15 Departure (1/2)
”A member of a gang called Bakunawa (1) recently awakened,” Engkanto briefed Hayden and Daniel on their first assignment. They were in a briefing room in the underground facility of Puting Araw, a room that had a holographic strategy table playing a video. ”The gang is stationed in Quezon City. You two will want to sleep here tonight as you will go tomorrow at 4:00 AM. This member of Bakunawa killed their leader according to our intel, using his Ability to overpower him, and now, the gang terrorized the citizens too much, the police couldn't handle him, being reported as a 'supernatural' incident.”
”He's endangering the existence of wielders?” Hayden's face twitched. ”Causing trouble on his first day? What an idiot.”
Engkanto looked at him and shook his head. Hayden was too hot-blooded when he's not calm, in his opinion. Whenever Hayden hears of a fight, he becomes too excited and invigorated, not at all like how he first met him. However, Engkanto knew full well that whenever Hayden was serious, he was as calm as still water, nothing fazing him, not even when Anthony tried to intimidate him.
”Well, he's too fast for the police to with their naked eyes,” Engkanto said. ”That's why we're sending in you two. This guy poses no danger at all to you guys, a perfect target, with his Ability merely enhancing his speed, at least according to what the reconnaissance team was able to deduce. Be careful tomorrow, as some Abilities are not as they look like at times. If a dangerous situation were to occur, report immediately through your earpieces. You two know what to do.”
The earpieces that Engkanto was talking about was the standard-issue earpieces. Apparently, once one becomes an Initiate, they are given equipment to aid them in doing missions, including their standard-issue uniforms, which was a white coat that was insusceptible to environmental effects and keep the wearer warm, a white polo that had a built-in kinetic energy absorption ceramic, black trousers that were also immune to environmental factors, and combat boots that neutralizes footsteps on any solid surface. In addition, they were given tranquilizer pistols that contained fast-acting non-lethal poison that can knock out even an elephant instantly, and hand-held stun guns. They were given non-lethal equipment due to the fact that most of the time, Puting Araw members dealt with normal citizens and that they were tasked to always bring in a wielder alive if they encounter one unless the situation is dire enough.
”Yes, sir!” Hayden and Daniel saluted to the leaving Engkanto. When he left, Hayden sighed. ”What an idiot… Seriously, showing his power to regular humans… I mean, if it was an emergency, I can understand, but he did it for the sake of killing a regular person, tsk.”
Hayden was reminded of Aswang, putting him in a bitter mood. He had the resolve that he will destroy Kamay ng Lagim, the one who sent Aswang to him, according to Anthony and Aswang himself.
”You go do what you want, I'm going to go get some more weapons in the weapons shop.” Hayden said as he waved goodbye to Daniel.
”Ahh,” Daniel rolled his eyes. ”That guy's too much of a paranoid, still wanting to order a new weapon at this point in time? Shouldn't he be eating? The food here in the facility is really delicious…”
…..
Going to the weapons shop in the underground facility, Hayden looked around. Seeing all types of grenades in the shop, high-quality ropes, and almost every single weapon imaginable. There was a sign in front of the shop that they also took orders for custom-made weapons.
In actuality, the underground facility of Puting Araw was akin to that of a mall, except that it had shops for weapons, armor, a Mission Board for when one wants to accept a mission, and many more. The place was bustling, with many of the 4,000 members of the Main Branch gathering here daily.
Hayden took three flashbangs, and three circle shaped compressed smoke grenades. The smoke grenades were based on the shape of a sphere so as to be able to contain the compressed smoke without much stress.
Taking another item, a high-quality rope made of Black Fiber, a type of fiber that possessed unbelievable tensile strength, capable of lifting 5 tons, yet is still as light as a piece of paper for one 10-meter rope.
Putting it on the counter, Hayden paid the 7,300 credits for the seven items. As he was exiting the shop, an item caught his eye. Turning around, his eyes nearly popped out of its sockets. Observing the black plain-looking ring, he shook his head in utter disbelief.
”A… Space ring?” Hayden couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was not a martial arts novel. Why would a space ring exist in this world!? ”What the hell, am I dreaming? Am I in an illusion?”
