[A few hours later]
… How does this keep happening?
There, standing on my white fur carpet, were six blushing girls, barefoot and stripped down to just their white underwear. From a sweet caramel to a smooth dark mocha, their varying shades of brown skin made a nice spread, colouring everything from their uncertain expressions to their naked shoulders and down to their fidgeting toes. With every breath, their chests rose and fell in their plain white bras. The pale fabric only highlights the half-naked shape of their bodies- the sheer cloth clinging to their wide hips, and cupping their breasts and their feminine mounds.
"Please," the leader of the group, Nessa, whispered- her soft voice halfway between embarrassed and desperate, "we're all yours, O' great Fire Nation commander. Do with us whatever you want."
… Again, how does this keep happening? I'm trying to conduct an effective guerrilla warfare campaign against an entire nation, but the horny local brown-skinned girls keep getting in the way by throwing themselves onto my cock. I'd wager that if I stay here long enough, they'll eventually prove to be more of an obstacle to getting things done than that Water Tribe army of 10,000.
I met the girl responsible for this eye-to-eye. "Yue, what is this about?"
"I need more allies with me here in the North Pole. An Honour Guard, like how the Kyoshi Warriors function for you." The girl in purple calmly explained, "I know Suki and the others will come with you to finish the war in the Earth Kingdom. And as much as Chieftain Essin is within his Moon Spirit-granted rights, I'd still prefer to be accompanied by those who have been born and raised in Agna Qel'a. And to be honest… I'd sleep easier knowing you have more reason to visit more often…"
With a Suki-like smile, Yue walked behind the girls, making them shiver as her gloved hand delicately brushed over their half-naked bodies. Across their bare shoulders, down the curve of their waists and even across their panty-clad rears. Even earning a squeak as her hands cupped those bra-covered C-cups and undid it.
Nessa's bra fell away with a soft whisper of fabric, her chest bouncing free. Her nipples, a shade darker than the surrounding skin, stood erect, as inviting me to taste, especially as Yue's brown fingers came to lightly pinch at those sensitive little chocolate nubs.
"Princess Yue, please not so- Nnn!"
"…At least twelve more reasons."
… the Suki virus was apparently infectious, and it seems that Yue was well on her way to transforming into one. "And you've chosen these girls in particular?"
Yue smiled, stepping away from the gasping Nessa. "Yes. They're loyal, determined and have great potential as Waterbenders. They're the finest Agna Qel'a has to offer." She said, and the girls visibly stood straighter at their princess's praise, "… And also, they're hoping that if they gave you their maidenhoods, you would treat the rest of the 'Radiant Moonflower Warrior-sisters' with leniency while judging their leader, Katara, more harshly for betraying them."
"P-princess?!" Nessa's blue eyes flew wide open, flicking at me as if hoping that I had momentarily become deaf for that one statement.
"I was honest with my intentions to Khan, and so will you." Yue stated firmly, but then her voice softened, "And… If you want to be a part of this, then your first times shouldn't be based on a lie."
Chastised, they bowed their heads. "… Yes, Princess Yue."
"So, will you, Khan? Take their virgnities?" Yue pleaded too. "For me?"
My skull-faced helm glanced across them, then at the scroll sitting on the table. The declaration of surrender was signed, [Quest: Welcome to the Ice Fields!] was satisfied by their total surrender, and a runner team on our fastest ostrich-horses was already heading full speed to discreetly relay the location of the Avatar to my favourite squad of hyper-lethal ninja girls. I already had what I wanted from them.
However, I could not argue against Yue's need for an honour guard for what was to come: A political mess set to boil over in the soon-to-be-occupied city of Agna Qel'a. In that chaos, she'll need a loyal guard recruited from her own tribe and bear the grit to go to whatever lengths to protect, like marching through the Polar Wastes. Turning Katara's precious, second-in-command protege to our side neatly satisfied both requirements… as well as deliver a metaphorical slap to her face.
I began unclasping my helmet. "So, they're doing this out of camaraderie and vengeance? Very well, we'll take them along."
The girls' faces lit up, smiling at each other as if they'd won a prize.
For agreeing to help them get justice and guaranteeing leniency for the rest of their unit…
[Nessa & her Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters] Reputation: -11 - 9
[Nessa & her Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters] Obedience: 3 - 33
… I needed to find the rest of their unit who were still wandering out in the tundras so that I could finally rename their moronically long unit name. Nevertheless, whether it was from their disastrous defeat, from the strict tribal obedience to their Northern Water Tribe Princess or just out of spite for Katara, their willingness to join up with Yue was not in question.
However, their loyalty to me specifically was still suspect.
Princess Yue had already started the process by raising them from negative sixty, but near-zero Reputation was far from enough. Even their Obedience will need to be raised further before I even begin to consider trusting them for the long term….
"Thank you for accepting their offer." Yue smiled, "And I believe there is only one thing left to seal the deal, Nessa."
… Yes, and the most reliable method would be the same one as what had raised Yue's, Yor's, June's, and the Kyoshi Warriors': Copious amount of steamy sex. Even better if I'm the one to take their virginities.
A dark red blush spread across the Water Tribe girl's brown cheeks, "F-for our Princess and our tribe, we will do anything you tell us, but while you might have our bodies, our hearts will always- Oh…"
Whatever this 'Nessa' or the others were about to say was forgotten as I slid my helmet off, [Pretty Privilege] bearing down on them just as it had on every girl before. Their blue eyes widened, caught somewhere between confused and mesmerized. How much of it was supernatural and how much was pure attractiveness, who can say? Regardless, in that moment, they all forgot the part where they were half-naked prisoners of war as they now realized they had promised their virginities to someone who was, coincidentally, and unfortunately for their defiant attitudes, very much their type.
