Chapter 53

It was morning. Haru was sitting on a new ride. He was two kilometres away from Omashu. 

Haru was wearing green royal clothes. There was a bamboo hat on his head that protected him from the sun. It had Chinese letters, which meant 'Crown Prince'. It showed his status. 

Behind him, there was an army of 1000 soldiers. Most of them weren't benders. But they were trained enough. Other than that, they had around 400 Earthbender. 

Haru stared to his left, the spirit of Kyoshi was floating above him, and she had her battle clothes with white powder covering her face. 

Somehow, the way her skin looked pale, reminded him of that Vampire Lady from Resident Evil 8. Quite tempting. But not as much as his conquest. 

"I have spied. There are around 100 to 200 soldiers in each base. With your numbers, you can conquer them easily. I advise you not to divide your units and conquer each town on the way." Kyoshi said. 

She was advising Haru, and no one besides him could hear her. 

Next to Haru Suki was there. Since she loved adventures, she wanted to be a part of this. She had been excited to see how Haru was going to regain territories from the Earth Kingdom. 

Behind him, there was the General. Haru would use him as an adviser since that General should be experienced. 

But when it comes to experience, Kyoshi was more reliable. 

Haru turned to his soldiers and waved his hand. "Let's go."

As he kicked his rid slightly, it marched to the north.   

It took them a few days to arrive at their destination. The army of the Earth Kingdom had an easy time conquering the first town. There were few Firebenders and soldiers who tried to resist. But Earth Benders had an advantage on them. They were more, and they had earth with them. 

After conquering the first town, Haru went to the base, where they kept earthbenders prisoned. Haru had wondered why they aren't killing them. 

But he could understand their reason. Earthbenders can be used later. Maybe Ozai had been planning to use Earthbenders as builders for his kingdom, as farmers or whatsoever. 

Even Azula, in the other timeline, knew their benefit. 

'I'll use the Firebenders to provide the fire for the kitchen.' 

After getting every earthbender free, 60 one, Haru replaced them with the firebenders and the fire soldiers. 

It was an easy trade. 

The earthbenders then went to meet with their family. 

When he took over the town, Haru had to make a decision about the citizens that came from the Fire Nation. 

He couldn't kill them for no reason, obviously.  

However, since they used the Earth Kingdom to live a good life here, it was only fair for him to use them. 

They will move to poor houses. They will work, and they will pay taxes. They shall contribute to the economy of the Earth Kingdom. 

After getting everything in order, Haru gathered everyone and introduced himself. And then he gave his speech, which he had been planning to use for every town, "I have a dream, that one day, every person in this Nation will control their own destiny. A land for truly free…" 

His speech raised the morale of the native citizens and the earthbenders. It even worked for Haru's soldiers. 

Kyoshi came behind Haru and said. "Well, I have to admit, you have a real charisma when it comes to uniting people." 

Haru didn't reply to her, and he stared at the crowd that gathered in front of him. "Will you join my dream when the time comes to kick the Fire Nation out?" 

The Earthbenders bowed down. Some of the citizens nodded and got on their knees. They will be soldiers as they made their decision. 

Anyone can understand their feelings. 

They had been oppressed for years, even the non-benders, and they will take any chance to fight. 

Haru decided that training them will do it. A trained non-bender with a bow, or a crossbow, can be deadly on a battlefield. 

Apparently, 150 benders joined him. 

Haru felt happy about that, and he stayed the night in this town. 

The next day, his army marched to the next one. 

-x-X-x- 

After a whole week, Haru completed his conquest. 

[Ding, the mission is complete] 

[You levelled up]

[Level 22 (40.000/100.000)] 

It was astonishing to see that level 22 requires less than level 21. 

It seems that level was a bottleneck level. Once broken, his levelling up will go smoother. 

On a side note, Haru noticed that he hadn't used his affinities, or skill points for long. 

It was for two reasons. 

One, he wanted to increase affinities through training, since it only gets harder with each point increase. 

Second, he wanted to train his skills with his effort, before using the points. 

Haru stared at the other rewards he got. 

[+Epic Box]

[+2 Gift Boxes] 

'I'm going to spend my points now. Since I'm not going to spend my time training, it's better to use them.' 

Haru checked on his affinities.

