It couldn't be helped. As long as nothing unexpected happened, then his small riverboat would definitely be stopped by patrolling Fire Navy cruisers.
Once his identity was discovered, he would either be captured or killed. The only way he could smoothly pass through was to fake his identity as an imperial Firebender on a mission given by the Fire Lord himself.
The status of Imperial Firebenders were high in the Military. On par with generals leading armies.
As guards trained to protect royalty, they could only be commanded by royals. If one was assigned a task by Fire Lord Ozai, then even the generals had to obey their commands and assist them in any way possible.
Their status reminder Luca of a movie he had seen before transversing.
Jason Statham ….
The Beekeeper ...
So long as there were no unexpected circumstances, then his plan was highly likely to succeed.
As for how he was going to convince them of his role...
Luca took out a small canister he had taken from Zuko's ship. Within that canister was a scroll that carried the sigil of the royal family tied with a black ribbon.
The contents of the scroll itself was completely blank, but it didn't matter.
As long as this sigil was shown, those in power would immediately recognize what it was. As for the ribbon ..... Different colors were used to indicate the importance of the message it was attached to.
These two added together was equivalent to an imperial decree of the highest order.
Unless they sensed something wrong, then Luca's exit would be guaranteed.
The scroll, ribbon and royal sigil was found in Iroh's study. Although retired, the old general had considerable influence.
Plus he wasn't banished. Hence he was fully capable of utilizing the royal sigil for events that wouldn't have a great impact on the Fire Nation.
If Luca had to take a guess, this was probably Ozai's way of appeasing his brother just to make sure Iroh wouldn't have any second thoughts of fighting for the throne.
Iroh was the firstborn son, so despite Ozai being king, many people in the Fire Nation still viewed him as the rightful ruler of the Fire Nation.
As a son with equal ..... No, higher right than his younger brother, all he needed to do was challenge Ozai to an Agni Kai for the throne and win. Easier said than done but still.
Unfortunately, he preferred to live as a leisurely uncle.
Zuko certainly didn't have this privilege.
Taking a good look, Luca finally turned his gaze away from the spotless uniform. Taking out a map, he rolled it on the floor and estimated his exact location.
'..... Here….'. He thought while placing his hand on a specific point.
'…. But it doesn't mark where exactly the Prison rig is …. I can't estimate my time of arrival ….'. Unlike what he expected, the map didn't clearly mark locations where Fire Nation bases were located.
Honestly, he should have expected such. After all, who would mark where all there outposts were located on a map?
What if it fell into the wrong hands?
'Ahhh, so they were guarding against people like me'.
So Luca could only draw inferences from his understanding of the series.
'I could go around them ….'. Luca discovered this through the map. If he was lucky enough not to encounter any patrol ships, he could make a curve towards the southern air temple, take a roundabout to the edge of the southern water tribe, and move towards the earth kingdom from there, bypassing the dangers know as the fire nation.
'But It isn't feasible. Traveling at sea isn't safe'. Still, he shook his head and denied this possibility.
There were a lot of problems in doing this. Sure, he would bypass one danger and as a result, expose himself to countless others.
Forget about Fire Navy ships, there were also pirates, gigantic sea serpents, rocky craters, icebergs, whirlpools, underwater currents, other deep sea creatures and worst of all, storms.
His small riverboat would get submerged underwater.
Since this possibility was given up, Luca could only turn his attention to the next priority.
The wind blew past the riverboat, bringing alongside it, the smelll of the ocean to his nostrils.
Shiing!
The sound of a blade scrapping against its metal scabbard collar resounded.
Gazing into his own reflection, Luca looked at the unsheathed sword with slight pondering.
'Stats'.
.....
Personal Perks: Density Shifting, Permanent Chi Absorption, Chi Manipulation: 186,
Mastered abilities: Stealth: 16, Blademanship: 16, Hand To Hand Combat: 13, Poison Mastery: 17, Disguise:16, Tool Creation: 15, Marksmanship: 16, Lock picking: 15, Earth Kingdom Culture: 16, Interrogation: 17, Battle Instinct: 14, Evasion and Escape: 16, Regeneration: 10
....
