I stared at Aang blankly as I thought of something.
'Could it be...'
"How long have you been watching, Aang?"
"Just right after you had a standoff with the serious guys from the Fire Nation. I wanted to help, but it looked like it wasn't needed."
Aang scratched the back of his head, looking at the ground awkwardly.
He must feel awkward coming here after what happened earlier.
"Did you hear why he was here?"
"Hehe..."
Aang laughed weirdly, trying to act like he didn't know.
"Could it be... Are you the Avatar?"
At my question, he sighed and gave in.
"Would you want to be something that you never wanted to be? I never wanted to be the Avatar... I'm just a kid, a normal kid. I don't think I could handle so much responsibility on me..."
I approached and held his shoulder.
"But it's your destiny, why don't you fulfill it? The whole world is expecting the Avatar's return—your return—for hundreds of years now, with hope of ending this long war. No one could do it, Aang, except you, the Avatar."
Aang looked me in the eyes, his hopeless eyes from earlier were nowhere to be found, replaced by a new determination that could possibly change the whole world.
But Aang can't do it alone, he needs someone to support him in this journey.
"I will join you on your journey if you allow me to."
He looked up, surprised.
"Really?"
At that moment, Katara stepped in, pulling me back.
"Hey... I was the first one to ask him! I should be the one going with him. We still have to go to the North to train Waterbending!"
"Oh, Sokka, Katara, don't fight. Why don't you two join together?"
I quickly looked back to see Gran-Gran smiling at us with her hands behind her back.
"Really, Gran-Gran?"
Gran-Gran nodded, making Katara run toward her and softly hug her with happiness.
"I will prepare your luggage. You three should rest for now and leave tomorrow so we can properly send you off."
"Thank you, Gran-Gran!"
While Katara and Gran-Gran were leaving, I walked toward Aang.
"You have to be careful from now on, Aang. Now that you've reappeared, the Fire Nation will not stop hunting you because you are the hope to stop them."
Aang scratched the neck of the newly arrived Appa as he spoke to me.
"I will, and thank you for the words earlier, they really opened my eyes."
I nodded.
"Hm, just ask me if you need help. After all, I will be one of your companions until the end of our journey. Also, sorry about what I said about you before, I just had a hard time trusting people outside our camp because of what the Fire Nation did to us."
"Don't worry, I understand, and it was my fault, haha."
"By the way, can Appa really fly? And why are you not an old man?"
"Of course! I will show you tomorrow! As for the last question... Haha, I don't know myself..."
Slam!
Zuko angrily slammed his fist into the metal walls of his ship.
'I can't believe myself! I lost! I lost to a non-bender!'
Zuko's pride couldn't take it.
He was a prince and the son of the strongest Firebender, yet he lost easily to a non-bender who made him look like a toddler throughout their whole fight.
If he had lost alone, he could have just shrugged it off, but he lost in front of everyone, especially his Uncle.
Iroh looked at Zuko from behind with pity.
"Zuko, don't take a loss too hard. We should relax by drinking a cup of tea together and talk about your training tomorrow."
"You don't understand, Uncle! I lost to someone, and to a non-bender!"
Iroh caressed his beard.
"I understand why you lost. The Water Tribe boy might look weak, but he was skilled and someone who trained day and night nonstop. I can see that he was still inexperienced in real combat, but it was enough to defeat you. But what I can't understand is how he can be so skilled despite his body."
Iroh shook his head and sighed. He still vividly remembered the fight between Zuko and Sokka. It might go unnoticed by normal people, but not to someone like him. He saw how Sokka's eyes followed Zuko's attacks like they were slow.
How Sokka was so agile—that should not be normal with his body. It was just too surprising, even for him.
"This world has so many geniuses, but that boy must be a genius among the geniuses. A pity he is unable to bend."
The next day.
Numnumnum.
I was standing in front of Appa, feeding him food so he wouldn't be hungry on our long journey.
It will be hard to find people to buy food here on our land due to the harsh cold, so we either have to find villages or cities in other nations or hunt the food ourselves when we find a forest after leaving the South.
I'm more in favor of the latter since I want to hunt the food myself, and we don't really have any money right now, so we can only do what we can.
As Appa was eating, I walked to his side and leaned on his furry side.
'Too soft.'
I might have fallen asleep if I hadn't had enough sleep.
"Let's see, what skill should I create today..."
Name: Sokka
Skills: [1]
Points: 5
The skill I need right now is for defense since Weapon Mastery already fulfills my offense.
But first...
Skill could not be created.
I raised a brow, seeing the words on the screen.
I had tried creating a skill to be able to Waterbend, but it was unexpectedly denied.
Am I really destined to be normal?
I sighed.
'I was lucky enough to have this system, so I shouldn't ask too much.'
The skill I wanted to create, if created, could possibly make me stronger than the Avatar himself in terms of Waterbending.
'If I can't have a Waterbending skill, then what skill should I create?'
Defense. What I need right now is defense that could give me an advantage against benders.
'Ah! That should be good.'
Skill: Elemental Shielding Lv. 1
Description: This skill allows you to defend against bending attacks through precise techniques and natural instincts honed to anticipate elemental attacks. You are able to read a bender's movements and react quickly, using specialized martial stances and agile movements to deflect or evade incoming fire, water, earth, and air attacks. With Elemental Shielding, you can use tools such as weapons or small shields to deflect projectiles and even redirect smaller attacks. At higher levels, you can use materials in the environment—like cloth, metal, or sand—to create momentary barriers.
My brain was immediately flooded with information about my new skill as well as how to use it. I could feel a weird sensation in my body, but I didn't mind, that means that my body was adapting to the new information by itself.
Just right now, I feel like my body is already able to use the techniques from Elemental Shielding with precise movements and without any mistakes.
I immediately spent my points on my new skill.
Elemental Shielding Lv. 6
"Haha, this is just perfect! Now I can contend with experienced benders and have a chance of defeating them!"
I know that my journey with the Avatar won't be easy, but with these skills and the skills I will gain in the future, I won't have any problem keeping up with them even without bending.