2 Water

After passing through to what it felt like an infinite amount of purple trees. The sound of running water entered his ears.

Nathan's head perked up with a smile plastered on his face towards the source of the sound. He began to walk faster.

The loud sound of the flowing river grew louder with every step he took. With a gulp, Nathan couldn't help but rush over to take a sip from the river.

After exiting the forest, a new view welcomed him.

The river stretched as far as his eyes could see. It's also wide enough that he could only peek at the opposite end of the river.

The water surging through the river was as clear as a flawless piece of glass as it sparkle under the sunlight.

Not a single moss is stuck on the underwater rocks.

When Nathan got closed, he felt even more astonished.

From where he was standing, he could see the ground at the bottom of the river. Besides from the solids such as rocks, fish, and seaweeds, nothing muddled the waters.

If it wasn't for the ripples, he felt like he was staring at a clear glass with a canyon underneath.

Nathan couldn't help but feel a little bit excited to taste water. All his life, he only drunk processed water due to impurities from pollution. If he were to drink "all-natural" water, he might die from chemical poisoning.

The various brands of mineral water had always tasted weird to him. The terms such as purified or distilled never eradicated the impurities in the water.

At least, not at the level of the water in this river.

This made him wonder what sort of place he was currently in.

Nathan reached down and cupped some water in his hand. As soon as the water touched his skin, he realized that the water contains the same energy scattered in the air.

He then pulled up his hands filled with water, and until it reached his lips. Sipping into it, Nathan felt a surge of energy coming from the water.

It gave a similar feeling when drinking an energy drink. Except it was more potent.

To him, it took him the entire can before the wakefulness kicks in. Sometimes it even took two.

The water from the river only took a single sip before he felt the revitalizing effects.

As his body began to process the water, the energy that was dormant within his body began to wake up one by one.

Nathan felt more energetic than ever. It also brought him a profound feeling that he only felt once when his mom told him she was proud of him.

He felt like a champ!

Nathan sat into the ground cross-legged and fell into the void state.

Within his mind, he could see that the water he drunk passed through his esophagus. At the end of it, the water disappears for a short while before reappearing once again.

The water that disappeared had lost most of its energy to the point that it's indiscernible to water.

As for where it went, he could see in his mind that the orb of energy, which he finally decided to call "source," filled to the brim.

The source absorbed the energy through force within the water, which cause it to expand.

It was also perceptible to him that the dust particles are converging with each other. These particles formed something comparable to a flame or plasma to be precise.

It kept trembling as it orbited around the core of the source, which is still growing.

The crystal clear water continued its flow towards Nathan's body.

The body slowly distributed the nutrients within the water. Every cell that it passed through got cleansed.

Black spots of goo began to seep out of his body, exiting through his skin. Bringing with it an unbearable scent that can wilt plants and destroy any insect's lungs.

As the cleansing kept going, the stench began to strengthen as it permeated.

The air around Nathan became dreadful.

The energy within the air began to fight back and dissolve the smell. But it can only isolate it and stopping it from spreading out.

The grass underneath Nathan has already withered and died. The ones that are further away are wilting at a visible pace.

As for him, he still remained in his void state.

His body produced a tar-like substance that corroded his clothes.

After a while, the energy brought forth by the water has finally subsided. Nathan's body is now covered with black goo as thick as an inch.

Nathan opened his eyes and saw the aftermath. Looking at his body, it took him a moment before a strong odor slammed his senses awake.

The gross looking goo, the unbearable stench, the dying foliage around him.

Panic rose in his heart as he stood up and looked at the crystal clear river.

"If the water can cleanse the impurities within my body, then a surging river should be able to clean this, right?"

He stepped a little closer to the river.

"But what if it can? Won't this pollute the river making it non-potable and poisonous? Where would I get water?" He only thought, but the panic within his heart controlled his body as he dipped his right foot into the water.

The instant the water and the goo collided, the black goo immediately dispersed in the water. It left no trace behind as if it was never there to begin with.

Seeing the positive result, he finally submerged his entire body.

As the goo thinned out, the fresh river water gave him the feeling as if it was his first time showering for days. The feeling was divine.

The spot he jumped in was 1.5 meters deep, which was enough for his 1.75m height to stand and have his head up above the water.

He then kneeled a little dived down and let the water cleanse his face too.

His thoughts hovered around. Ah, yes, this is life. And I never want to get out of water ever again.

When the goo was completely gone. An unimaginable pressure began to suppress him underwater.

Nathan trembled underwater as he felt like he's getting compressed.

There he finally noticed what's wrong. The energy particles in the water began to enter his body.

The panic in his heart spiked up, which caused him to lose his reasoning for a moment. He tried to scream underwater, which only reduced the air he's currently holding in.

