With one stomp on the ground, Akashi flew backward, concentrating on controlling the compressed destructive vacuum he created with waves inside it. It was so unstable that it burned more chi than it took to create, just to keep it under control.

The dark spirit didn't stop chasing after him, and to avoid people, he jumped backward, flying slightly, and it followed him.

Seeing that there were no people around anymore, Akashi smirked and raised his hand, stopping his backward flight.

"Gotcha!"

Then, he dashed forward, extending his hand.

The spirit paused, seeming to sense danger, and was about to avoid Akashi.

But it was too slow to stop what was coming and got caught in the attack.

The sphere in Akashi's hand expanded rapidly, creating a large vacuum core that enveloped the spirit.

The expansion of the core carried a massive shockwave, which Akashi manipulated, amplified, and confined inside the vacuum, making it dance around its edges.

Then, everything seemed to be sucked from outside. The spirit's jelly-like body expanded and shrank randomly in different directions. Following that was a very loud explosion. No matter how skillful Akashi was, he couldn't destroy the waves and could only manipulate them.

-x-X-x-

Korra, Unalaq, and everyone at the festival didn't have time to catch up as everything happened too quickly. To them, it wasn't even a minute. It was like this: Akashi danced with the angry spirit, then carried himself with the air and jumped out of the city. Shortly after, a large explosion occurred, followed by a massive windstorm that carried snow and ice.

Korra, who had already activated the Avatar State, got a small tornado under her, carrying her toward Akashi.

Tenzin and the others ran after her.

As for Unalaq, he clicked his tongue and clenched his fist tightly. Tonight, the plan he had to become Korra's spiritual mentor — to show his skills in taming dark spirits — had failed. After all, it was the time for her to choose a spiritual mentor.

For that, Unalaq had turned the spirit into a dark spirit and manipulated it to attack the festival. It was thanks to tricks he learned from the dark spirit, Vaatu. He wanted everyone to fail to stop the spirit with normal methods. Then, he would take over, show off his skills, and take Korra as his disciple. After that, he would manipulate her while making sure she believed he was considering her best interests.

He was sure it would work. After all, he had always acted as the Avatar's loving uncle who understood her destiny better than anyone.

But it all got ruined because of an unexpected variable called Akashi.

'How in the name of all ancient spirits can you beat a spirit taking over a non-solid form and having super speed and power?' Unalaq wondered, feeling the link he had with that dark spirit severed.

Everyone may have thought that the storm and explosion were the spirit's abilities, but only he knew that they weren't. And that left Akashi as the main suspect.

-x-X-x-

'Next time, I'll use ranged attacks. That's for sure. But I gotta admit, spirits are very tough. And this one just had physical attacks. I wonder what it would feel like to fight the ones with powers,' Akashi thought, looking at his bleeding, broken arm.

[Defeating a Dark Spirit]

[+250,000 exp]

There were deep wounds everywhere. Just by being near his attack, he had almost lost all his blood. He had just bled, and the vacuum had drawn his blood out, broken his bone, and almost claimed him. Luckily, he had been quite skillful in controlling air, and he had created an air layer around himself. Still, he got caught in the explosion.

[HP 600/1500]

[HP 625/1500]

[HP 640/1500]

———————

Vitality Perks

[Thick Blood: Bleeding effects last shorter, deal less damage]

[Minor Regeneration: Can regenerate from any minor non-lethal damage]

[Iron Guts: Natural resistance to poison and control effects]

—————————

Thanks to the Minor Regeneration perk, Akashi watched in real time as his body benefited from accelerated healing.

The wounds were slowly closing one after another, but they were the last to heal after his internal organs and bones.

The open wounds didn't bleed for more than a couple of seconds. He hadn't even lost much blood in the first place.

'To use such powerful attacks against strong spirits, I've put my life at risk.'

'I may have denied it for long, saying that strength wasn't a state of airbenders. It's a state for the game's end. If I were stronger, I would have suffered less backlash from my powerful finishing moves. Not to mention, it helps in other ways.'

