Two figures clashed against each other, using their weapons to block the attack.
Hex expected his opponent's reaction. So, as soon as his sword met her spear, he stomped his feet.
Cracks appeared on the ground as he flew in the air. Althea having sparred hours now with him, knew what he was attempting.
With a sneer, she followed through with her attack. Just as the tip of her spear got close to Hex, his body shook, and he stomped the air beneath him.
The resulting shockwave pushed the spear tip aside and helped Hex change his trajectory.
But Althea anticipated it.
"This again?" She clicked derisively and pushed herself up. She changed the trajectory of her attack with ease.
This time she wouldn't miss. Her spear sped up, about to cut Hex. Right then, Hex's body convulsed. Hex swung the flat side of his sword upward. Another shockwave appeared, but this time pushing Hex downward.
Hex watches as the tip of the spear passes in front of his eyes, a hairwidth away.
"Gotcha!" He laughed and punched toward Althea. His punch was aimed at the head. He failed to connect, however; Althea flipped down, rotating in the air. Her agility helped her avoid Hex's attack.
They both landed on their feet. Both sweating profusely and slightly out of breath.
They stared at each other in silence. Then both broke out in laughter.
"Nice move. Kinda like a reverse step," Althea said with her thumb up. She looked genuinely impressed by the downward move.
"Haha. I have been trying to do it for a while. But it was hard," Hex said with a pleased look. "But you are even more impressive. You made a forward flip midair."
Both enjoyed the hours of sparring. It helped Hex become more adept at using his Flex Step.
He was still limited to three steps but with increased proficiency. He could execute the technique faster and in less time. That was a great achievement considering it was only his second day training it. Hex was unaware that only a few people his age could achieve something similar.
Hex rested beside Althea. They discussed their attacks and how they could approve them.
Both enjoyed talking about battle. Althea knew little outside of fighting and techniques and Hex knew too little about precisely those two things.
Talking with Althea helped broaden his mind to different applications of his attacks. Althea also benefited from the discussion. Hex's pragmatism helped mend her rigid way of battling.
Only when the sun had set, did they return to the castle.
After taking a short rest, Hex decided to continue with his investigation. Grabbing the morphuse box, he slipped away. It was time to visit the plaza.
…
"Give me ten pills of E quality."
Hex stood at the counter of the Merchant Union, disguised once again as an elderly man. He didn't hide his double-blessed state.
He had chosen a different counter this time. Even if his disguise differed from the previous time, he didn't wish to take any chances.
He got his ware quickly and he exited the Union Market.
'I owe the castle even more now. Well, let the debt pile. I am sure I will repay all of it in the future.'
Hex wasn't taking advantage of the fact that he didn't have an upper limit to the amount he could owe. But the pills were necessary for his training.
'The last time it increased the strength of my body immensely. I wonder how much it will increase this time.'
With the help of the pills, Hex hoped to increase his body close to the twenty-first crystal.
Sighing lightly, he threw his worries about the lack of coins to the back of his mind.
Despite the late hour, the plaza was still lively. People were visiting the dens, the shady tents at the outer perimeter, and the market.
Hex wandered around, not finding anything suspicious.
'It seems the sermon is our best bet to discover more clues.'
He was about to return to the castle when he noticed the open doors of the temple. A large banner was placed above the opening.
Blessed sought, willing to assist with the refinement of beast crystals!
Reading the sign, Hex remembered the baron's advice: to use the monolith to refine and absorb energy contained in beast crystals.
Unlike others who could only use refined crystals and energy, Hex's heart enabled him to absorb the potent chaotic energy.
'It seems I can help the temple, earn, and increase my energy quantity and quality.' Eager to give it a try, Hex entered the Temple.
On the way to the entrance, he tried to look for traces of Adgar or Orvyn, hoping to understand how they were monitoring the temple. But except a drunk tramp sprawled at the steps, he didn't see anyone else.
'I wonder if he is one of the Knights,' Hex mused but didn't probe. It might spoil whatever the Knights had set in place to perform their task.
The temple was empty. Hex only saw a couple of old Clerks performing their cleaning duties. The place where the monolith stood was boxed in with black walls, creating a makeshift chamber.
"I saw the sign outside," Hex said, walking up to one of the Clerks. "Do I qualify?" He made sure to let his aura of double Blessed leak out.
"Yes. Of course," the Clerk replied joyously. "What level has your proficiency reached?"
"I have basic knowledge of it." Hex had read the book on crystal refinement in the library.
Although he never performed such a refinement, he was confident he could do it. His confidence came from possessing the world stone as his heart.
The clerk nodded and pulled a crystal out of his pouch. "In that case, you can start with a Demon crystal. Each person is allotted a single hour each day. Return the crystal at the end of the hour. We will pay according to the quality you can refine it."
Hex nodded. He knew that crystals followed the same quality grading as pills and weapons. Usually, it took a person days to refine a single crystal from its raw state to the lowest refined E quality.
After finishing the formalities, Hex entered the makeshift chamber. The only thing inside was the monolith protruding from the floor. It was still the same as he had seen on the day of the ritual.
Taking a deep breath, Hex approached the monolith. Before starting, he revised the steps he needed to follow.
'Refining is done through controlling the flow of the chaotic energy. By using my Blessed energy, I need to expel the chaotic particles. The Blessed Mark connects the monolith with the crystal, helping it absorb all those particles.'
Hex activated his glyph and let the energy gather in his hand, which he then placed on the top of the monolith.
Buzz.
As soon as his hand with the crystal touched the monolith, it started to glow. He could feel the monolith trying to suck his energy.
But Hex wasn't the same person anymore. He expected such a reaction from it. It was why most couldn't keep refining for a long time. They lost too much energy.
This was exactly where Hex's heart came into play. Once his energy fell under a certain level, it activated. It started to resonate with the monolith, creating two flows of energy. One flow was directed from his body to the monolith. The other from the crystal to him.
Thanks to his heart, the latter was faster. Hex absorbed more than he lost.
Feeling the energy nourishing every cell, Hex felt blissful. With each cycle, the chaotic energy was transformed into Blessed energy.
Hex didn't notice the vague outline of the bear-shaped phantom becoming clearer as he absorbed the energy.
Before he knew it, time was up. He only became aware of it, when the Clerk knocked on the walls.
Hex opened his eyes, reveling in the wonderful feeling. He looked at the crystal in his palm. It was smoother and shone brightly.
'I wonder what quality grading it achieved.'
Without testing it properly, there was no way to tell the exact quality of a crystal. He exited the chamber and handed it over to the Clerk.
"This…!" The Clerk looked in shock at the crystal. He hurriedly placed it in the box used to test the quality.
The box had many engravings. On its lid, seven crystals were placed in a circular pattern.
Soon the first crystal lit up, followed by three more.
Hex turned to the Clerk, waiting to hear the verdict. But the old man stared at the crystals with wide eyes.
"Well?" Hex asked, pulling the man out of his shock. The old man sighed and slowly gave the result.
"C…C quality."