6 06 - Determination
As Levi was going back to the tribe along with his two siblings. Everything seemed normal but all along the way he was having this uneasy feeling, he couldn't tell exactly why he was feeling this way but it was getting worse every second, he just hoped that nothing bad would happen.
Unfortunately, reality rarely goes the way we want, when they were halfway back to the tribe with Levi in the lead and Sokka and Katara chatting and laughing, already forgetting their earlier argument Levi suddenly froze in his tracks prompting both of his siblings to do the same.
As they looked forward, Sokka and Katara both started shaking and shivering behind him, and he would have been in the same state if not for gamers' minds, he finally knew the source of that uneasy feeling.
The reason for it was 100 meters in front of them, a giant white beast, a polar bear! it was at least the size of an igloo, a size that no bear had the right to be, it was covered in blood mostly around his mouth and front paws, and chewing on the corpses of dead penguins laying around.
But it seemed they couldn't satisfy him as Levi could swear he saw a grumpy and unsatisfied look on his face, 'Great just great.' thought Levi as his brain ran on overdrive to get them out of this predicament.
"Back…up… slowly." Levi reacted quickly and instructed them in a whisper only they could hear one word at a time, as he also backed up holding their shaking hands, he knew there was no way they would move without his help, they were completely frozen in fear.
'There is still hope, it hasn't noticed us yet.' thought Levi as he backed away, sure he was stronger than your average person but he was nowhere near a trained soldier, and he doubted even they could take on this beast.
"I…I…*hic*." Katara tried to say something as they slowly backed away but she couldn't get it out and he honestly couldn't blame her, Sokka was silent but from the intense shaking he was obviously just as afraid.
Just as they were about to get away from the bear…
*crunch*
They made a small crunching sound while stepping on snow that would have gone unnoticed in any other situation, but it seemed that they were out of luck as that sound was all that the polar bear needed turning towards them, Levi didn't know which one of them made the sound and it didn't matter at this point, they were exposed!
Hearing the sound the polar bear lifted its head in their direction and saw three little humans just a small distance away from it, which for his big size was nothing, he could cross it in seconds.
If it had a human facial structure right now it would have a huge grin on its face. Those dead penguins weren't satisfying its appetite at all, and they weren't even that tasty, it just ate them because it had nothing else to eat.
But those three little meatballs came just at the right moment, it remembered eating a bunch of their kind a while ago and it was the best feast it ever had in its life so it couldn't forget about it. Just the thought of tasting that meat again made it salivate.
Slowly it started to approach the three little humans as they backed away from it slowly with fearful looks on their faces. On two of their faces to be precise.
The kid in the middle didn't have a shred of fear on his face, although he seemed wary and on guard he wasn't afraid like the other two, instead he was looking at him with the calculating eyes of a warrior or a hunter even.
That made the bear slightly curious, but it was only that, curiosity, because this prey didn't have the same reaction as its previous ones, it didn't mind or care for it otherwise. They were all the same in its eyes. It had never encountered a stronger opponent than it since it reached adulthood and it believed it would still be the same now.
"Shit shit shit." cursed Levi as he stopped retreating, afraid that it would anger the bear more and cause it to speed up in their direction as his mind worked on overdrive to think about what to do.
'What can water bending even do against it, if only I knew ice bending' he thought as he looked at the hulking form of the bear. He still couldn't even do ice bending which would have made things way easier.
He again wished he was reborn as a fire bender, even in the early stages fire bending is extremely powerful and would be able to help him here, although if he was a fire bender he wouldn't be here to run into this situation.
Worse of all there was only snow around them, yes he could bend it but it would take much more effort than water bending while not producing the same result, he guess it have something to do with it being half ice bending or some shit like that which was why it was hard, that was his theory at least but now was not the time for it. 'Heh, so much for ten points in luck, it seems really useless.' he thought, mocking his luck state which was supposed to be ten times that of an average person.
'Should I just retreat and save my own skin?.' He couldn't help but have this thought keep playing in the back of his mind again and again.
