Defeated {Earth Kingdom POW}, +0 exp!
Zero exp?! Game, what the hell?!
Base exp rewards are calculated through estimated combat difficulty. Prisoners of War pose no challenge combat-wise. The exp rewards correspond to such.
"Have mercy, please!" "Spare us!" "Please, we won't rebel anymore!"
"No! Pick up your weapons and fight me!" I roared at the now surrendered prisoners, but alas, no one was feeling brave enough. Their hands in the air, the surrendered Earth Kingdom militia refused to meet my eyes. And that only made me more frustrated, there must be at least 30 of them here- that was at least 150 exp that I could have gotten instead if they just kept fighting. I just needed a measly 33 exp!
For appearing to be a bloodthirsty battle-maniac...
{41st Division} Obedience : 10 -> 15
{Earth Kingdom} Obedience : 1 -> 2
"Private Khan, uh... sir?" The Fire Nation soldier with the messenger hawk hesitantly called my attention, "The Captain has ordered you to report to his command tent."
I just pushed the frustration and my meteor hammer down for now, and everyone around me breathed a sigh of relief.
"Very well." I replied as I marched towards the command tent sitting on that hill. "But that cowardly pig had better have something worthwhile to say..."
(A few minutes later) [Captain's Command Tent]
"That's it?" I snapped angrily- the boom of my voice filling the small, but luxuriously decorated tent interior, "You made me come all the way here to get me to write a glowing testimony about your 'heroics' in this battle?"
Imagine for a moment a stereotypical fat, greedy tax collector from a fantasy world... Now squeeze him in the red and black Fire Nation uniform that's a size too small for him, and you have {Captain Tuan}. Certainly not a name I recognise from canon, and for that reason, I couldn't care less for his existence beyond how this pathetic waste of space wasn't exactly in my good books right now. I knew his type- he was the type of boss to overwork the people below him so that he could coast on their hard work and claim the credit. I wasn't about to allow that to happen to me this time around, especially so when he was being an obstacle on my path to power.
Name: Tuan
Level: 3
Rank: Fire Nation Captain, 41st Division
HP: ????/????
Strength: ???
Dexterity: ???
Constitution: ???
Intelligence: ???
Spirit: ???
"Careful with your tone, Private." Captain Tuan tutted- aiming a warning stare at me for a second or two before going back to eating his roast turtle-duck. "We wouldn't want you punished for insubordination so soon after being deployed."
The two {Firebender Bodyguards} shifted a bit as they stood beside the Captain. A clear threat to me.
"And yes, I do expect you to write that testimony." he continued, "No better witness to how I duelled the Earth Kingdom officer and made the rest of the forces surrender than the up-and-coming Corporal who was there to witness it first hand, hmm?"
"Corporal?" I parroted, and Captain Tuan gave a duck fat-stained smile.
"Corporal Khan... it does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" He hummed- wiping his mouth, "You seem like a strapping young lad with healthy career ambitions, so allow me to give you free advice: What I'm offering you now is practically a gift from the spirits seeing as you're just a fresh recruit! You should be on your hands and knees thanking me for my generosity."
...In the Avatar The Last Airbender show, they had made some of the Fire Nation officers almost cartoonishly evil. It would seem that was still true now that I'm here. Rage bubbling at the thought of being forced to bow and scrape to morons in power once again, rising hatred for his stupid grease-stained face and just 33 exp shy of finally levelling up. Considering all those factors, I only had one thing to say.
"Captain Tuan, for your conspiracy to forge military documents and general incompetence, I'm arresting you in the name of the Fire Nation."
The Captain just blinked once before snorting out a cruel laugh.
"Ha! I don't think so. Arrest this insubordinate green horn."
I was a firm believer that this was where unarmed combat shone best: spontaneous violence. Even with the Bending Arts, some set up was required: proper stance, precise breathing, and maybe a good mindset. A punch with an armoured fist flying at 30 kilometres per hour didn't need any of those considerations, and it bought me half a second over my opponent since it was not something you usually expect standing almost metre away from someone. Backed up by my considerable Strength and Dexterity to it, the punch knocked the {Firebender Bodyguard} straight on her ass with a concussion before he even knew what was happening.
