2 Instructor Chen

I observed the villagers going at their lives, I knew most of them. It was a peaceful and happy scenery, but I knew that most of the world was in pain.

And yet, I asked myself, 'Am I really willing to sacrifice this to save the rest of the world?'

I was confused, did it really matter to me if Ozai won? He might have been evil but Fire nation was my home and with him winning, it would become greater. But then, what about other people, did they not deserve to live in lands passed down to them from their ancestors.

I had peace in this village, a good life, did others not deserve that?

I was lost, to stop the Fire nation was to end the peace in this village and countless others, I didn't know what happened after Aang defeated Ozai but I knew that resentment against the Fire nation would not go away easily.

I entered my home of 15 years and began packing, I knew that uncontrolled power especially fire was not something to joke about. I had to leave.

Some part of me didn't want to, after one lives in a place for a while, they grow used to it. The people who had raised me had a special place in my heart...

I packed whatever was necessary inside a bag and left the house, it was empty. I looked back and felt conflicted, yet one side won.

I dropped a note beside the door and left, Lei would find it.

The closest town to my village was an hour's walk away, I had been there before so I knew the way.

I enjoyed the fresh air and the cool breeze on the way. The sunlight made me feel stronger instead of annoying me like before.

I soon reached the town, I had heard of a Firebender there when I had visited before, so I was going to find him.

"Where can I find the Firebender in town?" I asked a random passerby.

The man looked at me and sighed, "Another one, great... He is a retired soldier, lives at the edge of town, near the willow tree. Take that path..."

I was soon on my way there.

The man seemed to be in his fifties and had a modest amount of belly fat. He seemed to be chilling under the sunlight.

I approached him, he noticed me and asked impatiently, "What?"

I was a bit surprised by his tone but asked him nonetheless, "Where can I learn to do Firebending?"

He turned silent and regarded me with a raised eyebrow, "Well, do you have money?"

I shook my head, I only had enough to buy food for a few days...

He snorted and looked away, "Join the army if you have no money, no one teaches for free."

I was not surprised, "I will pay you back later..."

"No, kid. Now leave me alone, come back when you have money!" He shooed me off and returned to whatever he was doing, sitting around...

I sighed, 'It seems fate is pushing me here...'

I walked to a nearby tree and sat under its shade to think. I didn't have that much money, my family was not rich, it was rather poor. We lived in a village which meant the average there was poor here...

I didn't know how long it would take to work and I wasn't a fan of wasting time. So I looked at the quest and made a decision.

A week later and there I was, in a wide space surrounded by others my age, all obeying an instructor who demonstrated how to Firebend.

Joining the army was simpler than I thought, my name, my parent's names, and place of birth, and boom, I was a soldier with 5 stat points rewarded to me.

"Take a break!" shouted the instructor as he walked off. I sat down and checked my status.

[-Status:

Strength: 24 Speed: 24

Stamina: 24 Spirit: 50

Points: 7]

After adding points the second day, I discovered that Spirit was related to my Firebending power as my fire got stronger with more spirit... Since I seemed to be in top body shape even compared to the adult trained soldiers, I decided to focus on spirit more.

The pain had lessened as I expected, however, without the gamer's body, it seemed logical for the pain to exist.

The quests had changed as well, something I was not sure how to feel about... Was I really free? Well, my actions were my own so...

[-Quests:

1. Become the best in your group.

Reward: 2 stat points

2. Win the coming tournament and impress the Firelord.

Reward: 6 stat points]

There was a tournament for young soldiers in the army, it was going to be held in the capital. Only the top of each group could participate and I was running out of points, so I had decided to win it.

The instructor approached me, he had a joyful smile, "Kai, I have good news." He was a very strong Firebender in his forties, his name was Chen.

I stood up, "What news, sir?"

He turned around, "Follow me."

And I did, as we walked to another part of the training barracks, he said, "You are the strongest Firebender I have ever thaught, you learn fast, and your body is in top shape. That is why..."

He stopped before a few unfamiliar faces, they were waiting for us. He gestured toward one of them, a middle-aged man with some scars on his face, "This is commander Lin."

I nodded, "Sir."

The instructor then pointed at me, "Commander, this is Kai, the best in the group I am teaching."

Lin nodded, "Begin." He simply said.

The instructor nodded and made some distance between us. I realized they wanted me to show my skill in Firebending.

I had only practiced the basics taught by the instructor but I had trained them over and over. So I performed them easily.

Fire moved around ferociously as I performed the forms one after another, my fire had become much hotter and bigger compared to the time I had used it near the stream. Every blast was twice bigger than my body, the intensity of the heat made me sweat.

