LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 2: Chapter 2
[Fishing + 2 EXP] [Fishing + 20 EXP]…
While I was on the boat with the siblings, the notification sound kept ringing in my ear. It made me think that if I got into a fight, the continuous notifications about experience gained would be quite annoying. Luckily, there was a parameters option on the system's screen, and I managed to select what I wanted to be notified about.
Now, I would only get notifications for leveling up and when I learned new skills.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I caught another fish. I was thrusting my spear into the water whenever I saw or felt a ripple. Then, with a strong pull, I'd catch a fish. The probability was decent—about 1 in 10 attempts.
[Fishing Up to Level 3]
Once the skill leveled up, I felt the changes instantly. I could spot the ripples in the water better, and my reaction speed improved. On one attempt, I missed, but on the next, I succeeded. After a few more tries, I noticed that my success rate had increased to 2 in 10. There were even times when I caught four fish in a row. Overall, my success rate was now 20%, a remarkable improvement. While I was immersed in the changes in my skill, Katara stood behind me and cleared her throat. She seemed to have something to say ever since we got on the boat. But since I was busy testing the level-up process with my fishing skill, I barely paid her any attention, so she didn't say anything.
"Excuse me," she said, grabbing my attention by touching my shoulder, causing me to stop fishing.
"Yes?" I turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
"You seem very calm for someone who just discovered they can bend water," she said.
"Well, how am I supposed to react?" I asked with a smile.
"When I realized I could bend, I was so happy and excited…" She trailed off and seemed to become sad for some reason. I knew why—her mother had been killed under the allegation of being a waterbender.
"Well, I suppose if I were younger, I'd be jumping with excitement," I replied. "Anyways, even though I can bend now, what's the use? Without proper guidance, I can't hope to achieve a high level on my own."
Well, there was hope, but it would require a lot of grinding.
"True. But you know, when you train with someone, your skills improve quickly," she said. "So I was thinking, once this fishing trip is over, how about we find some exercises to practice?"
"Oh, you seem to have something in mind." I mused. She seemed more excited than me. Well, considering she didn't know what might happen if we don't find the Avatar, she could afford to be carefree. On the other hand, I had a real anxiety about it. My very existence could change many things, like Sokka and Katara's mood on the day they're supposed to find the Avatar. One thing leads to another… and you know, the butterfly effect theory.
"Yes." Katara nodded. "I had some ideas a long time ago, but since I was the only bender here, I couldn't put them into proper practice."
"Great. I'll be in your care," I replied.
"I'm not that good in the first place," she said, blushing slightly despite her tanned cheeks. Just to be clear, people do blush when they're embarrassed or praised.
I turned my attention back to the ocean and continued fishing. At first, Sokka had caught more fish than I did, but I eventually caught up and got more. Every time I caught a bigger fish, I gained more experience—I occasionally checked the window to see my progress. Eventually, I reached level 4, and things started picking up. My success rate rose to 30%. We had plenty of food before calling it a day and heading back to the tribe.
When we returned, we were greeted by women and children, who gathered around us. We distributed the food evenly. Meanwhile, while I fished, I had hidden a few fish in my storage to test something. I was wondering whether things would be preserved in the storage or if they would rot with time.
'If time doesn't affect things in storage, it'd be useless to season and store food in the system,' I thought to myself. Well, a man with extra testosterone thinks with his D, and a hungry man thinks with his stomach. Only a satisfied man thinks with his brain.
'Leave thinking about the Fire Nation for later. I'll have to dry these fish before eating them. It's not hard to start a fire, but seaweed and wood are rare to find,' I thought to myself. Luckily, I had dried fish somewhere. I was starting to think: Once I find the Avatar, I'll head to the Earth Kingdom and experience real food. I'm getting tired of this fish-heavy diet. When I said I didn't miss anything from my previous life, I guess I wasn't totally honest.
Leaving that aside, after agreeing with Katara to meet tomorrow for training, I bid my farewell to her and Sokka and went to my ice house. I ate my food and then laid down.
Now that I was alone and satisfied, I started thinking about the potential of the system. Sure, I might never get as powerful as the Avatar, but I could achieve a power that he could never hope to attain.
If I leveled up my waterbending skills, I could learn bloodbending, which is enough to kill an army by myself. And since it's a system, I might be able to level up bloodbending beyond what's known in the series. In The Legend of Korra, Korra was almost killed by the weakest bloodbender. Unless one has the Avatar State to aid them, bloodbending is guaranteed to deliver the kill.
'Anyway, you could kill the Avatar before he activates the Avatar State. That's the power of waterbending… bloodbending.'
While thinking about the possibilities, I drifted into sleep.
When I woke up and sat up, I thought to myself, 'I didn't even realize when I fell asleep.'
After having a small breakfast, I washed myself and changed into clean clothes. I'd wash my spare change when I returned later.
As I stepped outside, I thought about how I would spend the day. The obvious answer was to increase my combat potential by leveling up waterbending. Then, I'd look for some random iceberg to see if there's an airbender inside.
When I reached the outskirts of the tribe, I found Katara standing and playing with a floating water ball, making it dance beautifully in the air.
