Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

I stood in the center of the training ground. In the end, Pakku and I had agreed to have this battle between us.

More people started gathering to witness a waterbending battle between the renowned grandmaster and the rising force—me.

I couldn't believe that I had used the title I wanted to get rid of. By that, I mean the Nutcracker title, not one of my system's titles.

And Pakku had earned himself a good beating.

So, I would have to fight the only grandmaster in this world.

On the other hand, I had long surpassed the Grandmaster level. I had reached Great Grandmaster and even Great-Great Grandmaster.

I had been anticipating the ancestor grandmaster level from the system, but instead, I had reached the level of a king. And I was halfway to the next level.

I wondered what the title would be. Could it be Emperor Grandmaster?

"Hey, are you ready, or are you just going to keep staring at the sky?" Pakku asked in an annoyed tone.

I was looking at the sky, lost in thought. His voice snapped me back to reality.

I guess getting distracted against weaker opponents was one of my bad habits.

But in my defense, I had an extra sense and could see without using my eyes.

"I'm ready. Just attack me," I waved my hand.

"Quite arrogant. But since you're strong and young, it's understandable. There was no one around to teach you a lesson," Pakku said.

To be honest, I was quite humble.

I wasn't arrogant.

I didn't think I was too strong for him.

But it was simply a fact I couldn't deny.

"Please, I'd appreciate your care," I cupped my hands and bowed.

And you may wonder, why am I acting like this? I thought it would be amusing to act as if I'm the weaker one before smashing him up.

Pakku gave a satisfied smile and said, "But you gotta pay the part of your bet."

"You have my word, as long as I have yours," I replied, suppressing a laugh.

"Don't worry. As long as you don't use vicious bending techniques, I'll pay you even 60 gold," Pakku said, stretching his hands forward and waving them, creating a tornado of water that enveloped us.

'Not a bad trick. He's using minimal movement to control most of the water. Impressive, old man, very impressive indeed,' I thought, praising my foe.

Some might think it's logical for me to hate him after his words about Katara being weak and the time he tried to back out of the bet. But he was a good person willing to give me sixty gold for free.

I took a step forward, and the water tornado split in half, dispersing into droplets.

"Not bad skill," Pakku said, waving his hand forward, sending blades of ice from the ground.

I moved my hand lazily, shifting the trajectory of the blades.

At the same time, I noticed the ice forming around my feet.

He was trying to trap me.

I looked at him, and he smirked, as if saying 'Gotcha!'

"Oh, no, you got me," I deadpanned dramatically.

I had a hidden ability—bending with thoughts. No, at my current level, it was more like bending with my mind. I could do waterbending as easily as I could move my limbs when walking, without ever consciously thinking about it, just focusing on the outcome and letting my brain do the rest.

I waved my hand at the ice around my feet, which felt surprisingly warm, then started running, heading straight for Pakku.

The old man tried to move his foot.

But then, he couldn't.

And since he was a bender who relied on dancing to bend, shackling his foot or limb would disrupt his technique.

"Son of..." he muttered.

"60 gold," I interjected, standing in front of him.

He tried to move his hand and send a wave of water at me.

But, unfortunately for him, more water surrounded him and froze around him.

I controlled my freezing skill up to the first few levels. If I pushed it to the max, Pakku wouldn't just get frostbite—he'd turn into a statue that would shatter easily.

Gritting his teeth, Pakku melted the ice prison around him. His expression was serious as he jumped at me, launching all his bending techniques, controlling the icy ground and water in the air to attack me from every direction.

I put my hands in my pockets and controlled the water around me as well.

And I could proudly say I had three to four times the amount of water under my control compared to him.

The water clashed against his, and I won the confrontation, sending Pakku flying away.

Pakku landed on the ground, coughing violently.

He stared at me, his eyes wide open.

I wasn't making a move, yet the water still circled around me.

"Impossible. You're not moving at all, yet you can perform this advanced form of bending?" he said in utter shock.

"Yeah, one of my special talents," I said, rubbing my ear, still controlling the water.

I expected the old man to be in denial.

Everyone watching was, even Katara.

I could hear mutters about how this level of waterbending had never been seen before.

Some even started saying that I was the Avatar.

But that wasn't it.

Pakku, contrary to my expectations, stood up and bowed deeply.

"Please, take me as your student," he said. "I was always praised as a Master and Grandmaster, but compared to you, I'm still a novice. Please, train me in your ways of waterbending."

His voice was full of humility.

"Ah…" I didn't know what to say, staring at him, feeling bad for making an old man bow to me.

