ATLA, In A Darker World

Southwestern Earth Kingdom

Several hours later the same day.

"...". Within the forests of the earth kingdom .....

Snap!

The distinct snap, crack and popping sounds linked to the burning of wood could be heard resounding within a small cave.

The flames lit up the dark environment and provided warmth to those who may need it on this cold evening.

Whoosh! Feeling the night wind blowing into the cave, the elongated shadow of a human silhouette could be seen turning his head in its direction. Luca took a look towards the entrance of the cave.

It was almost twenty-four hours since his last encounter with the Fire Nation. Unlike the previous night, the moon hid her face from this part of the world making the surrounding areas for miles fall into the cover of darkness.

The area where he resided now was a cave on a large cliff wall with lush, tall green trees from all sides.

Outside the cave laid the Komodo Rhino that usually stood more than half the height of an adult male. It's occasional bellows from time to time showed that, just like him, it wasn't asleep.

Beyond that was the sound of chirping crickets and woodland animals scurrying around their natural habitat.

The sound of nature … Peaceful and serene. Sitting in his position, Luca sat crossed legged with his eyes closed as complex emotions ran through his heart and mind.

The sitting posture wasn't intentional. More like an instinctive action done on reflex. The predecessor could be blamed for this.

But that didn't matter.

The scenes of what he had done, the murder, the killing ..... All of it had replayed in his mind earlier on when he had taken the time to rest.

Just like before, he felt nothing. Even after the fight was over, and he had calmed down from running, all the regret, negative emotion or nausea that was usually described in movies and novels after the first kill remained at bay.

It was a bit unsettling, really. Of course, it might still be on its way, just hadn't hit yet. Don't ask why he came to such a conclusion, after all, the life memories that were supposed to come instantly delayed inexplicably for several hours.

Who knew if this would be similar.

After escaping from the scorched forest, Luca rode east on the Komodo Rhino through the vast plains without stopping. With the moonlight as a guide, he worried not about the darkness and travelled hundreds of miles throughout the night, all the way to the next morning.

He had no idea where he was going, but after merging with memories, he knew which direction not to go to.

The way back West would be towards the western Mo Ce Sea. Crossing that sea would lead to the Fire Nation. North wasn't an option either. He would have to go through a large area of colonial territory before he managed to escape the land controlled by the Fire Nation. There would be scouts everywhere looking for him, and randomly bumping into enemy troops wasn't out of the question.

South would require crossing the Mo Ce Sea and transversing hundreds of miles of water. From his memories, the closest thing he could get to solid ground after that was Whale tail island. Assuming, of course, he could get there without alarming patrolling Fire Nation ships.

After that would be the southern air temple, adjusting his direction going southeast would lead to the Southern Water tribe. The home of Sokka and Katara.

What was he going in that direction to do? That left the only possible direction. East.

Although still in Fire Nation colonial territory, it was easier to transverse through to Omashu. Only after he got that far could he have a preliminary sense of freedom.

So, with only this idea, Luca rode Eastward from night till the afternoon of the following day. After making camp and resting for some time, he destroyed all traces of his presence and continued to ride.

Another day passed.

In the afternoon of the second day, Luca found this cave and decided to make camp here till tomorrow. This was due to a combination of several factors.

One, he was physically and mentally tired from the long escape. Two, the Komodo Rhino was already displaying similar fatigue after such an intensive journey. Three ..... Well this couldn't be considered much of a reason. More of a slight coincidence that brought the above reasons together.

While riding through the dense forests .....

The sound of a bellow fell into his ears. It was faint, very faint. If not for the rather quiet area, perhaps he wouldn't have heard it at all. It sounded like the mooing of a cow, or a bull, buffalo, yak or … …. A Bison.

Perhaps for natives, the sight of something white in the shape of an animal flying in the sky and disappearing into the clouds could be misjudged as a hallucination or perhaps mistaking a cloud for something else.

Unless, of course, you knew that the Avatar had returned and was riding a flying bison.

Yep. Seeing the very small figure of Appa disappearing into the clouds, Luca was awakened from his state of mind, realizing that he had been traveling nonstop for almost two days.

For a moment, he wondered if he should try screaming to them. Perhaps they would hear him and come down to investigate what was calling. As for what would happen after …. Well, he didn't know. Even if they heard him, came down, and he met them, he didn't know what exactly he wanted to say to them.

Accompany them on their journey?

