Alright. Sorry for the long delay. Admission issues ... And anxiety.
Either way. Here we go.
(FYI, for those who care. The MC officially obtained Firebending in chapter 52)
....
In the dark rainy night.
Bang!
Multiple crescents of ivory white light illuminated the surroundings for split seconds before disappearing.
Bang!
This was followed by the sound of falling rocks and shattering stone.
With a swing of his sword, numerous energy crescents akin to razor sharp blades departed from the weapon.
Bang!
The area of effect attack took out a large part of the earth. The soil was uprooted and dust and debris flew in all directions as a result.
Luca's attack carried full points in destructive power. Results however, were less than ideal.
'Missed again'.
He was sure of it.
The slight flash of purple rushing aside just before the blow was clearly captured.
'Ugh'.
He turned around and threw another slash.
The dark spirit moved aside, dodging effectively while several tendrils shot over.
The attack hit, but went right through him.
Luca immediately took the opportunity to back away while throwing yet another strike.
"Ha …. Ha … Ha …". His eyes darted around vigilantly. Never stopping in one location for more than a second.
Due to the change in space and numbers, these creatures didn't suffer the same fate as their previous kin.
Instead, using their dark form to integrate into the shadows, they attacked him from areas he found difficult to guard against.
And so a clash of blades, claws, and tendrils began, eventually turning into a prolonged battle.
And Luca found himself barely escaping from each attack that came his way.
Time elapsed.
Bang!
It had been less than two minutes, and yet it felt like he had been fighting for hours.
Never before had he felt this exhausted from a battle.
'I'm going to lose this'. Luca thought to himself as he felt his body weakening. The continuous turning, twisting and dodging movements had caused blood to pull out at a faster speed.
At this point, he had no idea how much blood he had lost, but his pale face and slightly trembling hands were enough to give an indicator.
Unfortunately, the Panel had no health bar. Even more unfortunately, it had something else.
- Fatigue 76/100 -
Never before has his fatigue stat been so high. Although it couldn't represent a health stat, it was as close as it could get.
And its continuous increase simply meant he was losing his fighting ability due to physical and mental weariness.
- Chi 1314/2996 -
As expected, Dark spirits didn't act like violent animals at all. Since the moment the battle began, Luca had fallen into a disadvantage due to the terrain.
The agility of these creatures far surpassed his, causing all his attacks to hit nothing but thin air. If not for his density shifting, his case would be the complete opposite.
For the first time ever, Luca felt his own natural perception was too low. With 14 points, it topped the table as the highest physical stat in his arsenal.
If it were in a head on fight, then he could still capture their movements. But now, he was being besieged from different angles.
Upfront, behind, the sides … A human only had a pair of eyes and Luca certainly didn't have them behind his head.
Facing multiple, he could barely react to one. How could he accurately analyze and predict the movements of the others?
In the past, he could. But ….
'I can't read their movements at all. Not until it's too late'.
The young boy held a weapon in his hand. Three dark creatures flanking him from all sides.
His thoughts wandered back to his first night in this world. When he was being hunted by the Fire Nation Sergeant and his men.
He had not just escaped, but killed all of them. He didn't.
'At that time, I killed them. And I didn't even blink when I did it. No, my body moved instinctively'. He thought as he once again used density shifting to avoid an attack.
Deactivated it, and rolled aside to dodge another.
'It was the same at the prison rig. I didn't think, I didn't flinch. I couldn't even explain what I was doing. But I could do it…'. Battle was never just about swinging weapons and completing a kill.
It was much more. In a true fight between skilled experts, every move was well-thought-out, every strike calculated, and the body was naturally prepared for various responses and would act accordingly.
From the stances to the methods of exerting strength, down to the miniscule muscle movements, steps taken.
All in the span of a split second, all these scenarios would be accurately accounted for. Even a foot two inches further than they should could be the difference between victory and defeat.
It took time and practice to drill all these into muscle memory, enabling fighters to act without thinking.
It was a fighter's battle instinct.
The same battle instinct that disappeared alongside the rest of the bunch under Luca's mastered skills list.
As someone who felt it firsthand, he knew what was the difference at a moments notice.
Previously, his body would automatically move and adjust depending on the situation. His perception of the surroundings would send signals to the body, enabling him to react to situations he couldn't see.
Each and every single skill previously on his stat panel was extremely precious, and battle instinct was the embodiment of all of his predecessor's combat experience and fighting capability.
With its disappearance, Luca had gone from a deadly, seasoned fighter to a complete noob with no fighting experience of any kind.
The same applied to his other abilities.
