====== 7 - The approaching enemy ==========
Your own first assistant, who is essentially a general who will lead a huge coalition of completely diverse people - I couldn't believe that it would be one of the two people arguing in front of me. It seemed like the first decent choice in a while, but what was the point? To destroy spirits, you need open chakras, and even the clan of Flaming Mages, who teach how to control chi using the Laghima method, wouldn't be able to help, plus there are a lot of cripples among them... Although the latter is definitely not a problem, considering the technology of the fire people.
The only thing a full-fledged army could be useful for was to deal with those who, according to Anubis, would not take my side. Becoming Azulu's chief assistant and making some kind of joint plans sounded absurd.
I needed to think. I looked at my arguing brother and sister, who were discussing Oza's monstrous plan, and interrupted their noisy conversation with a loud clap of my hands, which sounded like thunder in a clear sky and caused a violent tremor. It was as if the ground beneath the house was about to collapse and cause an earthquake. After that, everyone's blood ran cold, and they all stared silently at me.
"Zuko, go outside and deal with the local guards. Find out what they're doing here and... decide for yourself what to do with them." Whatever option I chose, Zuko could raise his father's opinion of him in various ways: deal with the swindlers and positively influence the local clan, or stop making enemies of them, which was also a good option.
Azula, on the other hand, remained seated in the house under my watchful eye. The family that had taken us in was afraid to even move because of her previous statements, and I was tormented by not knowing how to deal with them now, until...
"Here, take this," the mother of the family said in front of us, pulling a small bundle from under the floorboards, which contained several pieces of paper. Her children were simply trembling in our presence, and the atmosphere seemed overly tense. "This is not only the knowledge my children use for training, but also some notes my husband made when he made mistakes in his own training. I swear we won't do anything to cause trouble for the Fire Lord.
We handed over the original... I looked at Azula in surprise and slowly realised that this was it. The influence that she and I are capable of exerting on outsiders. I can't believe that such a thought even crossed my mind, but by that logic, Azula is the best option. Separately, our frightening figures are only capable of restraining groups of people, aristocrats or various generals, but if we are together, then, as Anubis said, the conflicts themselves will stop before they begin.
After studying the knowledge contained in the sheets and quickly realising the value of their meaning, I could say with confidence that this was the very thing — a priceless treasure that had come to this place in a way that was completely unknown to me. Perhaps the information had been brought by the mercenary himself, or perhaps it had been passed down for centuries, I did not know. However, as the woman had said, the sheets of paper from Laghima were accompanied by some logical reflections by that same three-eyed mercenary. And he, it must be said, had given some serious thought to the meaning of magic...
"The third year of focused training in my magic. My lost arm has healed, and according to my agreement with the royal family, I was given a prosthesis that complements my enormous physical strength well — if I used ordinary fire magic, I would be almost half as strong. Ignition is very different from other magic, so my lost hands don't hinder me in any way, but even so, I don't want my children to lose theirs in the future.
If they study hard using those papers, they can become stronger than me. I don't plan to waste time studying them myself; I have a hard time understanding all that philosophical nonsense, so I'll just spend my time earning money. I'll provide them with everything they need to change this miserable life — no matter what it takes.
I changed my mind a little. So that my children would understand the meaning of this philosophy, I read something and wrote down the main points for them: The Chakra of Light in the forehead (what is a chakra?) reveals the secrets of true magic. Before the elements, there was only energy, and it still exists today, but no one studies it. However, special people like me were born with a high concentration of this energy. The Chakra of Light (I still don't understand what it is) allows you to influence your own element with energy, merging them together, each with unique effects.
I'm not interested in the other elements, but I'll write them down so my kids know more about the world:
Air Magic - changes the form of energy (the author of those papers drew the most analogies with it. He said that with it you can expel the soul from the body and learn to fly. Was the author really an air mage?)
Water Magic - changes foreign energy (the author gave the example of manipulating living plants and roots, but suggested that it was possible to manipulate living people. Sounds scary)
Earth Magic - changes the properties of energy (there are few examples, but the creation of magma (I didn't know they could do that) occurs through the same manipulation of energy)
Fire magic - changes the concentration of energy (the most interesting. Ordinary fire magicians will become stronger, and Flames magicians will gain new abilities. Explosions will become larger, firing speed will increase, and it will become possible to change the trajectory of an explosion)
For a better understanding, you need to read the author himself, but he talks about changing himself and his mind. I don't understand what that means.
Not a word about how he planned to support his children... no one knew what he did for a living.
