— After our fight, I saw enough good qualities of a future warrior. I will become your master…
At the master's decisive response, Azula tilted her head slightly, acknowledging Piandao's mastery.
— It is a great honor, I will put all my efforts into not wasting your time, — the girl replied in a respectful voice, passing herself off as Tai Li. The master felt no falseness in her voice; Azula knew how to lie best of all. Or perhaps, at that moment, she wasn't lying? No one could know for sure.
— Good words. From this moment, your training in the art of cold weapons begins. We'll start right now, but first, you need to tidy yourself up and… — Piandao glanced at his butler, who had been watching the duel the entire time.
— Fat, be so kind as to bring my student one of the training blunt swords, — the butler bowed with an unperturbed face and then left to get the sword. During the fight, he had managed to get used to the girl's skill, which surpassed all other candidates for Piandao's disciples he had seen in his life.
«Don't drag this out; he's probably testing how much of a delicate flower you are. You can get yourself looking perfect before bed or in the morning, but not now,» — the spirit's voice sounded in the girl's head.
Meanwhile, Azula picked up her ring from the sand, which she had used earlier for victory, and made a simple ponytail hairstyle. This was to keep her hair from obstructing her vision during further training. Looking at her extremely dirty and sand-covered clothes, the girl began to shake off the dirt, dusting the sand from her clothes and hair. Having finished this, she turned to the master.
— Master, I am ready to learn.
Piandao had been watching her actions with a calm gaze the entire time.
— Excellent, — what he saw brought a smile to his face, — follow me.
They went a little further from the castle, closer to the rock garden, where there was another platform with a white lotus laid out in tiles. Standing in the center, the master drew his sword. Holding the scabbard in his left hand and the sword in his right, he began to speak.
— First and foremost, you must remember that a weapon is an extension of yourself. Perceive it as a part of your body, a long and sharp extension of your arm. A swordsman always knows the length of his sword and the distance to his target, — while saying this, Piandao continued to demonstrate smooth sword swings with sharp thrusts and dodges, reinforcing his words with visual demonstration.
— A sword is a simple weapon, but in the hands of a master, it becomes the most dangerous. Just as your imagination is boundless, so are the possibilities of the sword. In this way, any type of weapon can be characterized. During our battle, you might have noticed how I used my weapon in a rather unconventional way. This was a small part of the sword's capabilities that I have grasped. The terrain plays a significant role in combat. Everything that surrounds you plays an important role, as does your imagination. Any trifle can be decisive for the outcome of the battle… — the master continued to share his wisdom while Tai Li listened attentively and memorized both the master's words and all his movements, mentally visualizing their meaning and application in combat.
Piandao spoke much of importance, sharing his wisdom and experience. Even the spirit chose to listen silently, without making any caustic comments between the master's words. After a short speech, during which Fat brought the girl a sword, practical training began. Under the watchful guidance of her mentor, Tai Li began to learn all the sword techniques. The greatest swordsman could only correct and explain how to do things correctly and why. Along the way, he was surprised by the genius and quick-wittedness of his new student.
Tai Li grasped everything on the fly, absorbing knowledge at a monstrous speed. The girl already possessed combat skills with a well-developed body. With a strong intellect, learning new things posed no problem. She only needed to learn a meager set of sword techniques, ingrained them into her reflexes, learn to use the terrain, and, of course, fuse them into her own fighting style. And most importantly, to make the sword a part of herself. In other words, to get used to it, rely on it, and know what it is capable of. Naturally, she could not become a master in a single day, but nevertheless, she progressed very far.
— Your ability to learn is somewhat frightening. It took you less than a full day to memorize all the stances and positions. Your strikes are not yet perfectly accurate, but with such progress, you will perfect all the techniques in a few days, — Piandao admired at the end of the training, finishing demonstrating the last sword technique and sheathing his weapon. Tai Li followed his example.
— I have a great teacher. As you said, a sword is a simple weapon; what matters is the skill to use it, — the girl said, joining her hands with the sheathed blade, bowing her head to acknowledge the greatness and genius of her mentor.
— No need to belittle yourself; a student's merits are solely their own, and their mistakes are entirely the teacher's fault, — Piandao began to speak with a philosophical undertone, looking at the beautiful red sunset.
The man, amazed by her genius, became so engrossed in training the girl that he completely lost track of time. Any mentor and any master would be delighted with such a student. A student who absorbed material and learned so rapidly that it involuntarily evoked associations with the fury of the elements. Tai Li pleasantly surprised the master with her learnability; he had noticed it during the fight, but only by starting the training could he clearly discern the girl's talents.
— That's enough for today, let's go to the castle. Fat will assign you a room and also introduce you to the castle, — Piandao said, heading towards the doors, showing no hint of fatigue. His newly acquired student demonstrated no less endurance.
— I would like to send a letter with my hawk.
