99 Gintong-Langi

"You see… I'm building a team." Hayden stood up. The chair made of essence energy dissipated. "You'll see what I mean. For now, do you agree?"

"Yes." Harper determinedly answered.

"Okay." Hayden nodded in satisfaction. "I'll give you the money. This will be taken from your basic salary."

"Salary?" Harper blinked in confusion.

"As for you." Hayden ignored Harper. Hayden acquired his phone and called Daniel. "We'll see what Scarlet has to say."

"Wait. Please. Don't!" Noah pleaded. It was too late.

"Hey, am I disturbing you two?" Hayden asked Daniel with a laidback tone.

"A little bit, yeah." Daniel begrudgingly gritted his teeth. "Why did you call?"

"Can you put Scarlet on the phone for me?" Hayden didn't explain to Daniel at all.

"Uh…" Somewhere in a nice restaurant in Navotas City, Daniel looked at Scarlet. "Why?"

"Just put her on the phone." Hayden exasperatedly said.

"Fine." Daniel shook his head. "Jeez, so stuck-up. Scarlet, it's Hayden."

"Why?" Scarlet mouthed. Daniel shrugged exaggeratedly as a response.

Scarlet seized the phone from Daniel's hands. She took a deep breath. With a hint of anxiety and bewilderment, she asked, "Yes?"

"Do you know someone by the name of Noah Gintong-Langit?" When she heard Hayden's sentence, she froze. "He's here in my house."

"What?" Scarlet virtually screamed inside the restaurant, causing people around them to turn their heads at their directions. She cut the call. "Let's go to Hayden's."

"Um…" Daniel blinked rapidly at Scarlet. Scarlet disregarded this and simply walked away. As they were in Navotas City, they had to take the tram to a metro subway and a bus-jeep to get to Hayden's house.

…..

The second the two descended to Hayden's basement, Scarlet spotted Noah. She rushed to him without a moment's notice.

"Kuya (1) Noah!" Scarlet hugged Noah. Her voice broke, seemingly sad.

"H-hey, Scarlet." Noah nervously greeted. As his hands were tied up, he didn't move. If he hadn't, we could assume that he would've escaped by now.

Pulling back, Scarlet's expression twisted a 180-degrees. It became that of anger. She slapped Noah hard. Amidst that, her eyes were wet, "Where did you go!? You left me in the family! You know how hard it is…"

"I-I'm sorry…" Noah looked down, his face teeming with guilt. "You can understand how hard it was being someone with this kind of a power in the family…"

"Whoa, bro, when was this here?" Meanwhile, Daniel eyed the basement with clear astonishment. "So this is where you hide all your stuff. How come I never got to see this?"

With that, Daniel started roaming around. Hayden warned, "There are warning signs. Don't get too fascinated."

He approached Scarlet and Noah, who was conversing of their family matters. "All caught up? Okay, let's get them to Puting Araw, shall we?"

"Wait, I'm coming too?" Harper finally spoke again. "Can we save my sister first?"

"Who's the girl?" By this point, Daniel has finished scrutinizing the basement.

"These two are from Dark Haven Guild." Hayden revealed, much to the shock of Scarlet. "They were my assailants. They tried to assassinate me."

"You…" Scarlet took a step back from Noah. "Why are you part of Kamay ng Lagim?"

"What?" Noah struggled to break out from the ropes. Unfortunately, the rope was too tightly tied. "Freaking Voidstone… Dark Haven Guild is part of Kamay ng Lagim?"

"Yeah, it is." Hayden was the one to answer Noah's question. "However, nobody knows you're from Dark Haven, right? That's why we are going to Puting Araw, get you both recruited. I take it that the Gintong-Langit is a clan of wielders?"

"Yes." Scarlet nodded, explaining what the Gintong-Langit is. "Usually wielders with our powers, summoning something in general, are lackluster compared to shapeshifting Abilities. The thing is, all of our family are summoning wielders. We are one of the allies of Puting Araw. Noah here is my cousin, one of the strongest wielders of his generation."

"Who was defeated and tied up by this guy." Noah dejectedly pointed his mouth to Hayden. "What an absurd physique."

"Wait, you defeated him?" Scarlet muttered in surprise.

