What more, that plating, presentation, and food arrangement, it was akin to the privilege of witnessing a five-star chef cooking in front of your eyes. Lastly, the taste of that sus.h.i.+…

Normally, Eun-ha didn't like sus.h.i.+ that much, it was okay in her books, yet… She couldn't stop eating, and the fact that Hayden produced such a huge variety of sus.h.i.+ with various ingredients didn't help.

Gunkan maki that used savory Philippine sea urchin and sautéed vegetables revolving around green onion and b.u.t.ter, California maki containing avocados, shrimp, crab legs, and crab, that healthy vegetable temaki, and even the simple nigiri and sas.h.i.+mi was too delicious when dipped in that G.o.dd.a.m.ned soy sauce blend. Apparently, all of this, except the sas.h.i.+mi, used Hayden's specialized rice that was mixed with more than just vinegar and sugar.

To make it worse, the desert was a chocolate crepe cake that Hayden prepared hours earlier. It can simply be described with the word 'legendary' or 'heavenly.'

There was the two sitting on the dining table, stuffed. Especially Eun-ha, who tasted Hayden's sus.h.i.+ the first time. Well, that didn't last long as wielders' metabolism are faster than regular human beings.

When Hayden sat back beside Eun-ha after cleaning up the dishes and placing it in the dishwasher, Eun-ha rested on his shoulder.

"You didn't hold back, goodness…" Eun-ha sighed, embarra.s.sed of her table manners. "What the h.e.l.l were you up to in these six months? First, western-based food, and now, j.a.panese, you awakened six months ago, right?"

"Hey, I was bored. I told you I experimented whenever I'm bored." Hayden shrugged, smiling proudly that he satisfied his girlfriend's appet.i.te. Eun-ha stood up, signaling Hayden something he didn't precisely get.

Thinking that she merely wanted him to stand up, Hayden pulled back from the table. However, before he could stand up, Eun-ha sat on his lap and kissed him, shocking him to the core.

The make-out session lasted for tens of seconds prior to Eun-ha pulling out. "How much knowledge did you absorb in that brain of yours?"

"I didn't rest, packing in as much as I could have." Hayden blinked rapidly, hugging Eun-ha's perfectly shaped body and staring at her eyes, his cheeks flus.h.i.+ng. "How much did you eat that you're doing this? This is… Wildly inappropriate… Are you… Food-drunk?"

A moment of silence ensued, with Hayden clueless of what he's supposed to do in this situation. Having s.e.x didn't even cross his mind as it was too early for the relations.h.i.+p. Despite the value of virginity depreciating the past few years, even in Asian culture that valued virginity a lot higher than Western culture in the old days, Hayden couldn't bring himself to think of it in the slightest as he was a measly high school student, a 16-year-old; though he did know that losing virginity at 15 was common.

Needless to say, in this situation, he was… Getting aroused… Hayden brought himself to activate Divine Perception, calming his mind.

"Jeez, you clueless idiot…" Eun-ha smiled, cradling Hayden's 'innocently' blus.h.i.+ng face and kissing it. She couldn't resist as she was slowly realizing how much she… loved Hayden in spite of them being only three weeks into the relations.h.i.+p.

Of course, Hayden didn't resist. Who the h.e.l.l would be in their right mind if they resist something like this? Hayden tightened his embrace on Eun-ha. His mind was getting invaded by more and more thoughts of the flesh as it was affected by Eun-ha's Ability's pa.s.sive.

"For a Level 2 wielder, your willpower is immense." Eun-ha stopped kissing Hayden and spoke to him. "Mainly for a 16-year-old with raging hormones."

��Heh, I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Hayden seriously didn't know what to do. Howbeit he was more concerned if he wanted to turn off Divine Perception to minimize the effect of Fox's Charm or not.

"I'd take it as a compliment." Eun-ha chuckled, resuming making out with Hayden. At that moment, she initiated advancing and kissed Hayden's neck.

"Are we really going to do this…?" With extreme hards.h.i.+p, Hayden pushed Eun-ha, and asked. This hurt him, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to do this or not. "I mean… This is only our third week… Are you sure you want to do this? With me? It's not that I don't want to…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Eun-ha didn't get off Hayden, resting her arms on his shoulder. She agreed with Hayden's words, sobering up from her 'food-drunk' state. "Sorry, I lost control…"

Hayden sighed with relief… He wasn't sure if this was the right decision though… Getting laid? He was a man, no man didn't want to get laid, especially with such a hottie. "Don't apologize. n.o.body would reject this, it's…"

"I know, I know, shut up…" Eun-ha smiled sweetly and continued kissing with Hayden. Softly, she whispered as she hugged Hayden. "Don't worry, I understand how going fast may ruin a relations.h.i.+p. And yes, if this got out it would indeed be an enormous scandal, people would not only bash you, I would suffer the brunt of the damage… I understand you enough to grasp that this would be what you're going to say… And, yes, it has only been three weeks, I understand."

