one Method.

But the most wonderful was the one that included all four types.

Divine Body of Dragon Phoenix Method.

The Dragon is the epitome of physical and elemental power.

The Phoenix is the epitome of soul and energy power.

The Dragon creates its body by transmuting and refining it.

The Phoenix creates its body by destroying and recreating it.

Mixing with a rare mix of resources all four methods fuse to create a body only the Godking possessed.

He felt his heart beat faster as he read the method. Each step seemed harder than the previous one. The Method had ten stages. The Scroll didn’t mention the origin of the Method. The baron scribbled his conjectures in finer letters down below.

The Witch browsed through thousands of scriptures to recreate this Method. I assume it was something the Godking himself created to improve. It’s said that even he failed at the tenth step and perished. It’s hard to verify whether this is true or not. But this proves the difficulty of this Method.

Most average Methods require completion to reach the Transformation Stage. The combined ones allow it upon fifty to seventy percent completion, allowing improvement in higher stages.

The rarest ones, allow up to thirty to fifty percent completion.

This one, completing even one step allows the user to climb to the next stage. But with each step, the difficulty and rarity of resources increases exponentially. This is where the world stone can help by refining and storing energy. This is perhaps the only treasure that can assist in completing the tenth step.

This is why, the world, the gods, the heavens, the humans, the taboos, any and every creature and being will come after you, once they know about it. This is your greatest chance to reach the apex...or be destroyed.