The notes were extensive, some relevant to the topic and some not, but I managed to grasp the important meaning: every advanced manipulation of one's element is connected to energy. Once you understand it, you will begin to comprehend the true meaning of everything: magic, your place in the world, perhaps even spirits. It is important to add that these abilities are not unlocked by the Chakra of Light itself, but simply that on the path to it, you can open your mind to new things. The Chakra allows the body to gain free control over such energies and manipulate the elements almost without limitation.
Apparently, what I had been doing before could hardly be called full control; the future of my magic is still ahead, but it is already so close. In any case, my main goal here has been achieved. After making copies of these papers so as not to deprive my family of knowledge, I assured them that they could now continue with their business.
At least, that's what I wanted to believe, until I heard noise outside again. My senses detected that Zuko had started to rampage again. So actively, in fact, that I wanted to take a look. Together with Azula, I finally went outside, where we saw a guy standing in the open gate, opposite him were beaten soldiers. He was quick... he knocked all the enemy mages down in one gate, some of them already showing burns. After training with me, his magic was simply insane. But next to him was a young boy... with a tattoo on his forehead?
The fire mage didn't touch him, but he wasn't moving either.
"Who are you?" The guy with his hair sticking up, which completely exposed his broad forehead, looked at us all grimly. He focused on the expensive clothes of my two companions, on the gold ornament that adorned Azula's clothes, and did nothing. He didn't need to. Judging by his concentration of chi, he could create an explosion that would quickly destroy everything," "You hit the Captain of the Guard, you know that?
"What are you standing there for, help me!" shouted the man at Zuko's feet.
"I can't. I'll hurt you too, you know that," he was completely inert and uninterested... no, he even enjoyed the fact that this man was being beaten. It was as if the two of them had a grudge against each other.
"Boy, is your name Gya'no?" Zuko focused on the unknown child, who was about ten years old. Seeing him nod, he calmly said, "I am Prince Zuko. And this man under my feet is now a political enemy.
"...Understood. He is at your disposal.
Setting his leg on fire, he made the man scream and quickly reveal everything. Zuko revealed that the Captain had been stealing money and sharing it with his subordinates in exchange for their silence. The money earned by the three-eyed mercenary was enough for them to live a completely comfortable life. As Azula said, the money, part of which was supposed to go to the treasury, was going into the abyss called greed. Because of him, the mercenary's murder can be considered meaningless.
And depending on which option I choose now, it will be decided what will happen to this region... what punishment will follow for the guards, what relations will begin with these people, everything depends on whose side I take: the young and eccentric Zuko or Azula, who has gone mad from tyranny.
If I have to choose the best outcome... it would be better to leave Zuko here so that he can fulfil his wish and solve the problem of the local population. The new guards will need to be shown their place, and most importantly, they will need to befriend the only explosion mage who knows anything, just so that he doesn't fall into Ozai's hands. Gya'no may have kept a poker face, but he felt intrigued by the whole situation.
Zuko had to win him over to his side.
And make him Azulu's assistant. Anubis didn't say how to deal with those who wouldn't become my right-hand man, so it was up to me.
He just had to decide what to do with the third option. Pride and truth would not allow him to watch anyone else's reputation rise but his own. Did he have to beat his own people to make others fear him? Deal with some of the Fire Lord's enemies? No problem.
"I need to come up with a punishment for them," Zuko said thoughtfully, thinking about how to get them to prison. But at that moment, I walked past the prince, stopped in front of the captain lying on the ground, and looked coldly into the eyes of this piece of shit. "Have you come up with something?"
"I'd shake hands with anyone who shits on the three-eyed bastard. But taking his dirty money that was meant for good people is just as despicable as the way he got it. You piece of shit," he said, kicking the man into the ground and breaking his nose. Giano, standing to the side, smiled. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry! Please, I'm ready to serve my time in prison, just don't kill me.
"Trying to wriggle out of it? Azula stood nearby, looking down haughtily at the man lying under her stone boot. "For stealing funds, you deserve death during Agni Kaya.
"Huh?
Opening one eye, which peered out from under my boot, he saw two monsters that could terrify even the country itself.
"But he won't get away that easily, will he, Dagoth? - The girl turned to me cheerfully.
"Yes. He'll have to pay for all the stolen funds," I said, growing a crystal from my ring and, without much fear for my agreement with the spirit, driving it into the bastard's hands and feet. Even when his limbs began to crystallise and the man started screaming, I stood there with only a blank expression on my face. Only when the jammony began to spread to his torso and neck did I clench my fists to stop the crystal from spreading inside the alien body. Here it was, the ability to change the properties of my own element, wherever and however I wanted.