Hayden walked up to it and was about to touch it when a man stopped him from doing so. Rotating his head, the man was half a head taller than him and had an intimidating body.
”Hands off the merchandise, good sir,” the man spoke respectfully. Hayden and Daniel had earned quite a bit of reputation in their stay here. ”This is a state of the art technology manufactured by the most skillful members by our friends in the Apayao branch. Not to be disrespectful, however, if you're not buying, please don't touch it.”
”What is its… functions?” Hayden hesitantly asked. If it was this valuable, clearly, it was the real thing! ”And how much is it?”
”This is what its creator calls Space Ring. Once a wielder wears it, they would have a link with the wearer and is able to open up a 10-cubic-meter space inside.” The man spoke nonchalantly. This kind of product doesn't need promotion anymore as it was already too much of a fictional item. ”Plus, only its wearer, and its wearer alone, can open the space, as long as they live of course. This is the latest type of Space Ring and can be used by Level 1 wielders as well, contrary to the previous version that can only be used by Level 2 wielders and above, and has a built-in Fluxstone that can show you what's inside the space powered by essence energy. As for its cost…. It's 10,000,000 credits!”
Hayden sighed as he heard the price. Leaving disappointedly, Hayden reassured himself that he would buy that one day. Imagine being able to pull out weapons into your hand without delay, it would be awesome, for concealed attacks and for cosmetics!
Checking his account, he saw that there was 8,300,000 in. As his fanbase grew, the money he earned grew as well. Just these few hours, he already earned 600,000 credits. Thinking that he would be able to earn the money in a few days' time, Hayden threw the matter out of the window for now.
While carrying an eco-bag with the newly bought equipment contained within it, Hayden walked to the cafeteria.
…..
Reaching the cafeteria, Hayden lined up to buy food. The cafeteria had a modernistic and elegant design, enriching the food experience. Additionally, the food they served were delicious and nutritious, and the best thing? If you were an Initiate, the first dishes you would take for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, was free!
During his six months of training in here, Hayden frequently dined here during dinner as the food was simply energizing. When he acquired his food, he eyed his surroundings and saw… Daniel and the woman who took him here eating together!
Hayden had a peculiar expression as he saw Daniel talking happily as the woman ignored him, eating her soup. From what he remembered the other day, the woman was a Third Rank Special Agent, that meant that she was at least a Level 2 wielder and that her contributions were not small!
”May I sit here?” Walking cautiously to the table, Hayden asked the two if he can sit here. The woman simply glimpsed at him for a moment before similarly disregarding him while Daniel had an awkward face.
”Go ahead.” Daniel invited Hayden to sit. ”Ahh! Hayden, this is Scarlet, Scarlet Gintong-Langit, a friend of mine. Scarlet, this is Hayden, Hayden Emperador.”
”Hello,” Hayden nodded towards Scarlet, who just made a sound of acknowledgement. She didn't even look at Hayden. 'What an ice queen!'
Hayden rolled his eyes as he started eating. While eating, Hayden was annoyed of Daniel's continuously flapping mouth. For the entirety of the meal, he didn't speak along with Scarlet.
It was no surprise that Scarlet would be this quiet, but it was a surprise for him that she would not leave due to Daniel's blabbering!
'If I was still my past self, I would've left already…' Hayden was speechless of his friend's constant talking. It wasn't as if he didn't need to breathe because he actually didn't need to! 'Damn, what kind of Daniel was I talking to these past few months?'
Remembering the time he spent with Daniel, they normally only exchanged a few words at a time; hence, seeing Daniel being this talkative truly stunned him. 'No, wait… There's something fishy here…'
Squinting his eyes, Hayden ate the last piece of his food. An idea of what was happening here popped up in his mind. 'He likes her… Definitely…. No man would be this talkative if they didn't like the one they were talking to…'
”I'll go ahead…” Hayden excused himself, being suffocated of the awkward atmosphere between the two. Observing Scarlet's expression, he was the one heartbroken for Daniel. ”Rest in peace, my brother…”