Ability Wielders 40 Before Christmas

"I'm here to turn her in." Daniel spoke to a woman on the desk, showing a badge issued to him by the Ghost Unit. The badge was that of a skull wearing a reconnaissance helmet.

When the woman in a blue police uniform behind the desk saw this, she gulped and nodded. The Ghost Unit was an enigmatic mysterious force that has turned in hundreds of criminals during the past decades. Members of Ghost Units are rumored to love their anonymity, acting like vigilantes.

A few minutes pa.s.sed and Daniel was given the bounty for Jillian. Exiting the police station, Daniel went into an alley, turned his irises into the color of gold and orange, then flew to the secret facility.

Once inside, Daniel immediately went to the Ghost Unit division and reported his successful hunt. Hearing this, the man behind the desk processed the request and confirmed that Jillian was indeed turned in Manila Police Station.

However, when the man saw Daniel's status and the time of acceptance of the mission, he choked. What the h.e.l.l? A few hours? An Initiate completed a bounty hunt mission in a measly few hours?

Taking a glance at Daniel, he recalled his ident.i.ty as one of the prodigies alongside Hayden. With that, a look of realization flashed on his face as he quietly finished the processing of the request.

Pressing a b.u.t.ton on his desk, a team of the Acquisition Department of Ghost Unit went out from one side. The Acquisition Department was, as its name suggested, tasked to collect the wielders who were turned in by the Ghost Unit.

As for how they did it, n.o.body really knew how it worked except for those people in the Acquisition Department, who are all at least of Level 3 wielder status; and as for where the wielders collected went to? n.o.body knew that as well other than the higher-ups, and even the members of the Acquisition Department didn't know where the people are sent.

Nevertheless, there were always hearsays stemming from the gossipy nature of people, and those people said that the collected wielders are allegedly sent to an island prison, a far-off branch of Puting Araw where they detain criminal wielders. Wielders who enter said island prison as a prisoner are said to not see the day of light ever again, with an even more iron-clad security than the legendary Alcatraz prison.

At the end of the day though, these are merely rumors, n.o.body would truly know unless they rise up to become powerful enough or get arrested themselves. h.e.l.l, how would they even detain wielders on an island, right?

With that, Daniel went back to the Missions Board, but before he could even browse for missions, Anthony called him, telling him to go to his office.

…..

"You finished your first mission already?" Anthony exclaimed. He was monitoring Daniel for the past few hours, and to think that he did his mission with such efficiency… It was unheard of for a wielder who just stepped on the path of an Initiate! "Tell me the details of how you finished your mission."

Daniel explained that with his evolution, he got nine more powers, to which he used its utmost to roam around Tondo in Manila, where Jillian was commonly seen. He got lucky that he stumbled upon a person that looked like Jillian, which was surprisingly actually Jillian.

With that, it was smooth sailing, as for the exact details of how she was hunted, Daniel merely said, "A man's got to have some secrets for themselves, don't you think, Mr. Director? Joking. You'd know soon. I just want to train with my Ability for now."

Hearing this, Anthony's face twitched. Where was the polite and hierarchy-respecting Daniel he met? It seems that Hayden's annoyingly paranoid personality was rubbing off of Daniel. Taking in a deep breath, Anthony spoke, "Good job. You may go now."

The second Daniel exited the office, Anthony sighed. "Such efficiency... His potential and benefits of grooming is higher than Hayden… Even me and the other branch directors would have been careful first prior to actually hunting people down back in the days… Perhaps only Apolaki in his youth could challenge Daniel…"

At the thought of Apolaki, Anthony felt a cold feeling creeping up his spine. That fellow was too… wild for his taste…

…..

Naturally, Daniel didn't go home and went ahead to accept one mission for the day. The mission was another bounty hunt mission for the Ghost Unit. As his mission acceptance was being processed, a voice startled him.

"You already finished your mission?" Zeke stared at him curiously. "That fast? You do know that even the most powerful of our seniors cannot finish missions that swiftly when they were an Initiate, right?"

