"Don't take your eyes off your opponent!"

The firebender yelled as he launched a fire blast at Genji when he noticed that he was looking away and not paying attention to the match.

Without looking at the firebender, Genji casually spun the staff and in his hand and thrusted it into the fire blast and instantly dispersed it before turning back to the Firebender with a calm smile.

"Calm down man, we're one of the remaining fighters," said Genji before gesturing at two other pairs fighting each other.

It was then that the Firebender noticed a large number of people either dead on the arena floor or fleeing.

With a scowl, the firebender turned back to look at Genji and said, "Take this fight seriously."

Genji shrugged his shoulders and looked at the man with a calm look before getting into his fighting stance.

With staff in hand, Genji knew that he could defeat the man before him. It might take him a while, but he could accomplish it.

"That's great," muttered the man with a serious look on his face as he also got into his fighting stance.

Standing still, they both looked at each other, waiting for someone to strike first.

'I need to quickly level up my polearm skill… I need to make a move quickly before one of the other contestants joins the fight,' thought Genji as he used his Hyper Sense skill to sense the other fighters still fighting.

Exhaling, Genji lowered his body a little and bolted forward.

At the sudden rush from Genji, the firebender shot a fire blast at Genji. The fire blast was stronger this time around and Genji was surprised a little. However, he was prepared and quickly struck out his staff faster than before.

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[<Adept Poleman> (Lvl. 34)]

[<Heightened Senses> (Lvl. 11)]

[<Hyper Sense> (Lvl. 11)]

The instant the fire blast was dispersed, Genji was momentarily stunned as the firebender had disappeared. He lifted his head and smirked before striking upwards with the staff and hitting the man on the leg and disrupting his balance.

Falling back down on the ground and having his attack ruined, the firebender looked at Genji with a glare.

The firebender could clearly feel that he was more skilled than Genji, yet for some reason, he was found very quickly various times. It was like Genji had eyes on the back of his head.

Feeling freaked out and angry at how he can't land an attack on this young man, the firebender began to get a lot less composed.

Genji looked at the man before him and felt a little disappointed as he looked at the man losing his composure.

The loss of composure was something that is very detrimental to a fighter since they don't fight in a calculated manner anymore. It would be very easy for them to lose energy or stamina very quickly and end up on the losing end.

With experience under his belt already, Genji knew that he was already going to win this battle against the man before him.

Before the man could lose, Genji was planning to milk the experience from this man.

Twirling the staff in his left hand over to his left hand, Genji spun the staff and stabbed it through multiple fire blasts that were shot at him.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

…

[<Adept Poleman> (Lvl. 35)]

[<Adept Martial Artist> (Lvl. 25)]

[<Precision> (Lvl. 9)]

Quickly dispersing the fire blasts accurately, Genji looked at the angry look on the firebender's face before performing a sweeping motion with the staff. Hitting the firebender with the sleeping motion, Genji made the firebender lose his balance and quickly retreat back.

"Stop playing around!"

The firebender yelled in anger before running at Genji and instead tripped on an unconscious body and knocked himself out in the process.

"..."

Genji looked at the unconscious firebender and didn't know what to say.

'What the fu…'

Sighing and turning to look at the other guys, Genji saw them turn to each other before turning to look at Genji. They were both panting and already running out of energy.

When they looked at each other, a look of understanding flashed within their minds and they knew that they should combine forces to defeat Genji who was only sweating a little.

With resting and meditation, Genji is able to recover lost energy, stamina, and even a bit of health as long as he stays still for a couple of seconds. Not only that, but as long as he levels up his martial arts skill or the firebending skill, Genji consumes less stamina and energy depending on his skill level.

With the two remaining fighters, aside from Genji, levels at three and their exhaustion, they both understood that they wouldn't last a chance against Genji if they fought him by themselves. Together on the other hand, they knew that they could possibly stand a chance.

Nodding at each other, they slowly approached Genji who looked at them calmly with a bored expression on his face.

"Let's hurry this up," said Genji before lunging forward and striking the closest fighter with the spirit staff.

Genji knocked the wind out of the man and sent him stumbling back before he headed over to the other fighter who was shocked at the rapid attacks from Genji.

"I-I giv-"

Bam!

The staff hit the man on the side of his face and didn't let him finish his sentence. Genji felt bad for a moment before he suddenly saw a blue screen in front of him.

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

…

[<Adept Poleman> (Lvl. 36)]

[<Adept Martial Artist> (Lvl. 26)]

[<Calm Mind> (Lvl. 23)]

[<Precision> (Lvl. 12)]

[<Hyper Sense> (Lvl. 13)]

Slowly, Genji's poleman skill was approaching the 40th mark and he was beginning to expect something amazing.

Suddenly, just when Genji was going to continue leveling up his Polearm skill, the two fighters collapsed on the floor, tired.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!"

As soon as they fell to the ground and nobody else was standing, the referee jumped up and yelled in excitement.

"WOOO!"

"AMAZING!"

Genji frowned and just looked at the two guys on the floor. He was disappointed, he wanted to level up his skills a bit more but the firebenders before him had fallen unconscious.

