Chapter 4

The asshole was punched out of the store, and Haru rubbed his wrist a bit.

He had felt an overwhelming rage that he was just an inch away from using his earthbending and ending this man's life.

Well, one can't blame him, not after that sudden insult. Even though he was two in one, he is still Haru, and that man surely got under his nerves.

"What was that…" the baldy sat up, eyes full of fear as he put his hand on his nose. "I will kick your ass-"

Haru clenched his teeth and jumped over. "It was an accident, how about I verify your face."

"Accident!" the bald man said once Haru was above him. Haru sat on his knees.

"I stepped on a bee, and I reacted like that," Haru said. "Let me check your face."

Haru put his hand on the bald head, clenching the other one and taking it back.

"Stop what you are doing." The baldy yelled.

"On your face! the Bee." Haru then punched right to his face, sending him out.

This time, since Haru didn't use the earth to gain momentum, it was weaker. But it was strong enough to make the baldy roll twice on the ground.

"I will pay you taxes later, sir." Haru stood up.

"You are a mad man. Look at what you have done to me." The baldy yelled as he pointed at his broken nose.

"Oh, I didn't realise that." Haru made a wide smiled and walked forward. " My fault, you are right. Let me check your face again."

It seems that his devilish smile gave his intents away. The bald man just stood up and turned to run away.

Haru turned his head and spat.

In the worst case, he will get a small punishment in jail for a couple of days or something.

As for that man, he will have to stay and fix his nose.

Knowing how men can be prideful, he thought that the baldy won't admit that he got his ass kicked by a young teenager. But that can't be taken for granted. The baldy can make some story to make things look worse.

But knowing that there are witnesses outside, Haru believed that nothing extreme will happen.

He didn't use his bending, and everyone saw him just punching that tax collector.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked to the counter again. "At least I signed on the taxes list that I've paid."

Later that day, his mother came and she learnt about everything.

She couldn't help but scream in wariness and anxiety after what he had done.

Even after hearing the story from his side and even though she was angry that the taxes collector was trying to scam them, she couldn't stop being angry at Haru.

He got himself into trouble, and she said that losing more money isn't as important as his safety.

"Whatever." Haru just shook his head. "At any rate, I'm tired… I'll be sleeping."

Leaving his mom in her bad mood, he walked to his room, where rocks were over the place.

He raised his hand and decided to use the night to train his Swords spiral ring.

As long as there is food next to him, he can get his health back, and sitting down can give him his energy back faster. So he could train for most of the night.

Since his life was game-like, just a little sleep will be enough for him. He was just like a gaming character that enters a bed, and a few minutes later he will be healthy.

[Swords Spiral Ring level 4]

[Swords Spiral Ring level 5 (100/1600)]

It stopped at level five.

He now could do three swords at the same time, and it consumes 100 Chi points per sword for a minute.

The swords are sharper, have more cutting power and spin faster.

He couldn't test them on the walls of his room, but he still could use them to cut a compressed rock.

It took him almost the whole night, almost 6 hours to get through these two levels.

And it will take him more to level it up to the seventh.

As the sun started rising, he decided to get some sleep. He may not need so much sleep, but he is still sleepy.

Lying down, and resting for some hour and a bit, Haru was fully comfortable.

But, still, he wanted to sleep more. It's a good feeling to forget that you exist in this life with all of its troubles.

"Haru! Wake up!"

The door was slammed wide open. His mother was standing there, anxious. He could swear, he would love to see some gentle expression sometimes.

Haru blinked twice and rubbed his eyes. "What~" he yawned.

"Hurry up. The fire troops are coming to take you."

"Wait, what?"

"That bastard, the one you kicked yesterday, he told everyone that you used Earthbending to kick him away."

"There are witnesses that I used my bare fists to do it. No need to worry."

"How do you think I knew!" she yelled. "He came at dawn to pay everyone a bribe, a week tax-free, just so they witness that you are Earthbender. Our next-door neighbour came secretly to me and said she took the bribe, and she warned me!"

"Can't blame them, I guess…" Haru said. "They were threatened."

Haru would have done the same if he had no choice.

His mother sat on the bed, put her face in her hands, and sobbed. "This is all my fault. If I was rougher with you… this wouldn't have happened."

"Relax mom," Haru said. "You—"

"Quickly, escape and don't come back." She said as she pointed to the door. "I already packed you a bag full of food, it'll be enough for you for days. Head to the nearest Earth Kingdom city, they will take care of you."

