Ability Wielders 4 Aswang

Until 4 PM, Hayden learned various piano pieces, specifically, two anime openings, which he thought was beautiful. He reminisced of the time he watched those two shows and almost teared up. However, if any pianist saw Hayden's memorizing speed and that he could play a song perfectly without even looking after watching a single video and doing it once with concentration, they would've questioned their own talent and effort.

"Such sadness…" Hayden sighed as he remembered the two scenes. "Well, it's already 4:00, let's try to learn some Korean!"

Going to his computer and turning it on, he went to a site called Language Archives. The Language Archives was a site established by the World Government that has the aim of granting free access to lessons of all the languages of every nation.

Hayden was thankful to the World Government at this moment as he didn't need to pay a single credit for knowledge. He clicked on Korean and clicked the first video.

He used Divine Perception making him focused, allowing him to clear his own mind. With this, he tried to learn Korean until 7:00 PM.

…..

Finishing the seventh video lesson, Hayden had a sudden headache. On that note, he turned off Divine Perception and his computer. He lied down on his bed, closed his eyes, and sorted out the knowledge he acquired.

As he was having streams of data being infused with his brain, he was too active to be able to sleep even though he was mentally fatigued.

"I guess there is a limit to how much knowledge I can actually absorb…" Hayden mumbled. "It's a good thing I discovered that early."

He thought it was a fortunate matter that he discovered a limit so that he knew when he would stop in the future. Abruptly, his stomach grumbled, asking for food.

"All that learning actually made me hungry. Let's cook." Hayden knew that there was no food inside the house right now as his mom left early. As for his dad, he was only home during weekends due to his work being far from home. Because of this arrangement, Hayden thought he needed to learn how to cook at least simple meals.

Ever since 7th grade, Hayden was learning how to cook. With two years of training, he can cook a numerous amount of dishes, including Filipino dishes, common Asian cuisine, and western ones.

This night, he cooked rice and a dish called Chicken Adobo. He spent the next hour eating while browsing news. Even though he was an introvert, he still tried to keep up with the latest news as it was kind of interesting to see the world develop around him.

"Asw.a.n.g? (1)" Clicking on a viral article, he saw a murder of a man in Taguig City, with the organs hanging out from its corpse, while the murderer set up the corpse so that it was hanging akin to that of a butchered pig. "That's gruesome… That's why they call the murderer Asw.a.n.g, huh?"

Asw.a.n.g were Filipino myths that brewed since the Spanish era. Asw.a.n.g were said to transform into people during the day, and become human predators at night, killing and eating people. This particular killer was called Asw.a.n.g because of the organs hanging on its corpse.

Despite reading and imaging such a b.l.o.o.d.y matter in his mind, Hayden kept on eating his meal. He was numb to gory stuff on a screen as he watched too many horror and thriller movies with gore and serial killings.

Closing the article, he scrolled past more. Seeing there was nothing else that was interesting, he opened Streamlink to watch some movies.

When he finished eating, he washed the dishes and took a shower. While in the shower, he was attempted to rearrange the knowledge in his mind once more.

"Wait, I can already speak some?" Hayden uttered in semi-perfect Korean. He was surprised that he knew the exact translation of the sentence he said, and that he can speak Korean already. "What the h.e.l.l? I merely watched eight thirty-minute videos!"

He was far from mastering the Korean language as those seven videos were merely conversational basics. Nevertheless, it was good that he can speak some Korean already.

Switching off his 'Korean state,' Hayden spoke regular Filipino again. "That's amazing! I learned to speak basic Korean within four hours?"

Needless to say, he needed to practice if he wants to retain this ability to speak the language, otherwise, he would definitely lose it in a few days. Knowledge that isn't used is considered as unnecessary memories, thus, the brain forgets it if it isn't practiced often, similar to how a gamer's skills rust when he or she doesn't game for a few months.

"Wait, I have eidetic memory, who am I kidding?" Hayden face slapped himself before returning to shower. Regardless of him remembering that he had an eidetic memory, he still chose to practice, just in case.

…..

Putting on his clothes, he sat down in front of his computer. He then started up the computer. Because of the two people arguing earlier, he was itching to play War of Honor, this time, he wanted to become an Apex Rank now.

"Wait, wouldn't I have G.o.dlike mechanics if I used Divine Perception?" Hayden asked himself. "No, that would be too much of a cheat now. Divine Perception already gave me a pa.s.sive boost, and I still want to use it for this? Jeez…"

He got rid of the mindset of using Divine Perception on every aspect of his life. He wanted to rely on it mainly to learn things, not cheat on games. Don't get him wrong, he still considered this cheating, but it would be stupid to not use Divine Perception, and it would also be equally stupid to use it on a simple game.

Launching War of Honor, Hayden readied himself to play on his old account. He played for an entire hour, losing the first match as he hasn't adjusted yet, and winning the next match by an absolute land slide.

"I can't believe I carried that game." Hayden still had some leftover adrenaline while his hand was shaking a little. "I did so well on Downpour, killing enemies here and there, dodging every skill thrown at me with G.o.dlike reflexes, G.o.dd.a.m.n…"

Downpour was Hayden's main superhuman whenever he played War of Honor. He also dabbled on playing many other superhumans, it was simply that he felt Downpour's skillset was too suitable for him.

