So I'll be dropping two chapters.
....
The tense atmosphere in the quarry thickened as Lieutenant Huo's men encircled the group. Their gleaming blades caught the faint sunlight that managed to filter through the towering buildings casting reflections on the rocky ground.
The sound of shifting armor and grinding steel filled the air, every noise a promise of impending violence.
Mingxia's heart pounded, while her mind spun through their options.
Regrettably, every one ended the same way. Outnumbered, out armed, and unprepared.
She didn't have her weapons, and Dandan had no water nearby to leverage. Even if he could, their hands were shackled.
In such case, there was only one way this could end. Their deaths.
The brunette opened her lips. A trembling voice emerged. One unsuccessfully masked with bravado.
"... This … This is madness. We're citizens of the Earth Kingdom, not war criminals. You can't execute us without a proper trial".
Huo sneered, and replied indifferently.
"I can …". It was followed by a raise of his hand.
"... And I will". There were nine guards. Each one holding a weapon in hand.
"Hmph". Luca's lips curled up as he swept his gaze around.
In the Earth Kingdom army, there were few swordsmen. And those who dabbled in the art did just that. Dabble.
Earth Kingdom soldiers generally had an established combat style. A large percent of the population in the military had rather bulky physiques which was more prominent among Earthbenders.
Coupled with their bending ability, their style of combat was quite obvious. Brute force.
After all, lifting massive chunks of rock over their heads and throwing them as projectiles wasn't something someone with a lean build could achieve.
It was the same for the Non benders. With able-bodied statures, they favored using weapons with heavy impact and great force and momentum.
Such a fighting style wasn't suitable for a large variety of swords that excelled in speed and had heavy emphasis on skill rather than strength and impact.
Hence, those who dabbled in the art did just as the word implied. Dabble.
Preferring the use of Great swords or dual broadswords that could match their physical prowess.
The point being, as far as his eyes could see, none of the soldiers present used swords as weapons.
Instead, Luca could only see spears, pole arms, hammers, and Pu Dao's.
It seemed that in the upcoming battle, getting his hands on a sword was impossible.
Hou's sharp ears caught Luca's snort. His gaze locked onto the young boy dressed in black.
"... Did you say something, brat?"
'Brat?' Luca's eyes narrowed, feeling slightly annoyed.
"Are your actions under the instructions of Omashu's Monarch?"
His question made the lieutenant's face turn cold.
"That is none of your concern".
Luca tilted his head. "I'll take that as a no. In that case, who is behind you that makes you unafraid of going against your King?"
Huo's face darkened even more.
"The time of King Bumi is valuable and should not be wasted on the likes of you. You have the blood of valiant soldiers of the earth kingdom on your hands. Scum like you do not deserve to even step into his sights. I alone am enough to pass your judgement. You want Justice? This is your Justice".
Finally, Luca paused. The fastest smirk tugging at his lips.
"... Spoken like a true hypocrite".
The tension snapped like a taut wire. "You dare!" Huo started, his face twisting in fury.
Unfortunately, Luca wasn't listening anymore.
Feeling the sudden change, Mingxia nearly had a heart attack. When ….
"... You might wanna get down". His voice fell into her ears, startling her.
Meanwhile,
'Stat Panel'.
The translucent screen made its way to his vision.
The loss of his sword had truly stunted his offensive means.
Sure, he could still create a ball of swirling chi on his hand but the Rasengan was ultimately a close ranged attack.
In the Hokage series, it remained that way until Naruto developed the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
Even then, he was only able to throw it out without harming himself after mastering sage mode.
The equivalent of wind release was Airbending. As for sage mode, he hadn't thought that far.
Nevertheless, Luca didn't meet the prerequisites, nor did he plan to.
In Omashu, against Earthbenders, and stone being over abundant. He needed another means of attack.
And In his list of mastered skills lay the answer.
[Firebending: 10]
Ever since that night three days ago, Luca was no longer a non bender.
For some strange reason that he couldn't figure out the answers to after pondering for three days and three nights, he was now a being capable of using the elements.
Just like Zuko, Iroh, Ozai, Roku, Jeong Jeong, Azula …. He could control fire.
However, the pitiful [10] at the end let him know that while he could create flames, his knowledge on Firebending as a whole left him at the level of a pure novice.
Luca had no chance to test it on the road, but he could guess based on his understanding of his skill panel
Generating flames to light a campfire was fine. In use as an offensive means ..... That was a different story altogether.
In that respect, he was probably no better than Zuko during his initial years of Fire practice.
Relying on this level of bending in the battle about to commence was blatant suicide.
"Enough talk". Huo roared. "Kill them".
The soldiers surged forward. Their weapons raised.
