New Chapter. I decided to upload two because I can frankly admit that while this one contains needed information, it is part filler.
So another chapter after this one. Enjoy.
More powerstones. The ones for both today and tomorrow if you will .....
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Southern Earth Kingdom
Kolau Mountain Range
'Alright, last journey. Once I walk long enough, Omashu should be right …. Well, somewhere up ahead'.
Raising his head up, the darkening sky let out loud rumbling noises.
'I just hope I can find shelter before the rain starts. Or I might have to waste Spirit Chi to blow open a hole in a rock wall'.
It had been several days since Haican. After traveling for close to a week, Luca was now walking through the Kolau Mountain Range.
A large chain of mountains, famous for encompassing both the cave of two lovers and Omashu itself.
Upon leaving the stronghold's forest area, Luca had made sure to leave no traces without making much effort to cover his tracks.
All because he left no traces to begin with.
Simply by leaping from tree branch to tree branch and keeping himself high up in the trees at all times.
In the darkness of night and the trees obstructing moonlight, it was hard to adapt in the first few minutes.
That all changed after adjusting his pacing and spreading his perception.
Attaching Chi to the soles of his footwear made sure that all he required was to make contact. With his level of control, making sure he didn't fall due to loss of concentration was the easy part.
As a result, he had travelled through the forest without any other unwanted run ins with either Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation or mercenary movements.
With occasional rest stops, he emerged from the forest four days later and walked for several hours before making it towards the very edge of the Kolau Mountain Range.
'Well ….'. His footsteps came to a halt.
All that was left was to transverse the area towards his destination. Unfortunately, the skies grew cloudy with a heavy threat of rain.
Seeing the dark clouds, Luca fell into deep thought.
It had been almost three weeks since the winter solstice. Despite absorbing the memories of his predecessor, the calendar of the Avatar world was somewhat confusing to him who had lived two lives.
So according to his memory from Earth, the winter solstice should be around December 20th ..... or 21st.
Three weeks accumulated to twenty-one days. Not that far from a month. When added together, it effectively made today either January 10th or January 11th.
Meaning, it was no longer 99 AG anymore but early 100 AG in the Avatar universe.
'Wow. So I spent both Christmas and the new year as a wanted criminal on the run for my life, huh?'
The thought had barely formed when it stalled. Because Technically speaking, there was no Christmas in this world, neither was there the concept of a new year celebration.
At least, Luca didn't remember anything like that.
The holidays in the Fire Nation were quite limited.
Come to think of it, there was only one Szeto Festival day. A holiday established to honor the great Fire Nation Avatar Szeto. It was so sacred that Agni Kai's weren't allowed as it was forbidden to burn another on a holiday.
Perhaps there were more holidays before the beginning of the Hundred-year war, but from Luca's perspective, Sozin probably abolished them in favor for war conquests.
After all, if more such holidays existed, then what would happen to the Firebenders fighting on the front lines without being able to use their fire?
Or would the Fire Nation get certain days off once every one to two months?
'Come to think of it. There aren't many holidays in the entire Avatar world'.
New moon celebration
Flying Koi Carnival
Yangchen Festival …
Affiliated with the Water tribe, Earth Kingdom and Air nation respectively …
The total number probably didn't exceed two hands.
Shaking his head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, he looked around him once again.
'Still, that's not the point. From what I remember, Aang spent a year mastering the other three elements. If I were to go by that logic, I have a year. However, I didn't appear at the beginning of book 1. No, I started from the Senlin village arc near the winter solstice ... And who knows how much time has passed between that point and Aang waking up from the iceberg'.
'But the Comet is coming by Summer's end. With no official date, I can only assume that to be late September at best and mid-October at worst. And now ... It's already January …'.
He thought with narrowed eyes.
'I don't have a year. Not even close. What I have now been eight to nine months of preparation time'. Eight to nine months to get strong enough to become a deciding factor in the world.
Preferably to the point where he could decide the fate of the war with his actions.
'However ….'. He looked up.
Splash!
A small drop of water splashed on the side of his cheeks.
'… I'm more likely to spend about half that time on the road. Walking, running, traveling to my final destinations'. Three weeks since the winter solstice.
He had covered hundreds of miles through maneuvering and his own efforts. And yet how far did that bring him?
His gaze lowered back down, looking forward. Endless mountains.
The surrounding area was surrounded with rocky terrain and large tall rocks as far as the eye could see.
Almost a month, and he wasn't even at Omashu yet. And after reaching the city, he still needed to keep moving.
Ahead of him was the Foggy swamp, Gaoling, the arid plains, all that before getting to Wan Shi Tong's library.
That wasn't even the main destination but a side goal. How long would it take him to get there? Three? Four months? How much time would he devote to stay? One? Two?
How much time was left to consolidate on what he might or might not gain? How much time would it take for him to turn that into actual power? Strength?
