AN: I'm using two r's for Terrah now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was business as usual, however, when he started making the walls for the farm, Old Man came up behind him, and placed a bear-like palm on his shoulder, startling him.
"What do you know of walls, Vagabond?"
"They hold things?" Terrah replied somewhat ignorantly, hoping to get a rise out of the old man.
"Yes, that is exactly correct. Can this wall of yours hold anything?" Old Man questioned as he stroked his beard.
Looking at the average looking wall, it was just like the type of wall that seperated homes.
"Well it's pretty hard, I'd say it could support-"
Old Man moved forward, and punched his fist through the structure, shattering it.
"Spend more time condensing the material. Then when you have finished, I want you to create a brick. To seal the bricks together, you are to take the skills you learned grinding ink, and make a paste with the combination of earth and water. Condense that paste, and apply it between the bricks." Old Man commanded.
"..." Terrah listened to Old Man's ever increasing demands, and felt like just when he was about to have more free time, he was saddled with an ever increasing workload.
"Once you have built the foundation of this wall, you will construct it in this shape. This is what is known as a gravity wall." Old Man explained, and drew an image in the dirt with a stick.
Terrah glanced down, and saw that the picture looked sort of like a chocolate piece of toblerone.
Scratching his head, he thought it was kind of a dumb shape for a wall at first, but the more he looked at it, the more genius it was.
Flat, straight walls were prone to heavy attacks. Like in WW2, the Panzer tanks had box-like armor, and despite being thick, were still vulnerable to attacks. Meanwhile, the Russian tanks-which were made of inferior materials-had a decent survival rate due to slanted armor.
This wall design was slanted, and was excellent for repelling missile attacks. If he was right, it would probably block fire blasts or rock blasts from benders with ease.
Old Man claimed these walls were for defense against wolf-snakes, but from what Terrah could tell, he was being trained to make walls effective against men!
"So we need these walls to defend against wild animals, huh?" Terrah crossed his arms, and smirked at the Old Man.
"We're missing three armadillo-pigs, and over ten lamb-roosters since you arrived two weeks ago. Now get to work, I'll be here when you inevitably fail." Old Man said, then took a seat under some shade nearby, and started carving something.
Terrah shook his head at the cranky old prune, and began to compress nearby dirt blocks.
This was much easier than working with granite, but it was still time consuming. Instead of making that bastardized version of cement, he didn't even bother making the wall. Instead, he focused all his efforts on making bricks. Terrah decided to divide his labor into stages, then once he had enough bricks, he would construct the wall all in one fell swoop.
Like that, he spent almost all day doing nothing but constructing bricks from all the dirt he had dug creating the moat.
It was kind of funny, Old Man had instructed him earlier to pile all the excess dirt into a mound outside the farm, and now that very same eyesore had become the resources necessary to construct the wall.
Each complete brick netted him [+50 exp] and was made in about 10 seconds. Which was 18,000 exp an hour.
By the time evening had come around, he had grinded his Earthbending, jumping from 11 to level 13, and was closing in on 14.
However, his [Physical Body Training] was still at level 9, as he had yet to cross the threshold.
Terrah had a few ideas, but ultimately he decided to go with the most basic solution.
His barbarian thinking went something like: He was a man. Man carried big thing. Man carried rock. Man carry big rock, man get stronger.
Conjuring a giant rock, Terrah condensed it, then added more weight to it. He then got some straps from the barn, and made a harness.
All the while, Old Man was nearby carving what looked like a fine bowl filled with intricate ancient scripture.
Terrah decidedly ignored him, and set a challenge for himself. To carry this damned rock around this farm at a jog until he surpassed the level 9 threshold!
Strapping the boulder to his back, Terrah was unbalanced, and fell flat on his face.
"Hmpuh." Old Man snorted.
Terrah stood up, wiped a bit of blood from his nose, then grunted as he felt the extreme weight lowering him down.