Blademanship, Stealth, Escape and Evasion, Poison Mastery, Interrogation ..... In essence, Luca was no longer an elite spy. Now, his fighting ability might be inferior to Sokka who hadn't even started training with Piandao.
He was no longer an expert swordsman and what he had been doing for the past two minutes was simply swinging a blade and firing Chi slashes without restraint.
— Marksmanship — was gone, and his aim was terribly off.
Such a serious downgrade, it would be a wonder if he actually hit a target.
'This is absurd …'.
Even without spirit Chi, he shouldn't be in such a sorry state. What truly messed him up here was the disappearance of his skills.
'I have to change this situation. But how …'. It was impossible to keep density shifting on at all times.
Once his chi was used up, he would become a lamb to be slaughtered easily.
Unfortunately, it mattered little.
Luca, who had just dodged a claw attack when a tail whip, swung towards him.
It was too sudden.
So sudden that he had no time to react. All he felt was a heavy impact slamming into his chest area.
"Ugh". A pained groan escaped his lips as his body defied gravity and escaped the floor shooting towards the distance.
Losing control over his body, he bounced off the ground twice before slamming into a rock. Cracks similar to spiderwebs emerged on the point of impact.
As the cause and effect, Luca who was just slammed into a rock, hissed in pain at the stinging sensation on his back, incredible pain assaulting his five senses.
"Agh …. Ugh …". With one eye closed, he raised his head with great difficulty. What came into sight was a somewhat blurry vision caused due to the impact he just received.
He opened his mouth ….
Blerghh!
And threw up. Blood flowed from his mouth as the tinge metallic taste dominated everything else.
'…. I … I can't ….'. He raised his hand from the floor with difficulty after reached for his sword, only to discover that the weapon was no longer in his possession.
Seeing this, Luca gritted his teeth and changed his approach.
Chi flowed through his veins and emerged from the palm of his hand in an attempt to converge and solidify.
A spiral ball of energy slowly appeared, spinning on the palm of his hand. Too bad, it had barely taken shape with it dissipated, leaving nothing but the injured Luca.
Mobilizing energy required concentration, which was impossible to achieve in his current state.
- Chi 644/2995 -
'I'm running low'.
Shriek!
In the air, the Dark Spirit with no limbs rushed towards him rapidly once Luca was down.
Its body could be likened to a dark-colored eel and the grotesque facial features reminded Luca of Venom from the Marvel Comics.
Among the attacking creatures, it was the only one that could fly.
- Chi -85 -
Going intangible now was his only choice.
Suuuuiii!
Crack-boom!
Thunder struck and a blue light streaked through the rainy night. From a hidden corner, the shadow emerged revealing itself to be an arrow emitting a fluorescent blue glow. Aiming at its target with power and precision.
Straight towards the head of the unsuspecting dark spirit at high speed.
Rawr!
An agonizing wail spread throughout Kolau.
Bang! Following which, it crashed to the ground. Moving a few inches further before stopping at Luca's feet.
The latter froze at the unexpected turn of events.
Under his gaze, the flying eel slowly began to dissolve into shadowy substances, just like the last one he fought.
In a split second, all that was left was an arrow emitting a striking deep blue color.
'Hold on …. That's ….'. From the blue arrow, slightly crackling sounds fell into his ears.
But even that didn't last long, quickly following in the footsteps of the dark spirit and dissipating.
'… What just happened?'
Luca was startled. And he wasn't the only one.
Rawr!
The dark spirits turned in the direction the attack came from and let out threatening roars.
On a ledge leading into a cave high up on the mountain side, stood a silhouette.
Its body exposed to the beating of nature. The dark ghost mask on its face revealing an eerie light.
Rawr!
Locking onto their target, the two dark spirits roared and rushed forward quickly. And in a similar way to their early descent, they rushed back up the mountain with unbridled ferocity.
Once again, the sudden change of events caught Luca of guard.
Deactivating his intangibility, he looked at the attacking creatures who had changed targets.
'Now what?'
How someone had appeared in his cave was currently beyond him. But ….
It happened then. As the dark spirits rushed towards the cave, the masked silhouette in dark robes suddenly made its move.
Under the drizzling rain, its chest was pushed out as it bent backwards. Followed by the sound of a heavy inhalation.
Then ..... The chest pushed back while the face moved forward.
The dark night was suddenly illuminated with a dazzling blue light and the chilling air heated up by several degrees.
Luca's eyes widened.
Firebending.
A stream of fire emerged from the mouth area of the mask, expanding rapidly before turning into a large fire blast.
