Ability Wielders - Chapter 156 'Arrogance'

Looking at her face, Hayden could tell that she was dangerous. Still, she didn’t pose a threat to him at all.

By the start of the match, Yora simply walked forward without a care in the world. It was a boring two minutes, to which she reached the very center of the map. During that time, Hayden couldn’t believe that she hasn’t encountered any wielder.

He switched to spectate other wielders and noticed that people were avoiding Yora. Looking at the map, every time there was a white dot nearing Yora’s location, as if knowing she was there, everybody will change directions.

“That’s her Ability.” Likoria asseverated. “Nightmare Weaver. Everybody in Foriast knows how horrific this Ability is. I have been subjected to it once, and I fear that I have no chance of defeating her unless I have a Xirxian.”

“What does this Nightmare Weaver do?” Hayden straightforwardly inquired. Likoria informed Hayden of this Nightmare Weaver.

Nightmare Weaver is a transformation-type Ability. Its Level 1 power is that she can transform into a half-human half-Nightmare Weaver arranged like a centaur.

In this form, Yora not only has extreme mobility and shoot out webs from her spinneret, her venom causes an extreme sense of dread, hallucinations, and disorientation.

At Level 2, the Ability allows her to shift into a full-on Nightmare Weaver. Locking eyes with Yora will put you in a dizziness spell that will disorient a wielder. She can switch her venom into one that will induce drowsiness in someone. A single bite from her will knock a Level 2 wielder out.

On top of that, she can spit her corrosive juices to his targets, which can melt even metals. She’s a fearsome opponent.

At Level 3, Nightmare Weaver grants Yora the power to shoot out rings that, when a target is hit, physically and mentally torture the living daylights out of them. This effectively incapacitates a target, turning them into a lamb for the slaughter.

It doesn’t end there. Nightmare Weaver has one special power that makes Yora so formidable. It was her power to peer into the deepest nightmares of a wielder and spit out someone’s worst nightmare in an instant from her spinneret.

If a person’s worst nightmare was some kind of monster, then Yora’s spinneret will spit out that monster. If her target’s worst nightmare was the darkness, then her spinneret will produce a spider web that will trap a person and cover them in an illusion world of pure darkness. It was an utterly disgusting Ability.

The cherry on top was that Yora can create a ‘zone of dread’ that will give one the premonition that they’re going to die whenever they step on this zone.

Once he heard this, Hayden immediately put up countermeasures. ‘In this life, I only fear five things. The unknown. Not having the necessary strength to protect those I hold dear. Losing the people I hold dear. Incessantly talkative people. And being a regular person.’

Hayden couldn’t muster up anything else in his mind. These were the five things he fears. Outside of those, death is an inevitable concept, except that he has Endless Regeneration. His stage fright has long been resolved by his Divine Perception. His general fear of getting or doing something wrong was effectively removed when he acquired Divine Perception.

‘Public speaking, eh. Viral Abilities? Perhaps. Yeah, no, nothing can top those five.’ Hayden thought long and hard. ‘Being reverted back into a regular person may be the biggest fear I have.’

Hayden was brought back to the 10 years he spent in that mental tribulation. It was traumatizing. That feeling of helplessness will never leave him.

In time, the participants in Block 13 was reduced to three. The two met up somewhere near the boundary. Hayden zoomed in on them and they were talking. “They’re cooperating, huh? I wonder how will this Yora fare…”

For the next minute, Hayden was stunned when he witnessed Yora’s capabilities. What happened was that Yora shifted into her half-human half-Nightmare Weaver form and charged towards the two, efficiently dodging each and every one of their attack irrespective of her ‘inefficient’ build.

Afterwards, she punched the two of them and… Well, that’s the end of it. There was nothing exciting that went on.

“Yeah, her Ability’s not the sole reason she’s strong.�� Likoria muttered beside him. “It’s her physical prowess. In the two years I have fought with her, I have never beaten her once due to her speed.”

“Win against her.” Darakth abruptly verbalized. “You know why I’m this unconfident? It’s because she’s shown me my worst fear. It’s that, out there, there will always be someone better. There will always be someone who will best me.”

“Let me tell you the story of Icarus.” Hayden disregarded Darakth’s emotional turmoil, telling the story of Icarus.

