ATLA, In A Darker World

And at the entrance of the village, a large monstrous creature colored black and white slowly appeared out of thin air.

"Well, I'm screwed".

Rawrrhhhh!

A loud roar emerged from its maw as it stood on two feet and raised its head upward.

The blue sonic wave shot straight into the sky, rolling in the air and resounded throughout the entire forest.

'Why can't I be wrong when the bad stuff happens?'

Luca's eyes widened to the extreme at the direct confirmation of his thoughts. He took two steps back from the window in fear as the spirit creature walked straight into the small village.

"Oh my .....".

"What the hell is that thing ….".

"... Is that?….".

"Hei Bai". A grave voice sounded right next to Luca's ears at that moment. He turned his gaze to see Elder Wu walking towards the window, while he was gently backing away.

"Old man …. what is this thing?"

He knew what it was, but there was no way he was going to show it.

After all, he just "lost" his memories. Sticking to the role was important for his persona.

Only at the moment did he know where he was and what was about to happen.

This old man beside him was the one who would discover Aang, Sokka and Katara in the same burned forest Luca came from and ask for their help three days from now.

"It ... Is the spirit of this forest. The black and white spirit".

"Ok then ... why's it here?" He asked with a fearful tone while cussing inwardly.

Please note that it wasn't an act. Currently, he was truly scared of what might happen to him.

It was a famous saying that an unlucky person could even choke on air.

Well..... Luca wasn't sure if that was a famous saying, but he heard it more than once. He didn't want to believe he was that unlucky, but the reality of his situation was telling him otherwise.

He just had to be dropped in the village, where the spirit monster shows up and goes on a rampage.

And it wasn't even on the day when Aang arrived.

"I ..... I don't know". The old man replied in confusion. "It doesn't usually have any intersection with the villagers. Neither does it ever come right to our .....".

It happened then.

The old man had barely finished his words when the spirit as big as a building turned into a white blur.

Appearing at the distant house, it raised all four of its arms and struck down.

The side of the building was smashed into, causing a very loud bang.

Dust and debris flew in all directions as the wooden house scattered with a single strike.

Seeing this scene, the villagers who didn't understand what was happening fell silent for a second.

The next, panic spread.

Everyone turned around and rushed towards the largest building in this small town. The village hall.

"Elder Wu….".

Luca opened his mouth to speak, only to close it as the old man turned around and moved towards him.

"Hurry, we must get out of here now".

His wrinkled hands directly grabbed his as he pulled him towards the door. Allowing him to pull, Luca followed without the slightest resistance as they both dashed outside the house.

He looked back towards the window only to see the spirit monster turn into a blur again and rush towards their direction.

'Oh shit!'

Bang!

They had barely emerged through the door when the building was smashed into. The shockwave from the collision caused both me and the old man to lose our footing and stumble to the ground.

The clothes Luca just put on were once again covered with dust, but he didn't mind that.

Quickly getting up to his feet, he took to his heels and ran towards the main hall while thinking frantically.

In the series, Aang would calm Hei Bai by showing it that the forest that was destroyed would grow back.

He would place an acorn, symbolizing new life, at the feet of the Spirit monster, following which it would turn back to the forest and release the people it abducted.

This meant in four days, at most, Aang Katara and Sokka would arrive in this village.

That meant Luca would meet the protagonist trio in four days at most. So all he had to do was wait for four days for Aang to solve the monster ..... Or he could do it himself.

'As soon as I find an acorn'.

'I could let Elder Wu know what the problem was, and we could solve it together...'

'Hold on …'. His running steps came to a halt just as he was about to reach the main building door.

'Elder Wu…'. Numerous thoughts had gone through his mind in an instant, and it was where he stood that Luca realized that in his fear, he had left the old man who saved him behind.

'Shit!'

Turning around, he saw the old man crawling away on his back as he faced the black and white monster slowly walking towards him.

At that moment, Luca's mind went blank for a second. Did he actually just abandon the person who saved him in a moment of panic?

But, that was ..... was ..... He found it unbelievable. It wasn't intentional but still, he had never imagined that he was capable of such an act.

And so, he turned back to save the old man from the possible jaws of death about to befall him.

Or at least he tried to. As the moment he tried, he found that his body and his thoughts weren't in sync.

'I …. I can't…'. He looked down and saw his hands trembling slightly. At that moment, he knew what was happening to him.

Fear .....

For the first time ever, Luca experienced what it felt like to have his body disobey his orders.

'Move you damn legs! That's the man who saved you'. He roared inwardly.

Unfortunately, the body's self-preservation instinct locked him in place.

"Oh great Hei Bai. Please calm your rage….". Meanwhile, in the midst of Luca's psychological struggle, old man Wu was backing away slowing while trying to appease the spirit looking down at him.

".... We have done nothing to deserve your anger, please do not destroy our poor village. I beg of you ….". The old man uttered in a shaky voice, managed to pull himself up and fell on his knees.

The white pupils of the Spirit monster looked down on the old man.

Then.....

Roar!

It let out a loud roar, enveloping the man with blue light. Old Wu froze in shock and fear, dreading what might happen next.

However, contrary to what he expected, the Hei Bai did not attack him nor did it spare him a second look.

Instead, it turned its gaze to something else it was more interested in.

Luca, who stood at the entrance to the main hall, had his trembling body stiffen.

Within his eyes, Hei Bai's reflection could be seen staring at him with unprecedented intensity.

At that moment, the earlier notification from the status screen came to his mind.

- Until your foreign soul adapts, this particular uniqueness will strike you as slightly off to regular people and even more off to those spiritually sensitive -

— Similarly, you will arouse the strong interests of supernatural beings from other realms. Most will try to possess you, others will try to devour you -

"Oh no".

