====== 12 - Genius from the Past ==========
I think it would be difficult for anyone to sit with a straight face while listening to meaningful expressions such as: we agree to genocide, but only on a small scale - from a compassionate, completely virtuous and extremely humane owl. It would seem to be the most incomprehensible thing in the world, but Afka passed on Shi Tong's words to me verbatim and made me think a little about whether I really asked for permission to exterminate every living creature, or whether this was a hint at how my words were perceived by the spirit.
Well, I can even agree with the latter. I may have tried to be restrained in my expressions, but to surpass the literary expressions and verbal turns of my guardian spirit was a task that only people are capable of in their fantasies. But despite the words conveyed by Afka, we still managed to reach an agreement. The information brought by the fox was truly useful, but there were a number of problems.
As it became clear, Wang Shi Tong had assessed the spirits who were guaranteed not to share their knowledge with the library and who had no practical, informational or spiritual use, so to speak, and compiled a list of rubbish. It included creatures I had never even heard of, or had encountered at most once, but all of them could cause real trouble if a large-scale mess were to break out. But what to do with the creatures that were not on the list? For example, the face thief Koch, who, to my great regret, was actually left out? Or Tui and La, on whom magic itself is based. Wait a second — if there is no one left to embody the moon and the sea, there will be no balance.
This is where the problems began, because Koch himself is a spirit who freely shares information in exchange for knowledge, which means he is already worthy of life. But there were other, rather controversial, yet powerful beings, and even the weak but numerous ones should not be written off. What to do with all the rest? After all, they also hinder development and could cause a future war with the spirits.
Well, the answer is simple... I had to come up with the answer myself. That's what Afka meant when she demanded that we not exterminate everyone. Yes, I asked for help, but no one helped me with the hardest part! Although I am being a little disingenuous: no one could help me with the spirits that were already within the mortal world, but there was a way to deal with the others. And that way would have raised doubts in any sane person who knew even a little about Wang Shi Tong.
"Sorry, repeat that again, I didn't quite catch that. You said he wants to get... a monopoly on movement?
"Oh, don't look at me like that, I don't understand what's going on in my master's head either. But yes, he wants to monopolise movement between the spirit world and the mortal world, so that only he can allow people to cross over and, accordingly, charge them for this in the form of knowledge. His library is a natural bridge between the two worlds. And that's not even mentioning his information network and connections with other spirits. The master is a miracle! "...Tell me, does he do anything out of simple ethical considerations? Anything that isn't tied to profit?
"Fyur, my master is a deeply moral owl, it's just that when it comes to knowledge, principles can take a back seat," Afka waved her tail at me. "In short, the only thing you need to do is close the other portals. I have the necessary knowledge and can help you with that.
Yeah, right. So it turns out that I didn't spend so much time discussing plans with Kuruk for nothing, because thanks to him, we now have a basic plan of action, while the other assistants just threw in extra tasks. But I had to admit that their help was still valuable. All that remained was to open the chakras I needed and learn Oza's secret of how to absorb spirits, because that mystery had not yet been solved. And there was no faster or more profitable way than to simply send Afka to search for it.
If his secrets were written down somewhere, then it was obvious that they would be found by the mystical sense of smell of a fox. The same applied to the knowledge of the last, seventh chakra — it must have been recorded on paper. Well, at least I sincerely wanted to believe that, so I convinced myself of it.
"Dagoth, I can't find anything," Afka said, returning to my room late in the evening after searching every corner of the palace, scratching her head in confusion. "I suppose they might be in the dungeon of the fire sages, but I've been there several times and couldn't find anything like that." What are you looking at? The fact that I broke into a locked and guarded repository of knowledge is entirely the fault of those who put the lock on it. They should have made better security, fyr.
Despite Afka's antics, or rather because of them, a dark thought crossed my mind: what if this knowledge has been destroyed? I mean, why would Oza need to keep information on how to subjugate spirits if he could just remember it? If this information fell into someone else's hands, he would have a rival. And he doesn't need information about the seventh chakra, because he was going to bypass it!
But I didn't voice these thoughts out loud yet. It was just a guess based on logical conclusions. The only way to find out the truth was to ask Airo for help. My feet carried me to him, but as it turned out, it was all in vain. He was being watched everywhere and no secrets were revealed to him, and Oza didn't even go into the details of his plans, simply out of distrust.
At that moment, I was probably ready to do anything to get the information quickly, and Anubis quickly responded to my silent call.
"Getting information about the last chakra and how to subdue the spirits will be more difficult than anything you've done before. The knowledge has been destroyed, and you ruined the easiest option when you allowed Admiral Liang to restrict Airo's movements. Choose:
This was probably the most frustrating lead-up to a choice I had ever seen. And it wasn't just the seemingly huge stick I had stuck in my own wheels, but the fact that I didn't even know where to go next. Yes, I came up with a brilliant move to gain knowledge about the fifth chakra, I still had to understand the meaning of the sixth, and then this meanness.
