Mutagen

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Mark blankly stared at the laughing Freed. Even though he was mostly smiling all this time, this was the first time he actually laughed. Although it felt like Freed was making fun of what he had just said, he just let him laugh out loud. This person who was more than a thousand years old already, he only lived seventeen years of happiness and the rest were all suffering and looking for solace.

"You don't have to apologize. Yeah, it was kind of hard living like everything had forsaken me. But, I'm not alone now. Also… If I did die back then, I won't be able to enjoy myself in an apocalyptic world like this."

Those words made Freed laugh even more.

"Yeah right. You're a zombie survival fan after all. That's where the two of us are different. I longed for peace and you longed for chaos."

"Yet, you chose me out of all people in the world."

"Yep."

Freed closed his eyes, he now had a peaceful expression in your face.

"You should cherish Mei. I saved her just because she was someone you perfectly needed."

Mark turned to Freed, confused, to see Freed looking at him with serious eyes.

"You need a stopper for that Empathic ability of yours. You already realized right? Her body rejects foreign energies unless the energy was channeled to her through direct contact. Even though being an Empath is something awesome or cool sounding to most people, it's a dangerous ability to the wielder. You already experienced the mildest and the moderate side effect of this ability. Headaches, fevers and nose and eye bleeding, those are just mild side effects. You confusing the emotions of others to yours and the weakening of your own emotions are just moderate ones." Freed's tone changed into a serious one. "If that is not regulated especially since the apocalypse is filled with negative and extreme emotions of people suffering, you will totally lose your emotions. In the worst case, you'll go crazy from being overwhelmed by the emotions of other people."

"That can't be helped isn't it?"

Mark replied as he did not care at all.

"Actually, there's a method to delay that from happening."

Freed said making Mark pay more attention.

"Channel the excess energies into the PsyCrystal and turn into the smaller crystals. That way, you can reduce the burden in your mind. You can consume the crystalized energies when you needed to. Well, that method is not as effective as keeping Mei on your side though."

Mark nodded seriously taking his advice.

"Besides…" Freed continued. "You should already accept her feelings. Don't become like me."

"A Cuckold?"

"Seriously you… Why do you always find chances to call me things like that?"

Freed felt infuriated but could not do anything.

"As payback. You think I already forgot about how you took over my body several times years ago just to court and flirt with several women on the street?"

"What? You looked so lonely so I thought of finding you a girlfriend."

"I don't need you to do it."

"But you never had one."

"At least, no one will leave me for another man."

"You…"

Freed sighed… He gave up first. There was no point on arguing with Mark who was not showing any expression at all. He then realized…

"Are you angry that I did not do anything when Amecia left me?"

Mark froze. He turned his head away.

"I remember now. You hated stories where the woman left the protagonist for another man, especially the ones where the protagonist did not take revenge at all being all nice and wishing the best for the woman no matter how he felt hurt inside. Right? Also, those protagonists who fell into despair instead of fighting for their feelings."

Mark did not speak. However, Freed smiled.

"To think that you will actually get angry for my sake… Thank you."

Mark looked at Freed. He was smiling but there was water dripping at the corner of his eyes.

The dam has been broken. The hundreds of years of pent up emotions finally overflowed. It was because there was someone now who he could finally share his thoughts even though it was just a one-time instance.

Strong men did not cry they said… But Freed was not strong. He was just forced to be one.

***

It had been a while now. Since they were inside the subconscious, the two did not know how much time had already passed by. It was because unlike Mark who owned this small dark world, the consciousness outside was not connected to the subconscious. Just like how it was with Freed. While Freed could read and know what Mark was thinking, Mark could not do the same to the latter since he was a foreign consciousness.

"It's time."

Freed stood up and spoke.

"You're going already?"

Mark asked.

"That's right. Your mutation is almost done already. The only thing left is to place the fourth key into place."

The fourth key, it was the Psychic ability Freed had. It was why Mark gained no additional ability from the Mental Crystal that entered his body six years ago. It was because Freed withheld the inheritance. Now that Freed did not have much time left, it was the right timing for Mark to receive his inheritance.

"The moment I disappear, I'll take the guy outside with me and we'll both fuse with your consciousness. You'll inherit my psychic ability as I said before and also gain full control of your abilities as a Mutator."

Freed started to walk slowly towards the darkness.

"Don't forget about my other request. The first one my take a long time but the second one is easier."

