1 Prologue: The Life of a Grunt

I woke up to a dizzying sensation of my entire body rocking. My eyes snapped open and I sat up, looking around my room.

"..."

Correction, this isn't my room.

'Where the hell am I?' I thought, remarkably composed.

'I'm not being deported, am I?!' I thought, panicked, before realizing...

'Why the hell would I be deported, dumbass?' I critiqued my rather far assumption. I was a citizen, born and raised after all. So there was only one other option... I was being kidnapped by some human traffickers...?

'Okay, again, that's pretty far off the mark I'd say,' I told myself. After all, why would I have my own room if I was kidnapped? But then, what else would explain me being on a fucking boat? Deciding to hell with it, I stood up and examined my... room?

First thing I noticed as soon as I got out of the blankets, is that it was cold. Only in a shirt and underwear, exactly how I went to bed last night. I stood up and stumbled, hurriedly holding onto the bed. I've only been on a ship once in my life before, and I barely did any walking that one time.

My eyes took awhile to adjust to the dark room. The walls were... black, or just a very dark metallic grey. I couldn't really tell. There were no windows, and the door was shut. The only light coming from the cracks underneath the door.

Using the wall as a balancer, I reached the door. Sliding my hand around the door, I eventually managed to find the door knob.

'It isn't locked,' I quickly noticed, and pulled it open. The door opened, accompanied by the sound of rusted metal hinges squealing. It was harder than I thought it'd be.

'Then again, it's a metal door, what was I expecting?' I asked myself rhetorically. And in all honesty, I had no idea what I was thinking.

I was too confused about this entire situation I was in. When the door opened, I was greeted with... Fire.

I blinked my eyes rapidly as they adjusted to the bright torch that hung on the wall. I continued pushing the metal door until it was completely against the wall, no door stopper I noticed, letting light from the torch wander in.

Finally with some light, I started investigating my room before even daring to think of exiting it. What I saw made me freeze where I was standing.

On the wall hung armor. A dark red helmet with some silver linings. It seemed oddly familiar. I walked towards it in unsteady steps, gulping audibly.

'Some sort of antique?' I thought hopefully. The nagging feeling in the back of my head growing stronger and stronger. I grabbed the helmet and stared at it, as if to burn a hole through it.

"Ah," I muttered, at a loss for words. But eventually, the words I needed found me...

"I'm fucked, aren't I?" This helmet was familiar to me, a fire nation soldier's helmet. One of a grunt that couldn't even fire bend. That's where I remembered it.

'Am I...? No, that's... that's impossible, isn't it?' But then, a saying I remembered from somewhere appeared in my head, as if to make me face the reality of my situation.

"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

I was somehow in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I wished I was at later in the timeline, like LOK, but this just has to be my luck. Then, something popped up in my vision.

[As a result of continuous observation, The Skill, {Observe}, has been created!]

"Oh thank God," I let out a sigh of relief, "I'll live, I'll live..." I had a system after all.

[Do you wish to unlock this body's memories?]

[Y/N]

I pressed no.

'Yeah, fuck that noise. Maybe later,' I thought to myself. Later, once I was out of this fire nation ship. After all, I had no intentions of getting involved with the fire nation. Wasn't Iroh, by far the wisest man alive, practically blindly loyal to the fire nation before his son died? Whatever propaganda brainwashing bullshit that they used, I didn't want to remember.

Whatever family this guy had, I didn't want to be attached to. Especially now that I could see that I was in a different body, me and this guy just had the same habit of sleeping in our shirt and underwear.

[By thinking in a logical and precise manner, your WIS has gone up by one!]

I ignored the pop-up.

'Well, then again... It'd probably be good to remember so that I knew proper... Etiquette? Was there etiquette? Fuck. Whatever, just copy what other people are doing, no need to speak,' I assured myself. Then without any further delay, I decided to check my status.

