Avatar: Awakened Gamer

Chapter 120 - Battle of Gaoling



…
The attack had been cleared, an assassin sent by the Beifong Family, and their colonel met him in an open field. Yet the Earth Kingdom’s richest family had broken their honor and attacked Colonel Oa and killed him. 


Captain Li from a neighboring camp had taken charge, as an army was gathered. The Fire Nation’s information network had supplied that even at its best Gaoling couldn’t raise more than a thousand soldiers. 

This had been a play from Lord Beifong mostly to put the Fire Nation at ease that he wasn’t going to attack and any resistance he might pull up wouldn’t be a threat to the Fire Nation. 

Captain Li was an old man, a veteran of his work, having been on the frontlines many times. He stood atop a komodo-rhino at the head of the army, not an ounce of fear on his face. 


Dark smoke filled the air, as over ten thousand Fire Nation soldiers gathered from all around the surroundings, forming a mighty army that could crush any earth kingdom regiment under its boot. The hills were covered in red as the Fire Army marched in their uniforms. Captain Li could see this even without turning around. 


Men in komodo rhinos, riding the beasts as the vanguard, hundreds of them were ready to smash through any defense. Metallic tank-like constructions and trebuchets were everywhere, dozens of them.

“Did you hear the rumors about Captain Li?” some of the soldiers started whispering amongst themselves. 

Captain Li heard them, but acted like he didn’t, not wanting to bring any unnecessary unrest upon his men. 

“No, what are they?” asked another soldier. Captain Li’s grip on the reins of the komodo-rhino got tighter, but he didn’t say anything.

“Well, he was…”


***
Even with Gamer’s Body, the injuries on him had been so horrific that it took almost a full ten hours for Sokka to heal up even with the help of the water around him. In the end, he had to use some of the pond water from the Spirits’ Pond which he had “borrowed” the water from. 

Sokka stood naked, atop an iceberg he had just created. Looking at his newly mended flesh and perfect skin. Without Gamer’s Body, he would never be able to pull off such plans. 

After the process was done, he looked at his Map and noticed he was close to Kyoshi Island. His heart dropped a little, as he would have to use the only means he had of escape one last time. 


The Boots of Teleportation only had one use left. They had helped him through some of the hardest situations and saved his life multiple times. With the cold oceanic wind hitting his skin, Sokka equipped his alligator-skin boots one last time. 

It looked a little strange, a naked man in an iceberg with alligator skin boots. Sounded like the punchline to a joke. So he put on some green Earth Kingdom clothes.

“This is it,” he muttered. Having always had a backdoor to escape, he would no longer have that privilege. 

=========
Name: Sokka
Title: [Legendary Beast Slayer]
Class: [The Gamer]
Level: 58
HP: 4250 (+1000) 
MP: 1645

STR: 29 -> 35
AGI: 51 -> 64
VIT: 25 -> 32
INT: 49 -> 49
WIS: 37 -> 43
LUCK: 326

Point: 0
==========

His stats had gone up, and so had most of the skills he uses usually like spearmanship and waterbending. 

Taking a deep breath, feeling the cold salty air entering his lungs, Sokka clicked his boots and was gone with a flash. 

Less than a second later, the world shifted and changed and he appeared atop a mountain near Gaoling. Even from so far away he could see the sky had turned darker as some machines the Fire nation used released that smoke. 

By using his Map and traveling closer to the army as a scout, Sokka was a little surprised by the size of the army. 
He didn’t think killing someone this way would have been so effective. Though he had known that no matter what, the Fire Nation would attack. What else was it going to do? Lay down? No, that would make it seem weak, and incompetent causing many soldiers to lose trust and it could have horrible consequences for the Fire Nation.

Reveal publicly that they had been working with the richest family in the Earth Kingdom and received bribes from it? No, that would be even worse.


He had contemplated spreading rumors around about the beifong and Fire Nation business but doubted anyone would take such rumors seriously. As they were too ludicrous, the same as saying that Ozai poisoned his father to take over the throne. 


“Hmm, this is going to be a little hard. There are too many troops,” Sokka muttered under his breath while thinking about how to handle this. 

Even in such a disadvantageous situation, he wasn’t necessarily too worried, his primary goal was already achieved. 

Before, when acting as Fun Shi, he couldn’t use waterbending or spearmanship, his two strongest weapons, without giving himself away. But now it was different. 

[New Quest: The Battle of Gaoling]

Looking at the rewards, which were just Exp and a sword he had no use for, Sokka refused the Quest. 

Due to the one that had created this interface, Sokka hadn’t accepted any Quest unless the reward was too good to be passed up and the risk would be worth the pay out. 

He was still going to fight, and doing the Quest would have netted him a couple of level-ups. But he didn’t want to empower his “master” even more than he already had. 


