The City of Changing Colors still slumbered while the group left for the transit station. As he watched the light peer through the leaves, Hex noticed hues of green and yellow on the otherwise withered leaves above them.
"The city is changing colors again, it would seem." He whispered to no one in particular but his mother’s ears did pick up his voice.
"You should have seen it in the past. All types of colors, ranging from dark to vibrant ones appeared during the summer, and turned white during the winter."
She said with a smile, her eyes glazing a little as she reminisced about the past.
"How would you know that, silly girl," Cyantha’s mother chuckled as she flicked a finger at her shoulder. "You weren’t even born when those colors appeared. Not even I was born at that time."
"She read it perhaps," Jade shot to help. She had been quiet during the journey so far. Hex did notice her stare at him with a frown. It happened whenever he conversed with his mother, which he could understand, would seem strange to the girl. After all, her best friend who was timid and shy, behaved too familiar with a strange young man.
’I hope she doesn’t get any strange ideas. Once the possession runs out, Cyantha will be back to her usual self...I hope.’
The transit would take some time to complete. The pods available out of the city were limited. Due to the reputation and waning number of visitors only pods allowing up to two people at once were present at the docking area.
"We have ordered a few nearby docks to send more in this direction but it will take some time for all of them to arrive," Jonathan took the lead and explained. "But waiting idly will be a waste of time and we risk some nosy people to notice us. So, to win time, the group will be split into smaller groups. We have five of these pods. We will be sending five of ours and five of the women in the first team. Once other pods arrive, we will continue to depart until everyone reaches the next point."
The Guardians split the group into several smaller groups and entered the pods. Hex, and the trio of mother and daughters were placed in one group. Not by the Guardians but by Elize herself. She said he was capable of taking care of all three.
The pods they were waiting on, apparently allowed up to four people inside. She would join Jonathan and help guard the two leaders of the Witchkin. Ever since the darkness receded, both women looked subdued. They stared blankly at everything happening around them. They didn’t respond to anything nor protest against anything.
Hex sat on one of the benches, waiting for the pods to arrive. Unwilling to squander time sitting idly, he decided to train. Even though his mother sat just beside him, there was little opportunity to talk to her. She too seemed to act like a young girl, engrossed in conversing about their future and what would happen to them with Jade and her mother.
’What should I focus on?’
There was a lot he had to work on. But not everything could be done out in the open. His Method for example, couldn’t be completed under the eyes of others, especially not if they were Enlightened Knights.
Techniques required space to maneuver and opponents, or training dummies. The transit station felt cramped even with ten people less. He crossed that as an option out.
’I think the only thing I can work on is improving my control and mastery over my elements.’
And even with the elements he had to be cautious as he didn’t wish for the others to realize the number of elements he had access to. In the end, he chose to work on the Ice element.
The inheritance of the Frost Dragon Queen left him with some exercises that helped with improving his mastery over the element. He already passed the first stage but the second and third stages remained.
With a thought, a clump of snow appeared in the palm of his hand. He visualized the inheritance and tried to mold and refine the clump in the desired shape. Easier said than done. Hex wasn’t the same person as when training at the first stage. His understanding of several elements fused in his mind but even then the shape fell apart when he stopped focussing on the element.
"You are trying too hard."
At some point, his mother had noticed his effort and whispered at a volume barely audible to others. Even Hex would have missed it if not for his enhanced hearing.
He glanced at her but she wasn’t looking at him. From the outside, it appeared like she was still busy listening to Jade and Cyantha’s mother. But he was certain she had spoken to him. And what did she mean with that he was trying too hard? He wanted to ask but she didn’t have a similar enhanced hearing like he did.
"Use your heart. It’s not just any treasure, you know."
Hex frowned a little. He still didn’t understand her well enough. His heart wasn’t just an organ, that he knew.
’How should I use my heart to refine elements? Should I try the same steps as done during the process of refinement?’
Unwilling to give up without trying, he sat straight and focussed on diverting the ice element toward his heart. The transfer from his inner space to his heart went smoothly. He had done such a thing with chaotic energy and Souldust plenty of times to be stumped by it.
Huh. Nothing happened.
Feeling confused, he was about to open his eyes when he heard his mother’s instruction.
"Repeat the steps but this time do them inside your heart."
The shape barely coalesced when his heart thumped against his chest.
It was muffled. And once.
He sensed something had changed.
"Summon that crystal."
Hex held his hand out and summoned the crystal out.
As soon as the crystal appeared, the temperature of the immediate vicinity dropped at once. Hex stared at the glistening crystal in his hand.
It wasn’t stage two. It was stage three.