"Yeah, and I'm already a Level 3. Didn't expect for him to be able to easily slice apart my crows." Noah replied in an embarrassed manner.

"You're a Level 3?" Scarlet gawked at Noah. Then at Hayden. "And you defeated him?"

"Well, it was quite a menial task for my Ability." Hayden shrugged it off. "Predicting the crows' flight path is pretty easy. Cutting them down was more so."

"The speed of those crows are faster than sound!" Noah expressed his indignation. "What do you mean predicting their flight path is easy!? Easy my ass!"

"I can pause my perception of time by making my brain go into overdrive." Hayden pointed at his eyes. "I think you'll understand when you meet mental-enhancement wielders. It's one of our special powers."

"You're a freaking mental-enhancement wielder?" This time, Noah sighed in defeat. "I've been beaten by a mental-enhancement wielder… What a disgrace."

"Don't sweat it. I've been defeated by him in a matter of a minute." Shaking off her shock, Scarlet continued. "The Gintong-Langit Family is a large clan with the seven strongest being called the 'Pitong Langit' or Seven Skies. Noah's father, the one nicknamed as the Soaring Bird, is the strongest of them. He's their son."

"Wow, you come from an elite family." Harper whispered to Noah. "Didn't expect for your family background to be this high."

"Okay, let's free you guys." Gloves appeared in Hayden's hands. He untied the rope with dazzling speed, acquired the Voidstone pieces, and stored them. "We have somewhere to go."

"Wait, you think we're going to be allowed in Puting Araw?" Harper exclaimed as she stood up. She clearly forgot that they were previously masked and solely known by their pseudonyms.

"We're not going to inform them of your criminal past, you idiot." Hayden furrowed his brows in frustration. He ascended the stairs. "Seriously, are people these days so stupid?"

"Uh…" Harper was stunned of Hayden's condescension. "What was that?"

"He dislikes people who ask stupid questions." Daniel shook his head, exhaling heavily. "In his book, there is such a thing as a stupid question. And there are those that are extremely stupid questions. He hates it, considering it as a waste of time."

"Huh…" Harper bobbed her head. "A bit eccentric, but not as eccentric as the people I've seen. I'm Harper, by the way."

Daniel and Harper shook hands. Harper also introduced herself to Scarlet. She complimented Scarlet, "Wow. You're so beautiful. This guy is lucky."

From her understanding, Daniel and Scarlet was a couple. This compliment made Scarlet's face redden. As for Daniel, he stifled a chuckle.

"Don't dawdle or I'm going to kill the four of you." A shout from Hayden came from upstairs.

"Is he really like that?" Noah nudged Scarlet.

"More ways than you think, Kuya." The quartet ascended the steps. "He threatened to kill me once. Though I do admit that that was my fault."

"How powerful is that guy exactly." Harper whispered to Daniel.

"Oh, he's too powerful to be compared by our own Level's standards." Daniel answered. "He's a good man to befriend. A bad one to offend. He'd help you in times of need. He's reliable. He likes giving you advice for your Ability. Everything he does has a reason behind it. As for that death threat. If we don't hurry, we might just be genuinely killed."

"I can hear you, you know?" Hayden shouted from the garage, starting up his SUV. "Slowpokes! Fucking go!"

The quartet boarded the SUV in silence. When they boarded, the first thing they noticed was that the car had this feminine smell.

"What's that smell?" Daniel was in the passenger seat. "It's… So feminine. As if a woman was here."

Hayden started the car with his phone, gazing at Hayden. Hayden turned off all of his filters. His face scrunched up when he smelled Eun-ha's cologne and naturally amazing body scent.

"That's my girlfriend's cologne you smell." With his phone, Hayden closed up the door to the basement and the house.

"You have a girlfriend?" Scarlet, sandwiched between Harper and Noah, cried out. "You? You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes." Hayden couldn't be bothered by Scarlet's reaction, driving out of the garage. "Why is that surprising?"

"Well, with your… Mindset… I didn't anticipate that you'd be having a girlfriend." Scarlet replied to the question. Hayden could tell that 'mindset' actually meant 'attitude.'

