Ability Wielders 37 Kumiho

The second Eun-ha said 'let's get this sorted, shall we?' She transformed into a full-on fox with white fur, her clothes left on the ground. She had a total of nine fluffy tails and each was red tipped.

Hayden thought that Eun-ha was going to fight in this form, yet, the next event that occurred made him speechless.

Her originally pet.i.te body swelled in size, matching Haetae's own size. It didn't stop there though, her fur transformed into light blue flames, emitting heat of at least 1,000 degrees Celsius perceived by his Divine Perception.

Suddenly, a sonic boom resounded throughout from where Eun-ha stood, with Eun-ha vanishing from where she was. Even Hayden's Divine Perception couldn't keep up with her speed, completely losing track of her. She reappeared in front of Haetae, and performing some kind of unknown movement that Hayden still couldn't follow with his eyes, she cut off Haetae's head in a mere fraction of a second.

"Holy c.r.a.p…" Hayden mumbled, clearly in a daze. "What… What just happened?"

"That's k.u.miho, one of our most powerful members," Chung-hee beside him chuckled at the sight of Hayden in a daze. "She's impressive, isn't she?"

"How powerful exactly is she? She's Level 4, isn't she?" Hayden would be stupid if he thought that Eun-ha was simply a Level 3 wielder. That kind of power that Haetae could not withstand, an opponent that he had a hard time with, definitely did not belong to a Level 3. "She's one of the most powerful, you say?"

"Yep," Chung-hee nodded. She did not say that the 'members' she was referring to was actually CHORUS. "By the way, you… You're a foreigner, right?"

"Filipino to be exact," Hayden conversed with Chung-hee. "Thanks for saving me, Chung-hee-ssi, I owe you one."

"You're so formal," Chung-hee laughed. "Anyways, I'll leave you two to chat. I actually wasn't really needed."

With that, Chung-hee turned around, mounted the tiger made of light, and disappeared without a sound.

Blinking his eyes once, Hayden rotated his head to see Eun-ha getting inside her hanbok and changing back to her human form. "I guess those eleven figures are the CHORUS members. I'll be stupid if I still can't even deduce that much from this situation."

Hayden shook his head, recalling the night he killed the raven cognizant. To think that he denied it, yet, what he denied was truly the fact… 'Ahh, the world is really playing with me, isn't it? Is it having fun toying with me like this?'

A second later, Eun-ha appeared in front of him. "You okay? Are you hurt?"

Hayden didn't talk at all as he moved in close to Eun-ha, hugging her. Eun-ha was stunned a little as she closed her eyes and hugged Hayden. She could hear the pounding of his heartbeat beneath those muscles of his.

"She called you my girlfriend," Hayden spoke in an amused tone. "You told CHORUS about me? How did they react?"

"Umm…." Eun-ha was stunned. This fellow was getting pretty brazen! "Let's not talk here, with the commotion Haetae made, many people, wielders and non-wielders alike, would be attracted to this place. Follow me."

With that, she revealed wings made of azure flames and flew upwards. Hayden followed suit, revealing his demonic wings and tailing Eun-ha.

"Where are we going?" Hayden shouted. Basing from the direction they're flying towards to, they were not going back to Seongnam.

"Just keep up." Eun-ha replied. On that note, Eun-ha accelerated, going supersonic as she went through a cloud. Hayden, who had a ton of questions in his head, had no choice but to accelerate as well, admiring Eun-ha's ingenious use of the clouds to make it appear as if her sonic boom was thunder.

A few minutes of flying later, they arrived in Hanam-si, a city in the Gyeonggi Province adjacent to Seoul and Seongnam.

When Eun-ha started to descend, Hayden saw that she was going to a modern mansion that was much larger than the house he bought. It had a fountain on its huge front lawn, a swimming pool, and was pretty much riddled with gla.s.s. There were no houses in the immediate vicinity, a great hangout spot for a celebrity indeed.

Landing, Eun-ha looked around with suspicion, eyeing the skies and surroundings prior to heaving a sigh of relief. She removed her mask before she turned to Hayden, who was still topless, his perfectly sculpted body exposed.

"Put on some clothes, will you?" Eun-ha rolled her eyes and went inside the house. "Come in, we'll talk later."

Hayden nodded, similarly removing his mask, taking out a plain white shirt from his s.p.a.ce Ring, and wore it. Inside, he examined the place and nodded in approval.

It was a beautiful place. Like the outside, the internal decorations were modernistic, the atmosphere cozy.

