Chapter 77: Sneaking Out Of Class
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Obviously very unhappy, the young girl walked towards Xzavier with burning black eyes, ready to tear him apart with the ferocity and anger of a young tigress. With balled fists, she approached him as though she was going to beat him up.
"You! Just who do you think you are?! You actually dared to rat me out?!"
She shook her finger threateningly in his face,
"My father will have you flayed for this!!"
Xzavier was even more confused than ever. This wasn't how he had expected this to go. Why was the criminal so brazen? What was the source of her confidence that made her so audacious even in the face of possible conviction. He turned to face Adalia, hoping to catch an expression that said he wasn't the only one that was going mad. He didn't get the sympathetic response he expected. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Instead of mirroring his own confusion, on Adalia's face was a look of amusement that more than hinted at the fact that she found all of this to be very amusing. Clearly, she knew something that Xzavier didn't. Xzavier began to suspect that something didn't add up.
"Hold on now! Wait a damn minute..."
Xzavier thought to himself as he struggled to make sense of the whole situation that looked completely absurd.
But the cute girl didn't catch on. With the confidence of a spoilt child who was used to having her way, the cute girl continued her savage verbal assault on the clueless young man.
"What's the matter dummy? Cat's got your tongue? Or are you dumb as well?!"
Watching Xzavier getting skewered by a teenage girl like piece of meat on a grill wasn't something that Adalia had ever thought she would witness in her lifetime. In her mind, she saw Xzavier as a big bad wolf who had decimated an entire tribe of orcs. So, watching him falter under this heat was practically amusing for her.
Seeing that Xzavier decided to remain silent, the other girl took it as a sign of acquiescence. And like a blood hound who smelled blood, she honed in on Xzavier with the precision of a killer and lashed out at him with another vicious stream of stingers.
"You better speak up you uncultured swine! Do you want me to call my father?! Because I will!! I guarantee you, he is going to make your life very difficult!"
The young girl wasn't more than five foot five, and yet she spoke the the audacity and energy of someone who was over seven feet tall and armed with a machine gun. It was only after her last threat that Adalia finally made up her mind to butt in.
"It's okay Earlene, I know this one..."
If that was intended to douse the raging flame that was the cute girl's anger, it turned out to be counterproductive. With burning black eyes, the petulant girl turned her bloodlust on Adalia.
"What do you mean you know this one? Isn't he one of the servants?"
She then narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at him one more time, as if trying to make up her mind about what unit of the domestic staff he truly belonged to.
"Or are you one of the new ones?"
Even before Adalia finally introduced them to each other, Xzavier's quick mind began to make the connection. He wanted to kick himself in the nuts for not reading the signs earlier on.
Battle had hardwired his brain into automatically dreaming up the worst case scenario. He had to constantly remind himself that this wasn't war, he was surrounded by civilians and ordinary folks. Hence, the need to tone down his aggressive analysis of every situation.
Adalia's voice rose above the din, and like a peace maker, she built the bridge between both sides when she finally made the introductions.
"No Earlene, this is the dude I was talking about..."
Xzavier raised his eyebrows in surprise. Adalia saw it and dismissed his vile thoughts immediately.
"Oh don't flatter yourself Xzavier. It's not like that!"
Speaking to the girl called Earlene, Adalia continued;
"So Earlene, I would like to officially introduce the local legend, and the man behind the extermination of the insidious orcs- Mister Xzavier!"
It was a glowing introduction. Xzavier wanted to point out to her that she was wrong about the "extermination" part. But he decided that now wasn't probably the time to that. Adalia continued in her role as the intermediary and finished the rest of the introduction.
"And Xzavier, I'm sure you've already guessed this as well, but this is the adorable Earlene, daughter of the distinguished Gvernor of the state capital."
Adalia was right about the part about Xzavier already suspecting that Earlene was royalty, at least, she was the day's version of a princess anyway. He instinctively bowed low, almost all the way to the waist, thinking that it was probably the norm here. It was Adalia's turn to be amused. Stifling the swelling storm of laughter that was actively gaining momentum in her stomach, Adalia managed to ask with a straight face;
"Xzavier! What are you doing?"
A puzzled expression crept across Xzavier's face.
"I thought..." he began innocently as he tried to explain the basis for his action.
But the overly aggressive Earlene didn't spare him.