"Heh, she was too amazing to pass up." Uncharacteristically, Hayden chuckled. He switched the car to automatic drive mode. His tone became gentle. "Don't worry, I can understand why you might say that. She was just too charming, too beautiful, too ethereal. She makes me strive to do better."

The quartet were put in a daze when they heard this. They simultaneously thought: 'Somebody as handsome as Hayden described someone in that manner? How beautiful is this girl?'

Subsequent to that, the ride was smooth without interruptions. Hayden was checking with Eun-ha and Sayuri as the car drove by itself. He messaged Eun-ha, re-asking if she is okay with meeting Daniel and Scarlet, which she agreed to again.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Puting Araw. Instead of going to Anthony, Hayden led the two to the actual recruitment center. Yes, there was a recruitment center for wielders in the secret facility. All Third Rank Special Agents can hire people in through a special recommendation.

Why did Hayden not bring Ayesha and Jeremy here, you ask? Well, they were a special case. You see, Hayden didn't only check the prisoner files, he also checked the past mission records of the Concepcions.

There was an all-out war with Puting Araw on one file. One record had a failed mission due to Puting Araw. And there were people who killed Puting Araw agents. Jeremy included. Puting Araw does a "basic" – in quotations since this basic is a painfully thorough one – background check on anyone recommended, hence, Hayden felt it more efficient to bring the two to Anthony straight.

As for Dark Haven, it had no records in Puting Araw whatsoever. On top of this, most people of Dark Haven were masters of concealment and swore an oath to Maestro of Death. And if they do get captured, they didn't reveal anything to Puting Araw. Also, most of them wears masks.

Aaron was a special case as he didn't have the knowledge of them being in Puting Araw. That was one of Maestro of Death's and Black Devil's mistakes, not informing people of his affiliations. It was a fatal slip-up.

…..

"They've been on a run for almost a year from Kamay ng Lagim." Hayden casually lied to the tester. "They offended them by killing some people from their ranks. You see, their Levels are quite high already."

"Uh, sure." The man instructed them on registering without much thought. What was there to be suspicious about anyway?

Not like they'll be found out. When they registered to Puting Araw, their backgrounds and Identity Numbers had no traces of Dark Haven at all. Well, Identity Numbers aren't used for the transaction of Blanks. There was a special method for that.

"Congratulations. You're now part of Puting Araw. With your Levels, you are entitled to be an Initiate off the bat." The man robotically spoke. "As Initiates, you will be given a free lodging for any member hotel of the Hotelier Conglomerate, and a stipend of 5,000 credits per month. A guidebook for all the Puting Araw facilities has been sent to your inboxes."

With that, the quintet went to the cafeteria. Again, Hayden treated them to some smoothies. Whilst drinking, Hayden was preoccupied with something on his phone. At times, Hayden chuckled or genuinely smiled. It was consternating for the quartet.

"So, Kuya." Scarlet focused her attention on Noah. "Tito and Tita has been looking for you. They've been worried sick. We should head on back."

"No, god, please, no." Noah shook his hands in front of him. "I will never go back to them. How about you? Why are you here in the main branch? Shouldn't you be back in Samar?"

"I was sent here to live my life alone." Scarlet spoke insouciantly. "They said that it was to teach me independence. I've been here since I was 13. I was closely monitored prior to me being 16. Now, I make my own ends meet."

"When was that a tradition?" Noah was clearly shaken from this discovery. "All I remember at the time is me being forced to become a man. Such archaic ideals."

"Yeah… Since your running away, your father, who actually loved you dearly, forced the traditions to change." Scarlet took a sip from her strawberry smoothie. "Since then, women were able to become leaders. Able to leave the family, even forced, me being a prime example. And can become the inheritor of the Crowned Insignia. I am the leading candidate of the Crowned Insignia."

"What's this Crowned Insignia?" Daniel interjected. "Is it the insignia of the main head or something?"

"Precisely." Scarlet concurred. "The Crowned Insignia is not as plain as a badge. It contains untold powers-"

"Why are you sharing this with outsiders?" Hayden put down his phone. He had a grave countenance. "This is a secret of your family. It's okay if it's Daniel. It's okay if it's Noah. But me and Harper?"

"Hey." Harper bellowed in protest. "I'm trustworthy."