For being a whole lot hotter than they had expected…
[Nessa & her Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters] Reputation: 9 - 19
[Nessa & her Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters] Obedience: 33 - 43
The 'asiatic armour no helmet' combination made me look like some Dynasty Warrior fujoshi thirst trap. This world's equivalent of a 'heart throb in a suit.' Once I'm a landed noble (and a prince at that), I'll be able to add 'billionaire celebrity' to that list, and the effect would be even more pronounced then. However, there was a downside.
Yue aimed a very Suki-esque leer at me. "He should take that armour off and slip into something more comfortable. Shouldn't he, girls?" She purred. And the others forgot their current predicament in favour of nodding eagerly and leering intensely.
… times like these, it felt like I was more of a male stripper than a conquering warlord.
But six horny, half-naked virgins (plus an equally horny princess) standing in my abode, each waiting for their turn to be deflowered, was the least significant obstacle of my campaign so far. So, with a roll of my eyes, I got on with unequipping my armour under the hungry staring until I was left in just my casual red robes.
Quietly, I appraised them too.
Trained as healers by the wisest elders, these were most likely the local Water Tribe girls who, if they had not marched for war, would have been the city's most prized bachlorettes. The talented, popular and drop-dead gorgeous girls who would have had boys lining up and down the block to have a shot at even dating… and yet, here they were, recruited to war just to be delivered to my bedroom. Six brown-skinned local beauties, all lined up with their breasts bared and panties moistening as they desperately offered themselves to me. And although claiming girls wasn't my main goal, it was still a powerful feeling skimming the cream of the crop all for myself.
Now, it was only a question of in which order I wanted them on my cock.
"Nessa," I called to her. [Siren's Call] is adding onto the effects of [Pretty Privilege] now that my helmet is off.
She shivered at the sound. "Y-yes?"
"I want you first."
"I… Oh spirits…" Nessa blushed intensely, looked away, "Okay, but… please be gentle. It's my… first time."
Among her squad, Nessa wasn't the one with the largest chest, or the most pronounced silhouette, but she did have the longest legs, ending with slender toes that wiggled shyly among the white fur of the rug.
Princess Yue leaned in close to Nessa, her snow-white hair brushing against the other girl's blue as she whispered something into her ear. Nessa's blue eyes widened. "My Princess, I can't say that!"
But Yue whispered some more.
"No, my princess, we wouldn't," Nessa murmured, looking at me. She pulled her slender shoulder back and pushed her handfuls of perky, chocolate-tipped mocha tits forward in my direction, "P-please enjoy my inexperienced body to your heart's content. I'm already dr-dripping wet for you."
"It's true." Added Yue, sliding her hand down Nessa's flat abdomen and down past the threshold of her white panties. Beneath the smooth, skin-tight fabric, her fingers moved.
"P-princess Yue… that's- not there~!"
The white panties stretched and flexed with each pass of her fingers. Nessa squirming with each of them, squeezing her light chestnut thighs together around Yue's invading fingers. But it only succeeded in keeping the princess's fingers in place as they searched for the 'proof' that was apparently well-hidden in the soft folds of the other girl's labia. And as Nessa shuddered with a long gasp, Yue had apparently found her proof.
She withdrew her hand, a pair of her long, brown fingers leaving a gasping Nessa as they glistened, as if Yue had dipped them in clear nectar. Her pink lips quirked upwards into a mischievous smile. "See? She's all ready for you. Also… She likes it from behind."
"Princess Yue?!" Nessa squeaked, her eyes wide and her blush nuclear even on her dark skin tone, "H-how do you know that?!"
"Suki taught me many things," Yue replied mysteriously. "All of which are essential to the Path of becoming a Kyoshi Warrior."
… Suki, what have you been teaching her?
Or maybe she'd always been like this. Just because she was the kind and gentle princess of the moon didn't make her any less of a girl, and didn't diminish her capacity to be indescribably horny. Or maybe, even more likely, Suki just brought out the freak in her. Still, having a slender girl in just her panties talk dirty, then have her hot quim teased until she was soaked and ready for me… it was enough to get any man hard. My loose red robes were tenting right before the Water Tribe girls' eyes, who were acting shy and demure despite being unable to keep their gaze off it.
Nessa gulped at the sight, eyes wide even as she panted hotly. "Princess Yue, I can't… he'll split me apart!"
"If I can take it, then surely someone like you- who's been trained physically- can as well," Yue was reassured as she began the process of sliding the other girl's panties down those long, mocha-skinned legs. And when those white panties were finally off, Yue's hands curled around the other girl's shoulders before pushing her down to her hands and knees. The dark skin of Nessa's slender hands and long legs contrasted pleasantly against the white fur of the carpet.
"W-wait, I'm not ready!"
"You aren't?" Yue purred, "But you're already dripping. Even Khan can see that."
And I did. A candy pink slit in the centre of soft, brown pussy lips. Like a drip of strawberry syrup running down a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Glistening just as moist and soft, too. Then Yue's slender fingers gave me an even better view as she reached around the curve of Nessa's ass and…
"Princess Yue… Please don't spread me so wide." Nessa whimpered helplessly, "It's embarrassing."
Her delicate, pink slit stretched open into a delicate, pink flower. Clear nectar leaked from her quivering girl hole, running down her open slit and hung from her throbbing little nub. Nessa's maidenhead, the proof of her virginity, trembled as the warm air touched it.
"Princess Yue…" Nessa murmured in an embarrassed, half-hearted protest.
With a gentle shush, Yue calmed her, her fingers gently guiding my cock towards Nessa's dripping pink slit as her voice lowered to a purr, "Do you feel this?"
