Chapter - 11

And in the last week of our trip, we came across interesting rumors that told about the "moon monster". According to the collected information, it turned out that at the full moon, a monster wakes up in the mountains and hunts lonely residents or travelers. This rumor interested me, mostly because of the scraps of information about the fugitive water mage. The most difficult thing was to convince my squad, or rather one stubborn girl, that I should go alone.

Although Goro should be the most concerned about my safety, whose fate would be as unenviable as possible, and my Grandfather and Father would take care of it, but this old man was even more confident in me than the members of the squad, who, by the way, consider me a MONSTER. And they are generally right, I am a monster among people and magicians, I strongly doubt that even an avatar is able to do something to me, the maximum of his strength is a long resistance that will make me stronger.

So, having overcome Tully's anxiety, I set off in the direction of the nearest village to the place of the disappearance, exactly in time to be on the road, at night in the full moon. Walking along the road, listening to the noise of the trees and the breathing of an unknown observer, I thought it was a robber, a lunatic or a 'moon monster', but all questions were dropped when the full moon rose in the sky, illuminating the earth with a silvery light. My body suddenly stopped, and with a noticeable resistance turned in the direction of the thicket, this despite the fact that I did not resist this unexpected feeling.

Every step I took, every movement I made, had a lot of resistance, which made it look very comical, as if I was moving in slow motion. And I also felt like an unknown observer, not only leading me closer to him, but also approaching himself, as it is difficult for him. Just two minutes later, a non-young woman with a decent gray hair and a tense face appeared in front of me, she abruptly moved her hands, using her QI, with which she controlled my movements, but she was not destined to complete the next wave, as I completely adapted to this strange force.

"So that's what a cad you are. I said to the non-young water tribe girl standing in front of me. "To be honest, I'm disappointed, your abilities, although interesting, are quite weak, I didn't even have to make an effort to reset them.

- Haaa Haaaa. The woman standing across from me panted, glaring at me with hatred.

As soon as she tried to move her arm, I quickly closed the distance between us, and grabbed the woman by the throat, lifting her off the ground. She would have continued her movements at that moment, but she reflexively grabbed my arm, in an unsuccessful attempt to free herself. I wanted to try to talk to her, maybe arrange for her to be relieved of her fate, to be killed immediately, in exchange for interesting knowledge, but I realized that it would not work. Her gaze, her movements, her aura, and even her current QI, all spoke of a deep and hopeless hatred, my people are enemies to her, and you don't negotiate with enemies.

- Ehhh. With a heavy sigh, I slammed the woman in my arms against the tree, carefully calculating the force to knock her out, not kill her. Then everything was simple, call the falcon, send it to Goro, and in the meantime, tie up the criminal, and go with her to the place of gathering of people, which I felt in grief. Inside the mountain was the makeshift prison of Hama, where the people of the fire nation were imprisoned.

Then everything went quite calmly, well, to be more precise, I threw all the work on the squad, I myself took up meditation, it was interesting to see what changed after this battle, and also to find out how she managed. When everything was done and the squad was ready to follow my orders, I finished with the self-examination. The bottom line is that Hama, as a water mage, somehow came up with the idea that blood is also a liquid that can be controlled, and through it, the body itself, but as I understand it, she did not have the strength to use such a complex magic. As I noticed, her soul - body connection point, located below the Tally point, resonates with the moon, and the QI passing through it is amplified. So it turns out that Hama has mastered a special subspecies of water magic, thanks to which she was able to escape from a special prison for water magicians, but if she is normally chained or deprived of her hands, then there will be no next time.

I myself was able to neutralize its effects quite simply, just by creating an additional valve in the QI circulation system, which began to release it in small portions, mixing it with blood. As I understand it, if she used her power against another water mage, they would intuitively resist using their QI, directing it into the liquid, namely blood. Other mages are not able to do this, which would make them helpless against blood magic, except that the mage's QI would be an order of magnitude stronger than Hama's.