"You say that to your assassination target." Hayden rolled his eyes. He clicked his tongue. "Seriously, we're in a room full of wielders. Most of us have powerful hearing. Sharing this privy information is tantamount to suicide."

"He's right." Noah agreed with Hayden. "In our world, we can't trust anybody. The state of the world of wielders is fragile. The balance of power is in an irregular scale. With the power of this Pangkat Anino… We're on the verge of a war."

"What do you know of this Pangkat Anino?" Hayden narrowed his eyes, turning to Noah. "How powerful exactly are they?"

"Well, nobody can truly fathom their power." Noah bobbled his head from side to side in wonder. "Although there is one thing we do know. That is, they are stronger than Puting Araw and Kamay ng Lagim. Each of their members are rumored to be above their own Levels. Level 3s capable of competing against Level 4s. Level 2s capable of competing against Level 3s."

Noah stared hard at Hayden. "You exactly fit their criteria. An oddball who can defeat wielders above his own Level. With minimal effort too."

"Nah, you guys are simply too weak." Hayden didn't care for their self-esteem at all, utterly crushing it to smithereens. "You two underestimated me too much."

On that note, he returned to his phone, ignoring them for another time.

The remainder of their time there in the cafeteria was uninteresting. Soon, the curtain of the night sky covered the sun.

Harper returned to her house, with Hayden transferring her three million credits. He also had permission to track her Identity Number. After all, in this time, leaving your phone behind was equivalent to leaving behind the most important belongings in your house.

You won't be able to buy anything at all. You won't be able to ride public transportation. You won't be able to id yourself. And many more.

Noah and Scarlet caught up more, leaving Daniel alone. Which is how Daniel became stuck with Hayden recording videos for their collaboration. Daniel, as a wielder, was a fast learner. He easily mastered three ranged carries in a short amount of time.

"I should actually do a livestream soon." Hayden muttered, resting his shoulders on his chair. "The fans are asking for it. It will be good for my career."

Since there were no classes till today and that fansign event will be tomorrow, he decided to do one when his schedule's open. Sunday will probably not be his day since that's Eun-ha's break. He'd be hanging out with her all day.

With that, he dressed up casually with a plain white sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. In spite of that, his vibe remained 'cool.' Nobody can ever come close to him when it came to the aura of coolness.

At the hotel, Hayden watched his episode of 'A Talk Show For Gamers' with the eleven CHORUS members in embarrassment. The eleven laughed at times when Hayden said a joke, or would 'ooh' when Hayden says something interesting.

Finishing that, Hayden and Eun-ha stepped into the car. She donned a plain white t-shirt and a pink A-line skirt that reached her knees. She had pink sandals on her feet. She was absolutely glowing.

"Every time I see you, you just become more beautiful." Hayden complimented impassively as he drove out of the basement parking lot. He turned to her with a sincere beaming smile. "You really are the most beautiful woman I've ever met. And I'm not saying that because of your passive. That doesn't work on me anymore."

Eun-ha already explained to him that her passive wears off after a long time of looking at her. Similar to infatuation. You think you love the person, but in reality, it's infatuation. From this, he could conclude that Eun-ha was too naturally fairy-like.

"I…" Eun-ha couldn't get a word in, blinking innocently at Hayden. She pouted and grumbled, "Where's the Hayden I can tease so easily? Bring him back…"

Hayden laughed aloud, switching the car to automatic mode manually. He oriented his seat to face Eun-ha's. Eun-ha did the same.

"Come here." Eun-ha pulled Hayden's face close to hers, kissing him fervently. Extreme sexual and romantic tension lingered in the air.

Eun-ha put her arm around Hayden's broad back. Hayden supported her head with his right hand. His left hand was no her waist, leaning into the window.

When they pulled back, Hayden gave Eun-ha a kiss on the forehead prior to staring at her. "I love you so much, Gonjunim."

"You're awfully sweet today." Eun-ha kissed Hayden on the left cheek. She touched Hayden's face gently. "I love you so much too, honey."

With that, Eun-ha pushed Hayden to his seat and sat on his lap. She aggressively kissed Hayden on the neck as Hayden had his hands on her tiny waists. His hands meandered all around. And we all know what happened next.

…..

