Chapter 67: Sludge Lord
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***
"Man, I'm so sorry that your village was destroyed," Nik sighed deeply. He knew how to act and considered himself at least one level above amateurs in the art. He had already heard whatever the group had against the fire nation and behold—
He didn't care that much after all.
But still, he wanted to act independently and he knew that he had to start from some point. This felt like the right moment. Why?
Because it is 'now.'
He didn't have to wait for any future opportunity to understand his strength and whatever had passed cannot be changed. At least, he needed to practice well. Although he holds no prejudice against killers or even other vices of the society because he has served many representatives of the acts, he knew full well how to hold a grudge, and knowing that Zhao will be released eventually, he wanted to be capable enough to deliver an ass-whooping of his career under the command of the Phoenix King.
His sympathetic words caused the two burly brothers walking behind him to sigh softly as the older one finally opened up, "Nah, no worries... I just hate the fact that I can't do any better."
"Aren't there other benders?" Nik inquired curiously, "They can really cause major destruction. With that power, anyone will take the Freedom Fighters seriously and have a chance at furthering the cause."
The siblings looked at each other. The younger one shrugged and the elder one chuckled, "Of course, there can be benders if they pass the test. Any bender who wishes to join our cause needs to display their worth by taking out a leader of one of the mixed establishments. All these are benders from the war and got serious firepower!"
"Heh, nothing compared to waterbending," Nik sneered.
"You got that right," the younger one chuckled as they reached the same entrance from which Nik entered the sewers.
"Anyway, brothers, I shall meet you after taking out the mayor," Nik turned around and stretched his hand out to pat their shoulders. Though not accustomed to such warmth, the brothers didn't say anything. However, their expressions changed when both of their clothes mysteriously, and suddenly disappeared. One set was devoured, the other one sent into the space and without letting them digest the change, Nik moved swiftly.
His kick struck the nethers of the overly burly but clearly overcompensating siblings as he smacked their faces with a strike of his palms and then taking a stance, Nik waved his hand forward sharply causing a wave of sludge to shoot straight into the sibling's body, smashing them into the walls as they lost consciousness instantly.
"Nice!" Nik pumped his fist.
Thinking for a moment, he glanced at the two brothers and found some shit stuck to their lips.
'Serves them right,' he shrugged. Although not too traumatized by the actions of the Freedom Fighters against innocent civilians that were simply unfortunate enough to be subjected to some twisted vengeance, he wasn't feeling jolly and refreshed either. They had kids injured for no reason whatsoever aside from their sick needs... even Nik wasn't going to feel sad about hurting them.
'But... they wouldn't be anywhere near Zhao's level,' Nik mulled as he retraced his steps into the sewers, 'A Firebender is dangerous... well, it can't cut stuff like waterbending as shown in the scroll, right? Or it will be even more dangerous...'
"Yeah, Jet asked us to keep an eye out for the entrances so that we can fuck off from here the moment the mayor sends the guards."
Nik knew the owner of the voice, not personally, but he did have some interaction with the youth this morning while he was spying, correction— possibly scouting the area and then encountering them out of sheer luck. Nik silently hid against the corner of the turn and the moment two youths walked into the same section as Nik, he was nowhere to be found.
Without paying attention, the two scouts continued to walk and after a few breaths, Nik reappeared on the spot he disappeared from and looked around quickly. Of course, he had hidden himself into his personal space. It wasn't beneath him to use as many advantages as he can gain during a confrontation and his weird quirks from Infinity definitely helped in the situation. Seeing the two scouts without registering his presence, Nik smiled and walked towards them slowly yet his hands already moved.
Waterbending depended on the basic sets of moves that would direct that kind of control needed and the rest is left to the will of the user so the more creative a bender is, the better. Of course, without proper training, all the imagination in the world will only end up hurting oneself. Yet, there were a few things Nik could now do.
The thin youth felt the sludge moving against the flow finally and he stood for a moment. Seeing this, his partner turned silent, too, and that's when they heard— the sound of the movement of water.
"Who—" before the youth could turn back, they fell directly into the sewerage with a massive wave of sludge striking them down. Nik didn't wait, again, and jumped them when they were still dizzied. According to Suki, stomping is one of the best attacks available to the weak and can be used efficiently by anyone with little effort.
'They' were stomped into shit until they lost consciousness.
Yet, Nik understood another thing. Most fighters, like Suki, would be quick to regain their bearings and even if dizzied, they will have enough wits and muscle memories to not wait and recollect their thoughts but keep on moving. She had already done this once where Nik would almost hit her and then she would subconsciously unleash one of the more advanced moves.
With that done, Nik began to scout through the sewerage system under the Chay Thang colony and sneak-attacked the members he found. But his main objective was none other than the stash Jet had kept under her control where he revealed himself to get close to them. His enhanced hearing was a great gift, his strangely enhanced scent, however, was the worst punishment that he would only wish for his enemies.
May Zhao sniff a rotten Goat Gorilla's ass that died from diarrhea.