"And so? Why do I care?" Daniel turned to him, a strange expression appeared on his face. What the h.e.l.l was this guy doing here? "Are you following me around? How the heck do you know I've finished my mission?"

"Oh, I'm part of the Ghost Unit Reconnaissance Department… A First Rank Special Blue Agent, Zeke at your service." Zeke bowed a little. "I was the one who sent the Acquisition Department after Jillian when you finished your mission. I predicted that you'll accept one more mission, hence, I waited for you here."

At this moment, his mission acceptance was done being processed. "Huh, so you were a First Rank Special Agent… You… How old exactly are you?"

Examining Zeke up and down, he seemed as if he was just around the same age as Daniel and Hayden. On top of that, he gave off the vibe of a quiet person, except that he had a talkative mouth.

"I'm 18, a 12th Grade Student at Pasig City Scholar Academy." Zeke answered. "It's not strange that you don't know me, I prefer to be low-key in school."

"And to think that you badmouth Hayden…" Daniel rolled his eyes. "You're the same as that fellow, except that he has his reasons and is too careless to truly stay low-key. Hayden doesn't necessarily like the attention, you know?"

"What are you talking about?" Zeke gasped, his face appearing full of disgust. "That guy plays basketball with his Ability, that's considered cheating! I take it he also uses his Ability on his studies and all that! Ptui! If that's not attention-seeking, I don't know what else is!"

"Oh…" Daniel shot a glare towards Zeke. "What a foul mouth. You say those things without actually trying to get to know the person? And to think that you're supposed to be a good-mannered student of a Scholar Academy… Hayden can be considered as one of the sources of pride of the youth, and you spout those things? Tsk."

Once Zeke heard this, he froze. Glancing to the direction of Daniel, his face was nonchalant and emitted pa.s.sive-aggressive fury. Squinting his eyes, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his face. 'Did I struck a nerve again? Are the two of them friends? Oh…'

"Also, who said that using his Ability to aid him in daily activities is bad?" Daniel shook his head. "He simply used his Ability for a few games back in National Youth Tournament, from the fourth game till the champions.h.i.+ps, Hayden used his own skill that he accrued after grueling training… Which I wouldn't call grueling training actually… Still, we're wielders, don't you think it's kind of a waste to not use Abilities such as his in his daily activities? I use my Ability for combat, he uses his Ability for combat, it's just that I was not lucky enough that I can't use my Ability for daily life! You mean you won't use your Ability when you're cornered by a few regular non-wielder humans? Or your wielder physique?"

Zeke's walls were broken down with Daniel's aggressive and sensible retort. It seems that Hayden was indeed Daniel's friend! Or worse… If Daniel was willing to protect Hayden… It was likely that Hayden was a close friend! To think that he spoke of bad things about Hayden in front of a close friend…

As for why Daniel did this, as aforementioned, Hayden did teach him to use his Ability.

"I'm… sorry…" Zeke looked downwards, feeling ashamed. Indeed, Daniel was not wrong, using Ability was normal for them as wielders, it would be stupid to not use it if it benefits them. His principles of not using his Ability for day-to-day life was undermined by Daniel thoroughly. "I guess I really was just jealous of the attention Hayden was getting. I mean, he doesn't even try, does he?"

"Yeah, I'd give you that," Daniel nodded. He could see the understanding of Zeke in his eyes, so he let go of the matter without pursuing it any further. "His Ability is essentially a cheat, allowing him to learn of skills by seeing it once. In fact, he even extrapolates other skills from a single skill alone, that's how he mastered ten martial arts in a span of five months… Those basketball skills? He got some of those absurd moves from replicating anime basketball movements…"

"What?" Zeke went wide-eyed from astonishment. "Oh man, how I'd kill for that kind of Ability… Mine's quite useless, enhancing my dexterity and information processing speed… That's all it does…"

"Hey," Daniel patted Zeke's shoulder. "You know what Hayden always say? Never underestimate any wielder, no matter how weak their Ability sounds. There's definitely a perfect usage for your Ability. Copy what's Hayden doing. I told you, through 'tough,' Hayden achieved all he had in a meager six months. Your information processing speed… You haven't made use of it fully, I'm sure of it… In addition, your Ability genuinely sounds interesting."