"That's enough for now, I'll play ranked matches tomorrow." Hayden said. He needed to sleep in order to cement what he learnt today. Plus, he overexerted himself too much when he spent seven hours straight keeping his Divine Perception active, learning all those.

After brushing his teeth, washing his face, and applying some skin care products, he went to sleep. The second his head hit the pillow, he went drifted off to dreamland.

…..

Waking up, he found himself feeling refreshed. Scanning his body using Divine Perception, he saw that his brain and his cognitive functions was back to normal.

"Did the increase healing factor also affect my mental state?" Hayden was confused. Especially when he looked at the time. It was only 3:00 AM! He slept at 9 PM. Usually, he needed at least eight hours of sleep, sometimes even needing ten hours if it was busy nights at school!

Yet now, he was feeling absolutely refreshed and new with a measly six hours of sleep? It was all too illogical! This made him draw the conclusion that the increased healing factor from Devil's Persistence fixed or created new brain cells for him.

"Well, what am I supposed to do at three in the morning?" Hayden wrinkled his nose, wondering what he would want to do. "Playing the keyboard would not be the best option as it's literally three in the morning. There were people sleeping. Playing a game would not be an option as there were too many people asleep, also, I'm in no mood. Exercise? Wait…"

He stopped in his tracks as he noticed that his body was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy. "I did some pretty intense exercises yesterday. More so, those three sets of exercises with just a five-minute break in between… No delayed onset muscle soreness at all?"

Moving around, he found out that there was indeed no DOMS. On the contrary, he felt stronger, as if his body has some kind of newfound power. "Exercises damaged the muscles, and the body repairs them… Through this repeated cycle of destruction and rebirth, new power is born… It makes sense that I would feel stronger… The increased healing factor's effect is really noticeable!"

Hayden couldn't help but praise the increased healing factor stemming from Indestructible Devil. "So that's why after five minutes, I still had the power to do more exercises!"

Only now did he make sense of the strange events that he thought was normal yesterday. He thought that adrenaline was coursing through his veins at that time. He now realized how greatly mistaken he was.

"So now, I will be able to increase my strength faster! I can run farther with only a little rest, and I can also sprint longer!" Hayden still had the feeling that everything was surreal. "Overnight, I already changed from a regular human into a person with superpower. I wonder, what are those who gained an Ability like me doing…?"

Saying that, Hayden readied himself to run around in the park.

…..

In an abandoned slum within Taguig City. There was a man snoring away, his face contorted as if he was in pain.

Abruptly, the man woke up. This man had a terrifyingly ugly face, fat build, and messy hair.

"What was that? Why did I suddenly drown?" He hurriedly craved for air, confused of what happened in that dream. As he didn't know what a lucid dream was, he believed that that dream was some kind of alternate reality. "How did I get there? I only remember sleeping here? And what was that? I turned invisible and experienced so much power in my arms during that dream…"

Calming down, the man rubbed his chest. He touched an odd b.u.mp underneath his shirt. When he looked, he saw a crystalline prism embedded on his chest.

"What the f.u.c.k is this thing? Get it off!" The man shouted as he panicked. When he tried to remove it, information rushed into his head.

When the information was done transferring into his brain, he finally understood what happened. "So that was actually true? I do have that power? And what Ability Wielder? What bulls.h.i.t nonsense is that? What kind of name even is 'Invisible Hunter?'"

He tried to make himself invisible while laughing. Consequently, he looked at his arms and saw it was gone. With this, he ceased his chortling and knew that everything was true.

"Holy s.h.i.t! I can steal money with this! I can go into many places where men shouldn't be…" With various thoughts streaming into his mind, he formed a disgusting face that resembled that of a pig. Not like anyone will notice as he was invisible. "I'm going to be the most powerful person in the world!"

His laugh was only a normal laugh. Be that as it may, if anyone were in the room with him, they would sense the pure malevolence contained in this laugh. In addition, he was invisible, adding to the factor of horror.

"With this power, I will finally not need to hide from those f.u.c.k-a.s.s losers!" Turning Invisible Hunter off, he grinned, revealing his yellowish teeth. "I will be coming for you people!"

Going out of his run-of-the-mill house, he went to another house while using his newly found power. As he created no sound, he was discreet without putting in any effort whatsoever.

There was only a single person in the house. Seeing this, the man grinned. Not that anyone could see it as he was invisible. The person inside the house he broke in was a hooligan that bullied him for years, made fun of him.

At that instance, he felt his nails growing out. It became claws! The man laughed loudly, startling the hooligan inside the house,

"Who's there!?" The hooligan shouted. Looking around, there was no one there. "f.u.c.k you! Come out, now! Don't be such a p.u.s.s.y!"

"I'm here." The fat man grinned while standing in front of the hooligan who turned his neck away from him. When the hooligan heard this voice, he turned in front of him.

He almost fainted because of the huge scare the fatty gave him. "You f.u.c.king pig! how did you snuck in!?"

