Mutagen



Day 357 - 12:11 PM - Jalur Lohbener-Cirebon, Balongan, Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia

The thick fog rolled in and deprived everyone of their sense of sight. But that was not all. It prevented any magical ability within. As Mark tried to assess the situation, he noticed that not only their sense of sight but also their sense of direction became greatly hampered.

It was unsurprising to feel lost in any place where the visibility was low. Sometimes, direction-finding devices such as compasses would help in this scenario.

However, Mark could only frown as he saw both his analog and digital compasses had gone haywire. The hand of the analog compass was just erratically spinning, and the digital compass just kept blinking and pointing in different directions at every blink.

"Everyone, stay close."

Mark said out loud as he noticed that the fog also affected their sense of hearing.

Wary of what was happening, the members of Mark's group complied immediately.

At least the fog did not seem poisonous... 

Or so they thought.

THUD!

Everyone heard the muffled thud as someone fell. It caused Mark and the girls to turn their heads, where they found Hannah barely conscious on the ground.

Mark immediately checked on Hannah. Fortunately, it seems his [Empath] abilities still worked through touch. He noticed that Hannah was not in pain or anything of the sort. However, she began showing signs similar to altitude sickness.

But that was impossible. Mark's group was not at any high altitude.

It meant that what was happening to Hannah should be the effect of the fog. But as Mark looked at the rest of his group, they seemed fine. Even Laelaps, Chaflar, and Crystal were normal. Only Hannah showed the symptoms.

Although Mark and the girls did not know why, Hannah might be the only one in danger.

Mark looked up. It might be best if he could bring Hannah out of the fog first. Odelina would be extremely saddened if something bad happened to her niece.

The shortest way to leave the fog should be the sky. Mark thought of flying out of the fog with Hannah in his arms.

But before Mark could even let his wings out, a voice in his mind paused in his tracks.

"I advise against doing what you are trying to do," Magwayen's voice echoed in Mark's mind. "If you want to help her, just hand her one of your empty magical crystals. And while at it, give each of your members one to keep in their hands or pockets."

Mark immediately moved after hearing Magwayen's instructions. He did not know why she wanted to distribute the empty [Mental Crystals], but at the least, he knew she would not jeopardize their safety in situations like this.

Surprisingly, handing Hannah a crystal in her hand reduced her symptoms immediately. However, as her suffering eased, Hannah fell unconscious.

Mark also handed everyone an empty crystal. He even made a [Blood Metal] necklace to hold the crystal for the three pets to wear on their necks. Crystal seemed to be a little irritated with something foreign hanging on its neck, but the other two did not mind.

After everyone received a crystal, something unexpected happened. The crystals seemed to begin absorbing something as their color became hazy. It was similar to what would happen when Mark used the crystals to absorb magical energy from [Infected] magical creatures. And after just a few seconds, everyone noticed the visibility of their surroundings became much better. The fog was still there, but they could at least see up to around five meters around them before the fog could affect the visibility again.

"This is much better." 

Mark voiced out, and everyone could only agree.

However, despite the better visibility, Mark was quite sure their sense of direction was still skewed.

"Now, can you tell me what is going on?"

Mark spoke in his mind.

Right now, Magwayen was clearly watching the situation around Mark. And as such, her reply came immediately.

"It's a [Magic Overflow]."

Magwayen then explained.

[Magic Overflow] was a phenomenon that could happen in worlds with magical energy. It would happen when magical energy became concentrated in one area without a proper flow cycle. The magical energy would become stale after a prolonged stagnancy. After a longer period without a flow, the stagnant magical energy would either start materializing or turn into natural [Miasma].

The [Magical Fog] was the most common result of stagnant magical energy. It was mostly harmless. However, it had the tendency to affect the mentality of living beings within it. Furthermore, higher concentrations of this kind of fog could cause nausea, shortness of breath, and other effects on creatures with low magical resistance. On the other hand, such effects could be resisted by creatures with magical energy within their bodies or those with high magical resistance.

But the [Magical Fog] itself would not cause a [Magic Overflow]. Despite turning into fog or [Miasma], the stagnant magical energy should remain stagnant. 

A [Magic Overflow] was quite a rare phenomenon. Even in magic-oriented worlds that existed, this phenomenon would not happen easily unless a few strict factors were fulfilled. In the first place, there were very few places where magical energy could become stagnant. And even if magical energy started gathering in some places, there were magical creatures that would absorb them before turning into a disaster.

However, such factors could still happen. One of the few places where magical energy could gather and become stagnant was the central areas of a thick, lush forest. Another was a mountainous valley. Deep caves were also an example.

Although magical creatures could stop magical energy from becoming stagnant, if the magical energy gathered faster than the speed magical creatures could absorb it, it would still end up accumulating.

