BXBX NOVEL Chapter 69 Dale
Xzavier watched curiously as she walked up to the door and knocked rather carefully on the door, like she didn't want to rile up the entity on the other side. After a dignified short pause, an male voice came from the other side of the door.
"Come in!"
With permission came audacity. The secretary boldly clamped her hand on the door handle and pushed it open. Xzavier waited a second before following her in. He hadn't anticipated the recoil on the door to be so reactive, so Xzavier almost got slammed by the closing door. He jumped into the room in the nick of time, narrowly missing the door by just a few seconds.
Though Xzavier couldn't prove it, he got a hunch that the secretary had done that on purpose. He may or may not have been right. But the soft smile that was threatening to pull through across the lady's face was proof enough of her involvement.
The office was large and spacious. Way more spacious that the one Xzavier and Adalia had been in when they first got here. In fact, it was so large that it made the other one look like a cubicle. As expected, the swanky office was well decorated. Though not as overly fixated on aesthetic beauty as the other. This particular office resonated a kind of simple, and yet sophisticated ambience.
Asides from the spaciousness, one other thing that stood out the most was the extra large mahogany desk that sat tentatively in the north section of the office. At the head of the table was a man standing in front of an equally large chair that resembled a throne. The man had his back to Xzavier and the secretary, so, Xzavier couldn't s his face. But there was no mistaking the fact that this was indeed a boss.
Even as he sensed that his two guests had entered, he still refused to acknowledge their presence with as much as a sigh or even a look. He simply remained there with their backs to him, doing whatsoever it was that he was doing. It seemed like he had been waiting for a while, quite possibly for them. The man was tall and with an equally impressive build. By rough comparison, he was about the same size as Xzavier.
At this point, the secretary had to break the ice.
"Top of the morning to you sir! This is the man of the hour sir!
Still, there was no reply.
The secretary then proceeded to introduce the mysteriously quiet man to Xzavier. As was expected, she minded her tone and kept her words to the bare minimum.
"Mr. Xzavier, may I introduce you to the venerable Silver Knight-Dale. He among some others are the main people responsible for presenting you with this award. You will do well to show your respect."
As if this was the cue he had been waiting for, the man turned around, revealing a handsome face and we'll cut features. But Xzavier watched as a puzzled look crept across his face very quickly. It altered his otherwise calm façade, causing a ripple on the troubled waters that was now his face.
The secretary noticed this and secretly rejoiced. She suspected that the Silver Knight had already used his own perception powers to scan Xzavier for any sign of mana. The fact that he had none was scary to believe. For without mana, it was practically impossible for ordinary man to engage an orc in battle, much more the chief of the orcs.
"You've been exposed you fraud!"
Elated, the secretary prepared herself mentally for the tongue bashing that was to follow. She was particularly looking forward to his confession on just how he came about this plan to come in here and bamboozle his way through an award! The audacity was just so much!
But the unfortunate secretary couldn't have been more wrong. If she had taken a closer look, she would have seen that it wasn't a look of temporary amusement. The man had gone pale just looking at Xzavier for the first time. It was more of awe and shock, than disbelief and worry.
The reason for this mind numbing reaction was simple. Unlike the low level overconfident mage that was the secretary, this particular man was a Silver Knight of the highest level of mage powers. So, he could see with more depth and clarity. And right now, that depth and clarity had gifted him a walking breathing nightmare.
Back at the underground exchange, just as old man Kadin had seen on the first day he saw Xzavier, Silver Knight-Dale also saw the terrifyingly horrendous sight. Only this time, it was in a more enhanced version.
The handsome Silver Knight-Dale watched with horror as what seemed like a bloody apparition played out before him. As he looked at Xzavier, his vision registered a very dark, crimson blood red aura around Xzavier. But like a forest fire that was raging without the actual burning heat, the Silver Knight couldn't trace any single atom of mana in his body! It was shocking, it was disturbing, and it was no doubt the weirdest anomaly he had ever encountered!
The raging blood red aura was like an intangible halo of shadows of raging dragons surrounding Xzavier. The Silver Knight couldn't exactly place what it was or what its source was, but he could most definitely sense it!
Sensing the drama that was about to unfold, the secretary excused herself promptly. Her wrongly interpretation of the strange expression on the face of the Silver Knight caused her to make another error in judgment. So, relieved that someone else had caught on to his antics, she left feeling reassured that this lying bum from the countryside would definitely suffer the punishment he had so aptly garnered for himself. The pessimistic secretary closed the door behind her and left the men to their endeavors.
Dale wasn't just a glorified Silver Knight, he was also a seasoned statesman who was well versed in the art of politics. But despite all this achievements under his belt, he was the farthest thing from a senseless, clueless and spontaneous villain. No. If he anything, he was actually the opposite. His cool headedness and objective way of thinking and doing things made him appear to be an extremely shrewd man in the sight of others.
So, having found himself in quite the conundrum, he put his very analytical mind to good use and began the sorting process. He pondered on this new development over and over again in his mind. He doubted that there was any material or manual in all the earth that could offer him the guidance he needed at this moment.
As he weighed the matter on the scales in his heart, after much permutation and combination, he came up with two possible solutions. The first possibility was one that just had to be considered given the nature of man. It was highly unlikely, but it had to be on the table for the purpose of elimination- the possibility that Xzavier was in fact a deceitful con artist who merely wanted to wrangle his way into the good graces of the government.
This possibility was very unlikely. As a man with experience, Dale knew that the primary motivation for most con artists was money. For a con artist to risk getting in the spotlight with the government, then it had to be the haul of a lifetime. Dale examined this angle thoroughly and finally came to the conclusion that this wasn't the case with Xzavier.
The second possibility however was even more unbelievable and the likelihood of it being true was pretty slim. The second possibility was that he was in fact a unicorn, that is a rare prodigy, a hidden master who had perfected the art of completely ridding himself of any and all traces of mana.
This concept blew Dale's mind to bits. It was primarily because mana was the basic requirement for any practicing mage. This whole concept was mind blowing. If this was truly the case, then, well…
Faced with the ever daunting challenge of having to discern a man's true nature, Dale's shrewdness prevailed and he decided to put the young man who stood before him to a test. Dale made a conscious decision not to be carried away by the impressive aura of the stranger. There was no denying the fact that his spiritual presence alone was terrifying.
There was also the stranger's reputation which seemed to be all encompassing. There were tales of him slaughtering an entire group of goblins, stories of him sending a whole tribe of orcs running, and of course, the crowning achievement- the very interesting story of him single handedly killing the notorious chief orc. All of these were glowing recommendations, and his terrifying blood red aura only enhanced his already mysterious profile.
But despite all of these neatly stacked portfolio, Dale just couldn't resist finding out for himself. He just had to be sure.