"I have to search of the inheritors of the other 47 people right?"

"Yeah. If the ability is being used for good, then let it be. If not, spare nothing to take it back. Those are the abilities are from my precious comrades. I'd rather not let them get sullied."

"Don't worry, I'll remember that. Besides, I will also get your memories right? It will be difficult for me to forget that."

"Hahaha, that's right. Next is that you won't be able to use your Empathic abilities and the ability you will get from for a while. You need to wait for both abilities to consolidate in your mind or you will suffer a backlash."

"You don't have to repeat that. I know that already."

"Lastly, don't make Mei wait too long even if the life expectancy of humans increased to an unprecedented length."

"Just go already. You sound like a mom going out of the house leaving a kid at home."

"Alright. And... thank you for listening to my story and the fun I experienced in the past six years…"

Freed finally vanished, being swallowed by the darkness.

Mark let out a smile on his expressionless face.

Everything that happened since he entered this place was like a fantasy story. Not all people had the chance to experience something like this.

While reminiscing the time he had in this dark place, Mark's eyes dilated as he clutched his head in pain.

Even though Freed had already warned him of this, he never expected it to be this painful. If not for his perseverance, he might have screamed out loud already. The pain was as if his head was being drilled with a hole.

It then flooded. Freed's memories along with two unknown energies he never felt before. The first felt like crackling electricity while the other felt like pumping blood. He could only close his eyes and endure the pain until it subsided.

How long did he clutch his head? He did not know. The pain was enough to make him forget about everything.

The moment he finally opened his eyes… The dark world was nowhere to be found.

What greeted his wake were lush green surroundings. He was currently sitting on the ground with his back leaned on a large tree. He looked around and everything he could see was nothing but flora. Around him were trees, bushes, grass, flowers and rocks. It was a scene that could only be found inside forests.

Mark looked at his body stained with blood. He was perfectly fine making it impossible to determine if the stains of blood on his body were his or not. More importantly, he was currently naked. It seemed that the savage consciousness created by the Mutagen tore off his clothes for some reason. Making Fein bring away his things back then was a really good idea.

"Where… am I… anyway?"

Mark spoke. His voice was really hoarse. His throat felt too dry that it seemed like he had not drunk any liquid for a very long time. It even hurt a bit when he spoke.

He was in the middle of a forest he never knew. There were a lot of forested areas in the Philippines but Mark could not remember any forest near Bacoor, especially something that resembled a mountainous terrain. The nearest ones from the place he fell unconscious should be more than forty kilometers away either east or southwest. In that case, did that savage conscious traveled that far?

To even go hiking…

Mark looked at the sky. It was almost evening. He scratched the back of his right wrist. It was not his skin that his fingers touched however but something hard. Looking at his wrist, he saw the PsyCrystal embedded on his arm. He had the urge to try the things he learned from Freed but it was not a good time to do so.

He needed to find shelter. More importantly, clothes.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Clicking sounds started to be heard coming from behind the trees. Mark somehow left frustrated. Like Freed said, his Empathic ability was currently repressed. He could not tell whether the source of the sound was something living or not.

Although his head felt really light, he was not used to it.

The source of the sound finally showed itself. It was actually a millipede about the same size as his arm walking around the trees. Looking at how it behaved, it was not an infected but an insect that had already evolved. These kinds were usually docile and posed no threat to him at all. In fact, the millipede even changed its route after sensing him standing in the open.

Still, seeing how large the millipede had grown compared to its actual size before the apocalypse, it would remind everyone that the world had already changed.

Since he could not or rather, should not, walk naked in the open as he searched for shelter. He started to gather vines and large leaves to cover his body. It felt itchy but it was better than nothing.

Mark looked at the sky once more and used the colors of the sunset to determine the direction he should take. Thinking that he was in the mountains at the southwest area of Cavite, he started to walk towards the northeast.

He wished that he could find shelter before the nightfall even if he was not afraid that he would encounter danger. With what he had seen before in his subconscious, he knew what he was currently capable of. Even the huge cat at the city hall a few days ago was nothing but a kitten to him now. Still, who knows what danger he might encounter during the night? A sudden sneak attack could be dangerous.

In the middle of the mountains, he did not find any landmarks or pathways at all. Because of that, he could only walk between the trees.

He did not know that he was actually walking towards the totally wrong direction.

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