Mutagen

It was the day after Mark and his company exited the Kahilwayan and after they thwarted the attack of the [Encantado].

Things had yet to calm down. And, of course, it would take even more time for things to return to normal. There was no way that things would turn back perfectly, however. After all, deaths were not something reversible.

Not to mention that the effects of the battle were littered all over the mountain.

It was early morning, Mark\'s group was amidst their breakfast. They planned to use this day to rest and prepare before they leave tomorrow.

This night, the group had no choice but to camp near the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree]. Before, they were allowed to spend the night in the old village, but that was not possible anymore.

More than half of the old village where Mark\'s group spent the night before was destroyed. The situation there was not surprising since the structures were rather old. It was already good that some of the houses survived the impact of the explosion that shook the whole mountain.

Currently, the remaining houses in the old village were barely able to contain the group of the sisters, Bella and Donna. And apparently, some friction was happening in their group due to this. Before, they could have houses on their own. But now, everyone had to share.

And not everyone wanted to share rooms with some people in their group.

Eating breakfast, Mark and his group could not help but stop a bit and turn towards the direction of the old village. It was not too far from the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree] after all.

And the reason...

"Looks like there\'s another argument."

Spera voiced out.

From the old village, Mark\'s group could hear loud shouting. They could not hear the actual words due to distance, but for Mark\'s group to notice the voices from their current location, the people in the old village should be shouting rather loudly.

In fact, there had been arguments in that village since yesterday after the battle happened. It was not a surprise considering that the people in the village had no way of knowing what was happening and could only panic while speculating.

"Just let them be," Mark spoke. "Those guys there had not been in the best mental states in the first place. Now that something happened, it would be more of a surprise if those people did not freak out."

With his [Empath] abilities, Mark already scanned the people there when they spent the night in that village. There were only a few people with better mental states there. And the two of those people were definitely the two sisters they met at that time.

Unlike most people in the old village, the two sisters were sane enough to not let their guards down despite the sense of safety they felt in this place. The two were also clearly thinking about the future while their other group members took things for granted.

The two sisters would reach their limit and leave their group. And by the looks of it, they were already on the verge of reaching it.

"What are we going to do today?" Ilia asked Mark. "Any plans?"

"Maybe, take the opportunity to take a day off?" Mark replied with a shrug. "We just came out from Kahilwayan and already got into a battle. Even in Kahilwayan, we barely took a rest since we are taking as many resources as we can."

That was true, and everyone nodded in agreement. In Kahilwayan, they had several days waiting for Magwayen to drain the magical energy in the whole place. Those days were used to cutting [Spirit Trees], gathering magical herbs, catching animals, and even finding crystals and other stuff hidden everywhere. They did not have any proper rest.

"Though, Spera, I\'ll need you open a portal back home," Mark added. "We collected a lot of things, and our [Spatial Rings] are fully stuffed. We better unload before setting off."

"Nou pwoblem."

Spera answered with her mouth stuffed with food.

"Spera, swallow your food before replying."

Mei told Spera like an older sister reprimanding the younger one. And surely, Spera could only nod with a bitter expression.

The group continued eating while talking about things. It was when two people arrived.

"Why are you two here again? Aren\'t you busy?"

Mark asked, seeing that both Silim and Magwayen returned.

The two left last night to continue repairing the cracks on the barrier of the realm. Although Magwayen would not be able to help directly, she was actually able to release the energy within the artifact to aid Silim. In fact, Silim was now back to her peak strength after spending a prolonged time being weakened.

Well, who told Silim to use most of her energy to let Magwayen spend more time outside anyway. They almost lost their lives and home because of this carelessness.

Since Silim and Magwayen were busy, Mark did not expect to meet them too early in the morning.

p It was when Mark saw what Silim was holding.

"Wait, isn\'t that..."

Mark\'s voice trailed off with Silim\'s nod.

"Yes, it is Salibat\'s crystal spear."

Silim said, moving the spear in front of her.

"It somehow managed to survive the explosion." Magwayen chimed in. "A [Buralakaw] found it under the crater."

Salibat. Apparently, it was the name of the [Encantado] Mark fought yesterday. The [Encantado] was a minor Deity born near the end of the lost era and hid in the mountains of Panay since then. The troublesome guy seemed to be causing trouble on the island, not only in the magical aspect of things but also within human society. After all, if a [Diwata] or an [Encantado] wore modern clothing, they looked no different from humans.

Like his name, Salibat, originating from the word "Sibat" or spear, his prowess with his spear was well known within the island among the magical creatures. And, of course, it was his only way of fighting either, as Mark had thought during the battle.

But for Salibat\'s signature spear to be left behind despite the devastating explosion, it must be something really powerful.

