CH3: Preparations to Leave

The Fire Nation wasn't attacking, but the spirit hadn't driven them away either. Instead, it saved them and their village. Sokka stood up and paced through their igloo while the spirit waited. He didn't seem bothered by the Fire Nation soldiers trading in their village. The confidence he wore remained even when Katara was sure he played everything by ear.

Her brother made a turn and glared at the spirit, furious. "Do you have a plan?"

The spirit smiled, and Katara felt heat rest in her gut. He didn't seem to understand why they were afraid. How could he understand? To a spirit, what were they?

"They agreed to take me to their capitol where their leader resides. After I gain their trust and learn everything I can, I'll ditch them and infiltrate their capital. I'll find their leader, depose him, capture his ministers, marry his daughter if he has one, and crown myself, Fire Lord. From there, I'll take over the Fire Nation." So the spirit said, and suddenly this felt too real.

"Why haven't the spirits done this already?" Sokka demanded.

The spirit shrugged. "If the fire nation is a problem, why hasn't the rest of the world banded together to resist them. I don't know what the big deal is; it's just another nation of weaklings. They shouldn't have the power to command so many people, to begin with."

Suddenly Katara wasn't sure the world wanted this spirit's help. The Avatar was supposed to be the bridge between worlds. Was this what the Avatar would be like without their humanity? A powerful creature that could do the impossible and didn't see a problem with toppling empires.

"Come with me."

"No, we don't know you or what you're really after. For all we know, after you defeat the Fire Lord, you'll just conquer the rest of the world." Sokka said.

"How much of the world have they conquered already? Who are their enemies, and how is the Fire Nation beating them?" The spirit asked.

Sokka didn't answer him, and Katara wasn't sure she wanted either.

"You called me a spirit before Katara. What is a spirit to you? The Celts North of my homeland worship spirits of the woods, rivers, and mountains. Their druids are powerful beings with the power to tap into Karmic fate and glimpse pieces of the future. You called me a spirit before, but I am human."

"The cold doesn't bother you, and you can move a ship with your bare hands."

"I can also walk on water, move at incredible speeds, sense life signatures from vast distances, and go on. But, without being fully trained, I needed time to finish laying the foundation of what you could call the basics. I'm mostly self-taught; I also picked up your water bending."

The human raised his hand, and a stream of water rose as he slowly lifted his arm in a clumsy copy of her own bending. Was he like her, a water bender somehow blessed by the spirits from a foreign land? He'd never used bending before by how clumsy he moved. He was a fellow water bender who let himself be taken prisoner by the fire nation.

"Don't let them take you. They took my mother from me. For a hundred years, they made war on the world. The Fire Nation is evil."

"I guess you're not coming with me then. Alright, well, after I take over, I'll send for you. I like you, Katara. I wanted more time to get to know you before going back to training. But I'm about to be very busy. Running a nation, marrying a soon-to-be fatherless princess, and training myself will take time. But after I conquer the Fire Nation and everything settles, we should learn water bending together." He said.

"You never even told me your name," Katara said.

"My name is Red; I'll see you again," Red said before getting up.

Sokka rounded on him. "If you pull this off, will the war end?"

"Not at first. I'll have to wind it down, make some concessions, meet with diplomats, and threaten some people on both sides. I'll be expected to put an heir into the princess and handle the day-to-day until I find some trusted ministers. The war will end, but all the fighting won't stop the day I defeat the Fire Lord. That's just the easy part." Red said.

Sokka took a step back and sat down, stunned. "Are you saying the war is over? You're just going to walk up to the Fire Lord, kick him off his throne and become the new Fire Lord."

"I understand how it sounds. Believe it or not, I was weak once too." Red said.

Katara didn't believe him. He didn't just move like he owned the place but like the world itself was already his. She didn't think he would stop until the world followed suit. She believed that if anyone should be emperor of the world, it should be Red.

"Now, tell me everything you know about the Fire Nation and the world," Katara told him; she couldn't help herself.

…

Charisma was one of the most useful stats in the arsenal. It can make even the most tight-lipped untrusting people flap their gums like I'm their best friend. But, of course, this world didn't have stats or levels, so they couldn't really resist me, and I was happy to abuse that fact. This world was practically mine already.

I sat atop the ship's prow and stared up at the stars hanging overhead. It wasn't hard to spot a star that was a planet with qi like mine. A green aura erupted around my body as I narrowed my eyes. My vision swam as my aura enhanced my feeble human eyes. There was another world teaming with life in the distance, not too far away from us. I saw a horseman with long braids swinging half-moon swords as my eyes narrowed in. They reminded me a little of the Huns from my world.

