158 Evolutions (1/2)
His first power is Phantom Daggers. Phantom Daggers conjures 10 spectral daggers that can be manipulated with the mind. The speed of the Phantom Daggers can be as fast as 80% of Hayden's own maximum velocity and doesn't create a sound. The daggers are also sharp enough to injure all Level 3 wielders and early-stage Level 4 wielders.
These daggers have a limited range of 50 meters and can be unsummoned anytime. However, once a dagger strikes an enemy, it will dissipate within two seconds and will have a cooldown of 10 seconds before it can be evoked again.
Baroloix's second power is the Ghost Bypass. Ghost Bypass allows Hayden to touch any wielder that is supposed to be intangible, allowing him to attack them.
Baroloix's most prominent power is the Umbral Blade. Umbral Blade allows Hayden to project a three-inch black double-edged blade from any his palm. This blade is extremely sharp and can be rotated to any orientation for maximum flexibility.
What's more, the disguise of Baroloix is… None. Baroloix has no disguise. In place of this, Baroloix can disappear into the wielder's body and stay internally until called upon.
”I am giving up my life of solitude here, Hayden.” Baroloix blinked lazily. ”You better make it worthwhile for me. Assassinate people as much as you could.”
”I will ensure that I will do so.” Hayden nodded. Light came from the ten tips of Baroloix's finger and shot to the Origin Crystal of Hayden. Information surged to Hayden's mind, and when that was done, Hayden removed Halichi first, picked up Baroloix and delicately wore him.
His four Xirixian materialized inside his mind, with his previous three facing Baroloix. Halichi respectfully bowed to Baroloix. ”Sir Baroloix.”
”Halichi.” Baroloix acknowledged Halichi. ”You have grown as well. It seems that we will be working together now. Something that has never occurred in the past.”
”Indeed.” Halichi and Baroloix had a mature discussion, while Shabilo and Rilias wore an uncaring face.
Hayden let the four Xirixian be, turning to Starakt and asking, ”There's a ranking to the Ashikza? There's no records in the library.”
”It's more of a partial ranking really. I ranked them all by myself in terms of the feats they've been used in the past.” Starakt shrugged. ”Halichi is ninth, while Shabilo is fourteenth for that teleportation alone.”
”I see.” Hayden nodded, scanning the surroundings. ”I'll take one more.”
”Be my guest.” Starakt coughed, feeling that four Xirixian being tied to one person is nothing but absurd. Still, he was curious to witness how much Xirixian can Hayden form a contract with. ”I'm wondering how much Xirixian you can snatch from this vault.”
When Hayden triggered it, a specter as tall as him and the exact same shape as him materialized in front of him. Oddly enough, Hayden can see through two pairs of eyes. It was weird seeing himself and having two bodies contemporaneously.
'Damn, this is cool.' Hayden moved his sensory body to navigate around the Xirixian. Hayden observed every single Xirixian through his extra pair of eyes.
Before he can even move his original body, something stole the attention of Hayden through his Sensory Body. It was a necklace with a pendant. The yellow pendant was reminiscent of the Sun. Hayden was attracted to it for some reason. As if he just knew that this Xirxian will be a good one.
Hayden retracted his sensory body back into him and dashed to that pendant. A beautiful woman with light brown skin and yellow hair that was styled in a short bob cut popped up in front of him.
She wore a white shirt underneath a yellow vest, yellow shorts, white socks with yellow stripes, and had yellow-colored eyes. She radiated joy.
”Woohoo!” The woman cheered. ”Will you choose me? Will you finally choose me? I know you will choose me! Wait, let me explain my powers…”
Hayden was surprised when he listened to the woman. This Xirxian only had two powers. The first is that it allowed Hayden to identify Xirixian and Dimensional Realm entrances within 100 meters. This alone was pretty much a good power for Hayden to consider taking her.
The deal was sealed when he heard the second power of this Xirxian. It's that the Xirxian can cleanse any status effect on Hayden that was caused by an Ability, such as forced sleep, mind control, and fear. It has a cooldown of five minutes.
What's good here is that this Xirxian can activate by itself whenever Hayden is afflicted by a wielder's Ability.
”I didn't get your name.” Hayden eagerly said. ”What are you called?”
”My name is Catiar (Cat-yar).” Catiar smiled at Hayden. ”Will you form a contract with me? Will you? Will you? Will you?”
”Why are you so desperate that you're practically begging me to take you in?” Hayden questioned skeptically.
”Because every wielder that I've met… Well, they were annoyed of my personality…” Catiar pouted sadly. ”But, I've heard what you ordered Sir Halichi previously, and… I figured that you will take good care of me.”
”That's pretty sad.” Hayden shrugged. ”Your powers are worthwhile… This is peculiar, howbeit, I accept you.”