'Or Should I just risk it all and create an opening for my siblings to escape?' came another thought the opposite of the former just as strong.
'But can I really fight such a beast? Will I survive?.'
'And what would be the point of that?'
'Should I sacrifice myself for them to escape?'
'Were they really worth it?'
'They're not even really my brother and sister right?'
'No one from the tribe would even blame me afterwards, I was nothing but a helpless little kid after all'
'And even if I did sacrifice myself for them, the bear may kill me and catch up to them anyhow so my sacrifice would have been in vain.'
'I was never a good Samaritan or a saint. I could do this without batting an eye, so why am I thinking about it so much? Why am I hesitating so much?.' thought Levi, not able to fathom why he wasn't running when faced with such monstrosity.
'Plus with the bear distracted by them coupled with my bending powers and states I have a really high chance to escape'
'Do I really want to die after obtaining the system? An opportunity most would kill for!'
'With the system if I survive I will most likely get strong enough to bring them back so why risk it all now.'
Thought after thought flooded Levi's mind in barely a second, all urging him to just throw it all out of the window and escape as fast and as far as he could, to save his own skin, each thought more convincing and reasonable than the last one.
"FUUUCK." Levi screamed at the top of his lungs as he turned around, looking as if he was about to escape.
Seeing this scene the polar bear prepared to sprint toward them, he liked to play with its prey but it wasn't stupid enough to let it escape.
But…what Levi did next was out of everyone's expectations, even his own!
He put his young sister's hand in his younger brother's hand as he screamed at the top of his lungs startling both of them and waking them up from their shocked state, "SOKKA TAKE KATARA AND GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"
Hearing him the bear started to sprint towards them, it did not understand what the sound its prey was making was but it was done playing with it.
That was his choice, yes he could escape and he will most likely succeed, but what kind of life would he lead after that? And what kind of person would he become? If he gave up on his siblings today, what would he be willing to give up on tomorrow? Will he be willing to give up on himself? After all, the way these things go It always starts with small things then escalates to bigger ones, and he didn't want to lose himself on his quest to power.
Even when he becomes much stronger one day and resurrects them, what's the point? If he had already given up on his loved ones and his principles along the way he'll be nothing more than a walking shell of a person, alive in body and soul but dead in spirit. A person who doesn't dare to face any difficulties and always gives up under pressure, a person who bullies the weak but cowers when faced with the strong. He'd rather die with no regrets than become such a person!!.
This is no longer just about his siblings but also about him, he has to face this hurdle and mental block, and if he survives it he will come out as a transformed person, if he dies then he will die with no regrets protecting people he loves, a death that most can only dream of but never achieve.
He was no saint, if the choice was about any other person beside his loved ones it would have been a really easy one to make, hell, he might have even crippled them and left them behind to slow the bear down, but he got really attached to these two little bastards and now he was going to face a bear the size of a small house for them.
He was not a five-year-old kid after all, he was a 31-year-old grown adult mentally. He might have even started to view them and care for them as his children which might have contributed to his choice , 'Sigh, this reincarnation stuff really is a hassle, if I have the choice I'll never do it again.' he thought not wanting to get attached to more people by mistake, because as much as it was a blessing it was also a curse.
[Ding*]
[Endurance/willpower +5]
[Due to the user taking a specific action a quest has been generated]
[Quest: You ran into a polar bear on your way home and decided to fight him in order to protect your siblings.
Objective 1: Delay the polar bear until your siblings can escape.
Objective 2: Slay the polar bear.
Reward 1: +3 character Level - 10 state points - 300 exp - ??? - ???.
Reward 2: +1 character level - 5 state points -
100 exp.
Accept/decline]
A notification came from the system with his first quest but he paid it no heed, this was not the time for that, the bear was still approaching and getting faster by the second so he just accepted the quest.
It might have seemed like a long time since he screamed at them to run away but it had barely been a second in the real world and only now did his siblings register what he meant, and when they did it seemed they forgot about the bear rushing towards them and about their fear as tears started falling from their eyes and they shook more violently than before.
