After hearing the notification of my waterbending going up, it took me a while to process it.
I had been working so hard this month, grinding and using my accumulated experience points.
But apparently, there was something I hadn't considered.
Healing 50 earthbenders multiple times a day for days had the largest impact.
I mean, when you think about it, even if I got about 100-150 experience points per person, by the end of the session, I would earn around 5,000-7,500 experience points. Do that a couple of times a day, and you wouldn't even notice when you skip a level. Of course, a big part of this achievement is thanks to the firebenders and the operation of breaking the prisoners out.
'Man, it would be a good time to test the new skills,' I thought. 'But I can't do it in front of all these villagers.'
'On the other hand, I can work on my other skills.'
'But it's been five days, so I should scout for the Fire Nation soldiers. Maybe I'll go to the deadly forest and hunt some beasts while I'm at it,' I thought.
I walked over to Haru, who had been overseeing the others, and asked, "Haru, let's have a word."
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I want to know about the approaching Fire Nation soldiers," I said.
Over the last few days, the earthbenders and some young men had been scouting outside to watch for the approaching army.
I doubted we had less than a week before the battle.
But one can never be too careful.
"They haven't seen any army," he said. "And there's no black cloud appearing in the atmosphere."
Since the Fire Nation used coal and metal machines, there was a unique sign whenever they approached: black clouds would follow them.
"That's good," I said. "Since that's the case, I'll be heading out." I then put my fingers in my mouth and whistled.
A large tiger, around 2.5 meters tall, came running toward me.
This was Lucy, the pet I had tamed.
Over the last two weeks, I had been taking care of her, feeding her and playing with her occasionally.
Her favoritism points were now at 50. According to the system, she no longer feared me but still respected me and knew I was stronger. She was also dependent on me.
I petted Lucy on the head.
"Where are you going?" Haru asked.
"I'm going to train my waterbending," I replied. "I've learned a few interesting tricks."
"Why? Can't you test them here?" he asked.
"I can show you, but I want to know how to apply them in a real battle," I explained. That was only half the truth, though. The other half was that I could use them to gain more experience points.
And there was a boss-level character in that deadly forest—the giant black centipede.
Last time, I barely managed to damage its tail.
This time, I would return stronger than ever.
"I understand. But show me, please," he asked politely.
"Why? After all that explanation?" I sighed.
"Wanna know a secret?" he asked.
"Sure," I replied curiously.
"I won't tell you," he said, crossing his arms.
"That's quite lame, you know?"
"That's how I felt when you said you have new tricks. I might not sleep tonight," he said, exaggerating.
I sighed, realizing his point was valid. That feeling was quite annoying. Besides, he had been showing me every trick he had learned.
"Okay," I said, looking around.
There was a skill I wanted to test.
First, freezing palm.
Usually, it would take time to activate. The longer the distance, the more time it took. Now that I had leveled up with lots of experience points, it should have improved.
'It should take one second at this level with direct contact,' I thought. I pointed my hand at some nearby grass. The water inside it started freezing.
In a couple of seconds, the grass was completely frozen.
"Does this work on humans?" he asked. "As long as they aren't moving."
"I've used it on humans before," I replied. But now I was different. With the level-up, my previous sub-skills had gotten stronger.
"Here I thought dustbending was dangerous," he said.
I waved my hand, melting the ice from the grass. I then touched it, using the dehydration palm skill.
The grass withered, turning yellow. A small steam rose from it. I ground the grass between my fingers, turning it into powder.
"You can take water out of people?" he asked.
"I don't know if I can," I said. "But if it's like freezing, I'd need more time to train it."
At any rate, if it worked on people—even if it took time to dehydrate them completely—doing it partially could flip the situation in my favor.
After talking with Haru a bit more and instructing him to help the earthbenders—now metalbenders—master what they had learned, I took Lucy and headed to the forest, where a 20-meter-long centipede awaited.
Now, I wished it had kids. And preferably, parents.
You know, kids would mean smaller giant centipedes, which could amount to a decent amount of experience.
Parents would mean larger ones, which would definitely give me a lot of experience points.
It took me less than an hour to travel on Lucy's back. Despite her lower endurance, that would only be an issue if she went at max speed, which wasn't necessary.
While on the way, I thought about bloodbending.
I had begun to reach grandmaster status in waterbending, to the point where I could now bend with my mind.
But there was still no mention of bloodbending.
It was the skill that would put me in a league of my own.
'Now that I think about it, even a genius like Katara or that old woman could only do it during a full moon. Amon and his family are a rare case… Funny. Amon could bend a bunch of animals with his mind alone. Maybe it's about Chi strength and waterbending mastery at the same time.'
'Or it could be that my path is different, and I'm meant for a unique style. After all, my freezing is so cold that it could kill people instantly.'
As I dismounted, Lucy extended her tongue and panted. She was tired. I patted her on the back and said, "This is your home, isn't it?"
She looked at me as if she wanted to deny it.
"Would you like to hunt?" I asked.
She shook her head.
She was still a young cub and hadn't fully grown yet.
I smiled, slapping her back. "Let's take down a giraffe. You can eat it."
Lucy turned her head. A 7-meter-tall giraffe was eating grass nearby. She seemed afraid of it, given its size.
I summoned a water barrel. I drew some water from it and made it move. Bending it with my mind alone put a bit of a mental burden on me, but I was just a beginner grandmaster, so there was room for improvement.
The water moved next to the giraffe's head, shifted its shape, and turned into an ice blade, slicing across the animal's neck. I pointed my hand at the blood that started dripping.
The area around the giraffe's neck froze instantly. Its huge body collapsed to the ground.
[Taking Down a Large Giraffe]
[+700 EXP]
It seemed that the ability to bend steam helped. Steam was in the air, and it created a connection with the water I bent, making it easier and faster to control things from a distance.
The remaining giraffes nearby ran away.
Lucy's eyes widened. She jumped on the fresh meat and sank her fangs deep into it.
'If I gain enough experience, I'll upgrade the storage. It might be a good way to stockpile food,' I thought. 'If the Fire Nation realizes our trap and decides to lock us in the village, having extra food could help. But on the other hand, there's the sea. I can use my bending to get food from there.'
I smiled a bit, watching Lucy happily eating.
I didn't freeze the body, letting the scent of blood and meat spread—a scent loved by insects.
Lucy stopped eating and looked to the side with horror on her face.
I turned my head. Between the large trees, I could hear a loud, unmistakable sound.
A 20-meter-long centipede was making its way toward me.
"Here we meet again," I said, waving my hand.