”Yippee!” Catiar practically jumped in joy. Her physical form dissipated, a light shot from the pendant to Hayden's Origin Crystal. Hayden wore Catiar and ordered her to change her pendant into a white Asian dragon with a metallic sheen.
When this concluded, Hayden stood by the side to wait up for Darakth and the others. Hayden didn't care for anybody else. Five Xirixian was enough. It'd genuinely feel like he was stealing if he got more.
Hayden was going to chat with Eun-ha and Sayuri when Starakt approached him. ”So, what's your plan moving on forward? How do you plan on dealing with Kamay ng Lagim?”
”I don't.” Hayden shrugged. ”I'll be participating in the war, that's all. The war is between Kamay ng Lagim and Puting Araw. I'm with Pangkat Anino now. We're kind of the big influence on this whole war. We're not the two sides at war.”
”So… That promise?” Starakt reminded Hayden of his promise to Gaia.
”Oh, I will do that, don't worry.” Hayden nodded. ”As I've declared, it will be a cinch. The thing is, I'm going to do it my own way. I… Don't want to be hailed as some kind of hero. Living a life as a celebrity is hard enough.”
”I see that you really hate the spotlight.” Starakt bobbed his head. ”Why do you hate the spotlight that much?”
”Well, I used to love the spotlight.” Hayden put down his phone, his voice containing a hint of sentiment. ”I grew out of it. I now have the grasp that the spotlight isn't as important as keeping close those important to you. True friends, you might say. Also, I don't want to live a life where I'm the 'strongest.' I mean, what good does it do you? Being labeled the strongest is rife with disadvantages. One way or another, you'll be assassinated. One way or another, you'll be challenged. One way or another, you will be bothered. It's much less of a hassle if you weren't popular.”
”You're a celebrity though?” Starakt asked.
”That's a job. The amount of money you can make outweighs the burdensome nature of it.” Hayden shrugged. ”Anyway, that's that. I really don't want to be some kind of leader that anybody depends on, too. I don't depend on me, so why would I want anybody to depend on me?”
”You're dependable.” Starakt spoke with confusion. ”You were able to come up with a plan to halt the killings that's been going on in World Government Island lately in a heartbeat. And that speech earlier. It was an eye-opener. We have indeed been too lax with our training.”
”Save the praises, Le-Starakt.” Hayden exhaled through his mouth. ”You won't change my mind to succeed your throne.”
Starakt froze. ”Goddammit. You saw through me? Do you have that Diplomat of Daniel's? Can you read my intent?”
”It's obvious.” Hayden shook his head. ”Why do you think that I'll be a great leader anyways?”
”You 'are' reliable. You're ruthless. You're relentless. You're analytical. You care of your comrades more than your own life. You are pragmatic. You know how to read people and can deal with them if you ever so wanted.” Starakt stated in one breath. ”You want me to go on?”
”There's one quality that makes all of this worthless.” Hayden took out his phone. ”It's the fact that I 'hate' dealing with people and would rather get straight to the point. I find it bothersome, burdensome, and tiresome. My social battery has been massively reduced over the past few years as well. It is slightly higher now, sure. Be that as it may, I have become a lone wolf. I may not be your typical lone wolf, given that I have talked for this long, yet, I am. And it is irreversible.”
”So you're admitting that you're reliable?” Starakt asked?
”Well…” Hayden took a deep breath. ”Now that I've been told those words by a 2,058-year old fossil that is irrefutably the greatest leader of a nation, nay, the planet, then I can't possibly deny this, can I?”
”Old fos-” Starakt put his hands in front of his face controlling his breathing. ”I'm going to let that pass. You'll see, you will become a leader later on.”
'I think I already am.' Hayden was reminded of the group of Daniel, Sophia, Scarlet, and Zeke. 'Well, not like I'm their true leader. It's Daniel. Like hell I'll be a leader.'
Hayden remained adamant on hating this whole leadership thing. He understood that if somebody disliked something to the bone, it would never grow on them. And Hayden despised leadership positions.
At that moment, in the corner of his eyes, Hayden noticed Darakth forming a contract with a piece of chainmail. 'This guy has got some nice taste.'
Hayden figured out that Darakth's Ice-Flame Spirit King possessed abysmal defense. How? The coating of fire that Darakth's Ice-Flame Spirit King has is supposed to inhibit both ranged and attacks dealt up-close. This is the strongest defense, yet his weakest point. If somebody somehow bypasses that Ice-Flame coating, then Darakth is easy to defeat.
Take Hayden for example. Hayden was too fast for the flame to take effect and that the ice-flame virtually had no effect on him whatsoever thanks to Endless Regeneration.
When he was reminded of Endless Regeneration, Hayden was put in a sneaking suspicion that his Endless Regeneration was not as simple as it was on the surface. There was something more to this power.
Darakth approached the two and greeted Starakt. ”Yorixia.”