Her hand lovingly stroked me as she dragged the tip up and down Nessa's virgin pussy lips, and traced the engorged head of my cock across various parts of Nessa's womanhood. Immediately, her lithe mocha body tensed at the contact, muscles tightening beneath that smooth, dark skin. I could almost feel her heart pounding through her soft, virgin folds as she twitched against my cock. And when my cock grazed her clit, Nessa let out a soft cry. "O-ooh S-Spirits~"
"She's ready. Come in, the water's nice and warm." Yue winked at me again, leaning in to give my shaft a good luck kiss before she gave us space, leaving to whisper into the other Moonflower Warriors' ears whatever severely inappropriate words Suki had taught her. And whether it was her own intuition or another one of Suki's lessons, Yue was proven right.
Nessa glanced over her mocha-coloured shoulder. A smouldering, desperate look in her blue eyes as she, without Yue whispering anything into her ear, begged me. "Please…" Her soft voice quavered. "I- I want you to… to put it in me now."
Staring at the naked, slender back of this dark-skinned girl as she waited on my white fur carpet, ready and on all fours, with her virgin pussy trembling wetly on the tip of my cock… It was hard to deny her request, and fortunately for both of us, I had no reason to. She whimpered softly as my large hands gripped her waist, and…
I pushed forward, driving my cock into her tight, virgin slit.
A gasp of surprise and discomfort escaped her lips as the head of my cock broke through her fragile virginity, but it was only for a moment. Her fingers were gripping the white fur carpet tightly, and her bare, slender back visibly shivered. "Oh… oh Spirits! It feels so… big." Nessa's voice was a throaty moan. The pleasure apparently drowned out whatever discomfort she felt from losing her virginity.
"It does feel nice when he stretches you out, doesn't it?" Yue hummed, smiling knowingly.
"Yessss~" The Water Tribe Warrior's words trailed off into another moan, pairing it with an experimental clenching of her pussy around my shaft. "It's so… it's feeling so weird, but… but good."
It felt just as good being the one to deflower it, too.
On the other side of her maidenhead was a narrow tunnel of soft, inner walls tightening around me. Pristine and untouched, as if it had been reserved exclusively for me. Of course, I gave her the gentlemanly courtesy of letting her freshly-deflowered pussy grow accustomed to my cock; but apparently, her own body was getting impatient. Velvety folds were already gripping around my shaft insistently, growing wetter and hotter every second I spent in this virgin hole, not moving. And every tiny movement- every sway and every twitch- made those secret, feminine walls brush tightly around my shaft- earning a little gasp of breath from this sexy, brown-skinned local girl.
"I'm going to move now," I said, my hands gripping her waist.
"N-Not yet, please. I need a few more- Ooooh spirits!" Nessa interrupted herself with a rolling moan of pure sex as I helped myself to the madly trembling pussy that encased my cock.
I eased myself deeper with each stroke. In and out of this pink slit in the centre of toned, bent-over thighs. Her sweet, clear nectar practically leaked from every fold inside her, leaking out every backstroke and practically squelched in delight every time I pushed in. Water Tribe pussy was always so wet, as if it were doing everything in its power to make sure you sink all the way inside as easily and smoothly as possible. Until finally… My hips made contact with her ass, smooth and firm as a chocolate-covered peach. I had hilted myself in her hot depths- digging my cock against the sensitive bottom of this tight, little pussy.
Apparently, that was enough to drive this lithe virgin over the edge.
"C-cumming~!" Nessa half-moaned and half-declared, losing strength in her arms as she came, and her upper half collapsed to the fur carpet. Her toned, chocolate ass raised in the air and pushed herself deeper down my shaft, her pleasured face pressed against the soft white furs as she moaned and drooled her mind-blowing finish, and her silky insides clenched and milked wildly around my shaft. It was as if her body just knew where I should be depositing my load: Into her pristine baby room.
As I was still far from my own finish, I decided to be a gentleman and keep thrusting. pushing just an inch deeper into her- filling up this incredibly tight pussy that had never known the touch of a man until now and prolonging her orgasm. The muffled moans that came from where she pressed her face into the rug sounded appreciative to my ears. Each time
~ Arousal: Intensely feminine. Snowdrop and sea salt. Six sources.
The sweet, icy fragrance was accompanied by a near-silent whimper, and I was reminded that the rest of her Moonflower Warrior team was still there. Nessa's half-naked friends who could stand quietly and obediently as their team lead was face-down-ass-up on the carpet and cumming her brains out. The cloth of their white panties is increasingly transparent, clinging to their delicate labia. Trembling, aching to be touched. Their dignity is clearly the only thing holding them back from pleasuring themselves at the sight of their leader getting railed.
"Yue, help them relax." I found myself commanding her just as easily as I did with Suki.
"Of course…" The snowy-haired princess purred before draping her shapely body close to one of the girls. And with pink lips, she whispered whatever lewd words she had been taught, right into the other girl's ears.
Meanwhile, I raised a hand slightly and slapped it across Nessa's smooth, chocolate ass cheek, making it ripple like the disturbed surface of a coffee. Her uncharacteristically cute "Eep!" of surprise accompanied the crisp sound of the slap as it echoed through the room.
"You're going to give your friends every last detail of our lovemaking," I said, as I massaged the stinging ass cheek. The soft, smooth skin ceded to my squeezing fingers- giving way to the lightly toned muscle underneath her ass. "Everything you feel, everything you think."
"But-"
Another slap.
"Nnnn! Okay okay! I'll do it…." She hesitantly began. Her eyes screwed shut in embarrassment. "He's… he's stretching me so much… So thick as if he's gonna split my p-pussy apart, but still… Oh spirits, it's…"
I bottomed out in that silky-tight, Water Tribe pussy.
