Mutagen

With little people was said, one would immediately think of the well-known \'Nuno sa Punso\' in Philippine myths and legends. However, the little people here were definitely not those old-looking mischievous dwarves on mounds,

They were described as \'little\' since they all appeared to be children about three to six years old. However, it was not wrong to say that they were all adults with childish appearance. They wore clothes that did not look different from humans. But at a closer look, the materials their clothing was made of were something that humans did not have.

And the most noticeable thing about these little people was their unnatural black color. Their skin was pitch black, making it hard to see their facial features. Even their teeth and nails were the same, leaving their eyes as the only white thing on their bodies.

The little people shivered even more at Mark\'s stare. It seemed that these creatures were aware of how frightening Mark was, not just as a Demon but as an individual. Not to mention that Pefile was also here that had unnatural pure energy of his race.

As lower beings, these little people were naturally afraid of higher ones like Pefile and Mark.

"Are you five the ones protecting my brother in secret?"

Mark asked, making the little people stare fixedly at him. And to say, it seemed that they were shocked.

The five\'s reaction was quite amusing. Despite the fear, the little people moved into a circle. Pefile and Mark could hear them talking in an incomprehensible language. Furthermore, aside from their high pitched voices, they spoke too fast. The two felt like they were listening to a recorded narration being fast-forwarded.

Mark waited for the five to finish their discussion with interest. It seemed that these creatures did not only look like children but also behaved likewise. After all, only children would do something like an emergency meeting in front of others while their voices could be clearly heard in the surroundings. Of course, it was not like anyone could understand them. Even Pefile, who was also of an elemental race, could not.

"You can\'t understand them?"

Mark asked Pefile, who seemed to be in confusion as he listened to the five.

And in response to the question, the Tamawo shook his head.

"What are these people, anyway?"

Unexpectedly, even Pefile could not recognize what race these five belonged to.

Pefile was not the only one. Mark was the same in this regard. There were many mythological creatures in the Philippines that could be found in written documents and the internet. However, nothing that he had seen before accurately portrayed these five\'s appearance.

Nonetheless, Mark was not ignorant of the existence of these creatures.

How?

Considering how Mark had a family with unnatural characteristics, they were not new to the paranormal. Even Mark grew up with experience and interest in these kinds of things. And most of these characteristics originated from his mother\'s family.

There were a lot of stories that he heard from his mother when he was younger. Some were weird, and some were interesting. All of them, however, was about the unknown.

One short story revolved around the day his mother was going home alone from the church when she was young. And for some reason, while she was walking home after the mass finished, there was nothing but children walking along the road, the same way she was going.

And those children had the very same characteristics as the small people in front of them now.

His mother was confused, hearing the children with odd appearances talking in a language she could not understand. And then, one suddenly spoke to her in the same way.

As she stared in confusion, the child that talked to her was the same. The latter realized that his mother was not the same as them. And as if the scene had shifted, everything around her blurred before returning to normal.

Yes, normal.

It was the very same road, but the black-skinned children were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were the people that were going home from the church all around her.

That was one of the unforgettable experiences that their mother shared with them when they were little.

Considering how his mother described the creatures, Mark had searched for them on the internet before. However, nothing came up in his search. While it was strange, it was also possible that this race of elementals was rare or only present in Catanduanes, causing the lack of its presence. And by their disposition, they were a shy race that would not show themselves to humans if possible.

And now, the very same kind of creatures was present, protecting his brother in secret. It would not be surprising if even his sister had the same bodyguards in the shadows.

After the five talked, one timidly stepped forward, looking at Mark. It was a boy who seemed to be the oldest among the five.

"✋︎⬧︎⬥︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎⬧︎♋︎♓︎♎︎ ⧫︎❒︎◆︎♏︎✍︎ ✡︎□︎◆︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎♌︎❒︎□︎⧫︎♒︎♏︎❒︎✍︎"

The boy spoke.

"Yep, I can\'t understand you."

Mark shrugged.

It seemed that while they were at least capable of understanding human language, they could not speak it. Not only that it was comprehensible, but it also finished over a dozen syllables in two seconds.

Even the most popular rappers would shrink on how fast these little people spoke.

"Can you speak Filipino? Human language?"

Mark asked. Even if he could tell that this guy was asking a question, there was no way he would be able to answer without understanding what it was.

"⬥︎♏︎♍︎♋︎■︎︎⧫︎"

The boy replied, tilting his head shyly.

Mark sighed. This would go nowhere. Furthermore, it seemed that the issue was not because these little guys could not speak human language. It was more like their physiology did not allow them to. It was like when Pefile introduced himself for the first time. Pefile was not his exact name at all but an alias that he used. It was because his real name could not be pronounced in human language.

