Aaron moved so fast that Mark barely saw him. In a blink, the young Airbender had vaulted over the protective metal shield that he'd hastily raised and came down on his heel first. Stone wrapped around his metal gauntlet just in time to tank the energy-infused attack. Rock exploded, scattering in every direction, yet they kept moving. Aaron struck with a mix of Wind palms and feather fist traditional jabs, kicks, and evasive maneuvers, while Mark struggled to keep him at bay, mixing martial arts, his armor, and floating weapons.

His biggest problem was that the Airbender hit too damn hard. Each of his energy-infused attacks shredded through his metal like paper.

It couldn’t be only Chi. He felt something else in there, and the last time he checked, you couldn’t channel chi through your limbs like that. Or maybe Aaron was just that ahead of him.

‘No, never.’ If his body weren’t so sluggish, if he had all of his spiritual power and Chi, then things would’ve been different.

‘God damn it,’ he gritted his teeth as he summoned his giant bloody mace and swung at Aaron’s high kick, only to completely miss. His eyes went wide. It’d been a feint, and now he found himself overextended and terrified.

His orbiting blade swung low in a wide arc to give him the space to recover, yet Aaron navigated under the cut and landed a spinning kick.

Mark's jaw dislocated, and his Sub-minds came to a sudden halt as his ears rang, and the world blurred around him.

‘Fuck me.’ He climbed slowly to his feet, his mace holding him upright.

He’d barely recovered when a wind palm slammed into his gut, sweeping him off his feet.

He wretched blood.

All he could do was lay there and mumble out of his busted jaw, all while praying that Wang or someone else stopped Aaron or the last of paralytic faded from his body.

“You…can’t…kill…me,” he wheezed, between strained breaths. “The…Old…man…won’t…let…you.”

“It’s a good thing he’s not in charge anymore, isn’t it?” Aaron said, and he squatted down to his level, his red eyes scrutinizing him. He was covered in sweat, breathing even harder than Mark was.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

‘At least he worked up a sweat,’ Mark thought.

“You and me, we’re not done, not nearly,” Aaron said.

“But for now, I offer you a truce,” Aaron's hand reached out, and Mark took it wide-eyed, not quite believing what he was hearing.

“Why…?” he muttered out.

“Grandfather is making a play for the world,” he said. “He’s determined to remake it in his image, and you and the other traveler will be one of the first things to go.”

Mark’s eyes grew a little wider. “Why…not…let…him…have…me…then?” he mumbled out with some confusion.

“You have no idea how much of a problem the Old man will be if he gets a hold of your body.”

At those words, Mark was completely silent. Several things clicked in place.

‘I always knew there was something off about the Old man, but body snatching. The Phantoms certainly knew how to raise the stakes.’

“We’re leaving,” Aaron stood up. “And, Mark, if you try anything like you did last time, getting your body snatched will be the least of your worries. Drink this.”

Mark took a strange red bottle from Aaron. He hesitated before he downed the content. Suddenly, his strength and Chi returned in full.

All the metal in the room was again his to dominate and control. His sensory technique also spun out of him, blanketing the room, touching every bender present. The white Lotus was about as terrifying as he’d expected. However, his face blanched when his senses touched Aaron.

What he found dissuaded him from even thinking about escaping.

His reserves were low but considerably larger than what he’d started with months ago. When he met Aaron, he’d estimated the grumpy Air Phantom had about 700 Chi, he sensed a Chi pool larger than even his own in his body, and he had over 1000 Chi. He was not quite as powerful as Old Monsters like Wang and Ren, but Mark estimated he’d have closer to 3000 Chi points when he was well-rested and recovered.

Some part of him had hoped that he’d be able to take Aaron when he was at full strength, but his new techniques and Chi were evidence to the contrary.

Mark gulped. Even with his metal bending, Mark wasn’t confident he could take Aaron. Maybe if he had another six months… No, Aaron would’ve become even more powerful by that time. For the first time in a long time, Mark questioned if he’d be ever powerful enough to take on Aaron, much less the other Phantoms. He was already at level 44, 5 levels from 50, and he’d already unlocked all three of his Rare skills for this world.

The Phantoms were a tier above everything on this planet. They were like demigods, and Mark feared that his patron Lord didn't factor them in when he sent him to the Four Nations.

‘No,’ Mark shook his head. ‘I still have my LV 50 boon to look forward to.’

“Are you coming, or do we have to drag you out?” Aaron's voice pulled him to the present. And with a growing frown on his face, he ran after Aaron.

Their escape from the cave, where he’d been kept, was swift and just in time too. Dozens of Ghosts came rushing into the cave moments after they left. Luckily, no Phantom came. They didn’t stop moving until later in the night when they came to a camp in an abandoned Earth Nation town.

As difficult as the day had been, it did not mentally prepare him for the bleeding and wheezing form of the Fire Nation General, Uncle Iroh.

“What the hell happened!”