Kang Sora had watched the majority of Dean's battle. Ever since the loud roar she had heard she made her way to see what was happening.
Dean hadn't come back to check up on her and she was fearful of the quiet she was experiencing. It worried her that something could sneak up on her. Though she fell asleep out of exhaustion and was awoken by a loud roar.
"Amazing"
That was her thoughts as she watched Dean fight. All his movements seemed to be random but she could tell from a distance that they would always attack a vital part that allowed him to attack further. Though his attacks attracted her attention, she was deeply captivated by his eyes that didn't seem to be fearful of attacks. It was as if he had full confidence in himself to not be hit by those attacks. It was like she was watching a master who wouldn't be hit from their disciple's attacks.
Kang Sora felt excited as she watched him fight. As she watched him stab the 'heart' of the creature she couldn't help but glance at her leg. She felt different ever since she was bitten and had many questions for Dean. She wanted to ask what his powers were and how her leader could make his hands blistering hot. She felt weak with not having the right information and couldn't help but feel the need for power. Ever since she was forced to fight, she had grown less dependent on others and would take any chance to obtain power. Kang Sora imagined herself fighting the corpse monster and all her attacks overwhelming it.
Looking back at Dean she couldn't help but flinch.
"He can see me from this distance?..what a monster"
She sighed and went to go meet him in the street.
"Need help?"
"Thanks"
Kang Sora helped Dean walk inside the building. Blood trickled down her arm that held him up and dripped on the cold hard concrete floor.
"Open"
The rift appeared and Dean limped inside.
Kang Sora watched as he went inside the rift with wide eyes. She was fascinated by his abilities from such a distance but now that she was seeing it up close she was even more amazed.
Dean quickly exited the rift forcing it to close after he stepped out. Forcing Kang Sora to stop being so dumbfounded and stop examining his portal.
Dean sat down with medical supplies he had grabbed and started to patch his wounds. Dean took off his coat and shirt to examine his body causing Kang Sora to blush a little at his well built body. She didn't blush for long as she looked at the bloody wounds that covered him. She glanced at the burn wound before looking at the bite wounds that covered his body.
'What am I even thinking'
She slapped her reddened cheeks and focused.
Quickly she grabbed a cloth, wet it and started to clean the wounds on his back. Dean had more wounds than what she had. Her leg had been deeply wounded before but compared to Dean whose body was covered in similar wounds she couldn't help but frown.
'He's amazing to still be standing'
Dean didn't scream even once as she cleaned his wounds. He was instead focused and cleaned the wounds that he could reach on his body while she cleaned the wounds he couldn't reach.
"Should I stitch it?"
"Do you even know how to?"
Dean questioned her
"No…but you can teach me..no?"
"Sigh…it's fine, it'll heal in the morning"
Kang Sora had a questioning look at his words and couldn't help but question that. However Dean told her coldly.
"…just bandage it, you'll see tomorrow"
"Ah, right"
'I wonder if he doesn't like to be touched'
Kang Sora quickly finished bandaging Dean. The two moved to the top of the building after that.
"We should move to another area…the corpse will attract zombies to come eat it"
Kang Sora looked at the hulking body of the corpse monster and couldn't help but ask something.
"Doesn't that mean that another monster might appear with a similar mutation?"
"Perhaps, but why do I need to care about that?"
She paused at his answer and couldn't think of a way to rebuke him. What he said was true. Why should he care if another monster appears, there was nothing for him to gain from killing it.
'Though it shouldn't happen since I have this'
Dean felt the stone in his pocket and glanced at Kang Sora's face. If his theory of what this was, was correct then no other mutant zombie could appear by eating that corpse. It was an empty husk that didn't have any other use other than being food. This stone contained all the virus that mutated the corpse monster and was the most valuable thing from his battle.
'There's no need to tell her though…it's not like the world is a good place, I have no reason to be good either'
"Come, we'll move in the air"
Dean created a foothold and jumped to the other building. He created another foot hold for Kang Sora as soon as he shattered it. Kang Sora looked excitedly at the disc but hesitantly stepped on it. Though she was amazed by Dean's abilities, she didn't trust him fully. It was one thing to help each other and that didn't mean that she trusted him. She had already repaid her debt to him for saving her and no longer felt indebted to him. They could be considered acquaintances and weren't particularly close to one another. Kang Sora thought back to Dean's fight and imitated him with precision.
Dean watched her jump and was impressed.
'She copied my jump'
Though it was speculation Dean had a hunch that she was talented from how well she copied his jump.
"What did you do before this?"