All this while, Hayden was eavesdropping on her heartbeat, blood flow, her breathing, he was observing her every move. Well…

"I'm aware that you're aware I'm observing you." Hayden faintly smiled, resting his head on Eun-ha's chest and clasping her in his arms.

"Yeah," Eun-ha chuckled, hugging Hayden's head and kissing it. "Don't worry, I'm not lying… On the contrary, I'm impressed that you resisted my Fox's Charm. Again, you're right, it's too early."

"It wasn't easy, trust me… No man could possibly resist you that much…" Hayden muttered, his words m.u.f.fled. "I almost went insane because of that problematic pa.s.sive of yours."

"Want to move this to your bedroom?" Eun-ha suddenly asked, Hayden's head flas.h.i.+ng outwards and making eye contact with Eun-ha. Laughing, Eun-ha asked, "What?"

"Nothing, noona." Hayden had his worries, yet he didn't dare to express this due to feeling that he already crossed the line from stopping her advances.

When a girl advances on you like that, if you reject, it implied you didn't like her, it will and always be like that. And Hayden broke that law. He didn't want a fallout to occur. It was okay for the man to reject, of course, but for the reason that it's 'too early?' That's supposed to be the woman's line!

With that in mind, Eun-ha stood up and Hayden led her to his bedroom upstairs, holding her hands in the process. Opening the door to Hayden's room, Eun-ha was astonished of how clean it was.

"A keyboard?" The first thing that Eun-ha noticed was Hayden's keyboard on the side. "You know how to play it?"

"Yep, it was the first ever thing I did when I gained my Ability because I was guilty on not learning it in spite of asking for it." Hayden scratched his head.

"Heh, cutie." Eun-ha tapped Hayden's nose and sat down on the chair that Hayden that was in front of the keyboard. "I like the piano."

Eun-ha positioned her hands on the keyboard and started playing. Hayden recalled something, 'Oh yeah, she had perfect pitch…'

A few minutes of Eun-ha playing a beautiful piece, Hayden sat beside her and they started playing a completely improvised piece that actually complemented each other. As expected, Hayden used Divine Perception to do so.

Finis.h.i.+ng, Hayden and Eun-ha looked intently into each other's eyes. Unable to resist it, Hayden kissed Eun-ha. Standing up, Hayden pushed Eun-ha to the bed.

One thing led to another and Hayden finally could not resist it, pinning Eun-ha onto the bed and letting his hand slither inside Eun-ha's blouse, feeling up her milky white smooth skin and boos, unb.u.t.toning the bra.

Eun-ha took off Hayden's s.h.i.+rt, stroking Hayden's back. Thereupon, Hayden stripped her buck naked and penetrated her… Eun-ha's moan of pain at first became moans of elation and pleasure… The rest is up to your imagination.

…..

5:00 PM. Hayden and Eun-ha went at it for approximately two hours, when they were done, the two laid there, out of breath and exhausted from their vigorous activity, covered by Hayden's blanket.

"I'm sorry for losing control…" Hayden blankly stared at the ceiling, unable to believe what transpired, his brain swimming in oxytocin. "That was amazing though…"

"You take my first time and this is your pillow talk?" Eun-ha smiled, turning over and lying on her belly, glowering at Hayden. "Moreover, I was the one who initiated, wasn't I? But you… How are you so good at that?"

"Hey, that's what you get from watching all those erotic movies…" Hayden lightheartedly said. Consequently, Eun-ha pushed Hayden off the bed. Groaning in pain, Hayden chuckled.

When Hayden got back in bed, Eun-ha embraced Hayden, and soon, she fell asleep, As Hayden didn't feel sleepy… Well, he fell asleep anyways as the comfortable mood pervaded the room, and with Eun-ha in his arms, there was no way he'd make a big move.

…..

7:00 PM, Hayden woke up with Eun-ha still in his arms. Her back was faced to him whilst she was scrolling down social media.

"When did you wake up?" Hayden asked, smacking his lips and kissing her neck.

"Stop that…." Eun-ha spoke in a lighthearted manner. "I woke up half an hour ago. What up sleepy head? Was your sleep good? Don't tell me you still want to sleep?"

"Yeah…This is actually comfortable…" Hayden pretended to fall back asleep, his head resting on her cheeks, his left arm wrapped around her belly. In truth, it was indeed cozy, the most relaxed he's been in months, no, in his life.

