Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

'My Chi is already exhausted,' I thought as I got on my boat and opened the sail, the wind pushing it in the direction of the North. Moreover, I managed to increase its speed by bending the water around the boat. At the same time, I received occasional sensory inputs that I had yet to fully interpret. Maybe fish or something were nearby. I couldn't get used to this new sensation. But I either needed to train it or level up to gain its benefits.

Turning my head toward the location of the tribe, I found that it was no longer in my sight.

"At this rate… I should reach the other side quickly," I thought to myself, stopping the motion of my arms and letting the boat move with the momentum it had gathered.

At the same time, I scanned the horizon.

The ocean was quite violent today, with quick waves raging from different directions. They weren't huge, but they were definitely fast; I had flown above the sea a couple of times.

Since I had been alone, I was enjoying myself. Whenever I spotted an incoming wave, I would hold onto the sail, bend the water to boost my boat, and glide above the wave, flying.

What? A man can work and have fun at the same time.

But that didn't make me forget about the firebender I was chasing.

'He's not a waterbender, so he couldn't have dealt with this kind of weather. At the same time, the sea is vast. He may be in a different spot depending on the angle he used to travel,' I thought. 'At any rate, I had to leave the South Pole whether that soldier had escaped or not. There are a lot of experience points to gain and many monsters to fight. But that's not entirely to my advantage, even with the chances to gain experience. When you think about it, waterbenders are very powerful in their environment.'

'But on land, where water is limited, I wouldn't pose as much of a threat as I do here.'

Unfortunately, I had a solution for a problem like that. I looked down between my legs.

'The last resort. Imagine killing someone with a piss-spear.'

I was only a few hours at sea, and I was already having funny ideas.

I knew that I had a storage to hold a water barrel or two. But what if I didn't?

Shaking my head, I decided to focus on what was in front of me.

The more I advanced, the warmer the weather became. I could finally see the daylight—the sun, shining brightly.

My body felt so hot that I was forced to remove my coat and travel with my upper body exposed.

After a bit of time, I reached a small, isolated island. I decided to take a break, as it was approaching night. I wasn't familiar with the stars in this world, so I wouldn't be able to navigate to the Earth Kingdom at night. But during the day, depending on the position of the sun, I'd be fine as long as I headed north. I rested for the night.

'Now that I think about it, how would a soldier without a navigator survive alone on the ocean?' It may sound like an absurd idea. 'But if you think about it, immigrants have performed more impressive feats on more violent seas.'

-x-X-x-

"At last," I said to myself as I spotted land.

I hadn't found the firebender, but that wasn't important. There was a high chance that he had died. In case that hadn't happened, I knew what I would have to do.

'But still, it would bother me that he escaped and may have survived somewhere.'

I made it onto land. It had taken me a couple of days to reach here, thanks to the winds and waterbending. I could relax a bit before starting to stir up trouble.

Raindrops fell from the cloudy sky.

A rich aroma that I hadn't smelled in 17 years hit my nose.

'The nostalgia,' I thought to myself, looking at the boat, putting my hand on it, and trying to move it to storage.

[Storage doesn't contain enough space. Upgrade the storage or remove a few items.] came the system's notification.

I wondered whether I should leave the boat here or not. It clearly belonged to the Southern Water Tribe, whose members were known to have joined the rebellion against the Fire Nation. Even without the Fire Nation knowing what I did in the South Pole, they could easily find me here.

'Wait. If they find the boat, it would serve my agenda,' I thought. 'That way, they'll link it to the sole waterbender who killed their soldiers if they ever find out.'

Just to avoid looking suspicious, I changed into casual clothes that I had found on the Fire Nation ship. I was now wearing wide black clothes made of silk. I tied my hair in a ponytail and put a bandanna around my forehead.

I then walked down the road of life.

After a few hours of walking, I started missing gliding on the ice.

There wasn't much water around.

But I still had weapons in my storage, so that was fine.

Before I could think about gaining experience or causing trouble, I needed to think about where I would sleep.

I noticed that I was beside a road made for carriages. Deciding to take a break, I sat beside it and waited for any carriages to appear. I needed to ask about the locations. Acquiring a map would be very helpful.

'At times like this, you realize how helpful a flying bison would be,' I thought to myself.

A sound echoed, and I turned my head.

A middle-aged man, green-eyed and wearing green clothes, was huffing as he dragged a cabbage cart.

He stopped dragging and stood in front of me.

The man was pulling a portable stall with his own strength.

I could tell what he was thinking the moment he looked at me.

'Fuck my life,' I thought. 'Where are the strength stats when you need them?'

"Young man—" he said.

"Sure, why not." I interjected as I stood up.

"I didn't tell you what I wanted?" he asked.

Since he had green eyes, a trait typical of the Earth Kingdom, it was obvious that he wouldn't be asking me for directions.

"You want help dragging that," I replied.

"It's good to see young, good men like you. But don't you have a place to be?" he asked, smiling.

"I'm just a wanderer," I said, deciding to be honest. "I don't know my way around, so I don't have a place to be."

"To your luck, I'm going to a place where you can stay for cheap. If you help me, I'll guide you to a nearby place where you can rest," he said. "Though, I advise you not to cause any trouble. That place is governed by the Fire Nation."

"Sure thing," I replied. The money wasn't a problem for me, as I had looted the Fire Soldiers and their ship. But I needed a place to spend that money.