Chapter 5

Author Note: (.U⁄ ⁄ω⁄ ⁄ U.)

If you want to ahead chaps ahead, go to

https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer

You can also join the discord channel so we can chat and maybe exchange ideas for novels!

https://discord.gg/847423B

———————————————————————

The test I had endured was beyond stupid for someone that had never used water bending on a real fight, and still these idiots thought, let's have the kid fight an amalgamation that is the equivalent of a modern world tank.

"I'm leaving today," I informed the elder of the village, and while I was thankful for the help they provided me, in my time of need, I was ready to move forward.

"If you want you could stay here… we don't have much, but we are all a family," Makoto offered.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I need to see the world," That and I didn't want to be subject to their weird tribal tests.

"I see," Makoto sighed, "Then have always in mind, you'll be part of the tribe, that's something you can't change," he smiled.

I smiled, "I won't,"

It took me roughly two hours to say my goodbyes to everyone in the village, some were sad… others were happy that I got to travel, making the experience a roller coaster of weird emotions.

"Take this map," Yuu said, as he handed a map to me, "Use it to navigate the area, you might need to get a new one though, this one barely covers the north,"

I opened the map with care, seeing the village on it, and further north, the northern water tribe, and… well, I had no idea how to read a map, but oh well, no time like the present to learn, "Thanks," I smiled.

"Next time I see you… I want to see a master, so be ready to kick my ass next time, or I'll kick yours!" Yuu laughed.

I looked at him, and all I could see was the flashbacks of my deadly tribal test where I had to fight that enormous best… and they didn't even have the decency of telling me… "Oh don't worry… your ass will be kicked…" I answered with a cold tone.

"I… is that a red flag?" Yuu asked one of his friends.

"Crimson," the unimportant friend answered.

"Well, it was a pleasure… Thanks for saving me, and teaching me how to better use my powers….until next time," I said the last part with a dark overtone that startled Yuu.

————————————————————

The north… was a beautiful… no… maybe the first few hours this shit was beautiful, but after walking for hours non-stop, seeing nothing but… snow and ice, and the sporadic creature trying to eat me, I was bored, this place was incredibly dull.

But I suppose not everything was bad, the cold didn't bother me anymore, not since I had learned the basics of water bending, with one of the techniques being temperature regulation, quite handy if you live in this icy hell.

"Let's see…" I said as I opened the map… "Hmmm, yep… I'm lost," I sighed.

I knew I was on my way to the northern water tribe, but how far was I? Or where exactly? Yeah, no idea.

I turned around trying to see if I could see something remarkable around, that I could locate in the map, and to my surprise, there was a little house in the distance.

"Who in the fuck… builds a house in the middle of nowhere," I muttered, a bit surprised of this development, but happy nonetheless, I was tired after walking for so long, and I wanted to rest, and this house seemed like the best option right now.

It takes me a few minutes to get there, but I manage to get to the house, the house looks old and abandoned, and without me even noticing I find myself climbing the exterior rickety ladder leading to the attic of the old house, why was I going to the attic, no idea.

With a heave and a cloud of dust, I opened the door to the attic taking a peek into the room. An alarmed caw and a flutter of wings informed me of the presence of a bird's nest somewhere in the darkness above.

*Caw!* And soon enough a raven cawed somewhat angrily at me, landing in front of me, like saying, you woke me up… or something.

"I'm sorry?" I chuckled and to my surprise the raven

The raven took a good look at me, inspecting me for second, and surprisingly enough, nodded, accepting my apology.

Getting over my initial shock, that the animal was smart enough to understand me.

"Well thanks buddy," I chuckled as I decided to take a good look around, surveying an odd collection of… trash, yeah, small stuff like forks and spoons and broken pieces of weapons that clutter the dusty attic.

"Did you get all that stuff?" I inquired.

The raven nodded, with a hint of pride, *Caw! Caw!*

"Alright," I chuckled, as I took a deep breath, taking in the odd smell of the room, as I noticed something that is… spamming my mind with red flags, something was moving within the shadows of the attic… and by the looks of it, it was big.

"Do you have any roommates?" I inquired, the oddly intelligent raven.

*Caw…* The raven shook his little head off, confirming my suspicions.

A low hiss, and the touch of something I didn't exited sent an involuntary shiver running down my spine.

And apparently I was not the only one to get this reaction for my feathery friend was already inside my jacket. Peering around nervously through the neck part of my jacket.

Heart thumping, I carefully start looking around, seeing the shadow moving around the attic, "Hell to the fucking no! I will not be a part of SAW!" There is a few things I can't deal with it, bad food, bad movies and this, I do not deal well with IT type situations, and because of that, I blasted the house with a massive ice spike, drawing from the tons of ice outside.

My attack made the lurking predator appear, a snake, with legs and arms… and fangs, maybe I'm not in the avatar world, but Australia, "Now… this is more like it!" I smiled at the beast, for now the fear I had a few seconds ago had vanished.

If there was one thing I feared was the unknown, not knowing who or what is attacking you… takes a toll on my mind, unfortunately for the snake, I knew now.

With a loud hiss of anger, the amalgamation rushed at me, it's fangs ready to dig deep within my flesh, too bad for the beast I had faced worst… maybe the test really helped, "Chop!" I said as I dodged and cut the monster head with a single ice blade.

"Well, that sure was something… sorry for your house buddy," I said petting the raven inside my jacket.

The raven looked at me, looked at his house, and then looked at the monster and in the split of a second his expression when from fear, to anger, to admiration, *Caw!*

"Thanks… I guess?" I chuckled.