Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

I felt like Doctor Octopus with all those arms around my back. Anyway, I was using Chi bending to increase my bending response speed and my own speed, while avoiding the large predator. I was dodging and attacking hopelessly.

The freezing didn't work, as it managed to break the ice every time I froze it around it, even though my freezing abilities had improved.

It reminded me of a deep wisdom:

If violence doesn't work, then more violence is the answer.

There was one thing I could do.

After I put some distance between us, I opened my system window, selected the Freeze skill, and allocated my experience points to it. A confirmation message popped up, and in the background, there was an intimidating face I couldn't quite describe. Even though it was night, it looked terrifying as it approached me with incredible speed.

[Freeze up to level 10]

I pushed my hands forward, and the tentacles extended, pressing against its face. I lifted my hands, and the water tentacles pulled my weight, raising me above the predator. I continued running until I was far from its head. The last thing I wanted was to get bitten while trying to freeze it.

'All I need is to make one wound.'

I placed my hand on it, spreading water from two tentacles over its surface and freezing it.

A very cold breeze swept through the air. Even for a waterbender like me, this was too much cold.

"Hshshshs..."

The giant insect lurched, trying to push me away.

'It's in pain.'

'Defrost.' I thought. One water tentacle transformed its end into the shape of a blade and slashed through.

Did you know that freezing things and then defrosting them causes them to break on a molecular level?

I made a wound about the length of my arm. It may not seem like much given the animal's size, but it was enough for me.

There were two things I could do now. One, bend the blood out of its body — it's still technically waterbending. Or I could just freeze it.

'Freeze.' I thought as I placed my hand on the blood. A sharp, sensational feeling of the entire circulatory system of the animal flooded my mind. I was able to interrupt the sensation from my waterbending better this time.

The centipede turned and attacked me with its large head.

I had no choice but to dodge and leap away, clinging to a huge tree.

The centipede's head collided with its tail, breaking it and severing that part of its body.

It looked at me, hissed, and then turned away.

I tried to run after it.

But I thought it might have kids, siblings, or worse, parents.

I stayed still.

I must admit...

Haru is a lucky son of a bitch.

The self-made deal indicated that if I couldn't hurt the centipede, I wouldn't do anything for his execution.

But now, I had to attack the prison.

"The only problem is, I'm jack-shit tired," I sighed heavily, looking down.

An animal the size of a normal tiger appeared.

After living in this forest for a few days, I realized that polar bears and tigers weren't that scary at all. The long-necked wolves were the most dangerous.

'It's very small compared to the others. Seems like I can tame it.' I jumped off the tree. The water I had spilled during the fight with the centipede was pulled from the ground as I clapped my hands together, and it attached to my back.

"Grrr." The tiger growled at me, slowly approaching. It was only two meters in length.

'Big enough to become nice ride.'

I thought as I pulled something from my storage: dried salted fish.

I threw one of them.

The animal lowered its head and sniffed.

Its eyes lit up, and soon, it pounced on the fish.

After it finished, it looked at me expectantly. But since I didn't give it more food, it growled at me.

'It's as if it's saying, I'm the alpha, and if you don't give me food, you'll be my food.'

I thought. In my previous life, I had a feral cat that I fed from the time it was a cub. But it used to threaten to hit me. After I stomped on the ground whenever it showed aggression, it became very tame.

"Very well. I'll name you Lucy," I said, stomping on the ground.

The tiger jumped at me.

The tentacles formed around my shoulder and held the tiger from the limbs. I clenched my fist, Chi boosted, and punched its face. Then I screamed at it. The growling stopped.

"Grrr…"

I grabbed another fish from my head.

The tiger tried to attack me to get it, and I could feel it through the twitches.

"Hush." I slapped it on the face and held it by the back of the neck. "If you want it, you have to behave. Now, would you like to behave?"

The cat didn't show any aggressive response, and I pushed the fish to its head. It slowly ate. I increased the amount of fish and slowly let it down. Its attitude changed immediately, and I petted it on the head. It didn't fight back.

I patted it, and it looked at me. It seemed to understand that I could feed it and that it couldn't defeat me.

"Okay, Lucy. There's a village 4 hours away. Once you get me there in less time, I'll feed you more," I said. A fish appeared in front of me, linked to a tentacle. I then quickly jumped on the little tiger's back and placed it in front of its face. The tiger walked to catch the fish, but as it stepped, the fish got farther away.

Soon, it started running, and I controlled the direction towards the village.

-x-X-x-

One hour later, Lucy was panting, and I was near the village.

I placed all of the fish in front of it and let it eat to its heart's content. It gave me a side-eye, as if it understood I'd played a trick on it, but it didn't do anything other than eat.

[Ding. You have tamed a young tiger.]

[Ding. Would you like to name it?]

'Sure. Lucy.' I thought.

[You have named Lucy.]

[Lucy.

Age: 6 months.

Favoritism: 20 (Fear you, but understand that it depends on you if it wants to live.)]

The system seemed to have established some type of connection. I could literally feel the emotions of the tiger.

Just six months old. This animal had the potential to grow up to be huge.

As for the favoritism, I figured I could do things to increase it.

As long as I had a system, I would easily be able to distinguish what works and what doesn't.

"Lucy." I called.

Lucy's eye twitched, but it didn't acknowledge me.

"Nod if you understand," I said.

It didn't reply.

"If you don't nod, I'll smash my tentacles up to your butt hole," I threatened.

The young tiger paused, slowly nodding.

[Lucy: Favoritism: -1]

'I don't care. As long as it's obedient.'

"Good," I said. "Now, Lucy. Stay here, and don't get into the village or attack any humans. Do you understand?"

The tiger gave me a side-eye without nodding.

"I'll bring you back some food. So wait here." I said.

[Lucy: Favoritism +1]

I smiled.

Frankly, I didn't know if I would bring the food back or become food myself.

Although I'd gotten stronger, I wasn't in the best shape. My eyelids were quite heavy, and if not for the adrenaline, I would have fallen asleep. There were dark bags under my eyes.

But I couldn't.

It was past midnight, and now was the best time to cause havoc for the Fire Nation.

Plus, since I had acquired the Stealth skill and raised it quietly, I was optimistic that I could sneak in.

All that was left now was to find a Firebender and take his armor and mask.

To succeed, I needed three things: Focus, Commitment, and sheer fucking will.

With that in mind, I turned the tentacles into an ice cube and stored them before walking toward the village that held the prison.