The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 373: The first branch

Chapter 373: The first branch

"That’s more like it."

Hex didn’t think he would miss being in a crowd but the hubbub around him certainly improved his mood.

Jonathan had brought him straight to the roof after his meeting with the High Elders had finished.

As soon as the doors leading to the roof had opened, his senses were overwhelmed by the buzzing noise, a variety of smells, and a sea of people.

Hundreds of buildings dangled from the upper branches. The roof on which Hex stood was in fact the upper side of the first branch from the ground up. The floors 90 to 99 were inside the branch.

Another thing his senses picked up on was the dense, potent, and refreshing nature element in the air. It was dense enough everywhere else in Wrixia but up here, close to the trunk, it was overwhelmingly so.

Hex appearance barely attracted any attention. He quickly realized almost everyone up here had come from outside Wrixia. They marveled at the density of the nature element similarly to him.

’I need to find Sterling. Perhaps the personnel up here can point me in his direction.’

Amidst the outsiders, he had seen plenty of Wrixians. They were easily to sense as they all walked with certain beastial features. At first glance it looked like Partial Transformation but it wasn’t. The beastial traits stemmed from either a contract with a certain beast or from inheritance.

People born to Druids with beastial appearance could pass those traits to their offspring. Hex learned that from Elize and then from Jonathan just before leaving him up here.

Search for those Otherfaced with green robes.

That was what Jonathan told him before closing the door. And so he did.

After being pointed toward a few different places, some of which were opposite to each other, he finally found the Inn in which Sterling and his group stayed. As soon as the girl at the desk described the beauty and charm of the silver-haired young master – those were terms she used – he knew he had found the right place.

...

"I was wondering when you would arrive," Sterling said as soon as Hex stepped through the opened doors to the young master’s room that stretched across three quarters of the top floor.

"You knew I would come today?" Hex asked curiously. Even he didn’t know when he would arrive at the core. Nor how the meeting with the High Elders would go. He didn’t even know that he would meet the High Elders. Did Sterling’s lines go up to the circles of the High Elders?

"I suspected," Sterling smirked. Seeing the unamused look on Hex, he chuckled dryly and explained. "I heard from my sources on the ground about a commotion they witnessed. According to my source he heard about Lady Elize, a bunch of Elders being dragged through the mud, a group of women and girls. They didn’t mention you but I believed you would be part of the group."

Hex was once again reminded how thorough Sterling could be with information gathering. His sole ability to have his eyes and ears spread out over the most trivial places compensated for all the irritable habits he had.

"You do have a knack for getting into trouble," Sterling grinned. He seemed curious to learn more about the things that occurred inside the Council but Hex didn’t go into the details, much to his visible disappointment.

Hex only told Sterling the general stuff he experienced, glossing over most of the details. Not only did he still not trust the young heir a hundred percent, he was also wary about the silver-haired man’s ability to gather missing information. The more gaps he left in his story, the more Sterling would try to fill them, leading to unnecessary complications later on.

Sterling skipped most of his details too. He just described their journey, which didn’t sound adventure-filled at all, and the agreement he reached with Ella. Both parties had opted to limit their cooperation to the tournament itself. Everything else, such as housing, food, and building connection with other forces, were excluded.

"How many outside forces have come for the competition?" Hex asked, as they snacked on delicacies. The stream of people outside exceeded his expectations.

"Hundreds," Sterling replied. Seeing the wide-eyed expression of Hex, Sterling shrugged. "Like I said. This is one of the greatest opportunities the branches of the Merchant Unions get to gather resources and build connections across the world. For the acquaintances and friends accompanying them, this event is one of the greatest chances to get their hands on ancient Techniques, resources, and insights from old powerhouses. And this all is happening during the prelude of the War encroaching the world. Each and every person present wishes to acquire as much power as possible to increase their chance to survive and hopefully even make their name echo through the world."

Hex nodded. It made sense. And he even knew something Sterling still didn’t know.

’The presence of so many Wills and fragments of Divinity in Wrixia also attracted many powers in the outside world. I believe that is the true target of most of the powers from the upper echelon.’

After a little debate internally, Hex revealed the existence of remnant powers of deities in Wrixia. He made sure not to mention anything about Divinities or the like, just to be safe. But he mentioned a little about deities because he suspected most of the greatest opponents to have that information. Going in blind could be risky for their group.

"I heard rumors about it," Sterling exclaimed. "That makes so much sense. I didn’t think Ella, that bitch, would come just for a few memories. They are here for that. So, are those princes and high lords, and..."

Sterling paused and glanced at Hex, seemingly hesitant to continue.

"What?" Hex asked, failing to understand his reaction.

"One of the forces here belongs to the High Temple," he said slowly.

"They are one of the major forces in the world. I would find it strange if they didn’t come to get a piece of the pie. Why are you reacting –," Hex paused. He fell silent as he realized why Sterling was acting like this. He slowly met his glance. "She is here?"

"Yes, Lady Althea is present and even sent a message requesting a meeting with you."