Subdued {Firebender Bodyguard}, +6 exp!
[Fire-Jab], -49 hp!
HP: 268 -> 219
But still, it was two versus one, and the Captain the {Firebender Bodyguard} to land a hit with his bending before I rounded on him with an armoured backhand hard enough to dent his iron helmet and send him tumbling to the ground.
Subdued {Firebender Bodyguard}, +7 exp!
I reached out at the slow-to-react Captain and slammed his face onto the edge of his dining table- loose, bloody teeth clattering to the fine carpets before I began dragging him out of his tent by his topknot.
"No! Stop this!" He groaned out through a bloodied mouth, trying to struggle against my grip, "I'm a Fire Nation Army Captain! You can't kill me! The entire camp will turn against you! You'll be executed for treason!"
And as if to prove his words, the entire encampment watched- muttering and whispering- as I dragged the Captain into the centre of the camp like some prize hog I caught.
"What's he doing to the Captain?" "Should we stop this?" "Is the Giant a traitor?"
However, I already had a rather simple plan.
"Captain Tuan!" I loudly proclaimed for the rest of the camp to hear, "For the conspiracy to forge military documents, the embezzlement of funds from the unit's pay and general incompetence, I challenge you to an Agni Kai!"
"He's embezzling funds from OUR WHAT?!" "Bury him alive!" "Feed him to the pig-deers!"
The cry of outrage was soon echoed by the rest of the Fire Nation soldiers. And as the enraged soldiers loudly bayed for Captain Tuan's blood, he paled in fear and looked at me.
"H-how did you know?!"
"Oh, you really did embezzle funds?" I grinning widely- all teeth underneath my helmet, "I was going to lie about it to have a reason, but thank you for confirming. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't doing this for the Fire Nation. I was doing it because I really wanted you dead. So, I hope your Ozai Style is really good, because I'm pretty confident with mine."
"M-mercy..." Captain Tuan seemed to pale even further at that. We both knew that this was as good as an execution, just with a few extra steps.
Now, it was just a question of how much Reputation and exp I can squeeze out of his corpulent body before he expires.
(Two hours later) [Two hundred kilometres south]
"There she is..." The hunchbacked old fisherman told them, "The mainland."
Suki took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to drink in the sensations that she's feeling right now; because who knows how long it'll be before an islander girl like her will ever get to see the ocean again?
The sea breeze running through her auburn hair, the salty spray of ocean on her white painted face and the gentle rocking of the boat beneath her armoured feet. Something told her that it was going to be a while before she experienced these things again. Opening her blue eyes, Suki looked to the horizon and saw nothing but green leafy foliage on a yellow sanded beach that stretched from East to West without end. If she was being honest, it was more than slightly intimidating for someone like her who had only lived on a small island her entire life.
...But at least, she wasn't alone.
"Well, here we officially are, sisters." She said as she turned around to smile to her squad- to her family, "Kyoshi Warriors on the Earth Kingdom mainland... who would have thought this day would come."
Looking at her sisters-in-arms, all clad in the same ceremonial green armour as she was... it gave her strength and hope. Because although they had broken the sacred tradition of peaceful isolationism as taught to them by Avatar Kyoshi, they did it for the right reasons and they did it together, and that's what mattered.
"Maybe the Avatar?" one of them chirped, her red painted lips stretched in a wide smile, and Suki laughed softly at the thought.
"Aang? Having that much foresight and wisdom?!" She smiled mirthfully, "I don't think so, I'm sure we'll be a big surprise if we ever run into him again. But I think he'll be happy to see us shake off tradition to help fight the war."
"I bet Sokka would be happy to see you too, Suki~"
"H-hey!" Suki squawked in embarrassment, It was good that her cheeks were painted a pure white or else her blush could be seen. But her sisters-in-arms just giggled at her reaction.
"Oh Suki, you're so easy to tease!"
"Ahem, can we just focus on our mission instead of teasing me?" She just pouted and her sisters giggled one last time before calming down.
