Mutagen

<strong>Day 150 - 1: 48 PM - Panganiban Central Elementary School, Bagong Bayan, Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes</strong>

Deciding to take a day and a half break, Mark's group finally had the opportunity to relax.

Mark sat on the foot of the staircase of one of the school buildings. He was observing the scene in front of him.

This school seemed to be a decent one. Compared to Queens Row Elementary School, the grade school Mark attended in the past, this place may not have more buildings, but it was a far larger school. By his estimate, two Queens Row Elementary Schools could fit in the plot of land the Panganiban Central Elementary School had.

There might be a lot of students that attended this school. But now, the whole place was empty and dilapidated.

From what it appeared, the school became an evacuation center. Since the outbreak started during Christmas break, schools were supposed to be empty. However, there were a lot of traces of human inhabitation in this place, albeit old.

There were destroyed tents on the school grounds. A lot of trash was also left behind.

And, of course, the stains of blood in the walls along with the traces left by the assailants.

By how it appeared, it was not the infected that devastated this place. It was either evolved animals, or worse, demons.

"Hmm?"

Mark looked up, detecting his connection with Ignis. The Demon Sword was flying in the sky, from the southeast direction of the town. And from how it felt like, Crimson was also with Ignis. He began to wonder why he did not see these two here when his group arrived.

Ignis stopped in front of Mark. Crimson also materialized, bouncing off from Ignis' blade towards Mark like a child. Mark immediately caught Crimson in his hands.

"Where did you two go?"

Mark asked while poking Crimson's jelly-like body.

"Master, welcome back." The voice of Ignis echoed inside Mark's head. "We found some settlers in the southeast side of the town, so we investigated a bit."

"Settlers? That's odd."

Mark tapped his chin, thinking.

"Yes. I thought the same, Master."

Ignis replied. Even Crimson agreed, bouncing on Mark's palms.

"Considering this place is not too far from the Antis' Base, it's surprising that there are settlers." Mark surmised. "Are you sure that they are just normal settlers and not members of the rebels?"

"I thought that at first too, Master," Ignis replied. "However, I dropped the thought when I saw that they only had cold weapons with them, not a single firearm. Furthermore..."

"Furthermore?"

Mark asked as Ignis paused.

"We weren't able to go close to observe them closer. When we tried to approach, the settlers immediately detected us. We can only flee."

"Even when Crimson is his Miasma form?"

Mark asked once more.

"Yes, unexpectedly." Ignis shook as he replied. "They can't see Crimson, but they were searching around the area where he was even when he moves around."

Crimson also bounced several times, understanding what Ignis was saying.

"Strange..." Mark nodded. "You two can't tell whether they are humans or not?"

"Hard to say, Master," Ignis replied. "They all looked humans, so I needed to come close to confirm."

"But you can't."

"Yes, unfortunately."

"And Crimson can move close to them, but this little guy can't distinguish the difference without attacking them first."

Mark frowned. He did not expect to come across something like this when he decided to take a break.

"By the way, you two can understand each other?"

Mark asked, noticing that Ignis and Crimson seemed to understand each other while talking to him. This was the first time he saw this happen.

"Hmm... Master," Ignis spoke. "I think we are able to since I became your Demon Sword. It's just we didn't have any chance to notice it since Crimson always hid in the shadows."

"But Ignis," Mark tilted his head. "You can't understand the other [Blood Children], right?"

"Maybe it is because the two of us had the closest connection to you Master," Ignis explained. "I'm your contracted Demon Sword while Crimson shared your blood and Miasma."

Mark fell silent. It was surprising that Ignis and Crimson could actually understand each other. Of course, understanding did not mean a complete conversation. As it appeared, Crimson could not understand everything that Ignis was saying, considering that he was just a baby at mind. Also because of Crimson's age, it was easy for Ignis to understand his simple thoughts even if he could not speak.

In any case, this was a good discovery. Since the two could converse to some extent, it would be easier to send the two together for scouting things. It would be safer for the two if they went in pairs.

"It's good that we now know this." Mark patted Crimson. "Still, we should check those people the day after tomorrow. We're taking a break, so you two should relax too."

Before Ignis and Crimson could reply, however, Mark suddenly turned his head as he sensed someone suddenly popping out behind him.

"You don't have to check on them. Those are good people."

A sweet voice entered their ears from where Mark was looking.

There, a woman in a white dress and flower crown stood. Behind her were a few black children that were the ones likely to be the cause of the woman suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

Seeing the woman, Mark sighed.

"Grandmother, what are you doing here?"

The woman that appeared was no other than Mark's ancestor, Aliya.

"Can't I come to see my Grandchild?" Aliya smiled. "This area is within Diwata Iraya's territory, so she knew what is happening around here. Actually, we detected an unfamiliar presence of a Tamawo. That's why we've been watching his group since they entered the area. We didn't expect that he's part of your group, though."

Hearing that, Mark understood. The mountain he ended up exiting when he left Diwata Iraya's domain was not too far from here. It was not surprising that this fell into her territory and was able to observe the events here with the abilities of the spirits.

"What are those people, anyway?"

Mark asked, changing the topic.

"They are Half-Demons. They were descendants of Demons from Human partners. However, they did not turn into Demons and retained humanity, albeit having abilities from their Demon parents and ancestors."