Name: Elliot (Kai)

Level: 10 (Next Level: 840/1,000)

Class: N/A

Title: Fire Soldier Grunt (+25% EXP to Weapon Skills, Can't Bend)

Age: 14

HP: 1,715/1,715

CHI: 300/300 (0.9 Per Minute/54 Per Hour)(Locked)

STR: 23

STA: 20

VIT: 20

DEX: 18

WIS: 16

PER: 18

INT: 15

LUK: 6

Attribute Points: 50

Perks: {Sword Genius}

Flaws: N/A

"Hm, I can work with this..." I muttered to myself as I rubbed my chin in thought. While in my thoughts, I decided to get dressed in my gear. As soon as I grabbed the sword, another pop-up appeared.

[As a result of constant repetitive use, The Skill, {Sword Mastery}, has been created!]

The sword felt comfortable in my rough, calloused hands. This body certainly remembers how to use it, I didn't. I decided to check it's skill level.

{Sword Mastery} (Passive)

LV 56 (-56% EXP Gained)

EXP: 4,552/5,600

Passively Increases DEX while wielding a Sword by 168%

Passively Increases damage with a Sword by 112%

Increases the skill in which you wield a Sword

[You have fulfilled the requirements to get the title, Adept Swordsman!]

"... This is crazy," I mumbled to myself, astonished by the amount of work this body's previous owner had to put in. And... well, I just got it for free. All his effort was in vain, because of me.

'Did he die? Or did me and his soul merge? Was he back in MY body? What actually happened to Kai?' I asked nobody in particular. Nothing, of course, answered me. I took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm my panicking self.

It worked, if only a little. It made me think clearer. 'It's not my fault, I didn't ask to be shoved into his body. What matters is finding some way to get out of here.'

[By gaining control of your tumultuous emotions, your WIS has gone up by one!]

'I guess wisdom also equates to will here as well,' I noted mentally. Sheathing my sword, I finally determined that I needed to head out.

I got out into a... hall? I didn't quite know what to call it. The living quarters? The reason I named it that is because I saw many door similar to my, some open, all the rest mostly closed. After wandering around for a while, I eventually made it to the ship's deck. I saw other gru- people like me, doing miscellaneous things. Most just standing around idly.

I walked up to one soldier and just stood besides him. I barely noticed when he looked at me, I was too distracted by the sight of the ocean and ship. I nodded at him, and then put my hands behind my back, watching the night sea.

Hours passed. The sun began peaking over the horizon shyly. Dawn officially beginning.

"When do we eat?" I asked the soldier besides me.

"Eight," he replied brusquely.

"When's that?" He favored shrugging his shoulders over an actual response. Having nothing to do, I decided to start swinging my sword. He looked at me with a raised brow, but I didn't care. I needed to grind my only combat skill.

+14.3

+14.3

+14.3

My title, Grunt, perk, Sword Genius, and new title, Sword Adept, increased my experience gained for Sword Mastery by 225%. 10 Experience originally, cut down by 56%, then 4.4 plus 225% equals... +14.3

After a little over 73 swings, the skill leveled up. Now, I would need 410 swings to level it up again. It's not like I had anything better to do.

[Due to continuous strenuous activities, your STR has gone up by one!]

I ate, rested, and then continued practicing. I leveled up my Sword Mastery three more times. I also found out I had an inventory.

My life as a grunt continued pretty smoothly, at least... for a few days. In that peaceful time, I managed to up Sword Mastery another four times. I also got my strength up six times, and my stamina five. Before I knew it, I saw land, and then, we docked.

"Okay men!" I heard a shout from behind me. I turned around, and saw the... captain of this vessel? The admiral? I didn't know what to call him. All I knew is that he was obviously higher than me on the totem pole.

"You know what to do!" he told us. Probably restock the vessel, but instead of doing that, I would use this chance to escape.

Following some grunts, I picked up a box from the storage, and headed out. I trodded slowly, making it to the back of the pack. And then... I was gone. I shoved my box into the inventory, unequipped all my armor, and lastly, the sword. I snuck into an alleyway, and I was officially free. The burden of having to go to war far behind me.

Unfortunately, a new burden quickly found it's way onto my shoulders, replacing my previous. The burden of poverty. How lovely. But, my life as a grunt was far behind me. So, that's a plus, right? I would quickly find out that, no. No it isn't.

[This has been edited as of Tuesday April 18th 2:17 P.M. 2023. Please tell me if I need to edit anything else.]