Chapter 9

It was dawn. Because his new followers didn't have rides with them, it took Haru more time to arrive at his village. They were currently in the forest, and Haru was walking barefoot beside his ride.

With his earthbending, he could sense the surroundings without the need of his eyes.

In his vision, a few shapes of humans digging on the ground appeared.

It seems that the fire nation is taking the possibility that Haru killed 5 firebenders on his own to the count.

Haru had already realised that he had made a mistake thinking that burying the men will do it.

Well, can you blame him for thinking like that? He had been chased, had just done from his first kills, and he hadn't been able to stand idle.

Luckily, he came back to correct that.

"You guys take care of them," Haru said as he pointed forward. Currently, he was with twenty men. Ten were benders, and the remains were trained soldiers.

They nodded, ran around the forest, and started bending the earth. The diggers found themselves getting buried under the ground. They didn't even have the chance to use their firebending.

"Chief." Kin, the vice leader of the bandits, bowed slightly. "So, what are we going to do."

"You are going to change your clothes, get in the village, and once I give you a signal, you are going to attack the soldiers that are outside."

"Outside. Where are you going?"

"Inside of their base."

"Shouldn't we go with you? It will give us better chances that way."

Haru looked at him. He would have felt warm to see someone worry at him like that. But he knew the reason behind their wariness. It's because they believe that Haru has the antidote for their supposed poison.

"Mind your business," Haru said as he got on his ride. "I'll go first, you follow."

The animal started running toward the village, taking Haru back.

-x-X-x-

Haru stopped at his village entrance. Currently, he was wearing a long cloak that covered his face, and he descended from his ride. As he walked in the street of his village, he found himself walking in his home's direction. He wanted to check on his mom and to know if anything happened to her, yet.

Haru suddenly put his hand on his nose as a very stinky smell touched it. "Oh my god… who took a shit here."

He then turned his head, observing a man covered in a cracked shell. Shin was still there, only his Shell got cracked. Currently, he was crying as he was staring at the sky.

Haru felt a bit bad for what he had done now.

His intention was to jail this man, not to torture him.

He needed to fix that.

'I'll show you a bit of mercy.' Haru waved his hand, and two holes appeared in Shin's shell.

Something disgusting slipped, and Haru waved his hand, burying that under the ground with his bending.

His face, now, like his eyes, became green.

He turned and started running away, in his home direction.

As soon as he arrived, he halted his steps and raised his head. His eyelids were shaking.

His home was now all but ashes.

*Drum* *Drum*

Haru suddenly felt that he was on the verge of losing his brain.

What he is thinking of can't be happening, no it can't happen!

It hasn't even been two days. He swore if what he is thinking is what happened, he will slaughter every last man and woman in the Fire Nation.

He closed his eyes and stepped on the ground, sending a wave-like through the ground. Quickly, he sighed in relief when he sensed an old woman sleeping behind one building.

He put his hand on his heart, it was beating like a drum.

Soon, he walked behind one building, to see that his mom was leaning on the wall and sleeping.

Seeing that the sun will head her way, he bend the ground and made a wall in the sun's direction.

Haru wanted to wake her up. But he felt that it wasn't the best time.

Covering his head with the cloak, he turned and walked in the off-shores prison direction.

The sun was rising, and two firebender soldiers were there. Haru got their attention when he stepped forward and revealed his cloak.

"You…" one of them said.

The other took a bending stance, creating fire with both arms.

Haru extended his hand at them, and he clenched it.

The armours got tighter, and Haru wasn't even that serious since he was saving his Chi.

The two soldiers fell to their knees, barely able to breathe or move, and they lost their awareness.

Haru stared at the prison rig.

The prison rig was a towering, highly secure facility located several miles off the coast of the Earth Kingdom. Its foundation was supported by multiple bars, which elevated it high above sea level.

The entire facility was erected in metal, which at the time was an unbendable material. At the centre of the prison was a large, tower-like structure which was several stories tall and bulged outward at the core.

It had many small windows dotted across its facade, and a smokestack at the top, indicating that coal was being burned inside. Several vents led into the interior of the rig, all of which could be opened and closed as needed.

Haru took a few deep breaths, approached the prison, put his hand on it, and closed his eyes. He could see the soldiers, the prisoners, and their state.