And where would he go after that? How much time would it take getting there?
Yet knowing all this, the worst part was that the library wasn't his main goal here. No.
What about Onomu? How long would it take to find her after he was done? Would there even be any time left? Would there be a need?
For the first time, Luca began to regret his choice of drop era. 99 AG was the familiar choice for him. He thought so, but only now did he realize that it left him with too little time to actual convert knowledge into actual strength.
If he had gone back a few more years ..... In hindsight, there was no wrong choice. Who knows what his situation and circumstances would be like if he was tossed several years into the past.
Perhaps he would have totally different worries.
Luca frowned.
'And all this isn't adding the time used to restock on supplies'. He reached towards the bag on his back.
'Plus, I'm running out of rations'.
Ever since leaving Haican, Luca hadn't come across a single tree that bore edible fruit for days.
No animals either.
As a result, he had kept himself fed with the rations in his possession. That was days ago.
The last time he checked his provisions, Luca was almost running out of food to eat.
'It'll take me several days to complete the walk out of here. Unless I'm lucky, only then will I get a chance to get food. Until then, I need to find somewhere to hide out from the coming storm ….'.
He came to a conclusion.
This weather wasn't going to be pretty.
Thud, Thud, Thud .....
After ten more minutes of active searching, Luca gave up.
There were no caves, or hideouts that could serve as shelter. At least, there were none around him.
'In that case, I'll make my own'.
Walking up to a rocky hillside, he raised his leg and placed it on the surface. Then ..... As if he had found a stable footing, he raised his other leg from the floor and stood horizontally on the wall.
And so, Luca walked along the mountain side with steady steps. His mind filled with numerous thoughts as he made an upward ascension.
Less than a minute later
He stood walking up and stood on a small ledge.
The standing space was small. So small that Luca would have fallen off if he couldn't walk on walls.
Nevertheless, that was enough.
'Alright then. Now for the harder part'.
After actively searching yet finding nothing, Luca decided that since he couldn't locate a small cave to take shelter from the storm, then he would simply make his own.
If he remembered correctly, the first actual storm in the series was when Aang, Sokka and Katara went to a small village.
There, Aang was accused by an old Fisherman that he abandoned his people. Feeling guilty, the Airbender ran off while Katara chased after him.
Eventually finding him up in a cave entrance on the cliffside.
Luca intended to create such a cave for shelter.
As for why didn't he do it below and had to climb up the wall? To prevent water from getting in when the rain started.
Now moving on to how exactly he was going to do it.
"Stats Panel".
Name: Luca
Affiliation: Fire Nation ....
Attributes: Strength 10, Dexterity 9 Constitution 11, Chi 2325, Perception 14, Spirit Chi: 912
Fatigue: 2/100
Alignment: Lawful Evil
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
Assignable Achievement Points (AP): .....
Status: Otherworlder/ Rebel (spy)(Fugitive on the run)
....
It had been a long time since he opened his panel. Primarily because very little would change.
Secondly, even if something did change, he knew exactly what it was.
Chi: 895–2325
Spirit Chi: 1112–912
'Who would have thought that a few weeks ago, my Chi stat was practically One point'.
At that moment, he stretched out his arm and opened his palm wide. A slightly furrowed expression on his brows as the chi within his being began to stir.
Regular, Ivory white energy surged from the pores in his hands and began to converge on his palm.
"Gather the energy in your palm ... Concentrate ….". As the first time trying this trick, Luca put in utmost concentration to materialize what he wanted to create.
Under his gaze, wisps of Chi converged in his palm to form a spherical energy ball.
Following which, it began to spin rapidly.
'The secret to success lay in the spinning energy. It's not just about spinning it, but spinning it in multiple directions simultaneously'.
Luca carefully recalled the teachings of a certain white haired immortal pervert with terrible dress sense who loved to play with toads.
A ball of energy took form in his hand. And slowly, it began to spin. At a steady pace at first, then faster and faster .....
With each increase in rotation, Luca's eyebrows furrowed even more.
'Imitating this is more difficult than I thought'.
Eventually, a large ball of Chi emerged on his palm, the energy currents within it spinning chaotically in all directions while trapped inside a perfectly stable sphere.
After experimenting on several occasions, this was the final result that stemmed from his desire to recreate a classic move from a different childhood relic.
Today, Luca had succeeded after several tries in the past few days.
'Well then ….'. He turned his gaze towards the mountain side right before him. Then, he raised his palm carrying the spinning ball of chaotic destruction and slammed down with force.
'I've always wanted to do this'.
"Rasengan!"
A loud, somewhat childish yell emerged from somewhere within the Koala mountain range.
The next moment .....
"Boom!"
Upon making contact the rocks in the way were pulverized to dust as the mountain side caved in on impact.
Dust and debris swept forward.
Meanwhile ...
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