“W-what’s the purpose of this story?” Darakth stammered, perplexed and annoyed at Hayden’s uncaring attitude.

“The moral here is that you should never fly close to the sky, although that is inaccurate when it comes to real-world physics. But that’s not the point.” Hayden said. “It is hilarious how often people overlook the second moral of Daedalus’ warning. Let me ask, Darakth, what is the warning of Daedalus to Icarus?”

“Don’t fly too close to the sun for that would melt the wax.” Darakth recited from his memory. “Or to fly too close to the sea, as the wings would be wet and Icarus would fall to the sea.”

“There it is.” Hayden rested his back on the backrest of his seat. “Two warnings. Let me ask, how can you apply this to your situation in life?”

“Do you mean to convey that I’m flying too close to the sea? I should go back up?” Darakth inquired.

“Yes.” Hayden nodded. “Being this meek is as bad as being overconfident. You should look straight ahead, to your destination. Not up to the sun. Not down to the sea. Not backwards to the murderous king whose wife cheated on him with a bull. Not to the left. Not to the right. Or other unrelated directions. Straight ahead. Fly at your own pace. And since you’re flying. You have no obstacles. Ships? Fly over them. Birds? They’ll probably avoid something that has such a larger wing span than them. You may encounter storms, tornadoes, and water spouts, sure, but that’s part of life. You will have to overcome these hardships. Are you getting my metaphors here?”

“Uh, no, not really.” Darakth coughed and admitted.

Hayden groaned. He hated talking with people who cannot understand his words. “In simpler words, life is harsh. Life’s a bitch. Life’s unfair. You can’t do anything about life pegging you in the ass. It’s life.”

“What is the relationship of this moral to my source of timidity?” Darakth questioned.

Hayden sighed, calming himself. “I’m trying to say that your nightmare is merely minor. It is inescapable to encounter a bigger obstacle that will overshadow this nightmare of yours. If your worst nightmare is someone out there being better than you, it is unavoidable. Well, life’s that kind of bitch. There is somebody better than you. If it is expected to come true anyways, why dwell on it? Look straight forward and don’t look to other directions means that you should simply strive for your goal. Focus on it. Don’t care for others since they’re not your damn business. The storms, tornadoes, and water spouts are metaphors for the obstacles that you will come across. When that happens, then find a damn way to beat them, or circle around them. Also, live in the present than in the future. You may see a storm from miles away, but you wouldn’t know if a water spout will come and get you from below. Besides, once you go out there and get some life-experience, you will experience what true nightmare is.”

With Hayden’s ‘simplification,’ Darakth finally understood and connected the metaphors one by one. “You… You speak from experience, don’t you?”

“That feeling of helplessness is not something I’m unfamiliar with.” Hayden admitted. Just like the time he helped Zeke up, Hayden revealed some vulnerabilities about the him from the past. “You should check out the principles of stoicism next time. It may help you.”

When that little bit was finished, the trio went back to silence. Hayden observed the winners of every block. Only two others caught his eye, a man, named Yaliko Tybius with the Ability to transform into a white humanoid beetle, and a woman, called Quaris Sequincia, that can manipulate a horde of some strange mosquito-like insect. The rest of them, while powerful were pretty much nonthreats to Hayden.

Besides, the ones he was truly concerned about, the pure mind manipulation-type wielders, were eliminated by hordes of the others. Such is the way of the battlefield, mental manipulation-type just isn’t useful in hand-to-hand combat and is limitedly strong to using underhanded tactics or one-on-one battles. Unless one was smart enough, mental manipulation types were lambs for the slaughter.

Don’t get him wrong. They were all powerful, and if they were put outside of Foriast, they will all be prodigies. The thing is, Hayden’s Indestructible Devil was beyond the realms of the term ‘overpowered.’ He understood this.

For goodness sake, his Indestructible Devil form has nails so sharp it can slice through his own defenses. If it can bypass Indestructible Devil’s defense, then it can irrefutably bypass most wielders’ toughness. How do you think he was able to kill all those wielders with a single strike?

Moving on. Time passed without any excitement. When the 23 blocks of competitions were done, it was time to move on to the Level 4 wielders.

