I greeted Cai with a smile.
But the reason for my smile wasn't happiness.
The mont I saw him, I rembered the stunt I had pulled on him with the "National dical Association."
He had been very wary of them. After I took over that village, he had been demanding that I bring those thieves to justice.
Well, too bad for him.
I'm the head of that association—and its sole mber.
"Oh, it's you, Ryuk," said Cai. "Great timing. Co and help push my cart."
I gave him a blank expression.
Did he seriously expect to help him?
"Sorry. I have so business to attend to with the soldiers," I said.
"Oh, that's too bad," he replied, putting a hand on his back and grumbling. "My back has been hurting so much. But well, what can an old man like do without the help of a brilliant young man like you?"
"I'm really busy," I waved my hand dismissively.
"Ryuk! What kind of man are you to let a helpless old man suffer like that?" Katara interjected. "Can't you see he's in pain?"
'Oh, Katara. How gullible can you be?' I thought as I exhaled a long sigh.
Cai gave a knowing smirk.
"Oh, right," I said. "Your cabbages have healing properties. You should eat so…"
"Don't…" Cai's eyes widened.
I smiled. "Rember Haru's mom? She was so sick. After you sold him the cabbage, she got healed. I should have never doubted you. And you should never doubt your cabbages."
I left Cai staring at with wide eyes.
I believe he was afraid that people might overhear and his cabbages would get stolen again.
I turned to Sokka and grabbed a few silver coins. I tossed them to him.
"Go help the old man, Sokka," I said.
Sokka looked at the money in his palm and clenched his fist.
He then smiled at and said, "Sure thing, boss." He walked over to Cai and grabbed the cart.
It was a refreshing sight to see Sokka next to the cart without destroying it.
"Please, Sokka. Just call 'brother-in-law,'" I teased him.
Katara, who was standing behind , giggled. She liked it whenever I called Sokka that. It was as if I was calling her my wife.
Sokka rolled his eyes and said, "Your na is Cai. Let's move."
Cai grabbed the other side of the cart, and they pushed it together.
"Who is that?" Katara asked. I believe she had never t the cabbage seller in this world yet.
"Nobody important. Just so old man you'd et on the road," I said.
"He seems pretty familiar with you," she comnted.
"h…" I shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"So, am I going to et the king now or what?" I turned to the captain behind .
"Not yet," said the captain of the Earthbenders. "We have strict orders…"
"Strict orders for what?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. Bumi might be an ally to the Avatar, but he was called the Mad King for a reason. And these people weren't to be underestimated.
The captain forced a smile and put his hands on his crotch.
"To show you good hospitality. I believe after days—or weeks—of travel, you must be tired. Why not have so food and a bath, and after you rest, you can et the king?" he said.
"Dude…" I sighed. "The way you started, I thought you were going to throw us in jail or sothing for further investigation."
"Hahaha… Why?" the soldier leader asked with a polite smile.
"The tone. It matters," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
"Well, that's how we deliver good news here," he said.
"Anyway… I might have a favor to ask you," I said to the captain.
"Sure, ask anything. If it's within my power, I'll help you," he replied.
"My brother-in-law… When he cos back, let him get lost around town for a bit," I said, rubbing my chin.
"Why is that?" asked the captain.
"I just like to tease him," I replied, not entirely honestly.
You know, traveling with your woman and her brother can be a real drag.
Now that I had the chance to enjoy a bath and a nice bed after a long journey, I'd appreciate so privacy. You might think, "You're a waterbender; taking a bath isn't a problem." But it's not about the bath—it's about who you take it with.
Just a fantasy from my previous life.
I could see Katara, with my waterbending sense, nodding behind .
Toph was giving a sharp gaze, as if she could see through my sche. But as she realized I was looking back at her, she turned her head away. I couldn't tell if she was blushing or not, as my aqua sense didn't allow to see colors.
"You and the king will get along well," the captain said.
"I hope so," I replied.
To be honest, I wasn't here to make friends with Bumi.
I was here to teach him—and his army.
They would then beco an unstoppable force capable of pushing back the Fire Nation and reclaiming occupied lands.
This way, I could ensure the Fire Nation wouldn't even dare to target the South Pole, as they'd have bigger problems to deal with.
We were then guided to a hotel.
I secured a few rooms for us and went to Katara's room. We talked about the last battle and shared so romantic monts. Since there was a bath pool, I managed to convince her to try it, and we enjoyed our ti together.
