Chapter 226: The Immortal's Demise (1)
A/N: @everyone ch 3-5 updated. The edits include—
1) Removal of Rick. While Ehg had his role just a tiny bit, like Brian, I just don't see how adding OCs with minimal role would fit when I can just add more h character to the homeworld
2) Reiko's name is turned to Souko once again... really sorry! I won't play with her name once again! I promise, truly!
3) Ch 5's bath scene is edited for typos and made slightly more 'steamier' with just a dusting of character growth on Mitsuko
4) Added alternative and fun titles at the end.
Hopefully, despite my lack of creativity, I may just try to add some spicy stuff and like always, I'll inform all of it on the latest chaps and here.
***
"Wait for me? Right time?" Aang could barely even comprehend how the siblings walked 'through' time with Monk Gyatso's message being far more prioritized for him. His expression grew pensive and he looked a bit distraught. Although he kept himself from thinking the worst after his friends 'died' due to the memory of the Second Avatar after Avatar Wan, couldn't help but feel a lot of things weighing down on himself.
But after experiencing so much, Aang couldn't let his fears... make him back off.
"T-Then what about the other airbenders? How did they survive?" Aang inquired as Hina cast a worried look over her brother and caretaker.
"They were raised and indoctrinated by Fire Lord Sozin," Niwan did not hesitate to answer, "Others believe the rumor that Sozin butchered every Airbender youngling in cold blood but that's not true. The rumor itself was spread by Firelord Sozin himself... All this knowledge comes from a spirit that is primal in nature— Dhi, the Spirit of Cognition. It revealed that Sozin wanted to twist the airbender's ideology so, that if an avatar does come from them, he or she is solely loyal to the Fire Nation."
"If all that is true, I would have known this," Iroh frowned.
"The Fire Lords do not 'rule' over these airbending priests. When Sozin nurtured them, he made it so that the airbenders would willingly reveal themselves to the next ruler of the Fire Nation and I believe... they would not have made themselves known to you until Ozai's death. To them, only one can be their ruler," Niwan revealed and looked at the duo seriously, "We live in the deepest corner of the sewers itself. And... after we managed to become a part of this group during the end of the war... they are still suspicious. Until now, we never wanted to blow our cover by looking for you despite hearing the news but now that you're here, Avatar Aang, our stay with the Stormbenders end, too."
"Stormbenders?" Aang tilted his head with a strange look.
Looking a little embarrassed, Niwan muttered, "That's the name of... their new tribe..."
Aang blinked and then shrugged. There was something about names like the Nut Crushing Messiah that made him numb towards even weirder monikers.
"Do you know something about Grim and Reaper? Even my predecessors did not know of their weakness..." Aang continued and it was Hina who looked a little bit conflicted as she revealed, "Um... none of us can defeat Reaper, much less Grim..."
Sitting down cross-legged and letting out a tired huff, Iroh closed his eyes, "I will let you young ones discuss how to challenge unbeatable beings. My nemesis... the consequence of exercise, that is, is after me once again."
The trio's expression grew bleak at this as Aang scratched his head and looked at Hina, "Do you think... we can find some good tea? Or sweets?"
Iroh's ears twitched as Hina looked serious, "Anything you demand of us, Avatar Aang..."
"Uh..." with his eyes brightening, Aang grinned, "Then once this is all over. Please Teach me the method of entering the spirit realm physically!"
"Should we not talk about how to defeat Grim and Reaper?" Niwan frowned.
"I mean... you just said that no one can defeat them... and my memories certainly did not help to oppose this view," Aang groaned and slumped down on the ground, "And, to be honest, the only thing I can think of is... to ask that squirrel what is going on." The boy pointed on top of a nearby violet tree on the branch of which a scarlet squirrel ate nuts quietly.
Niwan and Hina turned to look back and their expressions changed, too.
They did not sense this being at all!
---
Nik looked at the army of 'dead' with a serious expression as Reaper's voice cackled from hundreds and thousands of them.