With that, the two hit it off already. Indeed, Anthony was right, Daniel could make a friend effortlessly with his latent charisma, making someone he scolded into his friend. Regardless, if Hayden was here, he would have face slapped himself so hard. Daniel was at it again, trusting people he recently met! And to think that Daniel exposed Hayden's power, he would have beat Daniel to a pulp! What if Zeke was a spy!?

Conversing for a few minutes, the two's conversation ended with Daniel excusing himself as he needed to do his mission by the end of the day. The both of them established a communication link prior to Daniel departing.

As for Zeke, his impression of Hayden was changed with Daniel explaining of Hayden's exploits that he never would've thought of as he seldom utilizes his Ability in his daily life. Presently, Zeke was eager to meet Hayden and similarly acknowledge Hayden as a teacher as a person with an Ability that has an Ability with powers alike his own. "Or maybe let's first try to use my Ability to do some of the things Hayden could do…"

A few hours later, at 5:00 PM, Daniel accomplished his second mission before calling it a day.

…..

For the next two days, Daniel completed a total of three missions, one on December 22, which guaranteed him five merits or contributions to Puting Araw as the mission was meant for a team of wielders to accomplish, not by a single person. Furthermore, completing it with utmost perfection and in a single day, which granted him the five merits.

As for the other two, it was two short ones. At 6:00 PM of December 23, Daniel was back in Anthony's office.

"You…" Anthony was speechless of Daniel's showcase of efficiency. What the h.e.l.l was this kid? Regardless, Anthony thought that Daniel was overworking himself. "You only have one remaining mission before you rank up. Go home, kid. I forbid you from doing missions for the meantime until January 2. It's the holiday season, go spend time with your family. In our line of work, we never know when we'll come back alive. You're still a teenager, Daniel, don't be so caught up in being a wielder."

Being reminded of his family, Daniel thought of the possible consequences of what he's doing, how it will affect his family. Daniel's eye involuntarily turned wet as he saluted and exited the office. "What was I thinking? Crazily doing missions carelessly as if my life wasn't on the line? Jealousy is such a powerful emotion…"

He was roused by Anthony's words, keeping his desire to overtake Hayden back in line. His drive the past few days was his jealousy and desire to catch up to Hayden, because, in truth, he knew deep down that Hayden wouldn't be where he was without his own actual intelligence and ingenuity.

On that note, he hailed a taxi and went home. Seeing his mom and dad watching a rom-com in each other's embrace, he smiled. Afterwards, he interrupted them by sitting on the middle, laughing at the joke from the show.

…..

Back in South Korea, 7:00 PM, Hayden was with his mother and father, spending time with them as they watched a move together. His mother has already getting over the fact that Hayden was dating someone.

If she just knew that Hayden was dating a celebrity, and a person in the neighborhood to boot, his mom would have forced him to speak no matter what. It was fortunate that Hayden kept all the details to himself.

At nine, the three of them ate dinner. Following that, Hayden went upstairs to go to his room. The past few days was nothing but blissful for Hayden. Eun-ha and him secretly meeting up every night, hanging out and just getting to know each other more and more.

As for Kidlat… Er, Christopher, he was staying at Summer Dawn Hotel for the meantime. The two made an agreement that he would move in once Hayden and his family has returned to Philippines. Needless to say, Hayden paid Christopher the 2,000,000 credits, he owed him.

During the day, the family of three were personally invited by the chairwoman of the White Canary Village as they were new in town. It was rude to not accept the good grace, so Hayden accepted. The chairwoman even offered a translator as a show of sincerity, which Hayden humbly rejected as he had Christopher, who was apparently fluent in Korean.

His reason of why he was fluent in Korean? Calling him that night, Christopher told him this: "Well, as a skilled a.s.sa.s.sin, I've been sent all over the world, Saudi Arabia, USA, j.a.pan, Russia, everywhere to kill people. I'm pretty famous, you know? If not for the fact that I deem you to have good potential with that power of yours, and the fact that Black Devil would hunt me if I go back to Philippines, I wouldn't be willing to work for anyone again."

