430. Teaching Firebending

Aang showed a decent amount of control over his earth bending but it was still far away from perfection.

"Good, you are learning fast, but you need to quicken the process or you won't be strong enough by the time you face Ozai," Alexander told him.

"But if I master my Avatar state then I can defeat him," Aang argued.

"You are wrong there. Aang, the Avatar state is not meant to be used recklessly. If you were to die in the Avatar state then the cycle of reincarnations would be broken. Meaning no new Avatar. The Avatar State is like a safety mechanism of your body that is programmed to kick in whenever you are angry or in danger. Just take it as the previous experience of Avatars combining into your body to save you.

"But at that time, your body is the most vulnerable. So, to become a true and powerful Avatar, you need to master all the bending arts normally." He advised.

Aang nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He never knew that he was putting the whole Avatar lineage in danger.

Alexander patted his head and said, "Don't worry. Toph has already taught you very well. Now, we just need to polish your skills. Then we will start the firebending training. You have three days to master Earth bending so work hard."

"Let him in," Alexander ordered. Soon the gate of the training grounds opened and a friendly huge Badgermole entered. He came beside Alexander and silently sat down.

*Pat Pat*

"This boy here will be your new training partner. They are natural-born earth benders so I think you can learn a great deal from them, also, our dear Toph learned from Badgermole too." He revealed.

With that, the badgermole beside Alexander walked to Aang and nudged him to follow.

"Hehe... okay, let's go." Aang sat on its back and left.

Once he was gone, Azula came up to him, surprising them all. "Old man, can you teach me too?"

"What do you want to learn?" He asked.

"Ummm, my lightning is no good. People already consider me evil due to it. What about simple flames?" She asked.

"Hah, lightning is not evil. All that matters is who uses it. Because even though it is a very destructive force..." He snapped his fingers and suddenly the whole area became pitch black as if it was a night with no light.

"It is still light..." He added and started making lightning in his palm which illuminated the place.

"Even if it is destructive, it can still..." He waved his hand and suddenly cold wind started to flow.

"It can still warm you up." He said, and in a controlled manner, used lightning to make the temperature higher.

"So, it all depends on you, whether you want people to perceive it as evil or good. A sword can be used to harm and defend both, after all." Alexander lectured.

*Yawn*

"It was a nice lesson but I got bored. I am going to rest now." She turned around and left. But Zuko came to him.

"Can you teach me how to do lightning bending?" He asked.

"Sure, though it is very hard and takes time," Alexander warned him.

"I don't care. I will do it. I must do it." Zuko resolutely said.

"Well, get ready then. Follow my movement. Okay?"

From the sitting stands Iroh shouted, "You got to feel the flow, Zuko!"

Zuko ignored Iroh's words and started following Alexander's steps.

"One step forward. Two steps backward. Turn to your left, turn to your right. Stretch your arms out and say HA HA HA..."

Zuko had been following him till the laugh. "What are we doing?"

"This, my boy, is the daily exercise. It's pretty important to keep yourself fit." Alexander said, suppressing his laughter.

"Haha, smile, kid. Being serious won't take you far. The human mind is not made to always be stressed. Laugh and use its full potential." He advised.

"Okay, back to training. Generating lightning usually involves a circular motion with the arms. Mentally, it involves a complete absence of emotion and peace of mind, and physically, it requires separating the energies of yin and yang, also interpreted as positive and negative electric potential respectively.

"When the yin and yang collide together to become whole again, lightning is created, with the bender only guiding, rather than controlling, the lightning's direction. If one attempts to conjure lightning without the required emotional discipline, it can instead result in a huge explosion of fire. Do you understand?

"If you recklessly try it you will possibly lose a part of your body. So, do not try it without my presence or your uncle's." He advised after the long explanation.

"Okay, now follow my movements. I will show you how to prepare your body to harness lightning." He then instructed him seriously.

So, for the next three days, he gave intense training to Zuko. But it was not just in fighting, but also how to think right when uncertain about things. He was basically preparing him to become the next Fire Lord without him even knowing.

...

Meanwhile, Aang had gone with the Badgermole to a cave. It turned out to be the home of it. There was also a mama and two small badgermole kids.

Aang was astonished by how good they were at traveling even though they couldn't see anything.

So, he decided to close his eyes for the next three days. He tied a piece of cloth over them. He had heard from Toph about how she sensed the vibrations and saw through them. He was trying to achieve the same level.

The first whole day didn't result in much progress. But on the second day, he was able to sense the changes around him through the earth. But then he realized that he could also see things happening in mid-air as he was also an Airbender and could create a very light airflow around him, and wherever it would get disrupted he would know. This way, he learned to see even when he didn't have eyes.

He didn't need the object to have contact with the earth to sense it. He had truly developed a 360-degree vision.

Also, his hearing power increased. Now, he had fully mastered Earth bending and Air Bending. So, he got up and returned to Alexander after saying goodbye to the family of badgermoles.

"Hahaha... very good. But don't think you have mastered Earth Bending. There are still the derived forms. Sand bending and metal bending are the next frontiers. But those are to be learned when we will have extra time. Now, you will start your firebending training.

"Okay, firebending is much different from other styles. Firebenders use their chi as a source for their bending. This facet of firebending is a sharp contrast to the other bending arts, which manipulate already present sources of their element. Meaning that, unlike other styles where there are resources made available that are manipulated. In firebending, you create fire from your body.

"I am sure you already know a bit about your Chi. Now, let's try things out first."

Alexander looked at Zuko sitting in the stands, "Zuko, come here. I want you to fight Aang. Help him understand what Firebending is. Aang, fight Zuko and learn how he is doing things, try to replicate it, and make fire. Best of luck."

"But I don't know firebending," Aang argued.

"Baby steps, Aang," Alexander said and joined the rest of the audience.

"G-Chan, quick quick, give me popcorn," Chomei demanded.

"Haha, here you go. Share it with everyone." He handed him a bucket bigger than him.

Back on the field. Zuko and Aang were having an intense staring contest.

"I won't go easy on you, Avatar," Zuko growled.

"I don't expect you to. And my name is Aang, you can call me that." Aang replied sternly.

"HEYAAA!..." Zuko made the first attack and started bombarding fire. Aang just dodged and kept looking at what Zuko did to make fire.

"Fight back, Avatar, you can't run away forever." Zuko taunted.

"If that is what you want, that will be what you get," Aang said and started using earth bending to sandwich Zuko from both sides.

But, Zuko had become much more agile and he escaped all traps every time. His intensity of fire had also increased.

"Wohooo... Yes Aang, kick his butt." Sokka shouted from the stands.

Azula looked at him seductively, "Ah, I thought mighty Sokka would be on my side. But I gues..."

Sokka gulped saliva and looked at Aang, "SORRY AANG!, but can you lose this one?"

"Bwahaha... youth," Ragnarok laughed.

"Desperate virgins," Hats appeared out of nowhere and added.

"My nephew has gotten better at firebending," Iroh commented while intently looking at the fight.

"Of course he has, I taught him morning dancing exercises for the past three days." Alexander jokingly said.

"Then you must teach me too. Even if I don't get better at bending, I might just lose some of my belly fat." Iroh replied in the same joking tone and patted his belly.

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