Up on the stage, Azula's eyes lit up and she smiled as she looked down at Genji with interest.

'He can be very useful…'

She stood up and walked off the stage, slowly walking over to Genji who was turning away from the unconscious men that were being dragged away.

Standing before Genji, Azula peered into those golden eyes of Genji's and felt lost in them for a second.

"You will only listen to me now," said Azula as she smirked and placed her hands on her hips. With a commanding tone, she was already taking charge and trying to submit Genji under her.

Genji looked into Azula's eyes that were filled with a pure desire for sadistic pleasure, but underneath that look, Genji noticed a frail girl wishing to be rescued.

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[<Heightened Senses> (Lvl. 12)]

[<Hyper Sense> (Lvl. 14)]

"You poor thing… all alone… hopeless and sad…"

Genji unconsciously began speaking when he noticed the frail mentality of Azula's in an instant. Maybe because of the meditation he has been doing and his spirit stat, Genji could read people more easily than before.

It was still a little difficult to accurately read someone, but for someone like Azula who hides all her insecurities, Genji could see right through her right away.

Hearing Genji call her hopeless and sad, Azula began to feel angry.

She frowned and glared at him before smirking.

"Hmph. You think you're very perceptive but you're just a young man who's lost with no goals for himself. You must have thought that you would get somewhere by taking part of this tournament and going somewhere."

Genji raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard Azula's conjecture on him. He was surprised to say the least, this was exactly who he was earlier in the morning before knowing Azula would be here today.

'She truly is a cunning and smart woman who would manipulate anyone for obtaining power,' thought Genji as he peered into Azula's eyes.

"You are right Princess Azula, I have no ambition. What type of ambition would I have without the proper motivation. Unlike you, I wasn't groomed to think and act like how someone else wants me to," said Genji, sending Azula a knowing look.

"You…" Azula frowned once more and was about to say something before she suddenly thought of something and smirked.

"Very ballsy of you to speak to the princess of the Fire Nation like this. Consider yourself lucky that I will let you off with a warning if you come under my wing."

Genji narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, 'Azula… She's very calculative… she must want something.'

Lowering his head a little, Genji asked, "What are you planning, Princess Azula? You're not thinking of suddenly throwing me to my death under some captain, right? Or were you really planning on instilling some fear into me to make me loyal to you?"

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[<Indomitable Will> (Lvl. 10)]

[<Calm Mind> (Lvl. 24)]

Azula's eyes shook a little but her facial expression was unmoved with that same snarky smile still on her face.

"Are you afraid?" asked Azula, her eyes revealing a bit of delight and entertainment.

"Not at all," said Genji with a smile.

"..."

They both looked at each other for a couple of seconds, neither breaking the stare.

Genji was feeling like his heart is going to jump out of his chest at any moment now. The conversation with Azula was very nerve wrecking since he could easily be manipulated by such a woman like her. That and he could also be very easily attacked and taken down by Azula.

4

The number above Azula's head demonstrated her skill in firebending, lightning generation, and her strategy expertise.

It was another thing Genji had recently discovered. Although this level was similar to many other similar levels, it always depends on how well one can use their skills effectively and to their advantage.

Aang and Iroh were both very good examples.

Aang is only a level three, but his sole mastery in Airbending and is well-versed in it and can Airbend like it's nothing. He can end up defeating people in level four and maybe even five with just Airbending alone.

Iroh was also similar, despite being level four, before he loses some weight and gains muscles, he could easily defeat and take down various firebenders who attack him at the same time.

It's something Genji knew he had to be wary of.

Turning around, Azula began walking away before stopping and turning to look at Genji who was still standing there.

"What are you waiting for?"

Genji sighed and followed behind Azula and headed outside of the tournament area. They found a carriage already there.

"Now… let us head back to the palace."

Azula glanced at Genji standing behind her and smirked.

'Looks like father won't be disappointed at all. I've picked up quite the interesting stray. Hiding his firebending… instructing him personally will be quite entertaining.'

***

On a flying bison traveling through the air over the large sea, three humans and a Momo were sitting down.

"Hmm… Where are they?"

Looking through a map, Sokka was ready the various points in the map that he had made of the various places they have traveled to.

Aang was taking them on 'fun' trips to have fun and enjoy their time.

Because of this, Sokka was having a headache because he believed that Aang didn't know where they were heading.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" asked Sokka after checking the map multiple times.

Aang smiled and rubbed his bald head before saying, "Well, I remember it's near water."

Sokka turned to look at the sea and then at Aang before looking back at the sea and speaking sarcastically, "Looks like we're getting close then."

…

"Why are we landing here?" asked Katara as she looked at the island below.

Aang smiled and said, "We're going to take a rest here, Appa must be feeling tired."

Sokka and Katara turned to look at each other, a little skeptical at what Aang was saying.

They didn't say anything however and just landed before Katara commented, "At this rate, it will take us a long time to get to the North Pole."

"Don't worry! Let's ride some Elephant Koi and we will then go straight over to the North Pole!" said Aang as he took off his clothes before jumping into the water.