Mutagen

Day 154 - 7:59 PM - Barangay Matitunao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu

Buffeted by the needles, the Tamawos charging toward Edzel froze for a second. They felt the slight pain of needles piercing their bodies. However, none of them had immediate fatal injuries.

The Tamawos immediately looked for the source of pain, and they saw the greenish-black needles stuck on their skin.

"Such a flimsy trick... Attack!"

A Tamawo with slightly more tattoos on his body commanded the others while removing the needles and threw them on the ground.

The Tamawos were even more enraged to fall to what they thought was a useless trick. They tried to continue charging at Edzel once more.

But after a couple of steps, those Tamawos who got hit by the needles began to slow down. The others slowed down in suit, noticing the oddity of the event.

"What is happening..."

The tattooed Tamawo grumbled in pain as he was one of those hit by the needles. His face became filled with grim as pain enveloped his body, starting from the area where he got hit.

That was when they noticed that the skin around places where the needles hit them began to have an ominously greenish hue. And from the center of impact, their blood vessels started to bloat and turn black.

It was a scary sight to those who were watching. Since the fire from the burning buildings illuminated the area, everyone could see how the poison spread out of the bodies of the Tamawos. Furthermore, with their pale white skin, the changes in the color of their blood vessels were horrifyingly clear.

Half a minute later, those Tamawos hit by the needles lay on the ground lifeless. Their eyes turned white, and their bodies filled with web-like black-colored blood vessels. Even their whole bodies had a greenish hue as if they already began to rot.

Because of the horrifying fate of those Tamawos, the others froze in their tracks. The fear made them unable to approach Edzel once again.

Edzel steadily held his spear, not taking his eyes away from the enemies in front. He tried to intimidate the other Tamawos, making them think they would have the same fate if they continued to approach.

But, of course, this one was just a ploy.

The spear that Edzel held was something Mark hastily made overnight. It was capable of launching those poisonous needles, as displayed earlier. Unfortunately, as said, it was made hastily. It lacked the function to reload in a short time as it had to be done manually in each hole in the blade of the spear.

In a sense, that needle spread shot was a one-time thing in a single battle.

Nonetheless, it achieved its purpose in this battle. It was to give the Tamawos something to get distracted on.

The poison in the needles this time was not that fast-acting. Furthermore, its effects were too showy. It was made this way to instill fear unto those that saw its effects. The enemy, fearing being hit by the projectiles, would get distracted by Edzel's spear. They would try to speculate when Edzel would make another shot and would not be able to erase it from their minds, unable to fully concentrate on Edzel's attacks.

Edzel stared at the Tamawos in front of him. His role was already done with this as he managed to stop the enemies from approaching the slaves. All he needed to do was delay further until Mark arrived to dispose of the enemies on one go.

However...

Was it what he wanted?

Edzel wanted to become strong. Strong enough that he could protect Pearl and make her not leave his side once more.

If he just stood here, things would be fine. But he would not grow either.

Edzel tightened his grip on his spear. He glanced behind him. There was Pearl, speaking with the slaves, making them prepare for escape.

Pearl... She was always his reason for living in this cruel world.

"I want to grow stronger."

Edzel murmured as his eyes returned to the enemies in front.

It was what Mark promised him when they first met. And the promise was not broken. Mark turned him into an Evolver, gave him a bit of training, and taught him some advice in combat.

However, Mark's self-taught style was not suitable for Edzel. That was why he was also instructed by other people in the base in different kinds of fight styles. However, the thing that he felt the most natural was Pefile's teachings. Specifically, how to fight using spears and bows,

Thinking about it, he was like this ever since the start. Unlike kids that played using fake swordfights, he preferred something like a wooden spear. Even when fishing in the river, he would use a spear instead of sitting down with a fishing rod in his hands.

And now, for some odd reason...

Mark made him a spear last night.

Feeling the spear on his hand, the feeling to become strong intensified.

"HAH!"

Edzel shouted, charging towards the Tamawos in front of him. He would not let the teachings and training he had to go to waste.

In the group, it was just him and Pearl who were the weakest links. In the least, he wanted to carry both his and her value in the group.

The fight inside the school on Edzel's side finally began. In no time, however, he became surrounded by the Tamawos.

It was not surprising. Even if the little girls were holding back most of the Tamawos in this area, Edzel was still disadvantaged in terms of numbers.

Edzel fought with his spear and managed to take down a few. Compared to Pefile that taught him to fight with a spear, these Tamawos around him were much weaker.

PSSK!!!

The spear on Edzel's hand took another life. However, he was not without an injury. As it was a fight with spears, his arms were more susceptible to attacks. Thus, his arms were already dripping with blood, being hit by the blades of the spears of the Tamawos. Even if he was wearing armor, not every part of his body could be protected by it.

Pearl noticed Edzel's predicament. She could not help but worry. He already looked tired and was heavily panting as he fought. However, she was without any fighting capability. She had a pistol hidden under her clothes. However, she was told to only use it in emergencies.

Seeing Edzel's struggle, she could not help but reach for her gun.