Lastly, was the Fire stream, I let it out toward a nearby boulder, Flames engulfed the boulder and continued onwards behind it. The stream was bigger than my body and very intense. I stopped and saw the boulder had turned red with many cracks in it due to the heat.

As I finished and turned to look at the group, they all were slackjawed. 'What is wrong with them?' I wondered.

The instructor had a knowing smile, he looked at the commander, "Commander Lin, what do you think?"

The commander gulped loudly and suddenly smiled, "Great! Amazing! HAHA!" He laughed with the others.

I wasn't sure why... The others in the group could also perform these moves, maybe my fire was stronger but that was it.

Seeing my confusion, the instructor explained, "Kai, do you remember the 1st day of training?"

I nodded. He continued, "When I saw your firebending I put you here. You might not know this, but I only pick the best to train the candidates for Royal guards."

'That was why I was separated from the others in the group back then...' I remembered. When I had first arrived, they asked me to firebend and see where I was at. I did so and they had put me here.

Commander Lin stepped forth, "Kai, your talent is great. Be sure to win the tournament, it concerns your future. The Firelord will be watching, if you get his interest, your future possibilities will become limitless."

I simply nodded, I wasn't interested in Ozai. I just wanted to master Firebending at the moment. I had decided to flee the army after the tournament. In the end, a world ruled by an evil person like Ozai was not good, he had to go.

"Good... Good... Teach him more advanced things, the tournament will be in 3 weeks, the more he learns the better... haha!" The group all agreed among themselves. It was obvious something was in it for them if I performed well.

I trained harder than ever, day after day, ignoring anything else. The only thing on my mind was to master Firebending. I memorized form after form and practiced for hours upon hours. I didn't even talk to most people. I trained with some soldiers and usually won, the last days, I won every practice match.

The instructor seemed to approve of my mindset and so did the commander when he occasionally visited.

The day arrived, at last, I stood alone in a clearing. I checked my Status and Quests.

[-Status:

Strength: 25 Speed: 27

Stamina: 25 Spirit: 54

Points: 0]

I had spent all my points, putting more in speed was a spur of a moment decision. To me speed seemed to be the most important thing in a fight, with it I could dodge, evade, and do lightning-fast attacks and even Firebend faster.

[-Quests:

1. Win the coming tournament and impress the Firelord.

Reward: 6 stat points]

I was a little worried it was going to be the last quest but I couldn't be sure. I was eagerly waiting to see what quests came next.

I took a deep breath and calmed down, letting go of everything. Only me and my fire existed in my mind.

With every breath I took in, the fire within me grew stronger and with every breath that I let out, it flowed outside. A ring of fire formed around me, becoming bigger and hotter when I exhaled and then shirking when I inhaled.

I was a dragon, my breath was the fire and my mind, its master. The Chi within me, as taught by the Instructor, the source of my power.

I opened my eyes and began the last practice.

Blazing rings and arcs of fire came to life around me, dancing as I moved. The heat was enough to make the nearby water stir, some rings were 7 meters big.

I changed the nature of my form, the fire returned to me and condensed in my hands, forming two concentrated fire blades. I sliced and swung them around cutting the air producing howling sounds.

I stopped as I felt my hands slowly burn, I manipulated the flames into a small ball and shot it forward.

Boom!

It exploded and fire blasted around intensely.

With a wave of my hands, the fire returned to me in a stream, a circle of flames formed around me from that fire.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and recover a little.

Then I used the circle to form two flame whips and struck an imaginary enemy in various ways.

I let go of the whips and did various flips while doing fire japs, shooting blasts of flame in various directions, and at last, I let out as much energy as I could.

I roared, my hands extended in each direction, from my mouth and my fists, fire raged forth. The sound was daunting and loud, echoing in the surroundings like the roar of a dragon. The 3 fire streams extended for a dozen meters before dissipating.

I finally stopped and took deep breaths, I felt awesome, my blood rushed in my veins as my heart and energy raged. It was an amazing feeling.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

I turned to look at Instructor Chen, He had a smile, "Well done. You are ready. Your surpassed my expectations..."

He suddenly frowned, "It is best you hold back a little, it is not wise to show everything you have. Keep that in mind."

I knew that Ozai might see me as a threat. I had practiced controlling how much fire I put out and managing the Chi within me. I had to let loose to train, however.

I nodded.

He turned around and began walking away while saying, "Enough training, get ready, we leave in an hour."

I followed him, It was time to win the tournament and then find the Avatar, or so I thought.