Hearing the words of his Grandmother, several thoughts entered Mark's mind. He remembered that in some pieces of Japanese literature, Otaku-oriented or not, Half-Races were utterly subjected to spite of Pureblooded races.

"Are they exiled by Demons because they are just failed offsprings?"

Mark asked.

"Exiled? No." Aliya approached Mark and sat beside him. "Those poor souls are people who escaped. Demons are not nice enough to just exile them. Most Half-Demons are killed immediately after the ritual that was supposed to turn them into Demons failed."

"Don't they turn into Feral Demons if the Demonification ritual failed?"

Mark asked another.

"Did you encounter Feral Demons already?"

"I did. I captured three."

Mark pointed at the room they cleared to store their baggage.

"My Grandchild managed to capture three." Aliya looked at Mark with worry. "It's good that you're alright. Feral Demons are hard to deal with because they hunt in groups and had various uncanny abilities."

"About the ritual," Aliya added. "The ritual that creates Feral Demons is different from what human descendants of Demons usually take. Turning normal humans into Demons, that is the [Demoniciation Ritual]. As for Demon descendants that already showed Demonic abilities since birth, they undergo an [Awakening Ritual]."

"I see." Mark nodded. "It looks like what I know is incomplete."

Mark frowned. Sure enough, not all the memories he got from the souls he absorbed were reliable. In the first place, his source of information he got was the memories of the Elder Cultivator and the Deity of Bloodshed. One was a human cultivator, and the other was a Formless Demon. Both had no concrete experience or first-hand knowledge of Demonic Rituals and such.

While Mark and his Grandmother were talking, Crimson was bouncing on Mark's palms, curious about Aliya.

"What a cute child." Aliya smiled. "But what kind of creature is this?"

Aliya poked Crimson, causing the [Blood Child] to jiggle. It seemed that it was comfortable of Aliya's touch and actually jumped to her lap.

The black children panicked. While they could not sense the Miasma in Crimson's body, the [Blood Child] was still an unknown creature to them.

Fortunately, Aliya did not mind and actually patted Crimson like she was facing a cute small animal.

At this moment, someone entered the scene, making Mark turned to the door of the building behind him.

"Gege, who?"

Mei asked, seeing the woman sitting beside Mark, who had an exotic-looking beauty.

"I told you about her the other night." Mark smiled at Mei. "Mei'er, this is my Grandmother, Aliya."

Hearing Mark's introduction, Mei's eyes turned wide. It was too sudden for her, after all. Flustered, Mei turned around, fixing her hair and wiping her face. She looked a bit haggard since she was preparing lunch with Pearl.

"My grandchild, are you not going to introduce her to me?" Aliya smiled at Mei's behavior. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

Seeing Mei all flustered, Mark smiled with a sigh. He stood up and approached her. Since she was panicking, instead of fixing herself, she was turning herself more into a mess.

This was the very first time Mark saw Mei like this. She did not even flinch while fighting the infected, but she was about to have a heart attack just meeting his Grandmother.

"Let me help."

Mark said, combing Mei's hair with his hand.

When done, Mark turned the stiff Mei around.

"Grandmother, this is Mei. My wife."

Hearing the introduction, Aliya stood and approached the two. She then started to observe Mei closely like she was examining a piece of art.

Mei, who could not even establish proper eye contact, could only look down with a reddened face. She was all embarrassed and flustered that she did not know what to do anymore.

"Hmm... Hmm..." Aliya nodded. "Looks like you got an outstanding wife."

"No, she's far more than outstanding."

Mark argued.

The conversation of the two made Mei even redder.

Mark and Aliya were smiling. The two were both teasing Mei because of her reaction.

"What is happening here?"

Unfortunately, the teasing could not continue. Berrak suddenly appeared, confused at the atmosphere between the three. Furthermore, his eyes fell on Aliya and the black children, noticing that they were not humans.

"What's wrong?"

Mark turned to Berrak and asked.

"Umm... The food is ready, and the Miss did not return with you immediately, so they sent me to check."

Berrak replied.

At it appeared, Mei was here to call Mark for lunch. However, she was caught up with the situation, forgetting what she came here for.

Turning back at Mei, Mark almost let out a laugh. He gently pinched Mei's cheek.

"Relax, Grandmother is not going to eat you, you know."

"B-but..."

Mei replied, sneaking a look at Aliya.

Finally, Aliya could not help but burst out laughing. She then gave Mei an embrace.

"Don't be too stiff. Do I look like a monster to you?" Aliya asked, and Mei shook her head in reply. "Then relax."

"Hah..."

Mark sighed. It was fun to tease Mei, but she looked too pitiful panicking like this.

"Here," Mark smiled gently, patting Mei's head with his hand covered in a white glow."

Without surprise, Mei calmed down. However, Aliya released Mei from her embrace with a surprised look as she stared at Mark.

"Is there something wrong?"

Mark asked, noticing Aliya's unsteady emotions.

Aliya did not reply. Instead, she raced her hand in front of her, showing it to Mark.

It was when Mark became the one surprised, especially when Aliya's hand was covered in a white, milky glow.

Who would not be surprised, considering Mark had been always bothered by what in the world was this ability of his, capable of soothing and comforting people he embraced and touched.