"We stopped by to give this to you," Silim said, approaching Mark and handing over the spear. "You are the one that defeated Salibat. This weapon is rightfully yours."

Mark received the crystal spear. Surely, it looked a bit crude. However, it was more than enough to wash away Mark\'s irritation for not getting anything out of that battle.

Having the spear on his hand, Mark finally managed to observe the spear clearly. After all, there was no way to do so in the midst of a life or death battle.

It was a spear with a crystal tip. The tip did not seem to be artificially reshaped but was naturally shaped like a short blade. The shaft seemed to be handmade, however. Although already burnt, the shaft was made of what seemed to be some kind of magical wood. It also had a few decorations. A rainbow-colored string on both ends of the shaft, for example.

Mark also remembered seeing a few dangling colorful feathers on the spear before, although the feathers were already missing.

What looked strange was how the crystal tip was affixed on the shaft. It was not tied or anything. And definitely not glued either.

Curiosity got over Mark immediately as he tried to pry the shaft near the crystal tip, only to see that there was a natural crystal shaft encased inside the wooden shaft.

The crystal was already a spear on its own. However, a crystal shaft would be hard to hold on to, and it caused whoever made this spear to create a wooden shaft to encase the crystal shaft.

Everyone was silent as they watched Mark, who entered a tranced state while curiously investigating the crystal spear.

Mark remembered during the fight. Salibat was channeling his magical energy into his spear while fighting. Thus, Mark began doing it.

Unexpectedly, Mark felt no resistance at all. The crystal spear absorbed his released magical energy, and its crystal parts began glowing. As Mark stopped, the glow also vanished.

Then, Mark did the unexpected.

Releasing [Miasma] in his palms, he began channeling it unto the spear. But then, the crystal parts of the spear began turning black as it absorbed the [Miasma] that Mark released. Once Mark stopped, the spear also turned back to normal. Furthermore, without any sign of damage.

It made Mark realize.

"Darn, that guy used this thing the wrong way."

Mark voiced out.

"What do you mean?"

Silim asked as she knew that Salibat had used this spear for hundreds of years.

"It\'s not a spear," Mark turned to Silim and replied. "It\'s more of a wand or staff to channel magical spells into."

"Are you not mistaken?"

Silim asked, unable to believe Mark immediately.

"Then, watch."

Mark said as he began channeling his [Miasmic Flame] into the crystal spear using his right hand.

The crystal spear turned black, and the crystal tip became engulfed with black flames.

On Mark\'s left hand, he conjured a small [Miasmic Flame] about the size of a fist.

Silim could tell what Mark was doing. She could feel that Mark released the same amount of magical energy on both hands. And there, the difference was clearly shown.

Mark had a fist-sized black flame on his left hand. However, the flames covering the tip of the crystal spear were about three times larger.

"See?"

Mark spoke.

"Does it amplify magic?"

Spera asked.

"Rather than amplification, it\'s more like tuning," Mark replied. "It seems to enhance control and lessen usage and wastage of magical energy allowing more powerful magic at the same cost."

Of course, not everyone around Mark understood what he was saying, especially the little girls and Amihan, due to the rather complex topic.

"Why not try it." Mark handed the crystal spear, or rather, staff, to Spera. "Try opening a small portal from both your hands at the same time, and you will see the difference."

Spera accepted the challenge and received the staff. She then proceeded to create two fist-sized portals with the crystal staff in her right hand and her empty left hand.

"Huh?"

Spera was surprised.

At the tip of the crystal staff, a portal already opened before the portal on her left hand could form completely. Furthermore, the portal on the staff was about two times larger and more stable than the portal on her hand.

Everyone began to get the gist of what Mark was talking about.

"Wait..."

Mark said, taking something out.

"Hey! Do not dare try what you have on your mind in this place!"

Magwayen immediately stopped Mark in a fit of panic.

Mark just took out the book he caught in Kahilwayan. It was not hard to tell what was on his mind. He wanted to try out using the two items together.

The staff could assist while the book could amplify. Who knows what would happen if the two items were used together.

Without proper testing... It could end up in a rather large catastrophe. It was better to stop Mark now before anything strange happened.

Mark looked at Magwayen, who seemed really mortified by his actions. He could only sigh as he stored the book once more and decided to experiment later on.

Well, the other people around them agreed with Magwayen. It was fine to be curious and investigative, but Mark was pretty much being reckless this time.

***

After acquiring loot from the battle, the annoyance left Mark entirely. They proceeded to their own plans while Mark and the others returned to the Mountain Base to unload things.

Their return sure made the people there happy. If not for Mark stopping them, there might have been a small party. Unfortunately, Mark\'s group did not have much time for that. Nonetheless, showing their faces after a prolonged absence livened up the people in the mountain base.