"OH! What kind of backwater country are you from?! This isn't the olden days, we don't do that here!"
Xzavier swallowed hard. There really was no pleasing this girl.
"Earlene!" Adalia exclaimed. "Come on! Be nice!"
Earlene didn't look like she was capable of being nice. Instead of apologizing, she folded her arms stubbornly and kept her fierce gaze on Xzavier. Clearly, she still wasn't impressed.
Adalia assuaged Xzavier saying;
"Don't worry about Earlene, she's just grumpy because she was practicing water magic and she ended up sneaking out of class. She's a great girl I promise you."
Somehow, Xzavier found it hard to believe that last part.
Both Xzavier and Earlene stared at each other. Actually, in the case of Earlene, it was more of a harsh glare and an intensely penetrating gaze, than a simple ordinary stare. Xzavier saw no need to dish out one of his favorite homicidal glares for such a young girl. He reserved it for special occasions like when he would be faced with a testosterone driven primate monster that was almost always other men looking for an ego contest. Each of them analyzed the other person, drawing up conclusions and forming lasting impressions.
Earlene didn't like Xzavier. She made no attempt to make her dislike for him. Indeed it was clear as day. It was in her body language, it was on her demeaning expression, it was in her spiteful eyes, and it oozed from every word she uttered.
It wasn't that Earlene hated Xzavier with passion, neither was it that she detested him for any reason in particular. Her dislike was based on the fact that she completely looked down on him. She couldn't see anything interesting about him, consequently, it was hard for her to take him seriously. She regarded him as one would regard a worm or a dying insect, with a look of complete condescension, trying to make up her mind if he was worth her or Adalia's time.
"This can't be right. You look so common, how is it that a runt like you managed to accomplish all of these magnificent feats?"
What would have been an internal monologue in her own mind was voiced out openly without fear, restraint or remorse. She was used to speaking her mind without any backlash or repercussion. After all, she was the daughter of the governor, no one would dare make her feel unhappy and end up incurring the full wrath of her father.
Earlene didn't stop there, she dialed up the sass by about a hundred percent, adjusted her already folded arms and continued to systematically tear down Xzavier's self worth.
"You are weak. You have no mana, and yet, you claim to have "eliminated" an entire band of orcs! Tell me, how does this work exactly?"
The scene was similar to that of a bully situation in a school yard. She took a step closer to him menacingly and asked contemptuously;
"Tell me Xzavier, did you manage to do all this by boring the orcs to death? Is that your hidden super power? The uncanny ability to bore your enemies to death?"
"Earlene! Come on!"
Earlene swerved in Adalia's direction with her hands held up in the air in a shrug.
"Honestly Adalia, what exactly did you see in this bum? He seems to have the IQ of a gold fish."
She raised up her eyebrow as she considered another possibility;
"Adalia," she spoke in a low and subdued tone, hoping Xzavier wouldn't pick up on her warning;
"I hope you haven't fallen for the tricks of this babble rouser? Oh please tell me you haven't?!"
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Obviously very unhappy, the young girl walked towards Xzavier with burning black eyes, ready to tear him apart with the ferocity and anger of a young tigress. With balled fists, she approached him as though she was going to beat him up.
"You! Just who do you think you are?! You actually dared to rat me out?!"
She shook her finger threateningly in his face,
"My father will have you flayed for this!!"
Xzavier was even more confused than ever. This wasn't how he had expected this to go. Why was the criminal so brazen? What was the source of her confidence that made her so audacious even in the face of possible conviction. He turned to face Adalia, hoping to catch an expression that said he wasn't the only one that was going mad. He didn't get the sympathetic response he expected. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Instead of mirroring his own confusion, on Adalia's face was a look of amusement that more than hinted at the fact that she found all of this to be very amusing. Clearly, she knew something that Xzavier didn't. Xzavier began to suspect that something didn't add up.
"Hold on now! Wait a damn minute..."
Xzavier thought to himself as he struggled to make sense of the whole situation that looked completely absurd.
But the cute girl didn't catch on. With the confidence of a spoilt child who was used to having her way, the cute girl continued her savage verbal assault on the clueless young man.
"What's the matter dummy? Cat's got your tongue? Or are you dumb as well?!"
