156 Arrogance (1/2)
Looking at her face, Hayden could tell that she was dangerous. Still, she didn't pose a threat to him at all.
By the start of the match, Yora simply walked forward without a care in the world. It was a boring two minutes, to which she reached the very center of the map. During that time, Hayden couldn't believe that she hasn't encountered any wielder.
He switched to spectate other wielders and noticed that people were avoiding Yora. Looking at the map, every time there was a white dot nearing Yora's location, as if knowing she was there, everybody will change directions.
”That's her Ability.” Likoria asseverated. ”Nightmare Weaver. Everybody in Foriast knows how horrific this Ability is. I have been subjected to it once, and I fear that I have no chance of defeating her unless I have a Xirxian.”
”What does this Nightmare Weaver do?” Hayden straightforwardly inquired. Likoria informed Hayden of this Nightmare Weaver.
Nightmare Weaver is a transformation-type Ability. Its Level 1 power is that she can transform into a half-human half-Nightmare Weaver arranged like a centaur.
In this form, Yora not only has extreme mobility and shoot out webs from her spinneret, her venom causes an extreme sense of dread, hallucinations, and disorientation.
At Level 2, the Ability allows her to shift into a full-on Nightmare Weaver. Locking eyes with Yora will put you in a dizziness spell that will disorient a wielder. She can switch her venom into one that will induce drowsiness in someone. A single bite from her will knock a Level 2 wielder out.
On top of that, she can spit her corrosive juices to his targets, which can melt even metals. She's a fearsome opponent.
At Level 3, Nightmare Weaver grants Yora the power to shoot out rings that, when a target is hit, physically and mentally torture the living daylights out of them. This effectively incapacitates a target, turning them into a lamb for the slaughter.
It doesn't end there. Nightmare Weaver has one special power that makes Yora so formidable. It was her power to peer into the deepest nightmares of a wielder and spit out someone's worst nightmare in an instant from her spinneret.
If a person's worst nightmare was some kind of monster, then Yora's spinneret will spit out that monster. If her target's worst nightmare was the darkness, then her spinneret will produce a spider web that will trap a person and cover them in an illusion world of pure darkness. It was an utterly disgusting Ability.
The cherry on top was that Yora can create a 'zone of dread' that will give one the premonition that they're going to die whenever they step on this zone.
Once he heard this, Hayden immediately put up countermeasures. 'In this life, I only fear five things. The unknown. Not having the necessary strength to protect those I hold dear. Losing the people I hold dear. Incessantly talkative people. And being a regular person.'
Hayden couldn't muster up anything else in his mind. These were the five things he fears. Outside of those, death is an inevitable concept, except that he has Endless Regeneration. His stage fright has long been resolved by his Divine Perception. His general fear of getting or doing something wrong was effectively removed when he acquired Divine Perception.
'Public speaking, eh. Viral Abilities? Perhaps. Yeah, no, nothing can top those five.' Hayden thought long and hard. 'Being reverted back into a regular person may be the biggest fear I have.'
Hayden was brought back to the 10 years he spent in that mental tribulation. It was traumatizing. That feeling of helplessness will never leave him.
In time, the participants in Block 13 was reduced to three. The two met up somewhere near the boundary. Hayden zoomed in on them and they were talking. ”They're cooperating, huh? I wonder how will this Yora fare…”
For the next minute, Hayden was stunned when he witnessed Yora's capabilities. What happened was that Yora shifted into her half-human half-Nightmare Weaver form and charged towards the two, efficiently dodging each and every one of their attack irrespective of her 'inefficient' build.
Afterwards, she punched the two of them and… Well, that's the end of it. There was nothing exciting that went on.
”Yeah, her Ability's not the sole reason she's strong.�� Likoria muttered beside him. ”It's her physical prowess. In the two years I have fought with her, I have never beaten her once due to her speed.”
”Win against her.” Darakth abruptly verbalized. ”You know why I'm this unconfident? It's because she's shown me my worst fear. It's that, out there, there will always be someone better. There will always be someone who will best me.”
”Let me tell you the story of Icarus.” Hayden disregarded Darakth's emotional turmoil, telling the story of Icarus.
