Chapter 18

(A/N: There had been a mistake on my side when putting the affinity points in chapter 12. It's fixed now.

They are like this now.

[Wisdom: 44

Physique: 30

Agility: 8]

)

Inside the tea shop next to the Royal Palace, Haru was putting one leg above another, sipping tea and enjoying the breeze.

While Ron went to report, Haru used his time to relax and think about his battle back then.

Surely, he had gained enough levels and many points to spend on himself.

Since he had gained 3 levels in a row, he earned himself 6 skill points and 12 affinity points.

He decided to see how to use them later since he had many choices.

As for now, it would be a good time to check his rewards and boxes.

There was an epic box, and there were 2 item boxes. The first one was what got his attention the most. What was there in the epic box, he wondered.

Haru had always believed in this saying: leave the best for last.

He opened the two Item Boxes.

[+ The wise book]

[Increases Wisdom by 10% when reading]

[+ Winds shoes]

(Increases the agility by 50%]

Upon seeing the book, he wanted to curse. The system put him between hard choices now.

It would be a shame not to use this book after putting all of his points on Wisdom.

He would gain more if used it like that.

He decided to disturb the points like this. 2 points for agility. As for the rest, they were put all on Wisdom, raising it to 54. Physique was easy to increase for him through training, so he ignored it. Besides, it was already at a good level, an inhuman one above that.

His Chi rose to 25000.

As for his agility, it became 10. It's now like 3 times more than he should initially have.

With the Wind Shoes, he would be more agile 5 times than he used to be. It will allow him to be beyond the human level.

Now, it's time to use that book. He was excited to increase his wisdom before opening the Epic Box. Haru opened his storage and took the book from nowhere while pretending to take it out of his shirt. He didn't want people to be surprised that he can pull things out of thin air.

He opened it and started reading. The words on the pages shone in blue. The book talked about the paths in one's body, the Chakra points, and how to connect one's spirit with the body.

It was metaphysics nonsense in Mike's opinion, but it made sense for Haru. It was accurate for anyone from Avatar's world.

[+ 6 Wisdom]

His wisdom became 60, and his Chi's limit rose to 30.000 points.

He put a leg above another, feeling good about himself now. With this amount of Chi, Haru should be able to lift giant boulders easily. Now, time for the last box. He thought about opening it, but he didn't have the chance as a couple of soldiers came from the door and bowed down.

"The King requests you for lunch."

Although he was quite annoyed, Haru forced a smile and said. "I would love to."

If Haru opened the Epic Box, he was sure that he will be too excited. And he didn't want to sound retard in front of the soldiers.

Haru stood up and walked with the soldiers. "So, what do you have for lunch. I'm quite hungry."

One of the two soldiers patted him on the shoulder and said. "Don't worry about that. Ming is cooking today, and you will love her food."

"Does the king eats the same food as you?"

"Well, he does."

"Quite good." Haru nodded. "But doesn't he have someone to taste his food?"

"The King always knows when someone put something in the food." The soldier replied, sounding confused as well. "He can even tell who put the poison."

"So it happened before."

"Yes, only once, though."

Haru could tell the explanation behind that. Bumi could use his bending to sense through the earth. He surely would be able to tell if the cook poisoned his food by how her body would react.

-x-X-x-

Haru entered the palace. Although it was morning, it was quite dark. The soldier guided him to the main hall, where a man was sitting at the table. The soldier pointed to Haru to sit.

Haru sat opposite the old man.

Haru looked at Bumi, the infamous king the friend of the avatar. Currently, Bumi was hiding his behemoth physique and muscles while pretending to be weak. He stared at Haru with a crazy glare and laughed.

"Sit down, young man. You should eat. Someone who fought many people like you should be tired and need all of the rest he needs."

Haru could tell that Bumi was suspicious of him. With Haru's earthbending raising, Haru was more sensitive to earth and could sense through it even if his skin wasn't connected to it. Bumi's chemical body told Haru that he was suspicious of him.

"I'm not that tired," Haru said. "I ate on the road if that's what you wondering, and I took all of the rest you need."

"Hehe… I didn't act suspicious of a young man. You can't just jump to a conclusion." Bumi laughed.

"I never said that you are suspicious of me, did I?" Haru smiled widely. Bumi also could feel Haru's body. "You are the one who is jumping to conclusions."

"But that's what you wanted to point to, didn't you?" raising his eyebrows, Bumi exhaled a sigh.

"And that's what you wanted to ask, didn't you?"

Haru and Bumi stared at each other. The atmosphere seemed to get intense for a second. The two of them started laughing.

"Well, well. Someone who is connected to the earth and can see with it. That's what a real earthbender is." Bumi smiled. "Hehe. It confirms that you are really skilled."

Haru lowered his head, took the fork and the spoon, and stared at the meat. He started eating.

"You don't sound surprised that I can see through you."

"We saw through each other. It only needs to be a mad genius to figure that out." Haru could tell that Bumi, although looked crazy, was very wise.

"So you think that lying will work with me, young man?" Bumi asked.

"It depends if you believe your own lie. After all, what you or I may believe is the truth can't be called the absolute truth." Haru said. Bumi was someone who could read between the lines, and he loves hints.

"Hehe…" Bumi smirked. "I like you, you remind me of my young days."

"I'm not that special." Haru protested. And by special, he meant crazy like Bumi. It's not like he cared about anyone's opinion.

"Hmm… so, tell me, did you really kill a hundred firebender.."

"I would be lying if I say yes," Haru said and Bumi narrowed his eyebrows. "They were more than a hundred."

"That's something. So, tell me, young man, why did you go against them."

"They were about to attack my village," Haru said. "I was on my way, wandering the earth, sharpening my skills when I heard a few firebenders talking about attacking my home. So, I fought them."

Bumi stared with wide-opened eyes at Haru for a half minute.

"What?"

"To protect your village, you fought all of that number, by yourself, alone?"

"Yes," Haru said. If the fire troops attacked his village, Haru was sure that they can protect themselves, especially with the thick wall they have. But the Epic Quest was what really pushed Haru into the fight.

"And to say that you aren't special, crazy." Bumi was amused for a second. But his face changed to a serious one. "So tell me young one, do you have anything you desire, from coming to Omashu."

"Ron invited me."

"Oh, right… forget about that. Is there something you want?" Bumi said. "I know you want something. Maybe protection for your village."

"Well, that too. But don't worry about it for now." Haru said. He looked straight into Bumi's eyes. "I may use an access to lead the army of Omashu's earthbenders."

Few gasps could be heard behind Haru. The guards seemed to be unable to suppress their surprise.

Bumi didn't react immediately. "Do you wish to be the king?"

"Not really."

"What is your intent then?" Bumi said, eyes half-closed.

"I want to unit the Earth Kingdom and kick the Fire Nation out," Haru said. "For that, I would need a large army and a specific set of skills."