A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
Pa treon.com/HolyJoker
(20+ chapters in advance)
______
Chapter 44
***
Namean Lion, a spirit who stood at the peak of power, physically. His skin was so tough that it's said that he was never injured. This kind of monster could take on armies, after all, it wasn't like any weapon or attack could injure it.
Such a monstrous creature charged at me.
I would be lying to myself if I said that fear wasn't crawling in my heart. But being afraid wasn't a bad thing, it would help me not become overconfident.
So, with a scared, but calm mind, I turned the water inside his body into ice. But once again, the monstrous beast only stumbled for a bit but didn't stop his leaps.
What a damn monster.
I drew all of the moisture from the plants around me, turning the luscious green mountain into a barren, dark land of death.
Water encircled me into a rotating ring, and it was a little hard, but with the increase in agility due to holding the spear with my teeth, Zoro style. I was able to move faster, and the area around me was turned into hard, slippery ice. Since I was atop a steep mountain, the Namean Lion would have to try and climb ice on a downward surface.
*Crack!*
As his feet landed on the ice, he broke through as his claws sang on the hardened water. But even with all of the power behind it, the lion started slipping, unable to get a good footing.
This was the advantage of having terrain superiority. Being in an icy land with water all around me, now the Namean Lion was in my zone.
The creature took a deep breath, and I immediately hit the Chi Points in my ears. The pain was horrendous and a ringing sound rang out. Blood came out of my ears, but I at least couldn't hear anything temporarily as the ice around the lion broke apart.
He had just roared, and that's what I had been on the lookout for. That dangerous roar would have probably paralyzed my body, or done something like that. Because its power was outrageous.
While I still took some damage from it, this was nothing as at the same time I also used my waterbending to attack his lungs, which were vulnerable during the roar.
Truly, I was still suspicious of how much damage the lion had taken. Were my attacks even doing anything? It felt like that beast was some invincible monster.
But those thoughts of mine were settled down once I saw the lion's legs trembling. I breathed an internal sigh of relief because due to my HP being so low, I planned on retreating. But it seemed like staying a little longer here would be more beneficial, still, the situation wasn't in my favor yet. So as soon as I see something dangerous, I will have to run.
Or else this place could turn into my graveyard.
Lifting my hand, the water around me rose, following my commands. Within a split second, it encircled the lion spirit and it kept rotating around him.
Namean opened his jaw as if to say something, but no sound came out. His lungs have been frozen over and over again, it's honestly baffling just how the hell was this thing still alive. It essentially hadn't been breathing the whole battle.
Now, it was just a waiting game. My bleeding effect has stopped, and I had over 18% of my HP left.
Suddenly my ears cleared up as the [Chi Blocking] I had done on them cleared out. The elephant-sized lion growled at me and took another step, and that was when I got an idea.
I took the spear back into my hand. Airebenders used their staffs to help with their bending, with a wave of my spear, water attached to the spear's tip, and moved about in a giant whip-like manner.
The water moved about easier than waterbending with one hand. So I picked up the lion once again and started drowning him. This was the difference between us, I knew how to fight against someone stronger than me. If he got close to me, this lion could kill me in one hit. Even do so with relative ease.
But, now that I had turned the terrain into my advantage, slowly but surely, this monster would fall.
"Eris!" I called out to the Evil Lady, bringing her out of her stupor. She must be worried about a lot of things. But I didn't care right now, this was the second time she has tried to get me killed. "Restrain the lion."
She nodded, her eyes turned calm, as always. It seemed like she finally got a hang of her emotions.
But by now, I could easily guess what she was thinking. It wasn't that hard to do so anymore.
Dark hair extended, and while it seemed like normally the Evil Lady might not be able to restrain the lion normally.
Now, the situation has changed. Her hair extended and seemed to grow like metallic wire as it wrapped around the lion. Like thick rope made of steel, the hair wrapped around the lion, clutching its libs tight.
***
-Evil Lady POV-
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!
What the hell is up with this situation?! He lost half of his upper torso and arm, yet he is still alive! This is madness! Just tying up some bandages stopped his bleeding too. Have I gone crazy?! Am I under an illusion?!
How?!