The amount of blocks of the Level 4 wielders were reduced to a mere 11. In comparison to the 2,274 Level 3 wielders that participated (Block 23 only had 74 participants), this 1,100-something people was really small.

Nevertheless, if this same 1,100-something Level 4 wielders were placed in the outside world, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with. No one will be able to stop them. A Level 5 may, but even Level 5 wielders have their limits.

The preliminary eliminations were shorter, yet the fights fiercer. It was a true spectacle of the combat prowess of Level 4s. One wielder in particular caught his eye. It was Gired (Ji-red) Derinth, a wielder that can manipulate plasmas. His usage of it was ingenious, freezing wielders, shooting hot laser beams out of his eyes, and projecting lightsaber-like claws from his fingers.

Succeeding that, the arena returned to normal. At the middle, a circular platform of 50 meters in radius rose up by 10 meters off the ground, alongside 40 10-meter high pillars, the number of the Level 2 wielders.

The Level 2 wielders’ finals occurred. There was nothing remotely eye-catching that happened there. It was a bunch of Level 2 wielders, fighting. That’s it. It was quite ironic that Hayden was a Level 2 wielder not long ago.

All Hayden got from there was the rules. The rules were extremely simple. First, a wielder will either volunteer or be randomly selected to step on the stage. More often than not, it is random selection. As aforementioned, the wielder on-stage will be challenged continuously until they are replaced when defeated, or until the end. It is a curse to be the first.

As for the conditions of defeat, there are five: First is when the wielder leaves or is forced out of the boundary of the platform, including airspace. That means if you fly out the edge of the platform, you are technically defeated. As for horizontal airspace, you can maneuver to the sky if you ever so wanted as long as you didn’t exit the platform’s edge.

Second is when a wielder is knocked out. Third is when the wielder is killed and resurrected, in which case they are not out unlike the preliminaries, simply being handed a new Qewtyour. Fourth is when no fight has occurred for at least ten minutes when the challenger steps onto the stage, giving the win to the defender by default. Fifth is when nobody goes forward anymore, to which everybody who hasn’t fought yet is automatically forfeiting.

To prevent unsportsmanlike surprise attacks, there is a countdown for every round. During the countdown, both can prepare their Abilities, however, no one can attack. An example of an unsportsmanlike surprise attack is when a new challenger steps in and attacks the back of an unsuspecting defender who just beat the previous challenger.

When the Level 2 matches concluded, the pillars at the middle was reduced to 23. A mental announcement rang out. It was It was the summoning of the winners of the Level 3 preliminary round.

Hayden stood up and exited the stands to go to the arena. At the main gate, there were 22 people waiting. Everybody all gazed at Hayden with either disgust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, or insouciance in their eyes.

The colossal gate in front of them opened. Everybody walked out. Hayden followed them. A mental announcement assigned Hayden to where he was going to be standing. His pillar was at the southeastern side of the platform.

Standing in front of his pillar, Hayden hopped on it lightly. It surprised him when Yora jumped on the pillar to his right. To his left, an effeminate man with long flowing red hair and beautiful features showed up. It was Yaliko Tybius.

Hayden plainly greeted the two with the Roshist gesture without introducing himself. When all wielders were on the platform, a mental announcement asked them if there was going to be no volunteers.

A minute passed. Nobody volunteered. It would be stupid to be the first one to fight. Not only was there the chance that you exhaust your purified essence energy storage, you’ll have to fight more unless you exhibit such a performance that will stop anybody from having any idea of challenging you. Hayden thought that the second one wouldn’t occur as everybody in the arena were soldiers.

‘Selecting…’ The semi-robotic voice echoed in everybody’s minds. ‘Participant selected. First challenger will be Hayden Emperador of the outside world.’

Hayden sighed. When it comes to these kinds of things, Hayden was that unlucky. Well, he did expect it. Jumping to the center platform, Hayden released his amalgamated Supreme King.

Those weaker people who was wanted to charge in hesitated upon sensing this. Hayden, at this moment, appeared menacing. As if he could bite off anybody’s head in the blink of an eye. He hasn’t even activated his Indestructible Devil.