"-it's filling me up so much!" Her words were stretched into a moan as I began picking up speed, "And when he pulls back, it feels like he's going to turn me inside out. The thick head of his- his… His amazing cock! And when he's almost all the way out.. that thrust that comes after- it feels so incredibly goo~ood!"
"So, Yue was right. You really do like it from behind." I scoffed as I wound her long, blue-streaked black hair into my fist and tugged on it.
The action made her face jerk up, showing her teammates her fuck-drunnk face. Her panting mouth hung open, her blue eyes hooded, and her brown face blushing so heavily, "I... I don't have anything to compare it with, but I'm loving it!" she moaned to them. Words flowing smoother and more sincere, "I love being taken from behind! I love his big, hard cock filling up my pussy! I love it all!"
And in the midst of Nessa's needy moans and the wet slapping of her pussy around my cock, Yue's whispered encouragement had evaporated the last of five other Water Tribe girls' reservations. Their soaked white panties slid down to either around the slender ankles of their dainty feet, or stuck between thick chocolate thighs. The wet slick of their brown fingers slipping between the pink of their virgin lips, the little hitch of their breaths as their fingers bumped against their swollen clits, and their mixing moans of differing tones, pitches and helpless quavering.
With each curl of their fingers into their ready cunts, honey droplets fell down between their legs, like little glittering pieces of liquid crystals. Hot wet proof of the sheer want they held to be filled up the same way the girl on all fours was.
"Stretching me so much…" Nessa shouted out, and their fingers moved faster. "A-All the way there! I can almost feel his cock reaching just underneath my belly button!"
And just as Nessa called it, I finally found a comfortable rhythm of fucking this moaning hot mess of a girl with every inch of my cock.
"Spirits, yessss! He's hitting the back! A-All the way!" Nessa half-moaned and half-declared to her friends, "And when he presses the tip right against the back, it feels so good, like my brain will just melt!"
Droplets of her honey were sent flying every time I slammed her shapely, mocha ass against my hips. Every time I bottomed out in her erotic hole. drinking in her helpless moans. So tight that it was like she was sucking me in deeper. At the slightest movement backwards, her inner walls tightened all along my shaft as if refusing to let me leave her depths. And when those slippery folds' grip did slip, wet friction sparked up.
"Ah! Ah! It's… it's…oooh~!" Her exclamations grew more fervent, her body writhing beneath my touch. "It's so… so good… I didn't know it could feel sooo good. Deeper, please! I'm gonna cum again! Cumming!"
Gentler than Suki's aggressively milking cunt, narrower than the Yue's soaked embrace of hot loving hole. And the angle and shape of her tight cunt's soaked insides… It was as if her pussy was deliberately and exquisitely shaped for doggystyle. As if Nessa was made to be put on all fours or bent over, and fucked from behind.
"I'm getting close, too," I announced.
The words didn't register to Nessa, the dark-haired Water Tribe girl still in the throes of her orgasm. Her body is mindlessly and desperately trying to milk its prize from me. But her teammates? They heard me clearly. Their blue eyes were practically darting to where the shaking Nessa and I were connected, the lewd action hidden from their view.
So, I did them a favour.
Lifting the slim, brown-skinned girl up into a full nelson, I gave them a full view. Whereas before in the doggystyle, all her teammates could see was her moaning face and errant splatter of her pussy juice, now they had an unobstructed view of everything their team leader had. Long, brown legs raised and splayed apart…. Chocolate breasts bouncing against her upturned thighs… her ever-soaked, Water Tribe pussy splattering nectar across the space between us… And of course, their leader's virgin pussy stuffed full and stretched out around every inch of my cock as I approached the end of my rope.
"I'm going to cum inside you, and you're going to take it all, Nessa."
"Spirits, I'm gonna break! My pussy's gonna break! I- I don't think there's gonna be space in me!"
"Good," came my growl.
The other Water Tribe girls watching shivered as they openly masturbated faster, squeezing and rubbing their dark-toned thighs together. Their eyes looked intently where my shaft was plundering Nessa's pussy for all its worth. Until finally…
I battered down the door to Nessa's pristine womb and stained the interior white with my semen. Thudding against the fertile surface and coating it thickly with white. Unfortunately, this position was still awkward for me, and I wasn't able to stuff every drop into her womb. Some of it leaked out instead, much to the half-mortified viewing pleasure of the other girls, who blushed furiously enough that it tinged their brown skin. They all stared, mouths agape, as the mixture of Nessa's honey and my semen dripped from her freshly deflowered and thoroughly used girl hole. And they did nothing as I let the insensate, panting mess of a girl slip down to the warm fur rug.
"Ladies, I'm still hard," I said in a matter-of-fact tone that conveyed that it was going to be their problem, very soon.
The Water Tribe girls looked down at their whimpering team-lead, who was leaking cum, then up to my still-hard cock. Their expressions looked horrified, and yet… the schlick of their fingers running across their virgin slits quickened in tempo.
"… just five more to go." Yue hummed.
"Six." I aimed a leer at her. I was all fired up now, and I wasn't going to stop here. I think Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors spoiled me with their constant sex.
"Mmm~" The snowy-haired princess chewed on her pink bottom lip for a moment. Her icy blue eyes followed a drop of cum as it trailed down my shaft. Her tongue slipped out to lick her lips, aiming a saucy little smile at me, "Well, I'm in no position to deny my big, strong Fire Nation captor, am I?"
Her slender fingers gripped her long, floor-length parka-dress, and she hiked it up, bit by bit, exposing her thicc, mocha-coloured legs until her delicate princess slit came into view. Already dripping.
"Don't be gentle with us, please?"
And just beside the battlefield where I broke the Water Tribe's army, I claimed their women for my own. Repeatedly.
