Chapter V

"Let's dance shall we?"

Zak stood with lit palms and grinned wickedly at the pirates who just laughed.

"Hahaha!! Who do you think ya are huh?! Stop trying to be a hero pretty boy!" One of the men said.

Zak didn't say anything and the next minute, he disappeared from his spot and showed up right in front of that pirate before sending a swift kick towards him.

The pirate wasn't ready and was sent flying with his clothes on fire. His friends stopped laughing and blinked unable to process what just happened. Once they realised what happened, their faces turned to rage as they simultaneously charged at Zak with their sabres and daggers.

It was then when, [Ding! New Mission: Eliminate pirates and protect the passengers. 2 Credits will be awarded for every pirate eliminated]

"Oh? So I guess that means I shouldn't hold back,"

'It's not like I was planning to anyway.' Zak thought as he jumped.

He did a 540 roundhouse kick and blasted two pirates away. After he landed, he dodged an incoming sabre and shoved out his fist that produced a strong blaze that engulfed the opponent. He used different variations of standard martial arts instead of the usual fire-bending moves but he did use a lot of nanquan.

Nanquan is a martial art originating from Southern China

Zak's biggest advantage was that he was fast and accurate. He knew exactly where to aim and used speed to strike quickly. This allowed him to conserve more strength as he fought. His figure danced around the deck setting more and more pirates on fire and killing them. Zak didn't bother counting and was too caught up in the fight.

The battle pretty much ended as soon as it started as the opponents were not able to fight back. Zak finished off the final pirate with a solid flash kick. (a/n: it's like a backflip and kick combined.)

[Ding! Congratulations for completing the mission. Rewards are now being calculated]

[Pirates eliminated: 20 / 20 II Credits Earned: 40]

[Reward for completion of mission: 2 vials of Spirit Water]

"Hmm? Spirit water? If I remember correctly, this is the same water Katara used to revive Aang after he was struck by Azula," Zak said to himself as he held the vials. In other words, this water is extremely precious.

'But where am I going to store it? It's not safe for me to keep it in my satchel. System, don't you have an inventory or something?'

[System Inventory costs 50 credits to open]

"...."

This system was so expensive. Zak wanted to cry. "Fine whatever. Take the 50 credits."

[Ding! Successfully opened inventory]

[Current Credits: 200]

Zak placed the vials in the inventory and cleared away the bodies from the deck, dumping them in the ocean. When he turned around, he saw all the passengers and crew members staring at him with mouths agape.

He felt embarrassed but put on a cool expression. "As you can see, the pirates have been dealt with so this journey can continue."

It was dead silent before the broke out into cheers. Zak blinked as the crowd surrounded him, praising him for defeating the pirates. The crew members and ship's captain thanked him multiple times and promised him the best meals and a place to sleep in the cabin.

Many young girls came up to flirt with him but he politely rejected them. He was happy though that these people didn't think he was some monster and despite his early thoughts of not wanting to interact with anyone, he ended up joining in multiple conversations.

There was one man who didn't praise him but scoffed instead. "Hmph, if I were younger, I could've easily taken them on myself as well. It ain't nothing special."

"What the hell you on about old man?! If I recall, you were one of the first people to run away the moment the pirates appeared, even shoving away the children!"

With that statement, the air turned cold as frosty expressions appeared on everyone's faces and they aimed their glares at the man who swallowed nervously. He was hoping no one remembered that.

Zak didn't really care at first but now, his face was dark as he stared threateningly at the man.

'This bastard actually pushed away children so he could escape first?! Absolute scum.'

It turns out he didn't have to do anything in the end because several passengers got up and dragged the man away to 'have a chat'.

===================

The trip to the eastern fire nation islands took a whole two days and Zak was ecstatic the moment they arrived because he was extremely bored on the ship.

The docks weren't anything too fancy. Just a regular wide platform where people stepped onto. The workers on the docks brought down the big packages and assisted people off the ship.

Zak jumped down after being farewelled by his travelling companions and crew members and headed for the town.

The streets were full of people shopping for fish in the market or manning the stalls. All of them sported the colour of red somewhere on their clothing. The children ran around laughing and playing while their parents watched them with smiles.

It was nice and peaceful.

Zak bought a skewer from one of the stalls and asked the shop owner, "Do you perhaps know how to get to Shu Jing?"

"Shu Jing aye? That town is located further in land, near the mountains. It's probably a day trip on foot. I recommend you get a mongoose lizard if you're heading there. It'll be a lot faster."

"And where can I get a mongoose lizard?"

"Just head to the end of the town. There's a business there that escorts people to other places using mongoose lizards as their main mount."

"I see. Thank you,"

Zak left the stall and walked towards the end of the town. He was planning on taking one of the mongoose lizards but sadly for him;

[Ding! New Mission: Travel to Shu Jing on foot. Must be completed under 12 hours]

[Failure to complete: – 20 credits]

"..."

'Yeah I should've known the system would do something like this.'

Zak wasn't too unhappy though. With his speed and physique, it shouldn't be to much trouble to go on foot. In fact, it should be easy for him. He was only going to take the mount because he was feeling lazy.

Zak checked the timer on the system. "Well whatever. I should probably get going."