101 Avatars
16. The Feeling of Being Covered by the Thick Mist

That morning, I entered the school as usual.  However, inside the lecture hall, I only found Zenri there without Bobi by his side.  Not as usual because no matter where they are, they will always be together.  I was curious to ask Zenri.

“Zenri, Bobi to where?  How come he doesn't exist?”  I asked Zenri.

“Oh, he again participated in his mapala exkul activities.  It seems that this morning they will be leaving for Mount Suzana.”  Zenri answered me.

At first, I thought it was fine because it was natural for mapala children to go mountain climbing as a form of their love for nature.  However, I caught something wrong from Zenri's expression.

“How do you look confused, Zenri?”

Zenri's expression blurred.  He was silent too.  However, after waiting for a while, he also opened his voice.

“You know, lately many mountaineers are missing there because of the thickness of the fog that suddenly deteriorated as if something mystical had happened there.”  Zenri replied softly.

I also laughed out loud, laughing at Zenri who believed the mystical things did not make sense like just now.  After our conversation, the lecture went on as usual, and I went home and hurried my steps to our secret headquarters.

There, the news that made me shock seems to have been waiting for me.  Kaiser's sister must travel abroad about the appearance of avatar number 16, Avatar Hard, in North Africa, and avatar number 82, Avatar Hole, in Thailand.

We should have expected about the appearance of avatars that can not only be in Jakarta because the avatars are able to mimic humans perfectly including their morphological and physiological functions so that they will easily pass through good examination at the airport or at the dock.

But that's not the worst part.  The worst part was that during Kaiser's departure abroad, I had to fight alone to defend this city from the threat of the avatars.

Then the event happened.  A week later, no, exactly 9 days, the news of Bobi and his mapala colleagues disappearing in Mount Suzana also reached the ears of friends of the majors, including me.  But not only that.  According to the AI5203 drone, Avatar number 96, Avatar Sena, was found around the mountain.

To find out, I rushed to that place.

***

“Duh, Senior, how is this?  It seems we are lost.  Too much fog in this place so that the vision ahead is less clear.”  Asked one of them to someone he called Senior.

Bobi was behind also witnessed the fear of his partner who panicked while continuing to ask various things to his senior.  Not only him, but almost all mountaineering teams experienced the same thing.  In fact, they have been circling the same place for 6 days as if they were deliberately misled by a mystical creature through the fog.

They have been climbing the mountain for almost eight days.  Though their initial plan, they only need about 3 days to go up the mountain, then camping there about 2 days, then down again for 3 days.  So, the total required for their climb is 8 days so they have to pack their food supplies for 8 days.

However, the captain had warned them to bring more food reserves for something unexpected.  And this is where they are today, in a vacillating state that is almost out of food and drink.

Just on the third day of their climb where they finally realized they had lost their way and the danger of continuing the climb, they decided to return to the direction of the road they had taken before.  But strangely, they could not find a way home even though beside them there was a companion climbers who had experienced against the place.

To improve their morale, the captain said,

“Take it easy.  We have a climber who has experience with this place.  In addition, we also have a map and compass so that in a moment, we will be able to get out of this place.”

“Senior said so, but in fact we are still lost.  Even the marker that Bobi put up to prevent us from returning in the same direction, we find, which means we only go around in the same place for days only.”  Reply to one of the new members among them.

Apparently, the encouraging remarks from his captain were of no help at all.  Mountaineers, especially freshmen, have lost their spirits and are confined to despair.

In the midst of their despair, the creature appeared before them and added to their despair.  A winged figure with an eagle face and fierce claws, he is the avatar numbered series 96, Avatar Sena.

***

When I arrived at the place, I saw a thick fog lining Mount Suzana.  Mount Suzana is famous for its often foggy place.  However, it shouldn't be his season to be foggy at the moment.  Also, although fog would appear, it was never reported that the fog would be this thick.  That's where my instinct says that something's wrong with this place.

I also used the ultrasonic wave side avatar of my Sly Dark to find the possible presence of the climbers trapped in the fog.  But apparently it wasn't as easy as I thought.  The fog was too thick to refract my ultrasonic waves, whereas I wasn't too adept at using my side avatar.  As a result, I also had difficulty determining the location with my Sly Dark ability.

However, whether this is a miracle, or arguably a disaster.  Apparently there is an avatar referred to by AI5203 in this place, and the avatar gathers all the victims lost into one place, namely in the nest.

That's what makes it easier for me to find the victims without having trouble finding them one by one.  It will be easier to find objects that are gathered together so that their size seems to be greater on the radar than the object is separated one by one in a thick fog like this.

But there is one problem.  There's Avatar Sena over there.  I need to defeat him first before saving the victims.

I also went to the victim's place.  As expected, a few meters before I got there, Avatar Sena was blocking me.  She is a serial numbered avatar one digit smaller than me.  Automatically, his combat power is slightly greater than mine.  So why?  I have even defeated Avatar Nyaa who is half a digit smaller than me plus now I have Avatar Sly Dark as my avatar side.

With that confidence, I also fought with Avatar Sena through air combat.  He had the advantage of being able to fly twice as fast as me plus his sharp and accurate arrow attacks.

But I still have an edge over it.  Sly Dark's radar capability is capable of predicting an opponent's attack.  Then by predicting the direction of his movement, my three arrows were right about the back of his body that was flying.  He fell from the sky beautifully.

However, as soon as I was about to finish him off, Bobi suddenly came to me.

“What did you do to our savior, you murderer!”  The words of Bobi immediately broke my mind.