Avatar - Conquering the Elements-Chapter 107. The Hole

Yo. Somewhere west of the Shi Wong Desert.

Another day began with me honing my plant magic abilities. I wanted to see tangible results in this skill as soon as possible. I've already mastered speeding up plant growth, and I can even grow new branches from trees—slowly, but they can be used to defend or attack. The problem is, all of this requires intense concentration and a lot of time. Who's going to give me a minute or two to pull off a move? We're not in the Naruto universe, where characters can spend five episodes talking...

I realized that in the coming years, I wouldn't be mastering techniques like the ones Driya could perform in seconds. So, I decided to focus on a more practical aspect of this element—spying. I started by trying to grow a listening ear.

The challenges began right from the start. Until then, I hadn't tried giving plants any undocumented properties. I had to pour in a massive amount of energy to compensate for my lack of knowledge, literally breaking down and rebuilding the plant. To avoid wasting so much energy each time, I carefully observed the entire process.

Then came another unpleasant moment. The plants Driya grew were like extensions of her body, meaning she heard sounds directly in her head through the ear. For me, I had to create large headphones, which drained my resources significantly. To transmit sound from the ear to the headphones, I had to recreate the setup countless times.

In the end, all I achieved was a pathetic imitation of what Driya could do. First, my headphones had to be connected to the ear. This meant I had to stay close to the ear, as the wire connecting the two plants could be noticed. Second, it didn't look anything like Driya's miniature ear. I won't call it ugly, but it definitely stood out. So, I had to choose its location carefully.

All of this was difficult and time-consuming, so I decided to wait for Driya. With her help, I'd definitely be able to diversify my abilities. Besides, Yuki and Roku had their own affairs. They wouldn't be gone for weeks or months. Roku had rushed to Omashu to learn from Bumi. After all, he decided to rule the city-state for a while before settling on the throne in Ba Sing Se. Yuki was busy preparing for his wedding. It was high time he officially made Kaya his wife. As for me, I returned to the library. The Solstice was approaching, and I needed to ask Wan Shi Tong about the air spirits he knew.

*

The Day of the Solstice.

"The Great Master of Air Currents has already been informed that he'll have a temporary student," said Wan Shi Tong before sending me to another world. But seriously... Great Master of Air Currents?

"Uh, does he have a shorter name or nickname?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No, and it's better you call him that," he warned, "or he might get offended." I don't need ancient spirits as enemies.

"How's Driya? Is everything okay?" I asked Gaia, who had also come to see me off.

"Everything's stable, but there's no empty space left in the room. It's all overgrown with greenery," she replied. In recent days, the surge of natural energy bursting from the bud had intensified. It was literally "venting" Wan Shi Tong's energy, reshaping it to suit itself.

Soon, an energy wave swept through the world, signaling the thinning of the barrier. In that same second, the spirit of knowledge sent me to his acquaintance.

On the other side, a strong wind greeted me, sweeping across the plains. If I were lighter, I'd definitely have taken flight. Squinting, I saw a crane not far from me. It wore simple blue pants and a straw hat that even the strong wind couldn't blow off. On its legs were massive golden rings. It looked like this crane had the habits of a common magpie. But the energy occasionally seeping from its body clearly showed it was an ancient and powerful spirit. It reminded me of one member of the Furious Five from the "Kung Fu Panda" cartoon—Master Crane himself.

"Greetings, Great Master of Air Currents!" I tried to speak with genuine respect, holding back a bunch of lame jokes.

"So, you're the one the Great Spirit of Knowledge told me about," he nodded slowly. "With my training, a Great future awaits you!" He seems to love adding the word "Great" everywhere, huh? "We have little time. Show me your abilities in the Great conquest of air!" If you skip one specific word, the conversation sounds pretty normal.

Next, I began demonstrating my skills. It was a bit harder here because the air currents constantly shifted direction almost every second. After five minutes, I caught my breath and waited for the spirit's words.

"Excellent execution! Almost no energy loss!" the crane said more seriously, not even using that one word. "But it's a shame you can't hear the wind," he shook his head. "I saw you trying to adapt your techniques to the wind's gusts, but it didn't always work," he said. It was indeed hard to adapt to such unpredictable winds.

"Watch closely," he continued, slightly moving his wing to create a small breeze that quickly merged with the currents around us. Soon, one of those currents lifted a large boulder from the ground, sending it flying. "I didn't try to fight the air. On the contrary, I was grateful for it, as it allowed me to conserve my strength."

"Something similar happened with Earth's vibrations..." I thought. There, I also had to adapt to the waves, borrowing their power. But here, it's complicated because the air currents are unpredictable, and you never know where the wind will blow from.

"I think I understand," I told the spirit. "But maybe we should change locations? Somewhere where the wind blows in only one direction?" It would be much easier if that were the case.

"You already know how to use one current to your advantage... But will there be growth if you keep repeating the same thing?" he asked logically. "We still have time. Try to hear the wind," he finished, tipping his hat slightly.

I won't go into the details of my attempts to "hear the wind." I'll just say the result—it didn't work. I need to find another way; I'm just wasting time.