The master stopped and looked at the girl. Then he shifted his gaze to the bird, which had been observing their duel and then their training. All this time, since they had gone outside, the animal had been perched on top of one of the castle walls. Tai Li raised her hand, and the bird immediately noticed her command. A few seconds later, the dragon hawk successfully flew into the girl's hand, demonstrating excellent training and obedience.
— I will give you parchment and a brush…
They headed into the castle. There, Azula, posing as Tai Li, sent a letter with orders to her ship via the dragon hawk. Afterward, Fat showed the castle and all its rooms to the new student of the master. There were a large number of rooms in the castle, with only a small portion occupied by other servants and support staff.
Night was approaching.
The student modestly had dinner and then went to wash up before bed in the bathroom. Surprisingly, the spirit had been silent for a long time, clearly plotting something. However, the princess herself had something to think about. She hadn't received such a blow to her ego in a long time. Azula thought that with her current skills, she was a very powerful mage, stronger than most other conquerors, second only to her father—the strongest fire mage—and possibly her older brother. Piandao had clearly shown the girl that this was far from the case. But she didn't feel humiliated, even though she had lost and been knocked to the ground many times in quite dirty and degrading ways… All of it was instructive and practical. The girl acknowledged this, as well as her new mentor's mastery.
«How are you?» — the spirit suddenly inquired while she was luxuriating in a terribly tiny bath.
— I'm starting to miss the palace with its servants and hot springs, — there were very few servants in the castle, so she dared to answer the spirit in a quiet voice, continuing to wash the sand and dirt off herself.
«How delicate we are,» — the spirit remarked with a smirk, but his words didn't offend the girl in the least.
— There are countless children of admirals, generals, and other descendants of ministers who live without encountering difficulties. I understand the necessity for these hardships, even though I miss the luxury of the palace. The path to the top will always be harder than falling from it.
«And that earns at least my respect. You know, someone is in a good mood. The princess has deigned to explain,» — the spirit continued amicably.
— I thought I was starting to miss your voice, but you spoke… could you be quiet for a little longer? — the princess retorted with a jab, relaxing in the bath and closing her eyes.
«We talk to each other like friends.»
— Yes… — a strange smile involuntarily appeared on Azula's face, — friends.
«I want to talk to you before bed about something important. For now, just answer me, how do you find Master Piandao? Impressive, isn't he?»
— I must admit, he is far better than all the mentors I have trained with. And the rumors about his strength and genius rather understated than exaggerated his achievements. If ordinary soldiers possessed such skills, the Fire Nation would probably have won the war long ago. I must admit, spirit, the journey to this master was the right decision. Although at first, I doubted the usefulness of your idea, — the girl replied easily, without lying at all. Azula was very impressed by Piandao's abilities and would not have refused soldiers who possessed even a quarter of his capabilities.
«I'm glad you appreciated my idea. Our future adventures will surprise you more than once, but have no doubt. With me, you will become the strongest fire mage in the history of your people,» — the spirit concluded in an intriguing voice, teasing the girl's curiosity.
— Of course, you won't tell me about your plans or your goals unless I compose a worthy poem for you? Should I try to compose one right now? — Azula replied in a indifferent voice, knowing full well that the spirit wouldn't reveal anything easily.
«No. Focus on your training. Right now, I wanted to talk about something else.»
— And about what?
«Did you notice the difference between yourself and him?»
— What do you mean?
«Your Qi circulation system is not as perfect as Piandao's.»
— Qi circulation system? What is that? I've never heard of it.
«Wash up, and then we'll talk in the room assigned to you. This is not a conversation for a couple of minutes,» — the spirit concluded, intriguing the girl but not satisfying her curiosity.
After washing and cleaning herself from the dirt and sand, Azula put on servant's clothes; her own had been sent for laundry, and she left one of the bathrooms. Walking through the castle corridors and meeting no one along the way, she safely reached her assigned chambers. The night sky was already visible through the windows. The beautiful sight was ignored by the princess. Instead of looking at the sky through the window, she climbed onto the bed, extinguishing the lamps.
— What did you want to talk about? — Azula began with slight interest, settling more comfortably on the bed. The sleeping place was far from the usual ideal, so the princess had to endure some discomfort.
«First, tell me everything you know about your inner Qi and how it relates to magic?» — the spirit responded quickly. Azula could detect a hint of thoughtfulness and slight agitation in his voice.
— Why are you so interested in this?
«Piandao made me think a lot. Unlike you, I saw his Qi and how it works. It's on a higher level and of better quality than what you're doing. I'm interested in discussing some of my guesses with you. So, will you tell me?» — the agitation in the spirit's voice became a little easier to notice.
The girl interpreted this in her own way. Perhaps the spirit simply wanted to discuss an interesting topic with someone. Or perhaps there was another motive. Maybe the spirit had learned something truly important during the meeting with Piandao.
