Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)-Chapter 77

"Of course not. We are always welcoming to someone like you," the leader smiled. "But a man of your caliber can't be hosted by me. Why don't you and your group follow me to the chief's house, and then we'll forget about our earlier misunderstanding?"

He smiled nervously. I guess he seemed to be afraid of getting scolded by the chief.

I turned my head slowly, my eyes meeting Toph's.

She nodded, seemingly having already read my mind and shared my opinion.

Hold on. She was standing on the snow. How could she tell? Whatever.

I contemplated whether to tease the guards' leader or not. Maybe even say that I wouldn't forgive him and would report his insolence.

It might sound amusing to me.

But I had been teasing Sokka for the last few days, and my sadistic needs had been fulfilled.

And I was tired after traveling for many hours on the sea.

"Forget about it." I waved my hand. "I won't tell your boss."

Loud cheers erupted, and I almost took a step back. The guards seemed cheerful about my decision.

I rubbed my ear.

Katara forced a smile. Toph covered her ears. Sokka had a stoic face and puffed his chest. I guess I knew what he was thinking, feeling accomplished for taking down a bender with a boomerang.

As for the guards, did they act like this in canon?

I shook my head and decided to forget about it.

After exchanging a few words, we made our way to the center of the city. Yes, a city, something I never expected to see. At the South Pole, we had some ice houses and tents.

But here, there were buildings, houses, cabins made of ice.

Many buildings filled the horizon. At the center, there was a palace made of ice. Between the streets, you could even see bridges. I turned my head left and right, admiring the ice-watching towers.

One should give the North Pole credit for using their bending powers creatively. They even had entire walls made of ice.

It made you wonder why the Earth Kingdom was invaded. It's not like it's hard for them to make a wall like China's Great Wall, or even greater. Only Ba Sing Se made a wall for itself. But they could've included the whole nation.

'Hey, at least that means teaching the earthbenders new forms is quite risk-free. They won't use gunpowder to make firearms,' I thought as I entered the palace.

I was immediately granted an audience with the tribe's chief.

We went there.

And it was obvious that I would be the one to do the talking.

In front of me was a middle-aged man with black hair, quite tanned skin, and blue eyes, sitting on a throne. My eyes darted left and right, looking at the guards who seemed to be more serious than the ones at the wall. Near the chief, there was a woman, very pretty, her skin on the bright side, with blue eyes. The most striking feature was her silver-blond hair.

Without having to use my eyes, I could see Sokka looking at her with wide-open eyes.

She made eye contact with him.

And he didn't lower his gaze.

Soon, a blush spread across her face.

She lowered her head slightly and moved her eyes in Sokka's direction.

It was the perfect time to have some popcorn.

But I guess I had to distract her father... You know, the silver-haired girl was the princess of the North Pole, after all.

"So, what's the purpose of your visit?" the chief, Arnook, asked.

The real purpose for me was waiting for Commander Zhao... if he kept his rank after the humiliation he had suffered. Then, let him try to assassinate the fishes, and then save them, get them to like me, and do the ritual in the scroll that Wang had handed me to give me power.

The second purpose was to get rid of my annoying brother by matching him with his daughter.

But I couldn't simply say that.

"I'm here to stay for a few days and give you information that could liberate the North Pole," I said casually.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, tightening his gaze.

I lifted three fingers.

"In about three weeks, the sun and the moon will align for a few hours. During that time, all of the Firebenders will lose their power and will be like normal citizens. During that duration, you can launch a surprise attack on their fleet and sink their ships. You can win the war."

Arnook was startled for a moment.

But he remained calm.

"How reliable is that information?" he asked.

It seemed that he didn't trust my words just yet.

"You have nothing to lose," I said. "And why would I lie to you? You can confirm that from one of your men."

"You have to excuse me for doubting you... but why did you spare the lives of the Firebenders in the base a few days ago? What assures me that you aren't a spy of theirs?" he asked.

That was a very good question.

I smirked. "Simply, I ran out of power. So, you know, humiliated them, and left."

"So, you expect me to believe that kind of rumor, that you have a crazy power to control people?" he asked, narrowing his eyebrows.

I pointed my hand toward his guards and moved my fingers separately.

I said, "I have been blessed by the spirits with this power. But it's not endless. Here, take a look."

The guards started flying and moving like puppets that I controlled.

They screamed in panic, and they tried to resist.

I didn't bend them for long before putting them down.

They raised their weapons as soon as they regained control of their bodies.

Arnook lifted his hand, saying, "Halt. Put down your weapons."

The guards did as they were told.

Arnook smiled. "Very well. Very interesting power indeed. You should provide a hand during the eclipse."

"I will think about it," I replied. "After all, I'm a very busy man."

"I understand that very much. But I would appreciate it if you helped us defend against the attacks of the Fire Nation fleet while you are staying," he said.

He was thinking like a leader, asking for help when needed. If you have a powerful man staying for a few days and an enemy fleet attacking your walls, it's better to ask for help.

It might also be a test to see if I'm a spy or not, to see if I would sink the Fire Nation ships and kill them.