Under Luca's gaze, the blast shot forward at remarkable speed, engulfing the two dark spirits that were rushing up the mountain completely.
Sharp pained shrieks like banshee cries resounded for a moment.
Nevertheless, Luca paid it no heed.
At the moment, his eyeballs were staring wide open at the scene before his eyes at the wave of fire that rushed from the cave entrance all the way to the bottom of the mountain.
"No way. That's…. Azula's flames".
In the Avatar universe, only two characters had shown the ability to harness fires of different colors.
Rangi with her white Flame, and Azula with her Blue Flame.
In the entire verse, there was never another soul, dead or alive that could replicate it.
Not even master Firebenders with much more strength and experience than the fifteen-year-old girl.
Yet what was before his eyes told him otherwise.
The rain fell, and the flames on the walls were quickly put out under its intensive care.
The flames dissipated, and the dark spirits were nowhere to be seen.
'They're gone…'.
Seeing this, Luca let out a slight breath. Then his gaze moved upward from the rock wall all the way to the ledge.
What came into sight was a creepy ghost mask looking straight at him.
'..... But that isn't'.
The death of the dark spirits meant Luca's life was out of serious danger.
Now the number of enemies had changed from three, to just one.
Ironically, he didn't know if this was better or worse.
"Ugh".
A slight groan escaped his lips as he mustered his strength and stood to his feet. His face was pale, clothes stained with blood and many areas of his body ached with pain.
It could be said that this was the most difficult battle he had ever fought.
Worst of all, he didn't win.
The pale faced youth kept himself from falling over. As the adrenaline faded, heavy fatigue and weakness began to assault his mind and nerves.
However, now wasn't the time to fall and faint.
There was still one more threat to deal with.
Luca thought so, his gaze locked on the ghost masked silhouette on the ledge without wavering.
And so, a silent face off began.
Both sides stood motionless, neither budging an inch as they observed each other from a distance.
Luca, who stood with a solemn expression and narrowed eyes, was far from as calm as he seemed on the surface.
He had just witnessed ... Whoever this guy was, destroy two dark spirits with powerful firebending.
From the looks of it, releasing such a widespread attack didn't seem to consume anything.
Its chest area didn't have any all due to exhaustion or tiredness.
This was in stark contrast with his heavy breathing, weakening limbs, pale face and slightly unbalanced steps.
Although the dark spirits were killed by it, it was unknown whether this new arrival was friend or foe.
If it were the latter, Luca needed to think of a way out of here.
So although he was standing still, he had taken the time to check his physical condition as he stood.
The result caused a frown to appear on his face.
There was no health stat or injury index. Nevertheless, his fatigue was almost at full level. His Chi was less than half, his spirit chi was unresponsive, his mastered skills had disappeared, and he was heavily injured.
A quick conclusion could be easily drafted.
His body wouldn't support him to go through another battle. Not even close.
The end result would certainly be death due to excessive blood loss.
Forget about the strength of the opponent. Even if he won, unless his spirit chi came back, the end result would still be his death.
Now, Luca could only hope that the other party wasn't hostile.
These thoughts were going through his mind when .....
'As far is I know, spirits can't Fire bend. So this is a living person from the Fire Nation. But why out here?'
Crack-Boom!
A flash of light illuminated the sky.
Rain pelted both figures standing from different vantage points. Just when Luca wondered just how long this would last, the silhouette moved its hands.
Luca's pupils shrank, ready to use density shifting in case a blast of fire was shot towards him.
Nothing happened.
The hands didn't release a Firebending attack but reached for the mask on its face.
'Huh?'
Its hands slowly moved away the strap at the back and ….
Off the mask went.
A pair of sparkling blue eyes revealed itself alongside a head full of dark hair.
The hand holding the mask loosened its grip, causing it to fall from a high height, breaking apart once it touched the ground.
Luca's pupils constricted to the size of needles.
It was his own face
It happened then.
The figure standing on the cave edge suddenly vanished into thin air.
Then, it reappeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye.
Squelch!
Luca's eyes went wide.
At the same time, a searing pain emerged from his chest area. Lowering his gaze, a deep blue light, akin to an energy construct could be seen piercing through his chest.
On the other end, it was attached to the palm of the person in front of him.
Dark hair, blue eyes, fair skin.
It was the same.
Exactly the same. For a moment, he forgot about the pain in his chest due to the sight before him.
"Are you surprised?" At that moment, a calm, indifferent voice called out to him.
"You …". He opened his mouth. Unfortunately, only one word emerged. What followed in place of the rest was blood.
