Chapter 87 Xavier Locke [2]

Xavier was frozen on the spot, his breath forgotten in his lungs, and his palms felt moist. Xavier's brows furrowed as he looked down at his splayed-open fingers. "...my palms are sweaty..." When? Something unsettling crept around him. There was an almost overwhelming, chilling sensation that had nearly suffocated him just seconds ago. His thin smile vanished, and his slanted eyes swept over the audience area, replaced by vigilance. But he couldn't notice anything different. The crowd and audience were the same as before: showing mixed reactions at the arena, hurling insults at Victor, and singing praises for Ceres. Xavier pulled out a small napkin from his breast pocket and used it to wipe his suddenly sweaty palms and brows. Consciously, his gaze shifted toward the arena stage, where it lingered. "...Number 1499..." There stood Victor. He was taking small steps backward, wiping blood off his face. His expression was pensive, but he still forced a smile, as though it was nothing. Even now, Xavier couldn't feel anything from him. 'Did I just imagine that?' But that sudden reaction from his instincts was undeniable. Humans reacted to stimuli and sensitivity differently. Some reacted more aggressively, while others barely acted as if anything had happened. But Xavier had an innate talent for perceiving the abilities and potential of those around him, a skill that had only grown sharper as he matured into a man and an Awakened. Surely, at that moment, his instincts had reacted vehemently to something. "Master Xa— I mean... Is something the matter?" one of the male students asked, interrupting Xavier's thoughts. Xavier wiped away the last traces of cold sweat from his brow and palms, shaking his head slightly with a forced smile. He turned his gaze back to the arena, where Victor and Ceres stood apart, locked in a tense standoff. "No... I was just a little surprised. I didn't think he would be able to evade even a single blow from Ceres, but..." The two male cadets nodded in agreement. "Yes, I agree, but it was probably a fluke," one said. "That's true. That crazy guy was probably just lucky. To dodge a blow from an Ascended... I bet he's used up a vast portion of his life's luck. Hmph," the other snorted in mockery. "Indeed. It's also obvious that Ceres Walker is holding back, judging by how she suddenly withdrew and stopped pressuring him. In the end, she's still giving 1499 a small chance to try and redeem himself by fighting back. Everyone knows that if this duel were serious, it would've been over as soon as it began. In the end, it's only thanks to Ceres' kindness and benevolence that that talentless bastard hasn't been one-shot and sent flying," the cadet explained exhaustively. His peers and some members of the audience seemed to share a similar opinion. It seemed almost unbelievable that the allegedly weakest cadet in the academy had managed to evade a blow from the strongest cadet—someone an entire realm higher than him. How else could it be explained, if not that Ceres had obviously let him and gone easy on him? Such was the conclusion that the vast majority of those watching the duel conveniently reached. But Xavier was different. Just as he was about to be swayed by the same logic and dismiss the thoughts of Victor from his mind, Xavier forcefully recalled the earlier tingling sensation at the back of his chest. He remembered the sharp reaction of his senses and instincts and slowly touched the left side of his chest. He thought of a particular saying his father had repeated to him countless times since childhood: "Always trust your gut. The instincts of an Awakened are our greatest weapon. Never disregard your senses, and always be conscious and open-minded." Those words had been drilled into him so often that it felt as though they were designed specifically for someone like him. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that a major part of Xavier's life, up until the present moment, had been shaped by that mantra. It was also for that same reason... *Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* Xavier's golden eyes rippled with realization, their almost illusionary surface reflecting the distant figure of Victor slowly raising his hands in what seemed to be an attempt to forfeit the duel. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* As the audience focused intently on the duel, the challenger, Number 1499, slowly began to raise his hands. "I give u—!!" But before he could finish his sentence, Ceres moved, closing the distance in an instant. With a devastating blow to Victor's solar plexus, she sent him barreling across the arena and through the air. Cadet Rank 1499 couldn't utter another word as his body smashed into the wall and slumped to the ground, unconscious. One hit. In just one hit, Victor was knocked out cold. "Haa... In the end, it turned out the way everyone initially expected." "There was no way he could have dodged the second blow like the first time." The duel was over. Victor lay immobilized, and Ceres stood as the victor and champion. The audience shared their opinions and commentary amongst themselves as they slowly began to disperse. In the end, Victor had truly been taken down in a single hit before Ceres could display anything particularly flashy. He had been defeated purely by her speed and brute strength, without showing even a trace of opposition. "Haha, how pathetic. And he spoke so big earlier too..." People quickly forgot Victor's miraculous feat of evading Ceres' first attack and somehow forcing her to momentarily retreat. All they remembered was that Victor had been pathetically defeated in a single blow. But as the crowd continued to disperse, there was one cadet who stood in place, unmoving, ever since the beginning. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* Xavier continued to stare at the arena stage where the duel had taken place. The image of Victor being sent barreling through the air was seared into his mind, yet he couldn't shake the incessant sound growing louder and louder in his ears. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* 'Huh? What is...' Shakily, with a hand trembling from excitement, Xavier slowly reached toward his chest, where his left breast pocket lay. His narrow eyes were wide open, glinting with unmistakable intensity, and his crooked smile stretched into something savagely twisted. *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* The resounding thumping grew louder and louder, the rhythm reverberating in his ears. 'Where is it coming from?' Xavier vaguely wondered, his shoulders trembling. The sound... *Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!* It was his racing heartbeat. Xavier's crooked smile stretched further, tearing into a twisted grin. His golden eyes shone with an eerie, electric intensity. "Interesting." He had found a new diamond. One hidden in plain sight, among a pack of coal. *** Meanwhile, lurking alone in the darkness of one of the numerous passage entrances and exits of the coliseum, stood a handsome middle-aged man with falling red hair and gold eyes that glinted like two yellow magnets. He had a youthful appearance, tall and striking, with a knowing smile that tugged at his lips. His eyes narrowed amusingly as he watched from the shadows. "Interesting," he whispered softly to himself.