Mutagen

Day 199 - 9:10 AM - Lower District, Bay City Ruins, Pasay City, Metro Manila

From the sky, looking below the ruins of the Lower District, it felt strange.

Everyone could feel the swirling negative energy. And if fact, although hard to prove, everyone could see it.

The negative energy could be seen, but not objectively. It was as if the ruins were covered in a sort of black haze that both existed and did not. It was a scene that was hard to describe in human terms, especially with only the five senses that regular humans had.

"We better deal with this now, then."

Mark said.

"Are you going to use your [Miasma] to absorb that?" Illia asked Mark. "I'll tell you this, but I won't recommend doing that."

Those words from the [Elder Succubus] caused confusion in the group. Everyone here already knew that Mark could use and control [Miasma]. 

Feng Zhiruo, who stayed in the Mountain Base for a while now, was not an exception. She already knew of this ability of Mark. After all, everyone in the base knew of Mark's ability to control [Miasma].

The reason for this was, of course, the battle between Mark and The Great One. It was during the attack on the Mountain Base by the Chinese Branch of Auraboros. After that happened, it was hard not to fill the people's curiosity without telling the truth.

However, in return for telling the truth, it bolstered the people's respect and trust in Mark's strength. In any case, it was already a tacit understanding to everyone in the base to not disclose such information to outsiders. Even Major Bautista and his entourage did not know of such capabilities of Mark. Feng Zhiruo was an exception, however. The time she stayed in the Mountain Base alongside her interactions with the residents made her one of them already.

Back to the subject at hand, it was unexpected for Illia to give out such a remark.

And, of course, it ends with a question.

"Why?"

Mark asked.

It was true that one of the ideas that Mark had was using his [Miasma]. This was one of the easiest methods to absorb the swirling negative energy Mark had at hand. However, Mark could not understand what Illia was trying to say.

"It seems you don't know..."

Illia replied before turning to Chimetrice. Upon their eye contact, Chimetrice nodded, urging Illia to continue.

"Have you ever considered why [Formless Demons] had such twisted mentalities? The very moment they exist, their entire being is already filled with malice. At first, one would think that it's because of how they were born, the negative energy, and the events that caused that energy to gather. But that's not the actual case and just the partial truth. Yes, they were born with that energy, but their nature should not be influenced by just negative energy. Or else, anything that harbored negative energies on their bodies should have been inherently evil."

"Just go straight to the point."

Mark interjected.

"Ahem..." Illia faked a cough awkwardly. "What I mean is that the thing that attracted the negative energy here is the emotional sentiments left by the dead. Those emotional sentiments are what you called [Emotional Energy]. The negative energy and [Emotional Energy] are both connected and separate. And from what we know, [Miasma] can absorb [Emotional Energy] but can't convert it into [Miasma]. It is the same case for [Formless Demons]. However, that [Emotional Energy] they absorbed did not matter much to them because they were filled with malice since the start. You, however... Not only you're not a [Formless Demon], worse, you're even an [Empath]."

"Absorbing these malicious emotional sentiments directly will corrode your mind. In this case, it is better to leave this to my Master."

Illia added as she turned to Chimetrice.

"My body is composed of both holy and demonic creatures," Chimetrice spoke. "I can release enough [Holy Energy] to disperse the gathered negative energy. It won't be able to completely disperse the emotional sentiments, but it would be weakened enough to stop gathering negative energy in this place."

At this point, Spera and Feng Zhiruo were confused about what Chimetrice said. After all, the two had never seen the real appearance of the [Humanoid Chimera]. Still, if Chimetrice could do something without the chance of danger, it would be better than Mark's [Miasma].

To that plan, however...

"Nah, that's counterproductive for me." Mark shrugged. "It would be a waste to just disperse all that gathered energy."

"You... are seriously trying to become mentally disabled? You might end up berserk. Even if we are here, we are not sure that we can stop you without consequences."

Illia replied, exasperated at Mark's foolishness.

"Who said that I'll be absorbing that with my [Miasma]?" Mark shook his head with a sigh. "I still have another way. It's a bit time consuming than using [Miasma] or dispersing it with [Holy Energy]. But it will allow us to make use of the negative energy and probably the [Emotional Energy] in the future."

It was Illia's turn to be confused. Chimetrice only looked at Mark, waiting for him to tell his plan.

"Well, my method is kinda complicated to explain. So, just watch, alright?"

Mark said.

"Are you sure that your method will be safe?"

Spera asked Mark the question Feng Zhiro, Chimetrice, and Illia had.

As for Mei, Amihan, and the little girls, they already had a vague idea of Mark's plan as he was already unequipping the gauntlet on his right arm.

Mark nodded to Spera in response.

"Just lower the vessel as much as you could," Mark told Chimetrice. "I'll deal with it on the platform outside the door."

Mark then turned to Mei.

"We'll go together, alright?"

"Yes."

Mei replied with a nod without question or hesitation.

Still in the dark, they followed Mark's instructions.

The floating vessel was lowered into the swirling negative energy. Unfortunately, Chimetrice could not lower the vessel that much as everyone, even Illia, began to feel uncomfortable.

Mark stepped out with Mei, holding each other's hands.

Looking at the hazy surroundings, Mei shivered. Even with her unique physique, she was still affected.

Moreover...

"It hurts..."