Qi Enhancement lvl13

There was another world to conquer after this one, but how could I reach it. Of course, people might rebel if I send them to war again after conquering the world. But seeing them in the distance meant something.

I also had problems. I had a lack of tamed beasts to boost my stats. My qi was confined to my body, and that felt uncomfortable. I felt like a rushing river damned up.

"Oh, my master, there are more ways to power than tame powerful monsters. You still have your black bag full of spices, seeds, and pills from the homeworld. Drop a few pills in the water filled with your qi, and you could change the ecosystem forever. By your grace, this world can be uplifted with cultivators." Lu Zhi said.

"They wouldn't have a system to help them. All they would ever be is limited by what potential karma gave them. What about my sons and daughters?"

"You have none that I am aware of, my lord."

"For now, but someday I will."

"They will be as the sons of the gods. Each will be a great and mighty hero, but none will have your potential. You chose to defy karma and ripped your string of fate from destiny. Only you can decide where it will be weaved back into the tapestry. That is what it means to be free."

I closed my eyes and leaped off the prow. My feet landed gently in the water, where I pulled some pills from my black bag of holding. Alone no fish would dare to eat them. To a fish, each pill will look less remarkable than a rock.

Slowly I flooded the pills with my qi and watched the crack open. Their essence spilled into the frigid water below, and fish swam up. I dropped a handful of pills into their hungry mouths as they burst through the water and greedily gulped down each one.

Qi was something this world already had in a limited abundance. It didn't radiate from every blade of grass, flow through the wind, and radiate from the ocean. For my part, dropping a few pills in the water wouldn't issue a significant change all on their own. But the fish would be eaten by predators, their remains ejected in the water, and other parts of the ecosystem would use them. So the qi I had added would spread like a drop of ink spreading over a white page.

My reasons were simple, I wanted a more comfortable place to live. The qi in this place was rather barren. Which meant the food and drink here wouldn't be very good. People would die even earlier than most civilians, possibly not even living a century.

Thanks to Lu Zhi, my qi could regenerate almost endlessly. With only little prodding on my part, I could start terraforming this world into a proper place to live. Then maybe I could try cultivating once I settled my foundational skills.

I felt a splash then a black and white whale opened its mouth and sang to me. It was old and covered in scars. Her pod had been hunted down by the massive giant squids of the deep, and she was lonely. Before she felt my aura, the poor thing had contemplated drowning herself or beaching herself on land. She had rushed to me then, and here she was watching me.

"Aren't you a tough girl? If you want to be mine, life won't get any easier. You'll become a part of my power until you burn out or fade away." She inched closer, and I didn't doubt she understood my words.

Aura could convey a lot even with language barriers. I couldn't say a word of the local language, but my aura translated my meanings, and people loved to fill in the blanks. Even the song of an orca wasn't too hard for me to figure out. I placed my hand on her head and pushed my aura into her.

My power spread through her, and she didn't resist. I felt her become a part of me in a way few other creatures had. The quantum nature of my oversoul skill made the conversion easy enough.

Orca lvl80 Tamed Bonus +1VIT x lvl

She would grow more intelligent, evolve as she battled stronger enemies, and cultivate her own aura. As she grew stronger, I would too. All her descendants would increase her power, increasing mine in a vast pyramid. That was if she didn't die in the next couple of days. If she did, I would lose my bonus stats; that's how it worked. In a sense, I was like a human-shaped dungeon. Every kill she made would also boost my exp by a little bit. Oversoul was truly an overpowered skill, second only to my sister's taming skill.

I sent her off, and I knew I might never see her again. This was a way for me to train my oversoul skill. Every descendent she had would give some exp to that skill. All of it was for the grind. Vitality didn't just make me harder to kill it also increased my life span. My odds of building my foundation successfully massively increased with a higher lifespan.

A single VIT point was worth about a year of extra life. Raising that skill was important if I wanted to live longer than a few centuries. There were VIT multipliers gained from cultivation, but they could only be gained after my foundation was built. That was only possible if I maxed out the Qi Manipulation skill tree and gained all its perks.

To that end, I would conquer the world to have fewer annoyances. For example, if I needed training equipment, I could use the world to manufacture the best training resources imaginable. Likewise, I would have the best chefs imaginable as the Fire Lord preparing my food.

From what I could tell, people didn't live much past their 40s here. Until qi saturated the world to up the base vitality of people, I would outlive everyone. Knowing that my plans changed significantly. Political assassinations weren't needed when I could outwait ministers. Plans that I made from my perspective would be different from everyone else's. I was about 19, but I would live for at least another 700 years if I stopped training.

After I took the job of ruler of the world, I would have more time than anyone else who has ever lived on this planet to get better at the job.

"Hey, what's that green thing you did?" Aang asked.

