Ability Wielders

"Well, it just happened this day," Hayden told Anthony the truth, appearing as if he didn"t really care at all.

"Okay…" Anthony was speechless of Hayden"s frivolous att.i.tude. "Well, the Board of Directors had a meeting regarding about you, if you"re going to act like this, might as well not tell you."

"What?" Hayden"s face turned solemn. With squinted eyes, he spoke, "You"re not planning to kick me, right?"

"What? No!" Anthony shook his head in disbelief. What the h.e.l.l? You"re one of the most talented wielder we"ve ever seen and we"re going to kick you out? Coughing, Anthony told Hayden of the meeting, "We, the eight Branch Directors, have decided that you will be promoted to First Rank Special Agent as soon as you evolve. The reason? Your contributions to Puting Araw can be said to be pretty high, after the capture of that Blade Dancer."

"Blade Dancer?" Hayden muttered with confusion. Remembering the Level 2 wielder he fought the other day, realization dawned upon him. "So… You"re saying that guy is another wielder from Kamay ng Lagim?"

"Yes," Anthony admitted it. Hayden was the one who captured Blade Dancer, why would he keep this a secret? Plus, when the interrogators questioned Blade Dancer, his target was indeed Hayden! "You were the a.s.sa.s.sination target he was talking about."

"Oh?" Hayden felt light-headed as of this moment. There were two possibilities to this, either that he posed too much danger to Kamay ng Lagim as he was going to be a nuisance in the future once he becomes powerful enough, or that he offended them in some way. Sitting on the sofa in Anthony"s office, Hayden touched his head.

"My interactions have been limited for a long time, so the latter is improbable…" Hayden closed his eyes, thinking deeply. Anthony didn"t bother Hayden, granting him the time he needed to think. "That leaves only one thing, I"m too much of a threat to them! They underestimate me too much!"

A few seconds of thinking later, Hayden was relieved that he left his status as a dual wielder veiled, otherwise, he"d be dead by now. It"s not like Puting Araw could guard him every day and night, right? Thus, keeping a card up his sleeve was an advantage for him, especially since he didn"t want to rely on Puting Araw"s power all his life. Such an unexpected enormous hidden card, it might very well save him when the day comes. Nay, it already did save him.

"Tell me about this promotion." Hayden stood up, firmness evident in his eyes. "I"m going to be a First Rank Special Agent, right?"

He didn"t question matters regarding Blade Dancer any longer as it would simply be futile for a wielder as weak as him to ask about those things, or at least, a wielder as weak as his façade.

"Yes," Anthony nodded, his hands flickering. Hayden caught the badge that Anthony threw. "That badge is made of a special material that can send a signal to Puting Araw wherever you are in the world. As you have become a Level 2 wielder, you can simply infuse your essence energy into it and it will take care of the rest by itself. As for the matter of your promotion, you may get your uniform redone in our underground facility, along with one free custom made equipment that you think will suit you. With your promotion, you can readily accept higher leveled missions from Puting Araw"s Missions Board."

"Okay," Hayden nodded his head. The reward was not particularly good as this can be bought with money and he was a rich man. When he checked his bank account on the way here, he went wide-eyed with shock of his gains. There were already two million credits on his account following his revelation! He didn"t antic.i.p.ate the kind of impact he would have in the world, more so, that his status as a 16-year-old student made him even more eye-catching.

What Hayden didn"t know was that he underestimated his looks too much. In the few hours he was away from the internet, articles pertaining to him, his achievements in basketball, his status as a student of Scholar Academy, and his popularity as one of the smartest student in said academy were already published. In addition, his attractiveness were one of the main highlights.

At the end of the day, the citizens of the Philippines never would"ve related that Hayden Emperador, the so-called Magician of the Court as one of the hottest topics in the War of Honor community. This caused an uproar, putting Hayden in a much more magnificent spotlight than he would have ever predicted.