For tiring them out with amazing sex…
[Nessa & the Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters] Reputation: 19 - 41
[Nessa & the Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters] Obedience: 43 - 65
(3 hours later) [Elsewhere in the Polar Wastes]
We caught them- the remaining survivors of the 'Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters.'
Sixteen hours of nonstop retreating through harsh arctic terrain had taken its toll on this proud, all-female unit of Northern Water Tribe warriors. More than two hundred women in their embroidered blue parka kowtowed before red-armoured 41st Division Cavalry-Scouts atop ostrich-horses. Their hands, knees and faces pressed against the freezing snow and muttering, 'O Fire Nation warrior, we surrender to you. I'll be your willing concubine. I'll bear your children. Whatever you wish, but please spare my sisters-in-arms.' And other such words. Offering their bodies in exchange for safety and or leniency…
Where have I heard that before?
If I had ever been surprised by how common such offers were in this Asian fantasy world, then I certainly wasn't anymore. Now, it was simply a relief that it wasn't happening to me for once.
"Getting offers from the POWs already, Lieutenant?" My deep voice rumbled in amusement as I arrived on this nameless ice dune where the 1st Squad, on their large ostrich-horses and guandao glaives, stood guard over our latest POWs with the overly long name.
The Lieutenant's feathered red helmet turned towards me, and she saluted, "Commander Khan, sir!"
"At ease. It's good to see you again, Lieutenant." I greeted her, our armour clicking together as I patted her shoulder, "You and your squad fought well these past few days, despite having the heaviest duties in the division. You did me proud, 1st Squad."
"Thank you, sir!" The men and women of the 1st Squad saluted.
The lead woman of the All-female unit looked up at the Lieutenant as if surprised. Vaguely, I recalled that Yue had mentioned that it was not part of their education to teach how other Nations had their women fight in wars. I will need to reform Agna Qel'a's education system after this is over.
"Wait," I said, noticing something off. "Lieutenant, hold open your greatcoat."
She did as ordered, and I stepped closer, appraising the armour that she was wearing. There were some faint dents and scratches to the red plates of her gauntlet and her breastplate. Blows blocked not by just Fire Nation steel, but by my personally hand-crafted [Masterwork] armour. The rest of the 41st Division's armour had performed worse, but these were the best armours that I could craft with my Smithing skill… and they were still damaged?
"It's completely unacceptable that Whalebone weapons even came this close to harming you," I muttered darkly, but the Lieutenant's armoured hand rested over mine.
"I'm alright, sir," she said softly, her violet eyes looking up at me through her helmet's eye slits. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Your armour should have held up better."
"It's not your fault… I just got sloppy a few times. Sorry for worrying you."
Mentally, I noted down the locations- around the arms, greaves and sides of the abdominals- so that I knew where to reinforce the armour for the next batch of gear to be forged. All of it was valuable practical knowledge that could only be collected from actual combat operations, ours or someone else's. And worth a lot of skill and experience.
Skill Level up: [Smithing]! Lvl 29 - Lvl 30
-o-
[Smithing] Level 30 Reached - New Skill Perk Unlocked!
Level 30 - Mystic Sage Skill Perk
Reforger's Wisdom (Passive): If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But if it is broken, well, time to get creative with the superglue!… When repairing existing items or upgrading them to a higher quality tier, your knowledge allows you to either use 50% fewer raw materials or 25% less time than what would normally be required.
-o-
Attainable Item Qualities
Poor - Shoddy - Common - Fine - Superior - Exquisite - Masterwork - Sagecraft - ?
-o-
Excellent, one has to wonder if it'll be faster and cheaper to simply make poor-quality armour and upgrade it to Masterwork quality. And on another note, could I upgrade other people's work to save time? So much experimentation to do.
"I need to get this armour off of you as soon as possible," I murmured.
"C-Commander?!"
"For repairs, Lieutenant. As you were." I clarified, stepping away to the next order of business: the POWs who were staring at me. My seven-foot-tall frame of thick, spiked armour and glowering skull helm casts a shadow over the fearful faces of those in the front. "So, these are the last pockets of survivors that you've tracked, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, sir." She replied, "They surrendered as soon as they saw us approach."
I directed my gaze to the one who had the whalebone charm on her parka, which signified her as a 'Third Wave' officer. A brown-toned young woman with frost clinging to her dark braids and her eyelashes, the blood-streaked fur lining her parka hung limp from the weight of the snow. She kept her arms at her sides as she trembled, either from cold or fear.
"You're the highest-ranking officer here, are you not?" I prompted, "A 'Third Wave' officer."
"Once, yes," she replied, her voice steady but strained from tiredness. Her gaze flickered back to her sisters, huddled together behind her on the snow- some nursing bloodied stumps, others barely able to stand. "But not anymore, we surrender to your authority, Fire Nation commander, sir."
"I accept your surrender." I replied, before taking out a scroll, "That is… once you have signed in this formal declaration of surrender. Form an orderly line. For those who do not wish to surrender, kindly stand to the side so that the ostrich-horses can freely feast on you without splattering your blood on the others."
"Honk!"
Panic in their blue eyes, the gathered women hurriedly trudged to form a neat line for the scroll, not wanting to be misconstrued as 'standing to the side.' And finally, when it was the Third Wave's turn, she took one look at the scroll and gasped softly.
"These signatures…" Her hand trembled as she looked at the signatures at the top of the scroll. The first ones to have ever signed it. "Second Wave, Nessa. She's alive?"
"And with Princess Yue."
At the answer, she squeezed her eyes shut. Perhaps out of regret that she was also captured or relief that she made it out alive. Either way, she scrawled her signature across the paper.
"Good. Now, where is First Wave Katara?" I prompted, my voice low.
The young woman's jaw clenched. "Why is she so important?"
