ATLA, In A Darker World

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Mountain ...

The Cave

The heavy rain showered on the mountain range adding a touch of gloom to the darkness within. 

An ominous aura seeped from the entrance, like a cold mist spreading through the night air.

And so, under the heavy rain and solace of night ….

Bang! Several claws emerged from the darkness, slamming into the cave walls.

Crack!

Cracks emerged upon impact.

The claws contracted together, leaving deep marks on the walls and causing the rocks in that area to fall apart.

Shriek!

As the sound echoed through the mountain, a dark spirit emerged from the cave entrance.

Unlike the last one, this one moved on all fours like an animal. Two pairs of glowing yellow eyes burned with hunger, casting an eerie light on the wet rocks.

A dark spirit, larger than the last one Luca faced.

And unfortunately, it wasn't the only one.

Its massive form slowly took shape, like a living shadow detaching from the cave's depths

The first creature had barely stepped out when another emerged. Smaller, possessing no arms or legs and floated on air.

Jaws stretching across its face like a ghastly grin.

The night air grew thick with their ominous presence.

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Meanwhile, down below.

The eighteen-year-old Luca could be seen, resting on one knee.

Blood flowed from the side of his chest, mixing up with the rainwater that fell from the heavens.

The sound of heavy pants escaping from his lips was covered up under the rain. Luca looked at the scene before him heavily.

His gaze focused on the giant crater that had been formed from his last strike.

There, the remnants of a shadowy substance could be seen dissipating into nothingness.

Until, nothing was left.

The dark spirit was gone.

As for whether it was dead or if it had fled, Luca didn't know.

Spirits in the world of Avatar were special creatures with unique physiology.

Their amorphous bodies made it hard for them to sustain actual damage unless under particularly forceful forms of bending.

As for it, they would actually die, he had no answer to this question.

'According to the Wiki, spirits can't die and are immortal. Unless, of course, they decide to give up their immortality for a place in the mortal realm'.

This was what he remembered. But he also remembered a mentioned part where one of the past Avatar's, being Avatar Kuruk hunted Dark spirits and apparently killed them.

This seemingly contrasted with the former statement, leaving Luca unsure of the answer.

But currently, Luca didn't care to find out.

What he did want however was to get out of here as fast as possible.

Despite defeating the dark spirit, the strong sense of uneasiness that enveloped him had never disappeared.

Starting from the moment he fought the dark spirit to this very moment when all seemed to be in his favor.

His unresponsive Spirit Chi had never ceased its restlessness.

Constantly stirring in his lower abdomen as if warning him that he was in terrible danger, making his heart sink.

Honestly, It felt like an alarm.

'The Kolau Mountain range encompasses both the cave of two lovers and Omashu.  In the series and the comics, there was never any mention of dark spirits plaguing this area'.

Come to think of it, there were never any mentions of a Dark spirit in the entire Last Airbender Franchise.

Now was the time period of the Hundred-Year War.

Luca knew that he wasn't the only one in these mountains.

There would definitely be refugees also fleeing to Omashu. He just hadn't seen any of them yet.

Technically speaking, it was improbable for Dark Spirits to appear despite being no mentions at all.

Or else, the refugees would be attacked and news would, sooner or later, reach the ears of the Avatar.

So what the hell was happening right now?

Was it one of those unspoken things that usually happens, but the viewers don't know about, or is he creating a butterfly effect only three weeks into his new reality?

'Alright, I can't stay here anymore'.

Luca made a decision immediately, completely ignoring the heavy rain still falling. After what he just experienced, there was no way he was going back into that cave to camp.

The longer he stayed here, the worse his spirit chi became.

He had just been attacked by a dark spirit. Did he kill it? Would it return? Or was it the only one?

Also, what was wrong with his spirit chi?

Luca didn't even bother going back to get his bag.

The map was on him, so was his sword, and he had almost run out of rations. As for the herbs, uniforms and other things. ….  They were disposable.

At least they were when compared to his life.

Shiing!

The harsh sound of metal scraping against metal fell into his ears once again.

Tonight's battle circumstances were swayed into his favor, with many factors playing as an advantage for his victory.

One being the fact that it took place in a small cave.

In such a small area, the Dark Spirit couldn't give full play to its speed advantage. Due to the cave being small and narrow, all his attacks had hit the dark spirit accurately while none of its own could hit him.

Luca remembered how fast these things were in the legend of Korra episodes.

If they were in a more open space ..... Honestly, he didn't even want to think further.