[Affinities:

Wisdom:  65

Physique: 39

Agility 17 (+8)

Skill Points: 15

Affinity Points: 18]

His physique and agility had increased thanks to his training. 

Thanks to his physique and agility, he can be considered Warrior too. But his main class is with Earthbender. 

His Chi is around 50.000 now, thanks to his Spiritual Meditation Skill and high Wisdom. 

Now, he had to excuse himself to put his stats. 

Haru turned to Suki, who was sitting next to him and drinking tea and said. "I have to go." 

"Where are you going?" she asked. "Aren't you going to spend time with citizens?"

"I just need some time alone." 

"Huh? Is there something?"

"Nothing, I just need to think," Haru said as he walked away. 

There had been a celebration. The soldiers celebrated that this is the last town they liberated. 

Haru went behind one of the buildings and closed his eyes. 

"So, what are you doing?" Kyoshi asked. 

"I'm just trying to increase my power." 

"As if sitting and closing your eyes will do it." 

"Having inner peace will make you stronger," Haru replied and didn't bother even explaining. 

Haru started by opening the Gift Boxes. 

[+4 Affinity Points] 

[+3 Skill Points] 

'Noice,' he thought. 

With 22 Affinity Points and 18 Skill Points, Haru is going to ascend to the next level.

Now thinking about what skills he should focus on, he looked at his current strongest skill. [Earth Meteor]  it was level 11 now. 

It has an associated skill option. Haru put one point in it. 

[Associated Skill was discovered] 

[Hell Storm level 1] 

(A skill to divide the meteors into parts and send them in separate ways. Each level increases the speed and the number of the Divides. This skill can be used after creating a meteor) 

That sounds like a good skill, Haru thought. 

Now, for the rest, which skill he should level up? 

He ended up deciding that he will focus on his bending skills. 

Bending with Muscles was at the ninth level, so he was able to bend with a slight muscle movement. 

Spending two points, he made it reach the tenth level, and then, he created 

[Bending with sense level (1)]

(using mental command to bend) 

Of course, it won't have the same effect as bending with his feet and hands since it was at a very low level compared to Bending with Hands, Muscles, and Feet. 

Now he was left with 15 skill points. 

He decided to divide the rest of them among his Passive Skills. 

[Lava Bending up to level 10] 

Since Lavabending with special skill, it required Haru 2 skill points for each level. 

Now that it skipped five levels, Haru could bend it in a smoother way. He can manipulate it better, and can even use his active skills with it with less Chi Consumption. 

[Earth Bending up to level 20] 

[Metal Bending up to level 20]

His control over metal now increased. He can even sense through it from a far distance, and if the purity of the metal is high, Haru had a feeling that he can bend it. 

Now he had 3 Skill Points left. 

There was an option to create associated Skills with Metalbending and Earthbending, and both required 3 Skill Points. 

Haru thought it was a hard option, and he should leave it for later. 

'I'll save enough when I level my Gravitybending to level 10 or 12,' 

He thought to himself. 

Now, it was time to distribute his Affinity Points. 

'Oh right, I forgot to open my Epic Box'

Haru opened that box. 

[+ Spirits Dungeon Ticket] 

(A teleportation item to a spiritual domain, made of 10 flours and full of spiritual monsters

Usability: 1 time.) 

'Looks like a good exp item to train my skills and level up my character, but since I don't know how much time I'll spend in, I'll keep it for later.' 

As for his affinity points, Haru decided to put one on agility, so the Wind Boots boost become 9 points. 2 in strength, and the rest on wisdom, since it was his most important stat. 

Haru felt stronger. His Chi increased by 25.000 points, making it 75.000 points. With the boost from his skill, it reached 80.000 

As he had guessed, one more point above 20 Wisdom isn't more 

Moreover, the Spiritual Mediation Skill increases his Chi by a certain percentage. 

Haru opened his eyes, and his chi flowed through his veins. 

Kyoshi turned to him, "I have a strange feeling. You actually got stronger. Your Chi sea, it seems to have broken the limits.'

Haru turned to her and he smiled. "I have." 

"So this means you reached inner peace?" Kyoshi looked at him with curiosity. 

Haru smiled. "Well, once I finish my quest… by the way, tomorrow, we are heading to the desert." 

"I'm ready." She shrugged.