The fame that Hayden abhorred has snuck up to him once again. If he was able to minimize the effects of his plays in basketball during the National Youth Tournament by letting the school handle it, this time, he would not be able to do so. He would have to deal with this by himself and withstand the brunt of the press on his own.

Naturally, students of Makati City Scholar Academy exhibited greater shock than the rest of the world. Doesn"t Hayden being Supremacy mean that he was rich? Nicole realized how Hayden could throw away 50,000 credits like that, while Daniel almost ripped his hair out once this news reached his ears. Varying reactions, yet in line with Daniel"s reaction, were occurring all throughout the homes of the Makati City Scholar Academy students.

Handsome, talented, great body, pretty kind, rich, hardworking, what else can"t you find in Hayden? Brother, please stop making us other boys look bad!

Of course, Hayden was oblivious to this as his ident.i.ty reveal was merely approximately three hours ago, not expecting for the spread of the news to be akin to that of wildfire.

…..

"Mhm," Hayden was in a store for goods within the underground facility, eyeing the store for preparation if he ever found himself in dire straits. "Food pills are a must… bottles of compressed water, clean clothes, clean clothes for women…"

Previously, as Anthony noticed Hayden"s blatant disregard for the custom-made weapon, he asked Hayden of what he would want. Without hesitation, Hayden asked for a s.p.a.ce Ring. With great convincing, Hayden was able to scam a single s.p.a.ce Ring out of Anthony, with Anthony ending the conversation with "this is a show of our sincerity to you, now get out before I change my mind!"

Which leads us to this moment. Hayden, on his left hand, was wearing another ring alike the ring on his right hand. He put all of his weapons and personal belongings on the right s.p.a.ce Ring, along with the two Origin Crystals he took from Asw.a.n.g and Tikbalang.

Meanwhile, he planned to put spare stuff on his left s.p.a.ce Ring, as aforementioned. Clean clothes, bottles of compressed water, food pills, etc. Hayden spent a little over 100,000 credits for this, with the stuff within the s.p.a.ce Ring would be enough to last a regular human being for a year.

The two s.p.a.ce Rings still had some s.p.a.ce in it, which Hayden didn"t touch for now. Next, he went to where he could request his uniform to be redone, which can be reclaimed in 24 hours. He then went to the weapons shop, checking more weapons out.

Splurging a little bit, Hayden bought guns for his own convenience. Learning on his fight with Blade Dancer, he had no way to attack continuously without using Indestructible Devil. To top it off, his means of short-ranged attacks were too few.

Consequently, he bought a shotgun, an a.s.sault rifle, another tranquilizer gun, two ginunting (1) swords made of Damascus Shojin Steel, Shojin Steel knuckle dusters, and bullets for the guns he had at hand, along with replacement silencers. He also replaced his karambit knives with one that were made of Damascus Shojin Steel.

He spent about 600,000 credits for all these weapons alone, but for his combat capability to increase another notch, it was a worthwhile trade. Abruptly, a matter that Hayden was worrying for a pretty long time surfaced in his mind.

With the money he was making, why not… Buy at least a motorcycle? Shaking his head, Hayden put this at the back of his mind as he needed to save money for the next few days. Why? His vacation in South Korea was not solely for enjoying himself, he had another goal, which was to buy a house there for more vacations to come.

"Oh, right, I have to buy a new get-up…" Thinking of the night he fought with Tikbalang, he remembered that the ceramics in his suit wasn"t of much use as it was already broken. "I guess I won"t need extra protection…"

Exiting Liwayway Hotel, Hayden went straight for the mall nearby, checking clothes that he could use in place of his stealth suit. A few minutes of browsing later, attracting unwanted attention, he bought a single thing and got out of there, with him stumbling upon a military uniforms shop.

Inside, his eyes gleamed. Hayden decided to go with the black leather trench coat he bought from the mall, and beneath that was a black tactical military uniform, black gloves, and black military boots. Hayden"s love of the color black shined through at this second. Imagining of what he could look like when he wears the military uniform made him invigorated.

