The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 346: Toward the ground

Chapter 346: Toward the ground

Leaves.

Everywhere Hex looked, he only saw leaves. Even when he peered down the ladder to see how far above the ground they were, he only saw leaves. But as they were lowered, the thick bushes of leaves started to thin out.

Through thickets of green, other colors peeked through. Now and then, he saw the blue sky. Or the blue water. One of them. Or both. It was hard to tell.

As the leaves thinned out, he felt more and more wind brush against him. The high humidity was to be expected. It didn’t bother him, but he had to apply the Frost element and the Fire element at the same time to balance his body temperature.

"We are nearing the end of the leaves."

Hex turned toward Jonathan, who smiled amiably at him, signaling with his eyes to look below. Hex followed his gaze. Below them, the leaves didn’t leave an opening. They had to go right through it.

The leaves brushed against his body, getting in his face. They were soft to the touch and didn’t do anything else aside from impeding his sight completely.

"We are out."

It was Medina. Hex recognized her voice even though he needed a second to "regain his sight". But as soon as he saw the sight before him, he understood why everyone seemed to have been looking forward to this part of the trip. Even someone stoic like Elize had a curious glint in her eyes.

’Wow.’

That was the only word he could describe the sight before him. The wind blew in his face, tugging at his hair and refreshing his gaze.

Endless expanses of water merged with the infinite sky somewhere in the distance. He couldn’t tell where. The blue sky and the blue water seemed to be one and the same. And that was the first thing that he noticed.

It took a moment of appreciating the endlessness of the sight around him before he realized how far above the ground they truly were.. When he lowered his gaze, the ground below seemed like a mixture of brown and orange colors with white edges, not larger than a big dot.

Hex had no idea when or how they had ended up so high above in the tree. But they had. And now they were getting down. Slowly, something that Hex appreciated. Perhaps by design. Those taking this part of the journey would never forget this experience.

The water of the sea around was so clean, he was able to see some of the fish swimming close to its surface.

’Wait. If I am able to see them from such a great distance, doesn’t that mean they are huge? I think it is easily larger than a ship.’

He marveled at the wonders of nature. Just like he did when he saw the huge birds in the distance. Their fiery red feathers contrasted nicely with the blue.

’What is that?’

As his eyes wandered off, taking everything in, Hex noticed a piece of land drifting in the sea. At such a distance, he failed to see the details but he had an inkling to what the land was. His suspicion turned to certainty the longer he looked, especially when he noticed the immensely large shadowy figure below the island.

"Calm Sea," Medina whispered from the side, at a volume only he could hear. The expression on her face was one he seldom had seen. The look of grief. Was she thinking about the past? Hex didn’t know.

She didn’t say anything else. He didn’t either. They watched in silence as the huge figure drifted further and further away.

As the distance toward the ground decreased, Hex started to see more details of it. He noticed the huge array of branches above him, slope off toward both ends. As far as he could tell, the end of the slope was where the beaches he had arrived on lay.

A bit lower, he saw high grass – Jonathan called them bamboos – that were massive in size, swaying in the wind. Small cage-like cottages dangled from them. As the lift lowered, the people living in them became visible. They were Druids. Winged ones.

"Their bond with winged-beasts enables them to tap into the abilities of their beasts. Flight is one of the superior abilities and as such Areal Druids, as they are named, are considered the best Guardians of the lands. They are deployed to monitor the lands, perform search and rescue missions, and are used to farm winged creatures and their produce. The sun-kissed honey produced by the Sun-bees is the best honey in the world. It’s also the most expensive one."

Jonathan spoke with pride on his face as he explained all this to Hex. His interest in Medina, who, in his eyes, was only a simple girl from some isolated place, was non-existent. It didn’t surprise Hex. People everywhere tended to ignore those of low birth but it did increase his suspicion. As far as Jonathan was concerned, there was little difference between Hex and Medina. In the eyes of an Enlightened Knight, sitting on one of the highest posts of Wrixia, there was not even a sliver of difference between a regular person and a Refined Knight.

’What is he looking for? The secret behind my ability to disperse the darkness? Or my relationship with Elize?’

His face didn’t reveal his inner suspicions though. He listened with rapt attention to everything he was told. In part, Hex felt genuinely interested in learning about the world. He didn’t see the sun-kissed honey Jonathan described but his enhanced olfactory senses picked up its sweet scent in the air. Even a faint wisp of it stimulated his buds.

The lift lowered more. He could see the others waiting. A bit further, toward the edge of the circle, he noticed Elize standing with her hands behind her back, and the two captives on their knees, their heads lowered and hands bound.

Another group of people stood close by. The furled wings on their backs and the badges on their chests, revealed their identities. They were the Guardians stationed in this part of the land, ready to escort them to the core.

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