Taking a step forward …. "Argh!". He felt a piercing pain in his chest.

The wound was still there.

He couldn't help but frown.

'This …  isn't good. I'm bleeding out, no self-healing and no way to patch myself up'.

He remembered seeing a settlement a distance away when he was on the mountain side. He originally planned to head in that direction after the storm washed over, but fate seemingly had other plans.

Without regeneration, he would bleed to death soon.

Earlier, he had no luxury to divide his attention. Now he had to get to the bottom of this unless he wanted to die in this mountain range. His spirit Chi was still far from being depleted, so what was happening to him?

'Stats Panel'.

He called out.

- Chi 2045/2995 -

Looking at the nearly half depleted reserve, Luca's face was solemn.

This time, he could be said to be lucky.

Name: Luca

Affiliation: Fire Nation ....

Attributes: Strength 10, Dexterity 9 Constitution 11, Chi 2045/2995, Perception 14, Spirit Chi: 912

Fatigue: 2/100

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Personal Perks: Density Shifting, Permanent Chi Absorption, Chi Manipulation: 186,

Mastered skills: Regeneration 10

Assignable Achievement Points (AP): .....

Status: Otherworlder/ Rebel (spy)(Fugitive on the run)

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'Hold on …. Am I seeing things?' Looking at the stat panel, Luca seriously doubted whether the rain was interfering with his vision.

There could be no other reason. Else, his stat panel shouldn't be so short.

This had to be a joke.

Yes, that's right. It just had to be.

A part of his mind replayed the above words, while the other parts were just an inch short of descending into utter panic.

'My skills ..... Where the hell are my mastered skills?'

This wasn't a mistake. Looking at his stat panel, Luca was horrified to find the numerous words under his mastered skill list gone.

The skill section was empty. No, almost empty.

- Regeneration 10 -

The regeneration stat was still there. But in his current situation, it was practically the same as being non-existent.

'Refreshing Stat Panel'. He thought, hoping this was just a glitch. The panel refreshed, but nothing changed.

At that moment, Luca's sense of unease suddenly shot through the roof.

'I ….'. The boy who originally had no thoughts other than to leave here as fast as possible froze.

'What's …. What's happening to me? First, my Spirit Chi stops responding. Now, the stat panel doesn't register my skills .....'.

He turned his gaze away from the virtual screen and frowned deeply.

'Something's terribly wrong … I …'.

"Shriek".

His reverie was cut short by a distant cry, echoing through the night.

'Huh?'

He looked up, his gaze drawn to the mountain above. Under his gaze, dark shapes began descending the slope.

A demonic looking hand with three claws for fingers slammed onto a rocky ledge. The creature's eyes, two pairs, each glowing like embers from the underworld peered into the distance.

Three pairs of eyes locked onto each other, as the eyes of man and spirit collide. One with shock and dread while the other gleaming with a ravenous, bloodthirsty desire to devour.

"Rawr!"

Loud roar echoed through the mountain range that would scare any nearby refugees half to death.

Then, it leaped, rapidly descending downward.

Before Luca could exclaim, two more emerged from the shadows, one running and the other flying down towards him.

'They are …. coming from ….'. The thought had barely crossed his mind when his eyes widened.

It struck him at that moment. How he had accidentally opened up a cave of unknown origins higher up the mountain.

And then ..... This happens.

"You have got to be kidding me".

The three Dark spirits rushed down towards the fleeing prey. Directly bypassing the small cave Luca had blown open on the mountain side.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, a dark mist could be seen gathering itself together.

Seconds elapsed as the shadowy mist converged together, seemingly reshaping something.

Until eventually, it did.

The mist dissipated, and in its place was a human silhouette with two arms and two legs.

The figure was dressed completely in black, two gleaming daggers with runic inscriptions carved on the sides with a tattered hood covering its head.

As for the facial features, it was concealed behind a black and white ghost mask.

The figure stood frozen for a few seconds, before raising its hand to eye length. What could be seen beyond the eye sockets of that ghost mask was nothing but darkness.

It stretched its arms towards its face.

Boom!

Its movements paused at the sound coming from below.

Then, it turned around and walked towards the cave entrance.

Crack-Boom!

Thunder crackled as rainwater it was quickly enveloped in rain water.

The masked silhouette stood still, unmoved by the watery weather.

Instead, its attention was fixed on the fight scene taking place down below.

The scene of a human fighting three Dark Spirits alone ..... and unsurprisingly, he was losing.

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