"Go ahead, try hurting me. Only injuries and deaths granted by me are not part of the rules of the world so, the only way to stop them is by killing them. Of course, it will make me go hungry but... I'll just eat more."
Frowning harder as he couldn't hurt Katara or others fatally because he still wasn't aware of how this spirit named Reaper 'functioned' and its weaknesses and strengths, Nik chose to retreat by jumping through the ledge once again.
While he could individually energybend the victims of the Reaper and hope to pull their souls out, Nik still had a grave problem at hand. He could not identify where Reaper resided as he controlled too many hosts. His violet pupils grew somber as he observed everyone while kiting over the trees and evading a few knives and needles from Tom-Tom and Mai. To be honest, Reaper's precision, despite living so long, was worse than the real Mai's.
'Only someone not kissed by destiny or death can take them out... that's what the Squirrel said but... even if I assume I am free from the spirits of this world and their effects to a larger extent, Reaper did consume me. All Mokshi's presence did was not make me lose my sense of awareness in that lifeless world... The most problematic thing is what to do in the scenario where I actually find his real body.'
Nik began to raise a wall of the earth only for it to promptly crumble with Toph shooting large boulders and Azula setting the said boulders on fire!
Scowling, Nik suddenly raised his hand and—
A dozen bodies seized up, those that were planning to continue bending the very next second that is.
Reaper's sharp tone echoed, "Bloodbending? How?!"
After attaining mastery of waterbending by consuming La's essence completely, Nik could blood bend without the moon. This was a realm far beyond their first master— Hama, and Katara also wanted to reach that state yet she was far from it at the moment or Nik would really be in some—
Nik grunted as he hurriedly recovered control of his body and found a dark-skinned, square-jawed man sneering, "You believe that humans haven't been in the same realm of expertise? Ever since we were discovered by Sozin in the coffin of that old, decrepit Avatar who sealed us, I have hunted many."
Nik evaded attack after attack as 'everyone' laughed, "The war is the event meant for me! I ate siblings, parents, and children. Warrior and cowards alike! I watched their families burn them and other foolish rituals of the dead only to bring all of my... liberated individuals here! Hah! They all should be thanking me! Even if they had a funeral, all of them lived through me!"
Nik's eyes widened as he saw a group of men and women in saffron clothes and pointed arrow-ended tattoos suddenly create a massive gust that he could not evade and thus he countered it with airbending of his own!
'Fuck... the dude has almost everything except—'
As Nik saw a thin old man suddenly creating arrows of lava that throttled in his direction, he was forced to reconsider his situation.
'Maybe... he collected every style of bending...'
Nik jumped down and ran without looking back. Airbending could be used to increase his speed but the other airbenders did the same while many earthbenders began to chase after him by shifting the ground to move at a quick pace and bringing others alongside them!
Yet... this is where Nik also realized something in the moment of the dead chasing him.
'Can he control more than two bending styles?'
Until now, he had only faced two simultaneous bending styles from the army of Reaper. Even when he could have been captured easily if all of them used their skills at once, they didn't. And Nik didn't believe that Reaper was the kind of a man to enjoy hunting. It has almost aimed for the kill every time!
Placing trust in his gut as it had yet to betray him after his revival, Nik decided to... 'end' those who presented themselves to be weaker. But the thought of killing the innocents caught in this madness made his stomach churn nonetheless the very next second and forced him to give up on this thought.
'Damn it... wait, in Mokshi's memory, the two spirits certainly had different forms. An old witch covered in red including her face... similar to the red threads of destiny. That must be grim. And a grey mouse with a pitch-black sickle for a tail. Yeah... that's most likely Reaper. If they have actual forms... is Reaper controlling all of them from a distance or is it present in everyone?'
Considering the question seriously, Nik suddenly realized something.
'If I can't find Reaper on the outside... there is one way to get to it, right?'
