Ability Wielders - Chapter 154 Quasilix

On his way, Hayden perceived a figure in the distance, standing in his way. This figure was sexy and ultimately annoying for Hayden. It was Likoria.

When Hayden arrived in front of Likoria, he asked without hiding his vexation, “What now?”

“I sensed that you have become a Level 3 wielder.” Likoria summoned her Void’s Edge. Hayden disliked where this conversation was going. Likoria unsheathed her sword and pointed its sword-point towards Hayden. “It’s time for us to fight.”

It was only at that time that Hayden noticed that the ‘danger’ he could sense from Likoria was massively reduced. In fact, she was in what Hayden termed as the ‘green zone,’ where his Danger Sense informs him that something or somebody is dangerous only if he does something stupid.

“God, this is such a waste of time.” Hayden sighed, tired of these kinds of shit that befalls on him. What the hell did he do to even be continuously distressed in this manner? “You won’t stop until I spar with you, won’t you?”

“That is correct.” Likoria switched to Roshist. “I’m sure you know how persistent I am. If you want me to stop, defeat me.”

“Fine.” Hayden relented. If he can end this idiocy once and for all, then he would. However, he has to do it in such a way that Likoria wouldn’t desire to challenge him ever again.

Dematerializing his white shirt into his Space Ring and tying Rilias onto his waist, Hayden activated Indestructible Devil without using his Level 3 powers. His combined Supreme King was released at full force, emphasized by his menacing expression.

“I’m a stealth and speed specialist, Hayden.” Likoria turned into particles of shadow and disappeared from all of his five senses.

Hayden put up his guard, activating his Empyrean Power and changed the colors he perceived into infrared.

Looking around, Hayden couldn’t pick up anything from anywhere. Shifting it back to regular perception, Hayden felt a tingling feeling on the back of his neck. He propelled himself sidewards, dodging a black razor that was coming after him.

Without delaying, Hayden oriented himself to face where the black razor came from. There was nothing. Hayden finally activated Heavenly Sense, and there was Likoria, running circles around him.

‘This Heavenly Sense is really useful.’ Hayden remarked internally. ‘From Void Shift to this invisibility Ability, heh.’

In addition, Hayden’s Danger Sense informed him of Likoria’s position as well by pinpointing ‘where the threat’ was. He realized just how much he underestimated Danger Sense was at that moment.

Hayden vanished from his position, followed by a loud and miniature sonic boom. Likoria, who retreated at the sight of this, felt a cold, stinging sensation from behind her. She turned around in horror and time seemed to stop.

All she saw was darkness. Absolute darkness. Her powerful brain didn’t get to register what happened next until she realized that she was falling. ‘I won’t be defeated that easily!’

Likoria activated her Void Step and was teleported ten meters away from Hayden in an upright position. She didn’t hold back anymore, turning off her invisibility and raising her sword. Tens of jet-black javelins were conjured up high in the air, all pointing towards Hayden. When she lowered Void’s Edge and pointed it to Hayden, the black javelins all flew towards Hayden at breakneck speed.

Hayden, with the help of his Divine Perception, halted time. His brain processed the visual information of the javelins, calculating its trajectory instantaneously. When he finished that, Hayden lowered his stance and started swaying from side to side.

Likoria was stunned when Hayden dodged the hypersonic javelins that she threw at Hayden in a graceful manner. Swaying from one side, tumbling to the other, then narrowly dodging five javelins by jumping and doing a flip, passing through the space in between those five javelins. It was an astonishing scene.

Irrespectively, these flashy feats alone wouldn’t have astonished Likoria. It was Hayden’s technique and efficiency. As a Thorian family member, Likoria was exposed to the greatest martial arts in the world and has mastered a few herself, alongside the fighting techniques of Forish.

Not only were Hayden’s movements streamlined and calculated, it was swift and straightforward. The cherry on top of the cake was the gracefulness and elegance Hayden’s every move showing his complete mastery over the martial arts.

In the blink of an eye, Hayden was in front of Likoria, his fist moving towards her face. Likoria could tell that this fist was lethal and was aiming to kill. What’s worse is that… Hayden was faster than her! She can’t dodge this at all.

In the face of death, Likoria’s entire life flashed in her eyes. From her lonely childhood, to her harsh trainings, and to her fun rebellious actions that she has done over the past few years.