Each step felt like he was wading through a deep pool of water, or walking in molasses. However, the occasional curious glance from the old man was all Terrah needed to push forward. If not for himself, then for the pride on the line to prove something to the geezer.
After one lap, he was struggling.
The second lap, he felt a cramp in his chest.
His third lap, he could barely see.
…
..
.
Terrah lost count of time, and woke up to find he was in his room with a towel over his forehead, and a bowl of porridge by his bedside.
[Physical Body Training lvl 10: 12,000/15,000 exp]
'Huh, I must've reached the threshold, and then in my mind addled state, kept going beyond my limit…I wonder. Since I was so weak, did that increase my exp modifier?'
Terrah had an exciting revelation. The next time he did some sort of training, he should try using only one hand, or work with a blindfold. He should bring out all the kung fu movie training tropes!
Terrah moved to get up, but found his entire body was sore af.
He wanted to chuckle, but even breathing hurt.
Well…there was always tomorrow, time for some rest.
Closing his eyes, Terrah welcomed the sweet embrace of sleep.
The next morning, Terrah made breakfast, same as usual, and didn't say anything to Old Man about yesterday.
As they ate, Terrah enjoyed the simple company of being around another human being. In general, Terrah was anti-social, and mostly kept to himself. However, he was still human, and liked to be close to a few people.
Over these two weeks, he had let work and grinding exp fuel his life. It was times like now, when there was nothing but silence, and sharing a space with Old Man that he appreciated what he had.
Two big meals, hot water, and a roof over his head. In a feudal world, a lot of people were missing one of these things. In a way, ruining the old man's potatoes was a blessing in disguise.
How terrible would it be if he had woken up in the heart of Ba Sing Se penniless? Or the Great Desert, the polar ice caps, the Great Swamp, or any other innumerable terrible places? Places like Kou the Face Stealer's cave!
Just thinking about the spirits, and the lack of an Avatar was enough to make Terrah's blood go cold. Licking his lips, Terrah decided to table that topic, and ask about them another day. Hopefully despite Aang's absence, the Spirit World didn't start merging with Earth…
Shaking his head, Terrah put such terrifying thoughts to the recesses of his mind, then stood to bow at the elder.
"Old Man, thank you." Terrah said with sincerity.
"If you think that'll change my mind about your debt, Vagabond, you have another thing coming." Old Man said as he picked some meat from his teeth.
Terrah faintly smiled, and bowed once more, then collected the dishes.
As he scraped a plate clean, he made some small talk.
"Your favorite spices are running low." Terrah idly remarked.
Not a second later, a pouch full of coins was tossed in front of him.
'Is my cooking really that strong?!' Terrah marveled as he moved to pick up the sack.
As he reached out, Old Man thwacked his hand with a thin long stick.
"Gah!" Terrah recoiled in shocked pain.
"Ingredients for cooking only. Depart Friday, and return no later than dusk." Old Man said with narrowed eyes, and then left for his hut.
"Damned old man. I treat him with sincerity, and this is how he repays me!" Terrah complained to himself, and saw a welt forming on his hand.
It didn't help that he got a [+500 exp] float up, and contributed towards his [Physical Body Training].
While it was good to know that he got exponentially more exp when he suffered, that didn't mean he was going to throw himself off a bridge in the name of exp! (foreshadowing?)
Shaking his hand out to diminish the pain, Terrah opened the bag, and saw it was stuffed with copper, silver, and gold pieces.
'Holy shit, there's probably almost as much money in here to pay off my debt!' Terrah looked on with big, bug eyes.
A second later, he then narrowed them. Old Man sure was a crafty sonuvabitch!
The guy must be putting him up to a test, to see if he would run with it!
'Heh heh, you may be a mysterious kung fu wizard, Old Man, but you never accounted for taking in such an autistically astute disciple, heuh heuh heuh.' Terrah silently laughed to himself, and his shoulders shook in mirth.
"Are you done with the dishes already? Get to work!" Old Man's voice called from the steps to his room.