"Need to use the bathroom?" Eun-ha turned around and asked. Seeing Hayden nod, Eun-ha pointed him the location of the bathroom. "Take a bath if you have to."

In the bathroom, Hayden relieved himself first then freshened up for a few minutes. In his s.p.a.ce Ring was essential supplies, naturally, there was soap in it, on top of shampoo and hand sanitizers. Hayden was mildly mysophobic after all.

Getting out of the bathroom, Hayden's body relaxed greatly, and when he looked around, he saw Eun-ha was on the living room, sitting cross-legged on the sofa. has changed into casualwear, wearing blue shorts and a simple black t-shirt with an anime character's head on the center. She was watching TV whilst eating snacks.

Witnessing this, Hayden couldn't help his lips to smile. The former nervousness that he felt whenever he was with Eun-ha was… Well, it was still there for some reason, but it has been greatly diminished.

Noticing Hayden, Eun-ha smiled at him gently, signaling to sit beside her. Nodding, Hayden walked over to sit closely, not being modest at all. His heart was pounding. However, he did manage to keep somewhat calm without his Divine Perception.

A few minutes of watching TV together, Eun-ha rested her head on Hayden's shoulders, to which he responded by wrapping his arms around her. She opened her mouth as Hayden did this. "So you are the White Fox we saw that night. You're quite powerful."

"I wouldn't say that," Hayden shook his head wryly. "You can defeat me in a measly second, can't you?"

"Well, to be fair, I wouldn't be able to beat a Level 2 cognizant that easily as a Level 2." Eun-ha hugged Hayden tightly. "Let me get straight to the point, are you a member of the Fourth Sector?"

"I don't even know what that is…" Hayden candidly answered. "I am, however, part of a wielder organization back in the Philippines, it's called Puting Araw, or White Sun in Korean (Remember they're speaking in Korean). I guess you can consider us as the good guys back in Philippines, in comparison to Kamay ng Lagim, or Hand of Gloom, an organization that literally sent a.s.sa.s.sins to kill me in a span of a few days. Their members are a tad short of being psychos."

"You are truly unlucky," Eun-ha chuckled, remembering the stories of Hayden's unluckiness that he told her their two days. He didn't even know this Kamay ng Lagim yet a.s.sa.s.sin after a.s.sa.s.sin was sent to him. Sitting upright, she tapped Hayden's nose and smiled softly, "Well, at least you're lucky when it counts."

"I know, right?" Hayden agreed with her. What kind of luck must he possess to meet Eun-ha in a vacation, right? Moving on another matter, Hayden's countenance became serious. "So, CHORUS, who are you guys?"

"We're called the Lunar a.s.sembly here in Korea," Eun-ha filled Hayden in of their namesakes. She trusted Hayden enough with this information. "As for me? My epithet is k.u.miho, as that is quite literally what my Ability transforms me, a k.u.miho."

"I guessed as much," Hayden was reminded of Eun-ha's earlier display of combat prowess. Soon, a peculiar expression appeared on his face. "Wait… k.u.miho? Let me ask, does your Ability have some sort of pa.s.sive?"

"You're not mistaken," Eun-ha nodded. "It's not that useful though, in fact, it gives me more of a headache than being useful. The only power it gives me is my allure, and an annoying side-effect. I simply call the pa.s.sive as Fox's Charm. I'm kind of impressed you can resist the side-effect as a Level 2 wielder, always appearing calm."

"Tsk, that's why I can't keep calm in your presence," Hayden sighed. He was finally enlightened as to how his Divine Perception cannot keep him calm. A pa.s.sive of a Level 4 wielder was pretty frightening. "What's the side-effect?"

"Well, let's say that it makes men lose their mind in my presence," Eun-ha summarized the side-effects of the Fox's Charm pa.s.sive.

Basically, Fox's Charm… was a tool for seduction, as the k.u.miho depicted in legends are. In the eyes of a regular man, Eun-ha would only possess a certain irresistible allure and elegance, unknowingly making Eun-ha attractive no matter what.

However, it was not that useful due to its side-effect of its effect on wielders. To a Level 1 wielder, Fox's Charm would make it so that they would not calm down in Eun-ha's presence, their concentration is always robbed by Eun-ha. What's worse is that Eun-ha would be stuck on their minds for at least three days, with some of the weaker willed ones driven mad if they didn't see her.

To a Level 2 wielder, the effect was more forgiving as they would solely be distracted by her a bit, with Eun-ha becoming stuck to their minds for a day to 12 hours, depending on the strength of the Level 2.