Seeing this, Luca didn't hesitate anymore.
He had gotten more than Firebending that night.
[Achievement Points: 50]
Amidst his joy was simultaneous sorrow.
Till now, he still didn't know the full use of this stat that had remained blank for the past month or so of his new life.
The panel had remained as unresponsive as ever. But after three days of studying, he knew its immediate purpose.
It served as a consumable, playing the role of both free attribute points and skill points in a game.
In the sense that it could increase the numbers behind any stat or skill under his stat panel.
'Finally, a level up feature'.
[Firebending 10–15]
[Achievement Points 50–0]
It happened then. At that moment, something had shifted within him.
A surge of energy emerging, seemingly from the blue. Fiery and unrelenting.
It had been there for 72 hours, but never before had it been so obvious. The cuffs on his skin glowed faintly, heat searing against his skin.
Luca felt, right then and there, that he could melt the shackles binding him with nothing but a breath. (Talk about drunk on power)
He knew he couldn't, but thankfully, he didn't need to.
[Chi -85]
The chi within him stirred. His body density shifted. And as if lubricated with oil, the chains fell off his hands like they were never on.
Mingxia had heard Luca's warning. Although it wasn't clear to her why he said so or what he planned to do, she did so anyway.
"Get Down!" She screamed and pulled those beside her.
To make sure none of them escaped, Luca's group were all shackled with the same line of chains. Meaning they were connected to each other.
With Mingxia pulling Peng and Fenfang, the rest were involuntarily pulled to the floor as well, despite not reacting fast enough.
In their confusion, they saw a scene they would never forget.
The group had barely hit the ground, when they felt the air above their heads heat up to frightening degrees.
'Burn'.
[Chi — 100]
A massive sea of yellow burst out from his upper body, flooding the environment immediately. The attacking soldiers were immediately enveloped in the flames.
Huo a few steps behind had his eyes widen.
His body too slow to respond as the sea of flames slammed into him.
Boom!
A ring of fire repels everything in its path. Barely a moment later, Huo and his men are sent flying into the distance, crashing into the surroundings.
Some slammed into abandoned houses, some into the floor, their bodies digging a small gully. But at least they stopped.
The fire didn't. Luca, who was using Firebending for the first time and in such a situation, forgot about exercising restraint.
Luckily, to end their group as quietly as possible, Lieutenant Huo had carried them to the least populated area of Omashu's slums.
The buildings here were rundown, decrepit, and unoccupied, hence no uninvolved refugees would die.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for everyone.
Flames roared in a wild arc consuming the weapons and armor of the guards.
In less than a second, the group's precarious situation had turned upside down. With the assailant's life and death unknown.
"Ha … Ha …".
Luca's chest heaved as he stood amidst the devastation. The area five feet around him remained untouched by his attack.
For a moment, silence reigned, broken only by the sound of crackling embers and the labored breathing of those left standing.
'… This …'. No one had expected this. Not Dandan, Not Meilin, not even Mingxia herself.
Still crouched low, the brunette had her mouth hanging open at the sight before her eyes.
She stared at the standing Luca in horror.
"You … You're a Firebender". Her voice was trembling, with no attempt to hide it.
The others were equally shocked, carrying similar pae faces.
Dandan spoke. "… What have you …'?
Luca wasn't paying attention. At the moment, he was still savoring the after residue of the heat release.
And those were just the changes he could feel. If he could look in a mirror, he would see that his eyes had changed color.
From a deep blue to an Amber Gold.
'…. So this is what bending feels like'. The heat energy coursing through his veins. Warming him up involuntarily was new.
It made his heart race, bringing a strange feeling of exhilaration, fear, and intoxication. It was almost overwhelming.
He raised his head. The boy's gaze, giving him a clear view of his surroundings.
"... Too much? …"
The surroundings were a mess. And such a commotion, Luca knew that there was no way it had gone unnoticed.
He had released that attack hastily and subconsciously injected more power to compensate for his unfamiliarity.
As a result, it seemed he had killed everyone.
'Well, …'. The shift in the rocks let him know that he was mistaken.
'Almost everyone'.
In the distance, a figure could be seen emerging from where he lay among the debris.
Who else could it be apart from lieutenant Huo?
As the farthest away from the blast, he was the fastest to react. Raising his hands to protect his face before he was blasted into the distance.
Luca observed with interest.
Because Lieutenant Huo scrambled to his feet, his face twisted in panic.
The heat from Luca's flames had signed his armor. Surprising how that was currently the least of his problems.
After all, Earth Kingdom uniforms were usually made with Fire-resistant materials. Forget about their uniforms, even their conical shaped military hats were capable of blocking a blast of fire when placed on their heads.