Watching Xzavier getting skewered by a teenage girl like piece of meat on a grill wasn't something that Adalia had ever thought she would witness in her lifetime. In her mind, she saw Xzavier as a big bad wolf who had decimated an entire tribe of orcs. So, watching him falter under this heat was practically amusing for her.
Seeing that Xzavier decided to remain silent, the other girl took it as a sign of acquiescence. And like a blood hound who smelled blood, she honed in on Xzavier with the precision of a killer and lashed out at him with another vicious stream of stingers.
"You better speak up you uncultured swine! Do you want me to call my father?! Because I will!! I guarantee you, he is going to make your life very difficult!"
The young girl wasn't more than five foot five, and yet she spoke the the audacity and energy of someone who was over seven feet tall and armed with a machine gun. It was only after her last threat that Adalia finally made up her mind to butt in.
"It's okay Earlene, I know this one..."
If that was intended to douse the raging flame that was the cute girl's anger, it turned out to be counterproductive. With burning black eyes, the petulant girl turned her bloodlust on Adalia.
"What do you mean you know this one? Isn't he one of the servants?"
She then narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at him one more time, as if trying to make up her mind about what unit of the domestic staff he truly belonged to.
"Or are you one of the new ones?"
Even before Adalia finally introduced them to each other, Xzavier's quick mind began to make the connection. He wanted to kick himself in the nuts for not reading the signs earlier on.
Battle had hardwired his brain into automatically dreaming up the worst case scenario. He had to constantly remind himself that this wasn't war, he was surrounded by civilians and ordinary folks. Hence, the need to tone down his aggressive analysis of every situation.
Adalia's voice rose above the din, and like a peace maker, she built the bridge between both sides when she finally made the introductions.
"No Earlene, this is the dude I was talking about..."
Xzavier raised his eyebrows in surprise. Adalia saw it and dismissed his vile thoughts immediately.
"Oh don't flatter yourself Xzavier. It's not like that!"
Speaking to the girl called Earlene, Adalia continued;
"So Earlene, I would like to officially introduce the local legend, and the man behind the extermination of the insidious orcs- Mister Xzavier!"
It was a glowing introduction. Xzavier wanted to point out to her that she was wrong about the "extermination" part. But he decided that now wasn't probably the time to that. Adalia continued in her role as the intermediary and finished the rest of the introduction.
"And Xzavier, I'm sure you've already guessed this as well, but this is the adorable Earlene, daughter of the distinguished Gvernor of the state capital."
Adalia was right about the part about Xzavier already suspecting that Earlene was royalty, at least, she was the day's version of a princess anyway. He instinctively bowed low, almost all the way to the waist, thinking that it was probably the norm here. It was Adalia's turn to be amused. Stifling the swelling storm of laughter that was actively gaining momentum in her stomach, Adalia managed to ask with a straight face;
"Xzavier! What are you doing?"
A puzzled expression crept across Xzavier's face.
"I thought..." he began innocently as he tried to explain the basis for his action.
But the overly aggressive Earlene didn't spare him.
"OH! What kind of backwater country are you from?! This isn't the olden days, we don't do that here!"
Xzavier swallowed hard. There really was no pleasing this girl.
"Earlene!" Adalia exclaimed. "Come on! Be nice!"
Earlene didn't look like she was capable of being nice. Instead of apologizing, she folded her arms stubbornly and kept her fierce gaze on Xzavier. Clearly, she still wasn't impressed.
Adalia assuaged Xzavier saying;
"Don't worry about Earlene, she's just grumpy because she was practicing water magic and she ended up sneaking out of class. She's a great girl I promise you."
Somehow, Xzavier found it hard to believe that last part.
Both Xzavier and Earlene stared at each other. Actually, in the case of Earlene, it was more of a harsh glare and an intensely penetrating gaze, than a simple ordinary stare. Xzavier saw no need to dish out one of his favorite homicidal glares for such a young girl. He reserved it for special occasions like when he would be faced with a testosterone driven primate monster that was almost always other men looking for an ego contest. Each of them analyzed the other person, drawing up conclusions and forming lasting impressions.
Earlene didn't like Xzavier. She made no attempt to make her dislike for him. Indeed it was clear as day. It was in her body language, it was on her demeaning expression, it was in her spiteful eyes, and it oozed from every word she uttered.
