39 Zeke (1/2)
Hayden returned to Eun-ha's house at 4:55, carrying various groceries to cook a hearty breakfast for the both of them.
”You should stock up. You know?” Walking in with two huge bags filled with various cooking ingredients such as spices, vegetables, and meat, Hayden spoke. ”Freezers and ingredients nowadays are not as it used to be. All these ingredients can be stored for over a year without spoiling.”
”You…” When Eun-ha saw Hayden, she was stunned. ”Why did you buy so much? I rarely go to this house…”
”Well,” while storing and sorting the ingredients, Hayden turned to Eun-ha, moved in, hugged her, kissed her, and said softly. ”You know, I'm a pretty great cook. We can have some of our dates here. Your balcony has a pretty great view.”
”Tsk, brazen fellow.” Eun-ha kissed him back, resting her head on Hayden's chest. ”When will you be going back to Philippines?”
Letting Eun-ha go, Hayden went back to arranging the ingredients. ”I've reserved a flight at December 28, 2020. We'll be spending our new year's at home, it's kind of a tradition, spending new year's with only the immediate family members. I would have been willing to convince my parents to break that tradition if I would have known that, you know, I'll find a girlfriend here.”
”Well, don't worry,” Eun-ha leaned on the kitchen counter. ”We'll see at the concert and fan meet in Philippines.”
”Of course we will,” Hayden smiled at Eun-ha. Finishing tidying up, Hayden started to cook up bacon omelet, fried rice, and made his signature hot chocolate-coffee mix. By 5:15, Hayden has finished up everything, working with utmost efficiency.
On the side, Eun-ha was in a state of obliviousness and shock at Hayden's cooking skill, every meal that he made assaulting her nose with its amazing scent, making her drool a bit with desire, her stomach grumble. She couldn't help but think that the concentrating face of Hayden was unbelievably attractive, it was a side that was different from the coy teenager she met.
”Shall we eat, mademoiselle?” Arranging the table on the dining room, Hayden smiled at Eun-ha knowingly. ”It's a simple yet tasty meal made by yours truly.”
”Braggart!” Eun-ha laughed, striding to the table. Taking a sniff of the scent of the food, she was astonished. ”This smells so good!”
”Well, I've got a lot of practice the past six months,” Hayden removed the apron he used, arranged it on the kitchen, and sat down opposite to Eun-ha. ”With my Ability, I could basically learn any human skill inhumanly fast.”
”This is so amazing.” What followed was Eun-ha wolfing down the food. When she saw Hayden smiling at him mischievously, she shied away a little, composing herself. She then rolled her eyes at Hayden, making him crack up.
”Oh yeah, are you perhaps going to play in… What do you call that?” Eun-ha asked as she ate. ”Ahh, yes, Pro Assembly?”
”Well, I'm planning to.” Hayden shook his head. ”I got to thank the person that made me famous after all, Ares. By March, I should reach my goal of Rank 1 Apex Rank general, by then, despite my age, the Pulang Dagat, or Red Sea in Korean, or Sea of Blood if you take the figurative translation, would not be able to avoid me no matter what.”
On that note, the two incessantly chatted regarding their careers, digging in deeper each other's lives. When the both of them finished eating, Eun-ha invited Hayden to the couch, cuddling with each other as they watched TV.
…..
6:00, Philippines, Makati City, Daniel's house. Daniel has been simply playing games the past few hours as there was really nothing else to do to pass the time. He could not sleep as he was already invigorated, such is the effects of being a wielder, and he could not go out to test his newly evolved Ability.
A few minutes passed, Daniel's mom's voice sounded out, calling for him to eat breakfast. As Daniel has developed to sensing an impending doom to when they were going to eat or something, he wasn't playing an online game anymore, allowing him to simply pause the game prior to going downstairs to eat.
When they finished eating, Daniel took a shower, informed his parents that he was going out to 'tutor,' and hailed a taxi.
Arriving at Liwayway Hotel, he went to the apartment complex opposite to it and went down the secret facility of Puting Araw. First, he made his way to Anthony's penthouse to report his evolved status as a Level 2 wielder.
Anthony, who was in his office, having a headache over Hayden's report of an assassination attempt at him from South Korea, and the closed case of Tikbalang, was delighted of Daniel's arrival.