— Why not? Perhaps you'll share something interesting, or even useful…
After these words, Azula explained to the spirit in minute detail the essence of fire magic and the interaction of Qi with fire magic. The girl also shared her meager knowledge about other benders and their magics, paying great attention to the comparison and peculiarities of fire magic. The main difference between fire mages and any other mages is that they create their own element independently, rather than manipulating an existing one. However, nothing prevents a fire bender from manipulating another's fire, even if it's the natural fire of a forest fire.
«Hmm. Scanty. I thought you knew much more about your magic.»
— What? I was taught by the best masters; I doubt anyone can know significantly more than I do about fire magic, — the princess disagreed with the spirit's words. But he was not bothered by this; he was not satisfied with Azula's answer.
«Your knowledge is scarce; you know a lot, and you've only superficially described Qi, not to mention the Qi pools, which you haven't mentioned at all. Perhaps tomorrow you should talk about Qi with the master,» — the spirit mused in a somewhat disappointed voice.
— Maybe you can tell me about magic and Qi then? If you know as much as you pretend to? — Azula replied irritably, offended by the spirit's words.
«Of course, I didn't start this conversation for no reason. Listen and remember. After I finish, you can ask about any unclear points,» — and the spirit began to describe his vision of Qi, magic, and mages.
Qi, or metaphysical energy, is possessed by every person, animal, or insect. All people have seven pools between which this energy flows. They are located in the same places in all people: the crown of the head, the center of the forehead, the throat, the heart, the abdomen, the sacrum, and the base of the spine.
These seven pools form a system of interactions among themselves. This system can be brought to perfection through external influences. Training, rituals, or something else. The fire lotus ritual, for example, acted as a purifier of this system, cleansing it of all impurities, improving the quality of Qi flowing in the body, and thus improving the body and everything else. Having a perfect system with a large quantity and good quality of Qi, a person becomes stronger, faster, more agile, more durable, and likely healthier and longer-lived. The latter fact is supported by the many magic masters who have lived for over a hundred years.
Each person has their own unique Qi, as unique as each person in the world. It is noteworthy that the Qi of a fire mage can be easily distinguished from that of an ordinary person. The internal energies of mages of different elements also differ.
Naturally, this energy is connected to magic. Fire mages can use it to create and control fire, lightning, heat, or warmth. The mage's body tenses, and then a technique is performed accompanied by the release of Qi, resulting in fire magic. As control over one's Qi increases, so does the strength, accuracy, and speed of magic. With good control, sub-elements of fire magic, lightning magic, and heat magic are unlocked. Since Qi is inseparably linked to the mage's body, a strong body greatly benefits the strength of magic. One cannot exist without the other. Since the body tenses when creating powerful magic, as does the internal energy.
Mages of other elements do not release their Qi but rather resonate with a specific element nearby, thereby gaining the ability to control it. For clarity, it would be helpful to communicate with masters of other elements. Alas, this is not expected in the near future.
Qi is also influenced from the outside. Emotions, proximity to the sun, the Sozin Comet; for fire mages, proper breathing is especially important… External factors can either strengthen or weaken any magic. But let's return to the Qi system. A perfect Qi system speaks of a perfect body, which positively affects the soul, mind, and everything else connected to the body.
— The lecture was informative, but why did you bring this topic up? — Azula asks with interest, having listened to the spirit's opinion in silence.
«It's simple. I can try to improve your Qi system by influencing the energy pools. Try to do the same as Piandao, cleanse them of anything superfluous and make them perfect,» — the spirit proposed with enthusiasm.
— What will happen to me if you succeed in doing this?
«Most likely, you will reach the peak of your capabilities; your control, fire power, and other minor aspects will increase. You will live longer, and so on. Everything will happen exactly as during the fire lotus ritual, only the effect will be stronger, I think,» — the spirit answered kindly.
Azula pondered. Looking at the dark ceiling of her room, she weighed all the risks and positive aspects. After considering the offer and the situation, the girl spoke:
— It's an interesting offer, but I cannot agree to such risks and uncertainties at this moment. You mentioned that Piandao achieved everything through training. I think it's better to gather more information now before taking actions with significant consequences. You've never done this before, have you? The probability of making a mistake is quite high, — Azula refused calmly, hiding the true reasons for her refusal in the uncertainty of the venture's success. But the spirit quickly understood.
«I understand. You don't trust me that much yet. That's okay, I'm not upset. Just talk to Piandao about Qi and its pools tomorrow. That's all I ask. You can relax and rest. I'll find something to occupy myself with if you have no other questions, of course,» — the spirit, the cohabitant of her body, responded understandingly, having deciphered the true reasons for her refusal.
— No. Good night, spirit.
«Good night, Azula.»
Soon, the two consciousnesses switched places. Azula fell asleep, giving way to her interlocutor, who had his own plans for the night…