Akashi sat across from Tenzin, watching the sunset from the highest point of the temple. The kids in the yard were having more airbending races. Some tried to make balls bigger, while others tried to make them smaller.
They were very competitive after that race with him yesterday. At the same time, their grudge against him had vanished after he brought them another set of gifts.
"Thanks to you, my kids are taking training more seriously," Tenzin said.
Akashi shook his head, sipping his tea.
"Not at all. Since they are all siblings, I wouldn't serve as a real motivation," he replied.
"But you can serve as a target they aim for," Tenzin added.
"True," Akashi nodded. "This tea is good."
"It's a medical herb that grows only at the highest point of the Northern Air Temple," Tenzin replied proudly, boasting of his airbending heritage.
Akashi wasn't flattering his tea-making skills. The recovery rate for his stamina and Chi had increased by drinking this tea. It was like a potion in gaming terms.
"Very nice," Akashi continued sipping. "I may ask you for more."
"Sorry, I can't," Tenzin rejected. "This herb is very rare, and I can't provide a lot. I only have this tea a few times each year."
"Understandable," Akashi replied. "So, I've heard that you took a vacation from the council's duties."
"Yes," Tenzin nodded. "I will be visiting my mother in the South Pole in the next few days…"
"The South Pole," Akashi hummed. "Your mother must be the legendary Katara."
"The one and only," Tenzin smiled, seeming proud.
"Mentioning the South Pole, isn't that where the Avatar was born?" Akashi had been waiting for a chance to bring this up.
"Yes. The recent Avatar, Korra, is in the South Pole."
"Did she continue her training? In that case, it would be wise to bring her. After all, the Republic City's crime rate is high, and the criminals need someone as strong as the Avatar to fear," Akashi suggested.
His words held half of his true intent. His true intent, of course, was to have her around as a second layer of security.
Tarrlok had a brother, an older brother, who was way stronger than him. If Tarrlok could bend a horde with his mental strength, Amon could do so without a blink of an eye. The only person who could resist bloodbending and could take bending was the Avatar.
As Akashi was the person to arrest Tarrlok, Amon would target him. No, even if Amon didn't target him, Tarrlok would, as the older brother wouldn't let his younger brother get executed.
Tenzin forced a troubled smile. "Because of my duties being overwhelming, not to mention raising three kids, I have been delaying her training."
"That's quite unwise, to say," Akashi sipped his tea. "I'm afraid that more people like Tarrlok would appear, and because the Avatar isn't around."
"What can I do?" Tenzin said. "This city is full of corruption. Yet, it's a dear thing to me that my late father brought. My father wanted a place where people could live safely. Yet, there's the homeless, the hungry, and the jobless, and I'm doing my best to solve their problems. Yet, these bureaucrats make my job harder. I had decided to let things up to fate."
"If it troubles you to train her, you can throw her under me," Akashi suggested. "I may not be a very experienced bender, but I have a fresh perspective that may help her learn faster."
Tenzin gave him a tight glare.
"What?" Akashi asked, feeling
"Hope no romantic feelings get in your way," Tenzin warned.
"Is that a problem? And why do you think so?"
Tenzin sighed. "You're a rare airbender. Someone like you has a higher chance to revive the airbender tribe."
Akashi coughed up his tea and spilled it everywhere.
He hit his chest repeatedly to get his breathing back on track.
After his breaths were back, he glared daggers at Tenzin.
He could read between the lines.
"They are kids!" Akashi replied dejectedly.
"Never said anything about kids. You're young, and in the next five or six years, you'll stay young, but they won't be kids. It's hard to find a good man like you these days. Remember, two is better than one," Tenzin said calmly, as if he had said nothing wrong. In fact, he was even negotiating. The man was so desperate to have the airbenders back that he offered both of his daughters now. If Akashi hadn't been fixed on beating some assassins up, he would have beaten up Tenzin. It seemed that Akashi knew why Tenzin had been so excited to find an airbender appearing out of the blue.
Akashi was about to say something. But he chose not to. The man just wanted to revive his clan. So, he calmly closed his fist.
"No need to think about it for now. Anyways, if I brought Korra here, you would be available to train her, even at the cost of your job?" he asked, shifting the topic.
"I can always have her around. She may learn a thing or two," Akashi replied, feeling a bit calmer now.
"Then, that would be exquisite," Tenzin nodded.
"Anyways, I think I stayed too long. Mind dropping me?"
"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Tenzin invited.
"I'm fasting," Akashi didn't want to stay for dinner tonight.
"Fascinating practice. It seems that you were truly considering studying the ancestors' wisdom. As expected of my son-in-law," Tenzin laughed. "I once fasted for 15 days with my father. I want to see if you can beat that."
Akashi forced a smile, veins bulging on his face.
-x-X-x-
Akashi was on the flying Bison's back.
Now that he was in the air, his mind was so calm.
The coming battle was against elite earthbenders. Unlike most metalbenders who had been bending mostly metal and neglected their earthbending training, these guys didn't share the same weakness.
They were strong like boulders, fast and agile since they were assassins, and very effective and deadly, with the earth being their very weapon.
[5 Points have been used]
[Vitality up to 10]
[4 points have been used.]
[Wisdom up to 10]
[Recovery rate accelerated to 50HP/hour. 10 chi/min]
Akashi hummed, with 7 points remaining.
They would be numerous, so stamina was a necessary stat. And more agility would do wonders. But he could rapidly increase those stats during the battle as he saw fit.
After all, the system didn't seem to be lagging.
'I'm screwing your ex, not your son in law.' He thought.
-x-X-x-
It was around 10 PM. Most of the shops in this district had closed, even the coffee shop next to the police station.
The owner of the shop was walking while humming a song.
"Can you hear the silence? Can you see the dark... can you fix the broken... can you feel... can you"
In the middle of humming the song, the ground beneath him shifted, creating an empty cube.
The figure of the man fell due to the gravity.
From all of the sides of the empty cube, the earth shifted, making spikes that flew fast as if they were spears, hitting the target.
Eight figures appeared from nowhere, seeming like they had come from the shadows.
"The target has been eliminated," one of them said.
"We should take his head as proof," another suggested.
"No need. The news would take care of acting as proof of our success…"
"Guys, there is no body inside," one of them noticed.
The assassins stopped talking, and they walked to the cube, finding that their spikes hit nothing. There was no blood, no body, and definitely, no one at the very bottom.
Their target was an airbender, so it's impossible to assume that he had used earthbending to escape.
"Did we get the right target?"
"He's definitely Akashi," they confirmed.
They stopped in the middle of their talk, lifting their heads, looking left and right.
'Can't kill them next to the police station... better drag them along to a more isolated corner. I had already prepared their graves. But against 8, that may prove difficult still'
Akashi was standing on the street light pole, his shadow slowly casting over the eight confused agents.
"You can feel my heart?" he asked them, continuing that verse from the song.
At that moment, he got their attention.
He smiled at them.
"So, how was your gang bang with her majesty?" he asked, his tone provoking.