104 Dusk and Dawn

Eun-ha and the others were all going to move when they saw that… The gigantic canid pup licked Hayden's mask. It didn't attack him at all.

Not removing his mask, Hayden petted the canid by its wet nose as he was down on the ground. He wanted to remove his mask. He decided against it. He didn't want to risk being exposed by people in here.

"What the…" Eun-ha's eyes were wide in shock at this astonishing sight. "Why are the… Cognizants… fawning over Hayden…?"

Hayden stood up and knelt in front of the canid. He petted the wolf canid's chin. Finally, the bear cub arrived, growling as if saying it wanted its turn.

The canid snarled. Hayden snapped his finger to get the wolf pup's attention. It whimpered when the pup saw Hayden pointing to the side. The pup moved to the side of Hayden, letting the bear cub replace it.

The bear cub growled not in anger, but in joy. It rubbed its ginormous head on Hayden's chest. Hayden petted it. The CHORUS members rapidly blinked their eyes watching this sight. All of them wanted to curse.

In that instance, the pup barked… Or howled. Don't blame Hayden as he now only remembered that the canid didn't simply resemble a wolf. It resembled a maned wolf, with its slender legs and red mane-like line of fur on the back.

"Yes?" Hayden turned to the maned wolf sitting beside him. It stood up and kowtowed. Well, not exactly. Its nose touched Hayden's chest. Or rather, it was signaling for Hayden's Origin Crystal. "What do you want?"

Hayden gathered life force in his hand and ripped a hole open on his chest where the Origin Crystal was located. The wolf smelled it first prior to touching it with its nose.

Multiple memories were implanted on Hayden's brain. A beam of red light shot upwards. Tons of information poured over Hayden's brain as his person was enveloped with white light.

Eun-ha was going to rush over when Sayuri blocked her with her arm. "You can't stop this… It's a universal law thing… I… I can sense it."

Eun-ha bit her lip in worry. Her lower lip slightly bled under the force of her bite. 'Don't you dare do something terrible, Hayden Emperador.'

'What the…' Hayden was stunned of the contents of the memories. 'Contract? No… It's not a mere contract…'

Well, in general terms, it was indeed a contract. However, it's not something that was exclusive to a wielder and a cognizant. You can also make a contract with other wielders. It befitted its name of the Origin Bonding Contract.

With the Origin Bonding Contract in place, the two Ability Wielders are able to contact one another no matter their distance. It doesn't end there. According to the information, the stronger the bonds between the two, the stronger the effects too.

The Origin Bonding Contract can grow so strong to the point that one of the contract holders may sacrifice their own life in place of the other contract holder.

If one contract holder has multiple contracts that are at that level, the Ability Wielder with the strongest desire will be the one to be sacrificed.

The Origin Bonding Contract also has many effects. Essentially, all of the effects fall under telepathy. As the bonds get stronger, the stronger the telepathy was. For example, at the lowest level, one can only convey vague information.

When the two contract holders are tight-knit, the telepathy can become strong enough to skim through each other's memories.

Hayden was informed that there were many other types of contracts too. However, there was no information regarding these contracts at all.

Eventually, the lights faded. Hayden stared at the maned wolf sitting upright in a daze. Aside from the information pertaining to contracts, Hayden gained information of the maned wolf in front of him.

Apparently, the pup was from a species termed as 'Desrothis.' In literal translation, it meant Infernal Wolf.

Abruptly, the bear cub growled. Hayden oriented his body towards the bear cub. The cub responded by diving in towards Hayden's Origin Crystal. The similar phenomenon transpired, except this time, it was shorter. Probably because the first time information was transferred already.

The bear was from a species called 'Hazium.' In literal translation, it meant Celestial Bear. 'Go figure. A Celestial Bear and an Infernal Wolf… Both females to boot… What a freaking headache.'

Hayden sent a message to the two, asking if they have smaller forms or something. The Desrothis pup released black smoke that obscured its figure. When the smoke dissipated, Hayden found a cute little maned wolf pup.

