Mutagen

Day 154 - 10:11 AM - Madrijelos National High School, Barangay Madrijelos, Municipality of Algeria, Province of Cebu

"Everyone is so busy..."

Private Monteroso murmured as she peeked out the window. She could not help but glance at Mark, who was the reason for all of this. At the same time, she seemed to have something to say but was hesitating.

Of course, it did not escape Mark's [Empathic Detection].

"Want to ask something?"

Mark turned to the female soldier while he was arranging some items into his bag.

"Uhm..."

The female soldier hesitated.

"You're a soldier. What are you hesitating for?"

Mark raised an eyebrow.

Private Monteroso could only complain inside. She would not hesitate if not for the fact that it was Mark's group that she was facing. Especially earlier. The way that Mark said that they would kill anything blocking their path was rather frightening, even for a soldier like her. It was not fear on a physical level but a mental level.

Taking a deep breath, the female soldier finally spoke.

"I want to be excused from this post. Everyone is already preparing to leave. I need to help my younger sister prepare too. She's just a child."

Mark then shrugged. This soldier was unable to leave her post because Officer Emilio put grave importance on their group.

"Just go. As you can see, we don't need any babysitting. If anyone asked why you're not here, just tell them that I chased you away."

"I-is that okay?"

Private Monteroso was surprised. If she did say that to people, it would not be surprising if they saw Mark as a bad person.

"Just go already. Or do you want to stay here all day?"

Mark glared at the soldier, making her flinch. And as if she was really chased out, Private Monteroso came out of the room half running.

"Finally, she's out."

Mark smirked as she watched the soldier run away. He then closed the door of the room, only leaving the higher windows of the classroom to light up the room.

"Master, you're only finding a way to chase her away, right?" Amihan flew and landed on Mark's head. "It's good that she's gone. She kept on staring at me. It's uncomfortable..."

"Don't worry. She doesn't have any ill intention." Mark tapped Amihan's head. "She's just someone similar to Mei and me, in one aspect."

"Similar?"

Amihan asked as she looked at Mei, who was helping the girls wipe their bodies. There was no way for them to take a bath at this time, after all.

On the other hand, Mei understood what Mark said and nodded at Amihan's glance.

"She's also a person without childhood."

Mei stated, on which Mark nodded in agreement.

It was very likely that Private Monteroso was also the eldest child in their family, causing her childhood to be cut short because of expectations put on her shoulders.

And if Private Monteroso came from a family of soldiers, it would have been worse. Fathers who were either soldiers or policemen were known for their unreasonable strictness to their children. Of course, it was not every one of them. However, this circumstance was quite common.

It was very obvious to the soldier's childish fascination with Amihan and her magic. She even had some knowledge about Tamawos since she asked that question earlier. It was likely that she was a lover of fairy tales but was reprimanded because of it in her childhood.

"Anyway, there's no eyes watching us now. I'll go check on those four." Mark said as he stood up, making Amihan fly away from his head. "I already wrote the plans on this paper. Everyone should read it later."

Mark then placed the paper beside Mei.

"Take care." 

Mei said to Mark, as she snuck a kiss on his cheek as he bent down. 

Mark froze a bit at it was unexpected. He could not help but glance at Mei.

Mei's face was a bit red as she turned away in embarrassment. It seemed that she did it without thinking since Mark's face was close to hers.

Mark shook his head as he patted her head.

"I'll be quick. I just need to tell them what we are going to do tonight."

"Papa, bye-bye!"

Miracle said while being wiped by her Mama. Abbygale and Iola then followed suit before Emika snuck a request.

"Uncle, bring some souvenirs back!"

"Geez... I'm just going to a nearby forest. What do you expect me to bring back? Alright, I'm going."

Mark complained before he turned into a surge of black mist the flew through the window behind the room. Then, he went out through the backside of the school.

***

Leaving the school, Mark appeared not too far from the walls. The distance of his [Shadow Mist Movement] was limited, after all. He needed to appear and disappear at fixed intervals.

Soon, he reached an abandoned house southwest of the school. It was where Berrak, the two soldiers, and Pefile were left to hide.

What Mark saw when he arrived, however, was a tree by the side of the road, waving its branches unnaturally.

And then...

BAM!

The thickest branch suddenly shot towards Mark at fast speeds. It was as if a spear was thrown towards him at full force. Furthermore, the target was his face.

Mark tilted his head to his left, and the branch passed an inch away from his ear. But then, the branch whipped towards his face after it failed its first attack.

It would be hard to avoid it as the movements of the branch were too fast. The only thing Mark could do was kick the ground and to a cartwheel to his left, making the branch miss due to its speed.

"I know I'm ugly, but do you really have to target my face?"

Mark complained to the tree in front of him.

To Mark's complaint, however, the tree replied.

"The head is a smaller target and is better for practice."

The voice was no other than Pefile.

The branch that attacked Mark then started to wilt as Pefile showed himself, coming out of the tree. At the same time, many branches of the tree began to wither, leaving the original appearance of the tree behind.

"If you want to practice, find other things." Mark frowned at Pefile. "How does it feel becoming a Mutator?"