In the end, they never reappeared from the vast sea of clouds. Even if he had a chance, he couldn't grasp it.

According to what he remembered from the Avatar timeline, they should be coming from Haru's Mining village after Katara helped liberate the earthbenders from the prison rig.

Then they should be on their way to Senlin Village for the Winter Solstice episode. Luca didn't know if his arrival and would change anything. If there was going to be any butterfly effect due to his actions.

'..... Everything should probably stay the same ….'. He thought to himself, a little unsure.

If the Fire Nation followed him, then everything should be fine. But if they stayed in the forest around Senlin Village, then Aang and the gang would be discovered the moment they tried to land to investigate the scorched territory.

If that were the case, they would probably skip the village itself and continue on their journey if fire nation was still in the area.

But ..... That action alone could lead to all sorts of problems.

At that point in time, deciding he had run far enough, he chose to spend the night here to address certain key issues.

One, where exactly was he going.

Two, what exactly was he going there to do.

Three, what was his ultimate goal here and four…. The steps to achieve it.

Five…. Any other details he forgot, didn't take into account for, or needed to ponder over to achieve the above four.

Six..... Before, long-term goals were short-term goals….

And seven..... "Grrrrrrr!" That was the sound of his belly protesting greatly. Luca opened his eyes at the discomfort of his stomach.

That's right, he hadn't eaten anything solid for the past two days. The meal elder Wu brought to him back in the village couldn't be eaten before Hei Bai appeared.

All that had gone into his stomach was some fruits in the wild he had taken to maintain bare sustenance. As for how he knew they weren't poisonous?

Of course, it was due to his trusty taste tester, the Komodo Rhino he rode on.

'So this is what life on the run is like'. His mind drifted to the criminals back on earth.

'…. regardless, I need to get to a city or village soon. Only way to get real food…'. He thought inwardly while appeasing his protesting belly.

The number three question was simple. His ultimate goal had never changed and probably will never change until Ozai is six feet under the grave, Azula is chained in a mental hospital and the Fire Nation is no longer breathing down his neck.

Survive.

As for how he was going to do that .....

'Open stat panel'.

Series of letters and numbers appeared on his retina.

Name: Luca

Affiliation: Fire Nation ....

Attributes: Strength 10, Dexterity 9 Constitution 11, Chi 223, Perception 14, Spirit Chi: 1,423

Fatigue: Fatigue 4/100

Alignment: Lawful Evil

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

Mastered abilities: Stealth: 16, Blademanship: 16, Hand To Hand Combat: 13, Poison Mastery: 17, Disguise:16, Tool Creation: 15, Marksmanship: 16, Lock picking: 15, Earth Kingdom Culture: 16, Interrogation: 17, Battle Instinct: 14, Evasion and Escape: 16, Regeneration: 10

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

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

....

Sitting cross-legged, Luca took out the time to examine the changes in his stat panel.

First thing first from the attributes. He turned his attention to something he had noticed earlier on but failed to pay full attention to back at the scorched forest.

Chi: 223, Spirit Chi 1,423 .....

Two Chi reserves.

For this, Luca was silent for a while. He had two different Chi reserves... But …. But how?

'Spirit Chi .....'. The answer was obvious. He realized something the moment he absorbed the chi from the first dead Fire Nation soldier that ..... In a rather odd way, it was different from Hei Bai's.

With his lacking knowledge on things touching the spirit realm, he couldn't understand what this difference was.

And honestly, he didn't need to at the moment.

Nonetheless his status panel clearly stated that he had two different Chi reserves within his body. Not only did it state it, he himself could feel it.

The feeling of energy swimming through the chi pathways in his body..... He could feel it right at this moment. It was light, free flowing, like a running stream connected to every part of his being. Truly marvelous.

If he had to take a wild guess, that was probably the regular Chi he had obtained from draining the corpses of Fire Nation soldiers.

223. Compared to his original mediocre 1, it was simply a full world of difference. The vast majority of this however wasn't gained from the nine initial corpses but contributed by the single lone bearded Sergeant who was almost burnt to a crisp.

The only bender he had confronted.

This confirmed another one of his suspicions.

Benders had much larger amounts of Chi than ordinary people. He never doubted this notion, he just didn't realize how much.

For each random private, the amount should be roughly the same. Perhaps varying by one or two more points of Chi in a positive or negative line. Added with his original chi, the highest estimation wouldn't exceed a hundred for the first nine.

But he had two hundred and twenty-three points. It meant that at least a hundred and twenty-three points was given by one Firebender.