"Thinking about it, when I wear my Puting Araw uniform, I wear the black mask… And when I disguise as White Fox, I wear black clothes instead…" Hayden was a little speechless of this coincidence.

Going home, Hayden stored the uniform in his s.p.a.ce Ring and started recording more videos to upload for when he"s in South Korea.

…..

"Boss," three people, Stalker, Plague Doctor, and Techno, was in their boss" dimly lit office. Stalker was in the middle, reporting. "That kid… He"s too powerful, defeating a Level 2 wielder as a Level 1 wielder."

"Really?" The boss has long been interested by Hayden. Whenever Stalker was reporting to him, his appet.i.te is always whetted. "Do tell."

Stalker recalled the fight between Hayden and Blade Dancer bit by bit. Plague Doctor and Techno did not talk at all. They were similarly in a daze when they heard of Hayden"s feat again, not believing even though they witnessed the fight themselves. The way Hayden moved… It was unnaturally majestic, without any wasted movements, each movement made carrying a meaning

In fact, even Stalker doesn"t believe what he"s saying. Shaking their heads, Techno and Plague Doctor woke up in their daze in time for Stalker to finish narrating the past events.

"A powerful wielder indeed," the boss spoke amidst deep laughter. "Plague Doctor, Techno, it seems that you two aren"t needed for now, I sent you for naught, going so far to protect that kid when he can exhibit the same combat prowess as you guys back when you were Level 1. Stalker, continue your surveillance of this Hayden fellow, I want more information of this Hayden. Do not make a move, only report to me. Be careful, if his Ability is what you describe it to be, sooner or later, he"ll sense you."

"Yes, sir!" The three saluted prior to leaving the room. Taking their boss" words into account, Stalker had cold sweat trickling to his brows. "The boss praised him… Imagine getting a praise from a Level 5 wielder…."

Stalker shook his head, desiring to return to his post to observe Hayden tightly. For his boss to be this wary, why is that? "Well, all the people in our organization are powerful people… It"s a given that the boss would take notice of a budding talent such as Hayden."

Moving from shadow to shadow, Stalker mumbled to himself. A few minutes later, he arrived at Hayden"s house, in time to witness Hayden going home carrying shopping bags.

…..

"Blade Dancer… All our apprentices…" Black Devil smacked the desk in front of him. The other four, including Blood King, all had grave faces. The losses they had this time was not small, those five people were wielders they"ve groomed and trained personally, treating them as their closest family. "How the h.e.l.l did that kid kill five of them off?"

"There"s one possibility." Earthquake a.s.severated. "He is one of those geniuses that are compatible with essence energy. Six months ago is when the wielder world took notice of him, if he awakened during that timeframe, or earlier than that, he would have evolved by now if that were the case."

"f.u.c.k." Black Devil cursed. This was the first time he miscalculated, forgetting to put into his calculations Hayden"s evolution time. "I even sent Silver Knight, that combat freak, to go kill him off… To imagine that those five were killed off…"

This was the first time Black Devil failed this miserably. However, this was proof of Hayden"s threat to Kamay ng Lagim.

"This is the proof we needed." At this moment, someone voiced out Black Devil"s thoughts. It was Graybeard. "This is the proof that Hayden would be detrimental to the growth of Kamay ng Lagim. If we don"t act fast, Puting Araw would tighten their guards on him immediately. When that happens, we won"t have any chance at all. Black Devil, what do you propose?"

"I agree." Black Devil nodded, returning to his usual calm self. "I insist on taking this matter with my own hands once more. This kid is going to take a vacation in South Korea in a few days, there, he wouldn"t have the protection of Puting Araw with him. The plan is simple, hire a Level 3 wielder and ask him to kill Hayden. There is no way Hayden would survive this attack seeing that he recently evolved."

"Are you sure?" Blood King was always the one to voice out his doubts as he was the youngest amongst them. In his eyes, they were underestimating Hayden too much. "I mean, the kid utterly destroyed a Level 2 as a Level 1 wielder, what if he"s a dual wielder?"

