To be fair, Tenzin's offer wasn't unexpected. While taking a longer shower than usual, he had time to think about it.
According to some vague memories he had from his previous life about Tenzin, the latter had been very excited to find out that there were other airbenders after the harmonic event at the North Pole following Korra's fight with the dark Avatar.
He wasn't sure if it happened exactly that way, but he was certain about Tenzin's reaction to finding other airbenders. He would definitely offer to train him.
That was the first reason he got offered to join the Order of the White Lotus.
And, of course, he had time to think about the pros and cons.
The cons, obviously, would be less free time.
Turning vegan or vegetarian wasn't a bad thing for him, as he hadn't been a big meat lover.
But as for the pros, he might learn new bending tricks.
Surely, the system might help him advance. He could get new tricks as he leveled up.
However, the leveling-up requirements would get higher with each level, so his progress would be slow.
If training with Tenzin could help him gain experience points or level up his airbending without having to spend Skill Points, then so be it. That would be very good.
Akashi pretended to think for a moment.
"Please, take all the time you need to think," Tenzin said.
"Oh, don't worry about it. He already spent all the time he needed to think. This brat may like to pretend to be dumb sometimes, but he is very sly," Beifong commented from the side.
'That was the old me,' Akashi scratched the back of his head and smiled.
The old Akashi, before having Bob's memories and knowing what kind of future he had, liked to do a few things.
First, pretend to be righteous and risk his life by joining gangs. But mostly, he did it to have a chance to smuggle their money and enjoy free drinks and women… which were all free under the name of work expenses. He would even sometimes request money and spend it going to expensive clubs, all in the name of joining the triads.
But after some time, his lieutenant was able to see that he was enjoying it and reported it to the chief. She let it slide as he had produced good results.
But now, he was a changed man.
He would never spend money on trivial things.
Instead, he would now smuggle a bit and spend it to get out of debt and sell his house as soon as possible.
"Sure, I'd like to join you and learn the ways of the air nomads," he said.
Tenzin smiled broadly, like a Pokémon trainer who had found the Pokémon of his dreams.
"You have chosen wisely, young man. I believe you will carry the name of airbenders and do it justice in the police department," he said. "By the way, what's your department?"
"Organized crime," Akashi replied.
"That's a very good field to shine in," he said.
Tenzin smiled and said a few more words with his silk tongue. Akashi just laughed back and called him teacher and all. Beifong looked as annoyed as hell when she looked at them.
They agreed on a date to meet and train. Akashi would take a ship to the Air Temple near Republic City.
After Tenzin left, Akashi's facial expression changed to one as stiff as stone.
The police chief clapped. "Look, you can behave like a decent human being in front of others."
"Yeah," Akashi sighed deeply. "Guess I need to train for a while."
"As long as you do it off duty, it won't be a problem."
"And I think I will stop working as an undercover cop."
"You would." She reached into her drawer and grabbed something. She gave it to Akashi, whose eyes lit up.
"This is your new badge. You're officially a detective now," she said.
'Yeah, bitch!' Akashi smiled and gave a slight bow. "Thank you, Chief."
She made a disgusted face. "Stop acting like that air nomad. I expected you to scream something about yeah and swear."
She was right. But he had managed to suppress that urge.
He just gave a small smile. "Is that all, Chief?"
"Yes. You're dismissed," she said.
Akashi walked out the door. When he closed it, he yelled, "Finally! I'm promoted. Bitch!" His voice echoed softly.
The chief had sharp hearing thanks to her metalbending power. Not to mention that this ship was made of metal, and she wasn't wearing her shoes. Her hearing was more sensitive than usual.
"That's enough proof he's not possessed," she sighed, grabbing a pile of documents and immersing herself in work like usual.
-x-X-x-
At the police station.
A beautiful girl was clenching her teeth badly.
Akashi was extending a piece of cheesecake to her.
"Eat it, it's my promotion party. Everything's on me," he said.
Currently, he was at his department building next to the main police station.