Nik wondered if he was seriously considering this again. From killing himself time and time again in that grim world to considering death once again... when it could endanger everyone.
But he had to admit. He had changed drastically over the months he stayed in this world.
If it was for better or worse... only time could tell.
Nik suddenly stopped and promptly fell the hair on the back of his neck standing up with a chill running down his spine as a wave of 'sharp' gust sliced him from the center vertically with him posing no resistance whatsoever.
The entire 'army' came to a pause but they watched Nik's body magically recover with the blood and his innards returning to his body and then he opened his eyes.
"Looks like Mokshi's host gave up," 'Nik' had a shift in tone as he looked at his left hand, "And I cannot enter this world... the source of these outsiders must really be a class on its own even amongst primordials... to have set up such a mechanism..."
---
"I'm back..." Nik looked around the dull, lifeless world and hummed loudly, "Even though I am here... how do I get to this spirit? The only way until now to actually screw up its control is by considering death an option. But I can't just kill a spirit... they'd return unless a specific weakness is used."
Primordials had no such weakness as they were the force of nature itself but Nik believed that spirits like Grim and Reaper had a weakness. Not because Destiny told him so. But he had experience in the form of a Koh.
'Face stealer was 'killed' by stealing its own face... should I just find and munch on the rat? If that isn't poetic justice... I don't know what is...'
Formulating a basic structure to act upon, Nik sat down cross-legged and meditated.
All he had to find now was a way to encounter Reaper. Elemental bending wasn't available to him in this world but given how he could commit suicide meant that he could 'interact' with beings present in this world 'physically.' So he could, theoretically, deal with Reaper right here.
Sighing, Nik continued to meditate while keeping his emotions in check and tried to communicate with Mokshi.
Not with words, of course. They didn't talk all that much but Nik could directly exchange each other's perceivable emotions and that's what he did. But even Mokshi felt stumped and didn't know how to properly deal with Reaper until it hit Nik...
'What would happen if all his captives begin to leave this place?'
The moment this thought came to his mind, Nik stood up, chose a direction randomly, and dashed out.
He ran for minutes but it was hard to encounter other lost souls. Not impossible, however.
He did lose his sense of time eventually but Nik didn't feel tired. He didn't have a physical form and could run for hours and that's what he did until eventually encountering a 'grey' youth in an older fire nation armor. Not giving the youth another thought, Nik snapped the man's head and continued to run.
One...
Two...
Three...
Five...
Ten...
His pace in finding another soul was extremely slow at first which meant that anyone Nik helped escape would surely be consumed by Reaper once again. Yet, the situation began to change.
The more he 'freed' these lost souls, the more he felt a strange force around him, and finally, when he felt something click, Nik was forced to stop with a stunned expression.
Another energybending skill...
Well, it was more of an understanding, really.
Every time he interacted with what can be considered souls... he became more aware of their 'presence.' Different from spirits... souls held a distinguishable... 'breath.' It was hard to explain it with words for Nik but he could not have managed to understand all this if he hadn't spent months training in so many different arts that it made him extremely quick at grasping notable hints and also because he managed to interact with a dozen souls consecutively without any external interruptions.
He could basically sense souls... and he realized that even Mokshi had a soul of its own. Again, a completely different aspect when compared to a spiritual form... but even Nik could not hope to actually understand the differences even if he could differentiate the two based on the presence alone.
Not dwelling on the subject, however, Nik began to track the nearest souls.
And hunt them.
His only gain in doing so was the gradual understanding that souls felt more like a source.
Maybe the ability to modify a soul could change the very existence of a being?
'However, if that is true... wouldn't that make the world a little too volatile? It's like thinking that Mokshi can lose its essence just by manipulating its soul but... there must be a spirit related to souls and if Mokshi is still the same even after thousands of years... does that mean a few forces are even beyond the concepts of souls? So... one may have a soul but transcend its existence?'
Realizing he was being inevitably drawn to an abyss of curiosity that he could not hope to satiate with how weak he was when compared to the true forces of nature, Nik sighed and recollected his thoughts before continuously hunting souls until...