"Nonsense!" Earthquake roared. "Why the h.e.l.l would someone hide their dual wielder status? Do you know how rare being a dual wielder is? Hayden is merely strong in terms of combat because of his Ability, he uses his mastery in weaponry and martial arts to fight, why would you think he would do that instead of use his Abilities if he was a dual wielder!?"

"Indeed," a woman"s voice resounded. It was from Crimson Enchantress, who was boiling with rage at the loss of a valuable p.a.w.n. "Blade Dancer was simply careless at the time, while our five seedlings didn"t expect for Hayden, who had the capability to fight a Level 2 wielder as a Level 1. It was natural that Hayden would have won."

In this situation, Blood King had no choice but to stand down. Although he did stand down, his opinion didn"t change. The four people were clouded with rage, he couldn"t blame them, yet, what if Hayden was an actual dual wielder?

In truth, Blood King thought it would be smart to hide one"s dual wielder status instead of blatantly revealing it, such as in these situations, when their enemy would send an a.s.sa.s.sin. Such a big trump card would be beneficial for one.

Also, he knew himself how powerful dual wielders actually were, witnessing a fight between the old leader of Kamay ng Lagim and the head of Puting Araw, the strongest of the Walong Sinag ng Araw. At that time, the head of Puting Araw was a puny Level 3 wielder, while the old leader of Kamay ng Lagim was a Level 4 wielder. When the two fought, Blood King thought for sure that their old leader would win, yet, he lost. Blood King was fortunate to survive that event, which brought down the power of Kamay ng Lagim by a large margin, with the loss of one of the most powerful member of the organization.

To this day, he never revealed this matter to anyone, keeping it to himself. "Well, I warned them, I"ll just enjoy the show, hehe."

"True." Black Devil nodded towards Crimson Enchantress" a.n.a.lyzation. Truly, those wins of Hayden"s were due to special circ.u.mstances, not because he"s actually truly formidable. "It"s settled. I"ll send a Level 3 wielder to delete this enormous danger while he"s in South Korea. Hayden would never set foot in the Philippines anymore. Dismissed."

Blood King wanted to say something, but ultimately refrained from doing so. There was no one who would listen to him anyways. With that in mind, he went through the portal that Black Devil created.

"I do hope he"s not a dual wielder," in a suite"s balcony, overlooking the entire city of Cebu, Blood King appeared and uttered to himself. "I really don"t want to execute my backup plan. If Hayden does happen to be a dual wielder, then… I guess I"m sorry, Black Devil."

Pouring himself a gla.s.s of red wine, Blood King stood straight. His hair swayed with the strong winds of the high-rise building he was in.

"If that does happen…" Lifting his gla.s.s in the air, he toasted to the sky. "I"m sorry, old leader, but it looks like I have to defect to save myself."

Gulping down the red wine, Blood King put back the gla.s.s and stared at the night sky with a smile. He was a simple man, wherever the winds would take him, he would not resist. To see that Hayden was causing such a ruckus in the world of wielders as an insignificant Level 1 wielder, it goes to show that he was not just a mere Level 1 wielder, there was, without a doubt, more to Hayden than meets the eye.

This was what the four other members of the Limang Daliri failed to see. Even Pangkat Anino (2) placed their attention on him, what"s so hard to understand about this?

"Tsk, simpletons." Rolling his eyes, Blood King returned inside of his suite, plopped down into the bed, and watched television. "Oh, I really do hope that Hayden is not a dual wielder."

Muttering his wish once more, he dropped the matter permanently, enjoying the show h was watching.

...

1 Ginunting – a traditional Filipino blade, similar to a machete. I can"t really explain it, and as I"ve recently noticed that there is no way to click links anymore like in the past, you guys would just have to google the word "Ginunting," and if that isn"t enough, search "Ginunting Filipino weapon."

2 Pangkat Anino – Can be translated as Shadow Group, or Shadow Troop, whatever you prefer to see as a translation.