Important? Yes, one could say that. It was not enough that I sent Suki to deal with the Avatar; every avenue to dismantling him had to be made. Although she was of little value on her own, Katara was crucial to Aang's success. She was his Waterbending master, his love interest, his party's sole healer and also the one who would save his life. And in doing so, also save the world from Fire Nation victory. That's why it was pretty damn important that we found her, caught up to her and killed her dead.
However, that information was not something the Third Wave woman needed to know, so my skull-faced helm just bore down at her, "Just answer the question."
The young Water Tribe woman hesitated, perhaps the last embers of defiance against 'the Warm Lander invaders,' but it was only for a moment. She released a defeated sigh. "We banished her," the freezing young woman said, as if admitting to some distasteful crime, or maybe, speaking of a loathsome criminal. "That is the way of the Northern Water Tribe, we sent her out to the polar wastes for the Moon and Ocean Spirits to render their judgment… and their sentence."
"So, it was the equivalent of a dishonourable discharge then," I muttered in understanding, "That must also mean that there are no more soldiers in the Water Tribe Army. I wonder if that also technically means…"
[Quest - Welcome to the Ice Fields!] Completed!
Main Objective: Kill all the soldiers in the Water Tribe Army within seven days. (0% soldiers in the Water Tribe Army remaining)
Secondary Objective: Do it in six.
Rewards:
Large XP Bonus
Large Reputation increase with the {Fire Nation}
2 Perk Points
Secondary Rewards:
[Legendary Division Feat: The Frostforged Thousand] Nothing stopped them: Not the snow, not the cold, not all men in the Water Tribe Army… All units in your army gain a 20% stat bonus when fighting outnumbered. They also gain permanent dexterity bonuses for stealth checks and rough terrain movement (snow or otherwise); a constitution bonus for cold resistance and supply consumption; and a spirit bonus for bending.
-o-
"1st Squad!" My voice rumbled back at them with victorious relish, "With the surrender of this unit, we got them all- the 41st Division has officially won this battle!"
"For Fire Nation and Fire Lord!"
"For the 41st Division!"
Weapons and fists raised in the air, we cheered, albeit for different reasons. They, because the battle was over, and I, because we had just acquired an amazingly good secondary reward. [Legendary Division Feat: The Frostforged Thousand]… It was going to help make the rest of the war a lot smoother now. Every part of it is just too good. From the buff when outnumbered, to the permanent bonuses for ambushes and general mobility. And not to mention the reduction in supply consumption. Ostrich-horses ate a lot of food, so to have something that lessened it was very welcome.
In short, this victory was nothing short of incredible. But although the battle was won, the war wasn't: The main cast had yet to be neutralized after all.
Turning back towards the water, the Tribe women, frowning at their enemies, celebrating, I continued where we left off. "So, you banished Katara," I said, glancing around to the same wastes that we were all standing in. "Does it make any difference when we're all out here?"
"No, it was a symbolic gesture, but she still definitely deserved it. And still needed to go away." She said bitterly, "She pushed us too hard. We were in the same state as we are now- freezing, starving, injured... But she still wanted us to march on. It was obvious that you had bested us, but she refused to see it that way."
"So, she believed in victory, and for that, you cast her out?"
"She believed in suicide," the Third Wave spat, "She would have marched us all to death in some vain hope of turning the tide. We couldn't let her lead us anymore. And yes… that's why we cast her out."
Nodding, I unfurled a map of the area, laid it out onto the snow between me and Third Wave officer, and pointed to a spot with a large armoured finger. "We're here. And this is the path that you've taken from the battlefield. Now point: Where did you banish her?"
Her lips trembled, then she lowered herself fully, pressing her forehead into the ice. "O' Giant, I will share that knowledge, but I beg of you, we need food and shelter and medicine."
The others followed suit, pressing their foreheads to the frozen ground in another round of kowtowing.
I let out a weary sigh, waving a hand as if to brush away their exaggerated display. "How fortunate for you all that you're the only prisoners we managed to take from this battle. That, and we have ample supplies to spare. Speaking of which…"
My eyes flicked to the horizon, where powerful draft ostrich-horses came, pulling sleighs laden with goods. Their breath steamed in the frigid air, and the supplies piled high in the sleighs, a mix of the spoils from the Water Tribe caravan and the supplies that we had scavenged on our journey. The rustle of movement caught my attention as the first figures disembarked.
"Your care convoy is here. Lift your heads," I commanded.
They did, and the 'Radiant Moonflower Warrior-Sisters' fell silent in their entirety as they gaped in shock at seeing the familiar faces disembark from the sleigh.
The frozen silence was only broken when a shout rang out as the Third Wave pushed through the snow.
"Princess Yue… Second Wave Nessa!" the young woman sobbed, cheeks streaked with tears that froze mid-flow as she crumbled to her knees right before Nessa. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for leaving you! Please forgive me!"
The red cloth strip sewn atop Nessa's parka hood fluttered in the wind. Then she reached out a gloved hand and took the Third Wave woman into her arms. Her voice was kind, but also on the brink of crying herself. "It's alright," she said. "I forgive you, sister. The only one at fault here is Katara. I'm just glad to see as many of you alive. And besides… I'm not the one all of us should be apologizing to."
Nessa turned towards their snowy-haired princess, who had been quietly standing in her parka dress.
But that only made the Third Wave more emotional. "My Princess," she rasped with trembling lips, "we're sorry… for not being strong enough. For not being able to rescue you."
"No, I'm sorry," Yue said with a sad smile and sympathy in her ice-blue eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't convince you all to surrender back then. That I couldn't stop you from marching out to this place. But if nothing else, I'm glad you surrendered now. We'll have you fed, treated, and warmed up- this much I can promise. Captive or not, I'm still your princess. And I will do everything in my power to see you safe… do everything I can to make sure you're all right from now on."