Here it is worth clarifying that the QI circulation system, although it is a separate semi-material object, but at the same time strongly affects the body, but more indirectly than directly, otherwise fire mages could never get burned. And with a certain quality and quantity of QI, its influence would be strong enough to prevent the influence of Hama, but my adaptation decided to make it easier by increasing the proximity of energy and matter at one point, namely in the heart.

After such a good event, I decided to return to the capital, where I could hand over the Ham to someone else, and visit my sister and mother myself, at the same time checking on my Grandfather and Father.

"And this grandmother is a water mage?" Was she the moon monster?"..

"Ohh, Tully, you already know the answers, so why ask them again?" And yes, she is a water mage, and no, you should not feel sorry for her, because you saw those who were imprisoned by her. Yes, she was that moon monster, because the moon gives power to water magicians, and the sun to fire magicians, and she is also very, very dangerous. I haven't thought of any way to fight against her blood magic other than to be stronger, and I also don't know how to strengthen my QI. I said flatly to Tully, who was sympathetic to the woman, and not to say that it was stupid or wrong, it just made no sense.

"But you, Mr. Zuko, managed to resist her.

"I'm a monster in human form, comparing me to anyone else is an inherently stupid idea. And even so, my QI was not stronger than her, and after all, my skills in fire magic are huge, but this is only the skill of possession, but not the quality of my energy, the strength of which, although growing, is not yet clear how. The funny thing is that my QI is always at the same level, regardless of external factors, that is, unlike the same Goro, I will not become stronger under the light of the sun, and will not weaken without it. - I shared an interesting fact that I found out during my research of this resonance, thanks to which Hama used her magic. It also turned out that Tully's earth magic is as stable as my fire magic.

"D-don't say that about yourself, Mr. Zuko, you're not a monster at all!" Tally began to reassure me, always very sensitive to any words that could be perceived as an insult to me.

"Oh, my sensitive little girl, this is not an insult or a slander against yourself, this is a fact. Never, you know, never in the entire history of the fire people, has a person been born capable of doing the same thing as me. Maybe you forgot, but I can stay awake, I can't eat, I can hear perfectly at a great distance, at eight years old, I look twelve, I can beat any number of opponents at the same time, I can crush iron with my bare hands, and so on. So when I call myself a monster, I mean something that is head and shoulders above everyone else. Do you understand? I turned to Tally, who was sitting behind me, and gently patted her head.

- yes. Sorry. The girl bowed her head dejectedly.

"You're forgiven. And I appreciate your concern for me, who but my beloved ladies will appreciate and protect me, because I myself am not able to do this because of my abnormality. - I answered with a smile, honestly admitting that it is my environment and family that makes me a person, because otherwise, I would not have a single anchor. Although in this life, I might have been able to remain partially human, and then because of the influence of my wives and children from the past.

"Mr. Zuko, you are too kind, and I... I... um." Tally said, still looking down at the saddle we were sitting on while the komodo rhino drove us.

"Mr. Zuko!" The guy Goro was using as a messenger interrupted our conversation. "T-t-tam, g-Mr. G-goro, asked for a transfer."

Again, the guy shrank under my gaze, rattling the end of the sentence very quickly. I took the paper and began to read it, and a moment later I felt Tally's body pressed against my back, her chin resting on my shoulder, holding her curious nose. And after all, this does not bother her at all, she can flare up like a tomato, just take Tully's hand, but at the same time calmly almost hang on to me, without any reation....

And I didn't hide much from Tally, because I didn't see the point, and she didn't have to fight her curiosity. And the written message was extremely interesting, as it said that we would be passing by a very interesting place. This place is interesting for one person, not for any structures or features, and it is doubly interesting that this member of the Fire nation, a deserter who lives freely in my country, is still alive.

"Well, Mr. Piandao, you're very unlucky....

"Who is he?" Tally asked curiously.

"This is a deserter who escaped from the army and then refused to surrender, but since he is a very skilled master of weapons, the price of his capture was considered unprofitable, allowing him to live as long as he does not oppose the people of fire.

"Are you going to arrest him?" The girl asked anxiously.

"If he's stubborn, I'll give him a decent death in battle, and if he's not, I'll let him go after he finishes training his little sister and you." I replied with a smile.