The CHORUS members all expressed their emotions by saying 'aww' to the pup. On the side, the bear cub was enveloped in light, and out came a smaller bear cub reminiscent to that of a plushy. The holy strings of light surrounding it remained though.

"Okay, for now, you are Puppy." Hayden pointed at the Desrothis pup. Puppy barked in protest for its name. "Don't worry, it's temporary. As for you, you're Cub. We have to get out of here, we don't want any trouble."

Waking up from her daze, Eun-ha took out Mi-sun's guise and threw it to her. With a flicker, Mi-sun was back in her human form and hanbok.

In that second, a group of four people showed up on Hayden's Heavenly Sense. 'No wait, there's five people… Someone has disconnected from the group.'

Hayden sent a message to the two cognizants he contracted with to hide as far away as possible from the location. He didn't desire to have any mishap happening.

The group of people moved fast. A booming voice resounded from the end of the road. "Who goes there?"

From the origin of the voice, a gigantic muscular man in white can be seen. It was Lakas. Behind him was Magiting, Corina, and Ligaya. He was speaking Filipino. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"Cool it, big guy." Magiting walked forward. "They're the illustrious White Fox group. That White Fox was the one to intercept our Daniel and kill Crimson Enchantress."

In a relaxed manner, Magiting strode towards the group of Hayden. He stopped ten meters away from them. He bowed. "Greetings to all of you. I am Magiting of Puting Araw. We come in peace and not to seek a fight. We just want to ask you one question."

"Really?" Hayden stepped up. He talked in Filipino with a deeper voice. "We likewise don't seek trouble, good friend. We're simply passing by."

In reality, Hayden was rattled of Magiting. He has heard of him. His group, named White Blade, was the topmost group in Puting Araw. His Ability was a bit unusual, called Arms of Hell.

From this, one can deduce that his fighting style revolved around punching, i.e., Boxing. Hayden would not take any chances in letting him fight Eun-ha or anybody else. If a fight can be avoided, Hayden would strive to.

"From the traces of the fight behind you…" Magiting smiled amicably. Within that smile was a threatening one. There was a hint of pride too. "The cognizants were here. Can you point us to which direction they've gone to?"

"No can do, compadre." Hayden shook his head. Lying in this situation would be idiotic. "We have already killed the cognizant. We are the killer, hence, the body is ours. As for the Lagusang Itim, it has closed."

"Give us the body, or else." Lakas punched his open left hand with his right in an intimidating manner. Needless to say, this wasn't enough to intimidate Hayden.

"Or else what?" Hayden didn't back down, with Eun-ha and the others stepping up to reveal their auras. "You really think that the five of you can defeat the eleven of them?"

A throwing knife materialized in Hayden's hands. Infusing it with life force, Hayden threw it to the sky. When it reached upwards, a powerful fire thruster was emitted on its side that changed its direction towards the right.

It then vanished at an extreme speed, going into one of the buildings. Inside the building, the knife navigated by itself at supersonic speed. This was a technique Hayden termed as 'Storing Energy Release.'

Basically, the life force is programmed to withhold the kinetic energy from Hayden's throw, fully releasing it at a certain point. With precise programming and timing, it was easy to do what he did.

It reached a corner where Abby was standing with holographic screens surrounding her. Abby caught the throwing knife in a cinch.

As a Level 4 wielder, of course this throwing knife wouldn't faze her at all. She had a Whisperer ring on. Utilizing this, she composedly sent a message to the four, 'My position's been compromised.'

Magiting, Ligaya, Corina, and Lakas were all shocked. Was he really a Level 2 wielder? And what exactly was his Ability? Detection? Infusion?

"Do you want to make an enemy out of Puting Araw?" Ligaya's eyebrows were furrowed. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, you guys were the ones threatening us." He said in a matter-of-factly tone before yawning. He continued, "We were curious, we checked it out, we solved it. Don't worry, the cognizant that came out is a mere Level 2. You don't have to be this uptight."

"You!" Ligaya was going to charge at Hayden when Magiting stopped her. "What? He's obviously mocking us!"

"If it's a meagre Level 2 cognizant, we will go, friend." Magiting bowed in respect. He turned around. "Let's go, we don't have any business here any longer."

