Master and Master?

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The plan that Azula and I came up with together was starting to work. After hearing some rumours, which I supplemented with my memories of the canon, we were able to get a pretty good idea of Piandao's character before we met him. Getting him interested was no problem for a brilliant girl. I could watch Azula's intelligence, cunning, and fine acting from the front seats as she followed the master into the rock garden.

Everything was going according to plan, all the princess had to do was to perform well during the sparring.

She had come up with most of the plan, I was only correcting and smoothing the corners of some particularly sharp moments. It wasn't a good idea to start with a status show and threatening hints, and Azula rarely acted differently. The girl was impressive in her intelligence, but at the same time she was saddened by her bad sides, which prevented the princess from living and developing. Childhood traumas make themselves known in all their glory.

Except that if the princess didn't have these weaknesses, I would have been much worse off. But one cannot remain indifferent, seeing her diligence, dedication and genius. Yes, like any other person, Azula had both positive and negative qualities that made her personality very unique, but she is certainly worthy of at least respect.

I have made a lot of progress during my time in her body, I have learnt a lot about the world and the workings of life energy Qi in the human body, not forgetting to explore my spiritual life and the possibilities of developing myself as a spirit. Yes, I was not at all idle while inside the princess, even if it might seem so from the outside. Let Azula continue to think that I really don't do anything when she sleeps. She's a smart girl though, she's probably guessing my actions and suspecting something.

I don't think she'd like the fact that I'm watching memories of her entire life while she's watching dreams. They weren't really dreams, though, but exactly what the girl's deepest memory is that she might not remember. I'd almost given myself away when I first started doing this. I just hope she doesn't pay too much attention to a single nightmare. It's also good that I was able to sort things out quickly and not wake the girl during her dreams. It's doubly good that her brain is independently erasing, or in this case putting back her deep memories, which I pull out and view from the depths of someone else's mind like a deep dive film. It is because of this that I was able to learn so much about the world and the fire nation in just a few days of travelling at sea. Still, watching a girl's memory, time is perceived a little differently. In a single night alone, I could very well view several dozen days of her life.

Forcing Azula to go to Piandao was the best idea I could think of. Having gained some much-needed time, I sprang into action, and was now reaping the rewards of my successes. The spiritual sight that I had previously only allowed me to observe Azula and all the processes going on in her body, as well as see her aura. Now, after many experiences, training and experiments, this ability allowed me to look at the world much wider. And looking through material objects, such as walls, was only a small possibility of my spiritual vision. I could now see other people, their auras, heartbeats, breathing, and most importantly, the flow of Qi within the body.

Comparing Azula's Qi with other fire mages, I found many differences. It was because of these differences: in breathing, energy flows, the presence of swirls or clusters of Qi, the varied quality of the pools of energy and the work that went into the flow of life energy through the body.... All of this was what made Azula stronger than any fire mage I had seen, not to mention strong genes, intelligence and a huge amount of training with diligence. From my perspective, she was already, if not on her father's level, then very close. And her energy surpassed Ozai's by an order of magnitude, which was due to her stronger, blue flames.

Previously, I had never seen a higher quality Qi structure than that of the girl. I had taken what I saw as ideal, or something close to it. But now... now, looking at Piandao I saw proof of my mistaken first opinion. What was happening in the body of a true master was many times better and of higher quality than the Qi circulation system that Azula had. Nothing superfluous, everything was simple and without error. The Qi flowed in the sword master in a continuous stream, not lingering in pools of energy or forming unnecessary swirls. It was like a perfectly working mechanism that did not have any errors and squeezed out exactly as much as the situation demanded without making any noise or wasting a single drop of energy.

If one imagined that Qi was like a flowing river that was winding its way along the way. The princess's Qi flowed slowly in some places, quickly in some places, and in some places it was too crooked, forming whirlpools in some places, and in some places lagging behind unnecessary objects. The princess's river was still clear and drinkable, perhaps even tasty, but not as perfect as Piandao's. The Master looked perfect, his river was much simpler, no whirlpools or superfluous objects, it flowed smoothly, perfectly even all the way through, neither slowing down nor speeding up. And the old man's body looked surprisingly young for his age.

Comparing their energies, I tried to remember all the differences between the two recognised geniuses, so that in the future I could make one just as good, if not better, once I had sorted out my body problems.

In the meantime, Piandao, Azula and the butler went to the backyard of the castle, where there was a rock garden, as well as a convenient sand-filled area for training and sparring. Ugh, what's about to begin. Clearly sensing something, the hawk left the princess's shoulder, flying over to the nearest wall. How I long to see the actions of their life energy during battle!

