ATLA, In A Darker World

For those who are wondering why the Chi stat didn't change. There are two Chi reserves. Regular Chi and Spirit Chi.

I will explain why it is different in Chapter thirteen.

....

Yah! The explosions never ceased as the fire benders continued to set the trees ablaze.

'Nothing yet ... Garhg! Where the hell are you …'.

The Sergeant thought inwardly. He had expected the criminal to be flushed out by now.

In the process of destroying vegetation, the distance between each soldier had grown considerably stretched.

This was what Luca had been waiting for.

The sound of trampling hooves resounded as a Spearman holding a blazing torch on his right hand rushed to set ablaze the next target.

Only this time....

Suuuuiii!

There was the sound of an object cutting through the air at rapid speed. The slight whistling sound was all the soldier heard before an arrow was embedded into his face similar to his comrade.

There was no shriek, no scream. His death was silent without alerting anyone nearby as he let go of the reins, dropped the torch onto the green grass and fell from his mount.

The fire spread as the grassland immediately went up in flames.

The Komodo Rhino let out a loud roar in panic due to the spreading fire and ran away to avoid getting burned.

Smoke rose into the air as the evening wind fueled the flame's rising.

Despite green grasslands being less flammable, the entire area would, sooner or later, burn down if this was kept up.

Unfortunately, while the death of the spearman attracted no attention, the running Komodo Rhino without a rider was the exact opposite.

Just as others wanted to investigate, another Rhino ran towards their direction. This one, with a rider on board.

"I found him ..... Back that way ….".

The male was dressed in Fire Nation uniform, with a bow in his grasp and arrows in his quiver.

An archer.

"What happened…". Three riders immediately gathered as the man stopped before them.

"He escaped in that direction. One of us was killed ….". Everyone's faces changed immediately.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get him". This small group had a drill Sergeant who immediately rode towards the other direction. The other two immediately followed.

As for the Archer who warned them ... Anyone looking at him at the moment would see him drawing out three arrows and placing them against his bow.

Then ...

Suuuuiii

Suuuuiii

Suuuuiii ...

One by one in rapid succession, three arrows were fired like spearheads towards the departing backs of the oblivious soldiers.

"Ugh!"

"Argh!"

"...". Two wore helmets, while the drill Sergeant did not. Hence, Luca who was now dressed in the fire Nation Uniform aimed at different places for the three of them.

Disguise: 16 ..... Quite practical.

Both privates were shot straight through the heart, piercing through their uniform, while the Drill Sergeant took a blow to the head as he fell to the floor immediately.

He died immediately. Unfortunately, the other two managed to let out pained groans. They weren't loud, but god knows if it would draw attention.

Not to mention...

Luca turned his gaze to the burning trees. Whatever advantage the stealth skill could bring to him was limited as the cover of darkness was gone.

'It's not safe. Gotta act fast ….'. He rode towards the corpses and dismounted, eating to absorb whatever Chi was left in these soldiers before it dissipated.

The thought of eight to ten more bodies being needed was kinda demoralizing. If not for the urgent need of Chi, he wouldn't risk distracting himself like this while in a precarious situation.

Thankfully, the plains were vast, while the search team soldiers were too few. In order to cover enough ground, they had spread out significantly, apparently underestimating him.

Luca understood why. Throughout his two months on the run, he had never killed a Fire Nation soldier for several reasons.

One, because he was always running, preferring to escape than kill. As for the ones that couldn't be avoided…. He knocked them out.

It was normal really, as with his 'Secret Mission', the predecessor never wanted to taint his chances of returning home in the small chance he actually succeeded. Killing fellow soldiers was also a crime.

At that time, who knew if Ozai or some other random chump like Zhao would use it against him after he returned.

Hence, he intentionally avoided killing. Alongside the nature of his division, skills and the fact that he had been imprisoned for a year, this led to him being taken lightly.

A famous saying, 'Pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger'. How accurately it fit his current situation.

Placing his hand, the absorption process was repeated for the three fallen men. There was no notification displaying how much, and he didn't bother to check.

He could do so after he got out of here.

Hence, Luca who had robbed the uniform of a dead Fire Nation private got back on the Komodo Rhino, searched for spread out soldiers and repeated the same process over and over.

In the fire nation, very few knew of his existence. Even fewer knew of his capabilities.

Luca had surmised the skills in his panel and alongside the physical attributes. With the brief confrontations he had, he could estimate his attributes in general.

His physical stats were mediocre, but when paired with the skills ... It was a typical assassin build.

Silent one hit kills were his specialty.

Non benders had a significantly lower status and were less noticed. Without proper information, these guys were taken unaware.

Time passed.

Suuuuiii!

Another arrow stabbed through the heart of a private. Coincidentally, this guy was the first Firebender he encountered. They were twenty-one soldiers in this scout team, Six had been sent back to guard the rear.

Luca didn't know how many they were, but so far, his kill count numbered nine.

Luca bent down to repeat the process .....

'Shiver…'.

It was that cold feeling again.

Suuuuiii!

He evaded, fast enough to avoid an arrow piercing him through the heart. Unfortunately, he did not escape unscathed.

Squelch!

"Ugh!"

The arrow missed his heart and pierced the top of his left shoulder, right through the uniform.

'Well! Looks like they've noticed.....'.

The destruction of trees was slowing down, and unmounted rhino's now numbered eleven. Even a fool would know something was up.

"Over here". The loud scream resounded as the search party ..... Or what was left of it began to show up.

The sound of breathy snorts, roars, and bellows emerged from the distance, as well as the trampling of grass underfoot.

Komodo Rhino's emerged from different directions with soldiers on their backs. Standing beside a corpse, Luca stood motionless as he was surrounded from all sides.