'Good at least I am not sacrificing myself for nothing.' thought Levi to himself, his heart warming up at his siblings reaction and his will to protect them getting even stronger.
"But.. But…You.. Hic." Katara tried to mutter something but she couldn't in the middle of her tears and fear, but he knew what she was trying to say 'But what about you?.' were the words she couldn't get out.
Seeing her like that he seemed to have forgotten the danger even though he was still paying close attention to it as he kindly smiled at both of them to reassure them, "Don't worry I have a plan and will definitely be able to escape this, but, if you are around you will only be a hurdle to me and we will all die, okay?." he said, the only thing he knew would make them listen to him and escape trying not to sound panicked at the approaching beast.
Hearing what he said seemed to make their worries lessen but they still seemed to be reluctant to leave and the bear was getting closer.
Seeing them that way Levi glanced at Sokka with a serious look and nodded, and that was all that was needed for him to understand what he meant, grabbing Katara's hand tightly he turned around and ran away as fast as he could.
'He's dumb sometimes but at least he's reliable when it counts.' thought Levi to himself as he watched their retreating backs knowing this might be the last time he saw them.
"Sokka, katara, Mom and Dad this might be it for me so Goodbye," he muttered in a tone only he could hear as he turned around and took a water-bending stance as he faced the incoming bear.
***
Levi current states
States:
Name: Levi
Age: 5 years old (31 mentally)
Level: 01
HP: 20
Chi: 40.
SP: 20
Vitality: 2
Stamina: 2
Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Dexterity: 2
Endurance/Willpower: 2 + 5 = 7.
Intelligence: 2
Wisdom: 2
Charisma: 2
Luck: 10
Untrained adult state is 1.
Trained adult state is 5
Elites trained adult state are 10+
Powers/abilities:
Gamer Mind (passive) - Level Max: This power allows the user to control their emotions and thoughts as if they were in a video game. They are able to remain calm and focused even in the most stressful situations, giving them a significant advantage over their opponents. This power also makes the user's mind impenetrable to outside influence, such as mind control or psychic attacks.
Gamer Body (passive) - Level max: This power allows the user to heal quickly and recover from injuries at an accelerated rate, similar to a video game character. The user can quickly recover from fatigue and exhaustion with just a little rest, and heal from minor injuries in a matter of seconds. They can even regenerate lost limbs or other body parts.
Night vision (passive) - Level 5: Allows the user to see in the dark as if it were daylight, it can allow the user to navigate better in dark areas and not lose his way, the higher the level the clearer the user's vision will be
Meditation (Active) - Level 6:Helps calm the mind and spirit, HP, SP and chhe recovery increases during meditation, at higher levels the user can connect to the spirit realm.
Water bending (active) - Level 7: user is able to bend water to his own will at higher levels this can unlock other sub-elements of water bending such as ice bending and blood bending.
Cold resistance (Passive) level 1:Grants the user the ability to resist cold temperatures and reduce the, at higher levels the user won't be affected by cold at all.
Skills:
Stealth - level 4: Grants the user the ability to move undetected, decreasing the user's presence and sound, at higher levels it can directly erase the user presence.]
*****
AN: Sorry for this chapter as I know some of you must have been expecting a fight and it will be in the next chapter i promise, so don't you worry about it.
I thought about removing a huge part of this chapter and just skipping to the fight more than once while writing it but it just seemed wrong and I felt that I had to include this, especially Levi's inner struggle.
I had to show Levi's inner thoughts, struggles and determination, and what led him to make the decision he did.
I wanted to add more depth to his character and not make him seem like a generic 2d person who hardly has any will or ideas or feelings of his own.
I like to believe that most of us will go through a similar struggle as Levi went through in this chapter if we were in his shoes, some of us will make a similar choice as him, and some of us might choose to run, or chose another path all together that i did think about, but nonetheless I believe that's how a normal person would react to that situation so what do you guys think?
***
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