"You still want to sleep?" Eun-ha laughed, placing her phone down Hayden's nightstand and tapping his nose with a finger. "I thought we have to hunt down a serial killer?"

"Oh s.h.i.+t…" Hayden stood up in a flash. Remembering Evers.h.i.+fter, Hayden put on his clothes. "I was too relaxed and at ease, I never thought that I'd feel that way ever again…"

Eun-ha reached for the bra and underwear laying on the floor beside the bed. After wearing that, Eun-ha stood up and kissed Hayden on the lips, walking to Hayden's closet on the opposite end of the room, opening it, rummaging through it, and pulling out a black hoodie, putting it on. "This is comfortable…"

Hayden smiled at Eun-ha's beauty. With that, Hayden opened his phone and checked up on the news. "I read an article regarding our serial killer earlier. We call her Evers.h.i.+fter, her Ability..."

Hayden's tone and face turned solemn, the previous soft and warm att.i.tude gone. Eun-ha listened closely and liked this new side of Hayden.

In the midst of his explanation, Hayden noticed Eun-ha's eyes and laughed, pointing two of his fingers to her eyes. "Did you know whenever you look at me that long, your eyes have this sparkle and fascination akin to those scientists in those fictional movies that sees a new fascinating species for the first time?"

Hayden and Eun-ha stared at each other and chortled. "Okay, seriously, I got…."

...

Pateros, 8:00 PM. Hayden and Eun-ha was walking on the hectic streets of Pateros, with Eun-ha wearing the oversized hoodie that she dug from Hayden's closet and her white fox mask.

On the other hand, Hayden was wearing a gray sweats.h.i.+rt, black sweatpants, and the plain white mask he got from Ghost Unit. They were a head-turner due to their unusual attire.

Eun-ha was clinging onto Hayden's right arm as it was too crowded, as expected from Pateros, the cuisine capital of the Philippines when the agricultural revolution ensued. It had all the regular street foods of the Philippines in the olden days, like the balot, isaw, dinuguan, and many others.

Well, at least its nostalgic taste. The ingredients used in these street foods are much healthier in comparison, and much tastier too.

Anyhow, they were here for the grisly murder that took place in a street nearby. With Hayden's navigation skills and impeccable sense of direction, they found the scene of the crime at 8:06 PM.

The place of the murder was cordoned off as policemen and women swarming and guarding the place looked over to them. The corpses had been removed at this point. Hayden shook his head, "Let's get out of here for now, we stand out too much."

Masked people, roaming on the streets, at this time of the day, in a location of a double murder? No matter what angle you looked at it, they were suspicious!

"Hayden-ah, wait…" Eun-ha softly talked. She knew that Hayden's Divine Perception was activated. "See that man there?"

It was a man with an unsymmetrical face grinning from ear to ear unnervingly and gawking at the crime scene amidst the crowds as if relis.h.i.+ng the murder scene similar to a person admiring art. The man was wearing a blue-collar suit.

"Yeah, I do." Hayden replied. In actuality, he picked everything up on the scene already, and deduced how the two people was murdered based on the outlines and small clues. "I've also captured everything, so, yeah, let's get out of here."

"Okay." Eun-ha didn't ask any questions. She understood how Hayden's Divine Perception worked, and she wasn't surprised that he can do this feat.

Although, she did know that Hayden could've done this without the help of Divine Perception. It will just take a longer time. From how she heard Hayden's Divine Perception worked, it was not intelligence boosting, simply enhancing thought speed and memory capacity and intake.

She encountered plentiful amounts of Abilities in her six years of being a wielder, and many Abilities related to the mind genuinely augmenting a wielder's raw intelligence. In her opinion, hearing of Hayden's alleged information processing speed, it didn't mean that he would be able understand it this fast, just able to absorb it and remember it, not to this deep of a level…

To top it all off, extrapolation of knowledge and this diligence? If any wielder had Divine Perception, they would not take advantage of it to the extent that Hayden has furthered his life in a measly timeframe of six months.

In that instance, he man noticed them, the creepy grin on his face erased. Abruptly, the man turned back, fleeing the scene.

Eun-ha stayed quiet, watching Hayden's response. On that note, Hayden let go of Eun-ha and whispered, "I recognize this is unnecessary, but keep up."

On that note, Hayden maneuvered around the crowd, went to an alley, and jumped up to a roof, running atop it soundlessly and discreetly. Eun-ha followed suit running. Catching up to Hayden, she matched his pace.

Jumping, doing parkour, and a few minutes later, landing on the cement, the three people hit a dead-end of houses, a roundabout with only one exit, and that exit served the entrance as well. The roundabout was surrounded by houses, hence, there was indeed no exit, for a regular person that is. It wasn't far nor wasn't near from the place they were previously on.

