Chapter 63 Laughter

Xzavier simply bore into her with an intense glare.

"Wow, I have seen you take out an entire band of orcs, I have seen you come back from a killing spree, but I don't think I have seen you this uncomfortable before…"

In a low and subdued tone, Xzavier quietly asked her;

"What's this about Adalia, why am I here, and more importantly, where are am I headed?"

Feigning frustration, Adalia sat back dramatically and folded her arms across her chest as if she couldn't believe he had just asked her that.

"Wow! You didn't even thank me for saving you from the very dangerous situation you had just found yourself…"

Failing to realize that this emotional blackmail was just a form of Adalia's teasing, Xzavier suddenly began to feel a bit bad.

My apologies for my tactless attitude…" Xzavier began apologetically.

But Adalia wasn't down for that. She interrupted him with a smirk on the edges of her lips and a mischievous smile;

"Heavens!" she exclaimed.

"Are you always this serious Xzavier?! I was just pulling your legs!"

Xzavier's cluelessness washed away with the realization that followed. Mentally, he rebuked himself for falling for such an obvious snare. A soft smile slowly formed on his face as he began to embrace the warmth of the easy going atmosphere.

"Very funny Adalia. Truly hilarious." He said sarcastically.

Adalia smiled. Not because what Xzavier said was funny, but because she had managed to make him smile.

As the carriage sped up and left the town in the dust behind them, Xzavier finally asked the question that was on his mind.

"Seriously Adalia, where are we headed? We've already left the town behind us, so clearly your destination seems to be out of town. Care to share?"

Adalia observed him for a brief second, wondering whether to keep fooling around or actually get serious. The blonde girl chose the latter.

"Relax, there's no need to get apprehensive. Did you see the insignia at the front of this carriage?"

Before he mounted the carriage, Xzavier recalled seeing something vaguely similar to an insignia.

"Yes, but what of it?"

"Well, a very important government official has requested to see you…"

"What?"

"Forgive me for springing this up on you like this, but it was really short notice."

Xzavier stared at her with a blank expression.

"Don't you think you should have mentioned this earlier?"

She looked at his already packed bag and pointed at.

"You look like you're already going somewhere. My guess is you're skipping town. Providence?"

Truth be told, Xzavier hadn't just been planning to skip town, he also didn't have any destination in mind. His plan had just been to drift along, hoping to run into another adventure on the way. So, when Adalia filled him in. He was a bit relieved.

"So, where did you say we were headed again?"

Adalia smiled one of those her satisfactory smiles.

"Oh Xzavier! You're going to love it! We are heading to the top city in the state capital! The beautiful, stunning and aesthetically pleasing Victoria city located in the heart of Princy state!"

Xzavier took all this information in, and noted the excited manner with which she had announced the news.

As the two journeyed on, Adalia gave him an abridged version of what to expect at the state capital. In very lucid details, and without sparing words, she described the allure of Victoria city.

"Oh Xzavier…" she purred patronizingly like a kitten.

"…you really need to see magnificent Victoria city! Trust me, its nothing like the backwater town we just left. Believe me when I tell you that compared to Victoria city, that town was just a pile of cow dung!"

When she saw that Xzavier had raised his eyebrows in response to her crude analogy, she immediately apologized;

"Please pardon my profane language there…but Xzavier, I meant everything I said! Victoria city is a hub of commerce! It is the literal embodiment of an urban utopia! It is…"

Adalia spent the next hour eulogizing the city like it was a living entity. It was clear from her tone that she was in love with the city itself. She spoke of its comely ambience, its sophisticated architecture, its elegantly designed buildings, and amongst other things, its high end luxurious standard of living.

As she narrated and described, the words poured out like honey on a silver platter. Xzavier wasn't one for exaggerated details, but there was something undeniably compelling about the way she described the city. She almost made it come alive in that little carriage. This somewhat made the journey a little less tiresome.

No doubt, Xzavier's interest was piqued.

As he listened to her tales and vividly descriptive words. There was no denying the fact there was a lot of color and flare. But this wasn't what Xzavier wanted to hear. As he looked out of the window of the carriage and watched the trees rush by, his mind wandered off as he thought deeply on the one thing that interested him the most about this capital city. Coincidentally, it was the one thing that Adalia had managed to overlook- the military system of this particular city.

He was a soldier at heart. So, understandably, this was the part of the city that he was driven to.

Xzavier knew it was probably a long shot, but if Adalia's exaggerations were true, then he expected some innovative advancements in the aspect of the defense and military system of the city. This made sense, seeing that such an urban utopia had thrived in so many other areas.

As Adalia's sing-song voice chatted away in the background, Xzavier's mind gradually shut her out and instead marinated on the numerous possibilities. One particular aspect that pricked Xzavier was that of the mages and the soldiers with traditional weapons.

Having spent a significant amount of time in this world, Xzavier had seen some pretty inexplicably things. Though he hadn't fully grasped the concept of most of these things, Xzavier could confidently say that magic existed. And not only did it exist, it was actually potent enough to interfere with the physical realm as well as alter facts and results.

So, with a city that had developed so far despite being in this timeline, Xzavier expected some resourcefulness in this aspect. The blend of the magical and the physical was definitely something to look forward to seeing. Also, Xzavier was also worried about the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the differences, between the sealing magic of this other place and the most potent weapons in the human world.

Naturally, Xzavier wasn't willing to bank on these doubts and offload them on the back of such a beautiful woman. Once again, Xzavier feasted his eyes on the physical features of the exotic beauty that was riding with him in the carriage. Even as her mouth vomited words and her face lit up in excitement, Xzavier saw her in the light of her beauty again.

Adalia was truly a stunningly beautiful creature. She was simply breathtaking. Xzavier couldn't blame the males in the crowd who had whistled when they saw her beckon on him to come. In their sight, it probably made sense that such an angelic beauty would be reserved for a mysterious guy like Xzavier. A desirable woman who was equipped with a sexually charged atmosphere could definitely provoke the interest of any man. Xzavier came to sudden realization that if Adalia wanted to, she could easily use her beauty and elevate herself from the position of a servant girl to that of a well kept mistress.

But that simply wasn't her. Spiritually, mentally and psychologically, Adalia was a rare gemstone. By all count, her resilience was one of the most intoxicating things about her. Xzavier knew this first hand because he had spent close to forty eight hours with her in jungle, under the most extenuating circumstances. And yet, not one minute had passed when she complained, gave up or fled. She had conducted herself in a manner that was more than appropriate. Unflinching, stubborn and determined up till the very end.

Despite her glowing beauty, it was very clear that Adalia wasn't just an ornamental vase, neither was she just a trophy that was easy going on the eyes. She was deep. Indeed, like a surreal piece of art, Adalia possessed a surreal ambiguity that made her different. And as Xzavier found himself boring her being with the psychoanalysis, he found himself actually admiring her with every passing second.

As an old timey soldier that was equipped with a new age attitude, Xzavier found it very easy to flow with Adalia. Much to Adalia's surprise, she found out that the stuck up killer who sat before her was such a funny guy. Xzavier very nearly killed her with jokes. He employed every joke he had in his arsenal and ravished Adalia with jokes and amusing stories.

Adalia laughed so hard that at one point, she felt her soul leave her body.