Mutagen

Despite not being planned, Mark was back at this balcony once more. Even though he frequented this place every day, it was only at times that they were having meals, relaxing, or doing some designs. The reason being this place was the most relaxing part of the base.

Not only that it could let them oversee the base, and a wide area towards the east, the wind blowing from here felt nice. It was a perfect setting for many things.

Now, he was here with some unusual guests. Usually, he would bring guests toward the living room near the entrance. However, as these guests, right now, were tense, it was not suitable to bring them in an enclosed area.

Mark and Mei sat together while Amihan sat on her Master"s shoulder. Pefile leaned on the wall while looking at the scenery below. As for the guests, aside from the largest among them, the rest were on the table. Most of them sat on the table. Even if it could be disrespectful to the owner of the place.

It could not be helped, though. After the method, they were brought here, only a few could withstand it. The rest had their feet shaking after they landed.

As for the unconcious one, she was laid on the table comfortably. She was not heavily injured and just hit her head in the battle. There were a few bruises and a torn part of her wings, but she would be fine.

Well, it was not like Mark was mindful of formalities. As such, he wanted to start the conversation while observing each creature that was now in front of him. That should be the plan. But... Mark could not ignore the largest one sitting on the chair on the opposite side of the table.

She was bitten by one of the Earthworms. Now, she was heavily sweating and panting. The rows of teeth that left marks on her arm started to turn violet colored. There was no doubt that she was poisoned. She was trying hard to cover the wound and contain the poison in her body without telling anyone. It was because she did not want them to worry.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the poison from the Earthworm was something she could not handle.

And thus, a [Blood Child] came bouncing out into the balcony after receiving Mark"s call. When they had nothing to do, the [Blood Children stayed in one of the rooms Mark had just made for them. From the perspective of most of the people, the [Blood Children] were just unusual creatures. To Mark and a few people who knew, they were children. 

Because of that, Mark made a room for the [Blood Children], complete with toys and stuff they could enjoy.

Seeing the strange slime-like creature bouncing out into the balcony, the guests were certainly surprised. They had not seen or heard of such a creature. The creature then bounced onto the lap of the Master of the Spirit Tree like a spoiled child.

Then, Mark spoke.

"You there, what is your name?"

Normally, an introduction would start a meeting like this. But that could be done later. 

Surprised by the sudden question, the Kibaan gulped.

"Angis."

"Come here for a bit."

Mark said as he pointed at the seat beside him.

As that was unexpected, the guests were surprised. It was quite worrying that Angis was called out. However, these were not their place, and there was an obvious disparity in their status right now. They could only obey if they did not want a fight.

Well, a fight could really happen, if not of the quick-witted Felenia covering the mouth of panicking Teremillio. He might be a womanizer. However, he was very protective of his wives. Angis, being called out, did not suit him very well.

"Husband, just calm down!" Felenia whispered. "Just try to feel it. Amihan"s master meant no harm."

That was right, these creatures, like animals, were very sensitive to the ill will of those around them. If not, they would not be wary of humans until all of them were eradicated. Hearing that, Teremillio calmed down while looking at Angis that moved to sit beside Mark.

"Just sit tight. It will be a bit painful. Also, remove your hand from your wound."

Mark said to Angis as he urged Ruby to do her thing.

Confused as to why Mark said that, Angis looked at him with confused eyes.

The Kibaan was depicted most of the time as scary old looking creatures similar to goblins. Nevertheless, like humans, they had different faces. Compared to those depictions, Angis looked more like a child than a goblin. She had fair skin and long hair that almost as long as her body. The most noticeable things on her were her golden teeth, reversed feet, and mellow voice that was the most known indications of her race.

Angis followed what Mark said reluctantly. Seeing her wound, the rest of her group exclaimed in shock.

Then...

"Ah!"

Angis cried out. Rather than pain, it was because of surprise. Not only here, but the others were also surprised.

Ruby covered the wound with her tentacle and entered the bloodstream of Angis to absorb the poison.

Then, Ruby jiggled around as if asking Mark something.

And Mark replied.

"No."

It seemed to have made Ruby a bit dejected.

"I"ll feed you later, all right? Just not hers."

Mark sighed.

It seemed that Ruby found the white-colored blood of Angis rather delicious and asked Mark if she could eat some. However, that was not appropriate and he denied him that.

Still, hearing that Mark would feed her instead, Ruby jiggled in an even livelier manner.

Since the poison had not spread too much due to the effort of Angis to counter it, Ruby did not take too long to absorb everything. As Ruby retracted her tentacle, the wound on the arm of Angis looked surely better than before.

"Thank you."

Angis said with her mellow voice. The others were also relieved as they saw that the wound looked better. They started to see Mark better than before.

"Well, that"s settled," Mark then said as he turned towards the group on the table. "Introduce your selves and why did you want to meet me?"

They were still nervous, however, they managed to introduce themselves properly. Furthermore, after Angis was treated with the poison, Teremillio finally calmed down.

"Master of the Spirit Tree. I don"t know if you heard of me before. I"ll introduce my humble self. This one"s name is Teremillio. A leader of a small tribe living some way southeast of this place. Near the place, human"s called Daraitan."