Terrah wiped the smirk off his face, then placed the big bag of money on the table.
Honestly, it tempted him, but the safety to train, and legitimate things he learned were worth more than a hundred times this wealth. Knowledge, after all, was the most valuable currency.
Nodding to himself as if he were some grand sage who reached epiphany, Terrah left the cellar after cleaning up, and went about his daily tasks.
In between the tedious work of watering crops, and making bricks, Terrah tested a few things, like jumping off the barn into a front flip, walking blind folded, and doing push ups.
All these acts granted exp towards his [Physical Body Training]. At first, he thought it was kind of weird that limiting his vision would count towards that, but the eyes were part of the body, therefore, it counted!
Since that discovery, Terrah cast every single brick with a blindfold on, which had the added effect of boosting his Earthbending by a few exp due to the added difficulty!
Terrah was happy he had found a way to game the system, and was sharing that joy with Star by giving her a mud bath.
Stripped down to nothing but his underwear, and wearing a blindfold, Terrah was laughing as he wrestled with the armadillo-pig.
"Oink!" Star happily called out as she pinned him with her tail.
Terrah grinned as he struggled to force her back, but it was all to no avail, she was strong like an elephant!
"Haha, I give, I give!" Terrah laughed, then removed his blindfold.
As soon as he yielded, Star rolled off him, then laid next to him with her belly facing the sky.
As dusk was beginning to set in, Terrah rubbed her belly.
"You see those shiny things up there? That's what I named you after, Star. The mark on your snout is just like that." Terrah said, a hint of melancholy entered his voice, and his eyes moistened a bit, as looking out to space reminded him of home.
"Oink, oink." Star snuggled close to him, and sniffed his hair.
Supportive feelings were sent his way, and Terrah welcomed her embrace.
Breathing in the cool night air, Terrah brought out a bag full of weeds.
"I collected these special, just like you wanted." Terrah smiled.
"Oink!" Star squeed, and stuck her snout into the bag like a glutton.
"Haha, bon appetit~" Terrah patted her on the back, then left to wash up, and prepare the night's meal.
Since today was Thursday, Toph would be returning soon, and he wanted to keep up his strategy of attacking her stomach!
After cleaning himself, Terrah made some dim sum, and when he entered the common room in the cellar, he saw Toph sitting in his seat again. This time, however, she was barefoot.
'Ah, she's learning. I'll have her true self come out of hiding in no time. Before long, she'll be even worse than the old man or me! Toph really is a bandit in personality!'
Grinning to himself, Terran set some food down in front of Old Man, and then set the rest of it down to the left of his spot, just out of her reach.
Grabbing one of the bowls and some chopsticks, Terrah silently ate whilst standing next to Toph.
Toph, being just as proud as he was, didn't budge for the food, but damn did she look like she wanted a piece! As someone who was blind, her other senses had become keener. As a result, the amazing smelling food must be twice as potent to her than it would be to a normal person.
"Mn, mm, don't want to move, huh Bandit?" Terrah taunted in a pretentious voice.
Toph clenched her fists, and ground her teeth in response. Truly the perfect picture of calm.
"You know what, you can have my seat, I don't mind." Terrah said between bites.
"Really? Then what was all that ostrich-horse crap about seniority?!" Toph crossed her arms, and huffed.
"Well, there is a catch~"
"I knew it!" Toph exclaimed as if she were some big brain detective that had solved the case.
Terrah barely withheld a chuckle.
"Right. Anyway, the price you have to pay for sitting there is simple. Just open your mouth, nice and wide." Terrah said, preparing a piece of dim sum in his chopsticks.
"You're not going to do anything weird, like-oomph!"
"How do you like my dim sum?"
"Guh! It's warm, slimy, moist and kind of good? I don't know, give me more!" Toph slammed the table and demanded.
"If the bandit wants more of my meat in her mouth, who am I to deny?" Terrah lightly chuckled, and then fed Toph for the rest of dinner.