"1 - Extinguish the fire of hope (It is not enough to defeat the enemy in battle. Your victory must be so complete that the will of your enemies fighting against you must be destroyed forever. Magic can destroy life. Fear can destroy an empire - prove your loyalty to the Fire Nation and receive knowledge of the seventh chakra directly from Ozai. Attention, you have learned the secret of Azula's birth and understood how Ozai respects his legacy. You can also bind your soul to Azula. Upon reaching the required level of respect, you will enter the royal family. This option involves a series of difficult decisions. Your relationship with Azula will become romantic.
2 - Kill the weak and rule the strong (Good servants are rare, so don't waste the seed - give up the seventh chakra and take control of the power of the spirits yourself. Desecrate their nature and open the path to darkness. Eliminate Oza, who stands in your way)
3 - Desecrate and plunder (Desecrate the sacred places that stand in your way and challenge every spirit to battle. You will be able to unlock the seventh chakra yourself if you make a series of difficult choices).
4 - The rite of mentorship (This option can be combined with all the others. The secret of absorption is a mystery that Oza will not reveal even under threat of death, so you can resort to unexpected methods: summon Yuna's soul to reveal the secret of absorption. Be warned, you will have to accept a series of difficult choices).
One option is crazier than the other, but one thing remained the same: only the discoverer of absorption magic and Kioshi's lover will reveal Oza's secret to me. Summon and talk to Yuna... honestly, I never even thought about it, as if the idea itself, for some reason, seemed impossible to me. Perhaps the reason is that he hates the Avatar and might ask for anything he can think of in exchange for his knowledge. Or maybe it's because he died a violent death and was supposed to end up in the misty ocean, from which there is no escape?
On the other hand, I won't fulfil Wang Shi Tong's plan if I don't take this desperate step. I won't even fulfil my agreement with Kuruk, so it's not really a choice, more of an obligation. As for the rest... the third option is according to my plan with Afka: challenge everyone who gets in the way of the war to a fight. This option was the simplest and most straightforward.
The second option would definitely allow me to take Oza's place, but I can't understand the point. Yun couldn't hold a single spirit inside himself, and now there are many? Or is it about agreements that would allow us to interact with spirits on the same peaceful terms as Avatar? It sounded dangerous.
The first, in turn, involves following my and Azula's storyline. That is, yes... it's literally an opportunity to change sides. An opportunity to start creating a republic of united nations starting with myself — to create it here, on the Archipelago, rather than in Omashu or any other place where I have less power. It sounded tempting...
"Pff, no," I dismissed the option. Bind my soul to another person and start a harem? First of all, I wouldn't go for that myself, I'm not attracted to Azule. And secondly, it would clearly be a betrayal of Tai Li," - Failure and two girls - already sounds like something crazy and full of problems.
To be on the safe side, I chose the third option. Perhaps Yoon could have pushed me towards the second, but I didn't see any opportunities for that yet. Something really serious would have to happen for that to happen to me.
"Well, how am I supposed to contact Yoon? No one has communicated with his soul yet, and is he even still sane after merging with a powerful dark spirit?
"Do you want to meet a spirit? - Afka's tone made it clear that she had a plan," - The sixth chakra would allow you to navigate the spirit world, but alas, you are still a lazy little man who has not opened it. Therefore, I can offer my help! I told you that spirits share information, didn't I? I can find out the location of anyone and summon them here through Wang Shi Tong's connections.
She wagged her tail energetically. It seemed like she was insulting me, but on the other hand, she was so cute. At the same time, it became clear that owls really do have an information network — and a huge one at that. I accepted the offer and, so that everything would go authentically and no one would distract me, I escaped from the palace for a while. I simply went underground and left the city, where it was impossible to meet a single person for miles around.
Afka disappeared for only a couple of minutes, saying that information about the creature I needed would spread throughout the spirit world at the speed of a ship, and I would be able to communicate with the spirit I needed, just as Avatar does with his previous incarnations — safely and without provoking fights.
"Just wait. A couple of hours, a day at most, and he'll be here.
"Are you serious?" I frowned instantly. I thought it would happen a little faster...
"Well, what did you expect? Souls need to travel a certain distance within the spirit world, plus you may have to persuade him. These human souls are nothing but trouble, so hug me and relax. We've got plenty of time... right? Dagoth?
But at that very moment, the fox's eyes slowly opened. The figure of the guy who had been sitting in front of her, rolling his eyes in amusement, suddenly vanished. A single footprint remained where he had been a second ago. Teleportation? Did he disappear underground? Afka pondered what had happened for a second, until...
BANG
Something crashed into the hill almost a kilometre away from them.
"What other trash has decided to find me? - At that moment, she slowly turned her head and saw a strange guy standing next to her - long-haired, in a fighting stance like an earth mage, with huge gloves on his hands. Only he didn't look like a ghost at all, but rather a very physical object. And this someone lowered his gaze directly to little Afka." "Ghost? I already killed your friend, answer me. Who are you and what do you want, or you'll join him in the misty ocean.
"Af...
This mage exuded an indescribably enormous power from his six open chakras.