When he completely expelled all the air within his body, he lost control of his breathing and inhaled. Causing the water to enter through his nose.

What terrified Nathan, even more, was that the goo might have been still around and might enter him again. With the scene he saw earlier, the only word able to describe it is a hazard.

He realized that the water that entered his nose felt closer to a very dense air rather than liquid water.

The effects were like breathing in air. Except it was more than 10 times thicker.

He was safe, and he regained his calmness. Reason came back to him and finally stood up back into the surface.

After getting his head out of the water, Nathan felt a click within him that made him feel profound. For some reason, he felt like his strength increased.

He couldn't find a trace of panic within him anymore, and the forced feeling was gone along with panic.

Nathan opened his eyes and looked around. The sight left him dumbfounded.

Everything was blue: the sky, the yellow and purple trees and its red leaves, the ground with vines. Nothing that entered his eyes weren't blue.

Nathan climbed out of the water. When his feet are finally on the ground, he looked down towards his bare naked body. The blue was more intense in his body than everywhere else.

Then, the blue tint disappeared. Everything went back to normal.

After pondering for a bit, it suddenly made sense to him.

His desires due to comfort made his body cast a spell that covered his body. While the water is crystal-clear, the blue glow from casting also covered his eyes.

This made him see blue.

While the constant exposure to the energy seemed to have increased his intelligence. He still lacked the knowledge to comprehend the events that are happening.

A thought appeared within his mind. "I controlled water?"

The thought startled Nathan.

He looked around and saw a puddle a meter away from the river. Before diving into the river, he recalled that everything around him was dry. There were no puddles, and the weather was clear.

The appearance of the puddle away from the water was weird. It looked as if water ran away from the river.

He then gulped, with his calm state of mind, he rushed out of the water. His entire body was glowing in blue, meaning his energy is commanding the water around him.

The excited Nathan. "Is this even possible?" he thought.

After pondering for a bit more, Nathan pointed towards the river and flicked it upwards. The water shot out like a geyser as if someone was in the water and splashed water upwards.

"Shit, this… Did I really do that? That was far away, though!"

He tried again once more and flicked, and once again, the water responded to his movement.

"Ho… Holy shit, I'm a motherfucking air and now water bender."

Nathan tried to freeze a part of the river but failed, not even a glow from his hands appeared.

"Ah, well, I tried."

His hands began to move in an arc.

"Wait, how does she1 do it again."

He began to focus his mind on doing what he wanted. In the middle of the river, an orb of water went up. It then hovered above the water.

Nathan waved his hand over his hand, which made the water arc back to the river.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! It actually worked!"

For imitating a movement from something that he saw before. Ideas flashed through Nathan's mind.

Thinking about all the possibilities, how can he not feel excited? But then his current condition…

After a momentary ecstasy, he calmed down and think. He looked towards his hands as he recalled the lights hidden within his fingers.

With the intent of calling out to the light, he closed his eyes and began sensing energy flowing all over his body. Once his consciousness reached his left hand, he saw 3 orbs of light hovering.

"Answer me, what is this?"

There was no response. Even Nathan thought that his words were stupid and vague.

"How about, let me understand this place."

As soon as he finished his words, an intense light flashed and escaped his body. At this moment, Nathan also opened his eyes as he stared at the light.

The light then gathered energy from the air and went into his forehead.

Nathan was once again in the forced void state.

Within a single breath's worth of time, as if enlightened with the secrets of the world. Nathan's eyes became as deep as the ocean, if one were to stare at it, one would feel lost.

In an instant, all the questions about his current situation became clearer.

He finally woke up and understood what happened.

Nathan died. His soul traveled with no goal as it fell onto a black hole.

These went on and on until all the black holes within the universe dispersed. Floating in the vast emptiness of space is a piece of unknown rock filled with an infinite amount of data.

Everything from that stone is resting.

At this moment, the universe has extinguished all life except for one.

That one living being sat down on the piece of rock where Nathan's soul is resting.

The man glowed several times as his mouth kept moving non-stop.

At last, a white orb entered the piece of rock from then the vision stopped.

All that's left is a sentence.

"Let there be light."

Nathan opened his eyes and said, "and then, there was light." as he stared at the white hole in the sky.

Yes, it was a white hole, instead of sucking, it's spitting out whatever's inside it.

With a calm and tired expression, Nathan stared at the flowing river in front of him.

"Like the flow of the river, the water keeps on flowing. Even after entering the large ocean, it will still find a way to enter a river."

He didn't know what happened to the person covered in cloth. Or how the things he wanted to do happened. All he knew right now is that he's only alive once again thanks to that person.

Nathan felt exhausted.

Remembering the amount of energy the water possessed, he drank once again.

"Ah, this is something like a mana potion from the games back on Earth."

1. Nathan is referring to the Avatar: The Last Airbender's Katara.