"Stop messing up my treasures!"
A shrill screech stopped Nik from snapping a little girl's neck as he was much more heavy-handed in this world.
His gaze brightened and he looked behind to find a small, palm-sized rat waving its sickle and hissing sharply, "I do not have time to waste on you. Just give up and—"
Before the rat could continue, Nik's form was already upon it and he grabbed the rat tightly only for it to scoff, "I cannot be killed, foolish host of Mokshi!"
And that confidence is the reason why Reaper let itself get caught so easily but observing Nik's grim stare, it chuckled, "That's what I thought. Just—"
"I won't kill you..." Nik interjected and suddenly gave a toothy grin, "You really helped me get in touch with my inner craziness... the things I did in these few hours alone outshine my existence before. So... why stop now?"
His mouth opened and Reaper's eyes widened. Its sharp squeak was cut short by Nik stuffing the rat into his mouth and then closing his jaws.
He winced and prepared for the bad taste but the moment he closed his jaws...
The entire grey world began to disperse in a grey mist at a breakneck pace while he found his mouth empty with nothing but something metallic still present.
Spitting the object in his hand, Nik realized that it was a tiny, pinky-finger-long sickle...
Reaper's husk.
But... he also felt strange. Something he did when Mokshi bonded with him and voluntarily forsook its freedom and even when La and Tui danced alongside Nik and Yue...
[Name: Nik Faran
Age: 20 (80)
Code: GC—EHG—98034
Authority Rank: 1 (12.36→ 13.2/100)
Paradise: Transmigration
Title: Transmigration Intern
Bloodline: Adonis' Ember (Common)
Physique: 3.8
Mental: 5.8
Energy: 37.3→ 46.5]
[Stats relative to the most common species through multiverse— Humanoid Homo Sapien.]
[Authority Rank: 1
Benefits:
1) Chat Module Unlocked.
2) Additional transmigration vacation: 504 hours.]
[Skills:
1) Freedom Paradox Source: A being unbound by metaphysical shackles and restrictions around itself yet bound by its own. (Additional Info: This skill is bound by an external existence.)
2) Water Element Mastery (Master): The manipulation and enlightenment of elements of water either in nature or through one's own creation in the realm of a master. (Additional Info: Through constant training, a noob turns into an expert and an expert reaches the realm of a master.)
3) Fire Element Mastery (Expert): The manipulation and enlightenment of elements of fire either in nature or through one's own creation in the realm of an expert. (Additional Info: Through constant training, a noob turns into an expert.)
4) Earth Element Mastery (Expert): The manipulation and enlightenment of elements of the earth either in nature or through one's own creation in the realm of a master. (Additional Info: Through constant training, a noob turns into an expert.)
5) Limitless Library: Whatever is experienced, seen, or heard can be registered and later looked up once again in this library within one's consciousness. (Additional Info: The library is not part of the biological function of the user.)
6) Death Eater: The ability to consume a soul and to use it to strengthen one's own metaphysical reserves upto a certain portion from the soul consumed. (Additional Info: The remaining portion of the soul tainted by causality escapes without the ability to refine it all.)
Bloodline—
1) Charm of Adonis: The user's charm can attract the opposite gender and similarly oriented individuals. (Additional Info: This is a passive skill that isn't needed to be actively focused on.)]
{A/N: I should have made a skill for the library so there it is.}
Nik looked at his own stats as he heard others groan and twitch before finally waking up all around him...
'Damn... I can eat soul and that's alright I guess... but how do I even take a soul?'
And then his gaze fell on the sickle-shaped remains of the Reaper and he blinked.
Keeping certain possibilities in mind, Nik promptly stored the sickle husk into his personal world and then began looking all around for his friends.
All he needed to do was use the variations of seismic sense to lock onto familiar targets.
***
Alternate Title: Nik's Spiritual Cuisine
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