Chapter 75: Men of Hate and Appreciation (1)Chapter 75: Men of Hate and Appreciation (1)
Nik, Suki, and Katara had to continue on. Her letter met with no reply, this worried her to no end but that didn't mean they could stop. Their destination was the Makapu Village and for that, they will have to continue moving forward despite her worries.
After all, to Katara, the prisoners in Makapu Village meant a chance to not only free them but also learn waterbending and simultaneously try and find clues about her father. And she knew Sokka enough to understand the fact that if she tried to retrace their steps back to Omashu, likely a dangerous place now that the prisoners of Bumi might have been taken away, he would be livid.
There was one more thing that made Katara instinctively anxious.
She was done with her training, now recollecting her breath just enough to spar with Suki later, too. Her gaze followed the duo's movement as they sparred presently.
Nik was getting a good mastery over war fans. From closing them quickly and striking with its butt to sliding it open and slashing at Suki to counter her attacks. Once he had gotten over the misconceptions that he didn't need strength to defend himself and realized that sometimes trouble may find him instead, Nik's overall strength rose. Not that exponentially but with his status screen keeping a comprehensive record, he knew about his improvements better. New novel chapters are published on
[Name: Nik Faran
Age: 20 (80)
Code: GC—EHG—98034
Authority Rank: 1 (5/100)→ (5.89/100)
Paradise: Transmigration
Title: Transmigration Intern
Bloodline: Adonis' Ember (Common)
Physique: 2.3
Mental: 1.8
Energy: 18.4→ 18.6]
It has been a week since the trio left Chay Thang Colony and his energy stat rose naturally. Meanwhile, even with the lack of improvement in physique stat, Nik was stronger and quicker, affirming the fact that this stat was more comprehensive than a simple gain to the musculature. Not only that, Nik was hard on the grind for AP but this time, he wasn't eager to promote himself again knowing full well that even with benefits, his situation might end worse should he not have enough strength to back his rank.
But his improvements only made it more obvious to Katara.
As Nik was able to start keeping up with Suki on more technical terms, lacking only in experience and awareness on how to deal with various situations that Suki had learned from years of hardship, the sense of 'cooperation' between Suki and Nik grew a tad bit obvious.
In fact, the duo really enjoyed themselves now.
*Swish*
Nik dodged the slice of the sword that Suki wielded skillfully, a real one instead of a wooden one. This, in itself, was a notable mark in Nik's progress. Right now, he practiced how to deal with ranged weapon users with two short fans. Honestly, they were like two sticks so Nik was more comfortable with the fans instead. His smile brightened and as he swept down with a kick only for Suki to jump up, a kick launched during the motion causing Nik to block with his arms as both of them grinned.
'Is something going on?... Well, we three are together most of the time and I haven't woken up at night so it shouldn't be possible,' though the heaviest sleeper of the trio.
Nik blinked in surprise.
"I think you have the wrong person. Let's go," Suki suggested, turning around when a wall of earth blocked their path backward. This truly surprised the trio. Although they have seen earthbenders in the colonies, most of them wore the traditional earthen-colored clothes. This was their first time to encounter a soldier that could earthbend instead of firebending.
"Apologies," the youth retracted his hands and snorted, "But you should give Granny Wu a chance. She changed my life for the better and she may just help resolve your problems... well, the two of you at least. I don't know why she didn't mention you." He looked at Nik.
"Oh, you mean that Wu?" Nik suddenly exclaimed in surprise and questioned the youth, making him frown in confusion.
"You know her?" He inquired.
"Yes," Nik nodded, more than willing to scam the youth in front of him than to pay an unreasonable sum no matter how small. "If you tell her Nik is accompanying these two, she will understand it."
The youth's frown only deepened but confidence is a strange thing. Seeing Nik lie so casually and with such an earnest expression, he couldn't help but finally accept the third individual's presence temporarily.
After this, the youth turned around, silently leading the trio towards Makapu Village.
Of course, this could be one elaborate trap but the trio had the confidence to escape and they wanted to know more about this Wu who predicted their arrival when the individuals who should have known of their journey are not even more than 5. As they walked, Nik struck a conversation with the earthbending soldier. There was a part of Nik who already considered the youth hypnotized but he only had one method of confirming it.
"Hey, you never introduced yourself," Nik smiled, simultaneously snapping his fingers. As he did this, Suki's and Katara's expressions behind him turned slightly solemn as they observed the interaction warily.
"You can call me Sun," the youth remarked.
"Now how did the army of the Fire Nation find itself recruiting an earthbender?" Nik continued, snapping his fingers casually once again.
"I'm special," Sun replied with a strained smile as if he didn't want to talk about it and Nik nodded with a smile, snapping his fingers once again but Sun continued to walk as if nothing was going on. This caused the trio to look at each other.
It was highly likely that Sun... wasn't hypnotized. Before leaving Omashu, Nik and others understood how the process worked on the surface and how to search for someone already in control to someone else's will.
More often than not, it was three successive snaps of fingers. Of course, there are many other indicators but this one was the most common amongst the workers dealing in the trade including the 'researchers' of the art formed from Ba Sing Se.
This situation now truly attracted Nik, Suki, and Katara. Sun was younger than them by a few years but he seemed to have gone through quite a bit to have such a mature vibe around him. But the fact that he called his situation 'special' was worth looking into once they entered Makapu Village because their end goal was to free the waterbending prisoners held within the village and they might just have to face this strange soldier.
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A/N: Sun isn't an Oc. Those who don't know, he is the fourth lava bender to be shown in the series chronologically after Szeto, Kyoshi, and Roku. He is also rumored to be one of Toph's future lovers because his face is quite similar to Opal's. But that isn't the issue here. Sun is simply an extremely powerful bender and might just work in this particular episode.
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