The words barely escaped Yue's lips before the women broke down. Faces raw from the cold and some even clutching missing fingers, they huddled around Yue like children clinging to a mother they thought they'd lost forever. 'Princess Yue! Princess Yue!' They called her name as they cried in relief at being saved, especially when Nessa and the others began handing out blankets, ointments and hot food.
Meanwhile, my Fire Nation troops and I just exchanged awkward glances at the tearful reunion unfolding before us, knowing we were the very people who had placed them in this situation in the first place. Thankfully, they didn't seem particularly torn up about the 10,000 men that we slaughtered. But from the reports I received, these girls used them as meat shields anyway. Best not to mention it. And as one last point of awkwardness, I knew for a fact that Nessa, Yue and the others were still dripping my semen.
But still, it was all very touching, and although we still had a war to win. I did allow them to have their moment, if only so that I could quietly allocate my new Perk Points.
2 Perk Points Available.
[-] means that the perk has yet to be purchased.
-o-
Lvl 100 Strength Perks Available:
[Lvl 1] Power Move (Passive): You don't 'run.' You kick the ground until it takes you where you want to go. On top of your Dexterity, add (25%) Strength to your running speed and jumping height.
[Lvl 2] Furor of Furious Fury (Active): Angry caveman powers, activate! For the next 4 strikes you make, your strength is doubled. Can be activated (2) times a day.
[Lvl 2] Flex it off! (Passive): You feel a lot better after you pose and flex your muscles. On top of your Constitution, add (50%) Strength to your Health points and Resistances calculations.
[Lvl 2] Overpower (Passive): Hit 'em hard when they're not looking, but hit 'em even harder when they are. Gain (40%) bonus Strength against enemies that you're not outflanking.
[Lvl 1] Chainbreaker (Passive): Because safe words are for the weak and puny. Double your strength bonus when resisting any physical attempt to restrict your movements.
[Lvl 1] Inventory Expansion (Passive): Carry all the crap you could ever want and never need! Gain 4x more inventory space.
Lvl 100 Dexterity Perks Available:
[Lvl 1] Parkour Prodigy (Passive): Running? On the ground?! Like some peasant!? Double your Dexterity bonus while performing parkour.
[Lvl 1] Riposte (Passive): A skill distilled from a billion hours in Soulsborne games. Attacking directly after a successful parry now carries a guaranteed crit.
[-] Pickpocket Prodigy (Passive): Yes, you can actually steal equipped items; yes, that includes their underwear. Double your Dexterity bonus while pickpocketing.
[Lvl 1] Bullet Time (Active): Dodge the bullets that haven't been invented yet. Three times a day, slow time to (80%). Bullet Time duration in seconds is equal to a tenth of your Dexterity stat.
[Lvl 1] Dodge Expert (Passive): Combine with Bullet Time for sick slo-mo scenes! Gain 25% to your Dexterity bonus for dodging attacks.
[-] Prise de Fer (Passive): Swing your sword around enough, and you become an expert in touching tips. Gain 25% to your Dexterity bonus for all your parry attempts.
Lvl 100 Constitution Perks Available:
[Lvl 1] Iron Gut (Passive): Not to be confused with iron abs. (Double) Your Constitution bonus to resist Poisons, Toxins and illnesses.
[Lvl 1] Clench! (Passive): Brace your glutes! You gain 10% damage reduction for all attacks that you see coming.
[Lvl 2] Relentless (Passive): Be the Party Animal as told in the legends. You no longer require sleep, and all physical fatigue gain is now reduced by (50%).
[Lvl 1] Berserker Rage (Passive): Your incredible anger is your weapon, you are... Karen Incarnate. Gain bonus Strength, Dexterity and Spirit proportional to your missing HP. Up to (200%) bonus stats more at 1% HP.
[-] Bulwark (Passive): You're like a penis- you get harder when you plant yourself somewhere nice. While standing still on a stable surface, gain 20% damage reduction for all attacks. Stacks multiplicatively with other damage reduction perks.
[Lvl 1] Second Wind (Active): The Kyoshi Warriors are never going to win over you in bed. Once a day, all physical fatigue is removed, and you recover 5% of your missing health.
Lvl 100 Spirit Perks Available:
[-] It's not a Dance! (Passive): ... But it just might be a sex position. Double your Spirit bonus when learning/experimenting with new bending styles and forms (and sex positions).
[Lvl 1] Spirit Rush (Active): Yes, overconfidence is now a power! Once a day, gain (20%) bonus Spirit. Spirit Rush's duration in seconds is equal to half of your Spirit stat.
[-] Greater Chi Paths (Passive): For when it takes you too long getting your 'bending' up. Your Chi flows (25%) faster. Allowing bending with fewer wind-up movements, or more powerful bending with normal wind-up movements.
[Lvl 1] Audacious Spirit (Passive): Is something draining the metaphysical life energies of your body? Just walk it off, lol! Whenever you're suffering from a debuff that affects your Spirit (e.g. Poison, blocked chi pathways, nighttime, cold temperature, etc.) Reduce that debuff's effectiveness by 33%.
[-] Mystic Reflux (Passive): Tax the benders… Parrying bending attacks with your own bending restores health and stamina by 3% of the attack's power.
[-] Bend-Resist (Passive): Time to show those other benders exactly where they should shove their bending... Against bending attacks, add 20% of your Spirit Bonus to both your Dexterity's Dodge Bonus and your Constitution's Damage Reduction, respectively.
