Mutagen

<strong>Day 74 - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon</strong>

Another day had come. The day after Mark planted the Spirit Tree, at the Center of the Base. The Night Everred Tree that was one of the icons of the Blood Demon Race.

The uproar that happened yesterday had yet to die down. It was primarily because of the tree with blood-red leaves towering over their heads. The unusual-looking tree could be seen from anywhere inside or outside the base. Furthermore, the shade of the seven-meter tall tree covered a rather wide area inside the Mountain Base.

Still, the sight they all witnessed after the sunset was spectacular.

As its name had said, the true beauty of the Night Everred Spirit Tree would only show during the night and when it was dark. When the night fell, the whole base was enveloped with a reddish glow. It was because the leaves of the Spirit Tree exuded such light in the darkness.

The light emitted by the leaves of the Night Everred Spirit Tree was not painful to the eyes. It was more like a dim ambient light. The most amazing thing to see, however, was how red glowing wisps of light flew like fireflies around the Spirit Tree.

As to how the story they knew had gone, Spirit Trees were not harmful unless its owner or the tree itself were felt threatened. As such, they exist to protect the race that raised them. And that was not everything. Each kind of Spirit Tree could provide benefits to anyone living around it, authorized by its Master.

The Night Everred Spirit Tree could provide what the Blood Demon Race needed the most in the borders of the Spirit Dimension.

The borders could be said as one of the most unstable parts of the Spirit Dimension. Even with the ability of the Blood Demons to adapt to the environment effectively, there were times that they found it hard to adjust. This instability caused them to be weakened for a prolonged time than usual. Then, there came the Night Everred Spirit Tree. These red glowing wisps would provide them the ability to resist the harsh conditions of the borders.

And at usual times when the borders were stable, these red wisps provide vitality to everyone enveloped by it.

Last night, everyone was able to sleep peacefully because of these red wisps. When morning came, they all woke up with the fullest energy they needed for the rest of the day.

***

Mark, Mei, their daughters, Odelina, and her children, Aephelia, Amihan, Spera, Pefile, and Jaeya with Theodore, were at the balcony for breakfast.

Edzel should have been here too, if not for him requesting a separate place to live with Pearl. It was because of Pearl having trauma about her experiences in the New Infanta Settlement. Being outcasted there, she found it hard to suddenly live along with many people.

There was no reason to disagree with it. Mark understood her as he was also like that. If not for everyone here sticking around him, he would rather live in isolation.

While having breakfast, they were discussing the next plans they needed to do in the base. Also, the idea to visit the Spirit Dimension in the future. Amihan was happy about that, and for some reason, Pefile felt a bit undecided about something.

However, the chance to do that would not be too soon.

The Spirit Tree might have grown big in an unexpected and rushed manner. However, not everything was ready. Even if the Night Everred Tree already exhibited some of its characteristics, it was still lacking its sentience.

It was no different from Lesser Spirit Tree that Amihan had used as her home. A magical tree without sentience.

The sentience of a Pure Spirit Tree was needed to open a portal and enter the space inside it. It was also required to open a gateway to the Spirit World and back.

Usually, a Spirit Tree would need some time to slowly grow. The length would vary depending on the person planting it. Along with that slow growth, its sentience would also develop. The Spirit Tree and the sentience would reach maturity at the same time. This would enable the tree to communicate with its master.

As for the instances where the tree grew faster than it developed its sentience, it was a very rare occurrence. The circumstances of the Night Everred Tree that Mark planted was even more unique.

At times like this, it was hard to determine how long it would take for its sentience to fully develop. They could only wait.

And this was the crucial part they needed to prepare for. As a Pure Spirit Tree existed in both dimensions, it was obvious that the tree had grown large inside the spirit dimension. It would be fine if the tree was planted in the Spirit Dimension because it would appear as a normal tree in the Mortal world. However, it was the exact opposite this time.

Because of this, it would surely attract the attention of the races that lived near where it grew.

As Spirit Trees were precious existences, most threats would unlikely happen to the tree. However, a Night Everred Tree suddenly appearing in the Spirit Dimension would surely cause a huge uproar.

And thus, Mark's group should be prepared to deal with any kind of situation that they might face upon entering the Spirit Dimension.

***

They finally finished breakfast and everyone went their own ways. It was time for the children to study until noon. Odelina and Spera would handle the housework. Jaeya, on the other hand, would only spend time inside her room with Theodore while doing anything she thought of doing.

Mark and Mei, on the other hand, stayed on the balcony to work on things Mark had been working on since yesterday. Amihan and Aephelia were also here to help since, for some reason, Mark needed the presence of the two.