'If you think this old bastard is going to make me forget about the payment by asking to be my student, then I'll have you know—no. 60 gold is too much money even for me.'

"First of all, you said you'd give me 60 gold," I demanded, extending my hand toward him. The water around me calmed down and joined the ice on the ground, but my glare was furious.

"Sure," Pakku said, closing his eyes tightly, as if he had just eaten a lemon. "But what about becoming your student first?"

"Can't train more people right now," I replied dismissively.

The only people I train are the ones I sleep with.

Somehow, that sounded wrong.

But it's my life, and I'll do whatever I want.

I'd put my needs and desires above what others think. After all, no one dies thinking about how others view them.

Okay, I think that power's going to my head.

I need to calm down before I become arrogant.

-x-X-x-

Captain Zhao stood on his deck, wearing a simple suit.

His wife had gone back to her house in the Fire Nation.

As for him, after being humiliated, the Fire Lord had demoted him from Commander (soon to be Admiral) to a mere captain with a ship and a crew.

To redeem himself, he decided to end the war in one move and take over the North Pole. To achieve that, he planned to kill the spirits that granted waterbenders their power. At the same time, he had received intel that Ryuk was likely in the North Pole, spreading the teachings of bloodbending.

That would be perfect. When he started burning those pathetic, powerless waterbenders, all they could do was run away.

And then, he would be hailed a hero in the Fire Nation, regaining his title.

He would also take Ryuk back as a slave, to be tortured by him and his wife. Even his son would get a piece of the pie.

After all, Ryuk had crossed the line when he taught his son to call him 'daddy.'

Zhao looked out at the ocean, growing colder. His face twitched.

'That damn bastard. Every time I think about him, my blood pressure rises,' he thought to himself.

-x-X-x-

"Okay, 60 gold in total," I counted easily.

Pakku forced a smile.

I turned to him, now that we were alone and chatting.

"You're not going to complain now, old man?" I asked.

"I was taught a valuable lesson and learned to be more humble. Why would I complain?" he asked.

"Aren't you a grandmaster or something?" I tilted my head. "Shouldn't you have an inflated ego?"

"For me, when I reached the master level, do you know how I surpassed it?" Pakku asked.

"More training?" I replied.

"Must be nice to have monstrous talent," Pakku shook his head. "No. By reflecting every day on my mistakes and the areas I could improve, only then was I able to take my waterbending to the next level. To do that, you have to lower your ego and accept that you make mistakes. Otherwise, you'll never improve or move past that point."

'Feels like I'm in a Kung Fu movie…' I thought to myself.

"But I guess a young man like you is smarter than the rest of us and doesn't need to be taught that," Pakku added.

I pretended to be an old soul and replied, "Yeah. But some people spend their whole lives without learning that. Good for you, Master Pakku."

"Please, call me just Pakku. I don't deserve to be called that by you."

"And now, tell me, what do you think about Katara?" I asked, trying to change the subject. I was in a good mood after getting that 60 gold. Motherfucker, I was going to gamble it away later in the Earth Kingdom. It may sound bad, but I was planning to cheat anyway.

"As much as I hate to admit it, she's more suited for the battlefield now that I've seen her fight. In fact, the only obstacle she might face would be against a bunch of female firebenders, and the Fire Nation has plenty in their army. However, she's very good at waterbending, so you don't have to worry about her," he shared his opinion. "Anyways, do you think our people could learn your bloodbending technique?"

"I'm sorry, but bloodbending has very harsh requirements. You've seen how much more water I can bend than you. It reflects the amount of spiritual energy you have. Without it, you can't even dream of learning bloodbending without the full moon, and you'd have to start with ants."

I said, mixing half-truths with a small lie.

"I see," Pakku nodded and didn't push further.

And to be fair, I didn't want waterbenders to learn bloodbending.

You know what they say: Knowledge is power. And I'd like to remain powerful enough.

Also, if someone mastered bloodbending, they could cause havoc. And the only way to stop them would be with plot armor, like Korra did against Amon.

If there were a hundred bloodbenders scattered across the world, it would be devastating. Anyone of them could flip the world upside down with enough ambition. They could control mercenary or criminal organizations with that kind of power. So no, I won't teach it to anyone else, other than my children, and I'll keep it for myself and Katara because I don't want to worry about her safety.

"Pakku, are you ready?" I asked, turning my head.

"Ready for what?" he tilted his head.

Thanks to my extra sense, I could pick up distant sounds.

I could tell a supply ship was approaching, and it had been discovered by the Fire Nation fleet surrounding the pole.