Akashi took a bending stance. He didn't know exactly what he had to do, but he believed it had something to do with pulling and pushing. Since in the comic's timeline, Aang managed to master waterbending easily, Akashi figured airbending must be quite similar to waterbending. Besides, he had seen waterbenders in action before.
He tried to do a simple push, but barely got any result. He tried again and again until the air finally got pushed out of his hand.
[+1 exp (airbending)]
"That took like three minutes to get one experience point?" Akashi muttered to himself.
[Airbending – level 3 (1/400)]
He was here to grind, not to complain.
He wished he could keep that in mind.
After many hours, dawn came.
In total, he got 60 experience points before his Chi reached zero.
As it did, he could no longer bend the air, and he felt mentally and physically exhausted.
Lying on his fluffy bed never felt this satisfying before. It even made him moan.
"Shit," he exhaled loudly. "I should have chosen easy mode instead of hard mode. How many days will it take me to level up without having to use skill points?"
But since this was a life based on an RPG game, the key to getting stronger was to level up.
Unfortunately, this was his first run-through, and it would take a long time before he figured out how things worked. He might even discover some bugs.
Akashi drifted to sleep. He decided he had been through a lot and had earned himself a two-week paid vacation. He hugged his new badge and slept peacefully.
When he woke up, it was already 12 PM.
He cleaned up before walking to his porch. There were many newspapers and mails in his mailbox. Most of the mail was from two days ago.
It was from newspapers and journalists requesting interviews.
Thankfully, these mails were sent through the police station.
And thankfully, no one knew where he lived.
"Thank God," he said before grabbing everything and going back inside.
The first thing he did was read the newspaper from two days ago.
Since people knew about him being an airbender, he needed to confirm a few things.
He skimmed through the newspapers and found that most of them talked about the newborn airbender.
Many had their own theories.
[Could the councilman be cheating on his wife?]
[Is the new airbender a mutant?]
[Are there other airbenders hiding themselves?]
Luckily, none of these newspapers had his picture. He had been involved with some gangs and many criminals under fake names. If they found out who he was, it would be over. Not to mention, if they found out where he lived, they would definitely come after him. On the other hand, they had his outline drawn in vector shape, and it was quite accurate. That meant people in power knew his face and identity.
"Well, this will make it easier to figure things out if something goes wrong," he muttered to himself while continuing to read.
[The new airbender should contribute himself to science. Even some organs, as his contribution could revive a whole race…] Follow current novᴇls on Nove1Fire.net
That was a scientist's comment on his existence, believing it might be possible to create airbenders using his cells or stem cells.
"If you want my genes for science, send me your wife and I'll gladly deliver, bitch," Akashi said before throwing the newspaper away.
As he stood up to train, a severe headache hit him.
A strong sense of panic, boredom, and mental pain overwhelmed him.
He laid back down and breathed heavily.
"This happens every time I stop working in the field."
Whenever he stopped pretending to be an addict gangster, on the third or fourth day, he would experience strong withdrawal symptoms.
He had been drinking heavily, gambling, engaging in different pleasures, and even smoking stuff no one knew about.
Of course, he went through withdrawal symptoms every time. Other cops like him either drank lightly or used something to cope.
But for him, it was better to go cold turkey for a day and avoid everyone and everything.
He had already spent two days unconscious detoxing from drugs and harmful substances. Now it was time to face the detox side effects.
'How would I explain it to the air nomads that I can't train for a couple of days because I've got shit,' he thought before shaking his head. 'It's okay. It's not the first time I've done this. I have done this before.'
Akashi lay on his bed and endured the mood swings, cold sweat, and pain for many hours. His body begged him to drink something or buy drugs, but he endured it all. Every second felt much longer than it should.
Finally, he fell asleep at the sound of a notification.
[Congratulations. You have unlocked a skill.]
[Poison resistance (Passive). Level 1]
[A skill that helps your body and mind fight against side effects of harmful susbtances. The efficiency depends on the level. The stronger the poison, the higher the required skill level.]
When Akashi woke the next day, he felt refreshed, light-headed... and happy?
'It seems the passive skill saved me from suffering a few more days. I no longer feel the desire to consume,' he thought, smiling. Usually, this process took a lot of time. He would feel good some days, bad some days, worse the rest, and then finally get better before going back to the field. It was the price he had to pay since he hadn't had the power to bend before.
After taking a shower, he ate a couple of refrigerated eggs and some bakery.
When he was done, he took a push-up stance while observing his stats. After training for some time, he didn't see any improvement. His HP dropped a bit, but nothing more.
"I hate hard mode," he grumbled to himself.
Suddenly, he stopped when he saw a shadow looming over his apartment.
Turning his head, he saw an elephant-sized creature that looked like a bison with white fur.
"A flying bison, this early?"