For the night, Hayden cooked a Filipino-style donburi filled with his original adobo fried rice, high-grade Filipino beef teriyaki, fried egg, vegetables, and many more. It was filling for Eun-ha.

Especially since they ate it in Hayden's room. On his bed. With Hayden's arms wrapped around her. Watching a modern romantic movie that can be described as 'spine-tingling.'

At one point, she asked jokingly, "I'll consider this as a date. This is the most romantic one yet. I wonder how you'll top this on Valentine's."

"I'll be the one to worry about that, okay?" Hayden kissed her on the forehead.

When they finished the romantic movie, the two laid down. Eun-ha was on Hayden's arms, hugging her tightly. He muttered, "I never would've expected that my first fansign event and my first concert will not be the first time I'll meet you. You're my girlfriend to boot."

"I never would've expected that a youth visiting South Korea will be my first boyfriend." Eun-ha threw a rejoinder. "At that time, I literally heard of you only the day prior. When you kept throwing glances at me in Nanlo."

"Heh, yeah." Hayden reminisced with Eun-ha. "Wow, that seemed so long ago. Then that night, when I saw you eleven in your guises."

"Yeah. Did you know that your mask is exclusive to women wielders in Korea?" Eun-ha giggled, teasing Hayden. "Guess you're girlish, huh?"

"Sure, I am." Hayden answered good-humoredly. He veered the subject to another direction. "You ever think we're going too fast?"

"No, not really." Eun-ha rubbed her head on Hayden's chest. "You're not hard to love at all. You're too loveable. I can't think of a situation I'll choose anything else over you. Including my job or my own life."

"I feel the same way." Hayden pecked Eun-ha on the head lovingly. With that, the two slept tucked away in each other's hug.

…..

1 Basic Filipino means of addresses:

Kuya – Literally means 'Big Brother.' However, it is used in a variety of contexts. Calling male strangers, a polite way to address an older male you're not close to, contradictorily, it is also an informal way to address someone, and many more. It can be used in two ways, simply 'Kuya' or followed by the name of the person, i.e., Kuya Noah.

Ate (Pron: Ah-te) – Literally means 'Big Sister.' Used the same as Kuya but for females.

Tito (Pron: Ti-to) – Literally means 'Uncle.' Alike other means of addresses, Tito is used in a variety of contexts. A way of address for a friends' father. A way of address for your girlfriend or boyfriend's father. And an address to males who are far too older to be addressed as Kuya (Unless they're literally your older brother, in which case you use Kuya).

Tita (Pron: Ti-ta) – Literally means 'Aunt.' Used the same as Tito but for females.

Tatay/Tata (Shortened form: Tay – Pron: Tai) – Literally means 'Father.' However, this usage is quite archaic. Nowadays, it is instead usually used when calling someone old in age, mostly to those unrelated to you but can also be used to those related to you.

Nanay (Shortened form: Nay – Pron: Nai) – Literally means 'Mother.' Same usage as Tatay but for females.

Lolo (Pron: Loh-Loh) – Literally means 'Grandfather.' Most used when referring to your actual grandfather but can be used interchangeably with Tatay for strangers.

Lola (Pron: Loh-Lah) – Literally means 'Grandmother.' Used the same as Lolo but for females.

Manong – Has no true English equivalent, with the closest being 'Older Brother.' Nowadays, it is used when referring to male strangers, mainly for male merchants.

Manang – Has no true English equivalent, with the closest being 'Older Sister.' Same usage as Manong but for females.

Pogi – Literally meaning 'Handsome.' It is used as a pronoun when referring to male strangers, usually younger than you. It's kind of the equivalent of 'sugar' and as such.

Ganda – Literally meaning 'Beautiful.' Same context as Pogi but for women.

Pare (Shortened as Pre (Preh)) – Has no true English equivalent, with the closest being 'Bro' in the context of a close male friendship. It is used by both men, sometimes by women, to refer to their close friends.

Mare – Has no true English equivalent. The same as Pare, except that it isn't used as much by women. There's kind of a stigma around 'Mare' in the way that it is commonly heard from women gossiping in the streets or used by gay men. Yes, to this day, the homophobic people are omnipresent in the Philippines, with the Filipino word for gay – Bakla – used as a descriptor for cowardly males.