This isn't normal. It's beyond logic and understanding. I had made the grave mistake of assuming that Sokka was human. But that wasn't the truth. No matter how I looked at it, he wasn't a human. Even calling him a spirit would be an understatement. Maybe he is one of the beings like Old Iron, Vaatu, Raava, and the Mother of Faces. Did he hide and disguise himself as a human? Why would he do so? Maybe for entertainment?
He was playing with me all along. He was no simple human, to begin with. No, I was the one who didn't notice sooner and acted arrogantly. Since, when he crushed me in a battle of minds, almost destroyed my conscience when I tried to read his mind.
Then he also had that contract that bound my soul, which seemed to be almost otherworldly. I had never seen such a thing before.
Now I could see it. Someone like Sokka, if that even was his name. He isn't someone I can mess with.
The tug in my hair broke me from my thoughts. It felt like my hair would be pulled out of its roots. Though the Namean lion might be weakened, as Sokka had dealt devastating damage to it. But the Spirit was still physically powerful, it felt like it would rip off my scalp.
That was when I noticed Sokka getting into position, and Namean opened its mouth, preparing another one of his deadly roars. But Sokka, seeming to have already predicted this threw his spear, which was powered by his waterbending as a stream of water seemed to propel it into Namean's mouth.
*Slick!*
While the lion's skin was impenetrable, Sokka had weakened it enough to kill. The lion slumped on the ground and I couldn't help but feel a trace of fear grasp onto my heart as Sokka's cold eyes landed on mine.
He walked towards me, one-armed, but there wasn't even a trace of pain on his face. Neither did his body move strangely or limped due to the lost appendages. As expected, just how long did a spirit need to live to consider such things as pain, unimportant.
Putting his hand in his pocket, he took out a big baked fish, by now this wasn't even the strangest thing he had done. The fish was too big for something to fit in his pocket. Did he have some kind of spatial manipulation ability like me?
He took big bites out of the fish, his eyes still kept staring into mine, in a creepily calm manner.
Crushing even its bones with his teeth as he kept looking at me. Such a strange scenario, a one-armed man, eating fish, while walking toward you. It sounded like a joke with a punchline. But this was reality, and I wasn't laughing.
He stopped in front of me, we were close and I could smell the aroma of the cooked fish. The small heat it radiated made it seem like it was just freshly cooked.
"Can you guess what I am thinking right now?" Asked Sokka, munching down on his food, the fish's bones being crushed by his teeth.
Answering him right now might get me killed. So instead I kept my mouth shut. This guy was dangerous and I didn't want to try and play around with him in any way… wish I had realized this sooner though.
"I am wondering if I should kill you or not," he said casually as if talking about the weather. "I have half a mind to do so. But luckily for you, my mood is fantastic."
What? He is in a good mood? But… he almost died?
Sokka turned around, and went towards the lion, only now did I notice something… his arm had regenerated?!
"Think of something you can give me, it could be an item too. But better think fast, because I might just decide to kill you." Sokka said, casually walking away.
Shit. What can I even offer a guy like that? Many thoughts came to mind, and I didn't plan to hold back on my offers. Because my life depended on it. Since he seemed to be so strong, someone like me probably doesn't even qualify in his eyes.
***
As Sokka walked towards the Namean Lion, he turned on the notifications that he had muted during the battle. Such things would only distract him in a fight, but now he had a chance to check it.
[You predicted the Namean Lion's roar. Intelligence increased by 1]
[Due to outplaying your enemy, Wisdom increased by 1]
[You learned an original way to use waterbending, Wisdom increased by 1]
He skipped many notifications and just got the summary if there were many of them. Especially amongst the level-up notifications.
The first thing that had changed was his stats.
========
Name: Sokka
Title: [Legendary Beast Slayer]
Class: [The Gamer]
Level: 30 -> 43
HP: 2850 -> 3500
MP: 900 -> 1225
STR: 27
AGI: 45
VIT: 25
INT: 32 -> 33
WIS: 26 -> 28
LUCK: 186
Point: 0 -> 65
==========
He then checked the skills, the ones that had changed.
[Waterbending - Lvl 10 –> 16]
[Spear Mastery - Lvl 41 –> 45]
Sokka smiled, the improvements weren't small and I had many new things to contemplate. Especially the new option he had gotten after Level 40.
***
-Sokka POV-
I decided to look into the [Gamer Interface] later, and instead, walked back to the Evil Lady. By now my arm had healed, sadly my clothes hadn't… [Gamer's Body] was a weird Skill. After all, Game Characters don't lose their clothes just because they got hit by an attack or injured. Still, it seemed like it could only fix clothes up to a small degree.