Old Man was alternating between a purple face of anger, and a not so hidden perverted gleam in his eye during the entire encounter.
Toph, on the other hand, was a greedy little gremlin! Terrah enjoyed feeding her, and watching her lick her lips was super sexy! However….she ate all his dim sum!
Stomach grumbling, Terrah morosely cleaned the dishes.
Overall this was a victory, but he felt cheated. As if he were a guy who took a hot girl on a date, paid for her sushi, and then he only got to eat a piece…then for no reason, his dad showed up, and she was more interested in talking to him!
Hanging his head low, Terrah consoled himself knowing that each piece of dim sum he fed into those delicate lips was worth a whopping 10,000 exp! The road to reaching level 51 in his Culinary skill would be paved with mountains of corpses, but so long as Toph Beifong acted as his personal food taster, he would one day ascend to the peak of culinary mastery!
Shaking his head at his absurd fantasy where he became a world renowned chef in ATLA instead of some hidden dragon, Terrah saw the old man signal to him, so he stopped daydreaming, and went to grind the ink.
"Not tonight, Vagabond. Tonight, I wish to see you two spar." Old Man said in a brusque tone.
"You know she can fight?" Terrah replied, and pointed at Toph in surprise.
"Shouldn't you be the one who's more surprised? You said you knew Old Man longer, but he taught me half the stuff I know! This is my seat!" Toph loudly exclaimed, and pounded the table once again.
"I can see why you're always carving utensils." Terrah ignored Toph, and addressed the old man.
"Yes, she can be quite the hot head." Old Man stroked his beard.
"Oi, are you ignoring me?! I think you're ignoring me!" Toph slammed the table, and stood up.
She sent a glare Terrah's way, and for a moment, Terrah actually felt threatened. Hot as she was, didn't mean she was weak. That number above her head [41] meant businesses!
'….wasn't she level 40 just two days ago?' Terrah slowly blinked.
"Alright Vagabond, outside, now! Unless that is, you're too scared to face someone stronger than you!" Toph pointed a finger right into his face, and then slammed the table one more time with her offhand.
The table creaked, and shuddered, collapsing in on itself. Since she was using it to support her weight, Toph was caught unexpectedly off guard, and tumbled into Terrah, who as a byproduct, collapsed onto his back.
'Soft!' Terrah breathed in a mouthful of tits, and really couldn't control himself this time.
A full on raging boner pressed into Toph…and she pressed harder into him?!
For a brief moment lasting no less than ten seconds, he felt her hot breath on his face as their lips were close, and then she stood up, and slapped him on the face.
"You really live up to your name, don't you, Vagabond? You think you're tough enough to wrap your arms around me? That you have such big aspirations? Well prove to me you're tough enough to hang with me, and I might be willing to feel it out! Now come on and fight me!" Toph yelled all in one take.
Face beet red, she stormed out of the cellar.
Old Man, meanwhile silently stroked his beard, and took an extra loud sip of his tea.
Feeling his heart racing, and his pants expanding, Terrah was all raring, and ready to go!
"You know Bandit's uncle once killed 10,000 men in a single battle."
That one sentence alone deflated his raging python like a popped balloon animal. Cold water figuratively poured on his shoulder, and he glared at the old man hatefully.
"Couldn't you just let me live out my youthful fantasy for one night, damned old man?"
"Ssiiiiii." Old Man took an extra long sip. "Ahhhh~~~" then gasped in unconcealed joy.
"Unbelievable." Terrah stuck his hands in his pockets, and morosely marched out of the cellar, and towards his guaranteed ass whooping.
"Make sure to take your underwear off, the last time you were knocked unconscious, you soiled yourself!" Old Man held one hand to the side of his mouth, and called out with a raised voice.
Terrah responded with double middle fingers.
Emerging onto the roadway, Terrah saw Toph cracking her knuckles, and casually levitating a pair of rocks the size of an average motorcycle into the air.
'I'm fucked.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Old Man's energy: