Avatar - chapter 12 (Patreon)
Content
Being a guard was boring, incredibly dull. I did nothing to fight nothing in general, but at least I was learning well. Let's put a quote on learning healing was very hard. You have to be very very precise with your movements and water control, But the most important part, one that you always have to take into account is the energy you put on the water you were going to use to heal. It was like math all over again.
“Akira,” Pakku greeted, with an angry face, “Can I have a word with you?”
I eyed the old man, before taking a deep breath, he figured out my little crime and was about to try and take me to prison, “Sure,” I nodded reluctantly.
“Some scrolls have been going missing… Do you have anything to do with that?” Pakku asked, but his tone hinted he was blaming me.
“And why would I steal some scrolls…” I shot back, with a glare.
“Is this how you pay me?” Pakku spat in anger, “I taught you…. and this is how you say thanks?”
“It seems you already have your answer,” I chuckled bitterly, “But I couldn’t care less… you didn’t do me a favor, after all, you expected something in return,” I spat.
“So you admit it?” Pakku asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Do you really care for my answer?” I laughed bitterly.
“No,” Pakku answered, sending a wave of water at me to hinder me, that I blocked with a dome of water of my own around me, “A criminal can’t be part of the royal guard,”
“You forbid me from learning; I think the real criminal here is you,” I counter, as I proceeded to shot razor-sharp disks at the old man, that simply decided to redirect them, “And your reaction, is to fight, poetic isn’t it?” I chuckled bitterly.
“You went against my orders, to learn something you don’t need!” Pakku stated as he melted the ice beneath my feet in a intend to freeze me, “You stole!”
“I did,” I nodded, freezing the ground beneath me, “Simply because I had no other choice, I asked you a thousand times,” I sighed, “It doesn’t matter, anyway, does it?”
“No,” Pakku answered.
“You can’t beat me,” I stated, much to his shock, “If this battle were to continue in the traditional way, yes, you would win, but that is not going to happen,” I was confident my skills were enough to take on the orthodox old man, I was a proud outbox thinker.
“Overconfidence is unbecoming of a warrior,” Pakku calmly stated.
“It is,” I nodded, as I started to melt the ice around us, “But I’m not the one suffering from that dilemma,” by this point the ice I had started to melt was now a deep and thick mist that covered the area, “You are,”
“It will take more than blinding me, to win,” Pakku scoffed.
“Perhaps,” I hummed, as I slowly started to cover my legs, arms and neck with water, “Who knows,”
“Huh?” Pakku muttered, startled noticing that the mist just continued to get thicker and thicker, “How can you fight if you can’t see?”
“He who can only strike what he sees is a second rate warrior,” I chuckled, “Don’t underestimate me,” I commented as I used my water sense to locate him, while I created a water whip to attack him.
Pakku dodge the first attack by a few inches but the second attack connected, sending him flying a few meters back, he retaliated pushing the mist off the area, but that allowed me to trap his feet, freezing him on the ground.
“Hm,” Pakku grumbled.
“How about this?” I smiled as I started to gather all the water around us, creating hundreds of icicles, “Can you dodge? Or do you submit?”
“If you think I am defeated…. You are wrong child,” Pakku growled, with eyes devoid of emotion.
“STOP!” The voice of chief Arnook boomed around us, stopping Pakku and me right in our tracks.
“Chief Arnook,” Pakku bowed.
“Chief,” I greeted him absently.
“Can someone explain to me! Why were you two fighting to the death!?” The chief growled, demanding an answer.
“The current head of the royal guard is a criminal,” Pakky answered, “He stole the scrolls from the healing academy, and he must be prosecuted for his crimes,”
“Is that true?” Chief Arnook inquired as he looked at me.
“Yes,” I nodded, “He forbade me from learning the arts of healing, and I took upon myself to fix that, a warrior than can’t save a life is nothing but a weapon, and I am not a weapon,”
“You could’ve asked the head of the healing department for the scrolls,” The Chief stated.
“Once he knew of my interests he forced everyone not to give me the knowledge I desired,” I chuckled bitterly, “Pathetic,” My last bit made Pakky glare at me.
“I understand…” The Chief sighed, “But a crime is a crime, regardless of the reason…. Though you had a good reason,”
I started to laugh, “Oh, well… I quit,” I smiled at them, “Take the royal position and shove it up Pakku’s ass, I’m done with everyone here, I got what I wanted, I’ll take my leave,”
“I haven’t decided if you will receive punishment or not,” The Chief argued.
“Like I said… I’m done, regardless of your decision, I have outgrown this place,” I stated once again, with a bored expression, “I didn’t want to be in the military anyway, too many… rules, for my liking,” I chuckled, “Now… is up to you if I leave as a criminal or a friend,”
The chief looked at me, and Pakku, fear building up his eyes, “I will allow you to learn anything you desire and will modify your rank to suit your needs, but don’t leave…” he was desperate, now that is something I didn’t expect to see… and apparently Pakku himself was confused
“Why?” I asked.
“Many reasons….” The chief sighed, “You are the first real friend Yue has… you are a prodigy in the arts of water bending, and most importanly… you were called by the spirits,” the last part shocked me, how in the hell did he know… Yue…
“Or did you really think our guards are that bad… I just told them to let you pass,” The chief chuckled, “If the spirits wanted you here, it must be for a reason… so please, don’t leave,”
I looked at the man, that had until now been nothing but a good person to me and sighed, “Very well, but I want to out of Pakku’s control, meaning he can’t boss me around, and I want to be able to reject orders… meaning if I see something is stupid, I am not forced to obey,”
“Deal,” The chief nodded.
“If that’s what you want… I won’t complain,” Pakku said with a sigh all signs of anger gone, “I look forward to seeing what the spirits see in you…”