The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 356: The daring intruder

Chapter 356: The daring intruder

The group settled inside the camp, divided by their status.

Hex and Elize were each given a spacious room with a private bathroom and balcony. The captives were thrown in one room with a single point of entry and exit, with no windows. Their bathroom and kitchen were in different areas, each guarded heavily.

The only exceptions were the two leaders of this circle. They were both placed in the cellars below Elize’s room. Their bathroom and food arrangements weren’t disclosed to Hex.

’Well, a shame I can’t have a proper chat with mother thanks to such an arrangement,’ Hex thought as he laid lazily in his bed, having taken a nice, long shower. The past couple of days, weeks even, had been chaotic.

Ever since his escape from Edune, he had been in the middle of one thing or another. And he was still in the middle of it. This camp was the last one before they reached the border between the inner territory and the core.

It was unknown how long they would remain here. According to a brief explanation the group received from Jonathan, an elder was on his way to deliver the council’s judgement to the group. Apparently, members of rebellious groups weren’t granted a chance to defend themselves. Their judgement was based on a case by case basis, and some sort of checklist. The more boxes ticked off against a person, the heavier the punishment.

Knock. Knock.

’What now?’

Hex scowled. He rather spent this brief moment of peace and calm studying the Knight Path. He hadn’t ascended the Stages yet but with his recent progress of completing multiple elemental circles, he wished to see which Techniques he could add to his arsenal.

The battle against the Calamity proved that his understanding of an element would increase with the usage and Techniques. So, the more Techniques with different elements he tried, the deeper his understanding would become. A continuous self-enforcing circle of improvement.

"Are you busy?"

When wasn’t he? But seeing who it was, he had to set aside his plans. Again.

"No."

Hex stepped aside, letting Elize in.

"I have studied the two samples you collected."

Elize didn’t waste her breath on trivial things like greeting or asking his well being. She took a seat on the comfortable sofa and started immediately.

"That much I know," Hex said, taking a seat opposite her. "You were so much occupied with the research you didn’t investigate the attack. Nor did you look aware of your surroundings."

"Well, the Guardians were there, weren’t they?" She waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing happened. This is more interesting."

’Another fanatic,’ Hex sighed inwardly. He knew the serpents were interesting because they fascinated Medina too. He acted as if he didn’t know anything about them, though.

Elize went on a rant about all her findings. For the most part she told Hex things he already heard from Medina. Hex had no idea what went into such research as he had never done them himself, but the more Elize talked, the more he marveled at Medina’s intellect.

’She needed so many days to uncover the same thing Mother knew at a glance?’

Perhaps, it wasn’t a fair comparison. Medina, as the so-called creator of the base model, should have plenty of information and knowledge which she could leverage to learn the differences between these new prototypes. Elize, on the other side, had to research far more to compensate for her lack of prior knowledge.

But still.

"The most fascinating thing about these creatures is that they can’t procreate. But they can be passed on from one person to another, retaining every progress made prior to the transfer."

"What do you mean?" Hex asked, realizing that she kept this part for the end to emphasize the value of this piece of information.

"I found traces of elements and attributes of the Lava Bat inside the core of these creatures. What does that mean? It means, they are not only granting people access to elements and Blessed energy, they also can be used to transfer certain traits to others. To what extent it will work and to what effect these changes will occur, I am not able to tell."

Hex fell in thought.

’According to Mother, these creatures can create an overdraft of elements, ruining a person’s body and mind in the long run, in exchange for a brief period of enhancements. Elize says these same creatures can be used to transfer traits and abilities to others.’

Hex tried to fuse both streams of information to deepen his understanding. What he still struggled with was the purpose. Whoever created these things had to have a certain goal in mind. Initially, the goal seemed to create a temporary force using regular humans and weaker creatures. But now he wasn’t certain anymore.

"What happened?" Elize asked, noticing Hex being absent-minded. "We can still do more research on them. The Dryads at the core are more than adept at unraveling such secrets from corpses. We will show them."

Hex nodded. He didn’t correct her. He rather looked forward to hearing what the Dryads could discover. If they were even half capable as they were said to be, they could help him understand the purpose.

"Before the core hardens and turns unusable, freeze them again. I think that is the best way to preserve them," Elize said, disclosing her true purpose in coming over. If it wasn’t for his ability to encase those serpents into Ice containers, she might not have met him. Not yet.

"Alright."

Hex didn’t mind. He followed her toward her room where she had left those samples. But the moment they entered, Elize paused.

"Someone has been inside my room."

A frown appeared on her face. Hex looked around. Nothing seemed out of place but he didn’t dismiss her claim. There was no way an Enlightened Knight could be mistaken about such a thing.

Elize suddenly moved, hurrying to the side room. Hex followed. She seemed anxious and Hex suspected he knew why. He entered the room and saw her standing in front of an empty table. She turned toward him, barely containing her fury.

"The serpents are missing."

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