Kapitel 72: Fucked up world

"Administer hypnoserum."

The baron's command rendered all other discussions mute. The Knights who were bickering about the method to use, fell silent.

Hex, who stood behind the Knights with Althea, was the only one who dared to ask questions.

"What is hypnoserum?"

"It's a potion that puts a person in a trance. The person ingesting it wouldn't be in control of his thoughts and actions anymore."

Hearing Hestia's description, Hex felt awe and wariness.

"The things people can make," he said with a chuckle. "But why didn't we use this earlier?"

If such a potion existed why not use it on the whole town? It would take one day to solve the whole problem.

Seemingly understanding what Hex was thinking, Althea turned to him.

"The potion is very rare and only a few drops are made each time. But more importantly, only a Templar is allowed to administer it."

When she spoke about the Templars, Hex saw her glance at the baron.

"I will take responsibility for it," the baron said, as soon as she was done speaking.

Hex looked around, noticing everyone having a wry look on their faces.

"Templars?" He asked, confused. "What rank is that?"

"It isn't a rank," Hestia replied. "It's the title of an ordained Knight belonging to the High Temple. They are the most tested and trusted faction, loyal to serve and execute at the command of the Temple."

Althea gave a nod and continued. "They are similar to the Paladins of the Royal faction and Warlords of the Warriors factions. They are the three greatest factions of the world. Belonging to any of those is proof you are one of the greatest geniuses in the world."

Lady Briella chuckled from the side. "Just so you know, our little miss here is a candidate for the Paladin faction. But even she isn't allowed in, before at least reaching the Knight rank."

Hex was surprised to hear about the different factions. Just the thought of having so many geniuses gathered in one place was too stimulating.

"Those things can be discussed later. Let's give him the hypnoserum," Hestia interrupted, clearly impatient to interrogate the captain of the town guard.

On the baron's order, Wallen brought potion. It was a colorless liquid but when

Hex watched fascinated at the liquid being forcefully poured into the guard captain's mouth. The man's blank gaze seems to glaze over.

"Who will do the questioning?" Hex asked, signaling hard at Hestia to take over. He didn't want the baron to do it.

'If the baron remains as cryptic as always, his questions might solve the greater issues but won't be of any help to the smaller details.'

Luckily, Hestia understood him immediately. She stepped forward at once.

From the corner of his eyes, Hex saw the baron remain still but he caught the baron giving him a side-eye.

Pretending to not have noticed it, Hex looked at Hestia and the guard captain.

"What's your name?" Hestia started with the easy questions first. They also served to test whether the potion was working or not.

"Anol Sloan Aug," the guard captain replied.

Hex tried to ignore the discomfort he felt seeing the man reply with a calm voice whilst staring with dead eyes into the space.

'It feels like two different people are talking from the same body.'

Hestia continued her questioning. She asked about his family and job. These were things she and the others in the room already knew about the guard captain.

After verifying his answers and observing him, Hestia finally started to ask the questions they were waiting for.

"How did you meet the Dawnbringers?"

Hex felt the room tense up. Everyone was focused to the extreme.

"Herman came to me. After losing Sloan, I visited his memory stone daily," Anol said but chuckled then as a drop of tear rolled down. "I say visited…but I was practically living there. Losing my son ended every wish and desire I had. I worked so hard so he could have a better life. I was strict so he wouldn't get complacent. If only I had spoiled him. He might not have achieved greatness but at least he would be alive…"

Despite the blank look and calm voice, Hex somehow felt the man's pain and regret. The expression of the whole team was solemn as they listened to Anol.

"As I wallowed in regret, Herman came to me. I knew the things he promised wouldn't be allowed by the Heavens but I stopped caring about the Heavens when it took my son for wanting a life of his own.

Under Herman's guidance, I met my son once again. I know he is not his old self. But when the Divine Lord conquers Heaven's vault, He will return my son to his former self. But now…now that hope is gone…for good."

Hex clenched his fist at the sight of Anol's face. Tears streamed down as his expression remained calm and unmoving.

'He is in pain yet isn't allowed to express it fully. And we are doing this to him. I need to beware that fighting evil doesn't end up turning me evil.'

"Who else is part of the Dawnbringers?" Hestia's question pulled Hex out of his thoughts.

"Apart from the others present tonight, I don't know others. Only the Herald knows everyone. But I never met him. Everyone remains hooded in greater gatherings."

"Hooded figures like Ronan and Clannad," Hex said, already suspecting it. He had seen enough of the Dawnbringers in cloaks to have suspicions about the group of hooded figures under Ronan's lead.

"They did show up suddenly and haven't shown interest in anything else, so far." Hestia nodded with a frown on her face. "I have never seen that fellow around."

"Ronan is a former Templar," the baron said suddenly. "He was removed by the High Temple after killing a prince who allegedly killed palace maids.

No proof was ever found against the prince but neither was there proof of Ronan's crime. To appease the King, the Temple chose to remove Ronan."

"What a fucked up world," Hex exclaimed. He knew he would have done the same as Ronan. In fact, he felt a little admiration for the man.

"Is the world fucked up or are humans fucking the world up?" The baron asked in his usual even voice.

"Are you saying that humans caused all the problems, so humans have to pay for it?" Hex asked with a frown. It didn't seem like the people who caused problems were paying for them.

"I am not saying anything. I am asking. You need to answer it for yourself." The baron's reply was cryptic but this time Hex felt like he understood him.

'Basically, he means I need to be able to judge which part is Heaven's fault and which is due to humans.'

In the meantime, Hestia continued her questions. She managed to get some names of people involved and some who recently converted.

Most names were part of the council or close to Clannad's family.