"Help..."

"Mommy..."

"Uhuhuhuhu..."

"Noooo...."

"Ahh..."

All sorts of voices began to enter Mei's ear. Most of them were calling for help. Others were crying in pain. The despair, helplessness, fear, sadness... All sorts of emotions came swirling in.

Mei was shaken. All the emotions from the voices felt as if it was her own.

"Don't listen to it."

Suddenly, a voice entered her right ear. It drowned all the other voices away, clearing her mind. Mei could not help but turn to the source of the voice.

It was Mark, whose eyes were glowing red as a blood moon.

Mei realized that Mark knew what happened to her.

"Gege, those voices..."

"I know. It's like ghosts whispering in your ear, right? This happens when the emotional energy in the area is too strong. This is what I have had to deal with ever since we parted with Chimetrice and Illia for the first time. It only happens in places like this where the [Emotional Energy] in the surroundings are too strong. Like what happened yesterday. It slowly shakes your mind and puts their emotions as if it's your own."

Hearing Mark's explanation, Mei looked at Mark with a pitiful expression.

"Don't look at me like that..." Mark sighed. "Being a powerful [Empath] is not easy, but you're here with me, right?"

Mei nodded, tightening her grip on Mark's hand.

"Anyway, let's start," Mark said as he raised his right arm and stretched it forward. "I'm leaving this to you, [PsyCrystal]."

As Mark said that, the [PsyCrystal] embedded on his arm glowed in response. The swirling energy in the surroundings changed direction as it slowly gathered towards Mark's arm, specifically, into the [PsyCrystal].

And as Mark said, the process was slower than the first two methods they had. However, the amount of negative energy that was enough to birth a [Formless Demon] was too precious to pass. Not to mention that this negative energy was actually a kind of corrupted magical energy. The [PsyCrystal] could absorb it and turn it into [Attributed Crystals].

***

The process sure took a while.

After two hours of waiting, the negative energy in the surroundings sure had decreased. And unexpectedly, it was the same for the [Emotional Energy] in the surroundings.

Mark was also surprised at this development. After all, he had never seen or felt the [PsyCrystal] absorb any [Emotional Energy] in the past. Maybe, it was only applicable to extreme amounts of [Emotional Energy]. After all, the [Emotional Energy] here was enough to give birth to a [Formless Demon].

And another half hour passed. Mark put down his numb right arm. Raising it in front of him for more than two hours sure was tiring. However, he could not let it down. If he did, the negative energy would gather closer to him and cause trouble.

Nonetheless, they were finished here. The negative energy was no more, and the [Emotional Energy] left was barely noticeable.

For the harvest, Mark got five murky-colored crystals. The crystals looked like they were stuffed with black mud and sewage water. And even though in crystal form, the crystals that were made from both negative energy and malicious [Emotional Energy] were uncomfortable to look at for some reason.

"You really did it, huh..."

Illia said as Mark and Mei returned inside the vessel. 

The two did not reply, however. Mark and Mei were tired since they stood still for two and a half hours straight, not to mention Mark had one of his arms outstretched. The two of them tiredly sat down with everyone surrounding them.

"So this is how you got those rare elemental crystals," Chimetrice said, staring at the [PsyCrystal] on Mark's arm. "If something like that existed in the past, Gods would probably wage war for it."

"Don't say something ominous." Mark sighed. "So, what do you all think of these?"

Mark then showed the new crystals to everyone. And to no surprise, all of them tried to avoid touching the crystals by instinct. Even Chimetrice was looking disgusted.

"I don't think that is something to be consumed."

Chimetrice remarked on which everyone agreed. Yes, literally everyone, even the three golems that seemed to move away from Mark when he showed the crystals.

"Yeah, I agree too."

Mark nodded.

But then, Iola approached Mark, tapping on the [PsyCrytal].

"Papa, this is strange. The crystals made by the [PsyCrystal] should be safe to consume since it is supposed to remove the dangers from the energies it absorbed. But why are these crystals different..."

Iola, to be exact, Keeper, was the previous owner and the creator of the [PsyCrystal]. Since it belonged to Keeper in the past, she should know its uses. Or at least, its uses in Eriellis.

But in that planet, while [Psychic Energy] became abundant during the apocalypse. As for [Magical Energy], it was non-existent.

The crystals that the [PsyCrystal] created in the past was also all clear and non-attributed. Now that it was able to absorb different attributes of energy, it was able to create new never-before-seen crystals.

"Maybe this is also safe to consume," Mark said. "For the proper people, at least. It's like how Spera can't consume attributed crystals other than the black-colored ones. Even Amihan can only consume wind attribute ones too."

"Hmmm..." Iola nodded. "That could be the case."

Mark's family aside, the others were appalled by Iola and Mark's exchange. After all, they did not know anything about Eriellis. Furthermore, Mark and Iola had memories of Freed and Keeper. They were the only people that could converse like this about the [PsyCrystal]. Of course, there was also Aephelia, who was not here.

In any case, the job here was done. The birth of a new [Formless Demon] was prevented. At least, here in the Philippines. It was sure that it would happen in other countries, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Let's get going. We should follow the trail we found last night." Mark said before he suddenly retracted his statement. "We should eat lunch first, I guess."

Well, Mark changed his words because Abbygale was already asking for food.

After all, it was already almost noon.