Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

"So, why did you gather us all of a sudden?" Sokka asked. "I thought we were going to find a motel and then keep moving onward. Why are we here?"

"Yeah, that was the plan, but suddenly I found something interesting," I said.

"Interesting? Like what?" Katara asked.

I wondered if I should tell them about Toph. But I didn't want to use the excuse that the spirits told me, especially since I was about to say she's the most talented earthbender I know. So, I decided to let them see her for themselves. Honestly, I was already tired of making excuses in my life. I've gotten so strong, and if I keep going, I'll be strong enough to do whatever I want. Building up such an ego didn't leave room for excuses.

"You'll see," I replied.

"Okay, Mr. Mysterious," she shrugged.

We stood before a staircase guarded by one man.

"This is private property," he said.

I looked above him and saw a sign that read: "Butterfly Public Bath."

"We're here to watch the tournament," I said, putting my hand in my pocket, accessing the system, and grabbing some money from my storage. I placed a few silver coins in the guard's hand, and he smiled.

"Welcome, sirs and madam," he said, pointing us in.

'I don't remember in the Avatar that they charged a fee to get in,' I thought. 'Then again, in canon, they didn't try to execute Haru. The Ice didn't smash someone's head into shards. And as far as I've seen, the rocks here could smash a head flat. I guess this is what it means to be R-rated. This tournament could also be a lot farther from Toph's home.'

We descended the staircase. What greeted us was the sight of a large arena, filled with people in the spectator seats, cheering for the fighters.

"You brought us here for her, for what?" Sokka asked, looking around. His eyes scanned the crowd before falling on a tall, curvy girl with huge breasts. How did I know? Well, my eyes fell there too. Call it an instinct. But he stared longer than I did.

"For what you mean?" I replied with a chuckle. Man, I totally get him. Living 18 years in the South Pole with no attractive women around who weren't his sister could be tough.

Speaking of tough, where was Toph? I turned my head.

"We're looking for a talented earthbender to recruit. Maybe teach them metalbending and then let them spread it," I said. "If they're good enough, I might recruit them."

"Why?" Katara asked.

"I've got a feeling," I replied. "That we'd be more trustworthy to earthbenders if we had one traveling with us."

"Why didn't you take Haru?" she asked.

She was making a smart remark.

"You see, Katara, that day, I drank so much thanks to you," I smiled at her, and she blushed, embarrassed. "So, when I figured out the Fire Lord's scheme, I decided to make the best course of action, though it was a bit rash."

I could tell her the real reason, that I knew Toph from the canon and she could find a library in a desert and be useful. Sure, she might take the news of her being a fictional character in another world where people made countless hentai drawings of her well—though I was being sarcastic.

"Yeah, right," Katara nodded. "Rumor has it a massive force was gathered to eradicate the metalbenders. It's good you thought of that in advance."

Since no one knew what might happen, I considered leaving the method for training metalbending in a scroll. It might take a long time for people here to learn metalbending without me helping their brains, but they had enough time to train in this city. They would definitely spread it to other cities and eventually across the whole Earth Kingdom.

"Okay, Katara, find a seat, and I'll join you soon," Sokka said. It was obvious he was going to talk to someone.

"Me too," I said.

"Why?" Katara asked.

"Because I'm going to place some bets," I clapped my hands and smiled.

"Ryuk, this is gambling," Katara warned. "It's something everyone's parents warn you about. Even my grandma said to never gamble when you leave the South Pole."

I smiled widely. "It's not a gamble when you know the winner."

I walked to the counter where bets could be placed for the next match.

I read the names, and I found the Blind Thief among them.

I pulled out about 10 golden coins, put 8 of them on the Blind Thief, and 2 on a random person. I knew the gambling houses. They liked to minimize the image of their dark horses. And if you have a perfect win streak, they'd suspect you of cheating—after all, they cheat you for your money, but they don't like being cheated themselves.

I went back to my seat and waited for the next matches to unfold. The random guy I placed a bet on won, and Toph then appeared.

She was around 16—no longer that cute kid, but now a cute woman. She was a bit below average height with a ripped build for a woman, though not overly buff. Her chest was modest at best, and she had a perky butt. Her silky black hair, pale skin, and pale eyes caught my attention.

'Not bad looking,' I thought. 'Let's see her skill.'

"Is this the one you bet on?" Katara said, looking at the ticket in my hand.

"Yes," I nodded.

"She's blind, you know that?" Katara rolled her eyes. "If you wanted to waste money, you could just buy more clothes."

"I know," I agreed.

"Why did you bet on her?" she asked.

Seeing her question my judgment, I decided to tease her a bit.

"Wanna make another bet with me, that she'll win?" I said.

She crossed her arms and thought for a bit. "Hmm… what do I get if I win?"

"Anything you want," I said.

"And if I lose?" she asked.

"Make me an offer," I demanded.

"Okay, anything," she smirked.

I smiled and clapped my hands. I was feeling lucky today.

Needless to say, after Toph started fighting and seemed to hold back a bit, I won the bet.

Katara wore the most bitter smile I've ever seen.

"For the record, don't even think of saying something like bringing another woman or whatever," Katara snorted, crossing her arms.

"I was going to say a blow job, but whatever," I shrugged.

"What's that?" she asked.

Yeah, we were still working on the waterbending techniques.

"I'll explain later," I stood up. "I'll be back."

Then I went to the counter and placed another bet on Toph. This went on for three rounds. After the second time, I noticed something strange.

She was giving me that look. You know, she's blind, but I could swear her head was following me, even without looking.

Both of our senses worked differently, and I believed she was aware that I was aware of her. My aqua sense allowed me to see the shapes that the water pressed against, making it like a blind person using their hand to understand how someone's face looks. But in my case, I could wrap around the whole body.

Toph's power, however, is quite different. She can feel the variations from the ground. She can tell the pulse. She can sense if you're uncomfortable, angry, happy, lying, or not. She could even predict your next move.

The more she followed me with her head, the more my heart raced.

It's not because I was uncomfortable being stared at.

'Don't look at my package. She's not looking at my package, right?'

The referee, who was announcing the matches, followed Toph's head, and his eyes met mine when I sat down.

Toph whispered something in his ear, and I could hear it.

"Tell that guy over there to come over. We need to talk."

"That guy? Who… wait a second. Isn't that Ryuk?" he said.

"The one who's known to invent metalbending, who also happens to be a waterbender?" she replied.

"Yes, it seems to be him. His eyes are blue."

"But blue eyes aren't exclusive to waterbenders."

"There's a minority, but he looks like the poster. Haven't you seen it?"

"I'm blind, can't you see that?" she waved her hand in front of her face.

Though they were whispering, I could hear them clearly.

I sighed.

"It seems he can hear us too," Toph said, looking at me and smirking, waving her hand for me to come over.

"Look who we have here as a guest," the commentator, or referee of the underground matches, said, looking at me. "We have the one and only, Ryuk. The waterbender, steam bender, and metalbending inventor. The Coldest Nightmare of the Fire Nation."

Everyone turned to me.

"Looks like you're famous," Katara commented.

"It seems so," I raised an eyebrow, not feeling like going down into the arena. I've had my share of life-or-death fights, and I preferred not to force myself into a situation where I had to fight without the need to kill.

"Would you like to come to the arena, sir?" the referee asked. "The crowd would love to see your skills."

I waved my hand in rejection.

"Don't be a puss," Toph stepped forward, putting her foot next to my seat. "Let's have a chat now, shall we?"