'…. My perks so far have proven quite useful. With chi absorption granting me energy and density shifting saving my life on many occasions. It's my main skill. But currently, I don't have enough chi to come and go as I please ….'.
The chi of a regular Firebender was somewhere around a hundred. It could be more or less, while an imperial firebender was more than four times that amount.
From the looks of it, his current Chi capacity of 800+ quite literally surpassed 95 — 99% of the world's population.
Yet despite having the same amount that could support benders through prolonged battles, he still suffered from Chi deficiency.
If he had to fight an army, then he could only guarantee ten seconds of invincibility. Even against a small group of benders, he would struggle greatly on the premise of conservation.
Luca knew his advantages, disadvantages, and total combat prowess well.
Lack of Chi made density shifting flawed, unreliable and prevented it from becoming his main battle perk.
The reason why he had not been captured was because no one knew of this.
He wasn't fooled by his recent success in escaping. His only advantage was the fact that no one knew his abilities.
Those who did were already in the afterlife.
But Luca didn't think he could hide it forever. Once his information was exposed, and properly analyzed, then the enemies coming after him would have targeted tactics.
All they needed to do was block his escape route and rain fire on him from afar. Once ten seconds passed, he would be turned into a crispy barbecue.
Sooner or later, this would eventually happen.
Hence, a solution was needed.
The obvious answer was more chi, but how much more would be enough? It was impossible to absorb that much anytime soon.
However, that wasn't the only option available. The other option was actually easier to accomplish.
Increase his attacking capability.
When selecting his perks, Density shifting was always positioned as a lifesaving skill. And it still was.
Ever since appearing in this world, he had only used it to for attacking once when he killed the imperial firebender on Zuko's cruiser.
Even then, his broken arm proved that using it as a means of attack in the short term was not ideal.
Other times were simply using it to avoid danger.
This was where the problem laid.
Insufficient Firepower. Benders were the mainstream fighters in this world.
In a head on confrontation, only advanced martial artists could defeat a bender of any element.
This basically included Ty Lee who had incredible acrobatic capabilities, lightning fast reflexes and Chi blocking, Piandao with his swordsmanship and fighting experience, the Kyoshi warriors with their metal fans, trained physiques and combat arts passed down by avatar Kyoshi herself, the Yuyan archers with their incredible precision and skill with the bow and arrow, Mai with her ability with throwing weapons, Jet with his double hook swords and Luca himself.
All above-mentioned individuals were capable of defeating benders in a one-on-one scenario. Some could defeat a dozen or more, but Luca wasn't in that group.
With any weapon, be it swords, daggers or arrows, he was confident of defeating one, two, or three Firebenders with a lot of effort.
More? Yeah, that would require Density shifting and the element of surprise. Honestly, Luca wasn't sure he could defeat anyone in the above-mentioned group.
Based on what he knew from the series, Jet and Mai weren't his opponents.
Ty Lee on the other hand? Yep, he would definitely have his ass handed to him without even landing a single blow.
Luca could see this problem. Now, he was heavily reliant on density shifting in battle.
As a Non-bender, he had no attacking means that could give him a true edge. Sometime from now, he would arrive at the prison rig filled with Fire Navy personnel.
If the plan went haywire for some reason, then ten seconds of invincibility wasn't going to cut it.
As the famous saying goes, Attack is the best defense.
His Chi reserves granted by perk number 2 weren't enough for a prolonged battle with perk number 1. That's where perk number 3 comes in.
Luca turned his gaze from the sword to his hand. With nothing but a thought, the chi flowing within his arm in an orderly manner suddenly deviated from their movement patterns and flowed towards the palm of his hand.
Under Luca's gaze, wisps of Chi emerged from the pores of his hands, enveloping it completely.
Chi Manipulation.
All benders in this world utilized chi in combat. Guiding said energy to different parts of their body and releasing it enabled them to achieve the marvel that was elemental bending.
Their ability to do so was a form of control. Using Chi to achieve the creation of fire, movement of wind, water, and earth.
However, that was the limit. Bending was basically the usage of the present Chi within the body to interact with the outside world.
In simpler terms, it was the usage of one's life energy to control the elements.
Chi was also known as Life energy and hence, Life energy was supposed to stay within the human body.
Never before had humans been able to manifest it externally ... Until today.
