Mutagen

Day 154 - 8:14 PM - Matutinao Elementary School, Barangay Matutinao, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu

The seventeen-year-old Edzel. He was a bit taller than his peers of the same age. His body had built up quite a muscle, and his skin was tanned. It was an appearance that resulted from labor since he was little.

Edzel was a fisherman and also a baggage carrier at the fishing port. Most people in this field, since their young age, had these characteristics.

But now, in front of everyone's eyes, those characteristics of Edzel were slowly fading away.

Edzel's tan skin was turning into a pale shade of white. The muscles he accumulated began to shrink, being condensed tightly.

Aside from those changes, Edzel's hair also began to change from black to platinum silver. His dark brown eyes turned into a light shade of gray.

More than all of that, Edzel face was already above average. However, the change of Edzel's skin color suited his face more than before.

Pearl's eyes could not help but turn at Edzel's face. Since he was not wearing any cover on his face, she could see how handsome he turned out to be after his transformation.

BANG!

Pearl suddenly shot her gun, causing another man to fall. The man tried to grab her pistol when she was not looking, thinking that she could not feel them at all. Unfortunately for them, as long as their hearts were beating, creating vibrations, Pearl could detect their movements even without looking.

The slaves shivered as Pearl did not hesitate to shoot and kill. Nonetheless, it was because these bastard men made her remember her distasteful decision to sleep with that guy before when she left Edzel. That was the first time she felt like a toy in a man's eyes. The women being toyed by these male slaves should feel the same as her if they were not charmed.

At the center of the encirclement of Tamawos, Edzel glared at Terville, not noticing the changes in his body.

More than anything, he wanted to tear off Terville's eyes for trying to use [Charm Magic] on Pearl. It made him remember the hopelessness and regret he felt back when she left him for another guy. It was a sickening urge that made him feel like dying, pushing him to think of committing suicide.

Edzel did not want to feel it again. Never again.

"HA!!!"

Edzel roared. Charging towards Terville.

The Tamawos around Edzel snapped out of their stupor. They were all shocked to see the man they were fighting turned out to be one of their kind. The thing that made them shocked was his process of awakening. So far, they had never seen something different as this.

In any case, they were not mistaken. The Tamawos could smell the same blood of their race awakening from Edzel.

"STOP HIM!"

Terville roared with a frown. The backlash he received was too powerful, and he was not in shape to immediately clash with the enemy.

Hearing their commander, the more experienced Tamawos that came with Terville jumped into action.

Unlike the Tamawos left to guard this place, these veterans were faster and more powerful. They were standing behind Terville just now, but they were suddenly among the encirclement around Edzel.

A spear came hurling towards Edzel. However, the changes in Edzel's body were not just on his appearance. Reflexes, strength, speed, and other aspects were enhanced drastically.

BAM!

Edzel waved his spear to his right, not only blocking but changing the course of the spear to another Tamawo.

PSK!

Surprised, the Tamawo did not manage to block or avoid the spear redirected to him. He ended up being impaled on his stomach, staring wide-eyed as he fell down in pain.

CLANG! CLANG!

Spears clashed as Edzel charged forward. He received a few wounds on his arms and sides. The injuries were nothing but just scratches as Edzel reacted immediately upon contact with the spears of the enemies on his body. Edzel had nothing to worry about because of the burst of power he currently experienced.

On the other hand, the Tamawos were now looking at Edzel like a monster going berserk.

In their every clash with Edzel's spear, the Tamawos felt their hands go numb. Edzel might be a Tamawo like them, but it was clear that he was an anomaly in terms of strength.

Nonetheless, Tamawos were unhesitating warriors. Many of them had fallen to Edzel's spear in a short time, but they did not stop at all.

"BOWMEN!"

Terville shouted as he saw the situation turning against them. When they received the message that the town was attacked, they severely lacked any detail and information.

They thought that the humans who stayed in the school not far to the south finally decided to attack. Although those humans had guns, it would be nowhere enough to put everyone down. Yes, there would be deaths in their tribe. But they still had the advantage in terms of terrain and physical abilities.

Who would have known that the attackers were not that group but a different one? Not to mention that it was a group of monsters in human skin.

In fact, Terville's group had arrived much earlier before he came out. They were assessing the situation and running in the dark to suitable places. When the woman in front of the slaves, Terville thought that they got the upper hand. He laughed and came out with the remaining warriors behind him.

He was mistaken, however. Tergville thought that Pearl was just some female human he could charm and take as a hostage.

It was a grave mistake.

Pearl was not just a female human. She was not just a female human marked by a simple Tamawo, either.

Even if Terville tried to use [Charm Magic] on a woman marked by another Tamawo, he would only feel dizzy as a backlash from the failed magic. There was only one instance where he experienced his eyes bleeding and vomiting blood.

It was when he tried to use [Charm Magic] on the woman their current king fell in love with, Celine.

This was not something he confirmed yet, but he had an idea. The [Charm Magic] and [Mark of Love] left by members of the royal family of their tribe were higher than the members. The proof of that theory was when their current king tried to use [Charm Magic] on Celine several years ago. At that time, the king only felt dizzy. Yet, Terville had a worse backlash on the same target.

