Ability Wielders - Chapter 164 Puting Araw's Yearly Mee

At 11:00 AM, Hayden started teaching Eun-ha baking and making sweets. He gave Eun-ha his special Mellow Explosion recipe and many of his other original recipes that he accumulated the past six months.

As for Sayuri, she was returned to South Korea for the moment. She was flown over by Eun-ha there with her Nine-Tailed Fox Queen Ability.

Being alone together, Hayden and Eun-ha had a makeshift date. Eun-ha suggested that the two wire up a console and play a local co-op game. Her reason? Hayden has already extended to her interests. From playing the piano, to singing, and to chocolate. As such, Eun-ha wanted to partake in Hayden’s interests as well.

When they concluded playing a game for the day, Eun-ha serenaded Hayden and the two cooperated together for the second movement of Endless Night. Other than that, the night was naturally filled with, well, sex. Hot, passionate sex.

By 4:00 AM, Eun-ha sneaked out of Hayden’s house and flew back to South Korea. As for Hayden, he busied himself with programming, recording videos, and editing.

Hayden planned to create a whole new operating system with his previously developed programming language. He developed this programming language when he mastered the eleven programming languages of Moon, E, Rumble, Percent, EXoS, Machinus, Pluto, Bouldr, Expresso, Mirage, and Serpentine.

He named the programming language he developed the Complex Alphabet. As its name suggests, it uses the English alphabet of A-Z as command lines. Various combinations will result in different outcomes. For example, to print ‘hello world,’ Hayden had to encode D ‘Hello World.’ Of course, this was simply the line of code for the print, and like C, there were other lines before this line of code can print the words of hello world.

Hayden hasn’t finished the Complex Alphabet language as he decided to broaden his scope of skills first prior to focusing on specific aspects of said skills.

If Hayden had to give an estimate, Complex Alphabet was about 35% finished. Hayden concentrated on this once he has published and scheduled the release of all of his new videos.

By 8:00 AM, Hayden left for Puting Araw and set foot in the secret facility for the first time in three weeks. Hayden went to the party hall near the large arena in the secret facility’s White Section at the middle part of the facility. He wore his Puting Araw uniform that he hasn’t worn that much.

There was no Xirxian either. Except Daniel’s and Scarlet’s. They were not far away from Hayden, huddled up with Sophia, Ayesha, Courtney, Zeke, Harper, and Noah.

Hayden joined the group, talking here and there. He was occupied with another matter, which was texting with Chung-hee and Shu-Ching. Hayden was getting an awful lot closer with Shu-Ching. She was more talkative than what she showed on camera and when in personal.

An hour passed. The Walong Sinag ng Araw made a grand appearance at the entrance. Well, it was not more of grand than imposing as they really didn’t do anything, plainly walking inside.

The Walong Sinag ng Araw dispersed in all directions, Jasmine going to the direction of Hayden’s group. Hayden disregarded her. Eventually, Jasmine arrived to their group. “Hello, agents.”

Everybody saluted at Jasmine, including Hayden. Jasmine’s irises skimmed over everybody. “No need to be so polite. Especially you, Hayden.”

Jasmine said that last part suggestively, giving everybody in the group the wrong impression. Hayden closed his eyes and breathed out of his mouth slowly. Hayden had a minor headache. “Please stop speaking in such a manner. It’s easily mistaken for something else.”

“Why would it be mistaken?” Jasmine provocatively spoke again. “I’m a woman, you’re a man. We’re both adults.”

“Please, just, stop.” Hayden smacked his lips, raising his right hand in front of him.

“Jeez, you’re so tense.” Jasmine snorted. “Okay, I’ll stop. How are you all? Are you all well? This little group of yours is composed of elite members.”

Harper with her Shadow’s Dagger. Noah with his Crows of Darkness. Hayden with his Divine Perception. Daniel with his God Eyes. Ayesha with her Bear of the North. Scarlet with her Blade Terpsichore. Courtney with her Spectral Fantasy. Zeke with his Peerless Brain. Sophia with her Maiden of Tranquility.

Other than Zeke and Sophia, Hayden was the one with the weakest supposed combat capability (and/or potential) due to his Divine Perception. No matter what angle he looked at it, they were indeed all elite wielders that can demolish wielders of the same Level.

“It seems that strong people naturally gather around you, Hayden.” Jasmine smiled at him seductively, vexing Hayden.

Hayden was reminded of Gerald’s words to him. ‘That woman… She loves raw talent to the point that it’s sickening.’

