章 85: The Knight Path
"What are you doing so late, gramps?"
Hex stood in front of the old gardener, who was removing vines and overgrown weeds near the walls of the castle.
The old man was the same man who was put as representative of the castle during the first rounds of the tournament.
The old man was wearing old and tattered clothes that were covered in mud and whatnot.
"Just finishing up my work, young master," the gardener said with a grin, showing his dirty teeth. "I heard we will have a celebration. Weeds and vines will just be in the way."
"Haha. There is still time and who knows what will happen during the matches. It's already past midnight Grandpa. Go rest."
"If I finish it now, I can be lazy in the morning," the gardener said with a wink, causing both of them to chuckle.
"Okay, take care," Hex shook his head as he went inside the castle. The sentries were also friendly and already in a celebratory mood.
'All these normal folk are just happy and unaware of the impending doom. I hope I can save some of you.'
The feeling of being responsible for other people's safety weighed heavily on Hex's mood. It was unlike the six years where he was only responsible for his own survival.
Upon entering the castle, he went straight to the study. As he expected, the baron was behind the desk, writing and reading.
"You have broken through," the baron spoke before Hex even uttered a word. He didn't look up and continued to write.
"Yes, I broke through and feel much more powerful," Hex said. After a bit of hesitation, he continued. "But my glyph seems to have lost its shape. I didn't see the bear-shaped cloak this time."
Even without the shape, Hex felt the immense power coursing through his body. He mentioned the shape because it was important for the task tomorrow. The baron had said that he needed to combine the bear soul with the Kobold soul.
And indeed, hearing about the glyph, the baron stopped writing and looked up.
"Activate it," he said apathetically.
With a nod, Hex activated the mark. Hex was so familiar with this process that it was almost instant.
Contrary to before, the light didn't appear from the mark. A thin layer appeared instantly around him. As soon as the layer appeared, the air around him vibrated.
"See? The shape…ah."
Hex wanted to say that he was right and the shape was lost but his teeth cut his lips. The pain was negligible. It was more the shock of it happening that made Hex exclaim.
"You didn't look into a mirror, did you?" The baron asked, snapping his fingers.
White, bright light converged, forming a rectangular mirror.
Hex saw the difference in appearance immediately. He looked more…bestial. He had little fangs, his eyes shone red and the faint light around him looked like a layer of fur.
"W-what is this?" Hex stood slack-jawed at the sight of his reflection in the mirror. He felt the same but at the same time, he wasn't the same.
"Synchronization," the baron said, apparently believing it to be enough as an explanation.
Hex, however, continued to look at him, signaling to him that he required more than one word to understand.
"Consider the soul of the bear as a foreign substance residing inside you. As you use it, get control over it, and enforce it with your innate energy, it will become part of you. The bear was at the Demon stage, which is comparable to your current level. With everything in sync, it has become one with you. As such, it should have doubled your power at the very minimum."
Hex, whose power was already higher than most triple Blessed, was elated knowing he had improved so much. Plus, even without testing it, he was convinced that the defensive properties of the thin layer had also improved by leaps and bounds.
"Then I should be comparable to a Knight, right?" Hex asked happily.
"A weak Knight…but yes," the baron agreed with his assessment.
"If this continues, I will always remain a step ahead of my peers. Fantastic." Hex didn't hide his smug look as he admired himself in the mirror.
Snap.
The baron snapped his finger and the mirror shattered. Although he still looked apathetic, his action looked as if he was annoyed with Hex.
"In theory yes but a Demon soul can't improve any further. That's why I said to take the Kobold soul. Even if they fail to merge, the enforcement of a Disaster-stage soul should put you far ahead of the others. Only, in that case, the Demon-stage soul will act as an impurity, preventing you from getting the maximum out of the higher-stage soul."
Hex had calmed down and listened attentively to his master's teachings. He didn't want to admit it but moments like these made him feel like their bond as master and disciple was real.
He didn't know he had a silly smile on his face, as he listened to the baron.
"Take this," the baron said suddenly, pushing the scroll he had been writing on, in his hand.
"What's this?" Hex asked, trying to unfurl it. But no matter how he tried, it didn't move.
"You need a drop of blood to bind it. Only then will it open as you wish," the baron said, giving Hex a dagger.
'Tell me that sooner,' Hex grumbled in his mind as he cut his index finger. A small drop of blood dripped on the scroll.
As soon as the blood landed on it, a bright light engulfed the scroll and then flowed around his mark. After a while, it faded and disappeared.
"The fuck?" Hex exclaimed. The whole thing was weird.
"It's similar to your glyph. It will appear whenever you activate it."
Hex gave the back of his hand a better look. A symbol depicting a small scroll had appeared.
Hex tried to sense it and sure enough, with a flash of light the scroll burst out, landing in his palm. When Hex tried to unfurl, it opened with a thought.
"The Knight Path," Hex read loudly. "Did you write a book?" He was not sure why the baron had given the scroll to him.
"Yes. It's a book written to guide you. All the basic techniques and advice I could give you are written in it."
"What? Why?" Hex didn't know how to react to the truth behind the scroll.
"We don't know what will happen after tomorrow. This way you won't have to stumble around blindly. I have also included some general knowledge you should know about our world. Don't worry. This scroll covers the basics. You are free to add more techniques and treasures as you see fit in your journey."
The baron acted like it was something normal but Hex knew the scroll should have cost the baron a lot of time to put together. This was probably the reason he never saw him around.
There were no words that could express the warmth he felt inside so he didn't say anything. But he vowed to repay the debt of knowledge one day.
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