"But-" Before Ligaya can finish her sentence, Magiting leaned to her ear.

"Those women, those four Level 4 wielders. Each of them are stronger than you. Two of them are stronger than me. We can't beat them." Magiting whispered. "If you want to go on a hopeless endeavor, be my guest."

Without saying anything else, Magiting walked away. Lakas and Corina, with their wielder senses, overheard what Magiting said. If Magiting himself evaluated those four Level 4 wielders to be stronger than them, they didn't have a choice.

Resentfully, the trio followed Magiting. Magiting called off Abby as well. They all had grim expressions. They were given a scolding by a Level 2 wielder. As Level 4 wielders, even if they weren't prideful, they have a sense of superiority.

Irrespective of that, Hayden was… Anomalous for them. An absolute enigma. There was something about Hayden that made them feel uncomfortable. Intimidated. Helpless. This contributed to their backing down without a fight.

"Let's go." Hayden called the two contracted cognizant beasts back to him. Hayden picked the two up. "Uh…The fog will stay for 24 hours so… Shall we go back to your hotel?"

…..

Rain Sanctuary Hotel. Topmost hotel suite. Hayden and the CHORUS members were in the common area. Hayden had already explained to them what happened during the beams of light on the way to the hotel.

In the present, Hayden was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back behind the sofas. Hayden was back in his clothes during the fansign event. The two cognizants were in front of him.

Cub the plush was sitting akin to a stuffed teddy bear. Pup the maned wolf was adorably sitting akin to a dog with her tongue sticking out.

The CHORUS members were sitting on the sofa, armchairs, and the arms of the chairs. They donned plain white shorts and t-shirts. They were admiring the two cognizant beasts' adorableness. They were both too cute.

Hayden rested his right elbow on his knees and his chin on his right hand. His eyes narrowed into slits. The two tilted their heads cutely at Hayden.

"I guess you guys… Er… Gals, are both my pets now." Hayden smacked his lips. "Why did you guys want me to form a contract with you\u003e"

"Bark!" Pup roar-barked. It was the signature sound that the actual maned wolf does. This roar-bark transmitted this line: 'You are a powerful wielder with the same nature as ours. We are in a foreign world without our parents. We won't survive without them anyways.'

Hayden nodded. Their course of action and line of thinking was logical. It seems that the two of them, despite of their ages of 20 years old, which were apparently young for them, were smart. "Good thinking."

"Growl!" Cub made an endearing guttural sound. The CHORUS members said 'aw' in response to that.

The growl transmitted this: 'Plus, you are compatible with us. In our world, you are considered one of the rare few that we can befriend. Your powers with our nature is absurdly scarce. Especially since both of it is that of a king's.'

"A king's?" Hayden was startled to the point his back straightened. "What do you mean that of a king's?"

"It means that an Ability is S-Class." Sayuri interjected. "Remember when I informed you of our classification system? You see…"

Sayuri proceeded to expound on the classification system of Lunar Assembly. There are six classes of Abilities that is built on the base strength of an Ability. Base strength is when the factor of common wielder powers is removed. The common wielder powers referred here is the power to manipulate essence energy.

The six classes of Abilities are: E, D, C, B, A, and S. Each Ability class have a disparity in strength, such that two wielders of the same level will not beat a wielder with a higher-class Ability, i.e., An E-Class Level 2 wielder will not be able to beat a D-Class at all.

A reminder here is that the classification system is based on fighting strength, not the strength of an Ability. It is a biased system, but quite dependable.

On top of this, there are also some variants that appear to be one Ability, yet it is a whole different one. An example would be Zeke's Peerless Brain, a variant of the more common 'Computer Brain.'

Class E Abilities are the weakest. Usually, it needs a medium to channel their power. Regardless, some Class E Abilities are actually powerful in their own right. It's their reliance on a medium that makes them weak. Accordingly, a wielder with a Class D Ability can exploit this weakness.