30 seconds passed. Nobody had the courage to jump on. Hayden was getting progressively irked. Until Quaris, a youth with a goddess-like face and violet hair, stepped onto the platform. Hayden recognized her as one of the few descendants that watched his fight with Bayrak.

She taunted Hayden in Roshist. “You’re not that special. Any Level 3 wielder here could have beaten that Bayrak. A dual wielder is nothing without his second Ability.”

As the announcer counted down from three, Quaris has summoned her horde of Orange Phaser Flies, a mosquito-like evoked insect that can absorb blood by flying through targets. It was a terrifying insect. Concurrently, Hayden took off his shirt and shifted into his Indestructible Devil form minus the wings.

The second the announcer uttered one, which was Rin in Roshist, the humongous scourge of mosquitoes flew towards Hayden. Quickly, Hayden decided to test his essence energy attacking capabilities by sending out two vortices of essence energy out of his hands. Again, Hayden instinctively knew how to do so as he has practiced this with his Essence Manipulation Arts.

In an instant, two essence energy swirling tornadoes was released to wreak havoc on the flies. Unfortunately, the flies weren’t fazed by the tornadoes, darting straight to Hayden.

Quaris smirked at Hayden. That’s when Hayden fired two blazes of infernal flames to the tornadoes, changing its property to that of infernal flames. As infernal flames consumed anything and everything to fuel itself, manufacturing the tornado was easy.

The infernal flame tornadoes decimated the terrifying scourge of flies within two seconds. There was nothing left. ‘Huh, this infernal flames is really useful.’

As infernal flame was a function of Devil Force, producing a sliver of it needed as small as 0.01%. With its property to burn on anything, it didn’t need oxygen, too, allowing him to exploit this by not continuously producing flames, instead directing the flame to devour air. It may not be environmental-friendly, but it was practical.

What’s interesting here is that the flames can eat up essence energy too. Right now, the tornadoes weren’t made of essence energy, it was pure infernal flames. Truly an amazing power.

With no mosquito in his way, Hayden sprinted to the front of Quaris. He punched her in the face mercilessly, sending her flying to the outside of the platform. Somebody stepped onto the platform next.

It was Yora. “You surely are as powerful as they say. I wonder what your second Ability is. There are no telltale signs that it is active even when you fought with Bayrak.”

‘That’s the beauty of Divine Perception, heh.’ Hayden thought. ‘Still, I won’t use that. I don’t have a death wish.’

“I see that you have no desire to divulge this, huh?” Yora nodded. “Understandable. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Yora shifted into her full Nightmare Weaver form. She resembled a racecar-sized black widow. She will indubitably be the worst nightmare of anybody with arachnophobia.

When the countdown ended, Yora immediately activated her zone of dread, which had no effect on Hayden at all due to him being a paranoiac who expects danger at any corner. Grasping that the zone of dread had no effect, Yora used her nightmare weaving. She soared, and in her spinneret, she spat out a… Hayden. It was a small Hayden from six months ago.

“You… Impossible…” Yora muttered. How she talked without vocal cords? Hayden didn’t have the slightest idea. “This is your worst nightmare?”

“Affirmative.” Hayden answered, shooting the Hayden in the head with an essence energy beam. “I have no time for this.”

Hayden activated his Devil Force and released five razors of infernal flames from his claws. Yora dodged the five razors by jumping up again.

Hayden took advantage of this, jumping to Yora with such force that he literally vanished from his position. Focusing the majority of his Devil Force on his arms, Hayden punched Yora. Yora’s spider head exploded. This earned a gasp from everybody. Hayden defeated Yora too easily.

The corpse of Yora landed on the platform. Hayden landed gracefully at the middle of the stage and retracted his wings. Hayden articulated his boredom. “Can we make it fast? My flight’s pretty early.”

Everybody in the area was put in a daze upon hearing this. They all couldn’t help feel that Hayden was an arrogant man. Still, they couldn’t act on their anger. Witnessing Hayden’s strength for themselves, and the fact that his worst nightmare was normalcy, it was obvious that Hayden was no regular wielder.

“Fine. I’m going to sit here until time runs out or somebody steps out.” Hayden sighed in exasperation. It was an unparalleled sight for the first wielder in this part of the Quasilix being this lax.