Also as expected, as soon as my HP filled up. My arm regenerated. What a monstrous ability, it made me seem inhuman.
"This is all I can offer you, please spare me," the Evil Lady bowed down, her head touching the ground as she showed me a book. It didn't have any title on it, so I used [Observe].
□[Book of 1000 Spirits (Epic)]
[It has knowledge of a vast number of spirits. Their strengths, weaknesses, powers, etc are all recorded in it.]
[Author: Eris]
She also offered me many other items and trinkets that were useful, which I just shoved all of them in my inventory after making sure that they weren't cursed.
"Those were some good items," I complimented her. Then, picking up my spear, with an elegant sweep, I cut off her head. The contract didn't let her resist in any way when I attacked her.
With a swipe of my hand, the water rose and froze her body and head. Then I cut both of them into thousands of little pieces. Making sure that she wouldn't resurrect or something like that. Because I still haven't gotten a notification of her death.
[You have killed Eris (Lvl 560)]
So she was at a higher level than the Namean Lion. That's a little surprising since she was much weaker than him in fighting capabilities.
"Sorry, Eris, but I can't seem to be able to afford you," I said and clicked my boots, and teleported away.
Try to kill me once that's on you, and I might let you live for a while, because of the benefits. Betray me after that, and I will kill you, no matter what.
[Level 43 -> 58]
Still, I got quite a lot from her. The new items are also very nice. Though, no matter what she gave me, I wasn't going to spare her in the end.
*******************
A/N: This chapter is much longer than usual. Because I didn't wanna leave it in a bad cliffhanger.
P.S: Sokka planned to kill her all along, since she was the one who started it. But first, he was going to use her to the bone before doing so.
If his actions sometimes seem contradictory to his usual personality, he obviously didn't change in a split second, and is doing the action for a reason.
P.P.S: If you wanna join my Discord server to ask any questions or see character pics. Here it is the link:
https://discord.gg/bqadGRAUHA
A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
Pa treon.com/HolyJoker
(20+ chapters in advance)
______
Chapter 45
***
I was teleported back to the beautiful and lush forest from where I had been before the Evil Lady took me to the spirit world. The trees were high, and could probably hide quite a lot on top of them.
Laying down on the soft grass, I took a deep breath and started meditating. This was to organize my thoughts and contemplate some things. Also, I knew that meditation was the key to entering the Spirit World without having to rely on other, outside forces.
Initially, I had thought that the Avatar was one of the only strongest creatures around. Though I had learned otherwise, and my latest opponent proved that this world wasn't as weak as I had initially thought it would be.
Spirits like Old Iron, a giant samurai-like spirit that even Avatar Yangchen had difficulty beating in her Avatar State. Vaatu and Raava were at the top, but their powers weren't quite consistent and neither of them stayed strong for long, in comparison to the time other spirits spent in their peak power.
It was safe to assume that there were other spirits out there like the Namean Lion. Those that had abilities to destroy armies. Such a thought was a little scary. But exciting at the same time. Fighting humans wasn't worth it, but killing Spirits could mass-level up me quickly.
If people knew what I did, most would think that I also could destroy armies, because I was able to defeat the Namean Lion. But that wasn't the case at all. Just because I defeated him, it doesn't in any way, correlate that I could defeat armies. I didn't have invulnerable skin or anything like it.
Even if one soldier was able to do only 10 Damage on average, with numbers that would add up into a painful death. Still, even then, soldiers could do more than 10 HP of damage, especially in bigger numbers as it would get harder to dodge the attacks.
Still, even such an ability would be useless for me. If I went and just solved things with brute force, it would be stupid. Sure, I could go and do that, but then I would have to kill myself off to return everything to balance. Humans wouldn't come to accept having an overlord of power amongst them. There is the Avatar, but he at least is in a cycle that resembles humans and can die off. But, the Avatar also will never become a King or any kind of leader.
Only people with short foresight would do something like use power to solve such complicated problems. In the end, no amount of Luck would be able to save me from stupid mistakes.
[For understanding the gist of the world and how human minds work, Wisdom increased by 1]
Damn, if I had the time I could grind the intelligence and wisdom stats so easily. Some people found it more fun to work out and exercise, but for me, reading was easier, so essentially increasing intelligence and wisdom would be easier.