The man stopped and rotated his body, the smile returning to his face. Upon witnessing this, Eun-ha had a dangerous premonition and activated her essence energy sensing and ignoring Hayden saying that she shouldn't make a move.

"Hayden, he's a Level 2 wielder." Eun-ha informed Hayden with a hushed tone, her face underneath the mask frosty. "Handle it fast, okay?"

"Sure. Save me when things get awry." Hayden was confident that he can beat this Evers.h.i.+fter, especially since he has the railgun. "Besides, no one's here to see. What I'm worried about is that we found him too easily..."

Eun-ha nodded, agreeing with Hayden's words, with Hayden thinking that he couldn't be this lucky and encountered Evers.h.i.+fter this early on the job. There was supposed to be the challenge of investigating that would lead to one thing to another and finally find Evers.h.i.+fter at the end of that long thought-provoking line. It's not supposed to be like this!

This job was supposed to be something that he could kill time with Eun-ha, not make her protect me. What the h.e.l.l was up with this world!?

"Heh, finally, a wielder…" The man creepily chuckled, his voice incredibly disturbing. That was the moment when his voice transitioned into an even deeper one. A crazed look plastered on his countenance.

Hayden shook his head. He was faced with another deranged psychopath, alike Asw.a.n.g. Eun-ha, who heard this, s.h.i.+vered, forgetting her Level 4 status briefly. She has only ever confronted a person with this kind of mental disability two times, and both times gave her trauma. All those two times, she nearly died if not for luck, and this was the third time.

Remembering all those encounters, she became attentive and alert. If not for Hayden being there and stopping her, she would have killed the man in an instant or fled.

With that, the man transformed, growing out a lion's mane, his eyes akin to that of a domesticated cat's, his arms comparable to a gorilla's as his suit was torn apart, and claws was protruding out of those arms.

"Tonight, I'm going to hear the both of you scream…" The man said manically. What surprised Hayden however was that this man… didn't transform into a woman, wasn't Evers.h.i.+fter a woman? Then who the h.e.l.l was this?

"I thought Evers.h.i.+fter's a she? Who is this?" Eun-ha whispered under her breath confoundedly, keeping her eye on Evers.h.i.+fter. "Why is 'he' a she? Does she want to hide her ident.i.ty."

"I don't know as well…" Hayden replied incredulously. "Also, he can transform into an animal hybrid. There was not that kind of information in her profile. This may be a whole new enemy and is feasibly not Evers.h.i.+fter at all…"

"That's what I was thinking…" Eun-ha responded to Hayden, gulping as she was having flashbacks from the times she nearly died. "I'll let you make a move…"

At that moment, Hayden pumped essence energy all over his body and activated Indestructible Devil's physical enhancement, his figure blurring and appearing in front of Evers.h.i.+fter. Before he can even punch out, he needed to crouch, avoiding a gorilla's arm swinging at him.

'What an awesome power, I'd want this Ability if not for my Indestructible Devil…' Needless to say, Hayden didn't merely crouch, he swiped his claws to Evers.h.i.+fter's stomach.

Instead of her flesh ripping open, Hayden had the sensation of clas.h.i.+ng with steel, with sparks being produced. The suit ripped open and a green hard sh.e.l.l was revealed beneath the clean slash of his claws. It was a freaking turtle sh.e.l.l!

Hayden spun, evading a gorilla's arm smas.h.i.+ng downwards, and jumped, eluding octopi tentacles that he sensed through the airwaves. Once he did a complete spin, he successfully went behind 'Evers.h.i.+fter.'

Afterwards, he swiped towards his neck, aiming at 'Evers.h.i.+fter's' nape. Before Hayden's claws could make contact, the man's height grew, his legs transforming into the legs of a gra.s.shopper, the pants and shoes he was formerly wearing tearing apart.

"Heh, I'll go after her first!" The man roared, his voice was that if a lion could speak. Abruptly, the man rushed to Eun-ha with a jump.

'What an idiot…' As he landed, Hayden thought that he didn't have to make a move as the man was flying to his death. 'Eun-ha is a Level 4 wielder for goodness sake… Well, can't blame him, he is a Level 2 wielder and couldn't possibly sense her level."

On that note, the man emerged in front of Eun-ha, with Hayden thinking that the man would be killed off. Yet, Hayden noticed Eun-ha's leg muscles were frozen and not moving, the eyes behind her mask was widened. Hayden was surprised to see that there was a hint of… Fear in her eyes…

The man launched a punch with his gorilla fists towards Eun-ha, landing squarely on her stomach, sending her flying backwards.