Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

[After successfully assassinating 100 men and beasts, you have earned a title]

[Shadow Lurker: You gain an extra 50% experience when performing an assassination]

[Stealth upgraded to level 10]

I looked at the notifications and realized something.

This system, although it doesn't have a way to increase stats directly, still provides significant help through skills and titles.

'But to equip an extra title, I would need to spend 50,000 experience points, which I'd find more useful for upgrading high-level skills,' I thought as I swept my hand through the air.

A man I had been dragging by the collar looked at me strangely and said, "Why the hell are you waving your hand in the air?"

"Because it feels easier that way," I replied, not giving him my full attention as I focused on my skills screen.

---

[*Skill Trees:

Waterbending - 11 

Chi Bending - 10 

Martial Arts - 1 

*Skills: 

Hunting - 9 

Fishing - 4 

Freeze - 10 

Stealth (Passive) - 10 

*Titles: (3/1) 

The Deadly Ice (Equipped) 

Shadow Lurker 

Beast Hunter 

*Accumulated Experience: 230,000]

---

Assassinating that many firebenders and fire soldiers had been very rewarding. I couldn't believe my eyes as I looked at the amount of accumulated experience I had gathered. Not to mention, thanks to using my skills frequently, I had earned a lot of experience without needing to dip too much into my accumulated reserves.

It was a total win in that regard.

Now, there was one problem I had to address.

The fact that the warden and the commander thought I was the Avatar, based on what the fire soldier had reported. This meant others would likely think the same.

Moreover, they didn't know I was no longer in the South Pole, so I needed to force someone to make a report about the rebellion and other events.

My eyes naturally fell on the warden. But I couldn't simply force him to write a report, as that would expose the communication methods with higher-ups and introduce the risk of sending false information.

Anyway, I believed I had achieved my first goal, which was to create enough chaos to attract attention. Now, I needed to find a way to make these achievements known.

I held the warden by the back of his neck as if he were a cat. He was relatively small, and I could easily increase my strength thanks to my Chi bending. Plus, I was built like a tank, with muscles to match.

I made my way to the village. The ships near the bridge had already been dealt with, and the smell of bodies wafted from them. I didn't want to deal with that, so I decided to leave it to the earthbenders.

If you're wondering if killing the soldiers was all I did, you'd be wrong.

After achieving my purpose, I emptied the storage a bit and filled it with money, jewels, and anything else of value that could come in handy.

I reached the village and spotted some elderly people at the entrance.

They had already changed out of their typical prisoner's clothes and into the traditional attire of Earth Kingdom natives.

"Ryuk," one of them called.

"Hi," I nodded, feeling awkward that I didn't know—or couldn't remember—his name.

"We've done as you asked," he said. "We launched a surprise attack, and it went as smoothly as you said it would."

"Where are the others?" I asked as I entered.

There were fewer earthbenders around compared to when I had first arrived at the prison.

"They're reuniting with their families," he said. Then, his eyes darted down to my hand. "The warden?"

"I figured he could be of use," I said, smiling as I threw the warden toward him. "If you could, lock him up."

"Sure thing," he replied, grabbing the warden by the neck.

"Hey! I won't accept such rude treatment!" the warden snapped.

The earthbender swept his hand across the ground and then pressed it against the warden's mouth, creating a solid earth strap to silence him.

The warden's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at me.

I shrugged. It wasn't my problem that he was being mouthy.

Besides, I was utterly exhausted and needed to sleep as soon as possible.

The training week had drained a lot of my energy. Unfortunately, I wasn't like a game character that could recover HP and stamina by drinking water and eating. It seemed I was playing in story mode.

I decided to check on things and then take a break.

"So, Ryuk, when will we start the public execution?" asked the earthbender.

"Announce it for a month from now, but carry it out tomorrow," I said.

"Huh? Why?" he asked.

"Simple. If some of them are planning to escape, they'll make their plans over the course of a month. But if we tell them it's happening tomorrow, they won't have time to prepare."

"That's quite sneaky. It doesn't align with the straightforward style of earthbending."

"Everyone is celebrating with their families, but you and a few others aren't. I can guess why," I said, grabbing the old man by the collar. "Does going to jail, staying there for 17 damn years, missing your kids growing up, and maybe seeing your family caught in the war align with your straightforward earthbending?"

By no means was I a merciful man. From my previous life, I had learned something: if you knock a man down and don't finish him off, he'll get back up and punch you in the back of the head, and you'll be the one leaving on a stretcher. So, no matter what, never play clean. Always play dirty.

He took a moment to think about my words. His fists clenched in anger, and he shook his head.

"No," he said.

I ordered, "Gather everyone and tell them the plan. We're not going to execute everyone—just those who have committed murders and war crimes. It's easy to find witnesses among the villagers. We need the firebenders as hostages in case they try to attack."

"Roger that," he replied, his head down and fists clenched in anger—anger that wasn't directed at me.

I left him and walked through the village to check on things. Many fire soldiers were tied up with ropes and shackles. The villagers were celebrating the return of the earthbenders.

I left the village and went to the edge of the settlement.

There was a beast I couldn't leave waiting, or it might cause havoc and get crushed by an earthbender.

A large tiger cub was lying on its stomach.

I approached it, holding some meat I had taken from one of the ships.

"Lucy," I clapped my hands. "Come here."

Lucy walked reluctantly toward me, giving me a sidelong glare.

I sighed and summoned more food from my storage.

I didn't mind showing the storage to the tiger since, well, it couldn't tell anyone about my system or storage. In fact, we were bound by the system.

Lucy pounced on the food and began eating.

[Lucy: Favoritism +5]

I rubbed my chin, impressed that I had gained an extra five points in one go.

I patted the tiger's head, and it didn't attack me, too focused on the food.

It was a good thing it didn't try to attack me. I had summoned a water barrel just in case.

"Stay here, and I'll come back with more food tonight. For now, I'm going to take a nap," I said.

I wasn't actually going to nap, but I had one more trick to pull, and then I'd consider my job done.

You see, I needed to make my achievements known to the Fire Nation, and the best way to do that wasn't through rumors but through a trusted source.

'Now, how do I trick the warden…' I thought to myself. I placed my palm on my fist and opened my eyes wide. 'That's it!'