Haru smiled. "You made my preparations, even though you were in hurry to wake me up."

"I couldn't bring myself to not let you rest for some time."

Haru stood up, bowed down, and said. "Thank you. I'm grateful for everything you did for me. I'm sorry for the trouble I cause."

"Don't be sorry. Just hurry up."

"Alright. By the way, when will they arrive?" He asked.

"Once we open the shop they will be ready to take you."

"Alright." Haru walked out of the room, picked up his bag, and decided to walk.

Leaving this place will serve his convenience of getting stronger.

He will have more time to train, more time to fight enemies, and he will get way stronger.

He, at this moment, promised himself that he will come back stronger and free everyone, including his dad.

Once he was about to step out of the door, he felt some burning sensation coming from his eyes. They were getting wet. Haru took a deep breath, and he thought it was no time for emotions. He won't cry because he is leaving home.

The streets were empty.

Shin, the tax collector, was standing up in these empty streets, alone and earlier than anyone.

He was thinking about Haru. The fucker ever dared to say that he punched him because of a bee.

How can someone be stupid enough to use such an excuse and believe that people will listen to him?

It doesn't matter. It is too obvious. That kid had started the fight because Shin wanted to snatch more money.

The low citizen of the Earth Kingdom dared to oppose a more civilised being such as himself.

Shin leaned on the wall, picked up a pipe, and started smoking.

He wanted to be here, earlier than anyone, to see the good show.

Also, to bribe everyone who happened to be around, Haru would appear to be an Earthbender and get taken to the Off Shores prison. That way, he would never leave.

Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Shin felt bothered, somehow.

'I will make him reunite with his father. That bastard doesn't know how merciful I am with him.'

Shin laughed at the joke in his head. The joke was himself trying to look good as if harming this lesser being was a form of civilisation.

One of the doors was opened. Shin turned to see who would be awake for the show, just like himself.

But it was none other than the antagonist.

Shin put the pipe down, and in one second, he could realise what did happen.

'Someone told him, and he is planning to escape.'

He reached his back, picked up a sword, and walked to Shin.

"Where are you going?" He pointed the sword's tip at him. "You think you are going to escape."

There is no way he would allow him to escape. They are just half an hour away from the show, and Shin won't let the main antagonist in his story go away.

Haru turned to Shin and smirked. "Well, well. So, telling people I am Earthbender was your plan."

"Yes, that's what you will get for surpassing your limits." Shin said. "."

"You should become a gambler, you have very good guessing skills." Haru smiled widely, the tip of the sword was one inch away from his neck, but he didn't look afraid.

"Heh?" it took Shin some seconds to know that there was something between the lines.

Haru jumped back and raised his hands. The earth beneath them shook, and a few rocks flew up. Haru closed his fist, and they compressed into sharp spikes, before piercing into Shin's hands, making him drop his sword.

Shin was surprised.

Haru is really an Earthbender.

Haru gently lifted his hands and moved his fingers. Small rocks started ascending from the ground. They started surrounding Shin's body from his feet, crawling up to his neck.

It seems that this young teenager is very skilled when it comes to bending. What he did usually required other benders to make more movements.

"Wait! Wait! Please!" Shin yelled. "I was just joking. I was just planning to jail you for a week before freeing you. No hard feelings. I love you, I love your mom!"

"It's an obvious lie. She doesn't like small dicks." Haru said.

He then closed his fists, and the rocks compressed into one solid layer.

More rocks started crawling from the ground and compressing with the layer.

Shin was jailed, his face was the only thing that wasn't covered.

"You will stay like this. And it will take very heavy weapons to free you. They use them, and you will die. Still, I doubt that anything will break my compressed layer. You are as a jailed man." Haru turned and started walking away.

Shin opened his mouth to yell. Haru lifted his hand, and a layer of rock formed around Shin's mouth.

Luckily, it was not compressed.

-x-X-x-

Haru laughed internally. He could kill the man. But he didn't. He found it unsatisfactory to let him die peacefully. Even the natural death would be a harsher fate. So he decided to do the same thing that the tax collector intended to do.

[Ding. Defeating a weak non-bender. +30 exp]

Those compressed rocks are different from the usual ones. They are very heavy and solid. It will take a very large hammer to break it.

The man will probably live, but only if someone feeds him.

'I may have forgotten to leave him a hole to shit from… Damn, I'm crueller than I have thought.' He rubbed his chin.

Haru started running. He needed to leave this place soon. He knew that soon, he will be chased, so he needed to get as far as possible.