Terville glared at Edzel as the warriors that hid in the surroundings came out. Drawing their bows and nocking their arrows, they aimed at Edzel.

"SHOOT!"

Terville roared. He did not know why Edzel had a blood of a royal Tamawo. However, he did not want to know. He only wanted this bastard son of someone to die.

Thirty bowmen in the surroundings fired their arrows towards Edzel. None of the projectiles were going to miss their mark and were all flying straight at Edzel.

Even if Edzel managed to survive this with his armor, he would still become a blood bin cushion.

Unfortunately, Edzel displayed another thing that was out of their expectations.

BA-DUMP!

A loud sound echoed, accompanied by waves of vibrations in the air. Edzel's right arm shivered as he turned his body around, swiping his open parm three hundred and sixty degrees around him.

The strong vibrations were unbearable. Those Tamawos closest to Edzel felt warm in their ears and noses as their orifices began to bleed. On the other hand, the arrows flying towards Edzel lost momentum as the vibrations Edzel made behaved like an invisible shield around him.

Seeing what happened, the Tamawos retreated a bit, wary of Edzel.

None of them knew what happened, but they understood that it was something dangerous coming from Edzel.

On the other hand, Edzel was also surprised. He did it by what his instincts told him. When he became a [Evolver] because of the crystal Mark gave him, his ability was not this strong. Although he could knock down enemies with the vibration he created, it was not without direct contact.

Now, not only Edzel could make the air vibrate strongly, but he could also use it for both offense and defense.

With more confidence, Edzel charged at Terville once more. Anything on his way would experience his new strength.

Seeing that Edzel defended himself against the arrows, Terville felt angry. Then, if it would not work on Edzel...

"BOWMEN! TARGET THE OTHERS! LEAVE THIS BASTARD TO OTHERS!"

Terville roared as he picked himself up. He was still in pain from the backlash, but the most painful time was already over.

Pearl and the others could not understand what Terville was roaring about. Still, they knew it soon after when they saw the bow-wielding Tamawos point their bows at them.

Edzel noticed that Pearl was in danger. However, she was far away from him to protect. As for the girls, they had the two oldest ones, Emika and Iola, for protection.

At this point, Pearl was truly in danger.

Unfortunately, there was no time to wait at all. Upon Terville's command, the bowmen shot their bows at everyone except Edzel.

Edzel was shaken. He was already on the way to protect Pearl, but there were still Tamawos blocking his way. This made him wish that Mark would protect Pearl at this point. It was impossible for that guy to let his people face danger, after all.

But then, Edzel felt dismayed. What was he thinking? Yes, he could rely on Mark. Still, he had not done something by himself yet.

That was when Edzel and Pearl's eyes locked unto each other, ignoring the spears and arrows around them.

They felt a weird but warm and comfortable sensation. Edzel and Pearl felt a magical connection between them. At the same time, Edzel's instincts told him that he could do it.

BA-DUMP!

Edzel released a vibration around him, with most of it directed at Pearl.

The flight of the arrows might be fast, but the vibrations Edzel created were much faster.

Pearl was surprised as to why Edzel would do something like this. She could feel the vibrations approaching her like a flash flood. If she were to get hit by it, she might experience worse than the Tamawos that Edzel fought before.

Without anything she could do, Pearl could only crouch down to protect herself.

Finally, the vibrations hit her before the arrows could.

Unexpectedly, she felt nothing harmful. Instead, it was as if the vibrations were being absorbed by her body.

Then, an urge was felt by Pearl.

It was as if her connection to Edzel was telling her to release it.

HONG!

Trusting that sensation, Pearl did release it, creating a shockwave around her, not only knocking the arrows that were about to hit her but also pushing away the slaves close to her.

Pearl opened her eyes and stood shocked. Everything around her was pushed away by force. About two meters around her was cleaned of almost everything, including sand and dust. The only things left were heavy things like a large piece of cement debris.

"Edzel... You..."

Pearl could only mutter, realizing that it had something to do with Edzel.

Edzel, however, was just as surprised as Pearl. Nonetheless, it was a good surprise. That aside, everything else that the vibrations he sent Pearl hit were harmed, including the few Tamawos, who now lay lifeless on the ground.

"F*CK!"

Terville could only curse, seeing what happened. Not to mention that the kids had a wall of thorny vines and an invisible burning barrier around them.

"You should retreat now..."

Suddenly, the gruff voice entered Terville's ear.

"What are you saying?! Where are you just now?"

Terville argued at his invisible companion.

"Where I was doesn't matter." The voice replied. "What I know is that you will die here if you don't escape."

"What?! Are you serious?"

Terville was shaken.

"Whether I'm serious or not, can't you just judge the situation? You might have a numerical advantage, but your opponents were not normal humans. But that is if you can consider them as humans at all."

"Don't beat around the bush! Just say it!"

Terville was furious.

"Hah..." The voice sighed. "Demons, powerful ones. Those children, aside from the green-haired one, were Demons. If the children were here, their parents should be too. You are no match for them."

"Can't you do anything about this? You're also a Demon!"

Terville argued.

"In my current form, I can't." The invisible Demon replied. "Unless you are finally willing to accept my blessings."

Terville fell silent with a frown. Behind him was a shade of darkness that no one else was able to see.