Lifting his hands and summoning 5 earth swords to spin around him, Haru raised both his hands. The spot he was standing on was separate from the earth and shot up flying until Haru was on the top of the prison. While in the air, he waved his hands in a different direction. With each swing, a sword flew. All of the swords were aimed at the soldiers, and they pierced them. Some were lucky enough to get their shoulder or leg cut. Others were unlucky and got lethal strikes.

[Ding. You levelled up]

[Level 9]

Five soldiers down. Haru didn't stop here. He activated his skill again, and the rock that he used to fly morphed into another five swords. But due to the size of the rock, the earth swords were smaller, and he shot them at searchlights, through the window, as there were guards there. Haru flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

8 soldiers were down, and some of his attacks had missed.

[-10 health]

[level 10]

He took a few deep breaths and looked left and right.

He was between his fellow earthbender soldiers. All of them were shackled.

"Haru…" someone called.

An old bald man, with a long beard and smooth white hair on the sides of his head, was staring at him.

It had been 4 years since he had seen this man.

Haru took a deep breath and smiled. "Father…"

"What are you doing here! Are you mad…" his father screamed. "Quickly escape, there is no earth for you to use."

"I'm not going to escape this time," Haru said as he squatted down.

*Ding* *Ding*

A bell rang. It was an alert to the other soldiers to come and fight.

"You can't understand! There is no hope to fight here!" Haru's father, Tyro, said.

"Yeah, about that… who said I don't have hope," Haru said. "This is my playground."

He stood up, stretched his arms, and walked backwards.

The other prisoners, men and women, stared at him strangely. Haru smiled while looking at them. He knew everyone here from his childhood, and they knew him. It was good to finally see them.

Tyro's eyelids shook. "Son… what happened to you, did something happen to your mom."

Obviously, Tyro was thinking that Haru came because he lost his mind.

"No…" Haru extended his hand. The metal chains broke and separate from the prisoners, before falling. "I will burrow this."

From the doors, many soldiers and benders started entering. They stared at Haru, their faces showing anger.

Haru lifted his arms, making the metal chains and the shackles float before he started jabbing them in different directions. The soldiers didn't know what happened to them, but the chains got around their necks in no time.

A bunch of firebenders took a stance behind him, summoning fire. Haru raised his hand, and the metallic ground started shifting, making a wall in front of him. Haru made the wall separate from the ground, and he pushed it toward the soldiers, whose fire could do nothing but heat the metal. It did them more harm than good.

Haru raised his head. He didn't need to use his eyes to see around him.

There were few soldiers that didn't take the hit. They were just staring at him with awe, their legs shaking.

Same for prisoners. They were staring at him with awe, their jaws almost dropped.

"Haru… did you just bend the metal…"

"Hey, since when metalbending is a possible thing."

"I'll teach you later guys." Haru pointed with hands at the firebenders and closed them.

<<Compress>>

Their armours started getting tighter and tighter, chocking them.

Some could figure the trick and started running before Haru would close his fist in their direction.

Unlucky for them, that was useless. Haru lifted his arms and thrust them to the sky.

Many soldiers flew up as Haru was bending their armours. When he lowered his hands, they flew to the ground with a speed that couldn't be achieved with gravity.

It didn't take a long time for the warden to arrive, and since he was without armour, Haru couldn't chock him. Haru bent the metal under the warden's feet and use it to cover him.

Everything was done in so little time. Haru danced, gathered the metal, and he threw it to the sky.

It was his signal to his followers to start attacking the Fire Nation soldiers outside the prison.

[Ding, quest is completed]

[You levelled up]

[Level 11 (1000/48000)]

[Storage: + Random box]

It seems that he is levelling up easily because before starting the game, he chose Easy Mode.

Anyway, with each level up, fighting soldiers will seem easier.

At some point, he may be like that guy, from Mike's memories, who should be called Madara Uchiha.

Haru turned to his people. "So guys, you think I lost my mind." He then stared at his father, Tyro.

Tyro blinked twice. "I think that I'm the one who lost it." He stood up. Haru gave him a hug, before saying. "Let's get outside, quickly. My men need help."

"Your men?"

"Just a bunch of bandits that I'm using." Haru said, before he walked to the corner of the prison. "I'll take care of the guards on our way out. Can you still bend?"

"I don't think that I forgot how." Tyro smiled. The rest of the prisoners stood up and chuckled.

"Don't be too excited, my men may already have taken care of them." Haru yawned. He checked on his Chi, and he found it full, thanks to levelling up. He is good to go.