Teremillio bowed like a proper person. Well, if not his usual shenanigans towards women, he could look better. Furthermore, compared to common appearances of Duendes, there as no doubt that he was handsome within their race. Aside from that, there was a subtle aura around him that could tell that he was not just some common person either. Something that told others that his background was not simple at all.

As the current matter was not something he should mess up, Teremillio decided to deal with it properly. He even looked at Mark straight. Right now, Teremillio was not below Mark as he had to be to protect his people.

Seeing this, Mark nodded. This Duende surely knew how to behave when needed.

Then, Teremillio proceeded to introduce his wives from the first to last.

Felenia, the first wife. A Duende who was surely at the same level as Teremillio in terms of appearance. Furthermore, she also had that same subtle aura Teremillio had.

The second wife was Dathlia. Another Duende. Compared to Felenia, she looked a bit lacking. However, compared to Teremillio and Felenia, it seemed that she had a higher level of magical power.

Malaya was the third wife. A Sylph with yellowish-green hair. Compared to the whole group, she had the strongest magical energy. However, it seemed that she lacked proper control of it. It was leaking even right now.

The fourth wife was Angis who Mark asked for her name just now.

As for the fifth, it was the unconcious Pixie. Her name was Reilynne.

The sixth was the Bukaw called Daniya. A doll-like creature with golden hair that usually rode on Coconut Sh.e.l.ls according to folklore.

Lastly, the creature that Mark was the most interested in their group. She was a shy Koropokkuru. She had the name Kokoro which obviously stated her j.a.panese descent. She had the appearance of a very beautifully cute young woman.

Seeing the contrast between the appearance of Teremillio and Kokoro, Mark wanted to ask how she became his husband. However, that question would surely go back to him. Thus, he decided to keep silent despite the curious eyes he had.

After the introduction, Teremillio finally asked the reason why they came here to meet Mark.

"As the leader of our tribe, I wanted to ask about your plans in this place."

To that question, Mark tilted his head in confusion. He turned to Mei and Amihan if they understood what the Duende was talking about. However, Mei was also confused. Amihan also did not understand it.

Seeing the visible confusion of the three, the Duende and his entourage were flabbergasted.

Thus, Teremillio decided to rephrase his question.

"What I mean is to ask about your plans. To appear in this place and plant a Spirit Tree. Are you going to claim the mountains in the area as your territory? Will you go and make others like us that lived nearby to submit and serve you? Will you purge those that resist out of your territory?"

Hearing that, Mark, Mei, and Amihan finally understood. No wonder the question confused them. It was because...

Mark never had those plans at all!

This base existed because he wanted to build a place he could call home.

The people that were here came either by coincidence or were handpicked by him.

He planted the Spirit Tree mostly because of Amihan"s request.

During the time the Spirit Tree was planted, he partially awakened his dormant demon blood. This also caused the blood-colored sky as the Spirit Tree grew following the characteristics of a Spirit Tree of the Blood Demons.

And thus, Mark replied.

"What are you talking about? Everything you said is just a pain and troublesome to do. I don"t have such plans. I"d rather play video games than do that."

That reply left the group of unusual creatures slack-jawed.

This meant that all their worries and efforts were for naught. Rather, their actions had no meaning at all.

They all felt helpless as they slumped down on the table. Somehow, they felt relieved, at the same time, sad. Some of them died on the way here thinking about the fate of their tribe. To think that their sacrifice was worthless.

Teremillio felt angry and looked at Mark.

To that look, Mark just shrugged his shoulders.

"Don"t look at me like that. It"s not my fault. You all are being too paranoid. That is the cause of your troubles. Besides, if I really had those plans, why would I wait for days? After the tree grew, I could start immediately."

Then, Mark"s eyes turned into a sinister hue. He also smirked.

"After all, killing you all is just as easy as this."

As those words came from Mark"s mouth, his eyes glowed red. Every single one of Teremillio"s group fell on fours having a hard time to breath. They felt heavy and their throats were choked. Teremillio immediately forgot the anger he had and his mind was occupied with fear instead.

This was not a joke at all. He could see his wives and guards struggling to keep up.

Then, as instantly it happened, the pressure vanished.

They all coughed heavily as their throats were cleared. They panted hard and were surely weakened.

"Everyone! Is everyone okay?!"

Then, the panicked voice of Angis entered their ears as she ran towards their side of the table. They then noticed that Angis was all fine. It was the same for Reilynne, she was still in the same state. They could not help but look at Mark.

At those stares, Mark made another shrug.

"What? I"m not much of a bully to pick on the injured."

That confirmed everything. Not only Teremillio and his tribe but all the races living in this area were gravely mistaken.

The master of the Spirit Tree had no intention to do anything about his neighbors. It was not because he could not do it or did not have the ability to. He just found it troublesome. However, if he was pestered or angered, he would not hesitate to kill. Just like how he demonstrated everything here.

They thought that this person would be like the other powerful owners of Spirit Trees. They forgot that he was human which the same culture might not apply.

Then, another set of words was heard that made them surprised.

"Say, you guys. Want to work for me?"

Mark said with his elbows on the table and fingers in between each other. He was speaking like a merchant.