A [Magic Overflow] could happen if the location where the stagnant magical energy gathered could not hold the magical energy anymore. And like a dam that far reached its threshold, it would overflow and spread out in the surroundings.

The [Magical Overflow] was not deadly in the outer areas. However, it was the opposite in the central areas where the stagnant magical energy gathered. Once the stagnant magical energy reached an overflow, the central areas would likely be deadly to creatures with low magical resistance.

Mark listened to Magwayen's explanation while he told his group to set up a resting area for Hannah. It was better to stay put in this fog than aimlessly wander around before knowing more about the situation.

While listening to the factors that could cause the phenomenon, things became clear.

Indonesia had turned into a large forest-covered country. And not just any regular forest, either. The trees here were mutated, gigantic, and fast-growing. It was extremely likely for magical energy to become stagnant in these places.

Furthermore, Earth was originally a magic-less world. The number of magical creatures on this planet was far lower, and there was no way for them to stop the magical energy in these forests from becoming stagnant. In the first place, Mark's group had yet to see any magical creature or signs of them since they stepped into this country. They might not even exist in this place due to the highly mutated [Infected].

With all those factors in place, the [Magic Overflow] happened. And unfortunately, Mark's group just happened to be in the area when it happened.

"How long would this take?"

Mark asked Magwayen.

"Unfortunately, that is something I had no answer to," Magwayen answered. "A [Magic Overflow's] duration depended on the density of the stagnant magical energy. However, there is no way of telling its density without going to the central area. And trying to find the central area while the [Magic Overflow] is already happening would be dependent on luck."

"But can we get out of this place? Will flying work?"

Mark asked, wanting to get out of this dangerous situation.

"As I had said before, do not resort to flight. The only reason that allowed you to tell which direction is up and down in this situation is because your feet are touching the ground. Once you lose touch or sight of the ground, you will never know whether you are flying up or down because of the fog. Rather than escaping, you will end up getting lost faster than walking."

Magwayen explained thoroughly.

"Then, we can only try walking."

Mark followed with another question.

"Yes, you can," Magwayen agreed. "However, just like trying to go to the central area, it would be dependent solely on luck."

"I see."

Mark nodded.

Finally getting enough information, Mark approached the girls who were tending to the unconscious Hannah.

"Let's have lunch first," Mark said. "After Hannah regained consciousness, we will set off."

"Are we continuing forward?"

Mei asked Mark.

"No," Mark shook his head. "We'll retrace our steps north first. Our priority right now is to leave these areas affected covered in fog."

Mark's thoughts were correct. They would at least be familiar with the areas they already passed by, and give them more chance of leaving. While the visibility was still low, they at least had a few meters of visibility they could use to find familiar landmarks.

While thinking, Mark held the crystal in his hand. The crystals were helping by absorbing the magical energy that formed the fog.

If the fog was caused by magical energy, it meant that Mark could absorb it using [Miasma].

However, Mark would only resort to that if the situation went on a desperate turn. It was because while Mark already recovered physically, Mark had yet to recover magically.

During the battle with the Yamata-no-Orochi, Mark absorbed too much magical energy than he could control. Even right now, Mark had yet to fully control the large amount of new [Miasma] inside his body. If he had the correct estimate, he could barely control a third of it. If he blindly absorbed more in this situation, he might turn into that aggressive blob once again, and that would not be a good thing in this situation.

With Mark's arrangements, the group ate lunch while Mark explained the information from Magwayen to his members. In the middle of it, Hannah woke up. Sadly, her first words were apologies for her blunder, even though it was not her fault in any way.

After lunch, the group set off on their way. Carefully, they searched the area to retrace their steps back and head north. As said, the group did not try to leave anyone outside the area visible to them. It was really easy to get lost when none of them could even realize the direction where they were going.

The pace of their group was much slower than before. Still, they were making consistent progress. Unfortunately, this progress was limited until the sharp turn before the trail following the current road. As said before, the trail had some turns as if following something. And the turn at the end of this road would be going in the opposite direction they were trying to go.

Once Mark's group reached that turn, they would need to gamble. Nonetheless, it was a better option.

The group continued to move. But at the current pace, it was clear that nighttime would come way before they could leave the vicinity of the fog.

Soon, the group reached a familiar area filled with ruins. It was the capital of the province.

"Let's look for a place to spend the night here."

Mark told the group. They also agreed that it would be far more dangerous than usual to travel under this thick fog during the night.

The group carefully searched the ruins. However, as one would expect, there was barely anything intact. When it came to a shove, the group decided to clear an area and camp.

Soon, the foggy environment began to darken. The night was coming.

But as the group searched one last area, an unexpected thing happened.

The group entered an area unaffected by the fog.

And within that area, a group led by a woman with oddly purple hair stared at Mark's group in obvious shock.

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