Mutagen

It was the same for Mark and the members of his group. They could not help but stare at the man that barged into their mealtime. The man sure was a rude one, disturbing other people\'s mealtime.

But the most important thing...

Ilia turned towards the sisters, who were both showing exasperated expressions.

"What is he saying?"

Ilia asked in confusion.

That confusion was the main reason that everyone stared at the man. After all, none of Mark\'s group members were locals of this province. Even if they were a bit familiar with one or two words of everything that man said, there was very little chance they would understand the message.

Thus, whatever that man shouted at them, it did not matter. Aside from the fact that he was rude, they could not understand him.

The question towards the two sisters made the two show a bitter smile. From the start, the two sisters realized that the new people that arrived were not locals of this province. Furthermore, three of the group were clearly foreigners.

And, of course, the guy that barged in without thinking had no way of knowing this.

"Um... We\'re sorry." The older of the two sisters replied to Ilia, not answering the question knowing that it would cause more trouble. "Can you please leave this to us?"

Ilia turned to Mark, hearing the older sister\'s reply. Mark gave her a glance and a slight nod.

"Then, please deal with it quickly while no one is dead yet."

Ilia said to the two sisters, making them a bit flustered. What did this gorgeous woman mean by "while no one was dead yet?"

Nonetheless, that reply made the two sisters feel a bit relieved. The two of them did not survive this apocalypse for nothing. A little misunderstanding could cause a lot of trouble in the current world, not to mention reckless aggressiveness. To the two women, this group of strangers was still dangerous people. It was aside from the fact that they were kind enough to share food with them.

Kindness begets kindness. The inverse was the same.

The two sisters nodded at each other, putting this problem into their hands.

***

"What does it matter to you?" Donna stood up, returning the man\'s aggressiveness. "We can eat anything we want!"

"You!!!"

The man sure was infuriated even more. He was not that affected by Bella\'s retort. However, what made him mad was how these unfamiliar people were literally ignoring him. They even continued to eat, watching him as if he was an attraction in a circus.

"This is our village! Letting outsiders inside... Who in the world is sane to do that?" The man yelled. "Then, that food... We are all eating strange fruits and boiled vegetables all this month! Eating food on your own... You selfish women! Isn\'t it the duty of you two to distribute food in the first place?"

Bella and Donna stared at the man incredulously. Just what in the world was this idiot talking about?

"You\'re out of your mind, aren\'t you? Are you still dreaming? Wake up, will you?" Now, even the calmer Bella stood up, putting down her plate of food on an old table nearby. "Since when was this village ours? We are nothing but freeloaders here. And why would you complain about the food? You chose that. Aren\'t you the one who did not want to leave this place the most, you coward? And our duty to distribute food? That\'s only when we can actually find something to distribute. In this place? Can we find food in this place? We can\'t even step outside this village. We can only wait when the food arrives, and it is already distributed evenly for us."

Both Bella and Donna knew their place. It was one of the reasons they wanted to leave. This village was not theirs. They had no freedom here.

Unfortunately, the other survivors of their group took the kindness of the [Diwata] for granted. It seemed that peacefully staying in this place made them forget who they were in the first place.

The actual owner of this village was the [Diwata] and the creatures living in this realm. Not them who were only allowed to stay out of pity.

And these people the man called outsiders were brought here by the [Diwata] herself. Both Bella and Donna saw them approaching the village with the [Diwata] leading them after all. It was not something they, people who begged to stay here, could question.

Yet, this narrow-minded man who just woke up from sleep blurted out nonsense without thinking about his position.

"You two! Who cares about that?! Why are you two even siding with outsiders?!"

The man sure was not getting any of it into that thick skull of his. He was not even listening to reason. His eyes focused on the food at the center of the group of strangers instead.

That was right. The man\'s reason was already consumed by his worldly craving.

"He\'s not listening, is he?"

Donna sighed, glancing at her sister. Bella replied with a nod at that glance.

"There\'s no choice then."

Bella said as she bent her right arm, putting her right hand beside her left cheek.

The man saw that stance, and his eyes dilated.

"Y-YOU! What are you doing?!"

The man took a step back and made a stance of his own.

Unfortunately, the man could not do anything after that. Bella waved her right arm, now covered in glittering dust, towards the man. The man froze and slowly fell to the ground as if he lost all his energy.

"Yo-urk! Yo-u bit-ch-es!"

The man was still conscious, spitting curse after curse at the two sisters with his unstable voice.

"Hah... He\'s not stopping."

Bella gave another sigh as she approached the weakened man. She stood beside him, looking down at the man lying by her feet. Slightly stretching her hand over him, she began whisking her fingers, sprinkling glittering dust on the man.