It happened then. Before Luca could react, Hei Bai suddenly dashed forward at remarkable speed, grabbed him with one of its hands and dashed in the other direction.

Three seconds later, silence once again returned to Senlin Village as the silhouette of the Hei Bai disappeared into the forest.

All that could indicate the tragedy this village has just faced were the two destroyed houses.

....

"Fuck! I'm being kidnapped"

Luca watched as the spirit monster dragged him away from Senlin Village into the forest.

Galloping on five legs, one excluded to hold him, it rushed through the path between the trees at a rapid pace.

The village was soon left far behind, obstructing his vision with trees.

'No…. I've gotta get out of here'.

Luca knew the characteristics of this spirit creature.

In its rage, the Hei Bai would carry a villager away every night it attacked into the spirit realm.

Only this time, it didn't take away others but him with the odd peculiarity.

For regular people, there was simply no way they could return without the Hei Bai personally bringing them back.

Unless of course, the hostages were familiar with the spirit world.

Luca wasn't.

So if he was taken to the spirit realm by this black and white monster, he could only hope and pray that Aang would be able to save him.

That would be the case under normal circumstances, but Luca's case was far from normal. The panel clearly stated that he would draw attention from supernatural creatures.

It probably meant beings from the spirit realm like Hei Bai over here. If he was taken over, the chances of him returning were slim.

Not just because the Hei Bai might not release him, but also because he would be trapped in the spirit realm for three days.

He would truly be finished if random spirits were drawn to his peculiarity and he was maliciously attacked.

Assuming, of course, Hei Bai didn't attack him first.

Even if the above situations didn't play out in the worst possible way, Luca would never sit back and entrust his safety into the hands of people he barely knew.

Scratch that, they had never met in the literal sense.

Hence, he needed to escape and he needed to do it fast.

'What do I do ..... What do I do .....'? Pushing as hard as he could, he tried to free the monster's grip on him, but it wouldn't budge.

His strength was insufficient, so he tried something else.

Luca turned his mind to his perks. The only thing he could rely on now were the perks he had wished for.

-Density Shifting-

Luca's eyes lit up.

As long as he could phase his body even for a moment, he would be able to slip away from this thing's grasp.

-85 Chi/Per Second

- Chi 1 -

But even a second's use was impossible for the current him. He didn't have enough Chi.

He hadn't had a chance to use his Chi absor....

Another thought crossed his mind at that moment. He hadn't used his Chi Absorption technique since he got here. Simply because there was no suitable target to use it on.

Now, it was different. Weren't spirit creatures basically full of Chi itself?

Thinking up to this point, he no longer hesitated as he placed a firm hold on the Hei Bai and activated.

'Please work ..... Please work'.

He thought inwardly as his palms gave off a blue glow.

The next moment .....

Gasp! Luca raised his head up and let out a subconscious gasp.

It couldn't be helped. As the moment he activated the Chi Absorption technique, large amounts of energy flowed from the Hei Bai directly into his body.

'Oh … my …'.

Chi was a metaphysical energy that all benders used and could feel. As a non bender and a foreigner for that matter, Luca couldn't feel the so-called energy within his body, despite the stat showing it existed.

That all changed now.

If he could open his status panel, he would find his Chi stat adding …

Spirit Chi: +102

Spirit Chi: +89

Spirit Chi: +95

..... For every second that passed.

The forest around them disappeared as the Hei Bai spirit ran into the scorched land.

Seeing this, Luca had to put aside the intoxicating feeling that was spreading through every vein within his being.

Because he was close.

The Hei Bai would run straight towards the large bear statue at the Center of the scorched land.

Once it got close, it would instantly disappear into the Spirit realm along with anything connected to it.

Luca, who had wanted to get off this death trap a few moments ago, now wanted the journey to go on for a few more minutes.

This was no longer a kidnapping, but a money making Joyride.

However, the sharp pain rapidly spreading through his nerves told him otherwise.

It was all too much.

His instincts told him that if he kept on with his actions, he might cripple himself with an overload of Chi.

Immediately, Luca stopped his actions and yelled inwardly.

'Density shifting..... Density shifting…. Grant me intangibility, for God's sake .....'.

He hadn't tried this before, so forgive his undignified appearance, as he was just short of screaming it aloud with a hideous expression.

After all, if it didn't work, then it was off to the spirit world.

At that moment, he felt it happen. The Chi in his body ran instinctively as it spread throughout his entire being.

Luca felt his entire body lighten imperceptibly to the point of being air, then his figure ghosted out of the Hei Bai's hands and fell downwards.

"Damn!" Feeling his rapid descent, Luca exclaimed at what was happening to him.

However, with his temporary loss of focus, the Chi stopped operating and hos body returned to normal.

And so, Luca crashed to the floor, barely managing to escape just as the Hei Bai was about to disappear and knocked himself unconscious yet again.

...

While Luca was unconscious, the rapid sensation of endless energy shooting through his veins gradually calmed down.

And as it did, a very surprising situation was taking place at the same time.

If Luca took off his clothes, he would be surprised to find that the scars that filled his back were enveloped in a deep blue energy glow. Eventually disappearing without a trace.

Like the rest of his body, the skin on his back was as smooth as the rest of him. A sensation he would come to realize later on.

And just as the rapid sensation faded, a new sensation emerged within his head and rushed through his subconscious mind.

This wasn't energy of any kind, but the sudden rushing sensation almost all time travelers would experience upon successful transversal.

Memories.

As within his nap, Luca experienced a full set of seventeen years worth of memories.

.....

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