And to be fair, I needed to stay here to get my agenda done.

I smiled and replied, "I'd be glad to help you."

Anyways...

I wondered what Commander Zhao was doing now.

He better get his ass here as soon as possible.

-x-X-x-

The next day, Ryuk woke up from his bed.

Next to him lay both Katara and Toph.

Let's just say the Earth Kingdom girl found the weather too cold and had barged in for some warmth.

And what kind of gentleman would I be if I turned her down?

Anyways, something happened in between, like me putting something in something in the middle of the night while someone else closed her mouth.

Ahem.

I let the girls sleep and left the residence, which happened to be an ice house in villa style.

Having nothing to do, I decided to oversee the training.

After all, I was here to wait for Zhao. And while staying, I was just required to help fend against the attacks of the Fire Nation fleet.

And to be fair, I was very excited about that. After all, I wondered how powerful I would be in the ocean. Waterbenders would be at their strongest only when they were in the sea or one of the poles.

And after the moon's cycles and traveling in the ocean, I could feel my Chi growing, thanks to a certain passive sub-skill that allowed me to grow my Chi.

By staying in the North Pole, I was getting stronger by the day.

But the growth rate was too slow. Around 1% a day.

But that could accumulate into more than two-folds of my original power in just 90 days.

(1.01^90 = 2.44)

What can I say? One had to be patient and wait for Zhao.

I went to a large yard.

In one section, soldiers were thrusting their spears or sparring against each other. I assumed that was the non-bender's training section.

Not too far from it, there was another group of people. All of them were males. They were practicing with water.

And I had to say, their bending skills were pathetic.

Even Katara surpassed them by a large margin.

There were a few masters here and there, but it seemed that they didn't join the training.

I glided in with my hands behind my back as I was too lazy to walk in the early morning.

I then stopped.

An old man overseeing the training turned his head to me. He was above average height, half bald, and had long white hair. He was quite white for a North Pole native.

And somehow, I knew him.

He was the only grandmaster in the world when it came to waterbending.

Yeah... I know I should probably include myself, but I had surpassed that level a long time ago. According to the system, I was at a king's rank when it came to waterbending.

"Greetings," I said to him.

"You must be Ryuk," he replied. "I've heard stories about you."

I was quite famous here apparently. But the old man must know more.

You know, there's a saying...

All old people know each other.

And it's safe to assume that he's a fellow member of the Order of the White Lotus.

I used my brilliant brain to conclude that, not like I remembered it from the original show. Please believe me.

"I'm a fellow member, if you know what I mean," I cupped my fists and gave a bow.

He cupped his hands and bowed back, showing respect.

"I'm Grandmaster Pakku. I would suggest that you wait for us to use the code before talking next time. Who knows, I may be a spy," said Pakku.

"I know. But my generation and yours do things differently," I replied.

He chuckled. "Do you want me to feel outlived now?"

"Nah," I replied simply.

"So, what brought you here?" he asked.

"I came here to tell you about the eclipse date, to turn the tides of the war upside down," I explained. "We are planning a full-scale attack. With the metalbenders taking care of the Earth Kingdom, and you taking care of their fleet, the war will be in our favor by then."

That, and other stuff.

"But you could have waited for Bumi to send the news through a messenger," Pakku replied.

"I could. But the trip is dangerous. Especially for someone who can't fly and can't cross roads with the Fire Nation fleet," I clarified.

Pakku nodded. "I appreciate your concern."

"Don't mention it," I waved my hand. "Our tribes are cousins. You're my people, so I would be concerned for you."

"Ryuk," a feminine voice called.

I turned my head to see Katara standing up, donned in a blue coat. She was stretching her arms up.

"Oh, you've woken up already," I smiled.

"This must be your woman," Pakku commented.

"Yeah," I replied.

Katara looked at me.

"Do we do our morning training as usual, or should we take a break?" Katara said. "To be fair, I'm quite stiff from traveling all day long."

"Sure," I replied. "You can train. I don't think they mind an additional bender in the training ground."

"Excuse me," Pakku interjected.

"What?" I turned to him.

"You're training a woman, for what exactly?"

"Bending," I replied.

"Like healing, right?" he tried to confirm.

"That, and other advanced bending forms," I said.

"Unbelievable. The only bending form women here learn is healing. Fighting and war are only for men. Women can't do that. They can only cook, clean, and heal," Pakku objected.

"When it comes to smooth movement, as much as I have a huge male ego, women do it better," I replied. Men may do many things better, but dancing wasn't one of them.

"So, you're just thinking with your lust," Pakku said in a disappointed tone. "Women aren't accustomed to blood and war."

"You know," I raised my hand, seeing that we were about to get into an argument very soon. "How about this. Your best student vs. mine. If I win, it will prove that it's a matter of talent and teacher's quality rather than gender. Also, the loser will have to pay the winner ten golden coins."

"Hmm... that's quite easy money. Agreed. Don't back out of your part of the bargain," Pakku smirked. He extended his hand to me.

"Hope you hold onto your reputation," I shook his hand.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Katara, who was standing by the side, started biting her nail.