BXBX NOVEL Chapter 175 Predicament
Xzavier on the other hand knew that his Gatling time was over. Laddie was not going to give him anymore time. Their battle had now entered the next level, especially now that they had both gotten a taste of each other's capabilities. It was now time to get real. The old mage charged at Xzavier with a balled fist, this time with an increased speed. Xzavier didn't think the old man could get any faster. Actually, he could now see Laddie coming, but that didn't make it any easier at all.
Their fight began. This time, it was at close range. Xzavier managed to duck the first blow. He normally wouldn't have been able to do that, but because of the enhanced superhuman speed that his custom black fitting suit gave him, he was actually able to avoid taking a hit. But nonetheless, it had been a narrow escape. The old man was unbelievably fast!
Xzavier ducked the punch and landed on his feet in a very good stance. He also decided to go in for an attack. Eager to get one in, Xzavier sprang towards the shifting form of the old man at a very high velocity. The ground underneath his feet cracked under the intensity of the vibration of his new speed. He soared through the air, riding on the momentum his suit gave him, and found Laddie's face. But at the last moment, the old man somehow managed to duck.
Xzavier hadn't expected that. No all. Then to his even greater surprise, Laddie's free left hand surged forward to the open space between Xzavier's ribs to strike. On a very good day, even Xzavier knew that there was no way he would have been able to dodge that. But his mini sonic locator, along with his custom black fitting suit gave Xzavier the speed and echo locator he needed for a decent parry. It was more than enough in that situation.
The two went at it hard and relentlessly, moving at incredibly high speeds, even too high for the normal eye to follow, they seemed to be appearing and disappearing at different locations. Balled fists whizzed by every second. But none seemed to be able to lay a hand on the other. Xzavier was more than impressed with the old man's stamina. Truly. Laddie was old only in age. He still retained a surprising agility and strength even at his age.
His stamina and raw strength was obvious. With each punch that Xzavier escaped from, he felt the swoosh of the mage's fist rush past him. If Xzavier himself wasn't in top shape, only the breeze that followed Laddie's strikes would have been enough to knock him off his feet. In spite of his great strength, there was also the fact that he enhanced his every punch with a decent measure of magic. All of this added to the flair of the fight.
On the ground, high in the air when they both jumped, they both attacked each other with great vigor. There were so many punches, there were several uppercuts, there were even some very high handed kicks, but none landed. None at all. Both sides had adapted to the fighting techniques of the other. They were both fast. They were both strong. And to crown it all, both of them had enhancements that augmented their already impressive physiques and skills.
The battle was intense. The ground underneath them trembled lightly with their every takeoff and landing. The very air around them shifted with the residual energy of every punch and kick thrown. The terrain responded to their quick, brash movements, causing cracks on the ground of the smoothly paved road of the beloved Victoria City. But at the end of the day, it was a tie. Physically speaking, they were more than an even match for each other.
When it became obvious to the senior mage that they would most likely wear each other out if they continued in a hand to hand battle, he decided to appeal to Xzavier's social sense. In the course of their battle, Laddie began to converse with Xzavier.
"Wow! Truly remarkable Xzavier! Truly!" he praised Xzavier as he tried to take a jab at the place where his kidney was meant to be.
Xzavier parried with a very flexible turn of his lower body, making room for his left hand to gain momentum as it swung towards smashing Laddie's right ear. Laddie easily dodged. But that didn't stop from openly expressing his admiration for Xzavier's talent.
"We could do this all day! Why not..." he ducked as Xzavier tried to smash his jaw with an uppercut. "Why not skip all this?! Come work for the governor!"
Xzavier knew he couldn't fall for this trap. Laddie was extremely focused, so he could afford to have a conversation with Xzavier and at the same time, fight. He couldn't afford to be distracted. He also knew it was a very bad idea to get sucked into a banter while fighting the most dangerous mage in all Victoria City. But he had to answer the old man anyway. At least, to show that he wasn't really trying as well. It was a psychological thing.
"Sorry Laddie, but I can't."
It was a bit strange, here they were, two powerful men genuinely trying to take the other down. And at the same time, having a very polite conversation. Laddie sighed. It was almost as though he was a bit sad to hear Xzavier's answer.
"That's too bad Xzavier. Too bad really."
With that, the old mage stopped his attacks, and backed off to a much farther distance, putting enough space between him and Xzavier. This sudden break gave room for a small timeout.
"I really wish you had given me a more favorable answer."
Xzavier had actually read it all wrong. He would come to realize much later that the mage hadn't been trying to get him to lose focus by baiting him into a conversation. if anything, it had actually been a genuine attempt to salvage their professional relationship and put off any more unnecessary fighting. But now that Xzavier had once again made his stance very clear, the old man decided to kick things up a notch.
Retreating to a pretty good distance away from Xzavier using his incredible speed, the old man's countenance suddenly changed. Xzavier was too far away from him to see, but he could tell that something had definitely changed about the old man's demeanor. He couldn't place his hands on it exactly, but he could most definitely feel it. Xzavier didn't realize just how right he was to be worried in that moment, but he was sure to find out soon enough.
Laddie opened his mouth and began to chant in a terribly ominous tone. The air suddenly began to grow cold. Xzavier was very sensitive about his environment now. And because he felt just about every single thing, he literally felt the temperature drop by several degrees in just a couple of seconds. Laddie on the other hand began to look like a ghostly figure. In that moment, Xzavier didn't recognize him at all.
As Laddie released his words of incantation into the air, his hands moved in rapid motions. Faster than Xzavier's eyes could follow, Laddie folded and twisted his hands, and intertwined his fingers, making several hand signs along the way. Making the old man seem even more mysterious than ever. As Xzavier observed the old man from afar, he began to have an odd feeling. He didn't understand it, but his insides screamed at him to rush and stop Laddie.
When Xzavier finally decided to react, he found out that it was way too late for that.
Xzavier's brain sent the neurons to his central nervous system with the message to run towards Laddie, but for some reason, Xzavier couldn't move. An unfamiliar feeling of dread washed over Xzavier. This was the most basic of the human bodily functions, and yet, he was struggling, nay, he couldn't complete this task. Sweating already, Xzavier tried to move his feet, internally screaming at them to move, but there was no response. Not even the slightest twitch.
The sudden realization that he couldn't move his own body came upon Xzavier like a dreadful nightmare. Xzavier had never been held in place by an invisible force, it was very much unlike anything he had ever witnessed before. The experience was vaguely similar to dream paralysis, but only ten times worse because he was more awake than ever, given all the adrenaline surging through his being from the fight.
Petrified and frozen stiff by an invisible force, Xzavier felt like he had been robbed of his own will, pinned down by an external dark force, and held in place like an unwilling sacrifice. But that wasn't even the worst thing about the experience. It was the terrifying sight that was right ahead of him.
While Xzavier had been struggling to come to terms with the fact that he had been rendered motionless, it seemed like Laddie had gotten busy. The early morning sky right above him and Laddie had suddenly darkened. Magnificent dark storm clouds began to swirl over their heads, cackling with thunder, and occasionally, flashing lightning. The air itself was heavy with an ominous ring to it. A seemingly inescapable foreboding sense of doom hung in the air over them.
The whole scene was apocalyptically beautiful and even more terrifying. Xzavier realized why he had had the urge to stop the old mage's spell at the time. Something really bad was coming; he could feel it in his bones, he could sense it lurking about in the skies above him like a palpable entity, just waiting to be let loose to wreak the destruction it was meant for.