"Sure, Suki. Sure." they chorused- all smiles, and Suki just shook her head with a fond smile herself before turning her attention to the old fisherman.
"Uncle, can you tell us the route again?" Suki prompted him. He nodded and turned to face the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors.
"Like I said to the little missy." the bald, but bearded fisherman yapped, "If you want to reach Ba Sing Se, you only got one option that doesn't see you dying of thirst in the Great Desert or getting your boat looted by pirates, and that's Omashu. Once you get there, there's a road heading northeast. You take that all the way to Full Moon Bay and take a ferry across the East Lake straight to Ba Sing Se."
That should have been the end of it, but the old man sighed- stroking his grey beard before continuing.
"I won't sugarcoat it... even though you got lots of little Earth Kingdom villages lining the road north, it's still a miserable, months-long trek to the city of Omashu. I'd sail you directly to the city, but the Fire Nation has gotten really jumpy ever since the Avatar came back and this boat is all I have left, and..."
"It's alright, uncle. We understand, thank you for getting us this far." Suki reassured him with a gentle smile. "We can handle ourselves. Isn't that right, sisters?!"
"Yeah!" The five others cheered.
"Kyoshi Warriors!" Suki barked in command, and her sisters-in-arms crisply snapped to attention in unison. "Elder Oyaji may have disagreed about Kyoshi Island's participation in this war; but long ago, Avatar Kyoshi was the one to bring balance to the world. And today, we- her humble followers- will walk in her footsteps! Proud inheritors of the great legacy of Avatar Kyoshi! Focus together as one, and there is nothing that the Fire Nation can throw at us that we can't handle! We will complete our journey across the mainland, lend our martial skill to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se and beat. the. Fire Nation. BACK!"
With a flourish, her battle fan extended out to point at the mainland.
"So I say: 'Send them all, Fire Lord Ozai!' Send your greatest warriors, your most elite troops and they will not best the Kyoshi Warriors! Focus together as one!"
"As one!"
Suki looked at her sisters' eager faces and saw that despite the fighting spirit overflowing in their eyes, they still kept their discipline. It was at that moment that Suki knew that they were unstoppable. They were going to make this journey unscathed. They were going to be alright.
...
(Meanwhile)
"It does smell like pork!" My booming voice declared to the rest of the 41st Division.
Around a great collection of fires, we feasted; and it was at the largest one where I sat in front of that the former {Captain Tuan} was currently being roasted on a great spit- a thick log piercing him from anus to mouth as I rotated over an open fire. My personal handiwork- when I said that I'll squeeze every drop of exp from our former CO, I really meant it. It was all thanks to him that I had gained the last exp needed to level up, other useful skills, and the supplies to feed our ostrich-horse mounts!
Skill Level up: [Cooking]! Lvl 2 -> Lvl 3
Skill Level up: [Animal Taming]! Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2
"Well, if any of our ostrich-horses didn't already have a taste for traitors, they certainly will tonight!" I laughed, and the men laughed along- likely just the alcohol. I had distributed his rather large collection of wines to the men as celebration, and his hoard of gold as their bonuses. Such distribution of wealth gave me a lot of Reputation and Obedience with them.
For casually displaying indescribable cruelty in front of your men and servants...
{41st Division} Reputation : 30 -> 27
{41st Division} Obedience : 20 -> 50
{Servants} Obedience : 0 -> 40
{Earth Kingdom} Infamy: 5 -> 15
Now, Captain Tuan gave me even more. I take it back, he was such a swell guy! It makes me almost wish that I didn't impale him while he was still alive.
"41st Division!" I proclaimed as I stood up and everyone's eyes went to me. "Eat, drink and celebrate. Because from tomorrow onwards, we're not just going to complete our mission, we're also going to make the entire Earth Kingdom live in terror of us!"
The troops- wholeheartedly agreeing- raised their tankards and filled the night air with shouts and roars of praise, while our new POW-servants just bowed their heads subserviently. I looked up at the starry night sky and made a vow: This world was going to be mine, everything and everyone in it.
...
"... Do you really think everything will be okay, Suki?"
"Yeah, it will. We have each other, don't we? Sisters forever."
"Sisters forever."