"Strange," Pefile replied frankly. "It's as if I had more hands now that felt awkward to control, yet it felt natural."

"Where did you got this anyway?"

Pefile added, wondering where the ability within the crystal he received came from.

"It's from one of the criminals in that Death Valley Settlement," Mark replied. "It's one of those strangest abilities I saw there."

That was right. It was a strange ability.

It was an ability similar yet different from Emika and her younger brother, Mikio's abilities.

Yes, it was a plant-based ability. To be exact, the ability to turn a plant into an extension of the user's ability by fusing a part of his body into it.

Mark saw it being used against the Failed Mutator Whale at that time. The criminal touched a tree, and his hand began to change, similar to that tree's appearance. Then, the tree's branches started to move, attacking the whale. When Mark saw that, he immediately beheaded the criminal, taking his head away while the tree he used returned to its original appearance.

It was the perfect Mutator Ability for Pefile. He had the ability to phase into trees either for observation or transport. Not all Tamawos had this ability. It was not unique to him as this ability seemed to be existent in their family since the past. Not everyone in their family had it though and was considered something rare.

In fact, it was one of the reasons why many Tamawos insisted on making Pefile the king despite his absence.

With this Mutator Ability, Pefile could enter a tree and lay ambush to enemies. No one would even know what actually hit them.

Mark and Pefile were conversing outside when the other Padua and Geronimo noticed Mark.

"Boss!"

Padua greeted with a wave of his hand.

"Are everything I made you two do already finished?"

Mark asked as the two soldiers approached.

"We already checked everything, Boss," Geronimo replied. "We checked and configured the explosives, loaded the non-disposable rocket launchers, and also loaded all the vacant gun magazines."

"Yeah, we finished everything for the whole night," Padua added. "We deserve some sleep."

"Hey!"

Geronimo immediately elbowed his friend.

Mark was not offended at Padua's attitude at all. In fact, it was way better than having people under his wing being afraid of him.

"Then, you two should rest later after I brief everything. We will be moving tonight since we don't have much time."

Hearing that, the two soldiers could not help but look at the sky. After all, they knew the reason for the limited time they had. They just wished that they could tell other people about this. However, not that only they were not allowed to. Even if they could, they would only likely turn into laughingstocks.

"Is Berrak tending to his pet?"

Mark asked. He could detect Berrak a bit away from the house and was in the nearby forest.

"He said that he saw a magical creature so he's trying to see if he could tame it."

Geronimo replied.

"What kind of creature?"

Mark asked, interested.

"We don't know," Padua answered. "We didn't really see it and Berrak did not describe it either."

"Should we call him?"

Geronimo asked.

"No need," Mark replied. "I'll go find him. Just wait inside."

Pefile, without saying anything, returned to the house. The two soldiers followed after the silent guy.

Mark then made his way towards Berrak's direction and saw him standing outside the forest. As Mark did not hide his presence at all, he was immediately found by Berrak.

"Boss!"

Berrak greeted but with a whispering voice.

"The two said that you found something you wanted to tame."

Mark stated immediately.

"Yes, there is," Berrak replied. "But there's a disguising barrier in this forest. What it looked like is different from what we can see. I'm currently trying to figure out how to enter."

"A barrier huh..."

Mark murmured as he covered his right index finger with Miasma. Then, he poked forward.

SIZZZ!!!

Suddenly, a sizzling sound was heard as if something was melting.

Actually, there was. It was the disguising barrier. A hole was made unto it as Mark poked it with Miasma. Having a hole on its surface, the barrier became unstable.

And then...

CRACK!

Like a mirror cracking, the barrier collapsed, revealing a sight that a normal human would not normally see.

"This..."

Berrak could only scratch his head at the sudden situation. Furthermore, the creatures he saw were laid bare into their eyes. Unexpectedly, there were three.

The creatures were also shocked beyond measure. They were all laughing at the two men outside the barrier and also did not expect that it would collapse.

Now, it was a staring contest of awkwardness.

"GYA!!!"

The creatures screamed as if they were women accidentally seen by a man while bathing. They were not naked at all though.

"Lambanas, huh." 

Mark murmured, seeing the little childish-looking girls with dragonfly wings and glowing bodies. They were all sitting on the petals of large flowers before they all flew and tried to fly away.

But then, the three escaping Lambanas froze as Mark spoke using a broken Spirit Language.

"You three don't want your flowers anymore?"

The three shivered in fear.

While the past Lambanas were created by gods, the current ones were born in nature, especially inside these magical flowers. It was not wrong to say that these flowers were not only their homes but also their parents.

And Mark just threatened them with those flowers, not allowing any attempt to escape. After all, while the Lambanas could flee, there was no way that a plant would be able to run away.

Mark then turned to Berrak.

"There they are. I'll leave them to you. Just hurry up since I'll brief you guys on what we will be doing tonight."

Mark then left the awkward Berrak that was staring at his back.

Berrak then turned to the three and spoke in Spirit Language.

"Sorry, had you three seen a cat-like beast pass by here last night?"