Our arrival in the new location was accompanied by the same "pleasant" sensations as before, but I ignored them, excited about gaining a new bending art.
"He should be somewhere around here," Van Shi Tong said quietly, his voice carrying a hint of tension that made me drop my joyful demeanor and assess the surroundings.
The landscape lacked the natural beauty of untouched civilization. The soil was lifeless, with dead trees frozen in cartoonish poses. No life was evident, even in the air.
The best description for this place is "bad land," a term often used by experienced hunters and rangers in the human world when in the taiga or mountains. People usually died horribly here, or it was once a graveyard or battlefield.
"This time, I'll handle it myself. You just stay close," the spirit of knowledge hurried, his urgency making me reluctant to argue. Ever-positive Drya nervously turned her head, seemingly expecting trouble.
Nodding briefly to the serious spirit, he clung to my clothes with his talons and flew south, where the needed spirit awaited.
We couldn't miss him, especially with his striking appearance. He was a two-meter-tall sphere constantly changing color. Seeing us approach, the "Mimic" strangely trembled, and I don't think it was from fear.
Van Shi Tong could have defeated him a thousand times, but he hesitated, as if waiting for or fearing something. And I was right. In less than a second, a black fog appeared from nowhere, making even my chi tremble. Overwhelming fear paralyzed me, and all my battle strategies—or rather, memories of being beaten by spirits in the virtual world—were forgotten. Van Shi Tong, with intense focus, created new layers of protection against the fog. It worked, but the fog easily eroded the barriers, revealing we'd encountered an ancient spirit… From hunters, we became the hunted.
"The little bird has grown up so much," a loud voice boomed from everywhere.
"Pavor," Van Shi Tong stated after deflecting the attack—or perhaps the spirit stopped attacking. The spirit of knowledge didn't seem surprised by his arrival—old "friends," I suppose. "This is the spirit of fear, born even before me, and he's incredibly persistent."
"Nice to see you too," a grotesque face emerged from the fog. His gaze fell on me, and I felt as if he examined me down to every atom or molecule. "An interesting specimen," the spirit's interest seemed to grow. "And you're still struggling?" he asked, as if needing conversation or delivering a villainous monologue.
"Embrace the power of chaos, and you'll understand it's for the good of all spirits. Humans won't help; they're too weak," he shook his head. "Light spirits are far fewer than us. You won't withstand. Join the winning side!" he roared with multiple voices.
"Maybe you'll leave me alone now," Van Shi Tong grumbled. "Never!"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha," the spirit laughed like a sick infant. "Let the kids play, and we'll have our ten-thousand-and-eighth battle, right?" Why do I hear Maito Gai and Kakashi's voices in my head? Especially Gai challenging Kakashi to various competitions.
"He won't leave us alone. I'll fight him, and you and Drya handle the Mimic," Van Shi Tong said. "You should manage. Once time runs out, I'll take you to the human world," he continued softly. After speaking, he dropped me right onto the Mimic.
"A hundred years have passed. I hope you've learned new techniques," the spirit of fear cackled, flying toward the spirit of knowledge, who began to distance himself.
A second later, they were kilometers apart, heavy energy waves reaching us.
"We need to finish this quickly," I thought. The Mimic released a light beam at me, too fast to dodge, but the light didn't harm me.
I released high-pressure water at him, tense with anticipation, knowing he wouldn't go down easily. The water obscured our view, leaving Drya and me to wait.
"*Criii*," the Mimic released an odd cry, and the scene finally cleared. Where the spirit had been, five copies of me now stood—one for each bending art: earth, water, fire, air, and reason.
They perfectly mirrored my appearance, even matching the strength of my chi. This is bad…
"Help if you can, Drya."
The spirits silently exchanged glances and began attacking us. The earthbender quickly pelted us with rocks. The waterbender, not far behind, attempted to use bloodbending against me.
"You dare use my own techniques against me?!" This is terrible. The spirit truly copied all my experience and skills. The reason spirit stood frozen, having no techniques to copy, and simply charged at us with fists.
The airbender intuitively used its element, accelerating its movements—after all, I'd encountered air scrolls, though adapting them in minutes is impossible. The firebender showcased my lightning mastery, firing at us like a machine gun.
Drya easily handled the charging spirits, but the others proved challenging. No matter the technique I used, they countered, and Drya faced the same issue—in the virtual world, I'd fought nature spirits too.
We managed to defeat the earth and fire spirits, but the water spirit regenerated the reason and air spirits.
"Did you see that?! Okay, they asked for it," battle fervor ignited within me.
I deployed the neutral chi, enhancing all my techniques. This time, Drya and I focused on the strongest—the water spirit. I didn't hold back on bloodbending, overwhelming the spirit with all elements and Drya's abilities. The other two spirits were caught in the crossfire.
At the last moment, I cautiously approached the spirits, ensuring we'd obtain their strange chi.
"," I cursed as ice spears suddenly shot at me.
"Die already?!" I shouted, dodging attacks, some of which hit me but were instantly healed.
"There must be a pattern here, but what is it?" I muttered.
"Let's try killing them simultaneously," I told Drya, hoping it would work.