Why would I waste my stat points when my favorite hobby was reading?
The [Multidimensional Chat] was proof that other worlds existed, even though currently traveling to them was essentially impossible. That was something I will have to try and figure out after ending this war and helping the Southern Water Tribe develop into something that the Northern Water Tribe would essentially take over later in the story, but now, I won't let that happen.
I still remember from Korra, the Southern Water Tribe is essentially something the Northern Water Tribe controls.
With a sigh, I opened my eyes and looked at my stats. I was tempted to try and put some stats into intelligence or wisdom. But that would be foolish. Those stats were a breeze to increase for someone like me, who liked to read.
So with that in mind, I put them all in the one stat I had been unable to increase naturally despite many tests.
[Luck 186 -> 326]
[Chance Hit - Lvl Max]
[No matter how improbable, when you attack. Once every ten days, you have the chance of 100% hitting your target, once, by an attack. No matter how fast they are, or whether they try to dodge the attack.]
[Worth Evaluation - Lvl Max]
[It is said that every living being is the same and has the same worth. One can't see that… Well, you can now. Can only be used once every 24 hours.]
Oh… these skills, while they sounded simple. This was something that would help very much. Because even in the later stages when I became stronger, [Chace Hit] was something that could be a trump card.
At the same time, Worth Evaluation was like having information, and seeing if someone was worth investing in without having to learn from failure. It got rid of the failure part. This would be essentially very crucial when I decided to build up the Northern Water Tribe.
Still, while dangerous, looking back at it, maybe sparing the evil lady's life the first time was the best decision I could have made. Because I wanted to kill her back then too and never forgot what she had done. Still, sparing her momentarily had wielded some good benefits.
Getting up, I dusted myself off and pulled out a spare pair of clothes from my inventory. They were green clothes that belonged to the Earth Kingdom's citizens. I had prepared myself for this for quite a while, and since my inventory space was quite big, it was essential to use it to hold onto things like these.
I went towards one of the rivers and pulled up a blank mask that covered my face. From now on, it was crucial to make sure that people didn't associate me with being in two places at the same time. Also, I will have to think of excuses just in case I am found out, as it is better to prepare an excuse than come out with one immediately.
Walking through the forest, it was quiet and the sound of animals chipping about. It was so peaceful and nice. After such an intense battle where even a slip of concentration could be fatal, this was something I was welcoming.
Now that Aang, Katara, and my water clone were on their adventures, I had to do my part and gather an army. I wasn't going to wait until Sozin's Comet to come around, because that would be very bad. It would essentially be my loss by then. Because while I was a lucky guy, my companions didn't share my Luck. So I couldn't bet on Aang having the same encounter as he did originally.
Plus, by now things had changed quite a bit that I doubted things would go the same. Also, after getting past Level 40, I had unlocked the Minecraft crafting table. Though it seemed to be more like an anvil as it could combine weapons and items. Level 50 allowed me to see the relationship levels.
Katar had a 100/100, so that was cool. Knowing that even after all our bickering, she cared about her dear older brother.
The rest were mostly what I had predicted them to be around, except Zabuza. He was at 2/100, while he hadn't gone into negative numbers, by now I had thought that the man at least trusted me somewhat.
It seems like once a ninja will always be a ninja.
He was as untrustworthy as a shark, so it seemed like any kind of friendly or true working relationship we might develop in the future, it will have to be one based on benefits. I must keep myself two steps ahead of him and get the most Jutsu from the man.
Damn. He was a hard man to manipulate.
***
In another world, where ninjas were all around the planet, Zabuza stood at one of the tables, Haku behind him with a woman with red, spiky, and long hair. By her side stood a middle-aged man with an eye patch.
The meeting had a tense feeling to it. Haku, who was by the sidelines, felt her heart jump in fear of what might happen.
"So you went and killed off one of the richest people in the world and took his money?" Mei questioned him coldly. This wasn't something she had told him to do.
"Not one of the richest people. But THE richest person," Zabuza smiled, though the smile under his bandages couldn't be seen. But he was still holding his ground in the conversation. He had brought a huge sum of money back that would be able to be used by the resistance. To him, that was more than enough to help them. Also, Gato would have paid Zabuza that much, even if he did 100 Missions.
