Xzavier had been too busy observing the mage that he forgot to pay attention to the bullet count. He had been too occupied with trying not to kill his opponent that he forgot to secure his own perimeter thoroughly. It was only when the last bullet came out and Xzavier heard the familiar 'click,' that his attention was drawn back to the severity of the situation at hand.

"Uh oh…" he thought.

He looked at the mage, the mage looked back at him. He wasn't really sure that his enemy knew he had run out. But he wasn't going to simply wait around to find out. So, with no time to lose, he began the process of changing bullets.

Maybe it was the frantic look on Xzavier's face, maybe it had been the way he hurriedly went about changing his bullets, maybe it was also the fact that the bombardments suddenly stopped. But whichever the case, the mage instinctively knew that he had a window of opportunity that had been opened to him. He wasn't exactly sure how long it was going to last, but he knew he had to act fast.

While Xzavier struggled with his reload situation, the mage whipped out a strange looking magic staff. It had the most obscene outward appearance. The main body of the rod looked like it was made of wood. It had some markings on it and some inscriptions. But that part was boring compared to the tip. The tip of the rod had something on it that was glowing like an orb. It emitted a strong dazzling light that resembled lightning itself.

Xzavier had still been in the process of reloading his bullets, but the brilliant white light from the rod distracted him for a minute.

"What on earth is that?!"

Even as he asked himself that question, deep down, he knew he was going to find out sooner or later. Unfortunately, at his own expense, it turned out it was going to be much sooner than he had anticipated.

A streak of light suddenly shot out of the glowing rod, and struck Xzavier's body with an alarming speed. There was simply no way around it this time. He couldn't dodge it, not with that speed anyway. It was the speed of light, and it held the highest record.Anything that could move faster than that was most definitely outside the realms of the earth's terrestrial frame. Xzavier was definitely not part of that subset. This was the stream of thoughts and calculation going through his mind as he got struck down by the rod.

As expected, the pressure from the impact was insane. But it was by far the worst blast of magic that had ever hit Xzavier. His stamina couldn't save him. Like he was nothing, the force of the blast sent him flying backwards through the air. His involuntary flight would have continued if he hadn't slammed into a tree in the distance. This impressive power had uprooted Xzavier and flung him like a sack of waste into the bin.

Anyone in Xzavier's shoes would have been counting the number of smashed bones he had broken. There would have definitely been a spinal cord injury along with a cracked skull. And of course, there was also the area where the blast of light hat caught him squarely in the chest. All things considered, it was safe to say that the person would definitely need an astute healer, magic, or the divine intervention of a deity to walk properly again.

The force of the blast was one thing. His body slamming into the tree was another thing. The resultant effect of these vectors should have been able to render him unconscious. And yet, there had been no pain. It was like being wrapped in a sixty inch thick bubble wrap, and tossed from the top of a six story building. He felt every bit of it, everything but the pain of course.

Xzavier didn't even as much as struggle to get back on his feet. As if he was still doubtful, he reached for his chest, touched the back of his head, and examined his knees for any signs of a broken bone. With mixed feelings, he gradually leaned into the fact that he had somehow gotten off scot-free!! Despite having been struck by what seemed like a bolt of lightning, his vitals were all intact!

"Damn, this suit is heavenly!" He thought, "What kind of tech is this?!"

While he was in the middle of praising the suit, the military system gave him a status report of the damage sustained;

"Major please be advised, the suit's system has registered and cushioned a damage of two hundred points. The Major still has nine thousand, seven hundred and ninety points left."

For someone who had just flown back fifteen feet and crashed into a tree, Xzavier looked awkward with the grin on his face that stretched so far, it could very well be detected from behind,

The special forces major had every reason to be impressed. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the battle a little too much. This was the kind of altercation he had been hoping for. It was the perfect chance to test the limits of his new gear, and at the same time, he was able to gain experience in the mage sector. He had always been curious on how modern tech would stand against top rated magic. Xzavier wasn't too pompous to see that magic had its perks, but so far, his tech hadn't let him down.

Still hanging in the tree like a pilot who had just been ejected from the skies with a failed parachute, Xzavier battled with the branches of the tree that had entangled in places that one wouldn't expect. He remembered that this custom black fitting suit also enhanced his strength. So, with a gleeful look in his face, he applied more pressure and ended up ripping out a sizeable part of the tree in a bid to rid himself of the vines.

He landed on his feet and got back to business. In the distance, Xzavier saw the mage who was still wielding his magic staff with the glowing orb. He wasn't going to forget it in a hurry. What the hell was that thing anyway? Xzavier wondered.

He decided he wasn't going to wait around to find out. So, he finished reloading his gatling and took careful aim at the mage. It was time to see just how strong he was.

As for the mage in particular, his attack on Xzavier had put a significant amount of space between them. Plus the darkness of the nighttime didn't do him any favors. His attack had hit its target. He was completely sure about that. However, what he wasn't so sure about was the fact that it had been enough to put down the enemy that he thought was best described as 'persistent.' More than anyone else, the mage knew that his attack had packed a lot of heat.

He flirted with the idea of it being enough to put Xzavier down. After all, he was just an ordinary muggle who had been unlucky enough to fall into the non-magic demography. Even with the stranger's impressive attack skills, it made no sense whatsoever that he would be able to defend against such a magic based attack. No! he thought. It couldn't be!

He was hopelessly optimistic at this point, but experience prevailed and warned him not to be so sure about Xzavier. So, with cautious steps, he carefully approached Xzavier whom he had seen crash into the tree up ahead. The closer he got, the more his hopes went up. With his eyes that had gotten accustomed to the dark, from what he thought was a safe distance, he searched the base of the tree looking for Xzavier's corpse, or at least, bits and pieces of him that remained. He found nothing.

With his heart beating excitedly, and his breathing getting more and more tense by the minute, he thought nervously;

"Could this really be it? Is he gone?"

He held on to his breeches tightly, not daring to rejoice yet in fear of a sneak attack. Needless to say, his wariness paid off.

Though, Xzavier didn't plan his descent from the tree to appear like a sudden ambush, fortunately for him, he couldn't have timed it any better. Like the mythical ninja of the days of old, Xzavier dropped down from the tree and landed with a graceful thud. The mage's face turned white like he had seen a ghost. He couldn't believe it.

"Impossible…impossible…"

And yet, the black clad form of Xzavier in the distance before him like a ghoul, stood as the perfect evidence. Taunting him from the shadow of the tree in the distance, like he was mocking his best efforts to put him down. Though he had been low key expecting this, that didn't alter the fact that Xzavier being alive was still very much a surprise. He was too stunned to move.

And because he was still in a state of catatonic shock, he neither had the will, strength nor resolve to plan a rebuttal. Of course, who could blame him? If an ordinary person who could survive such an attack, he wasn't so sure anything on that level could do him much harm. At this rate, it looked like the only thing that could stop this resilient stranger was if a mountain or moon could be picked up and slammed into him.

Xzavier wasn't aware of what was going on in his opponent's mind, but the one thing he knew was that he had to act fast.