To a Level 3, they would just be incapable of ignoring Eun-ha once she entered their line of sight. If they lose her, they would involuntarily attempt to look around, letting go of it once they confirmed that Eun-ha was gone.

Apparently, CHORUS once tested the limits of this pa.s.sive and came to the conclusion that it affected wielders wielding certain Abilities more severely than others, such as those that uses sensory-enhancement Abilities as they notice Eun-ha more, and those that can remember much more than a regular human as Eun-ha's presence will be stuck to their minds much easier. What more, the closer one is to Eun-ha, the powerful the effect of Fox's Charm was.

Also, they understood that the effect shows through digital screens as well, despite it having the most minimal of effects, with wielders immune to it. Thankfully, once Eun-ha wears a mask and is unable to be identified, the side-effect loses its power. The same applied to when she was in her fox form.

Turning on his Divine Perception, Hayden's senses was overwhelmed by an unknown force whilst staring at Eun-ha, his heartbeat starting to become faster and his mind in a disorder. That was why he couldn't keep calm at all!

"That's kind of troublesome…" Hayden dryly coughed. It was kind of inconvenient for him, someone who has the Divine Perception that allowed him to emulate Eun-ha perfectly in his mind, which he a.s.sumed that it somehow was capable of simulating her Fox's Charm which led him to be unable to calm down whenever he thinks of her. "Isn't there some way to turn it off? I mean, to be honest with you, my heart is in a state of disarray ever since I met you… It's only thanks to my Ability that allows me to calm down. Even then, one time, when you made a move, my Ability deactivated by itself!"

Hearing this for the first time, Eun-ha was shaken, staring at Hayden with wide-eyes. A few seconds of silence ensued, which was ended by Eun-ha's hearty laughter, to the point that she was tearing up. Witnessing this, Hayden was conflicted of how he should feel.

On one hand, he found Eun-ha incredibly cute, on the other, his Ability that he thought to be so reliable was broken by a mere pa.s.sive. If it wasn't his girlfriend who had this pa.s.sive, he would have died without knowing how!

Soon, Hayden threw this thinking out of the window, watching Eun-ha die of laughter was one of the best moments he had in life. When she started to calm down, Hayden pulled her towards him and kissed her. The two made out for a few seconds before letting go of each other.

"By the way, how are you so powerful? Mhm, you're a Level 2 wielder that can shape essence energy, someone who has greater compatibility with essence energy, huh?" At that moment, her countenance changed into disbelief. "Don't tell me… You're a dual wielder, aren't you!?"

"What?" Hayden turned to Eun-ha with a similar look of confusion. He wasn't ready to admit his status as a dual wielder yet.

"Well, a dual wielder always has a greater compatibility with essence energy than those who aren't." Eun-ha said. "The thing is, not all those with superior compatibility with essence energy is a dual wielder. In our world, it is incredibly rare for one to be a dual wielder, if you estimate the odds, it would be about one in every ten thousand individual wielders that is more compatible with essence energy. Do you know the odds of possessing this kind of compatibility with essence energy? One in every thousand wielders! And the numbers of the wielders in the world would definitely not surpa.s.s a hundred million! With the odds being at one in every ten million wielders, finding a dual wielder is akin to looking for a needle in a haystack! For you to be this powerful, there's no other possibility other than you being a dual wielder!"

With Eun-ha's sound argument, Hayden couldn't find the words to refute it at all, no loopholes or whatsoever. He would have told her sooner or later anyways, it's not like Divine Perception has a significant weakness. Same went for his Indestructible Devil, other than its lack of means for long-ranged attacks. These two were a force to be reckoned even if the opponent knew how it worked.

"I am a dual wielder," Hayden admitted instead of lying. It was not wise to lie to a woman he liked! "The name of one is Divine Perception, and the other is Indestructible Devil."

"Divine Perception… Indestructible Devil…" Eun-ha muttered the names of his Abilities with amazement. "I can't imagine meeting a dual wielder… Ahh, that's why you wear a mask, don't you?"

"Yeah, that, and to keep my ident.i.ty a secret," Hayden nodded. "My Indestructible Devil is the trump card I hide. I hope you can keep this a secret. At least to other wielders you know, it's okay with CHORUS. I take it that you've talked to them about me?"

"That…" Eun-ha glanced to the other direction, pouting. "I didn't… What led you to think that?"

With that, silence covered the room. A few seconds later, this silence was broken by the two's laughter. When the two finished laughing, Hayden held Eun-ha by the hands and kissed it, followed by snuggling with her.