It was when she noticed. Edzel's eyes were filled with determination as he fought a disadvantaged battle. It was the determination to grow stronger.

Pearl could only shake her head, realizing that it was not her position to intervene in Edzel's growth. She did not want to drag him back because of her worry. In the first place, Edzel was still not losing.

In any case, she also had her role to fulfill.

"Is everyone alright?" Pearl turned to the slaves, specifically towards the old ones. "Just wait a little more, and you all can finally escape this place."

The old slaves seemed to be thankful to Pearl. However, Pearl noticed something strange. As the heart created the strongest vibrations on a human's body, she could sense their heartbeats, albeit faintly. The heartbeat of a human differed according to the emotions they had.

And for some reason, some of the slaves seemed to have odd heartbeats.

Unfortunately, it did not take long for Pearl to learn about it. Furthermore, it happened the hard way.

"STOP! HUNONG!"

A loud voice of a man echoed across the school speaking in both Tagalog and Cebuano. The sudden distraction took everyone's attention and stopped the battle abruptly.

Edzel turned around, and his eyes grew wide.

Pearl was being held by a fat-bodied slave with a knife pointed at her neck.

"What are you doing?! Let go of her!" Edzel bellowed. "We are here to save your people, you bastard!"

"Who asked you to save us, huh?" The fat slave roared. "We are already living fine in this place! There are no zombies, no monsters! All we had to do is work, and we will have food! Don't ruin our lives!"

"That's right!"

The fat slave aside, more men among the slaves protested.

But then... An old man among the slaves stood against the others.

"You ungrateful bastards!" The old man bellowed. "Ruin your lives, you say?! You all say that after ruining the lives of the women, these inhuman bastards charmed?"

"SHUT UP!" Another slave bashed the old man on his head, causing the old man to fall. "You're old already! Just go rest in peace!"

And then, blood had splattered as the slave bashed the old man's head with a large piece of broken cement from the school fence.

"Hahahaha!" Suddenly, boisterous laughter echoed. "Good work!"

Everyone's attention shifted once more. This time, it was a large group of Tamawos that arrived. They were lead by a tall Tamawo, who also was the source of that laughter.

"To think that this town was done in by a group of bastard humans." The tall Tamawo said as he panned his eyes around the surroundings. "You useless imbeciles! You call can't even handle children and had to rely on a slave to stop the fight?"

The Tamawos that valiantly fought against the four monster girls and Edzel hung their heads in shame. Nonetheless, they were also assured by the arrival of the group of the Tamawos.

"And you slave. As I said before, Good work." The tall Tamawo commended. "Because of this, I'll let you play with the women for a whole day after this."

Hearing that, the fat slave's face bloomed in glee, while the other male slaves were in regret for not stepping out first. On the other hand, the slaves that actually wanted to leave this place were in dismay.

And then, the tall Tamawo took steps closer.

"You woman, why don't you look at my eyes?"

The tall Tamawo said, looking at Pearl. His eyes released a reddish-pink glow, the sign he was using magic to charm the opposite sex.

"STOP!"

Edzel could not help but roar. He tried to rush towards the tall Tamawo. However, he was blocked by the rest of the enemies.

Pearl, on the other hand, was caught off guard. She froze as the charm magic tried to infiltrate her mind.

"NO!"

Edzel bellowed in dismay. As far as he knew, the charm magic of Tamawos was unerasable.

But then...

SPURT!

"ACK!" 

The tall Tamawo's eyes opened wide as his mouth spew out blood. His eyes were also tearing up with blood.

"Terville!"

The other Tamawos rushed unto the tall Tamawo in shock.

"What in the damn world!"

Terville cursed as he wiped the blood on his lips and face.

And then...

BANG!

"EEEKKKK!!!"

A sound of a gunshot echoed with a pig-sounding screech following it.

Turning to the source of the gunshot, they saw Pearl, glaring with killing intent as she pointed the pistol at the slaves. In front of her was the fat slave rolling on the ground and squealing in pain as his stomach bled from the gunshot.

"Pearl! Are you okay?!"

Edzel shouted.

"Yes! I don't know why, but I'm fine! Don't worry about me!"

Pearl answered back. Strangely, though, her answer sounded happy and more confident.

"So this is what Boss is hinting about being marked..."

Pearl murmured.

When Terville's charm magic tried to invade her mind, Pearl felt strange. But then, her mind was suddenly filled with Edzel's image. At the center of it, was a strange energy that seemed to have connected her and Edzel.

In the past, Mark hinted at it several times. Furthermore, Pearl was not blind. Edzel's face had some resemblance to Pefile and as someone that looked at his appearance since they were little, it was impossible for her not to notice.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Pearl did not hesitate. She pulled the trigger of her pistol, killing those that tried to support the fat slave. Now, she was angry. Not only at these hateful slaves but also at herself for not realizing it before she made a mistake.

On the other hand, Edzel was truly enraged.

"How dare you try to charm Pearl!"

Edzel spoke coldly. He began to approach Terville despite the other Tamawos surrounding him.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a loud vibration was felt by everyone.

In every step he took, he did not notice. His body was undergoing a huge transformation.