”W-what's the purpose of this story?” Darakth stammered, perplexed and annoyed at Hayden's uncaring attitude.
”The moral here is that you should never fly close to the sky, although that is inaccurate when it comes to real-world physics. But that's not the point.” Hayden said. ”It is hilarious how often people overlook the second moral of Daedalus' warning. Let me ask, Darakth, what is the warning of Daedalus to Icarus?”
”Don't fly too close to the sun for that would melt the wax.” Darakth recited from his memory. ”Or to fly too close to the sea, as the wings would be wet and Icarus would fall to the sea.”
”There it is.” Hayden rested his back on the backrest of his seat. ”Two warnings. Let me ask, how can you apply this to your situation in life?”
”Do you mean to convey that I'm flying too close to the sea? I should go back up?” Darakth inquired.
”Yes.” Hayden nodded. ”Being this meek is as bad as being overconfident. You should look straight ahead, to your destination. Not up to the sun. Not down to the sea. Not backwards to the murderous king whose wife cheated on him with a bull. Not to the left. Not to the right. Or other unrelated directions. Straight ahead. Fly at your own pace. And since you're flying. You have no obstacles. Ships? Fly over them. Birds? They'll probably avoid something that has such a larger wing span than them. You may encounter storms, tornadoes, and water spouts, sure, but that's part of life. You will have to overcome these hardships. Are you getting my metaphors here?”
”Uh, no, not really.” Darakth coughed and admitted.
Hayden groaned. He hated talking with people who cannot understand his words. ”In simpler words, life is harsh. Life's a bitch. Life's unfair. You can't do anything about life pegging you in the ass. It's life.”
”What is the relationship of this moral to my source of timidity?” Darakth questioned.
Hayden sighed, calming himself. ”I'm trying to say that your nightmare is merely minor. It is inescapable to encounter a bigger obstacle that will overshadow this nightmare of yours. If your worst nightmare is someone out there being better than you, it is unavoidable. Well, life's that kind of bitch. There is somebody better than you. If it is expected to come true anyways, why dwell on it? Look straight forward and don't look to other directions means that you should simply strive for your goal. Focus on it. Don't care for others since they're not your damn business. The storms, tornadoes, and water spouts are metaphors for the obstacles that you will come across. When that happens, then find a damn way to beat them, or circle around them. Also, live in the present than in the future. You may see a storm from miles away, but you wouldn't know if a water spout will come and get you from below. Besides, once you go out there and get some life-experience, you will experience what true nightmare is.”
With Hayden's 'simplification,' Darakth finally understood and connected the metaphors one by one. ”You… You speak from experience, don't you?”
”That feeling of helplessness is not something I'm unfamiliar with.” Hayden admitted. Just like the time he helped Zeke up, Hayden revealed some vulnerabilities about the him from the past. ”You should check out the principles of stoicism next time. It may help you.”
When that little bit was finished, the trio went back to silence. Hayden observed the winners of every block. Only two others caught his eye, a man, named Yaliko Tybius with the Ability to transform into a white humanoid beetle, and a woman, called Quaris Sequincia, that can manipulate a horde of some strange mosquito-like insect. The rest of them, while powerful were pretty much nonthreats to Hayden.
Besides, the ones he was truly concerned about, the pure mind manipulation-type wielders, were eliminated by hordes of the others. Such is the way of the battlefield, mental manipulation-type just isn't useful in hand-to-hand combat and is limitedly strong to using underhanded tactics or one-on-one battles. Unless one was smart enough, mental manipulation types were lambs for the slaughter.
Don't get him wrong. They were all powerful, and if they were put outside of Foriast, they will all be prodigies. The thing is, Hayden's Indestructible Devil was beyond the realms of the term 'overpowered.' He understood this.
For goodness sake, his Indestructible Devil form has nails so sharp it can slice through his own defenses. If it can bypass Indestructible Devil's defense, then it can irrefutably bypass most wielders' toughness. How do you think he was able to kill all those wielders with a single strike?
Moving on. Time passed without any excitement. When the 23 blocks of competitions were done, it was time to move on to the Level 4 wielders.