After hearing about the air bender genocide, it wasn't hard to determine that this 12-year-old was the Avatar. The Fire Nation soldiers here planned to lock him up for his entire life. I was pretty sure they thought I was the Avatar as well. They were probably hedging their bets or about to dig up the South Pole if there were more Avatars frozen in ice. They would probably send earth benders to dig, knowing how the Fire Nation operated.

"I was making a friend for life," I said, and Aang frowned when he noticed my words didn't sync upright.

Katara didn't notice that she was too busy, ironically staring at me. Charisma was a powerful tool and often a double-edged sword. Being popular with the ladies was great until they formed a power block and decided who I could sleep with. Samson said that happened all the time. Majorian was a recipient of one such block.

"You know you should probably get out of here. Katara said the Fire Nation is at war with the world, and they are trying to capture the Avatar. But don't worry, they think we are both the Avatar."

"Wait, what, how is that possible?" Aang asked.

"You were frozen in ice. I walked out of the South Pole. They might think there are a bunch of Avatars frozen in ice here."

"Are you an Avatar as well?"

I shook my head. "No, man, I'm afraid not. You could say I'm from a different world. But don't worry, I'll pretend to be the Avatar. I'm interested and learning some fire bending while I'm a guest of the Fire Nation."

"They will capture you. We can leave now on Appa, and they couldn't catch us."

I shook my head. "They caught your people," I said as Iroh walked up.

"What are you young men talking about?" Iroh asked.

"Fishing,"

Iroh narrowed his eyes. "Really, that's strange. I heard the Air Nomads were vegetarians."

"Yea, I put my foot in my mouth with that one. So, where in the Fire Nation will we visit first? And this question is even more important. Can you introduce me to any pretty young ladies?"

Iroh chuckled at the last one, but his eyes hadn't lost their suspicious gleam. It seemed even a charisma stat could only go so far. Then Charisma was one of my lowest stats.

"Zuko might be better to ask about that. His sister and her friends are only a little younger than you, but I'm not sure if they are seeing anyone." The old man shivered. "Zuko's sister is a bit different from other ladies her age."

"Oh, different how is she the shy wallflower type?"

Iroh snorted. "No, quite the opposite."

"A tomboy then, I like tomboys," I said.

"I don't even fish, and I would rather we talked about it instead," Aang said.

"Yes, you might need a little more time before you are interested at your age."

Iroh searched for any guards for a moment before growing serious. "Avatars, this is a trap. You aren't guests my nephew prince Zuko plans to bring you before his father, the Fire Lord." Aang took a step back before I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I knew that from the beginning. But I couldn't let this opportunity slip by. When else would I get a chance to get close to the Fire Lord." I said.

Iroh's eyes widened, and even Aang took a step back. "You and my niece would get along like a house on fire. But you will be chained and surrounded by imperial fire benders. My niece will be present, along with the fire sages. Generals and ministers from the highest levels of our nation will be present to see your defeat."

"Don't threaten me with a good time. Having the entire ruling body of the Fire Nation present would make my job even easier. Chains can't hold me, and I'm too fast for them to react in time to stop me. When the Fire Lord is triumphant, and he believes nothing can stop him any longer, he will lose. So, keep me as your guest and take me into the heart of the Fire Nation. Let's eat well on your brother's coin and make a show of seeing the sights."

"What about me?" Aang asked.

"You should leave and take Katara and Sokka with you. I'm sure I can win, but it never hurts to have a backup.

…

"Uncle, wake up the other Avatar is gone," Zuko yelled before turning his head towards the heavens and blowing off some steam with a fire blast. The second Avatar remained on their ship, only practicing some amateurish water bending. Even the filthy peasant was better than that Avatar.

Except Zuko watched the older teen using bending to turn their ship to prevent it from crashing into the water tribe village. He moved faster than Zuko's eyes could track and didn't care who saw. The green power that could only be the Avatar state flowed around him, constantly expanding and contracting. He was unbothered by the cold and could freely stand atop the ocean like it was the deck of a ship.

Zuko figured the remaining Avatar was more of a threat to the two. He didn't believe the air nomad left because he suspected them initially. Most likely, the peasant warned him, and they left together. Their Avatar seemed much more skeptical or even accepting. Zuko wanted to ask him what he thought of the Fire Nation. He wanted to end the deception and get the man's honest opinion.

"We have a spare, and I haven't reported multiple Avatars to your father yet. So we'll return and restore your honor with the one we have, then worry about the other one later. You have an Avatar; there is no reason to get greedy." Uncle said.

At the man's words, Zuko calmed down a little. Red seemed happy enough chatting up the men and working out on the deck. They were heading west and would only need to stop at a port to refuel. Everything was still going according to plan.