But still, Mei was worried about the repercussions of this.
After all, if they take over the Hidden Mist, then they will be known as the kind of ninjas who kill their clients. Who would want to work with that? Clients would just go to other villages.
Also, most of Gato's wealth was held in stocks, or his own companies which he had invested in. Being rich didn't necessarily mean having all of that money on hand.
Zabuza, while he seemed proud, as he had taken matters into his hands. Mei was skeptical of something.
'Is he being manipulated? While someone like Zabuza was not well-educated on what killing Gato would do. He acted too impulsive.' - contemplated Mei. The people who paid for ninjas weren't always good, they usually wanted a problem to disappear. It was a common thing to have assassination targets, kidnappings, and many other shady things as Ninja Missions.
But if word got out of what Zabuza had done, then even if they took over, it would economically cripple Hidden Mist Village.
Mei wanted to yell at the man in front of her, and bash his head in but decided not to do so. Ninjas dealt with their problems in the dark. Not so openly.
"I see," Mei smiled at him sweetly and nodded. "Thank you for everything Zabuza. This will be a big help."
He nodded. Getting up, catching on that he was being quietly dismissed. "No problem."
As he got out of the tent. Mei's eyes turned icy cold. "You know what to do. We can't take back our village with someone like that in our midst. Also, erase all information that he was associated with us."
Zabuza had been someone loyal to the resistance and even tried to kill the Mizukage by himself in the past. Endangering his life.
***
Still, as Zabuza walked out, he looked around and saw other ninjas in the resistance looking at him. Their faces had become hard and cold due to the Civil War.
He could sense that something was wrong here. So he put a hand on Haku's shoulder and whispered. "We need to get out of here."
Though he might not understand the geopolitical situation of a country or how the economy worked in great detail. The Demon of the Hidden Mist knew one thing, and that was when people wanted to kill him.
"Hm? Why did something happen?" inquired Haku, even though he too was already next to Zabuza as they escaped.
But Zabuza knew just how strong Mei was, Haku wouldn't be able to hold her back as Boil and Lava Style heavily countered the Yuki Bloodline Ability.
So in the end, he made his decision, taking out two scrolls and handing them over to his disciple. "Take them, one of them will allow you to communicate with certain people, and the other has information on the people and how to use the strange scroll. Don't worry, I will be right behind you."
Though he said those words full of conviction, so much that even Haku believed them… ninjas were the best liars. Zabuza planned on dying today, and he knew that if he didn't give Mei too much trouble, she hopefully wouldn't chase after Haku. Who was uninvolved in these matters.
As his student, Haku once again followed her teacher's words.
But not even ten seconds after she walked away, like the silent breeze in a forest, dozens of ninjas wearing masks with the Hidden Mist insignia on them appeared.
*sigh* "Can't you guys just fake my death or something?" Zabuza asked, fearlessly taking out his giant sword.
Fwish!
Mei appeared in front of him, she had a gentle smile on her face. "Sorry, but this is the best I can do for you. Don't worry, I will let that student that you love so much go free."
"Tch, don't talk about love, you bitch," he swore at her. Annoyed that she was talking about things like "love" while at the same time making it clear that she will kill him.
"It's goddamn annoying, no matter which side I am on, I always end up getting tossed aside. Then it's about time I make my side!!!" Zabuza swung his giant sword towards Mei who didn't even bother to dodge, as, within a second, the Anbu surrounded him and had stabbed their short swords into his body. The battle was a no contest to who would win, he was in their main base.
Zabuza didn't bother to resist her, as while Mei's words sounded like she wouldn't do anything to Haku. If he gave her trouble, she would hunt down Haku like a mad dog, this was a clear, unspoken, threat.
"Sorry, Zabuza," Mei apologized. "If the world was a little kinder, it would allow people like us to-"
"Shut the hell up, you bitch," *cough* Zabuza coughed out blood as he wearily fell to the ground. "I don't want the last thing I hear to be your annoying voice."
Mei nodded. She hadn't wanted to kill him either, but this was the life of a ninja. One where even a single mistake would lead to their death.
**********
A/N: Some people might wonder why Zabuza wasn't so active in the Dimensional Chat? But each of the members has their own goals and lives, just like Sokka does.
If you wanna join my Discord server to ask any questions or see character pics. Here it is the link:
https://discord.gg/bqadGRAUHA
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