Mutagen

A woman in her mid-twenties asked another woman sitting beside her while kindling the campfire in front of them.

"I don\'t know." The other woman, likely a few years older, answered. "There\'s only a few of us wanted to leave this place. There\'s barely anything we can do if we go back with only a few people."

"I know that, but... This place isn\'t where we should be." The younger woman sighed. "We are humans, and we should be on Earth, not this place home for those creatures."

"Damn it." The younger woman continued. "We are already doing fine before that meteor shower and earthquake happened..."

The younger woman sure was indignant about their current situation.

These two women were sisters and survivors from Kalibo, Aklan, one of the few ground zero\'s of the outbreak in the island of Panay.

With inevitable sacrifices and gathering allies, they managed to reach and climb up the highest mountain on the island of Panay, Mount Madia-as. Due to the mountain\'s geographical advantages, the survivors the two gathered managed to establish a small community up Mount Madia-as.

It was not exactly a safe place since they would receive attacks from monstrous animals from time to time.

But with tactics and skills, they managed to live until now.

It was until a month ago. When Earth suddenly faced another unexpected calamity.

It was fortunate that none of the things that fell from the sky hit their settlement, but the earthquake that came after destroyed everything.

Large boulders fell from the mountain crushing their newly built homes. The walls they painstakingly constructed fell without resistance. And when they fled from the landslide, they suddenly fell into the void, filled with fear and dissatisfaction on how their lives would end.

And the moment they woke up, the sisters found themselves surrounded by creatures they had only seen and heard from fiction, legends, and folklore in a place they were never familiar with.

Fortunately, despite their initial fear, those creatures allowed them to temporarily stay to heal their wounds. It was a good thing since none of them that survived the catastrophe were left unscathed. Some of them had broken bones that had yet to heal even now. When the majority of the group were already healed enough regained their strength to leave this place, however...

They instead begged to stay in this place than return home.

And it led to the current situation.

It was nice that their food and water were provided to them. The survivors did not have to go hungry anymore and face the dangers outside.

However, what most of them could not see... They were basically prisoners in this place. They had no freedom here.

This was not a place for humans like them.

But as people that struggled through the apocalyptic world since the start, this kind of life was better for them. It was better than a life where they could be eaten by the enemies at any moment.

"Haahh..." The younger woman let out a loud sigh as she glanced at the houses near them. "They could only sleep freely since they already took things for granted."

The older woman did not say anything as she reached for her stick and adjusted the firewood on the campfire.

"Hmmm?"

At this time, the two women noticed the silhouettes outside the village. They could not help but stand from their seats, knowing that anything could happen, both good and bad. Furthermore, as it was nighttime, they could not see the silhouettes clearly.

But as the silhouettes came closer, they could not hear the voices from what seemed to be a group of people.

"People?"

The younger woman voiced out in surprise as she could not see a group of men, women, and children.

Seeing a group of unfamiliar people, the two sisters could not help but feel both cautious and excited. After all, they would be the first group of people they would meet for a very long time. The last time the sisters saw new people was more than four months ago, after all.

What stopped the sisters from approaching, however... The [Diwata] who led the creatures in this place was guiding the group.

It was not like the sisters hated the [Diwata]. In fact, they were grateful to her. Most of the creatures in this place disliked humans and wanted to throw them out. However, it was the [Diwata] who insisted to let them stay in this place to heal their injuries. She was also the one that allowed them to stay after the majority begged.

The [Diwata], the two sisters could feel some sort of suppression coming from her. It was not only the two of them but their whole group. That was why even if they were thankful to her, it was hard for them to face her directly.

And now, that feeling was multiplied, as the two sisters saw the ghostly visage of another woman floating beside the [Diwata].

***

On the other side, Mark\'s group walked towards the village led by Silim. He could feel the stare of the two women they could see standing by the campfire near the entrance of the village.

"This is the closest I could lead you all," Silim spoke. "Normal humans, after all, could not withstand my presence at close proximity."

"Won\'t it be the same for you too?"

Mark asked Magwayen. In fact, she had a subtle aura that Mark\'s group needed to endure all the way here despite being a temporary avatar. Fortunately, Magwayen was aware of it and toned down as much as she could. Even so, regular humans would definitely suffocate from her presence alone.

"Give the artifact to Silim." Magwayen ignored Mark\'s question and said. "Now that I am given a chance, there are things I needed to speak to her."

"I won\'t recharge more energy on this."

Mark blatantly said as he handed the [Mark of the King] to Silim.

"You did not have to fret about it," Magwayen replied. "Just Silim holding it would be enough to keep the connection intact. I would not be able to directly transfer energy unto the artifact, but Silim, who held the same energy as mine, could."

Mark nodded. That was something he did not put in mind. Silim was born from Magwayen\'s [Magical Energy]. She should be able to transfer the same energy since she and the [Mark of the King] had the same origin.

"Then, I will send someone to contact your group tomorrow morning," Silim said as she began to turn and leave. "You can ask the two humans there which house is currently vacant."

And there, Silim and Magwayen parted with Mark\'s group, vanishing into the darkness of the night.