"Is it only eleven of you guys that are members of Lunar a.s.sembly?" Hayden asked. There was no way that the eleven of them were the exclusive members of this Lunar a.s.sembly.

"Well, no. Most of our members are celebrities though," Eun-ha admitted. "In total, there are over a hundred of us, with about 80% being celebrities. That's how King was 'blackmailed,' he was actually brainwashed with an Ability."

Before he could react to this, suddenly, Hayden's phone, that he took out from his s.p.a.ce Ring and put in his pocket when he went to freshen up, rang. It was an unknown Ident.i.ty Number requesting to establish a communication link.

Whenever an Ident.i.ty Number requests to establish a communication link in this manner, the recipient of said request to will be allowed to view basic information of the one who sent the request, which includes the name, a picture, age, nationality of the person, and their birthplace.

Needless to say, if someone requested this, they must know the other party's Ident.i.ty Number to send it. Curious, Hayden clicked on the profile and saw the face of Kidlat.

"This fellow's name is Christopher Dakilang-Mandirigma? (1)" Hayden was astounded of Kidlat's true name, speaking Filipino unwittingly. "How the h.e.l.l does he know of my Ident.i.ty Number?"

"Speak Korean," Eun-ha roused Hayden up from his stupor. When he took a peek at Eun-ha, he saw her pouting, causing him to laugh and kiss her forehead. "Who is that?"

"He was an a.s.sa.s.sin sent to me by that Kamay ng Lagim." Hayden sighed, accepting the communication link request. "I offered him double the price of what they paid him when we were fighting and was interrupted by those people from the Fourth Sector. We were battling when we were surrounded by those from Fourth Sector. Truthfully, I was losing, so the Fourth Sector's interruption was actually a blessing in disguise."

"So that's why you were in Gw.a.n.gnaru Hangang Park," Eun-ha said with realization. ���Let me ask, what level is this guy?"

"From the information I gathered, he's most definitely a Level 3 wielder." Hayden impa.s.sively spoke. As he was going to continue to talk, his phone rang. It was from Christopher. "I have to take this."

Leaving Eun-ha for a moment, Hayden answered the phone. Christopher asked in disbelief, "Little bro, you're alive?"

"Yeah, thanks to my girlfriend." Hayden talked in Filipino, gazing to Eun-ha. "Are you there at my house? Are my parents safe?"

"Yeah, they are," On the other end, Kidlat nodded. "Oh yeah, about your girlfriend. She's a Level 4 wielder, right?"

"Ah, so you already know." Hayden's face turned gloomy. Was he the only one that was clueless? "Anyways, how much should I pay you."

"Well, a million credits." Kidlat didn't double the price anymore. "Actually, it's two million, but you saved my life, so I am not adamant on pursuing this matter anymore. Plus, I have a favor to ask, will you lend me this house while you're gone? I cannot return to the Philippines after all, Black Devil will know I failed to kill you."

"Yeah, sure, just take good care of it." Hayden granted Kidlat his permission. "As a price… Well, are you willing to be a subordinate?"

"What?" Kidlat was shocked upon hearing this. "You want to take me in as a subordinate? Aren't you afraid of my betrayal? I'm a mercenary and a.s.sa.s.sin at heart, you know?"

"That's why I'm asking you to retire, live here in South Korea. You can be… A caretaker of my house and informant." Hayden offered Christopher a 'job.' "Well, to be honest, I'm kind of looking for people… As for why? You'll know soon enough, Christopher. For the offer, I'll give you a salary of 100,000 a month."

"What?" Kidlat exclaimed. "Isn't that a bit too much for a mere caretaker and informant? I mean, I won't even really be a caretaker as I'll be taking refuge here…"

"Who said that your job will be that effortless?" Hayden shook his head. "You will be a caretaker and an informant. It means you have to gather information here in South Korea's world of wielders. You can do that, right?"

"Oh, so that's what you mean." Christopher's eyes squinted. "You want me to risk my life to gather information regarding the world of wielders, I get it… I'll take it, I have nothing better to do anyways."

"Good. I'll see you in a few days, protect my parents while I'm gone, call me when something comes up." Hayden was satisfied. "I'll transfer you the credits later."

With that, Hayden cut off the call, went back to Eun-ha, and snuggled with her. He sent a text to his parents that he might not go home for the meantime. A few minutes later, the mental exhaustion stemming from the overuse of Divine Perception got to him, falling asleep on Eun-ha's lap.

…..

1 Dakilang-Mandirigma – Literal translation: Exalted Warrior