One …. Two …. Four …. Six…. Six of them. Added with the nine he killed, that made precisely fifteen.

'Just great. I'm surrounded'. Thoughts ran past his mind as he placed his hand on the arrow. Ignoring the pain ... Squelch.

He made a slight hissing sound as the weapon was removed, then dropped to the floor.

"You ...". The bearded Sergeant who had led this expedition roared angrily at the sight of the dead body. Then turned to the half kneeling figure dressed in Fire Nation uniform.

"Ouch ..... Yep…. Me…". The helmet on his head was removed, showing the face of a dark-haired teenager with an unruly grin on his face.

The eyes of the Sergeant narrowed even further. This darned rebel was wearing the fire nation uniform ..... Stolen from one of his men. Certainly, dead men now ..... Even up to the small bag slung from his shoulder to the waist ….

This darn rebel had killed two of their own.....

"We underestimated you ….". He uttered gloomily.

"... Hehe, you sure did". He said as he got up from his half kneeling posture.

"Not just you….". He removed the bag slung across his shoulder .....

Everyone immediately entered combat stances as the Firebenders in the group stretched their arms forward, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

".... But this guy …". The boy remained unfazed and carried out his actions without an ounce of fear. Holding the bag in his hand, he pointed to the corpse on the floor, his smile ever present. "And the other eight I killed….".

"You Damn Bastard!" A loud roar emerged from the Sergeant's mouth. He had thought of taking in this rebel alive perfectly, handing him over to the Captain.

After all, it was much better to bring the target in alive than dead. It would also be better to have him captured cleanly.

This would display his competence. That however was on the premise that everything had gone well.

Those words angered the Sergeant to no end.

Nine soldiers had died .... Just to apprehend one measly seventeen-year-old rebel ..... Not to mention, the guy had received nothing more than an arrow to the chest. He couldn't let this slide. This kid would come in alive, but alive definitely didn't mean in one piece.

The bearded sergeant raised his hands with fury as his chi began to stir. Flames emerged from his palms as he clenched them into fists and struck forward with remarkable power.

A stream of fire shot forward towards Luca with the aim of scorching him. The flames were somewhat restrained, making sure Luca wouldn't die, but his face would undoubtedly be severely burned. Scarred for life like Zuko.

It happened then. The moment he made his move, the bag in Luca's right hand was thrown out, the smile on his face grew brighter in that split second.

Have you ever wondered what happens when someone Firebends at a bag containing a bundle of dynamite at close range?

Well....

Boom! A large explosion emerged, sweeping away everything it came in contact with.

The Sergeant, his soldiers and the Komodo Rhino's were sent flying with the explosion.

Dust and debris flew in all directions.

After the explosion, Silence did not return to the Plains of the Earth kingdom.

The heavy breathing of animals resounded in the atmosphere. The dust cleared, revealing the situation of the attacking troop.

No one was moving. Save for, of course, the Komodo Rhinos who laid on the floor and let out roars of pain.

As cross-breeds between Komodo Dragons and Rhinos, the skin defense of these animals was almost steel like. Hence, even an explosion of that magnitude didn't kill them.

But their situation wasn't promising. Blood, torn off pieces of meat, scorched skin. The ones still alive tried to stand to their feet. Some failed, others succeeded but couldn't move afterward.

The sound of footsteps emerged from the dust and smoke.

It stepped past the injured animals, past the blood and flesh bits scattered across the charred grass ... All the way into the distance …. Where it stopped and stood beside a body. A corpse? Nah, this guy wasn't dead yet. But all the pain he was going through would make him wish otherwise.

Luca stood before the bearded sergeant. Well, that wasn't appropriate anymore because he no longer had a beard ..... Or hair on his head …. Or much of a face for that matter.

Was this even the bearded sergeant? He could only judge from the body frame.

His flesh was charred, his inner teeth were revealed, and he had one arm gone from the shoulder down and the other completely burned. The legs weren't in good condition either.

If not for the rising and falling of his chest, Luca wouldn't even know he was alive.

"I don't know if you can hear me". That was to be decided. After all, he wasn't sure whether his ears would still be working well after that.

"Perhaps you can, perhaps you can't".

"Doesn't matter anyway ….".

".... Just know that … Um …. this isn't personal. I just …. You won't be the only one ….". His voice came to a halt.

"You know what ….". Squelch!

A blade pierced right through his skull.

".... Never mind".

'Note to self, pretending to be badass is a skill I currently don't possess'. Luca thought inwardly.

The sick lines he was expecting to spit out never even came to the tip of his tongue.

All he had done was prolong a man's suffering for a few extra seconds.

It wasn't that easy to look and sound as cool as your favorite characters on TV. Honestly, his earlier display was embarrassing.

'Good thing nobody saw that'. He thought again with narrowed eyes.

'... and no one will ever know'.

Saying this, he placed his hand on the corpse and did what was needed.

The same thing, the same process ... After a while, it stopped. Luca's eyes lit up.

'It's more ….'. Following which, he turned his gaze to search for other corpses.

Great, everything else was blown up. Unless he wanted to extract Chi from an arm …. A torso …. Half a head … You know what. Never mind. He turned his gaze to the animals….

Following which, he ignored them. It was kinda cruel to leave them like this, perhaps he could even extract some Chi from them. But he had no time. He hadn't forgotten that dozens of search parties were on their way.

He just dealt with this.

At the moment, he felt glad that he had gotten density shifting. If not, his life would have probably ended tonight.

Finding a Komodo Rhino, he got on and immediately began riding away. His destiny..... He had no idea.

A reincarnated soul sped off on a mount into the night on the Earth kingdom Grasslands. And flying above in the skies, was an Eagle Hawk following his movements.

.....

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