BXBX NOVEL Chapter 70 Feeler
"Well, if indeed he is who he claims to be, I don't think he would be rattled by a little test…"
The Silver Knight's mind was always plotting and counter plotting. So, when an alarm bell sounded at the back of his mind, warning him that his plan could very well backfire, he took it into due consideration. It was very conceivable that there was every tendency that he could end up annoying a hidden master, consequently placing himself on the receiving end of a master's wrath.
Dale gritted his teeth. He felt like he was between a mountain and a sea, and in the very middle was a narrow bridge whose end disappeared in the thick fog of the unknown. Caution was called for. But Dale just had to know the truth.
All of these thoughts and simulations flew about with lightning speed and on a quantum level in his mind. So, after a few (rather brief and rather awkward) seconds of staring at Xzavier, he put on the deliberate fuzzy warmth of a polite host and welcomed Xzavier.
In a hearty booming voice, and with a conciliating smile that looked particularly forced, Dale greeted Xzavier;
"Mr. Xzavier, I wish to formally welcome you to the great Victoria city!"
Forcing his body language to comply with his hospitality, Dale reached out across the table with an outstretched arm, gesturing for a handshake.
Xzavier was a soldier at heart whose entire character had been built on the simple direct style of communication between his fellow soldiers and superiors. Because of this, he wasn't exactly keen on picking up on the dubiousness of certain people (specifically of the ruling political class) who were adept at masking their intentions behind warm gestures and beaming smiles. So, for the poor Xzavier, the obvious politicking going on in the room missed him.
This was why he had no reason to be suspicious of the seemingly innocent handshake that the Silver Knight had so sweetly offered him. In fact, Xzavier welcomed it. It was a refreshing change of pace compared to the coldness and vitriol that had been targeted at him from the first two people he had interacted with here.
So, completely oblivious of the fact that he was indeed a suspect in the mind of the Silver Knight, Xzavier stepped forward casually in a bid to meet the other man halfway to shake his hand. In those short but brief nanoseconds before Xzavier's hands made impact with the other man's hands, if he had been a little bit more sensitive to the seemingly placid atmosphere in the room, he would have detected an underlying foul gas of suspicion that was covered by the fake fragrance of hospitality.
If Xzavier had paid a little bit more attention to the well built man who was positioned before him at the head of the mahogany desk, standing confidently, beaming a warm smile and holding out what appeared to be a simple hand waiting for a handshake, Xzavier would have been able to see a different picture. In that brief moment, the Silver Knight's dark eyes bore a sinister semblance to that of a desert viper. The corners of his mouth was twisted at the edges, suggesting the fact that his smile wasn't from his heart.
A matured mind would have discerned these unsettling signs. But for ostensible reasons, Xzavier took the bait. It wasn't really his fault, the Silver Knight had years of experience in this game of cloak and daggers. Xzavier might have been a skillful killer with a terrifyingly intimidating bloodthirsty aura, but he was yet to tango with a creature of this caliber. This made Xzavier, on some level, the clueless underdog.
The moment Dale had been waiting for finally came. Almost as if time had slowed down just for this moment, the Silver Knight watched in slow motion as the man with the viciously aggressive, blood-red aura waltzed towards him, as if he was gliding across the surface of the floor, and clasped his hand unsuspectingly.
Both men shared the same handshake, but at the same time, in some vicious twist of fate, both men felt completely different things from the same handshake.
For Xzavier, it felt like he had been hit with a surge of electricity. Oddly enough, it didn't course through the entirety of his body like the relentless blast of the merciless electrons that would normally rage through a conductor upon contact with an electrical source. No, this was different, this feeling was restricted solely to his palm. For a brief moment, Xzavier felt like his hand had been placed inside a powerfully charged electromagnetic force field. The feeling was akin to being right on top of a power source.
Xzavier's instincts screamed at him to retrieve his hands immediately, but his will prevailed. Instead, Xzavier struggled desperately to remember the first time he had felt something akin to this feeling. Still bravely clasping the man's hand, Xzavier bravely held on until his mind brought to being from the chronicles of his memories, the one memory that felt so familiar to this particular encounter. One name stood out, echoing and echoing till Xzavier couldn't ignore it any more - KADIN!
Finally, Xzavier recalled the familiar incident and juxtaposed it with his present situation. Xzavier remembered with vivid details the day he met Kadin, the brief surge of energy that was purely psychic in nature. This particular stunt that had been executed sloppily by Kadin had been deftly executed by this impressive character.
Both Kadin's and Dale's intentions had been the same- to test the bounds of Xzavier's strength by using some kind of spiritual pressure as a measuring tool. With Kadin, Xzavier had been on his toes for the first few minutes he had met him. At the time, everything about Kadin had seemed just out of place. Indeed the old man had all the likeness of a dubious character, so Xzavier hadn't been taken unawares.
But with this silver tongued Silver Knight called Dale, Xzavier saw a different shade of the word 'subtle.' Up until this very moment, Xzavier assumed that this level of sneakiness was a trait that was exclusive to the members of the female demographic. He had been totally caught off guard.
But even half aware, Xzavier's subconscious was still very much alert. Instinctively, with the dazzling speed of a Jaguar that had come under attack, the jungle cat in Xzavier arose from its deep slumber. His ever present undying hatred of losing surfaced and took over, expelling every trace of weakness and filling Xzavier with the strength and mental fortitude he needed to put the Silver Knight in his place.
So, maintaining a solid jawline and a rock hard expression, Xzavier's steely gaze met the piercing eyes of the perceptive Silver Knight. And so, locked in what appeared to be a harmless handshake, the battle of will began. Anyone with average powers of reasoning who was unlucky enough to walk in at that moment would have seen nothing more than two grim faced men shaking hands. But a more astute mind would take one look at both men and see the hidden writing on the wall.
Fueled by his crushing desire to come out victorious, Xzavier used his strength to resist and suppress the pressure building up in the Silver Knight's hand like a sick wave, dangerously gaining momentum by the second.
As the silent battle between both men raged on, it soon became obvious that both sides were evenly matched. Both men were unyielding, both men were stubborn. But the logical conclusion after their first bout was that neither of them could really do anything to the other. By all count, they were evenly matched. The balance was just uncanny.
Xzavier might have been the one who had been taken off guard at first, but by the end of the whole ego measuring contest, Dale ended up being the one who was surprised. His heart raced with all the possible inferences. Dale was known for his foresight, and relatively objective style of thinking, but there was no way he could have anticipated that an ordinary looking chump like Xzavier would match his strength in a hand grip.
"Incredible!" He wondered inwardly, all the while keeping a straight face.
"Truly remarkable. No mana whatsoever, and yet, with nothing but brute force he managed to remain unfazed!"
Dale began to wonder what exactly his full strength would look like if he actually unleashed his hidden mana. He shuddered inwardly at the mere thought of it.
Finally, a silent understanding passed between the two men. There was no need to drag it out any longer than was necessary. Silently, they came to a mutual understanding that it was time to let go. Their firm grasp on each other's hands relaxed, and they both let out a sigh of relief, almost simultaneously. Having tested the waters, both men now regarded each other differently. Although they didn't openly acknowledge each other, but it was more than obvious that they now knew and saw each other for the person they truly were, or at least appeared to be.