He already expected Daniel's evolution as he knew that Daniel awakened only a bit later than Hayden. ”Let me give you a present.”
Anthony was quite biased towards Daniel, prioritizing him over Hayden, leading to the two of them having a more amicable relationship than Anthony and Hayden. He liked Daniel for two reasons, his potential that is a cut above the rest, even in comparison to Hayden's Divine Perception; after all, knowledge can only get you so far, raw power such as Daniel's Ability is something more favorable to the requirements of Puting Araw's Red Agents. Anthony was a man who valued raw power more than knowledge.
Second, Daniel was less arrogant and more harmonious with people than Hayden. Daniel was an absolute extrovert that everyone liked, he was friends with the ten geniuses that Hayden beat up, is easy to get along to, and, the most important one, he respects those that are higher than him, unlike Hayden. Of course, it doesn't mean that Hayden didn't follow the rules, it's just that his show of blatant disregard and disrespect to Anthony was something that he was infuriated with.
If Hayden was not someone who could defeat a Level 2 wielder as a Level 1 and tens of geniuses within 10 seconds, Anthony would have thrown him out of Puting Araw already. Do not get Anthony wrong though, he deemed Hayden as an important asset, albeit, Daniel was more important in his perspective.
If he just knew that Hayden was a dual wielder, he would think otherwise as dual wielders are incredibly rare. In addition, he knew of the power of a dual wielder, being able to defeat wielders possessing higher levels than them with the usage of their two Abilities. The most powerful person of Puting Araw, its founder and the person that holds the first seat in the Walong Sinag ng Araw, also known as the Unang Sinag ng Araw (First Ray of the Sun), is a Level 4 dual wielder that possesses the power of a Level 5.
This was also the reason that, in spite of the scope of Puting Araw being lower than Black Devil's Kamay ng Lagim, Black Devil doesn't dare to invade Puting Araw due to being scared of the Unang Sinag ng Araw.
…..
”As you know, I can't promote you to First Rank Special Agent position like Hayden as you haven't taken a mission yet,” Anthony walked with Daniel on the underground facility wearing a wide smile. ”However, what I can do to congratulate you is present you with this.”
Pointing to a black ring, Anthony smiled. Daniel had a confused expression as he stared at Anthony. Laughing, Anthony explained, ”I take it that you don't know what this?”
”Well…” Daniel looked at the ring before looking back to Anthony. ”What is it? It's merely a ring, right?”
”That's where you're wrong,” Anthony said. ”Hey, manager, can you explain to him what this ring is and what it does?”
The manager, who went out the second he saw Anthony, nodded prior to explaining to Daniel what the ring is. Hearing what the power of the ring is, Daniel was shocked. What a convenient item for storing items!
”Wait, you're telling me you'll give me this as a present?” Daniel exclaimed. ”I can't accept that, it's priced at 10 million credits!”
”Just take it as an investment,” Anthony didn't give him a chance to rebut as he threw a Space Ring to Daniel. ”You go accept missions now, don't let my investment to you go to waste, understand?”
Daniel could do nothing but to accept this gift and nod, wearing a wry smile. Wearing it, Daniel infused essence energy into the ring and felt a 10 cubic meter space inside. ”I guess I should buy a mask similar to Hayden's in case I need it… No, wait, I have my amber-colored iris to cover for that… Well, what if I needed to use other powers…”
Regardless of being a bit jealous of Hayden, Daniel couldn't help himself to think that Hayden was indeed smart. If he wasn't wrong, he saw Hayden wearing a Space Ring during the time he was at the school festival, and based from the hearsays, Hayden wore a plain black mask to mask himself in the fight.
”It's only probably that fellow that can afford to treat tank-piercing bullets as a bullet for fighting…” Daniel sighed, recalling the details from Hayden's fight with Blade Dancer. A peculiar expression appeared on Daniel's face. ”How rich exactly is Hayden?”
”He's rich for your age, I'll tell you that,” Anthony inserted his opinion, hearing Daniel's muttering. ”I mean, he already bought a Space Ring before I gave him one more as a show of collective appreciation of the board of directors. Anyways, you should also take this.”