It wasn't that Earlene hated Xzavier with passion, neither was it that she detested him for any reason in particular. Her dislike was based on the fact that she completely looked down on him. She couldn't see anything interesting about him, consequently, it was hard for her to take him seriously. She regarded him as one would regard a worm or a dying insect, with a look of complete condescension, trying to make up her mind if he was worth her or Adalia's time.
"This can't be right. You look so common, how is it that a runt like you managed to accomplish all of these magnificent feats?"
What would have been an internal monologue in her own mind was voiced out openly without fear, restraint or remorse. She was used to speaking her mind without any backlash or repercussion. After all, she was the daughter of the governor, no one would dare make her feel unhappy and end up incurring the full wrath of her father.
Earlene didn't stop there, she dialed up the sass by about a hundred percent, adjusted her already folded arms and continued to systematically tear down Xzavier's self worth.
"You are weak. You have no mana, and yet, you claim to have "eliminated" an entire band of orcs! Tell me, how does this work exactly?"
The scene was similar to that of a bully situation in a school yard. She took a step closer to him menacingly and asked contemptuously;
"Tell me Xzavier, did you manage to do all this by boring the orcs to death? Is that your hidden super power? The uncanny ability to bore your enemies to death?"
"Earlene! Come on!"
Earlene swerved in Adalia's direction with her hands held up in the air in a shrug.
"Honestly Adalia, what exactly did you see in this bum? He seems to have the IQ of a gold fish."
She raised up her eyebrow as she considered another possibility;
"Adalia," she spoke in a low and subdued tone, hoping Xzavier wouldn't pick up on her warning;
"I hope you haven't fallen for the tricks of this babble rouser? Oh please tell me you haven't?!"
Obviously very unhappy, the young girl walked towards Xzavier with burning black eyes, ready to tear him apart with the ferocity and anger of a young tigress. With balled fists, she approached him as though she was going to beat him up."You! Just who do you think you are?! You actually dared to rat me out?!"She shook her finger threateningly in his face,"My father will have you flayed for this!!"Xzavier was even more confused than ever. This wasn't how he had expected this to go. Why was the criminal so brazen? What was the source of her confidence that made her so audacious even in the face of possible conviction. He turned to face Adalia, hoping to catch an expression that said he wasn't the only one that was going mad. He didn't get the sympathetic response he expected. In fact, it was quite the opposite.Instead of mirroring his own confusion, on Adalia's face was a look of amusement that more than hinted at the fact that she found all of this to be very amusing. Clearly, she knew something that Xzavier didn't. Xzavier began to suspect that something didn't add up."Hold on now! Wait a damn minute..."Xzavier thought to himself as he struggled to make sense of the whole situation that looked completely absurd.But the cute girl didn't catch on. With the confidence of a spoilt child who was used to having her way, the cute girl continued her savage verbal assault on the clueless young man."What's the matter dummy? Cat's got your tongue? Or are you dumb as well?!"Watching Xzavier getting skewered by a teenage girl like piece of meat on a grill wasn't something that Adalia had ever thought she would witness in her lifetime. In her mind, she saw Xzavier as a big bad wolf who had decimated an entire tribe of orcs. So, watching him falter under this heat was practically amusing for her.Seeing that Xzavier decided to remain silent, the other girl took it as a sign of acquiescence. And like a blood hound who smelled blood, she honed in on Xzavier with the precision of a killer and lashed out at him with another vicious stream of stingers."You better speak up you uncultured swine! Do you want me to call my father?! Because I will!! I guarantee you, he is going to make your life very difficult!"The young girl wasn't more than five foot five, and yet she spoke the the audacity and energy of someone who was over seven feet tall and armed with a machine gun. It was only after her last threat that Adalia finally made up her mind to butt in."It's okay Earlene, I know this one..."If that was intended to douse the raging flame that was the cute girl's anger, it turned out to be counterproductive. With burning black eyes, the petulant girl turned her bloodlust on Adalia."What do you mean you know this one? Isn't he one of the servants?"She then narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at him one more time, as if trying to make up her mind about what unit of the domestic staff he truly belonged to."Or are you one of the new ones?"Even before Adalia finally introduced them to each other, Xzavier's quick mind began to make the connection. He wanted to kick himself in the nuts for not reading the signs earlier on.Battle had hardwired his brain into automatically