Pushing aside distracting thoughts and curses, Nik glanced at his status screen.
[Name: Nik Faran
Age: 20 (80)
Code: GC—EHG—98034
Authority Rank: 0 (97.9562/100)
Paradise: Transmigration
Bloodline: Adonis' Ember (Common)]
Each barrel of exploding jelly gave a little over 2 points and now, there were the ten final barrels placed together with Jet personally keeping a charge. Even a fool would know that the Jet wanted to cause another explosion from 'within' the colony and to have the maximum advantage, she wanted to have the enemy discover their location so that there can be more damage. According to a few whispers he had eavesdropped on, the escape route was already planned.
This only firmed Nik's conclusion but for Katara and Suki still within the colony and his personal gains, Nik didn't want the exploding jelly to go off. It could finally sort out his curiosity.
Infinity provided details on his current rank. For instance, Nik was aware of his status. He was aware of the requirements to bring things or even people into his personal space and he was aware of what he can devour or not. In fact, the rules for devouring were quite complex. First, nothing sentient will ever get devoured and this included the elements being bent. He had tried. Previously, Nik wasn't sure of the reason but now that he could somehow bend water, he realized that while bending an element, it acts as an extension to oneself and for some reason, Infinity is not thrilled by having living beings and parts of wills devoured.
Despite such a comprehensive imparting of information, there was not a shred of information on the higher ranks or the so-called benefits brought by a rank.
Now being this close to completing one of the objectives he had formed from early on, he was no doubt excited.
Confirming that he had indeed taken out half of Jet's force, Nik decided to move towards Jet. His moves hadn't been silent during waterbending, at least, too silent. So, there was still a chance that he might get caught but the colony above was in a period of unrest so the constant chatter from the various entrances somewhat stifled the noise of his own attacks.
Nik moved swiftly. He didn't intend to give Jet the chance to blow away a fortune of AP just for some personal vendetta. He could use it better than her...
*Fwip*
Nik's eyes widened and he dodged barely in the nick of time due to the sound being registered from afar. Yet the attack was swift enough to almost pierce his head.
All the excitement and confidence from his previous victories suddenly calmed down and Nik stopped to raise a wall of sludge in front of him.
*Fwip*
It was an arrow.
An amazing shot at that.
It pierced into the wall of sludge and was stuck within. Many more arrows followed suit. Nik silently stood behind the wall of sludge. He didn't want to keep the bending for a longer period of time since it's more taxing compared to attacking swiftly and letting go of water.
Considering his options, Nik took a deep breath and sent the wall forward, and rushed alongside it. He had the element of surprise with him and the longer he waits, the harder it will be to capitalize on the advantage he had built. Of course, there was a chance that all of it could go to hell and for that, he would shamelessly retreat into his personal space.
"A Freedom Fighter, my ass," Under the mask, Jet hissed in anger as she screamed, "Take one more step and I will light the barrels up! Even if you're a waterbender, the force of the explosion will tear you and the Colony's residence apart!
There were only two individuals near this spot, securing the ten barrels of exploding jelly. One was, of course, Jet. The other was the silent Freedom Fighter who wore a conical straw hat. He knocked another arrow to his bow and took an aim towards the wall of sludge.
This only caused Jet's expression to turn severe as she bit her lips and picked up the torch nearby.
"I'm not joking! You take one more stop, we're all goners!"
She screamed and brought the torch closer to the clothed bulge covering the entrance of the barrel as the sludge of the sewers finally lost its momentum and turned into a slow and diminishing drift with Nik nowhere to be seen.
"Did he escape?" Jet muttered under her breath, "This place isn't safe anymore. Let's call back the guys and set the final explosion."
She looked towards the silent youth and inquired, "Longshot, what is it?"
The youth didn't reply and looked confused for a moment before he eventually shook his head. He suddenly released three arrows back to back into the sludge at various calculated distances and seeing all hit an empty mark, the youth visibly relaxed. Understanding his leader's orders, he began to move to bring back the troops when suddenly Nik appeared behind him.
"Huh?" Jet gasped.
Longshot instantly felt Nik's presence as Nik's hand brushed past the youth. Except for his hat, the youth was turned naked within an instant, the arrows already devoured but the bow in his hands not devoured since it wasn't in direct or indirect touch with the things he had devoured.
"Hmm?" a surprised gasp leaked from the youth for the first time but a cruel knee to his ass sent him stumbling and at this point Jet lit the wick of one of the barrels with a crazed expression.
"You asked for it!" she hissed, "Longshot, run!"
Without waiting, the duo ran in the opposite direction without caring if they left naked or didn't attack their enemy further.
Snorting in response, Nik rushed towards the barrels, his right hand instantly tapping the barrel almost at the verge of exploding and a little above two points of AP were added to his name.
'That's what you get by getting the way of Sludge Lord...
I should probably leave, too, and try to notify the guards about half the freedom fighters laying unconscious in the waste of the entire colony. A fitting end, if one would ask Nik.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel