Mutagen

Day 206 - 9:30 AM - Secret Real, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of Panay

Finally getting permission to enter the secret realm, Mark's group prepared.

"There's nothing we forgot, right?"

Mark asked, looking at everyone in his group.

"I guess there's none."

Mei replied while glancing at the others.

Spera shook her head. And the little girls definitely had nothing they should have forgotten to bring aside from their small bags. Feng Zhiruo also shook her head. As for Amihan sitting on Mark's shoulder, she did not really have anything with her.

"I wish we can bring the [Mini Cube] with us."

Ilia said, looking behind them. There, further away from the foot of the mountain, the [Mini Cube] lay hidden behind trees.

"Not like I don't want to either," Mark responded with a shrug. "But I don't think we will be able to, given its size. Besides, it will make the guys in front of us even warier. It's better to lessen the troubles that will waste our time."

Everyone could only agree with Mark's words. The [Mini Cube] was a strange and unique vessel. Knowing that all creatures had the fear of the unknown, using the [Mini Cube] to pass through the secret realm of Mount Madia-as would definitely cause fear and panic among the secret realm's residents.

Not to mention that they were already wary in the first place due to Mark's group being composed of mostly Demons and Humans.

"Let's go," Chimetric called out. "They are already waiting."

As Chimetrice said, the black-dressed [Diwata] was already waiting for Mark's group to finish their discussion. Even the Visayan Goddess of the Underworld, Magwayen, was silently watching Mark's group.

Well, most of Magwayen's attention was on Chimetrice, however. It was not surprising if she actually noticed what kind of magical being Chimetrice was to pique her interest.

However, it was not only Chimetrice, who caught Magwayen's attention. There was someone else.

As they finished their discussion, Mark took the lead to approach Silim, who was waiting by the entrance.

Silim glanced at Magwayen, and the latter responded with a nod.

"Follow closely behind me." Silim turned around and said. "Do not blame me for anything that will happen otherwise."

Mark did not say anything, and it was the same for the members of his group. Mark and Mei grasped the hands of their children, however. After all, they did not know what kind of place lay behind the invisible barrier. And rumors or not, children had more tendency to become lost inside these secret realms.

Following Silim, everyone else entered the invisible barrier.

And the moment they did, they could not help but feel the sudden blindness as everything in their vision went dark.

It was not like they felt any kind of danger.

Outside, before they entered, the sun was up high in the sky. It was late morning, after all.

But inside the barrier, it was as dark as midnight. The only light looming in the sky was the moon, which strangely felt different compared to the moon Earth had.

Slowly, their eyes adjusted to the darkness, and their vision returned. However, there was barely anything they could see around them due to the place being veiled under the shadows of the forest.

"As I said before, follow closely."

Silim spoke as she began to lead the way.

Mark now understood what Silim meant by her words before entering. The place right after they entered was a natural maze obscured by the shadows of eternal darkness. Any intruder or person unfamiliar with the place would become lost inside, probably for eternity.

There were no distinct pathways across the maze. Each area was covered by bushes and trees, leaving no way to see further in front.

The only path Mark's group could see was the path left by Silim. But in front of here, there was no path in sight either. Instead, the way only opened the moment she walked through.

In Silim's every step, the seemingly immovable bushes, vines, and plants that blocked the way would move, opening the path for her and Mark's group. The moment Mark's group passed through, the flora would return to their initial positions, closing the way behind them.

Although they could not see the magical races that retreated, Mark and the others were sure they were still around. They could feel many eyes staring at their group, after all.

Time passed as they moved through the forested maze. Because everything looked the same, it was hard to determine how long they spent inside or how far they went through.

Mark even had to begin carrying Miracle in his arms as the little girl was having a hard time traversing the mountain terrain. Abbygale was fine, however. Her agile and nimble legs sure were made for this kind of ground.

Finally, after approximately three hours of hiking through the forest maze, they saw its end.

Passing through the last couple of bushes and vines blocking the way, the scene past the forest maze welcomed everyone's eyes.

"Wow..."

Amihan could not help but say, seeing the scenery in front of them. It was not her first time inside a secret realm managed by a [Diwata], but it was the first time she saw a place like this one.

The veil of darkness still lingered around them. However, it did not hinder everyone to see the beautiful scenery. In fact, the darkness of the night and the light coming from the realm's moon made it even more beautiful.

Trees with glowing leaves, plants and bushes with glowing flowers, and even grass that seemed to absorb the moonlight, everything looked amazing as they all swayed along with the wind's breeze.

The amazement even grew stronger as they noticed the gigantic tree standing in the middle of the grass-covered land.

It was a tree as tall as half of the mountain, with its trunk probably being hundreds of meters in diameter. Each of its leaves was as large as a person, and its gigantic flowers bloomed and glowed with a dim red light.

Around the gigantic tree, floating flames and glowing lights flew around. If one was to look closely, those flames and lights were actually small people, playing around the tree.

Those flames were not the fire spirits called [Santelmo] or [St. Elmo's Fire]. They were small fairy-like spirits with flaming hair called [Buralakaw]. Their names were derived from the word "Bulalakaw" which meant meteor. It was due to the fact that when flying, [Buralakaws] turn into a ball of fire which looked like a meteor. Their behavior were also different from [Santelmos] but they were often mistaken as such.

As for the glowing lights, they were a mixture of [Sylphs] and forest nymphs locally called [Lambanas].

The floating flames and lights aside, Mark's group's attention was focused on the gigantic tree.

"A [Pure Spirit Tree]."

Mark said, looking at the gigantic tree.

It was the third time Mark had seen one. The first was, of course, his own [Pure Spirit Tree]. The [Night Everred Spirit Tree] which he named Chiyo. The second one he saw was the [Pure Spirit Tree] of the Sylphs, which had been corrupted and destroyed by the [Mutated Infected Berberoka].

"It seems you're knowledgeable."

Silim spoke to Mark for the first time. It seemed that Mark was the very first guest to know what the tree was in one glance.

"I have my own [Pure Spirit Tree], so it's not hard to determine another when I see one."

Mark replied nonchalantly.

Of course, it made the black-dressed [Diwata] really surprised as she turned to Magwayen who responded with another nod.

"This man indeed has his own."

Magwayen confirmed.

"And how did you know that?" Mark asked. "I never called you out in my place."

Magwayen let out a smirk.

"Although minimal, I can sense things around the artifact you are carrying. Do not think that I would not know just because I am not called."

That was right. In the first place, Magwayen used the [Mark of the King] to communicate with the kings of [Tamawos]. It meant that she could sense the surroundings around the artifact to some extent.

Mark did not mull over that fact. Instead, he was focused on the [Pure Spirit Tree] as they continued their hike.

"That tree. It's sleeping, isn't it?"

Mark asked, making Silim even more surprised. Not only Mark was able to confirm what the tree was but could actually tell its current state.

At this time, it was Magwayen who answered Mark.

"It had been asleep after it lost its master." Magwayen explained. "That is the tree where Sidapa spent most of his time sitting underneath. It was just a normal tall tree at first. But having Sidapa's presense and being his instrument to measure the human's life and death, it became a tree harboring a spirit. It was not like your young [Pure Spirit Tree] born from a seed. This tree, became one through change and growth affected by Sidapa. It would not take anyone as its master aside from him which caused it to sleep for all eternity."

"Hmm... No wonder..."

Mark murmured.

It was a pity that such a rare thing was left masterless. But given its story, there was nothing to be done with it. After all, it was a tree nurtured by a god. It would not be like other [Pure Spirit Trees] that magical races could fight over.

In the first place, even if some unknowingly greedy being tried to invade just for the sleeping [Pure Spirit Tree], they would likely be defeated even before they could get out of the forest maze.

The hike up the mountain continued passing through the grassland of glowing flowers. Soon, they could see what seemed to be a village from a far. There were huts made of leaves, trees, and vines. Some of the huts seemed new while some looked extremely old.

But what made Mark rather surprised when the village entered his detection range was...

"Humans?"

Mark voiced out, getting everyone's attention.

"You..." Silim frowned. "You can tell all the way from here?"

Mark voiced his words instinctively due to surprise. Well, who would not be? In the first place, why was there a village of humans in this rather unwelcoming place?

Magwayen stared at Silim. It seemed that she knew nothing of this either, meaning it was something that happened recently.

Sensing the stare of her creator, Silim began to explain.

"About a little more than a month ago in human measures of time, when the [Spirit Dimension] and the [Mortal World] fused, some parts of the barrier cracked open. Many humans that fled to the mountain due to the current state of the [Mortal World] fell unto the crack and ended up in this realm. We decided to bring them out. However, they begged us to stay."

"I'm surprised you agreed."

Mark said.

"We might be hostile to Demons, but we have leniency towards humans." Silim replied without even looking at Mark. "Besides, they were all confined within the village and its surroundings. If even just one of them decide to break the rules given to them, all of them would be chased back to their chaotic world."

"And given that strict rule, none of them had broken it so far, right?" Mark voiced out with a nod. "Well, with the current state of Earth, most people would rather be imprisoned as long as they won't end up getting eaten alive."

"By the way," Mark continued speaking and asked. "Why are you bringing us here?"

And the reply came from Magwayen.

"The passage to Kahilwayan only opens when it is both daytime in this realm and outside." Magwayen then looked at the sky, seemingly measuring the current angle of the moon. "It would not likely happen until tomorrow noon."

"Yes. It would open tomorrow noon." Silim nodded in agreement. "I brought you all here to rest. This is the only place where we can let guests stay temporarily."

"Tomorrow, huh..." Mark shrugged and looked at Magwayen. "You should have told us earlier. We could use some more free time."

"Would it not be better to gain permission to enter early?" Magwayen reasoned. "And as you see, we are only halfway up the mountain. You would have enough time to get there before it opens without missing it."

Mark fell silent. What Magwayen said was reasonable.

In any case, from Silim's words, their status was now upgraded from intruders or passerby to being guests. Since she was now showing some hospitality, it would not hurt to accept it.