"What... what did you do?" the captain screamed in horror, realising he couldn't move.
"Shut up.
Clang*
My heavy foot broke each of his fragile limbs in turn, leaving the captain lying with crystallised stumps and a degraded qi system. He was breathing heavily, feeling no pain. Only his mind was plunging into the abyss of horror.
"You know what's worst for you? Now you can't get your prosthetics back~
"A-a-a-a-a-a!
***
I won't hide it, I really enjoyed freely mocking my former enemies. In the past, people would have hated me even more for doing such things, the whole country would have started throwing tomatoes at me, but now I had complete carte blanche, all because by acting on behalf of the Fire Lord, I wasn't doing anything wrong. Even more than that, people liked it.
Declaring that Prince Zuko would not allow such treatment anymore, we gradually paved the way for the beginning of good relations.
Gya'no, in turn, turned out to be a pretty smart guy. According to his sister, he had read all of Laghima's works and had been thinking like a grown-up since childhood. And it was clear that he understood that it was not worth getting involved in the conflict just because of Zuko and Azula's appearance. He was well aware that he had little chance at close range and that he was capable of hurting his own people.
And here's what's interesting: he's most likely the father or even the grandfather of that explosive girl from Avatar Korra. He has knowledge of chakras and is wise enough to develop his power, if that's true and I'm not mistaken... It always made me wary, but Lotus split into two parts during the time period of the next Avatar. The Order of the Red Lotus are anarchists who want the Avatar's death and chaos, and if everything is correct, then one of their members will be the child of this currently insignificant guy.
What if, in the canon, he became either the founder or one of the first members of that organisation? His dislike of the Fire Nation is clear for all to see, and I couldn't say how history has changed, but I wouldn't want him to try something like that in the future. What should we do with him? Anubis was silent, which meant...
"Zuko, take care of him, okay? We can blame it all on the prince. If Zuko takes care of him, then later Airo will take care of him too. I'm not late, I'm a strategist! Seriously, though, the guy really should have been accepted into the Lotus, and preferably trained from childhood, but I don't have much time myself. We need to go back to Oza and ask him why he wants to destroy his own people.
The only thing I wanted to check before we all said goodbye was his current level of strength, just to understand what Laghima's teachings were capable of. Asking him to fire a single shot somewhere away from the village, I gathered my hands in front of my chest and focused on a single point in space... How much power could I still gain if I changed my mind and made Zuko my assistant? What if I had a whole squad of magicians like him?
The guy answered my question when he fired a beam of energy without asking any questions. A thin line cut through the space a hundred metres away, forming a fiery sphere near a small rock, and...
BAM!
An explosion of tremendous force that blew everything within a five-metre radius to pieces reminded me of how I had fought the most unpleasant enemy I had ever encountered. It was truly powerful. One of these, after development, would be capable of defeating entire militias.
"Yeah, you can already destroy fortresses — what monstrous magic. You could probably destroy a thousand enemies in a couple of minutes — that's harder for me.
The guy looked at me strangely. It wasn't difficult for him to show his strength to a stranger, but he had no idea why it was necessary, and I'm sure I looked like a bully. But what is the potential use of such a powerful mage who is still a child? The fact is that all the members of the Lotus are old men who will soon retire. I don't want to say this about Airo, but they won't live long. It's better to build up your circle in advance, so it turns out that with Tof, I potentially have two powerful mages. Time would tell, but it was already looking good. I could start making plans.
"We'll meet again," I said with a forced smile, waving my hand at him and sitting down on the varan with Azula.
"You know, towards the end, things started to get fun, I liked it. I think I'll go out with you more often now," said the crazy woman who had officially become my first assistant. "I'm not just sleeping in a den with a bear, I stuck my head in its mouth... but it's really getting more fun." "Do you think we'll find anything else interesting on the way back?"
"…I don't think so. I know.
***
Do-do-do-do* Do-do-do-do*
The heavy footsteps of the disorderly crowd made the ground shake. Small animals and birds scattered to avoid being crushed by the tracks of heavy tanks, and the clang of metal armour echoed for metres around. The militia marching from the big city consisted of all possible infantry:
long-deserted but still hiding soldiers; commanders of various persuasions who disliked Oza's current policies; stolen heavy equipment manned by skilled fire mages; and, of course, ordinary people who marched either with their bare fists or with pitchforks and kitchen knives. As a last resort, swords sharpened specifically for killing a special target could be seen among them.
"There are a thousand of us," grinned the commander sitting atop a tank. "We will kill the Sand Mage, since the Fire Lord cannot do it."