‘What the hell did I get myself into.’ Hayden groaned internally. ‘If Anthony broke Jasmine’s heart about back in 2034, 24 years ago, then isn’t she at least 24 years old? If we estimate, she’s somewhere about 40, 41…’

Hayden shuddered at the thought of attracting a 40-year-old woman. He genuinely wished that Jasmine wasn’t attracted to him. She may look like a 20-year-old, but he doesn’t care for that external appearance part, especially for wielders. Nonetheless, she was 40 years old! No! No!

“Oh yes, I implore that everybody in this group do their best.” Jasmine’s underlying meaning was that they should win. “There’s an important assignment for you all. I’m looking forward to your performance, Hayden.”

Afterwards, Jasmine left. Replacing her is, as you may expect, Gerald. Gerald and Daniel got along pretty well. He was also being touchy-feely with Hayden; to which he couldn’t resist due to Gerald’s own standing in Puting Araw and the immense power he had at his disposal.

Before Gerald left, he wrapped his right arm around Hayden’s shoulders and whispered to him, “I advise that you do you best and win. Engkanto, that Bryant, has high expectations from you. If you win, you’d probably be in both his and Jasmine’s care. I’ll let you in on a little secret… Engkanto’s a Level 5 wielder. He’s as powerful as Rose, the Demonyong Asul (Blue Demon).”

Hayden almost failed to control his emotions upon hearing that Engkanto, the Ikalawang Sinag ng Araw (Second Ray of the Sun), was a Level 5 wielder. Gerald guffawed. “Don’t tell him I told you that.”

Gerald waved goodbye to everyone when that concluded. The next person that approached them was Bryant, the Level 5 wielder of Puting Araw. “Hello, everyone. Are you all well?”

Hayden sensed extreme danger from Bryant. It was frightening for him. He ensured that he wouldn’t offend Bryant. As such, he saluted Bryant earnestly along with everybody.

Bryant acknowledged their salute with a nod. “It appears that Sophia, Zeke, and Scarlet has all evolved to Level 3. Congratulations. Keep up the good work.”

The trio answered courteously, “Yes!”

“Congratulations on your win at the Annual Youth Pride, Hayden and Daniel.” Bryant faintly smiled. “As a Filipino, I am grateful for the two of you. However, I hope that in the week you have played basketball…”

Bryant’s eyes became sharp and intimidating. Tremendous pressure was released from him, weighing down on everyone as if a heavy weight was put into their shoulders. This was more intense for Hayden as, though he didn’t sense any malicious intent, Hayden was more sensitive to this pressure due to his Danger Sense.

‘Goodness, how powerful is he?’ The danger that Bryant posed to Hayden was more than Rose herself, who he has delved with his Danger Sense earlier. ‘His skill in combat must be higher than Rose… He’s definitely much more experienced.’

“Anyhow, I bid everyone good luck. I look forward to your performances at the Wielder Standoffs.” Bryant smiled at the group and walked away.

The last person to approach them was… Rose, Demonyong Asul (Blue Demon), the Unang Sinag ng Araw (First Ray of the Sun). “Hello, everyone.”

The imposing air that she brought along with her was suffocating. Hayden’s Danger Sense told him to stay away from Rose as much as possible. This was because her threat was interlaced with malicious intent. The thing is, Rose’s malicious intent isn’t specifically targeted at Hayden. It was highly likely that the target of this intent was everybody.

To put it in simpler terms, Rose was similar to him, always on-guard and prepared to fight at the slightest hint of a battle or provocation. However, Hayden and her has a vast difference. It’s that Hayden doesn’t view somebody with hostility and regard them as an enemy, while Rose does.

Everybody saluted at Rose. The ‘sole dual wielder’ of the Philippines. Every person in the group couldn’t help comparing Hayden to Rose. Hayden’s killing intent was akin to a puppy in front of Rose’s immeasurable pressure.

“Stop being so anxious in front of me, everybody.” Rose acted cutely by putting both of her hands together. This petrified Hayden. Such a dangerous woman… Both beauty and brawns. “Don’t be pressured by my presence.”

All had one thought. ‘Who wouldn’t be pressured by your presence? You’re the leader of this organization! A dual wielder AND a Level 4! You are one of the most powerful wielders in the Philippines!’