Mark\'s group then continued on towards the village after the two left.

Seeing the two women standing in front of the campfire, Mark turned to Ilia.

"You ask."

"Me?"

Ilia asked, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, you."

Mark nodded.

"Why?" Ilia asked again. "Don\'t tell me you\'re feeling shy?"

"No." Mark shrugged. "You\'re the only extrovert in this group. So this kind of task should fall on you, alright?"

Ilia could not help but look at the members of the group one by one. And then, she could only let out an exasperated sigh. Mark was right. She was the only extrovert in this group.

"Just do it, Ilia." Chimetrice urged. "You are the best in dealing with other people than any of us here."

"Okay, Master." Ilia smiled. "If you say so."

And with the rest of the group standing behind, Ilia approached the two women.

"Hello, to you two."

Ilia greeted first, which made the two women rather flustered.

Ilia, being an [Elder Succubus], was a beautiful and physically attractive woman. Her beauty could mesmerize people of any gender. It could not be helped if the two women felt flustered facing her, not to mention that her beauty looked foreign for them.

Well, Ilia was not a local, after all. Not to mention that she asked the two in English, just to be sure since the provinces of the Philippines tend to have their own language or two. While there were places in the Philippines that had people not that proficient in speaking Tagalog, those same places should be able to speak English.

"U-um. Hello."

The older woman managed to recover first and greeted Ilia back.

"H-Hello!"

The younger woman also greeted in a hurry.

"We\'re told to rest here for the rest of the night. Which houses are vacant? Or at least, the ones we can use?"

Ilia asked.

At the question, the two women glanced around for a bit before answering.

"We only occupied the west side of the village. The houses on the east side are all empty and unused."

The older woman answered.

"Is that so? Then thank you."

Ilia thanked with an alluring smile. There might only be a campfire to light up that smile, but it was more than enough to make the two women stare at her as she turned around.

"You guys heard them," Ilia said to Mark and the rest. "Let\'s go."

Ilia then grabbed Chimetrice\'s arm, and she pulled him towards the east side of the village. Mark and the others followed suit, not minding the two women watching their group.

"Gege, I\'m pretty sure you already know which houses are vacant, right?"

Mei asked Mark. After all, it was no secret among their group that he could detect emotional fluctuations and use it as a radar.

"Yeah?" Mark answered. "But it\'s still better to ask. After all, it might be empty now, but what if that house is in use during the day. It would be awkward if they came to the house we chose only to find us there."

The rest could only agree with Mark\'s reasoning. They chose a few houses in the furthest area on the east side of the village. This way, they could keep their contact with the people staying here to a minimum.

After all, they were just staying here for the rest of the night of this realm.

***

"What a gorgeous woman." The younger woman said, looking at the group that was walking away. "I\'m feeling jealous."

"Yeah, that woman is gorgeous, but the other one seemed to be more beautiful."

The older woman said.

"Which one?"

The younger asked, looking at the group, searching for who her sister was talking about.

"The girl holding one of the children\'s hands. Unfortunately, she\'s standing further away and is wearing a veil on her face. But I can tell, she\'s really beautiful."

"Ah, that one." The younger sister said, finally realizing who her older sister was talking about. And then, she began whispering. "It\'s hard to see, so I don\'t know. But the guy at the center... he sure looks the complete opposite of how beautiful those women are."

"Donna... You know that\'s rude."

The older sister reprimanded her younger sister.

"No, Bella. I\'m not being rude. I\'m just telling the truth."

The younger sister argued.

In any case, while they seemed to be arguing, their mood surely was lifted after meeting new people. One of their frustrations was the feeling of being imprisoned in this place, and seeing new faces sure helped raise their mood.

***

"Haah..."

Mark sighed.

"Gege, is something wrong?"

Mei asked Mark, seeing that exasperated sigh.

"Nothing. I\'m just thinking if there could be a mutation somewhere that allows a person to change their appearance."

"Hm? What for?"

Mei asked.

"You know, disguise and stuff."

Mark said with a shrug.

"I\'m pretty sure he wanted to be handsome for once."

Spera chimed in.

"But Gege looks fine enough, though?"

Mei turned to Spera, confused.

It made everyone turn to her, definitely questioning her tastes. Even Mark, who was the person in question stared at her.

"Papa is handsome!"

Miracle also chimed in, cutely puffing her cheeks at Spera.

"No, no. The opinion of a woman blindly in love and the daughter who knew nothing doesn\'t count here... Ahem, forget I said something."

Spera was about to argue, only to feel the cold chill enveloping her.

"Geez..." Spera complained. "You don\'t mind having your appearance ridiculed, but you get angry at a single word said about your wife and daughters. Seriously... I\'m starting to wish I have someone like you as my father."

"Nah, I don\'t want a daughter as annoying as you."

Mark made a snide comment.

"Hey!"

Spera glared at Mark.

Mark\'s group made their way to their houses where they would spend the rest of the night. None of them would go sleep, however. After all, it was just past noon outside. What they needed to do was to have lunch.

Not know to their group, however...

It seemed that Silim and Magwayen were having some strange conversation.