"Is there any other way?" I asked the crane spirit, who had stood motionless like a statue the whole time.

"Of course, there is," he said, adjusting his hat and shaking his entire body. "But it comes with significant risk to life. But Wan Shi Tong said you're quite resilient. You'll probably survive," he added. I'm not liking this idea already...

"Honestly, I figured we wouldn't achieve anything in such a short time," he began walking west, with me trailing behind. "Others spend years mastering this skill. That's why I chose this place for training. This is where the 'Chasm of Two Worlds' is located."

After walking a couple dozen meters, we stopped at a deep hole in the ground. The bottom was invisible, swallowed by pitch darkness. Even the scattered crystals on the walls, glowing faintly green, didn't provide enough light.

"Among spirits, there are legends about this place. Supposedly, if you fall in, you can end up on the other side of the world. Of course, it's just a myth... I've been down there before. I can't say exactly how long I fell, but it was about two or three minutes."

Looking again, I felt a faint breeze rising from the bottom.

"Ready to get closer to the wind?" he asked, almost eagerly.

"I guess so," I replied, taking a step back.

"Then ride the wind!" he said. My battle foresight showed me the crane's claw speeding toward my back. But there was nothing I could do.

"I forgot to mention, you can't use magic in this hole!" I heard as I was already in free fall.

"What the—?!" I tried to release air, but the energy immediately dissipated. It even started to drain from my sources, though my life energy remained unaffected. "Okay, no panic! I should survive the fall. I need to focus on the lesson the spirit is trying to teach me in such an extravagant way."

After a while, I noticed that sometimes my body slowed its descent. It was catching air currents, which slowed my fall. Immediately, I started adjusting my body to the currents rising from below. Maybe because I didn't want to meet the hard ground, I gave myself fully to the process. And to avoid relying on my eyes, I closed them.

One minute passed. Then another. On the edge of consciousness, I realized I should already be at the bottom. But now, I was more concerned about the air energy source, which was transforming. Once the transition to the higher level was complete, I opened my eyes.

"You've become one with the wind, Great Student! Congratulations!" the crane's voice echoed clearly from above and to the right.

Indeed, I was floating calmly in the air, drifting from one breeze to another. They were keeping me at ground level. Reaching one edge, I grabbed a ledge. In the next moment, my feet felt solid ground. As much as I love the air, the earth feels closer to me.

"I thought it would take you five attempts before you could hear the wind's whisper. I'm glad I was wrong," he said. According to him, progress only became noticeable when I was just meters from the ground.

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After resting a bit and chatting with the spirit, I began testing my increased abilities. Everything had developed comprehensively, as usual. After mastering three elements, this no longer surprised me. So, while there was time, I decided to learn something from the ancient spirit. During his teachings, a conversation arose:

"Why couldn't I use magic?" I asked. Of course, there are many anomalous zones, but I've never encountered one like this.

"It's no coincidence it's called the 'Chasm of Two Worlds.' It's known that this world has no life energy. No, not exactly. It's more accurate to say that our spiritual plane denies the existence of life energy," I knew that. "But during the separation of the worlds, some of that energy still ended up here." Hmm, it seems the first Avatar and Raava made too many mistakes.

"Did you notice those green crystals scattered almost everywhere?" he asked, seeing my nod. "That's the life energy that remained here after the separation. The energy took a crystalline form because it couldn't exist any other way; the world itself forced it to be locked in this form."

I couldn't resist and immediately ran to grab some crystals. On their own, they emitted nothing. Just beautiful crystals. But as soon as I broke a tiny piece, an ocean of life energy burst from it, taking the form of green mist! Okay, I'm exaggerating, but it was about fifty of my reserves! And that was just a small fragment. There are thousands, if not millions, of them down there.

"Soon, it will reappear as a crystal, roughly in the same spot," the spirit said. "Life energy likes to draw toward itself, as if protecting itself from a hostile world."

Next, I tried absorbing a small crystal. As I began drawing in the energy, I didn't expect it to eagerly reach out to me. Plus, it was somewhat "impersonal," immediately adapting to my energy. But soon, I stopped because it started to hurt. My source had already absorbed ten percent more than it could hold.

"I should gather more of them!" It would be great training to expand my source.

"I understand about the life energy, a reference to the human world. What's next?" And where does the wind come from?

"Have you seen the floating islands?" he asked.

"Occasionally," I nodded. Yes, they're not everywhere, but they're encountered fairly often.

"Below is a layer of earth that pulls magical energy toward itself to rise. But the life crystals repel the energy, creating wind. Did you notice your energy starting to drain?" Now it all made sense.

"If a lesser being were in your place, they'd have run out of energy by the midpoint."

I came up with a bunch of ideas for using these crystals, but first, I need to see how they behave in the human world. Wan Shi Tong must have already experimented with them somehow; I should talk to him.

Soon, it was time to return.

"Thank you for your wisdom!" I bowed, more excited about the crystals than reaching a new level.

"I did nothing; it was all achieved through your efforts," he said solemnly, dissolving into the air.

"That was impressive!" I thought. I want to do that too!