Hearing this reason, Hayden was a little suspicious. Well, Christopher was working for him anyways, a powerful a.s.set for the future with that kind of power, why would he care for this professional a.s.sa.s.sin's past? Sometimes, talking about the past is unnecessary.

What annoyed him, however, was the fact that Christopher asked him a price for this translation job when he was talking to him in his hotel room. "Jeez, fine, 50,000 for the entirety of the night. That's enough, right?"

"Of course." Christopher was satisfied. For a mere job as a translator, 50,000 was exorbitant. "As my boss, I'll also add in that bit of protection for your parents. Well, I doubt that I'll need to make a move anyways, your girlfriend is a Level 4 wielder, hehe."

Hayden's face contorted in annoyance with Christopher's mocking laugh. What kind of employee-boss relations.h.i.+p even was this!? 'Well, this kind of relations.h.i.+p is not bad anyways. I guess befriending this… mercenary… would be much more beneficial than simply hiring him as a goon.'

Reasoning with himself, Hayden exclaimed lightheartedly, "You better! I give you refuge and you dare not protect my parents?"

"Hehe, I got it, I got it," raising his hands in the air, Christopher laughed. Subsequently, his face turned solemn. "Well, on a more serious note, we should talk about Kamay ng Lagim in the near future. After all, they're hunting you down, or more specifically, their leader, Black Devil."

"Good idea," Hayden agreed with Christopher. Hayden desperately needed to know all of the information he could get on Kamay ng Lagim, specifically that Black Devil.

"Oh yeah, I need to remind you that there's not only two organizations of wielders in the Philippines."

When Hayden learned of this, he was alarmed. His face darkening, Hayden asked, "What do you mean? There's a third?"

"Yep," Christopher confirmed. "They're called Pangkat Anino, a small group of elite wielders that cannot be touched by either of the organizations of Puting Araw and Kamay ng Lagim. If we're talking about raw power, Puting Araw and Kamay ng Lagim may not hold a candle against Pangkat Anino, the only chance they'll have of defeating Pangkat Anino is if they combine their forces, and even then, their chance of defeating Pangkat Anino is infinitesimal. Thankfully, Pangkat Anino has made a move only once ever since their creation, and that was when the predecessor of Black Devil provoked the leader of Pangkat Anino. As a result, Kamay ng Lagim was severely weakened, their ties in Luzon essentially severed. That was ten years ago though, with Black Devil taking the throne, Kamay ng Lagim is rebuilding their forces in Luzon."

"This information…" Hayden sucked in a deep breath. "Thank you for informing me."

"Oh yeah, boss," Christopher's voice was grave. "A piece of advice. Don't ever provoke Pangkat Anino no matter what. I'm sure they're keeping tabs on you, a wielder of great potential. As for their leader, I've heard he is a Level 5 wielder, a person that can defeat even the dual wielder of Puting Araw, and trust me, that woman isn't easy to defeat."

"Dual wielder of Puting Araw?" Hayden's eyes turned into a slit, ignoring Pangkat Anino in the meantime as they seem like no threat if he doesn't provoke them. "Who's this dual wielder?"

"You don't know the strongest wielder of your own organization?" Christopher laughed. "It's the woman who is in the first seat of the Walong Sinag ng Araw, Rose Kapayapaan (1). As for Pangkat Anino's leader, even I don't know who it is."

With that, Hayden nearly dropped the phone. The h.e.l.l? The founder of Puting Araw was a dual wielder!? It seems that the world of wielders in the Philippines had deeper waters than he initially thought.

"Thanks for the information. Bring my mask with you when you come here." Cutting the call, Hayden took in a deep breath, lying on his bed. "d.a.m.n… Kamay ng Lagim is actually the least of my problems…"

…

Fast forward a day, 12:00 PM, it was December 24 in the eastern hemisphere. Hayden and his mom was busy preparing the food that they would bring for the potluck for the Christmas Celebration in White Canary Village.

...

1 Kapayapaan – Literal translation: Peace