It was already quite strange and spooky to not be able to hear anything and when the system suddenly switched his hearing back on, it felt like his sensory overload all over again.
Since Mako had spent some time without his sense of hearing, his body had adapted to it and now his ears had become super sensitive making even the little background noises feel so loud and intense.
Mako covered his ears once again and waited for his senses to stabilize back to normal again. It seemed like Mako was still discovering new things about the system and he would have to look further into how it was able to block and restore his sense of hearing at will and whether there was a way to manipulate it.
If Mako could command the system to gradually block and restore his senses, it would be a great skill to have as Mako could in theory counter any type of sensory attack, no matter how strong.
However, right now Mako's main concern was to get back to the shelter. His ears were still ringing but it was becoming more and more manageable. The sun was starting to set and he didn't want to be out and about during the night and make his friends worry so he quickly rushed back to the shelter.
Mako placed the information tablet back inside the case on top of the tree but he didn't log out of his account. Now since his account was still logged in and the tablet was inside the case, the tablet would continue to display information without losing its battery, and as long as it was not left alone for too long, it won't turn off due to inactivity.
Mako had instructed the AI drone to remain by the tablet and periodically interact with it so it would always remain active and he could always observe the tablet without ever having to back there physically.
The drone had a long battery that could help it get through the night and it can recharge itself using the advanced solar panels attached to its back during the day.
Mako rushed back to the open field to see that the shelter had been completed. It wasn't anything fancy but it did provide excellent protection. It had a solid stone foundation that was reinforced with mud and clay from the bed of the lake.
Then, there were wooden logs used as columns with equal spacing all around the perimeter of the foundation. The logs not only added color, depth, and aesthetics to the overall build of the shelter, but they also provided support to the stone walls and the slanted stone roof on top of the shelter.
The shelter looked absolutely gorgeous as it also had a chimney on the roof to let smoke escape from the indoor campfire. The design of the shelter was not Mako's but rather Iris's as she had trained to build different types of shelters for different terrains and environments.
Since they were building at a high altitude and near a body of water, they had to make sure they had a solid secure foundation as the ground itself wasn't strong enough to support the shelter reliably and to have an indoor campfire with a chimney so that they could keep warm and have a way for the smoke to escape.
The indoor campfire would also double as a cooking station making it so that they could cook and enjoy their meals without leaving the comfort of their shelter. However, there was only one problem that Mako had noticed.
Even though the shelter was finished, Mako couldn't see anyone nearby and there didn't seem to be anyone inside as well because there was no light coming out from the windows that were on some of the walls to let air circulate through.
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ [Dash has been activated]
Mako was worried that something might be up and he quickly sprinted at his top speed over to the shelter but was greeted with an eerie silence.
"Guys?" Mako called out as he approached the gate of the shelter.
As Mako approached the gate of the shelter, he noticed that it was slightly open, which added to his growing sense of unease. He pushed the gate open and cautiously stepped inside, his hand crackling with electricity just in case there was something hostile inside.
The interior of the shelter was dark, and Mako's eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden lack of light. He called out again, louder this time, but still, there was no response. Mako's heart started to race as he frantically started looking everywhere inside the small shelter, trying to find any sign of his friends.
He approached the campfire that was built and noticed Bill and Leon's backpacks. He opened it up and saw that all the items were still there which indicated that they weren't ambushed or anything otherwise, the backpacks and the items wouldn't be there. It seemed like everyone had just left.
'Why would they all just suddenly leave?! Where could they have gone?' Mako thought as he continued to move back and forth inside the shelter.
Mako couldn't just go out and start looking for them, because it was becoming dark outside and he didn't even have the slightest idea of where to start looking.
Suddenly, Mako started to fear the worse and quickly reached into his backpack and pulled out the small remote control for the AI drone. The remote control had a small holographic display that showed what the drone's camera was seeing. He took control of the drone and began controlling one of its arms that were attached at the front.
He used his arms to turn on the information tablet and opened the event log on the information tablet. Mako was afraid that maybe his friends were lured out by another group of cadets and were defeated.
If that was the case, Mako would be able to see their names and their fight details on the event log; however, he wasn't able to find any of their names. This brought a little bit of relief to Mako as this confirmed that his friends were still safe and participating in the test.
Nevertheless, Mako couldn't help but worry about where his friends had gone too. Mako had no other choice so he decided to just turn the AI drone back on autopilot and wait inside the shelter for others to return.
Mako was about to put the AI drone back on autopilot when all of a sudden a new event had been launched on the notifications tab. Mako was uninterested at first, but since he had already accessed the tablet, he thought that reading about the latest news wasn't a big crime at all.
The notification tab had a brand new notification for Mako, one that he wasn't thrilled to see but one that answered all of his answers.
[Notifications]
[Mikhail Fedorov has challenged Mako Grey to a duel!]
[Location: South Western plain fields, near the base of the west mountain]
[Time: 08:00]
[Comments: I hope you aren't missing something that you want back!]
The duel request could not have come at a worse time because the last thing Mako wanted to do was fight some random dude instead of finding his friends.
However, the description of the duel answered most of his questions. By reading the comment attached to the duel request, Mako was able to determine that his friends were indeed in trouble. From the looks of things, it looked like they were held captive and used as bait to reel Mako in.
Mako couldn't understand what was the reason behind these individuals targeting him so much, but it looked like he would find out soon as the fight was set early in the morning tomorrow at the base of the west mountain.
Now with the duel activated, Mako had to attend it no matter what, because he also couldn't risk losing points, which wouldn't look good on his status sheet and potentially demote him down a level, making it hard to climb back to the top of the ranks.
"Fine! If it's a fight you want! It is a fight you will get!" Mako said as he cracked his knuckles.
Wasting no time whatsoever, Mako first lit the campfire so that it could provide some light and heat to the shelter. Next, he put some water that the girls had collected from the lake on the fire to boil.
Mako had access to many MREs now which only needed hot water to rehydrate and reheat. If Mako was going to take on Mikhail in a fair fight then he would need a lot of energy so he decided to stock up on food so that his body would be at its maximum during the fight.
"Speaking of energy..." Mako said as he inverted his backpack onto the floor of the shelter.
Several crystals started to pour out from his bag which Mako neatly laid out on the ground in front of him. After doing so, Mako grabbed a medium-tier crystal from the Sabertooth spider and crushed it using his hands.
Just like before, the crystal released a dim green light accompanied by a couple of bubbles before fading away and increasing Mako's poison understanding by another percent and gaining 10 energy.
Mako looked at all the remaining crystals on the ground and a smile appeared on his face. He didn't know what was the deal with Mikhail or whoever the imposter was, but he did know one thing and that was that he going to bring them a unique surprise tomorrow, one that he knew they wouldn't expect.
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