- Show all you can do," they stood opposite each other. The master's Qi began to move several times faster. He was ready to fight, while I could sense an overconfidence from Azula, but her Qi also accelerated. She didn't take him for a serious opponent, very much for nothing.

"By no means underestimate him, he's much stronger than you can imagine," I decide to help the girl not to fall flat at all.

- As you wish, Master," Azula replied in a confident voice, immediately attacking with a swift attack.

A blue fireball rushes towards Piandao. For a moment his eyes opened wider in surprise, but his body reflexes had no problem allowing the old master to dodge, and his experience in battles told him how best to counterattack.

Failing her attack, Azula was forced to dodge the sand that flew in her direction from a simple swing of her sword. She only managed to save one eye, the counterattack was too sharp. The master didn't hesitate, immediately attacking with a lunge.

Instantly reducing the distance, Piandao did not allow the fire to be created. Dodging the direct lunge, Azula did not expect the attack to continue. That's exactly what the master did, attempting to strike with the hilt of his sword. Tumbling backwards, she dodges again. Throwing a glance in her opponent's direction, she catches another portion of sand in her eyes.

Blinded!

Azula didn't hesitate, immediately creating a fire shield, the next movement turning it into a wave of fire, which the girl willed towards the master. Seeing nothing, she continued throwing fire arcs one after another, in the direction where the master might have been. Unlike the princess, I could see him easily dodging the blind attacks, gradually increasing the distance with his opponent fearing the hot flames.

On the fifth blind attack, Azula decided to wipe her eyes with one hand while continuing to attack with her other hand. It was this moment that Piandao decided to choose for his attack.

- Ouch! - With a girlish squeak, Azula fell to the ground, feeling a strong pain in her forehead. That was where the sword sheath that Piandao threw had hit her. Not at all embarrassed, she immediately gets up, intending to continue defending herself.

- That's enough, wipe your eyes and we'll continue," the master says to his opponent.

Both freeze on the spot, the girl, after a little thinking, still began to wipe her eyes, trying to get her vision back to normal and get rid of the sand. Everyone was well aware that instead of the sheaths thrown, the master's sword could have flown in, ending the fight with the girl's death. Less than a minute had passed, and the genius princess could taste defeat. Piandao was a genius, and a true master of his craft, that he was rumoured to have never lost to anyone. Just seeing him in battle made me believe that he could take down even a hundred mages with the support of an army.

Noticing the girl's self-confidence, he took advantage of it, defeating the master of conquering fire and melee without any effort. Azula simply didn't have time to use her skills, and Piandao deftly deprived her of her sight with a simple but terribly fast move and clever use of terrain. Simple and ingenious, I was greatly impressed by such a quick victory over a brilliant princess. Unfortunately for the girl, she had little experience fighting various opponents. Whereas Piandao had hundreds of times more experience.

"I warned you not to underestimate him, didn't I? Get up and keep going, show your tenacity and determination. No matter how many times you fall down, just get up and keep fighting!" - I decide to encourage Azula by telling her what to do. But will she be able to cope with the humiliation and her own anger?

- I must say, your skills aren't particularly impressive," the man said with some disappointment as he picked up his scabbard, leaving it in his free hand.

"Don't make excuses, take a stand!" - advised the girl, feeling the anger boiling over.

- 'I wasn't ready,' replied the girl aggressively, unaccustomed to defeat and also to battles with such dirty opponents.

- A true warrior is always ready for battle, let alone a master. If you see an advantage, take it. Did you mention you're considered a master where you come from? - and he plays well on her pride and self-confidence, also sensed the girl's conceit and decided to test how well she would control herself in battle.

- Oh, after saying that, don't expect my pity," Azula replies with a grin, rising from the sand.

- Holding back in a fight with me? You are either seeking to insult me or you are overconfident. I would be honoured to die in battle, try to kill me if you want to win! - adding pathos to his speech, he gets into a fighting stance.

- 'As you say, master,' Azula adopted a proper fire magic stance that was more effective than the standard fire mage stances.

The sun's rays warming the grass and ground, the wind howling in the distance... a moment, and the battle begins.

This time, the girl didn't let herself get caught up in a dirty trick, fully focused on the fight and expecting anything. Piandao had a much harder time catching her. Several attempts at blinding with sand were unsuccessful. By keeping her opponent at a distance using fire, Azula felt her superiority. Except the Master dodged extremely fast, not a single attack could even hit him. But he himself was in no hurry to throw his sword at his opponent either, having no alternative ranged attacks. Instead, he began to provoke and laugh at the girl's slow attacks.