Huo wasn't considering any of that now. Currently, he was truly panicking.
"This wasn't supposed to happen". He muttered under his breath as he glanced at the ruined soldiers and the growing flames.
It was supposed to be an easy job. Kill a bunch of prisoners, dispose of the bodies and done.
These kids knew and had done too much, hence silencing them was the only answer.
In essence, however, all of this was to be done quietly to avoid drawing attention. This wasn't the Earth Kingdom base.
No, this was Omashu.
For now, this city only had one true leader. King Bumi himself.
The man who had resisted the siege of the Fire Nation with his army and his personal strength.
The Greatest Earthbender of his time.
Omashu's army, the guards .... Almost everyone was loyal to him and those who weren't would meet fates worse than death.
This was why Luca and his group needed to be silenced at all costs.
Fear. Once Bumi knew of what had happened and decided to investigate, then the people responsible would definitely be done for.
After all, the refugees back at Haican weren't the only victims.
In the large number of Omashu refugees, there would undoubtedly be people who hadn't seen their family members for a long time.
Just asking around a few times should lead to a verdict.
Hence, this was a road with no detours, leading to the current events. But one thing had been messed up. Discreet nature.
Huo clearly remembered the orders he had been given. Eliminate the targets without leaving any witnesses.
To achieve this, he had gone to great lengths and taken away the closest patrols. Moved the targets to the most remote parts of the slums and even explicitly prohibited the use of Earthbending to avoid creating a ruckus.
However ....
Looking at the flames licking on the quarry walls, Huo felt a chill run down his spine.
He could already imagine the consequences o ce this reached king bumi's ears.
"The Grand Advisor will have my head if this gets out". He wiped the sweat from his brow.
'Kill him! I must kill him'.
Huo growled as he got up from the rubble. Turning his head to the soldiers who were told conscious, he roared at the top of her lungs.
"Get up, you blockheads. Use your bending! Kill him now, before more soldiers arrive".
The plan hadn't changed. Only this time, he needed to kill these kids before other soldiers arrived.
Else, he wouldn't have another chance. In Omashu, only the king could pass Judgement.
If other soldiers arrived, these kids would be subdued. Hence, this matter would fall to Bumi's ears. The result after that didn't matter.
As long as it reached that point, Huo knew that his head would be served on a spike at Omashu's gates the next day.
The Grand Advisor wasn't a man of mercy. His wife and children would most likely suffer the same fate.
Luckily, this brat could firebend. Framing him as a fire Nation spy attacking the city would negate all consequences.
In his head, his plan was well-thought-out. In reality, it was a different case.
"So that's how it is". Luca said, his voice cutting through the chaos.
Lieutenant Huo's previous shout had let Luca know everything he needed to.
He was a man of two worlds. A writer and novelist in his last life and a spy in this one.
Deducing scenarios had never been easier.
Someone was clearly behind the scenes, and that someone wanted them silenced as quietly as possible.
'… This was supposed to hidden execution. And they don't want Bumi to know about this no matter what ….'.
Luca raised an eyebrow. "In that case, since you don't want King Bumi to know….". He raised his hands, flames igniting once more.
"... Then I'll make sure he does".
He raised his hands, pulled back, inhaled and pushed forward.
Lieutenant Huo slammed his legs on the floor, an Earth wall emerging to serve as a shield as he braced himself.
To his horror, however, the blast didn't go forward, but instead went upward.
Startled, Huo raised his head and followed the trajectory of the Fire blast.
Immediately, his face darkened and his heart sank.
"No! You bastard!"
"Sasuke! What are you doing?"
Mingxia yelled frantically.
Luca hurled a fireball upward. It soared through the skies, across Omashu's skyline. Startling all citizens who raised their heads upward.
Then, it crashed into the outer wall of King Bumi's palace with an Earth shaking explosion, sending debris flying.
Seconds elapsed.
Time seemed to freeze as both sides stiffened at what Luca had done.
"It's .. it's over ..". Huo felt despair.
"... What are you doing?" Meilin screamed, scrambling to her feet. "Are you trying to get us all killed?"
"That was the palace of Omashu's ruler. You just attacked King Bumi's palace".
"You've doomed us. You've doomed us all". Peng uttered, his face pale with fear.
Fenfang on the side huddled close to her mother, her body trembling all over like a fig leaf.
"I knew nothing good could come from you". Meilin roared angrily.
"... Sasuke ... What have you ...". Mingxia opened her mouth to speak.
…. But ….
"WHO DARES TO ATTACK MY CITY?"
It happened then.
A loud, old voice reverberated throughout the city. Simmering with rage.
.....
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