This time, the man froze entirely. Even his mouth was left open, saliva overflowing. His eyes were still open, but it was clear that he already passed out.

"Let\'s drag this garbage out."

Bella said to her sister, grabbing the man\'s leg and preparing to drag the man away.

"Wait!" Donna said, grabbing their plates of food and turning to the gorgeous woman and the others. "Thank you for the food and sorry for the trouble. We\'ll return the plates later!"

And there, the two sisters dragged the nuisance away. Well, while leaving a meaningful glance at the man they presumed to be the leader of the group.

***

"Looks like they are sensible people."

Mark remarked, watching the two ladies dragging the man away, with the slight red glow on his eyes fading.

"You orchestrated it, didn\'t you?" Spera asked Mark, with her inquisitive eyes piercing holes on him. "There is no way you didn\'t detect that guy coming here. Yet, you didn\'t say a word."

"Gege, did you find something interesting to do that?"

Mei also asked Mark. There was no way that the slight glow in his eyes would pass Mei\'s attention.

Those questions made Ilia and Feng Zhiruo curious about Mark\'s intentions.

"Well, that guy is bound to cause us trouble anyway, so I just put him to use," Mark confessed. "Though I didn\'t expect that he can\'t even retaliate against those two even though the three of them were [Mutators]."

It would be a lie if Mei and the others said they were not surprised that both the two sisters had some sort of strange ability. Now that Mark confirmed it, they could only wonder what kind of ability they had. All they saw was their hands releasing those glittering dust, and the man could not retaliate anymore.

"But they actually used their abilities in front of us, huh?" Spera said. "Are they stupid? They should be hiding their cards in front of strangers."

"No, they are not stupid," Mark said, actually refuting Spera. "Although they showed it like they were just disciplining their own people, it\'s also a warning for us. They were thankful for the food and sorry for the trouble, but they would not just stand back if we try to harm their own. I guess you guys didn\'t see them glance at me before they left."

"That glance was for you? I thought it was for the food in front of you."

Spera said, looking at the rest of the food Mark had displayed in front of him.

"That\'s what I will also think if I can\'t read their emotions," Mark stated. "Well, the nuisance is gone. Let\'s continue eating."

***

"Bella," Donna called her older sister. "Won\'t this guy make a fuss about it when he wakes up?"

"It can\'t be helped," Bella replied. "This is way better than having him get killed."

"Huh? Killed?"

Donna was confused at the words of her older sister.

"It seems you didn\'t pay attention," Bella explained. "Remember what the woman said when we asked to deal with the situation. Also, when we used our powers, those people barely reacted."

"The woman\'s warning aside, what is wrong with their reaction?"

Donna asked.

"Did you forget how the others reacted to us when we used our powers in front of them for the first time?"

Bella asked back.

It made Donna silent as she remembered.

Everyone... They were afraid of Bella and Donna. Even so, many clung to them for protection since their powers helped people around them survive.

Yet, that group barely reacted. It was either they had seen others with powers before, or they had powers of their own.

In the first place, there was no way that a small group of people like that, even having children with them, would be able to survive this world without enough strength.

If not for the fact that they were also craving to eat actual food, Bella would not allow Donna to approach that group of strangers at all.

They were strangers, after all. Although they showed kindness, it might just be a facade. Who would know what those people really were? Well, definitely not Bella and Donna.

It was better to be cautious than regret that they did not.

"I don\'t think they\'re bad, though," Donna said, raising the plates of food in her hands. "They gave us food, after all."

"Hahh..."

Bella sighed at how simple her younger sister was.

***

The night of the realm slowly passed without many events happening. It was not surprising, considering the place they were in.

Since the village was occupied by humans, the other residents of the realm would not approach it. That was why it was so quiet.

After the incident with the man, the two sisters also made sure not to let anyone from their side wanter into the eastern side of the village. It was for the safety of both sides.

With the peace and quiet they got, Mark\'s group had nothing much to do. Instead, Mei spent time playing with the girls while Mark began drawing things. Those drawings were not just some artistic stuff, however. He was drawing blueprints and designs of weapons he could make in the future.

Soon, the night of the realm passed with its own sun rising.

Seeing the sun and moon of this realm and even its stars, Mark finally understood what Magwayen said before.

The myths of ancient Visayas did have some truths in them.

It was the remains of the grandchildren of Kaptan and Magwayen.

This realm was not just a small dimension. It was a small but complete universe of its own.

Unfortunately, to stop this realm from affecting the world outside, it was made limited. And even if there were things they could see from afar, not all of them were obtainable or even reachable.

...Like the sun, moon, stars, and the silhouettes of the islands they could see from afar in this realm.