..
Sokka went to Gaoling and by using his Map was able to find Aang within the Beifong Residence. Rushing there quickly, the guards didn’t stop him, they seemed kind of out of it too. The news of the overwhelming force likely put everyone a little out of it too. Sokka did not doubt that Aang had already gone and spilled the beans.

He would have liked to stop Aang, as informing the average civilians could only make the situation worse and ensure panic. It would be essentially the same as informing a defenseless city that it was about to be nuked and they were surrounded. 


But stopping Aang here would have only made Sokka seem suspicious. He didn’t want any connection to what will ensure. 
Inside the Beifong residence, Sokka could smell the panic in the air. Everyone was jumpy, looking everywhere, muttering amongst each other, and walking a step faster than they usually would.

     
Once he entered the main room, the same place he had met up with Lao Beifong the previous time when his proposal was refused. Except for this time the table had turned, he could read the head of the Beifong Family like an open book.


The man was scared, his hands shaking, and his eyes were filled with terror. He was mumbling something to the strawhats. 


“Avatar! You have to get us, the Beifong Family, out of here! I will sponsor your war against the Fire Nation and I have a lot of connections.” Lao Beifong said, in an almost begging tone. 

But Aang shook his head resolutely. “My duty as the Avatar is with the people. I will stay behind and help them-”

“Just lend us the flying bison for a while and I will give you half of the Beifing Family wealth. No, 70% of the Beifong Family is yours.”


Sokka stood by the side and just watched as Aang only shook his head without hesitation. 

It was during times like this when Aang showed his lack of greed that Sokka couldn’t help but think that this was behavior belonging to the Avatar.


If he had been the Avatar, Sokka would have looked at the logical route and taken the money and used it to sponsor the war. 


But that might not have been the best decision in the long run. Sokka knew he would have been blinded by his greed, he was just a normal person by the end of the day. His upbringing in his first life wasn't anything special.


“No. I am not here to be bribed by you,” Aang said resolutely, the grip on his staff tightening. “But if you’re willing to lend us your troops in defense of Gaoling City, then I will do my best to help you.”



Lao Beifong's head dropped in despair, as he mumbled something to himself. The man panicked and looked like he had aged a decade within a day.


Toph turned toward Sokka, and her eyes narrowed as if she was pleading for him to do something about this. 


“Lord Beifong,” Sokka called out to him, in a respectful manner, despite what had happened before. 


Being petty now would just sour relationships, he didn’t go through all this effort just to act stupid with it. “As long as we have your support. We can fight back against the Fire Nation and with some of the things I have planned we could even win.”


Sokka spoke with confidence, as did dozens of plans. No, hundreds of military ideas and plans from his first life came to mind. 


Geniuses of the world that were never seen before, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, and many more plans made by geniuses who could have conquered the world came to mind. 


In this world, no one had encountered such strategies and strategists before. 


Sokka smiled and extended his hand toward Lao Beifong. The confident and friendly smile on his face never faltered for even a split second, as he knew that after this, no matter the ending of this battle, Lao Beifong was in his pocket from now on. 


"Also, I need Toph for something, her earthbending skills will be needed in the war to come," Sokka said seriously. Not showing even an ounce of the smug smirk he was feeling inside.


When he had asked about Toph previously, he had been verbally kicked and spewed out. Despite how he helped the Beifong Family. 


Now, Sokka was asking out of politeness and not to seem like an asshole. Lao Beifong's opinions on the issue no longer mattered. 


"Y… I can't. My daughter is just a blind-"


Lao Beifong was about to continue speaking more until walked up in front of Sokka. "You said that he would be okay with me going."


"He will be, but having him let you go willingly and make him happy at the same time is hard," Sokka explained. He had promised Toph that her parents will let her leave willingly, but willingly didn't mean they would be happy about it. No parent out in the same situation would be happy, if they are then they're bad parents. 


"Father, I'm going with him," Toph pointed at Sokka. "Despite how he looks or acts, Sokka is smart. He won't let me die."


Sokka didn't know how to feel about Toph's trust in him. But decided to just roll with it. Her rebellious spirit burned hit today, and he wasn't going to kick a gift horse in the mouth.


"Father, I am not as weak as you think," Toph said as she walked off.

Lao Beifong's face fell, but deep down he knew there wasn't anything he could do. How own carelessness had brought him here, and now he had to reap what he sowed.


***

Toph finally found the sliver of hope she needed and it was quite easy to do. In her mind, her parents were like an unbreakable cage she couldn't escape from.

But in reality, the true cage had been herself. 


Right now, with armies marching toward her hometown, she realized something. 



'How silly of me. Worrying about my parents being mad while people are dying out there? That was very stupid of me. So what if they get mad? There are more important things at stake here.'