When the hooligan came into contact with 'fatty,' he was startled. Those were the eyes of a person who wanted to kill! And that smile… It was so eerie that it gave him, a man who loved bullying people, gooseb.u.mps.

"Get out of here, now!" The hooligan steeled himself.

When the fatty heard this, he laughed. "You don't have the power to make me get out!" Immediately, he grabbed the hooligan's neck and lifted him up in this manner.

"I do indeed have powerful strength!" The fatty laughed maniacally, like a psycho.

Meanwhile, the hooligan was struggling to say something. "L-l-let m-me go… y-y-you f.u.c.ker!"

He was wondering as to how the fatty suddenly gained such strength. It terrified him of what might come next.

"You! You bullied me ever since I got here! Called me a psycho! A f.u.c.king pig!" The fatty shouted angrily. "You son of a b.i.t.c.h! You're in this situation and you still have the guts to not f.u.c.king beg and even have the backbone to act arrogant in front of me!?"

"L-l-look man," the man said. "I-I'm sorry, o-okay? We-we were only having fun… right? You hhad fun, r-r-right?"

"Oh, yes, I had fun!" the fatty laughed. A few seconds of laughing later, the fatty stopped and looked at the hooligan dead-straight in the eyes with a crazed expression. "I had so much fun that I want to kill you!"

Raising his left hand, the fatty dug his claws into the man's chest. Because of this, the hooligan shouted as he experienced pain that he never experienced before. On top of that, he can't breathe, which made everything worse.

The fatty laughed again. "Farewell! see you in h.e.l.l!"

When he finished his sentence, the fatty ripped apart the hooligan, killing him in an instant. The fatty slashed open the hooligan before finding an electric cord to hang him, making it look like a pig that was butchered.

"Oh, look at you, I pity you." The man formed a sad face towards the hanging corpse. "Look at what they did to you. You were butchered like a pig!"

Afterwards, the fatty laughed. This fatty was precisely the viral Asw.a.n.g. Asw.a.n.g was always made fun of ever since his parents died, leading him into depression. Living 24 years of his life in a sedentary manner, his body turned to this, and his head was a little screwed because of all the abuse that the people of the slums did to him.

In fact, n.o.body, not a single soul, ever pitied him. They all laughed at him, badmouthed him, and gossiped behind his back!

"Now, I will get my revenge." The fatty laughed, resembling a crazy man. "Oh, I love the feeling of digging my claws into flesh! And the experience of ripping that guy apart… It suits him well! A pig, truly a pig!"

Satisfied at his 'artwork,' he went out of the house using his Invisible Hunter again. Because no one saw him, n.o.body would suspect that it was him. He had motive, yet he was 'powerless.' n.o.body, not even the police, would suspect that he, a 'fatty' was the one who killed the hooligan!

Asw.a.n.g went back to his own home, licking the blood off of the claws he used before retracting it. "The pig's blood tastes nice!"

"Who should be my next target?" Asw.a.n.g said with a shrewd smile, which turned into a cackle. "Perhaps I should do something a little 'indecent' to my next victim first, hehe… I have never experienced s.e.x in my entire 24 years of life, I guess I'm getting it now."

…..

Spending the last hour doing push-ups, lifting weights, pull-ups, crunches, and tiptoe squats, Hayden was exhausted.

He rested for about fifteen minutes, browsing social media, before he sensed that his body was already okay. "Wow, I just did intense exercise for an hour and resting for only fifteen minutes, I can already move? This power's too much!"

Additionally, he didn't feel any pain whatsoever! A few minutes ago, he was aching all over his body, not able to stand up, now, it was healed!

"Okay, time for a run!" Hayden felt energetic. He now wanted to exercise because of the effects of his own healing factor. Switching to his running attire, he went out of the house while observing his surroundings using Divine Perception.

He was already jogging a little. 'Philippines was a safe country with a low crime-rate, however, it doesn't hurt to be careful, right? I mean, there's literally a murder right inside Taguig City. A horrifying one at that.'

While thinking, his body shivered a little as he felt somebody staring at him. Turning his head into the direction of one of the house's roof in the neighborhood, he didn't see anything.

"Strange." Hayden squinted his eyes as he continued to jog. "I really should be careful."

…..

1 Asw.a.n.g – A mythical being, considered as a monster by many, in Filipino folklore. Asw.a.n.g can be either an umbrella term for a group of monsters or a term that identifies a singular person, mainly, the latter. For the general term, in Filipino folklore, Asw.a.n.g can refer to various beings, the Tiktik, a birdlike creature that eats fetuses, Wakwak, a similar creature, except that the Wakwak is a vampiric bird that eats humans, the Viscera Sucker, or Manananggal, who splits with their lower portion while the upper portion hunts for human prey, and many more. Meanwhile, for the term that identifies for a singular person, Asw.a.n.g can mean a monster in general, a man-eating monster, that sucks blood from their prey with their proboscis-like tongue during the night, and blend with people during the day. Unlike vampires, Asw.a.n.g do not get hurt by the sun. Some versions, however, puts vampires are categorized under the umbrella term of Asw.a.n.g.

For more info about Filipino folklore and mythical creatures, here's a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_mythical_creatures