Lvl 20 Intelligence Perks Available:
[-] Bibliophile (Passive): You like your books like you like your women: spread open right at the interesting bits… Double your Intelligence bonus for reading- vastly increasing read speed, retention, and comprehension. (Stacks with other memory perks. And extends to manuals, schematics and skillbooks for other stats.)
[Lvl 1] Hyperfocused Training (Active): Achieve a higher state of being by activating all of your brain cells at once- all three of them… For a single day, one chosen skill has 200% XP gains, but all other skills gain no XP for the duration.
-o-
I chose [Bend-Resist] and [Bibliophile].
[Bend-Resist] for all-around tankiness in this world filled with people who can dish out consistent elemental damage. And [Bibliophile] because I would have chosen it before if I hadn't already previously chosen [Hyperfocused Training] to grind my [Engineering] skill ASAP. Those [Stink Bombs] and [Ostrich-horse-mounted Mini Catapults] turned out to be incredible when used creatively. Fighting ten times our number fair and square would have seen a lot of my 41st Division dead.
With my Perk Points allocated, I turned back to the emotional reunion of the Water Tribe girls.
Time's up.
With a massive, armoured hand, my seven-foot-tall frame reached into the cluster of emotional Water Tribe women. I grabbed the Third Officer by the nape of her parka, lifting her effortlessly, like one would pick out a kitten from a litter. Raising her until she was face to face with my skull-faced helm, I asked, very politely.
"Now, which direction did Katara wander off in?"
(Two Hours later) [Three kilometres south of Nanuk's Valley]
I could hear them shouting, in panic and in fear, as the 1st Squad and I surged straight at them through the snow.
"They're here! Katara, get on! Hurry!"
Across the snowy valley, my eyes locked onto our target as she was hurried onto that damned sky bison- Sokka, now fully healed, and Hahn, somehow escaped from captivity, both working frantically to get Katara onto that massive furry beast. But something was wrong. Maybe it was her injuries slowing them down, or maybe panic had made them clumsy, but they were struggling to get her on board. And with every second wasted, the 1st Squad and I closed in, and everyone in this valley knew that if we reached them first…
It was naught for though. They managed to get Katara into the saddle, and one of them took the reins.
"Appa! Yip yip! YIP YIP!"
With a mighty groan and a plume of displaced snow, Appa lifted off up to the sky, still too far for my [Meteor Hammer] to reach.
And in that moment when every millisecond counted, I pulled from my [inventory] the one weapon that did not require any windup. Only skill.
(Relic) [Sokka's Boomerang]
A hybrid weapon that can be used as both a melee and a thrown weapon. As a very rare and hard-to-master weapon, the Southern Water Tribe boomerang is usually underestimated by those who first come across it, but only the first time. Although the boomerang may not be as deadly as other thrown weapons, wielders of this weapon who have survived long enough to grow skilled in its usage are usually the crafty and cunning sort- hurling this weapon to strike at unexpected angles and disrupt their foes' fighting styles at crucial moments. All from anywhere in the battlefield. Such versatility comes at a cost, though. Should an eagle-eyed opponent with swift enough hands intuit the boomerang's flight path, it would be child's play to parry it out of the air and force the boomerang's wielder to come and retrieve it themselves; A notable challenge for someone left without a weapon.
Smithing: Lvl 30 - Mystic Sage
This particular Southern Water Tribe boomerang is amazingly well-crafted. The edge and general body are made of a steel alloy that is uncharacteristically high quality for a Southern Water Tribe weapon, which is generally infamous for their steelworks or lack thereof, allowing it to slice through the air with remarkable precision unmatched by other Southern Water Tribe boomerangs.
There is also a strange weight distribution to it- too heavy to be merely a steel alloy. Its core is made of platinum, no doubt. This boomerang was likely one of the many trophies of excess and decadence born of the infamous Platinum Affair during Avatar Yangchen's time, and now it has been reforged with a steel edge and pressed into active service once again after several centuries spent as a mere mantelpiece.
Whoever was behind this boomerang was a weaponsmith of exceptional calibre; it is a deceptively effective creation, and certainly, a handsome gift for any Head Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe.
Attunement: (-100/25 Sokka Reputation Required)
Sokka's Boomerang is a weapon steeped in his Southern Water Tribe heritage. It serves as a reminder of both Sokka's roots and his journey as a capable warrior-strategist. There is a subtle engraving debossed on one of its cheeks. One way or another, it will always return to its owner.
Weapon Proficiency: Lvl 7 - Apprentice
At high proficiency levels, you'll be able to cut or smash single or multiple targets at any range and around any obstacles at any angle you wish. So great is the sheer versatility of this weapon that it allows you to exert a disproportionate amount of influence on the battlefield; it would be as if you were the invisible hand reaching out over a Paisho board and plucking your opponent's pieces right off the board.
-o-
It was a souvenir from when Sokka saved their lives in Agna Qel'a, and now, it was going to 'return' to its owner, full force. I stomped my armoured boots deep into the snow for better stability, activated [Bullet Time] for the slow-mo aim time and [Furor of Furious Fury] for the damage; and with every ounce of Strength in my seven-foot-tall frame of metal and muscle, I hurled [Sokka's Boomerang] at their retreating silhouette. The boomerang zips through the air like some dragonfly at full speed.
[Furor of Furious Fury]:3 of 4 Charges left.
The boomerang did the unlikely: It actually hit. Darting in struck the bison's side at full force. Appa visibly recoiled in the air, veering left as his roar of pain echoed outwards, but… he continued flying. Slower but still flying. We still had a shot at this.
"1st Squad, maintain the chase!" I roared back to them, "We're burning this flying cattle out of the sky! We'll chase them all the way to the Agna Qel'a if we have to. [As One]!"
"SIR, YES, SIR!"
Firebolts seared through the air. Even if we can't end it all now. We'll at least slow them down.