Mark sighed. He was interested in these little people, but he would not waste time deciphering their language.

As such, Mark could only turn to Pefile.

"Does that powder work on other elementals?"

Understanding what Mark wanted to do, Pefile replied.

"It depends. It won\'t work on elementals without bodies, after all. I think it will work fine on these people."

"Then use it on them. We\'ll send these five back together."

Of course, the five little people became scared as the oldest one tried to step back.

However, while they might be able to protect Michael from harm and other humans, there was no way that they would be able to do anything to Mark and Pefile.

As such, the glittering powder was thrown unto them, causing the five to collapse.

Mark poked the cheek of one of the five little people, confirming that the powder worked.

"I really did work. I thought it\'s only for humans at first."

"It\'s made with plants from our forest. Of course, it had magical properties that can also affect other elementals and spirits as long as they had a body." Pefile proudly declared. "Still, you decisively took action on these guys, huh? Arent\' you interested?"

"I am interested. However, there\'s no time to spare. And since we don\'t know why these five were protecting my brother, it\'s better if they knew nothing about our interference."

Mark replied, on which Pefile nodded.

Then, they loaded the people, both the forced members of the rebels and the five little people, on Chaflar\'s back. Securing them with blood metal chains and fixes, Mark made sure that none of them would fall off. Well, some of them would get bruised by this, but it was better than dying.

"Pefile, you go back to camp. I\'ll throw these guys near the neutral encampment."

Mark said to Pefile as he brought out his wings.

"If you say so," Pefile replied. "Just be back soon."

Mark nodded as he and Chaflar took flight in the darkness of the night. Since the effects of the powder would only take a few hours before they wake up, there was no time to waste.

***

Chaflar carefully flew while following behind Mark. Their destination was the northernmost part of Catanduanes. The Municipality of Pandan.

Mark learned it from the two young soldiers last night. The neutrals occupied the northernmost areas of the island. It was the same for the faction that wanted to make peace with the military.

Why was that?

It was because the aggressive faction prevented the other two camps from setting up near the Military Settlement. The reason was not surprising. The Antis wanted to stop the other two from joining forces with the military. In fact, some clashes happened between the factions before because some tried to move out.

All of them were members of the rebels. There was no way that the aggressive faction would let their members join their enemies even if it caused infighting.

And as such, to avoid more unnecessary bloodshed, the other two factions stayed put to where they were currently. Of course, it was not like they did not want to resist. However, compared to the members of the two factions combined, the aggressive faction had more manpower and firepower. There was nothing they could do if they wanted to survive.

Luckily, the leader of the aggressive faction was not unreasonable. They just had to stay put and nothing would happen. Their enemies were the government and its soldiers and not their own people.

This made the bases of the other two factions hard to reach. After all, they were located on the opposite side of the island, furthest from the Military Settlement.

Although there was a road that connected both ends of the island that passed through the island\'s coastline, it was still a dangerous endeavor.

Even Mark and Chaflar\'s journey over the mountains was not safe at all.

Chaflar was large. Although its black-colored scales hid it in the night, it still did not escape the eyes of more sensitive creatures.

Because of that, Mark had to defend Chaflar from enemies.

Giant insects like arm-sized mosquitos and moths that were as large as a small mountain bike, and even a single literal firefly. Each was dangerous in their own ways.

The mosquitos were not large enough and were hard to hit, not to mention that they flew too fast.

The moths had numbing powders scattering everywhere from their wings.

Lastly, the firefly actually shot fire from its anus. It was quite dangerous since the mountain was covered with trees. Even Mark was caught off guard and was almost singed by the fist-sized fireball. And looking at the german shepherd-sized firefly, its thorax was literally burning. Even after Mark killed it, the thorax was still ignited inside and continued to burn.

And as such, Mark stored the corpses of the insects after killing them. He would not pass up the opportunity for such rare materials.

The proboscis of the mosquitos alone could be used for many things. For example, needles or hidden weapons. After all, it was almost as strong as metal. As for the numbing powder from the moths, there was no need to ask what it could be used. And lastly, the burning thorax. There were a lot of possibilities to use this. Even just as a light or fire source, it was helpful. Although it was possible that the light could go off, just the thorax alone was a good fireproof material.

Mark did not expect quite a harvest although he was just bringing unconscious people back. He could not help but anticipate what kinds of other creatures he would encounter along the way.

Unfortunately, aside from a few large pungent-smelling bats that even he would not try eating, he did not encounter anything interesting.

Finally, Mark reached the base of the Neutral Faction. How was he sure?

Well, he could detect his mother and father in one of the buildings together with their youngest sibling.