Everyone turned toward the baron. They wished to know what they were supposed to do.

"It's simple," the baron said as he pushed his sword back into the sheath. No one had seen him getting it out and using it.

Woosh.

With a start, Hex saw the headless body of Anol burst into bright white light. In a blink, both the body and head turned into dust.

"We start to kill them, one by one. The Knights will go after the names of the council," the baron continued calmly. He turned towards Hex and Althea.

"You two should try to kill that boy if you meet them during the second round."

AUTORENGEDANKEN
JayScribe

Hi all,

sorry for the delay in uploads.

Due to health reasons I wasn't able to write a couple of days.

Thanks for the understanding.

Don't buy privilege!

Working on edits. Please don't waste your money.

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Kapitel 73: The first match (1)

Grindeston's Arena had five thousand seats, which often were empty throughout the year. But today those five thousand seats were falling short.

Inhabitants and visitors fought to enter the Arena even before it was noon. No one wished to miss the opening of the second round of the tournament.

By the time Hex entered the hidden passage toward the waiting area, he could hear the cheers through layers of walls and floors, making them tremble.

He was accompanied by Althea. She seemed eager to start fighting. As a trained soldier she had no qualms about killing people.

Hex didn't mind killing either. If the six years had honed his survival skills, the past few weeks had removed his resistance against taking lives.

'It's not different from Crevice Hunting. We clean up so no plague or hidden danger is fostered in those dark places. In this case, we will remove humans who could disrupt the lives of those weak to defend themselves.'

They soon reached the waiting area. The top twenty were gathered here.

As soon as Hex entered the area, he felt a cold gaze land on him. Looking up, he met Clannad's eyes.

"I hope your luck continues till we meet," Clannad said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. The others in the room remained silent.

The top twenty consisted mostly of members belonging to Clannad and the twins from the Viscount family. The only people who didn't belong to them were Hex, Althea, Sterling, and Ella.

Hex looked at his old rival with a worried look. For some reason, he felt that Clannad seemed less…human.

"And here I am hoping that my luck continues even after meeting you," Hex replied with a bright smile.

Clannad narrowed his eyes. Hex felt the temperature of the area drop. It wasn't just his imagination. It really became colder.

'What technique is he using? This isn't something everyone can do.'

Tempering with natural elements was something only Knights and a select few Squires could do.

Hex learned from Althea that those Squires were born with a certain constitution. She for example was born with a constitution enabling her to tap into the thunder domain.

'I have known Clannad for a long time. I was there when he awakened his Blessing. It was related to scaled skins. I have never heard anything else about him.'

While Hex thought all these things, he remained calm and kept looking at Clannad with a smile on his face.

His calmness seemed to infuriate Clannad even more. Hex saw his eyes almost turn into slits. His expressions were beastlike.

Just as Hex thought Clannad would attack, a loud gong sounded above them, reverberating loudly downward to the waiting area.

"Clannad, calm down," the female twin from the Viscount team said, as she put her hand on Clannad's shoulder.

"Ericka is right," her brother said. "You will have a chance to break that vile smile off that peasant's face."

Hex didn't mind the noble's remark. Words didn't mean much to him. Everyone was free to praise and curse as they liked.

He was more surprised by the effect the twins had on Clannad. His anger was gone and he looked even apologetic towards the twins.

In all the years Hex had known Clannad, the boy had never apologized to any person.

But before he could give it more thought, he heard the host of the event start her speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second and final round of the tournament."

The crowd in the stand seemed to have quietened down, as no other sound could be heard. The Squires down in the waiting area were also quiet and focused.

"The rules are simple. Win and progress," the hostess shouted excitedly. "The top ten will fight the bottom ten in the first phase. Directly after the winners are determined, we will proceed to the next matches. But what about the matches after that?"

The hostess paused for dramatic effect at the most crucial bit.

'After the top ten have fought, we will have five contenders. Are they going to give someone a free pass?' Like everyone else, Hex was interested in this part. Everything else was within expectation.

"I can see everyone is eager to know what we will do with the top five. Well, we will do the simplest but most exciting thing possible…they will RUMBLE," the hostess shouted. "A fight till the last man is standing!"

Ear-deafening cheers erupted above them. The sounds shook the floors and made the walls rattle. The simple but direct way sent the crowd into a frenzy.

'Simple but effective,' Hex said with a nod. He didn't fear being ganged up against. He didn't see anyone capable of defeating Althea before the rumble. And with her beside him, he knew even a fight of two versus three would be doable.

The people around him were less pleased. They might be a part of someone's team but they still hoped to come far into the rankings so they could have a chance at rewards that could change their lives.

It took a while for the crowd to calm down. The hostess continued after finally getting a chance to speak again.

"I will start to call the names of the people who will face each other. As I said, the first ten ranks will fight the last ten. So let's see our number one and number twenty on the stage!"

The crowd erupted in cheers. Hex knew they weren't cheering for him. They just wanted the matches to start. And he happened to be in the opening match.

Led by arena personnel, Hex entered the gangway as the number one ranked person. He saw the number twenty enter the opposing gangway.

After walking through a dark tunnel, he reached a door. Bright light blinded him for a moment, as he walked out on the platform.

The cheers of the crowd hurt his ear. Hex looked around him at the densely packed seats. Even with his sharp eyes, he had difficulty keeping the people apart.

When he looked at his opponent, Hex noticed the middle-aged Squire trembling. Even before the match started, the man was scared. Not of Hex. No, having so many eyes on him was a pressure he had difficulty to handle.

Hex didn't feel the pressure as much. When he was thrown out or when he entered the slums, even more eyes were on him.

"The first match between Hex Darkenmane and Leroy Axen starts NOW!"