Thankfully, Hayden stopped his fist a single millimeter from her nose. A gush of wind hit Likoria’s face, nearly sweeping her off the ground.

Hayden deactivated both of his Abilities, his shirt materializing in his hand. Whilst putting his shirt, he asked in Roshist, “Are you happy now? You satisfied?”

“I am.” Likoria nodded. She spoke in Filipino, “And I am now sure that I will not regret following you in Philippines. I’ve been put into the same flight as you.”

Hayden sighed. Understanding that there was no use even arguing with the persistent little bastard, Hayden walked into the Presidential Complex.

“Oh, yes, congratulations to your win in the Annual Youth Pride.” Likoria latched on to Hayden’s side akin to a leech. It was tiresome, though he did entertain her as he already came to terms that Likoria will be doing this even in the Philippines.

He has one line of thought: If Likoria was going to be an inconvenience for a long time, possibly till the day he dies, why not make the best of it? Likoria was powerful, not to mention, a dual wielder. She will be useful.

“Where are you going? You don’t have any business in Foriast, right?” Likoria inquired as they strode into the southern entrance of Foriast.

“I’m here to obtain a few things that will be useful for me later on.” Hayden spoke as short and concise as possible.

As might be expected, Hayden headed straight to the Tizik. He didn’t have any reputation in here, and reputation was the currency in Foriast, so, all Hayden could do was approach Starakt directly.

Before Hayden and Likoria can seek the permission of the two Rixeus guards to go in, Starakt exited the Tizik.

Starakt spread his arms open widely prior to greeting Hayden in Roshist. “Ah, yes, Le-Hayden. I’ve been expecting you. You have become a Level 3, as calculated. Come with me.”

Starakt passed Hayden and Likoria. Hayden and Likoria trailed after Starakt. Mid-walk, Hayden had a sneaking suspicion that there will be something that will happen. He doesn’t know what, he doesn’t know why. It was merely a suspicion.

What do you know? Hayden and Likoria was led into the Requasi. The Requasi was one of the Porushi that was similar to the Colosseum. There were nine towers arranged in an nonagonal pattern. The rest was basically identical to the Colosseum, except that there are only entrances and there were no window openings on the wall. The last disparity to the Colosseum in Rome was that the place had a golden sphere of light around it, acting as a force field.

Requasi’s closest real world equivalent phrase is ‘the place where fighting events are held.’ From the name alone, one can deduce what it was used for.

And from ‘reading’ the history of Foriast and the Overseers, Hayden knew that the Requasi functioned as ‘the’ Colosseum of Foriast. Today’s main event was the Quasilix (Kwa-si-lix), a yearly event that pits the younger generation of the Overseers, aka Forish who hasn’t undergone Tiroga, against each other. Its approximate translation is ‘all-out battle of the younger generation.’

“Conveniently, it is during the last day of the Annual Youth Pride is when the Quasilix is held.” Starakt spoke without following up with anything.

As he has knowledge of the entire history of Foriast, Hayden shivered when he heard Starakt’s words. “You mean to say that I should participate in the Quasilix?”

“It will be good practice for you.” Starakt appealed to the thrill-seeker and pragmatic side of Hayden. “Oh yeah, there’s also that reward of being able to go into the Xirixian vault and asking for one reward that the Yorixia will provide as long as you win in the Level 3 group.”

“First of all, why would I…” Hayden stopped in his tracks as he was reminded of the many Xirixian that caught his eye when he was picking out his Xirixian. Due to him not wanting to take advantage of Starakt Hayden didn’t browse further to avoid enticing himself. “You noticed me avoiding scrutinizing the Xirixian all around, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Starakt admitted. “I know that you felt that you are being too much if you got more than three.”

“What else?” Hayden queried. “You’re not doing this purely for my benefit. You are a leader. You can’t do this purely for my benefit. What’s the catch?”

“I want you to win.” Starakt gravely said. “Remember that, in a Quasilix, dual wielders will be given allowed to activate only one Ability for the entire event. As Innate Gifts are part of a wielder’s strength, they are legal. The fairness will all be monitored by the Kilch Family.”

One must know that the Soul Peering Eye has many recorded variants that has heightened powers. Among those is one that can see if someone was using an Ability and what kind of an Ability they have. It is exclusively possessed by thirteen people in the millions of years of history of Foriast, two of which are the current Kilch family head and Ysa.