“I look forward to all of your performances later on.” Rose smiled adorably. “I hope that you exert your everything to defeat everybody.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Everybody simultaneously politely responded. “We will do our best.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you all to your own devices.” Rose said. “The Wielder Standoffs will start soon. I expect that you will all show the results of your training.”

Rose’s attitude made a 180-degree turn, her eyes intimidatingly glaring at the nine people of the group. “In this world, it is life and death. Fight to your heart’s content.”

With that, Rose left, talking to other groups. Hayden, for some reason, now felt that he really had to give it his all. Why? Because Rose’s eyes were clearly looking for faults in Hayden’s physique. That kind of analytical gaze will be able to read his movements and whether Hayden was going easy or not. Even if Rose couldn’t, Hayden wasn’t willing to risk it.

‘Well, in all likelihood, I can fight on par with these Level 2 wielders…’ Hayden had the Divine Perception and was a Level 3. If he had his Origin Limiter limit him to 50, 60, or 70% of Level 2 and augment his physique at three times, then he can barely fight on par with transformation-type Ability Wielders.

At the end of the day, most wielders possess Average Physiques. Additionally, most wielders didn’t awaken before the age of 18, which was the line that separates those that were compatible with essence energy and those who weren’t. The more compatible you were with essence energy, the earlier you awaken, and the more powers you get.

This was how Hayden can enhance his physique by twice when he was a mere Level 1 wielder and how Hayden and Daniel was able to stay awake during his first encounter with a Lagusang Itim.

As such, most Level 2 wielders have enhancement of only twice their own physical prowess. Of course, this isn’t known by Filipino wielders or by wielders of the outside world in general as this was a study conducted by the Overseers scientists.

This will be further expounded later on.

The most threatening people that Hayden has to fight is Vera, Julius, and Tyler. Those three Red Agents are strong in their own rights and had more hands-on experience than Hayden, acquiring the Third Rank Special Agent status legitimately.

On top of this, their Abilities focused on combat. At least that’s what Hayden assumed as those three were Red Agents. He was only sure of Vera’s being a combat-focused Ability as he has had a run-in with her before. For Julius and Tyler, he didn’t really know.

‘Wait, is this a one-on-one… What if…’ Hayden was reminded of Abilities that can manipulate the mind. ‘Well, most of it are targeted… If I can get out of their sights and five senses, I can win against those mind-manipulating bastards.’

The ultimate weakness of mental manipulation Abilities is that they all act like targeted attacks on a point-and-click game. The more potent the effect of the mental manipulation Ability, the more stringent its activation is.

The best example would be Erno’s Marionette Parasite, which needed to be planted, indirectly or directly. Once the Marionette Parasite sticks to you, unless you were able to get out of range, you can’t remove it without external help. What’s more, it was basically undetectable once it takes root and irremovable.

Another would be Crimson Enchantress’ Night Flower Goddess. Mainly, it needed physical contact to fully take effect, though your libido can be activated by her scent, eye contact, or her voice. If you can resist the temptation of her seduction, you wouldn’t be completely affected by her Ability. This was a secret of course, and Hayden didn’t want to risk it, which is why he blocked it with life force previously.

‘That’s why underhanded tricks are needed if you have some sort of mental manipulation.’ Hayden bobbed his head.

At that moment, an announcement was held. “Everyone, please go to the Sun’s Arena. We will commence the Wielder Standoffs shortly.”

All the people in the party hall moved to the Sun’s Arena. Hayden and his eight companions all sat in the fourth row of the amphitheater-style arena. They were directly in front of the balcony that the Walong Sinag ng Araw and the branch directors stayed in to observe. Everybody excluding Juan Tamad was near the railing of the balcony. As for Juan Tamad, he darted straight to the room that was adjacent to the balcony and watched some Worldwide Cable. The Board of Directors were behind each of their respective branch’s aegis.

The crowd was rowdy, talking of various things. Many were talking of Hayden’s group though. Hayden was aware that he was infamous for being ruthless and… Arrogant. As for Daniel, he was the friendly one.

They were all perplexed as to why Daniel was hanging out with Hayden. Well, they were all generally confused as to why anybody would willingly hang out with Hayden. His charisma may be off the charts, but his personality was jarring. At least that was what everybody’s first impression was.

As he has mentioned, Hayden couldn’t care less of them, hence he overlooked their words. Their opinions didn’t matter. It was only Eun-ha and Sayuri’s opinion that was worth taking into consideration if he was going to change his ways.