The disparity was even larger than the difference between him and common people. Of course at the moment, it mattered little. His total Chi wasn't enough to use his signature density shifting for yo to three seconds.

You know, this was way more than a firebending Lieutenant who probably used his bending as his main source of attack. Against an enemy of equal footing, he could most likely play a back and forth battle for a minute or more in an Agni Kai.

Yet, that alone couldn't last him for three seconds.

He still had a long way to go, which brought his attention to the second source of Chi he has.

Spirit Chi …. Unlike his normal chi reserves, this one didn't flow through his body like a running stream. No, instead he could feel the vast amount situated straight at the bottom of his abdominal area, remaining unmovable.

It wasn't light and free flowing, but felt rather heavy, thicker, stronger, somewhat purer if he had to describe it.

Not like a rushing river but a stagnant lake. It formed a slight barrier, isolating itself from the rest of the energy flowing throughout his body, almost giving him the feeling that it wanted not to be tainted by the rest. The feeling it gave off was fundamentally different as well.

Honestly, the boy didn't know what exactly to make of this. Why were the two separated?

With no clear answer, he turned to the panel and focused on the Spirit Chi column, hoping that it would give him some sort of explanation to know what exactly he was working with here.

This panel wasn't sentient, and hence he could only hope that there would be some form of explanation due to the fact that it was a new attribute.

To his relief, there was.

— Spirit Chi: 1423

They are both energy forces of nature but do not confuse them to be completely the same. As while, they may have similar roles and can be used interchangeably, one's power, potential, and usefulness far surpasses the other.

Humans and spirits are two different entities. The same way their physiology, nature, spiritual resonance and so on have no resemblance, the Chi their bodies produce are also different. Spirit creatures are immortal precisely due to their body nature and the nature of Chi they possess.

The best regular Chi can do is to bend the elements taught to them by the Lion Turtles and wield said element to the very limit possible. It has little to no effect on the body itself. Spirit Chi on the other hand, transcends beyond bending, and can be applied to create all new forms of marvelous abilities. The questions "what" and "how" to create these new varieties are entirely your problem to figure out -

- However, do not get carried away. While this may be a possible boon and a pathway with greater potential and opportunities, its nature has not changed. Spirit Chi does not belong to humans and cannot be produced by them. You possess it through theft, yet you are not a spirit and hence, your current body is no exception. Therefore, your spirit Chi reserves are basically a tank that cannot be refilled normally—

...

A famous saying. Taken to heaven only to fall into hell.

This was Luca's mood at the moment. The description of Spirit Chi, although very vague was enough to let his heart beat tremendously.

Far greater power and potential? Stronger than regular Chi? He already suspected that, but seeing it with his own eyes was enough to let him know he had hit the jackpot.

Regular Chi could be used to bend the elements. However, before the Lion turtles, humans were completely powerless.

It was the spirits that bestowed the ability of bending upon the Four nations. They practically were the forefathers, ancestors, primogenitors of elemental bending itself.

If that weren't the case, Humans would be defenceless against spirits during the era of Avatar Wan and would probably still be in the same state now.

But apart from improving bending, pushing it to greater heights, it could be said that nothing much had improved on the art itself.

Luca had always wondered why the energy forces in the Naruto world and Avatar world were similar, but one had greater uses.

In Naruto, Chakra could be used to climb trees, walk on water, heal and create all forms of marvelous ninjutsu that had nothing to do with the elements.

While although the Avatar universe was powerful, its versatility was severely lacking. Everything the latter had, the former had as well while there were things the former had that the latter was still lacking despite the passage of nineteen thousand years.

Forget about the Kekkei Genkai, Six path Ninja Tools, time and space ninjutsu and tailed beasts. Even the random three body technique placed here could make a great difference. If it could be used, the natives would probably regard it as some kind of heavenly treasure.

Humans here hadn't mastered the use of illusions. A skilled Jonin from the Naruto world would basically be able to walk sideways unless he came across the avatar.

Why was this?

Because humans, even up till the point of the legend of Korra were still standing on the foundation the Lion turtles had laid out for them. It wasn't that they didn't want to make greater progress, it was because they couldn't.

The Chi in their bodies weren't capable of doing more. The Lion turtles hadn't gone or thought that far ahead.

Spirits on the other hand? Possession, immortality, invisibility, intangibility, shape shifting, transportation through dimensions..... And so much more.

....

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