“Why do you want me to win?” Hayden raised his right eyebrow. “Let me guess. In spite of Daniel being a harmonious king, two outsiders are simply too much. In fact, they’re opposed to Foriast allying with me due to me being such a colossal uncertainty. There are five people in the Toritius family heads that are opposed to this, excluding the Kilch, Varongar, and Tybius. With my win, you want me to ask a favor from you that will either benefit Foriast, or seem so innocent or small that a part of the doubt I’m suffering will be shaved off.”

“Such accuracy…” Likoria muttered.

“You deduced all that from past events alone?” Starakt narrowed his eyes and stared at Hayden with disgust. He blinked rapidly. “How? You already knew, and you still asked? Is this your idea of fun?”

Hayden didn’t answer, his eerily calm countenance terrifying both Starakt and Likoria. Starakt turned to Likoria. “Will you be participating in the Quasilix?”

“I… Wouldn’t want to fight Hayden for the second time.” Likoria answered. “No Level 3 wielder can possibly beat him in a fight.”

“Yet nobody fathoms this fact.” Starakt sighed. “I love that the Toritius are loyal to the Source Heart… But damn, they’re a pain in the ass to deal with when they don’t trust someone or something will be good for the Source Heart.”

“I wouldn’t trust a person of my nature either.” Hayden said enigmatically. “Okay, I’ll win this. Then I get the chance to form a contract with that Xirxian, right?”

“Yes.” Starakt nodded. “Or perhaps you want a second Xirxian, too. It’s up to you… Just don’t sweep the vault clean, please.”

“I would never do that.” Hayden shook his head. “I’m a selfish and pragmatic person, not a greedy one. There’s a silver lining.”

“Okay, I’ll register you for the matches of Level 3.” Starakt’s figure flickered.

Hayden and Likoria walked inside the entrance of the Requasi. The two separated when Hayden was apprised of his assignment of preparation room through a mental announcement.

Hayden went to find the Block 3 preparation room that he was assigned in. This should be explained. The Quasilix is an enormous event that has thousands of contenders every year.

In truth, the Quasilix is not at all that different form a Quasir (Daily battle of the younger generation), which had the exact same format yet held daily. It’s only the prizes that are different.

First, the candidates will be divided into groups of 100 for a free-for-all. Every year, there are at least 20 blocks in the Level 3 portion of the Quasilix alone.

Once that is finished, the competition will become a challenge format between the remaining survivors. This means that a wielder will be selected randomly to go up the stage to be first, and will be challenged by the remaining wielders. The last one standing is the winner. A person may volunteer to be the first up, though nobody will do that.

If nobody challenges the wielder on the platform for 10 minutes, or if the wielder defeats everybody, they will be hailed as the champion. The match will continue to determine the second and third.

The main prize here is the Yorixia’s favor. The Yorixia is the most powerful wielder on planet Earth. If you were able to command him to do any request, the world was at your mercy.

Needless to say, since all wielders here are from Foriast, then most of them would either want some guidance, or be put under the tutelage of a Rixeus. Hayden heard that the most outrageous request was going out early for their Tiroga. Of all things that one can request, the most outrageous one is ‘going to experience the harsh world outside earlier than others.’ It was hilarious.

Marching down the hall of preparation rooms, Hayden searched for the one with the label of three on it in Roshist, which was a roman numeral three. Yes, the roman numeral system is the Roshist number system, with a few key differences, such as the number 10 being simply a circle and the number 5 being a triangle. It was a strange and, simultaneously, awesome language.

Hayden scanned his hand on the stone door and the thick stone door slid open. The preparation room was basically a locker room. Hayden was the contestant #346, so he was assigned the #46 locker.

It wasn’t unusual that Hayden attracted the attention of the people inside the preparation room. Most gazes that fell on him were hostile as well, which, again, wasn’t bizarre at all. In a world full of unicorns, the one without the horn is the odd one out. Hayden was, obviously, the metaphorical non-horned horse.

Hayden went to his locker… Well, it wasn’t more of a locker than a gray marble wall… With the label of a triangle with a horizontal line on the middle inside a circle that stood for the number 46 in Roshist.

On the floor in front of the locker, there was a complex essence formation circle that was reminiscent to magical circles in anime, though much more intricate than those. Hayden stood on the circle and the gray marble wall slid down.