dreaming up the worst case scenario. He had to constantly remind himself that this wasn't war, he was surrounded by civilians and ordinary folks. Hence, the need to tone down his aggressive analysis of every situation.Adalia's voice rose above the din, and like a peace maker, she built the bridge between both sides when she finally made the introductions."No Earlene, this is the dude I was talking about..."Xzavier raised his eyebrows in surprise. Adalia saw it and dismissed his vile thoughts immediately."Oh don't flatter yourself Xzavier. It's not like that!"Speaking to the girl called Earlene, Adalia continued;"So Earlene, I would like to officially introduce the local legend, and the man behind the extermination of the insidious orcs- Mister Xzavier!"It was a glowing introduction. Xzavier wanted to point out to her that she was wrong about the "extermination" part. But he decided that now wasn't probably the time to that. Adalia continued in her role as the intermediary and finished the rest of the introduction."And Xzavier, I'm sure you've already guessed this as well, but this is the adorable Earlene, daughter of the distinguished Gvernor of the state capital."Adalia was right about the part about Xzavier already suspecting that Earlene was royalty, at least, she was the day's version of a princess anyway. He instinctively bowed low, almost all the way to the waist, thinking that it was probably the norm here. It was Adalia's turn to be amused. Stifling the swelling storm of laughter that was actively gaining momentum in her stomach, Adalia managed to ask with a straight face;"Xzavier! What are you doing?"A puzzled expression crept across Xzavier's face."I thought..." he began innocently as he tried to explain the basis for his action.But the overly aggressive Earlene didn't spare him."OH! What kind of backwater country are you from?! This isn't the olden days, we don't do that here!"Xzavier swallowed hard. There really was no pleasing this girl."Earlene!" Adalia exclaimed. "Come on! Be nice!"Earlene didn't look like she was capable of being nice. Instead of apologizing, she folded her arms stubbornly and kept her fierce gaze on Xzavier. Clearly, she still wasn't impressed.Adalia assuaged Xzavier saying;"Don't worry about Earlene, she's just grumpy because she was practicing water magic and she ended up sneaking out of class. She's a great girl I promise you."Somehow, Xzavier found it hard to believe that last part.Both Xzavier and Earlene stared at each other. Actually, in the case of Earlene, it was more of a harsh glare and an intensely penetrating gaze, than a simple ordinary stare. Xzavier saw no need to dish out one of his favorite homicidal glares for such a young girl. He reserved it for special occasions like when he would be faced with a testosterone driven primate monster that was almost always other men looking for an ego contest. Each of them analyzed the other person, drawing up conclusions and forming lasting impressions.Earlene didn't like Xzavier. She made no attempt to make her dislike for him. Indeed it was clear as day. It was in her body language, it was on her demeaning expression, it was in her spiteful eyes, and it oozed from every word she uttered.It wasn't that Earlene hated Xzavier with passion, neither was it that she detested him for any reason in particular. Her dislike was based on the fact that she completely looked down on him. She couldn't see anything interesting about him, consequently, it was hard for her to take him seriously. She regarded him as one would regard a worm or a dying insect, with a look of complete condescension, trying to make up her mind if he was worth her or Adalia's time."This can't be right. You look so common, how is it that a runt like you managed to accomplish all of these magnificent feats?"What would have been an internal monologue in her own mind was voiced out openly without fear, restraint or remorse. She was used to speaking her mind without any backlash or repercussion. After all, she was the daughter of the governor, no one would dare make her feel unhappy and end up incurring the full wrath of her father.Earlene didn't stop there, she dialed up the sass by about a hundred percent, adjusted her already folded arms and continued to systematically tear down Xzavier's self worth."You are weak. You have no mana, and yet, you claim to have "eliminated" an entire band of orcs! Tell me, how does this work exactly?"The scene was similar to that of a bully situation in a school yard. She took a step closer to him menacingly and asked contemptuously;"Tell me Xzavier, did you manage to do all this by boring the orcs to death? Is that your hidden super power? The uncanny ability to bore your enemies to death?""Earlene! Come on!"Earlene swerved in Adalia's direction with her hands held up in the air in a shrug."Honestly Adalia, what exactly did you see in this bum? He seems to have the IQ of a gold fish."She raised up her eyebrow as she considered another possibility;"Adalia," she spoke in a low and subdued tone, hoping Xzavier wouldn't pick up on her warning;"I hope you haven't fallen for the tricks of this babble rouser? Oh please tell me you haven't?!"