Her smooth movements grabbed my attention, particularly her fully developed body. It reminded me of TikTok.
Watching her, I thought about mimicking her movements to gain experience. Maybe I wouldn't need a teacher, thanks to the system. But training was still mandatory.
I walked over to Katara and called out, "Katara, you're up early."
"Ryuk, you usually don't wake up until a few hours later," she remarked.
"I fell asleep early," I replied, pointing at the ball of water she was manipulating. "Anyway, what are you doing?"
"Practicing," she said, then asked, "Do you want to join me?"
That's exactly why I had approached her in the first place, so I nodded. "Sure."
"Alright," she said with a smile. "I've created a game called Passing the Ball." She moved her body fluidly, almost like dancing, and waved her arms. Water rose from the ground, forming into a ball that floated beside her. "First, copy my movements and try to hold the water in a ball shape. Once you've mastered that, we'll pass it back and forth. Whoever drops it first loses."
"Sounds fun to you…" I nodded, "but to me, it sounds like I'll be the one losing."
She chuckled. "Maybe, but you'll gain experience. Now, go ahead and give it a try."
I sighed and stepped a little farther away to give myself room. I replayed her movements in my head and mimicked them. As I went through the smooth motions, I felt a strange energy flowing through my veins. Water rose from the ground and hovered between my hands—only to collapse into a puddle moments later. I couldn't even form a ball, let alone hold it.
I opened the system window and checked the log.
[Waterbending +2 XP]
Well, at least my effort wasn't in vain. To keep myself motivated, I decided to turn on the sound notifications for now. And so, I began practicing.
[Waterbending]
[Waterbending +]
[Waterbending +]
...
[Waterbending up to Level 2]
[Skill Tree has been upgraded]
[+Skill: Push and Pull]
[Chi Bending +50 XP]
Suddenly, a wave of information flooded my mind. It was like remembering something long forgotten. Instinctively, I knew how to move. I raised my hands, feeling the energy coursing through me. Water rose from the icy ground and floated before me. With a push of my arms, I sent it away.
[Waterbending +5 XP]
"You're getting the hang of it," Katara cheered from where she had been watching me practice for the past hour.
I smiled back at her. "I'll have that water ball mastered in no time."
"I'll be waiting," she said, though she added, "but don't expect it to be easy. I struggled for a long time to get to that point on my own."
"To be fair," I said, "if you'd had a teacher, you probably would've picked it up much faster."
And I was being honest. In the show, Katara was one of the most talented waterbenders. She had bested the Northern Water Tribe's grandmaster with ease, and her skills were on par with Azula—a prodigy who had been training all her life. Katara, on the other hand, had been training for less than a year.
I returned to my practice, focusing on forming the water into a ball.
[Waterbending +10 XP]
It seemed that trying new techniques earned more experience than repeating basic moves. By the time another half hour had passed, I received a notification:
[Waterbending up to Level 3]
[Skill Tree has been upgraded]
[Bending will now feel more natural]
With the level-up, that same strange wave of knowledge hit me again. When I tried pushing and pulling the water this time, it felt much smoother. At first, I had struggled to control the water's speed—it had just followed my movements chaotically. But now, it flowed in sync with me. Slowly, I gathered the water into a perfect ball.
I turned to Katara, excitement lighting up my face. "Look!" I said, holding the ball in my hands proudly.
"Wow, great job!" she said, genuinely impressed.
"Should we play now?" I teased, grinning.
Katara, twirling a strand of her hair absentmindedly, replied, "I don't know… Bending can be exhausting. You must be tired by now."
She was right. I did feel a bit drained. Maybe I had overused my chi.
"You've got a point," I said, sitting down. "A little break won't hurt."
As I rested, I thought about chi. It felt like a muscle—the more I used it, the stronger it would become over time. That thought reminded me of Ty Lee. If I remembered correctly, she could block a person's chi by striking certain pressure points. I wondered if it was possible for me to learn that technique. After all, it was powerful enough to allow a non-bender to take down skilled benders.
When we returned to the tribe, I joined Sokka on a fishing trip. Our goal was to catch enough fish to build up reserves for the small tribe—just about ten women, a few older folks, and some children. Food had to be dried before it was edible, so having extra stock was always better.
By the end of the trip, we'd caught enough to feed everyone for two days. On the way back, Sokka kept glancing at me until he finally asked, "You've gotten better. Did you use waterbending to guide the fish to us?"
In truth, my fishing skill had leveled up to five—it was a simple skill that didn't require much effort to improve. Still, I noticed that the rate of progress slowed with each level.
"I didn't," I replied with a smirk. "But that's not a bad idea at all."
"Right?" Sokka grinned. "With you and Katara, we could catch enough food for a week in just one day."
"But then what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have any entertainment planned for afterward?"
"I'll make a nice bed," he replied, sounding carefree.
I couldn't help but envy him. He had no idea about the dangers lurking ahead. Meanwhile, I was constantly worried about the Avatar and what lay ahead. If I wanted to find Aang, I needed to master waterbending—at least enough to survive the icy waters without freezing to death.