[9 Attribute points have been used]

[Strength up to 20]

[A perk has been unlocked]

[Iron Physique: Bones are strong enough not to be broken by an iron hammer, and your skin is resilient]

Akashi's eyes almost bulged when he saw his muscles increasing in size and density out of nowhere. Veins appeared on his muscles as they became more defined.

Thanks to the earlier attack, most of Akashi's clothes had been torn, leaving him topless, allowing him to see the changes he had undergone. His body had changed all of a sudden. It was as if he had gone through a bulk phase for three or four years and then had a cut.

Despite always being doubtful of how useful strength stats were, he was satisfied with the outcome.

"Akashi!" Korra called, rushing to him while being carried by a tornado in a semi-Avatar State.

Seeing the spirit he had taken down, Akashi wondered why, in canon, Korra couldn't defeat this spirit yet could defeat someone like Vaatu, the spirit of darkness — plot armor, maybe.

She rushed to him, deactivated her Avatar State, and threw herself into his arms. Akashi hugged her and winced slightly in pain. He may have had the Minor Regeneration perk, but he wasn't completely healed yet.

"Oh! You're so injured and need treatment badly," Korra said, looking at the wounds on his arms.

She was just too late to witness the tears and breaks in his bones.

With a wave of her hand, the ice beneath them floated, turned into water that danced around her palms. She then bent the water onto his arm.

"It's not just your arm; it's your whole body," Korra said, her tone tinged with concern. "You got caught in that attack."

"I think so," Akashi nodded, then flinched. The water was so cold that he winced.

"Bear with it," Korra said, then paused. "You're healing too fast… And your abs — they were never this big."

She slowly lifted her head, looking at Akashi's body. As someone who had been sleeping with him a lot lately, she knew details about his anatomy that even he didn't. And she noticed the difference.

"What happened to you? Who are you?" Korra jerked back and took an attack stance. She thought the spirit had taken over Akashi and taken his form, yet failed miserably to replicate him.

"I'm Akashi, Korra," he sighed. "I know what you're thinking — why my muscles are bigger all of a sudden."

"Yeah… why?" Korra asked, still not believing him.

"I've been through a low-carb diet lately that emptied my muscles of water. So when I ate sugar, they suddenly got full and swollen."

"Wait? Really?"

"Ask any gym bro."

"Gym bro?"

"The people who say, 'Drink a gallon of milk a day and work hard twice a day,'" he explained. "And besides, you and the chief don't like each other. Ask yourself — how would a spirit know something that happened in Ba Sing Se?"

"OH…" Korra sighed in relief. "You've no idea how worried I was. You healed so fast, and you got caught in that attack. I thought you died and the spirit took your form. But seriously, what was that explosion? That spirit was very strong. You're lucky to survive."

Akashi rubbed his chin.

Korra picked up on that. She pointed at him, "You only rub your chin when you're trying to slip out of trouble you caused. What happened?"

"See, that attack didn't come from the spirit; it came from me," he explained, "and that spirit has been defeated."

"Defeated a spirit? That thing was too fast and too strong to be defeated. Matter of fact, I'm impressed that you kept up with it," Korra said.

It wasn't only she who was shocked by seeing Akashi in combat and witnessing his impressive speed.

Everyone else was too.

No human should move that fast, let alone dance with a massive spirit.

"Yeah. Spirits give up their immortal form to enter this realm. They may seem powerful because they choose bizarre ones. But still, a strong, overwhelming attack can end them," Akashi explained to Korra. "As for that attack, I simply compressed the vacuum and trapped some waves inside, and then, boom." He shrugged.

"I don't understand what you're saying," Korra relaxed and hugged him again, "but I'm happy that you're fine."

"Yeah. Though, I wonder why a spirit suddenly became angry and attacked the festival," Akashi wondered.

"I have the answer for that," said a voice.

Turning around, they saw Korra's uncle sliding on the ice with his hands behind his back, arriving first. Following behind him from a distance were Korra's family and the airbenders.