Behind them, a man was holding a bottle of alcohol and drinking happily.
Another man with baggy eyes and a faint smile was only drinking coffee. They were officers, some of whom were on duty at night.
As for the beautiful girl, she was his sergeant.
The one who had sabotaged his promotion many times.
It was very nice to rub his victory in her face.
"I won't eat cake bought with dirty drug money," she said, sneering at him.
"Come on, Amane. I swear it's not drug money," he replied. "I just bought a batch to lure that group into thinking I'm an addict."
"You request more money than you need. I've done all the calculations. And let's not mention that I interrogated the hookers, and they say you're quite the client," she said. "And our idiotic, lieutenant chief agrees to help you."
Akashi simply tilted his head and sighed deeply.
This teammate of his didn't understand one thing.
He was only getting what he got because he got results.
A burly man with a wide physique came in, taking the cake from Akashi. He was donned in the usual metalbender attire.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing, lieutenant." Amane froze in place.
"Yeah, nothing." Akashi shrugged. "How's the cake, Boba?"
The lieutenant, Boba, grabbed a spoon and began eating slowly.
"Man, this cake tastes so good. Only if some people in this department produced results instead of complaining about the budget the whole time," he said loudly.
Amane turned her head and blushed brightly.
Of course, the latter knew about some of Akashi's slightly misbehaviors, but he let it slide often, mainly because Akashi had told him about his brother's involvement in some organized crime years ago during an operation.
He had told him off the books about it, since if his brother was caught, the lieutenant would lose his job for having a criminal family member. Now, that brother had been beaten up badly by his own family and got disciplined. Everyone had been happy that day. And it was the other reason why Amane hated Akashi, because she wouldn't be able to promote until Boba promoted, and she had been trying to find the slightest mistake on him to report.
"Now that I'm a detective, I think I will get more done," Akashi said.
"Yeah. But now you'll have to work more with Amane. I hope your enmity won't turn into love. It's against the rules," Boba teased.
Akashi grabbed a barrel and handed it to Amane, who took it to the side and threw up.
"The worst thing she could say is no?" Akashi looked at her.
"The best she could do is say something," Boba teased. "Anyways, happy for you. But I'm quite busy tonight."
"Yeah, I think I'll be leaving early tonight as well," replied Akashi.
"Oh, come on, stay. It's your promotion party. You should stay longer."
"No can do."
Akashi looked around and felt it was quite unreal.
For the last three months, he had been making himself a new name in the streets of a new triad territory, hanging with criminals and thugs. Two days ago, he had a whole life's worth of memories. And now, he was hanging with police officers.
'I'm seriously getting tired of the multiple identities I'm having,' he shook his head.
"Akashi. Are you up for gambling tonight?" someone who was his friend asked.
But Akashi rejected him.
After his small promotion party was over, most left for their houses, while those who had to work stayed.
He was the first one to reach his house, a place that existed in one of the tallest buildings.
It was quite a luxurious apartment with plenty of space and a view that allowed him to see the whole city.
It was very expensive, so much that it would take him 20 to 30 years to pay on his salary.
His sergeant thought he was smuggling because he loved money and was corrupt.
But no one complained when the bank tricked him into becoming a debt slave who would still work when most of his coworkers retired.
And thanks to Korra opening the portal to this spirit world, his real estate investment would fall in price.
"The key to thriving isn't paying debt, but leveling up wisely," Akashi said to himself.
He was standing in front of the window, where the system's screen appeared.
He had two skill points and four attribute points, and he was planning on using them now.
[Agility 3 → 7]
[Airbending 1 → 3]
[Name: Akashi
Level: 3
Class: Airbender
Skill Points: 0
Attribute Points: 0
***Skill Trees***
Airbending — level 3
***Skills***
None
***Attributes***
Wisdom: 4
Strength: 2
Vitality: 2
Agility: 7
Stamina: 2
HP: 100/100
Chi: 100/100
Stamina: 100/100]
"Okay, now I think I should try how to level up skills by training."
Akashi walked to his balcony. It was time.