He asked.
"Hm…I guess I did taekwondo"
"You guess?"
"Well my friend asked me to join her and train…though I didn't join her dojo, I did spar with her from time to time. I picked up on her skills over time and learnt by myself"
"I see"
Dean didn't ask more and continued to move from rooftop to rooftop with Kang Sora. Dean also wanted to talk with her and propose a deal. They picked a building that was a distance away from the battlefield and rested.
____________________________________________________________
It was morning now and Kang Sora was sitting in front of Dean who was eating a simple breakfast. They sat at a table and were eating an energy bar and juice. Dean had some coffee inside the rift but there was no milk or hot water to make a decent cup. It would've been unenjoyable if they just used normal water.
'I should look for some electronics after this'
Kang Sora looked directly at Dean's eyes, bringing his attention to her.
"Firstly what are you…and what was my leader"
Dean took a sip of juice and explained his findings about mutators and evolvers to her. He had no reason to hide this as he had told Harris and the group as well, who would most likely explain everything to the military. It would also become common knowledge soon enough as more and more people mutated.
"So I'm a mutator now?"
Kang Sora lifted her skirt and showed her once wounded leg to Dean. Dean became slightly flustered from the suddenness which resulted in a slight smile on her face.
'Heh'
Kang Sora thought back to the night when he took his top off making her blush. She muttered ever faintly.
"This is revenge"
"Cough..cough"
Dean had heard her words and tried to get rid of his fluster when he looked at her leg properly. Her leg had fully healed and no wound was visible.
"Congratulations on becoming a mutator…do you know what your mutation is?"
Kang Sora took out a knife almost immediately after his words. She put her hand on the table and unhesitantly stabbed it with the knife. Dean focused on her hand once she removed the knife and was amazed. Her wound was healing at a visible pace and would fully heal in a couple of minutes.
"Pain resistance and enhanced healing"
She told him.
Dean continued to watch as her wound healed at an incredible rate and thought to himself.
'Was the stimulus of pain and treatment what caused her to mutate like this…what about the floor or corpse monster…anyways this mutation should be rather strong if she learns how to fight well'
Dean wrote his notes about mutations in the book and took note of the peculiarity of stimulus. It seemed that the deciding factor of mutations were based on outside stimulus as well as emotions.
'Kang Sora had been in major pain with her leg which caused her to acquire that mutation. As for healing it should be an automatic process from her body…everyone already has regenerative capabilities they're just not as dramatic as hers'
Dean's own wounds had majorly healed compared to last night but his healing factor was nowhere near the same quality as Kang Sora's. Although Dean hadn't become a mutator from his injuries he had some theories as to why. His main theory was that an evolver would need a high amount of virus to infect themself to mutate. He was already considered a superhuman and his body was used to the S gene, unlike Kang Sora who easily mutated.
"From what you said…I mutated with these qualities because you healed me"
She continued in a quiet voice.
"and pain resistance was because I couldn't handle the stitches"
"Probably…anyways what are you planning to do now?"
Dean asked her quickly, changing the subject out of embarrassment.
"Well, I don't have any reason to stay here now that everyone I knew is dead. I might wander around and try to strengthen myself I guess. Being a mutator might make me strong but I'm not invincible if I can't fight…that's one thing I learnt watching you, was that my attacks are lacking. Though my mutation doesn't have offensive capabilities I can take more hits and not fear being attacked as much now"
Dean nodded at her thinking and felt relieved that her mentality aligned with his own.
"I plan to head towards a military base roughly 25km away from here. I want to make a deal with you"
Kang Sora listened
"You can join me and learn from me on the condition that you will do some things in the future for me"
"Things in the future?"
Kang Sora slightly frowned at his words
"It shouldn't be dangerous but I might need help from you who'll be in contact with other people. Since you are a mutator you should be highly regarded in the military, I might need help getting to meet the higher ups of the base"
Kang Sora's frown lessened and she asked
"Will you teach me how to fight like you?"
"You want to fight like me?"
Dean was puzzled at her request. His attacks were based on the use of his portals and randomness.
"Yea, I was impressed by your fight last night and think that your style suits me…I don't want to be afraid by attacks that come my way and your battle style will be helpful for me since I don't need to dodge and just focus on attacks"
Dean realised that she had already planned how she was going to use her mutation. Kang Sora could fight in close combat and attack without worrying about damage and his battle style of narrowly dodging and focusing on attacks suited her.
"Do we have a deal?"
"Deal"
Dean looked at her hand and sighed before shaking it.
"We'll leave after eating"
"Understood"