Lastly, Pefile also remained at the balcony to watch. What Mark was designing was made him interested. Furthermore, he already exposed himself to the people here, there was no point to keep on hiding anymore. As for the things about him, everyone was sensitive enough to not ask. His name and his relation to Mark was enough for them to trust him.

As for what relationship they had, Mark just told them that he was the father of someone he knew. That enough was shocking since Pefile looked nowhere like a father at all. At most, he looked like a student in the late college years.

What kind of work was Mark doing right now that was enough to make someone from a Spirit Race interested? Mark was experimenting with how a stick, a slab of wood, and a block of wood, that came from a Lesser Spirit Tree, could conduct magical energy.

Together with the soil around the altar, that sealed the Deity of Bloodshed, Mark cut and uprooted the withering Lesser Spirit Tree near it. Since that Lesser Spirit Tree was already on the verge of dying, he might as well take it and experiment on it.

Spirit Trees absorb and exude magical energy. Maybe, the wood could conduct magical energy, right? As such, Mark proceeded with the experiments with this idea in mind.

With the wood of a Lesser Spirit Tree as the main conductor, [Blood Metal] as the frame, and the [Mental Crystals] as a power source, he wanted to create a weapon.

If he succeeded in what he was trying to do, it would not be long for him to actually create a Magical Weapon. Something that Freed also tried to do in their world, however, the lack of efficient materials prevented it from developing far from the start.

Back in Eriellis, they tried on the same idea with using the [Mental Crystals] to make weapons. After all, a single person could only have a limited number of Psychic Abilities even with the [Mental Crystals]. Thus, they tried to develop such weapons that could be used by anyone.

Using the bones and body parts of Psychic Mutated Animals and Infected, they did succeed. However, the power of the Psychic Abilities used as a power source was toned down harshly. The reason being that the conductor had a very low capacity for transferring Psychic Energy.

Thus, when the larger and more powerful Psychic Infected appeared, these weapons became useless.

As Mark inherited Freed's memories, who was the brain of those weapon designs, he knew the greatest fault in those weapons. No material in their world could conduct Psychic Energy efficiently.

On Earth, however, Mark might have found the possible solution to that problem.

It was a very unfortunate thing for Freed and his world if Mark actually succeed.

Both Earth several other dimensions exist side by side. As Earth had grown along with its inhabitants, these dimensions also grew.

However, Freed and his civilization were brought to another planet where everything was still at the start. There might be other dimensions that exist in that world. However, it was also different from what Earth had.

Spirit Trees and the like might have not exited on that planet. That gave them the limit for their survival.

Now, Mark was trying to fill that error they suffered. What he only lacked now was [Mental Crystals] containing Psychic Abilities. Well, it would not last for too long though. After they open the portal to both dimensions, Mark would not have a lack of resources anymore.

When Mark voiced that idea, both Pefile and Amihan shivered. The two could only wish luck to those that would try to cross path with Mark.

Using different sizes, thickness, and length of wood, Mark channeled his Psychic Energies to check the conduction.

And as Mark had thought, this material he decided to call [Magic Wood], could conduct such paranormal energies as long as it was not miasma. Mark tried using miasma and it immediately destroyed the block of wood he was holding.

Miasma was truly a destructive thing.

As for other forms of paranormal energy he had, he could fee it being channeled through the wood. However, it was hard to determine the flow and the energy seemed to be being dispersed while being channeled into the wood.

Thus, Mark had an idea.

He asked Odelina to bring Annica to his working area.

Looking at the lively girl that arrived, Mark scratched his head. Annica was really good at forming a friendship with animals and insects. She arrived while being carried by Fein. It was even though it would not carry just anyone aside from Mark and Mei.

"Can you use the door next time?"

That was the first sentence that Mark said to her when she arrived.

"But it's faster like this."

Annica complained.

"I'll use the actual workshop next time then."

Mark said without taking his eyes away from his work. That statement made everyone feel tickled and made Annica pout.

It was until she saw what Mark was doing.

Her eyes then glowed and she exclaimed excitedly when she saw the glow in Mark's body traveling through the pieces of wood he was holding.

With her interest taken in, the short banter stopped and she joined the work after Mark explained.

Using Annica's eyes, they tried to determine the most efficient size and length the [Magic Wood] could channel energies.

And, it really did not take too long. By the time that lunch was cooked and was served by Odelina and Spera, Mark and Annica managed to determine the best length and size of [Magic Wood] that could be used.

Compared to how a Psychics could channel their energy in their bodies, it was still lacking. However, if it was used properly, it might be able to be used as a good weapon.

Not only Mark. Everyone that witnessed him using the stick of [Magic Wood] as a wand and firing a small electric ball with it like a wizard, everyone had good expectations about this.

And as such, Mark put out the design for the first [Magic Weapon] he wanted to create. A barrier railgun that could be used along with Abbygale's [Psychic Barriers].