The locker’s layout was analogous to those of tall school lockers with a small upper compartment and a closet rod below. There is one discrepancy though, and that is the medieval bracer embedded on the right side of the wall.

The bracer had a black and gold color with an ornate design. Implanted on the middle of the wrist part was a red gemstone. On the middle of the bracer was an intricate white engraving. Hayden recognized this as the Qewtyour (Cute-your). It was a bracer that was handed to the participants of a Quasilix that saves their lives when they are in a situation that may result in death.

In addition to being a life-saving bracer, the essence formation engraved on it has four functions: Allows one to create a projection of the map of the arena (You’ll see why later), the status and name of all the participants you are grouped with, will record your performance, and track you.

Once the red gem on the Qewtyour is broken, it signifies that you are out of the competition, unless if you get through the preliminary eliminations. Its best translation is ‘life-saving bracer.’ Hayden took the Qewtyour and wore it on his left arm without delay. Afterwards, he put Rilias, Shabilo, and Halichi in the small compartment. For the sake of fairness, it’s a given that Xirixian weren’t allowed.

With that, Hayden sat on the bench in front of his locker and browsed through his phone. Hayden messaged Eun-ha and Sayuri that he may not be able to see them till when they return to Philippines as he has been embroiled in a troublesome matter.

The two encouraged and supported Hayden. Eun-ha’s goodbye to him was ‘don’t die on us, we love you. See you back in the Philippines.’ Whilst Sayuri’s was ‘We just started having sex, if you dare die, I will hate you for… Well, the rest of my life! Since you’re dead! See you back in the Philippines!’

Hayden found both of them cute and lovely. He reached inner peace from reading those two’s words. Turning off his phone, Hayden was going to internalize his newfound powers when a man’s voice entered his right ear.

“You’re Ro-Hayden, right?” Opening his eyes, Hayden saw a youth with a clean-shaven face, stylish snow white hair, and handsome Western features. He did the gestures of a Roshist greeting. “You were the talk of Foriast the past week. They say you’re untrustworthy. I doubt that you are.”

Hayden’s Danger Sense was aroused by Darakth. From this, Hayden could tell that Darakth was strong. Nevertheless, Darakth’s ‘level of danger’ was minimal, even lower than Likoria. Regardless, this remains remarkable as Darakth was actually the most dangerous one in the room.

“I don’t care of other people’s opinions of me.” Hayden didn’t bother looking at the man, asking his name, nor greeting him back.

“I wish I had that kind of confidence.” Darakth commented with a timid tone. “I have never possessed the confidence that you have.”

“It’s not confidence, Darakth.” Hayden finally verbalized himself. Out of exasperation of course. He wondered why there were people who would walk up to a total stranger like this guy and strike up a conversation this long if said stranger’s body language, and tone of voice for that matter, implied they didn’t want to be bothered. It was infuriating. “It’s a matter of being thick-skinned. Being thick-skinned may come across as confidence, however, there’s a difference.”

“What’s the difference?” Darakth inquired.

“Being confident means that you have belief in your own capabilities.” Hayden answered. “I do not have that. Being thick-skinned on the other hand is simply not caring of other’s opinions and doing what you think works. Being confident may mean that you are thick-skinned as well, but it’s not always the case for thick-skinned people. I simply don’t care.”

“Can you teach me how to be thick-skinned?” Darakth expectantly requested.

“Practice being calm all the time.” Hayden relented, embracing the fact that he will never get any rest from these types of people. He was surrounded by a bunch of social baboons. “By clearing your head and reining in your emotions in any kind of scenario. That’s all I can tell you: Practice your mentality. Okay, get lost.”

Hayden shooed Darakth away. He even released part of his Supreme King so that Darakth was compelled to stay away from Hayden. Yet, Darakth didn’t. Darakth didn’t realize that he himself was fucking thick-skinned! Brother, you’re already thick-skinned! What are you bothering me for?

Darakth persisted on talking Hayden’s ear off. This continued on for 10 minutes. All the way, Hayden wished that someone would come and kill him, although it was practically impossible to kill him.

He was relieved when he heard the mental announcement of Block 3 being sent out to the arena. He stood up and exited the preparation room with hurried steps… The fucking bastard tailed him. ‘Fucking goddammit. This is what my luck is from now on, isn’t it? Fucking kill me already…’