The tower’s attack sent Hex flying. Again. He hit the ground with his face. It certainly wasn’t pleasant to eat dirt. Nor was it pleasant to be hurt. He crawled up. This time he managed to take the attack on his shoulder. It felt broken. His arm joint creaked as he moved. His skin seared. And the pain almost pushed him back on his ass. It took every cell refusing to surrender to get back on his feet. ’This one was better. Anywhere near the chest and I will die from lack of oxygen before the tower could kill me.’ His hand went to his chest. The charred mark prickled but had healed, almost completely, in seconds. "Stop. You are just wasting your time, Druid." The leader of the Green Tigers cackled from the window. Despite her young age she had a nasty mouth on her. She yapped happily at him, poking fun at his failed attempts. "You should have brought your stupid animal. Without it, you are going to get punched until you aren’t able to stand." Hex, disguised as Mike, was a Druid in her eyes. She, like many in the crowd, knew his identity but few knew about his companion. With the Dragon Bear at his side he would have been done by now. The tower wouldn’t be able to injure it – at most a little energy would be spent, energy he had in spares – and he would have broken through. But that wasn’t the plan. He growled and rushed to the front door. Again. He sensed the energy pulse upward, travel to the node, and explode toward him. Even if all that happened in a second. And...even if he could evade it. The energy beam hit square in the chest, throwing him back. Again. The crowd didn’t react. Seeing someone being hit again and again lost its charm rather quickly. Based on some of their words that reached his sharp ears it appeared that the battle on the other side entertained them more. Good. That would decrease the attention on him and his objective. His body healed but he kept the charred skin. The clothes hung loosely and dirt clung everywhere. Pretending to need more time for recovery, he carefully sensed the energy storage below the tower. ’Almost there.’ He estimated the energy to attack two or three times at most. "How stupid can you be?" The girl laughed after Hex repeated his action twice. He trembled, leaning on his knees and panting as if he needed every drop of air to survive. The cheers had turned up a notch. Shouts like get the door and poke that big fella indicated that the opponent had reached the tower. Not surprising as everyone kept their hand. Gronke would not attack. That was agreed between them. He wished to hide for now if possible. Apparently, he wished to take the Templars by surprise. Quid would not interfere much either. He didn’t know how they dealt with the twins, though. Perhaps, a hidden trump card. Whatever the cause, Hex knew it was time to end this. He stepped forward, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. The girl leaned over, not out of worry. That was certain. She believed he would charge one last time. Seeing him bite the dust for good seemed to intrigue very much. The pulse of energy glowed again. It traveled and reached the node to explode forth. Finally, something interesting. The bloodthirsty eyes of the crowd shifted its attention after a few shouts. Hex heard their excitement bubble at the prospect of him dying. It wasn’t personal. It was entertainment. The crowd had arrived early, forgoing their sleep and rest, and now, finally, they would see someone’s breath be stolen. He sensed the crowd holding their breath, unwilling to miss his last breath. The energy burst out, coming at him at blinding speed. In that fraction of moment, everything and everyone went silent. Like every time, it would hit Hex and end. Or so they thought. Alas, Hex moved. It happened very quickly. Unlike the others, who only saw a light flare, Hex was able to follow the beam of light flying toward him. He had seen it during each attack. But he hadn’t blocked or evaded it. This time, he did. He moved, leaving an afterimage. The crowd exploded when the beam shredded the illusion apart. The girl atop cackled. He, however, burst through the front door, and skipped the stairs up to the second level. "Hello princess." He grabbed the girl, who was still lost in her perceived win, by the neck. She struggled. He sensed her body trembling in shock. Try how hard she might, she failed to turn her neck. Hex leaned in, appearing in the window and in the view of the crowd. "Shh. My body heals quickly, yes, but you didn’t think I was stupid enough to keep getting hit without any plans, did you?" Actually, it was almost what he had done but appearances mattered when keeping a secret. Showing something to hide much more was a strategy he learned from his esteemed grandfather. The crowd fell silent. Only for a second. They exploded in louder cheers. Once again he realized how apathetic people could be. Not so long ago they seemed bursting with excitement at his defeat and death. With the sudden reversal, their cheers reversed too. Now, they were chanting his name, with genius and deserved number one being thrown in there as well. Loud gongs echoed and fireworks exploded as somewhere the referee announced the winners. Hex exited the tower, taking the girl with him. She was his captive. She screamed and cried but he ignored her. "A million? Are you crazy?" The other members of the Green Tigers screamed. Sterling only laughed. Hex stood silent but he agreed with the opponents. Sterling started to high. He didn’t interfere as this was also a part of this round. The opponent could free their captured member, if they paid a sufficient price. A price both parties agreed upon. "A hundred thousand Wrixian Coins and that is our best offer." They proposed, to which Sterling only dropped a hundred thousand from his initial demand, bringing it to nine hundred thousand coins. Hex expected quite some back and forth before they reached an agreement. Just as he was about to take a seat, he saw the participants of the second match make their way to the field. Althea was at the front. The rest ignored them. Hex, however, met Althea’s gaze that seemed to bore a hole through him. He had fooled everyone. Not her, though.