Playing as a Bender (Avatar: Last Airbender SI)

"What in hell!"

He suddenly stopped his training and screamed. Haru put his hands on the side of his head and fell to his knees. The rock that had been floating fell.

The pain was unimaginable.

He couldn't handle it. But he couldn't be focusing on the pain too. Even though every cell of his body was aching, there was something else to distract him.

Many flashes were passing by his eyes, about another life and its end.

Haru, the young earthbender, started to breathe heavily.

The pain wasn't a result of physical trauma, but a mental one. His soul felt like it was ripping into parts, fusing with something else.

As the pain started fading, Haru raised his head, not knowing how to feel about this.

In this culture, people believed legends about reincarnation and other lives. There were other realms, such as the Spirit world. So, his soul fusing with another didn't sound weird.

But his other persona would feel what happened hard to believe.

[Ding, the system is being installed. The Game Difficulty had been set]

Like a bell, a sound echoed in his head, followed by words said in a robotic tone.

He remembered what he had seen, as the other person, after he died.

—Flashback —

[Game Over. Life is Over.]

[Do you want to play again]

Mike didn't know what was going on. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by a truck. Everything felt like a bad dream. He could barely feel his existence as all he could feel was numbness taking over his body.  Other than that, there was a floating screen in front of him.

Seeing the screen in front of him, Mike knew that he wasn't dead.

He just assumed that he was having a bad hangover, and he just forget things as he was groggy. Maybe he is just playing a new VR game.

Yes, Play again, he chose.

[Select a world]

'Like Jumpforce' He thought as he saw multi-screens appearing. Each resembled a world. Some screen had a kunai in front of it, he assumed it was Naruto world. Other than that, there was a screen that had orange balls with a few red stars in the middle. It's easy to assume it was Dragon Ball world.

Sounds like a fun game with infinite options, and it got his curiosity.

Thinking that he should save the best for last, he decided to explore some random world, before going to the rest.

With every game over, there is a new game. So this should be fun.

'Is there, let's see, Avatar world… There is Legend of Korra, and there is The Last Air Bender, I'll choose the last.'

With a thought from his head, the screen changed, and it settled just on what he thought.

To him, it didn't feel strange. It's like he was holding a VR stick. The only difference here is that he was so immersed that he didn't notice that he doesn't have a hand in the first place to move that mouse.

[Chose a game type]

Three options appeared in front of him.

There was a Survival mode. Meaning that he won't have access to the screen. It gives the game a more realistic view. And there were no levels up.

And there was Player Mode. Classical RPG games screen with levelling ups and storage and all.

And there was God mode. The player can break the rules of nature with a command.

He felt that both the first and the last modes are boring. One makes it too easy, and the other too hard, so he chose the Player Mode.

[Chose the game difficulty]

There were some options. Very easy. Easy. Medium. Hard. Very hard. Hell. Inferno…

The harder the game, the harder the enemies and levelling up

Just as much as he was tempted to test the most difficult one, he wasn't in the mood to get frustrated from the first level. So, he chose easy.

[Chose the game mode]

There were a few types. There was an immortal, there was hardcore. One will always respawn, and the other means the game will end once he dies.

He would choose hardcore since he had been planning to test the game.

[Chose your starting class.]

Interesting, he thought. He got a few classes to choose from. Warrior, Earthbender, Waterbender, Airbender, Firebender, The Avatar.

He just picked up Earthbender. After all, he wasn't going to be so serious about his choices when he is testing a game.

[Do you want to customise your character or choose a random one.]

He didn't have time. He pressed on a random one.

— End Flashback —

"Hangover my ass. I really died." Haru sat down and put his hands next to his hips.

Haru felt that this isn't the only valuable memory. There is the fact, that he, this world, was just a cartoon series that was displayed on the TV.

He, as it seems, will meet the avatar one day, and he will appear again with his father at the end of the Hundred Years War.

He thought about his father.

He was one of the people who resisted the Fire Nation when they attacked their little village.

Because of the number advantage, the Fire Nation took his father and the other benders to the off-shores prison, a place made of metal, where the Earthbenders can't bend anything.

After that, the Fire Nation banned the Earthbending. They will take anyone who can bend to the prison.

That's why Haru's mom had forbidden him from bending ever since his father had been taken.

Haru felt some rage. After all, that's the father he was thinking about. Even though he was Mike, he was already fused with Haru's soul.

All of these years he had lived, all of the hunger, all of the suffering, can't be forgotten easily or be treated just as a passed memory.

Haru had been practising his father's bending in secret, in hope that one day he will grow strong enough to free them.

But remembering how things will go in the series, he didn't know if he will ever become that strong.

But, wait for a second… he remembered. He, now, is an RPG player.

'System'

With that thought, a screen popped in front of his eyes. It was transparent, with statics, and it seems that he could go through it with his consciousness alone.

In front of Mike, an option that attracted his eyes. Statics. He wondered what is there for someone like him.

[Stats.

Level: 1 (0/100 exp)

Health: 100/100

Chi: 500/500

Affinities

-Wisdom: 5

-Physique: 2

-Agility:3

Affinity points: (0)

Skill points: 0]

There were few other tabs that he could access. Such as skills. And there was a tasks tab, which was empty for now.