It required planning five steps ahead, but we managed. In perfect sync, we destroyed all spirits simultaneously.
"What kind of monster are you?!" I exclaimed as they reappeared. I refuse to believe they're invincible. Battle experience taught me every spirit has weaknesses; I just need to find theirs.
Two hours later. Same location.
My chi reserves are nearly depleted, enough for three more rounds. Drya isn't in great shape either. We've adapted to the spirit, and it's learned from us, keeping the battles intense.
My fervor has faded, replaced by cold logic and calculation. In this time, we've tried various killing schemes—different intervals, close proximity—all to no avail.
The worst part is they always return with full strength.
As I waited for their next appearance, I delved into myself, examining my chi and estimating remaining energy for techniques. Simultaneously, I brainstormed new ways to defeat the spirit. Honestly, I'm not thrilled about this spirit…
My thoughts jumped around, forming and discarding theories. One idea caught my attention. Why does the fire chi circle the neutral chi first? By strength and order, water should be first, followed by air, then fire, earth, and reason. This reminds me of something…
"I've got it! Drya, we'll succeed soon," I happily informed the exhausted girl. Looking at her, I wanted to hug and comfort her, and I will—after our long-awaited victory.
The Avatar is born in a specific sequence for each nation, so there's something to this cycle—Eastern mysticism, feng shui, and such. It doesn't matter; as long as it helps us!
"First, we take out the fire spirit, then air, water, earth, and reason! Victory is ours!" I couldn't resist kissing Drya on the forehead. That simple kiss seemed to give her a second wind—exactly what we need!
"First!" All our attacks targeted the fire spirit. No matter how the others tried to protect it, it was futile.
"Second!" I tore the air spirit apart with my bare hands.
"Third!" I poured all remaining waterbending into the water spirit, going all-in.
"Fourth!" Drya's plants shredded the earth spirit.
"Last!" I unleashed a fire breath containing rocks with metal needles.
"Yes!" I cheered as the spirit's energy finally flowed into me.
"Drya, we—" Overwhelming weakness hit me, and I desperately wanted to sleep. "*Yawn*," and I fell into darkness.
**Drya**
"What should I do?" I caught my falling love, forcefully pushing away intrusive thoughts. No panic! First, I need to examine him.
"Physically, he's fine, but something's happening with his chi. Maybe a new source is appearing," I thought, laying Yuki's head on my lap. I'll wait for Van Shi Tong.
Their battle raged on, growing more intense, forcing me to create plants for protection from stray attacks. Thankfully, they lost power at this distance, but I won't last long. What a terrible spirit.
Time passed, and the solstice neared its end. I tried to escape with Yuki but failed. The ancient spirits' energy disrupted everything. Just as I thought we'd be stuck here, Van Shi Tong appeared.
I'd never seen him like this—wingless, with several holes in his body. If he were human, he'd be dead, but even for higher spirits, this isn't always serious, and for ancients, even less so.
"Hmm," the spirit of knowledge looked thoughtfully at Yuki, and I saw hesitation in his gaze. "Let's go," he said hoarsely, his wounds likely worse than I thought.
"See you soon, little owl," the spirit of fear's mocking laughter echoed. But the fog was less dark and dense; he'd been significantly weakened too.
Van Shi Tong enveloped us in his energy, opening a tunnel to the human world. As we neared the exit, something happened to Yuki—a second head grew, then extra arms, and by the end, he split into four identical Yukis.
"Four times more Yuki—how wonderful, wait, not now," I shook my head.
Suddenly, portals appeared beneath the Yukis, pulling them in. I acted quickly, grabbing one and pulling him away. The Great Owl also helped, enveloping them in energy to prevent the other three from being taken somewhere unknown.
"Huh?" The farthest Yuki fell into a portal. Turning to Van Shi Tong, I saw him looking extremely embarrassed. I was even more surprised…
"I didn't have enough energy to hold the portal," he admitted, unable to withstand my gaze. "But don't worry; the portal led to a Fire Nation island with strong fire energy from volcanoes."
"La-a-adly," my suspicion dropped to two out of ten, but I'm still watching you, Great Owl. And why did all the Yukis appear naked in the human world?
**One of the Fire Nation's few islands with useful herbs**
Along a well-trodden path, several groups of girls and women of various ages walked with baskets, dressed in red, brown, and pink tones. They chatted happily, occasionally gathering unfamiliar herbs from the ground.
"Girls!" one of them shouted from the front.
Hearing her, they all ran forward. Among them were trained firebenders and martial artists, so no villain could escape.
The girl who shouted didn't seem scared; her demeanor calmed the emotional women.
"There he is," she said quietly, pointing to the right.
They expected anything but a naked boy in a star pose on the lush grass. The scene was absurd yet incredibly arousing, especially for young girls unaware of adult pleasures.
"He's not even standing yet?!"
"Nature blessed him well!"
"I wish I had a husband like that…"
Whispers turned to chatter, which should have woken even a sleeping bear.
"Stop! He might need help; maybe he's injured!" a voice of reason emerged…
"I'll help!"
"No, I will!"
"You're already married! Let the young ones have a turn!"
Or maybe not…