Occasionally, I tried to spy on Toph, who was in a nearby room. To see better, I closed my eyes…
I could see her changing her clothes and trying on new ones. She paused for a mont, smirked as if she could see , and said, "Hey, it's not polite to spy on a lady, Ryuk… I know you can hear …"
I opened my eyes wide, cutting off the view. As enticing as the view was, how in the world could she sense watching her?
Anyway, I felt things were taking an awkward turn with Toph.
I rembered earlier that day when she opened up to , and I asked her about her feelings after she teased and suddenly feeling Fire Nation soldiers lurking. It had led to a confession.
I put my hand on my forehead and clenched my teeth.
'I should have used a full sentence. Instead of saying, "Aren't you feeling anything?" in that context, I should have said, "Can't you sense anything?"'
I looked up at the ceiling.
No matter how good I was at waterbending, I was still a novice when it ca to talking to girls. I didn't even know how I managed to win over Katara, other than the fact that I was the only boy around her for over a decade — You're guaranteed to a win a race when you're the only competitor.
Speaking of waterbending… Over the two weeks I had been traveling and practicing bloodbending, I had gained a significant amount of experience. The last battle had also earned a lot of points. While it wasn't enough to level up, it was enough to reduce the amount of accumulated experience points I needed to spend.
I opened the system and checked my accumulated points.
Fair enough, I could level up a few skills.
[Chi Bending leveled up to 14]
[Waterbending leveled up to 15]
[Sub-skills significantly improved]
[Chi usage significantly reduced]
[You have gained the sub-skill: Bending your own blood to fly]
'Nah. Bloodbending hurts… I have a better idea.'
[You can now bend with thought]
[Martial Arts leveled up to 10]
I sat up from the bed, and Katara clung to my arm. I gently pulled away, covered her with the blankets, dressed, and prepared to leave.
I was well-rested—well, not really. I was just in a good mood after leveling up and… other activities. So, I felt it would be a waste to sleep now.
Maybe I should request an audience with the king or sothing.
I didn't plan to stay here long. At best, I'd stay for a week or so to let Toph teach them talbending. After that, I'd take her near the desert to find out when Sozin's Cot would arrive.
If the cot was a year or more away, it might be best to return to the South Pole and search for the Avatar. With my upgraded water sense, I could locate the Avatar easily.
The only problem was that this was quite an alternate universe. You know, when a plane shifts its direction by just 1%, it can land in a completely different country. And the South Pole wasn't just a tribe or an island—it was an entire continent.
It's okay, I thought as I walked down the street. My waterbending sense had improved. Not only had my range increased, but I could now see people's internal systems and how their blood flowed. If I wanted, I could even hear their pulse. And I could control when to activate this sense.
On the other hand, if the cot was due to arrive soon—say, within a few months or less than a year—the Avatar wouldn't be able to do much.
He didn't have the heart to get his hands dirty—AKA, killing.
He had lost all his temple family but hadn't processed the news yet, which would take ti.
And he needed to open his chakras or sothing to enter the Avatar State at will.
With less than a year, he wouldn't master all the elents in ti.
Not to ntion, he believed in so kind of jinx and insisted on learning the elents in order.
I might be able to teach him waterbending, and maybe bring Toph along.
But the problem remained: where could I find firebenders to teach him? Where could I find that crazy monk to teach him the Avatar State? And in the original tiline, it took him a significant amount of ti to master all four elents.
Maybe it's not necessary after all… I looked at my hands. They might appear clean, but they've been soaked in blood.
I tried to think of sothing to do… Hanma Yujiro. In the Baki tiline, whenever the USA gets a new president, he breaks into the White House and threatens them to do them Diddy. Not that I was seriously thinking of doing it. Just threatening the Fire Lord would do.
I put my hand under my chin. 'That might work… With my bloodbending, it's very likely to happen.'
Suddenly, soone was about to bump into from behind.
I tried to avoid them before it happened, but they shifted their fall and continued stumbling toward .
"Ouch… Young man, you should watch where you're standing," said an old voice.
I turned to see an old man.
He appeared short, tanned, and very old.
I narrowed my gaze.
The old man wasn't short—he was squatting under his robes, making him appear shorter.
'This crazy man, delaying a eting with just to pretend to be helpless old man.' I knew exactly who this man was.
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