The Lieutenant and Hiroshi left the main building, trying to follow Akashi's trail. They had agreed to find him first, team up with him, so that they could subdue the bloodbender.
By now, it was obvious that Amon didn't recruit Tarrlok because the latter believed in their cause.
No.
It was because the two were related. Maybe they had the same mentor, or were brothers.
Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact that both of them had been played by a bender greedy for power.
And the one who had revealed that truth to them was none other than their previous enemy, Akashi.
Walking around the base, they had found that the army they had, the hundreds of nonbenders they were training, were nowhere to be seen.
And somewhere, there was smoke, black smoke.
"Fuck." Hiroshi cursed, "It seems that our mecha suits have been destroyed."
He knew the smoke very well. It had the same smell as the chemicals he had used to make the mecha suits.
"Let's hurry." The lieutenant said.
Both of them ran toward the smoke source.
And when they reached there, they stopped at a sight that was too hard to believe.
Even harder than seeing a film about Amon being a bloodbender.
What they saw was Akashi sitting on top of a human carpet.
The latter was smoking while looking at the sky.
"Akashi… what is this?" Hiroshi stepped forward, as he was the most familiar with him.
A few weeks ago, Akashi had approached him through his daughter, to present a new invention. At first, Hiroshi had been hesitant and reluctant to meet him, especially since he hated benders, no matter what kind they were.
But he couldn't say no to his precious daughter. As Akashi met him to present the idea he had, Hiroshi found it interesting, easy to make, and very magical. Akashi had mentioned its uses, such as uncovering a bloodbender under the mask by the name Amon, and that they were being fooled to follow him. At first, Hiroshi almost had a heart attack. But when he woke up, Akashi had left already, letting him be. Hiroshi hadn't been able to sleep ever since. So, he had spent the extra money he had to make the filming camera and installing it in the mansion where Amon rested.
"It's something with a meaning." Akashi replied, exhaling smoke loudly.
'It's called playing it safe.' Akashi thought.
Defeating hundreds of men in mecha suits, inside a closed room, was nothing short of a blessing and a tiresome work.
He had gained a lot of levels in a row.
But the hard part was to get them out of the mecha suits.
You know, if he left them inside those suits, unconscious and in heated closed machines, they may die by dehydration.
'I wish I could upgrade my strength stats, but it can come naturally.' Akashi opened the screen and looked at it with eyes that said a lot. 'If it were possible, I wouldn't want a build with high vitality. But what can I say, the new perk is worth it.'
Akashi had learned a few things.
Every five points above 20 stats gave him a new perk related to the stat he had upgraded.
[Name: Akashi.
Level: 40
Class: Airbender.
Skill Points: 10
Attributes Points: 2
Skill Trees
Airbending — level 22
Wavesbending — Level 11
Martial Arts — level 5
Skills
Poison Resistance — level 4.
Driving — level 5
Attributes
Wisdom. 20
Strength. 9
Vitality. 30
Agility. 20
Stamina. 20
HP: 1500/1500
Chi: 500/500
Stamina: 1000/1000
Perks
***Wisdom Perks ***
[Meditative Mind: Learn more from less. Experience points increases by 30%]
***Vitality Perks***
[Thick Blood: Bleeding effects last shorter, deal less damage]
[Minor Regeneration: Can regenerate from any minor non-lethal damage]
[Iron Guts: Natural resistance to poison and control effects]
*** Agility perks ***
[Blurred Motion : Bonus speed. Body moves so fast that it leaves after images.]
*** Stamina Perks ***
[Rapid Recovery – Stamina regenerates noticeably faster mid-combat.]
"What the hell do you mean it's meaningful. I find it repulsive to attack our men when you know the truth!" The lieutenant yelled.
"But they attacked me first. I gave them a chance to run away, but they got into the robots, and they attacked me, leaving me no choice but to defend myself." Akashi said blandly.
The lieutenant clenched his teeth.
It's not that he had a problem with what Akashi said.
It was the way he had said it.
And to be fair, it terrified him.
He had beaten up a whole army on his own.
Did they even have a chance to win this war from the beginning.
"Akashi," Hiroshi called. "Let's forget about it. For now, why don't you come with us and hide. We'll discuss a plan to take Amon down."
Akashi threw the cigarette and shook his head.
"Plan changed." Akashi said, "And he's already here."
Both of the lieutenant and Hiroshi turned their head to see a man walking, his face covered by a mask.
"Sergeant Akashi. I didn't expect you to show your location by engaging in a draining battle." He said, "and I see that you told my followers some petty lies."
By his followers, he meant the lieutenant and Hiroshi.
"Amon. It's useless to deny it. We have seen you bloodbending." Said the lieutenant.
Amon had yet to know about the new invention, so he wouldn't have known that they seen him doing it.
"You got two things wrong," Akashi said as he stood up, walking on the sleeping bodies. "I didn't tell your followers a thing. Second, the battle wasn't draining enough."
He said.
With him leveling up, having a high stamina, and gaining a recovery perk, he wouldn't get tired easily. Though, he felt bad for the chief in the future to handle him, it was still necessary.
"If it didn't, you would have run." Said Amon.
Akashi vanished from the spot, leaving an after image.
"To where?" Came Akashi's voice behind Amon.
But he turned on his bloodbending sensory, only to know that there was no mass of blood behind him.