Class D Abilities are the second weakest. Class D and Class C Abilities are the most common. Most Class D Abilities are mental-enhancement or sensory-enhancement Abilities, with some summoning Abilities and elemental-manipulation Abilities scattered in there.

Class C Abilities are mainly those that enhances physique. Due to this, their combat power is high, evaluated better than Class D Abilities. Summoning Abilities are also mixed into here.

Class B Abilities are considered already quite powerful. They are Abilities that surpasses human standards greatly the second it is awakened. There is no common nature of the Abilities in Class B except that it has high firepower or killing capabilities.

Class A Abilities are inordinately powerful and pretty rare. The most common trait of Class A Abilities are that it transforms a wielder into an entirely different being, granting them multiple powers outside of their physique.

In spite of this, there are also Class A Abilities that doesn't transform a wielder. Such as Shu-Ching's Ocean Empress, which was upgraded from Class B because of its devastating mass destruction capability.

Another type of Class A is the one that messes with your mind. It seems that fear of mind controlling Abilities isn't exclusive to Hayden.

Lastly, Class S Abilities are those that is extremely powerful. All currently recorded Class S Abilities, at least in Lunar Assembly, are those that transforms, albeit, they are extremely terrifying to face against.

Class S Abilities doesn't plainly enhance a wielder's physique. All of them grants the wielder a unique power that makes it much stronger than Class As.

Most wielders possessing S-Classes are able to defeat wielders above their own Level up to a certain point when putting it all they've got.

An extreme example would be Hayden's Indestructible Devil. One that grants Hayden the power to heal, fly, and become ridiculously tough. He was, in its most literal sense, indestructible. In combination with Hayden's ludicrous physique, it was unbeatable.

"Come to think of it, the Devil is the 'king' of hell in Christianity." Eun-ha bobbed her head. "As for your Divine Perception, divine can mean to be something that belongs to a god."

This goes to show that the name of Abilities is the best descriptor for an Ability. It was the sole thing you need to allow you to comprehend the power of your enemy.

"Okay…" Hayden digested the information given to him. His takeaway was different. 'It seems that I can make an Ability catalogue of my own to better see the value of Abilities.'

Meanwhile, the CHORUS members made sense of Hayden's kingly aura and abhorrently thick killing intent. It was refined by both of his Abilities.

"Well, I guess I should name the two of you if we're going to be contractors." As an animal lover and a Wuxia and Xianxia fan, Hayden found the idea of having a contracted cognizant beast tolerable. Exciting even. "Mhm… You will be Dusk."

Dusk roar-barked with a satisfied expression. It seems she liked the name. Hayden stared at the teddy bear with white fur. "Since you came in a pair, you'll be Dawn."

Dawn likewise growled in satisfaction. As they were contracted with Hayden, they understood what he all verbalized.

'What a great naming sense.' The CHORUS members couldn't think of better names for the two. Two polar opposites, a demonic and a celestial. The more you think of the names, the more befitting it sounds.

"Okay." Hayden stood up. He pointed at the two. "For the meantime, you two stay here. I'm going to go buy ingredients at Caloocan. I'll be back. These eleven are friends, you don't have to be scared of them."

The two cried out in protest. Especially when they gazed at Mi-sun, who was the one who hurt them prior. "Her? Don't worry about her. She's a friend, okay?"

Dusk and Dawn whined. They groveled as if to beg Hayden not to leave them here. Mi-sun pouted and picked the two up, much to their protests. Mi-sun started rubbing her head on the two's heads.

"See? Not so bad." Hayden chuckled, walking away. Going to the elevator, Eun-ha and Sayuri followed him. He turned around. "Please take care of the two for me. You guys are the one urging me to cook Tinola."

"We will." Eun-ha hugged Hayden, pecking him on the lips. "They're cute. Will you be keeping them?"

"Yeah. There's something special about those two." Hayden nodded gravely without letting Eun-ha go. "They might be vital during the invasion that Colton has informed of us."

Sayuri joined in. Hayden reciprocated, even patting her on the head. "Will you be keeping me too?"

"That's up to you." Hayden tightened his hug before he let go of the two of them. The elevator door opened with a ding. "See you two later."