Staring at the affinities, Haru found that there was a question mark next to each one, and he could tell what they do increase.

Agility was to increase his speed, attack speed, and flexibility.

Physique increases his health and physical power.

As for Wisdom, it was more about his Bending. With each increase, he would gain more Chi, and he would consume less when performing skills.

Chi was the spiritual energy that was inside of every Bender and Non-bender. Without it, bending would be impossible.

Haru started to see that it was around 500.

Closing his eyes, he tried to sense it. With a few breaths, he could feel his Chi.

It was more than double than it is usually. After thinking, he could give the credit to the fact that his soul had undergone a fusion between two souls.

He opened the skills. The tab showed few skills, the ones he know, and under them, some roots spread into a dark fog.

As he saw a question mark next to it, he could see that, when he practises a certain skill to a certain degree, it will develop into multi-paths, and he could choose an associated skill by investing a skill point.

Of course, Skill points could be used to upgrade the skills to unlock an associated skill.

[Skill:

Passive Skills:

-Earthbending (Level 3). (0/400)

Active Skills:

-Compressing (level 2) (0/200 XP). (Compress an earth substance)

- Bending with Hands level 2 (10/200)]

Haru smirked. In the memories of his previous life, he saw an image of himself fighting along with his father, and they were compressing coal while fighting Firebenders.

Other than that, he noticed that he has Bending with Hands skills.

He didn't know it was a thing.

Unlike most Earthbenders who prefer bending with their feet, Haru was the type who uses their hands to bend. Some prefer bending with hammers, but he preferred his hands.

It gives him more mobility, but less stability.  He didn't know it can be considered an active skill. Shaking his head to the left, he decided not to consider it too much.

The most rational process of thought is to treat this as a game, and those just as initial skills.

Squatting down, he decided to use the limited time he has to practise. He was a genius, he knew that. In the series, even with the little time he had to practise, he was at a good level.

He shouldn't waste that time, or he will decline.

It seemed that he was more into the grind. He didn't even try checking the storage he has.

He stared at the rock, which was heavier than the rock he usual practice with.

With the increased Chi, he should have it easier this time.

While feeling the earth's substance within the rock, he moved his hands. The rock started floating until it was in front of him. He then squatted and pushed forward, and the rock slammed a near wall.

He cracked his hands and decided to check on the skill tab.

[Bending with Hands level 2 (20/ 200)]

He smirked. The gain seemed to be low, but should be increasing with practice.

There were few fears that the gains will be harder with each level. But that's how games work. Well, one can always invent an exercise.

He started doing the same movement, around 20 times.

He felt his Chi sea was drained. But on the good side, he levelled up the skill.

[Bending with Hands level 3 (0/400)]

[Chi: 280/500)]

What he noticed when it had reached level three, was that his bending got smoother. His range increased, and how much he can lift increased as well. The most noticeable thing was that he needed to make fewer movements with his hands to bend.

He waved his hand on his forehead, and he realised that he was sweating.

Usually, doing so much bending in so little time would cause him to get exhausted, but now, he was fine.

Deciding not wasting time, since there were Fire Nation patrols around, Haru completed his practice. He ended up with Chi reaching 30.

As for the skill, it wasn't even half the way to the fifth level.

It seems that his gains by repeating the same movement were getting less by the level up.

This could be solved by practising it in a harder way, he assumed.

He sat down, and he then noticed a strange thing as he opened the screen of the system.

With each passing minute, next to the Chi, there was this.

[Chi +20]

[Chi + 20]

He opened his eyes widely. It hit him. It's about the Game Type he had chosen. He could have chosen Survival Mode and it would be realistic to him. Yet he had chosen the player mode. Remembering the few games he had played, Haru realised it.

Most of the characters can recharge their character's stats by sitting or just eating. Sleep should resort to their health bar to the max level.

Haru hugged his legs, and he smiled.

Somehow, he felt that he could save his father. That he doesn't have to listen to his mother, who tries to stop him from bending. He decided, he will have his fate within his very hands, and with this game like power, he will make sure to be very powerful, powerful enough not to live like shit under the Fire Nation.

After almost a half-hour, Haru stood up. His body was in its peak condition… just a little hungry though. He was a little bit excited to level up his skill, but, something stopped him.

Since he had been on the road that lead to his village, his favourite place away from the rat citizens, he could practice without much annoyance, and without his mother finding out.

But, as it seems, some cabbage carriage is passing by his village, and he decided to hide his training and head to the village.

Bending down a bit, he picked up a small rock and hide it in his belt. He then started running to the village. He wanted to laugh when he got home without feeling tired. Just like an RPG character, he doesn't get tired from running. But that desire to laugh faded as soon as he remembered that he is a bender and that he doesn't have some epic physical skills to use… maybe not yet.

"I'm home." He walked to a near small house. On the first floor was a store that his mom worked in. She was quite busy.

An old white-haired woman noticed him, gave him a slight smile, and said. "Where have you been, Haru?"

"Just walking around." He made an excuse, and he had to admit, it sucks.

"Well, take a bath and then come here. I need you to work." She said to him. "The tax collector should be coming soon, and you know what may happen if we don't pay them."

Since the Fire Nation was in charge of this place, all of the citizens are required to pay taxes, expensive. That's how Fire Nation makes its money.

"Alright." He just nodded and went upstairs.