- Not fast enough, are you colouring or fighting? - Provoked the master, dodging without much difficulty, what with fire blades, fire arcs, and banal fireballs. Piandao was too fast for her fire.

"Simple provocation, ignore it, watch his movements," I encouraged my princess as she continued to attack the country's greatest swordsman. However, it was not necessary, the girl herself understood everything perfectly well.

- Such skills would come in handy in the circus! Maybe you should reconsider becoming a warrior. You're much better at being a circus girl," the master continued to provoke her.

Outwardly Azula remained calm and collected, but inwardly I could feel her anger. Although it did not interfere with her during the fight, but she clearly did not like the master's fighting style. Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything about it, her attacks still didn't reach the target.

This continued until Azula created a fire dagger each, moving into melee range. The girl held herself quite honourably. Alas, in close combat, despite the strength of her young body, acrobatics and great agility, Piandao was still confidently confronting her, fighting back with dignity. Deftly evading each other's blows, they continued this dance, moving swiftly across the sand ring.

The two masters fought on equal terms, even though I could see Piandao giving in a little bit, showing that he was clearly not all that he was capable of. It was a very entertaining sight to watch his Qi circulation system at work. The fight was beautiful and dangerous, they were almost on equal footing, no one knew who would emerge victorious. It gave the impression that the opponents were equal, but suddenly....

- Ugh! - A successful spit in the eye was accompanied by a blow from the hilt of the sword. Azula once again found herself on the sand, blinded and humiliated. The master's dirty trick worked on the princess once again.

"Get up, don't you dare refuse, get up!" - cheered the princess, wanting to watch the battle and the Qi work of both participants for longer. However, she didn't really need the support, having managed on her own.

Standing up, the girl wiped her eyes once more and prepared for battle. Ignoring the pain, suppressing her feelings, Azula was ready to fight and learn. Once again everything began to repeat itself, fire, dodging, close combat....

This time Azula was more serious than ever, after repelling the master with fire, she decided to use lightning. Pandao had no time to do anything, despite the long process of creating lightning, it took her a few seconds to launch a deadly magic that knew no barriers. The master only threw his sword in front of him, the lightning hit him and went into the sand. Azula didn't expect something like this....

- Your conquest of lightning leaves much to be desired. It takes too long to create it. Nothing would have prevented me from throwing my sword at you and ending the fight," the master slowly approaches the sword, taking it out of the sand in one motion.

- Shall we continue...?

The next half hour of the fight didn't go as colourful.

Azula used everything she knew how, wanting to defeat and humiliate her opponent, but Piandao stood up to the agile girl without much difficulty. The girl didn't use lightning anymore, but her arsenal was very extensive without it. The princess fought back well, using all her experience in battles and trained skills of fire and hand-to-hand combat, but it was not enough to win, and she began to learn and think more broadly. One time she was able to successfully blind the master with sand, but he caught her and knocked her to the ground using an analogue of my spirit vision, or did he really have hearing sensitive enough to compare to echolocation?

Either way the fight went on for quite a while, all the while Azula fell into the sand quite often, but got up, showing her tenacity and character again and again. Ignoring the abrasions, bruises and contusions she received. One time she even managed to tackle the master, knocking him to the ground thanks to a distraction in the form of a thrown hair ring. That was where their sparring ended, with the first victory for the princess who introduced herself by the name of her best friend, Tai Li. How many times the girl was defeated and ended up on the sand, I don't want to remember.

- Ha, I guess that's enough. It seems that old age is making itself known, - calmly stood up from the sand, the master spoke, putting his sword in the scabbard and demonstrating with all his appearance the end of the fight.

- I didn't see that it would have prevented you from defeating me in any way," Azula replied calmly, hurt by the master's words. She won only because of her skills and cunning, as well as her ability to learn and find a way out of any situation, not because of Piandao's old age.

- That's right. How old are you, Tai Li?

- I turned fourteen about a fortnight ago, Master.

- Young and with so much training. I'm impressed with your skills, I suppose you can take on the capital's masters much quicker and easier?

- That's right.

- Their low skill requirements haven't changed a bit. Do you still want to learn the art of swordsmanship under me?

"It all worked out, don't..." - But Azula didn't even bother to listen to me, answering on her own.

- ''Yes. I learnt a lot of things in one fight with you, including not underestimating opponents that don't possess magic. Our duel only strengthened my belief that I can learn something new and useful from you. Please, be my mentor," Azula replied with feeling, keeping an icy equanimity within herself. What a fine actress she is.

- During our fight, I have seen enough good qualities of a future warrior. I will become your master....