“Good morning.” Rose was standing in front of the balcony with a daunting disposition. “Thank you for attending yet another Yearly Meet. As for the newbies, I thank you and hope that you had fun on your first experience of the Yearly Meet.”

Rose paused for a second, gazing straight at Hayden, making him quake in his boots. “Today, we gather again in a test of combat skill. Who will prevail and rise to the top? For our first person…”

Gerald jumped out of the balcony and landed on the middle of the arena. Many gasped in shock. This was the Wielder Standoffs’ first event, the Juggernaut. It always started out with a member of the Walong Sinag ng Araw taking the stage and activating their Origin Limiter to the Level of the wielder that challenges them.

If somebody wins against them, the winner will replace the member of the Walong Sinag ng Araw as the Juggernaut. Subsequent to that, if the challenger has a higher Level, then they will suppress their Level. If the defender has a higher Level, then they will suppress their Level. It was a measure of both a wielder’s Ability strength and martial expertise.

Once the Juggernaut becomes unchallenged within 10 minutes after the last challenger, then they will win. If the winning Juggernaut is a regular member, they would get the same prize as the overall winner of the Wielder Standoffs’ main event of Wielder Standoffs that has a preliminary and single-elimination format.

This year, the prize was the knowledge of Conversion Nucleus and all that. The Juggernaut would also not be forced to participate in the next part of the Wielder Standoffs. That’s why Hayden aimed to win this Juggernaut event to be able to remove this hassle of an event on his schedule.

As for the general rules of the battle, whether you’re the Juggernaut or the challenger, your goal was to make your opponent utter ‘I give up’ or knock them out. Lethal attacks weren’t forbidden, though the wielder should halt their attack midway to avoid killing the other party. If a wielder goes uncontrollable, and the receiver of the attack appears to have no way of eluding, blocking, or living when hit by the attack, a member of the Walong Sinag ng Araw will step in.

Gerald grinned like an idiot in the middle of the arena, the amphitheater brimming with eerie silence. “Come on, who’s going to be the first?”

Nobody stepped up. No one was a stranger to Gerald’s personality. He was notorious for challenging people to a spar out of the blue, even those of the lower Levels.

“Really? Nobody?” Gerald frowned. Gerald summoned his large shield, the kalasag, and a golden bolo knife. Hayden felt that something bad was about to happen. Lo and behold. Gerald’s bolo knife transformed into a spear and he pointed it at Hayden. “Hayden! Last time, you won against me. Why not step up?”

Everybody was shocked of Gerald’s declaration, including the Walong Sinag ng Araw. Hayden has sparred with Gerald? And won? Against that battle nut? Surely Gerald jested.

Hayden shivered. He was conscious that he won purely due to Gerald holding back, not utilizing his essence energy enhancement. If Hayden was going to assume that Gerald was compatible with essence energy, then his enhancement would be increased by three times.

Back then, without essence energy, Gerald was capable of lifting 2.8 tons. With essence energy, then Gerald would, more or less, be able to lift up to 8,400 tons. This may not be as absurd as Hayden’s Indestructible Devil, but there was no way he can beat Gerald without switching his Indestructible Devil on. Or at least without putting in any effort.

To clear any doubts, under the right circumstances, Hayden can indeed defeat Gerald even with his weapons. However, he didn’t want to go through all that. It was too much of an annoyance that will yield no benefits for him.

If it was any other Walong Sinag ng Araw member that stepped onto the stage, then he could’ve fought with them. As aforementioned, Gerald had a simpleton personality, but he definitely wasn’t idiotic. He would notice something was off if he fought Hayden and Hayden showed strength that was way beyond when they sparred from a month ago.

Xirixian were out of the question, too. In spite of not sensing Xirxian on Rose and Bryant’s person, Hayden didn’t want to risk it. Why? Because the Gintong-Langit clan has Xirixian. The Gintong-Langit was an ally of Puting Araw. You connect the dots.

Besides, he didn’t want to fight Gerald in his ‘full-powered’ state as a Level 2, therefore, Hayden shied away from Gerald’s gaze, not at all affected by his provocation.

“Come on, not even you Hayden?” Gerald snorted. “Your killing intent was intense, yet you’re now backing away? Come dow-”

Thankfully, Hayden has a smart, and simultaneously idiotic, friend. It was Daniel, who was sitting adjacent to him. Daniel stood up. “I’ll challenge you.”

“Oho, Daniel!” Gerald celebrated as if seeing a friend he lost in touch with for the first time in forever. “Come down, kid! Let’s fight!”