A human being's control of life energy in this world was basically fixed by the Lion turtles themselves. Luca however, had used what was left of his Perk Wish in exchange for increased ability to control his Chi.
"As much Chi control as it can give me .....". Hence, leading to the current scene.
Luca frowned slightly, feeling the metaphysical energy surrounding his palm.
His thoughts moved, following which, the chi on his palm began to increase.
Large amounts of ivory white chi emerged from his hand and spread in a forward line.
However ... It had barely spread two meters away before it began dissipating into thin air.
Seeing this, Luca's frown deepened.
He stopped his actions and tried again. This time, his concentration was greater. The result was better, but barely three meters, it stopped again and likewise dissipated.
'…. After advancing a little more than three meters, it left the range of my control, hence me losing control of it ….'.
The experiment didn't go exactly as he had hoped. Although he could externalize his Chi, he could hardly control it once it departed past a certain point.
As Chi was made to be internal. After leaving him for a certain distance, it was no longer his to control.
'… This is going to be harder than I thought ….'. Having being an avid Naruto fan, Luca had extensive knowledge on the explanation of chakra control.
Here, he was applying it to Chi, in hopes that due to their similarities in usage, they would work the same.
And in fact, they did. As just like his previous actions, externalizing Chakra in Naruto at a great distance wasn't really possible.
Yet at the same time, they didn't.
Ninja's could use Chakra to enhance their physical capabilities by a certain percentage at most. Tsunade's chakra control and chakra quality was so impressive that she could weaponize it further to create large bursts of pure destructive power. (She is also physically strong, but that's not the point of concentration)
Chi in Avatar, however, couldn't be externalized physically at all. This wasn't due to the nature of Chi itself as Luca just proved, but due to the fact that human control over their own energy was quite limited compared to those in Naruto.
As for why they couldn't increase their physical prowess, Luca could only wait till he reached Wan Shi Tong's library to verify.
Was it the people or was it the nature of the life force itself?
He didn't know.
But that aside .....
'..... Just plainly releasing it won't work. It's too loose. Too light. However ...'.
When Luca made his perk wish, Density shifting was for life-saving purposes. Permanent Chi Absorption was to supplement the high cost of the restrictions he placed on the former, while enhanced chi control was his idea for an attacking skill.
His wish for enhanced chi control was a means for him to create what he wanted. By using the chi directly as a means of attack instead of elemental bending just in case he wasn't granted an affinity.
The initial results weren't ideal. However, testing wasn't over.
With these thoughts, Luca stopped releasing his Chi and transferred the sword in his left hand to the right.
- Blademanship: 16 -
The light and skillful movements, the sword spun in his hand, attaching itself to him like an extra limb.
'..... It escapes my control because there is nothing that connects me to it but air. The air isn't tangible and changes constantly. Maintaining a three meter hold is already a blessing. This sword on the other hand .....'. Once again, Chi manifested on the hand holding on to the weapon.
With a slight thought, it enveloped the weapon within his possession and flowed from the first end to the other.
Once again, he spun the sword while maintaining a constant output of Chi. This time, it didn't dissipate with the wind.
Seeing this, a slight smile made its way up his lips before turning into a full-blown grin.
'..... Now we're getting somewhere .....'. His grip on the sword tightened, following which, he drew the sword back, infused a large amount of life energy and slashed towards the sea.
An ivory white crescent of energy emerged from the sword and flew towards the sea surface.
Bang!
Splash!
.....
Time elapsed on the river boat.
At some point, Luca noticed a black spot in the middle of his open stat panel.
Frowning, he dismissed the screen before him, leaving only the black spot in the distance within his vision.
Binoculars were something he didn't steal from Zuko's cruiser. Nevertheless, he didn't need it.
He knew what the object in the distance was.
Mo Ce Sea Prison Rig .....
After hours of drifting, he was finally here.
Luca quickly took the fire helmet and put it on without hesitation.
He would soon be noticed by people on the base. That was if he hadn't been noticed already.
Keeping the helmet on was essential for protection of his identity.
The riverboat drew closer to the Fire Navy shipyard.
It didn't take long after, Luca saw a Fire Navy ship dispatch from the Prison rig, moving in his direction.
....
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