Drip, Drip, Drip,
Blood flowed out in rapidly like a leaky tap.
"What kind of dark spirit are you?" Luca's expression turned cold.
His question received no reply.
Instead ….
Squelch!
The light construct pushed forward. Completely piercing through his body and emerging on the other end and nailing itself to the wall behind him.
Blood poured, Luca's pale face grew paler.
"So this is all you have after losing my abilities. I can't say I didn't expect more ... ..".
Luca stiffened at those words.
'Wait … What?'
Before he could utter anything else, the heavy rain suddenly intensified. The winds picked up, the thunder rumbled.
Luca saw him look up. He did the same.
In the dark skies, heavy storm clouds gathered. Constant lightning emerged from within, flashing with rapid intensity.
Simultaneously, the earth began trembling.
".... Oh..... It's getting anxious".
The winds began to screech.
High up in the air, the dark clouds began to form and converge. Under his increasingly astonished gaze, those dark clouds soon converged to create a giant face.
"That's ….".
"A dark spirit. The main one. Aiming to devour your soul whole, as well as mine".
The one opposite spoke indifferently.
"I hope you enjoyed the horror fantasy, but your time is up".
Both eyes locked.
The expressionless face uttered apathetically.
"Do keep in mind ..... that this isn't over. In due time, we will meet again to settle this score. Until then, you can't die. So do both of us a favor ….".
And that moment, he twisted his hand.
Luca immediately had a bad feeling.
"..... And wake up before you do".
It happened then.
Countless blue spikes emerged from his already battered body from all directions.
His lungs, kidney, bladder, heart, ribs ..... Everything was destroyed on the spot.
Luca eyes widened in shock as his body stiffened for a moment. The next, however ..... His surroundings began to change drastically.
Everything came to a standstill. Be it the rain, the winds, the lightning bolts and the monstrous face etched in the storm clouds.
Time froze. Following which, everything began to lose color, turning into black and white.
Crack!
The breaking noise resounded in the space.
After that ….
Crack! Crack! Crack! Shatter!
Everything shattered completely, and Luca felt his vision go dark for a second.
Earth Kingdom ….
Kolau Mountain Range….
Crack-Boom!
Thud. A figure fell to his knees, panting heavily.
The first thing Luca felt when his vision returned was his body soaked from head to toe.
Not from sweat, however, but rainwater.
'I …'. Luca's eyes widened as he raised his head up.
The rain was still falling. Only ….
'It's. …. Gone …'. He thought internally. The giant heavy storm and natural phenomenon that seemed to be the warm-up of a natural disaster had disappeared.
The face in the clouds was nowhere to be seen.
'…. I …'. Deep confusion emerged in his eyes. 'What just happened?'
'Why aren't I dead?'
Luca turned his attention to his body. He looked down, expecting to see a pool of red liquid beneath him.
The result? Nothing.
He slowly touched his body and found to his astonishment that he was fine.
There was no hole in his chest, no wounds from the sides … He looked, fine.
This ..... This wasn't the same.
Didn't he just fight a life-threatening battle? Wasn't he injured multiple times? The sky previously looked like the world was about to end.
His Spirit chi was ….
Luca's train of thoughts stopped right there.
'My Spirit Chi …. My skills ….'.
Panic struck as he immediately attempted to open his panel.
'Open stats pa ….'.
"Ugh". It hit him then.
A piercing pain emerged in his head, akin to the feeling of his brain being picked by needles.
He hurriedly held his head while displaying a pained expression.
"My head". His chest heaved up and down. If not for the fact that he was already drenched, his clothes would definitely be soaked with sweat.
'This …. None of this makes sense'.
'I just died ..... Yet, I'm alive'.
'What did I just go through? What was all that'.
'Where am I?'
Numerous thoughts flew through his mind as he raised his gaze to look forward.
The moment he did, Luca stiffened.
As or why?
Because right before him, was a dark, dreary cave flickering with ominous light. The sinister feeling it emitted sending chills down his spine.
How could he not recognize this place?
It was the cave. The one he had accidentally opened up.
'This …. How did I get ….'? He froze once again. A flash of horror and realization emerging within his eyes.
He looked back. What came into view was the darkness down below.
The side of the mountain. Then how?
He turned his gaze to his feet.
He could see Chi attached to them, giving him a steady footing.
But he wasn't relieved, instead Luca felt a chill run up his spine.
"So do both of us a favor …. And wake up before you do".
The last words he heard replayed itself in his mind.
'…. I… Illusion?'
.....
Patreon.com/Future805