Chapter 41

"Will you be fine?" Asami asked Chen, who was wearing his coat. He was heading in the direction of a snowstorm. It would be wise not to depend on his breath the whole time to warm himself up. 

He smiled at Asami. "Yes. Finish your deal with Varrick, I'll come back by morning." 

"You sure you are going to be fine? I'll come with you." 

"No. There are dark spirits. I know how to deal with them, you don't." Chen said. 

"But what about Korra? Why does she get to leave and I don't?" She seemed to doubt something. When a woman compares herself to another woman involved in the situation, it was a bad sign. 

Chen placed his hands on her shoulders. "First, you are my fiancee, so I'm worried. She is not. Having you here would make me feel at ease. Second, she is the Avatar. I won't have to protect her. Besides, you sound quite jealous…" he teased her with his expression as he half closed his eyes. 

"What? Me jealous?" Asami rolled her eyes. She then gave a serious expression. "Of course, I would be jealous, seeing that you will protect her." 

Taking a deep breath, Chen said. "I remember you being the one who invited her to the pool, in a bikini, to swim with us. I didn't think you are a doubting type." 

"That's before I knew she was a very bold person to hug us to her chest," Asami said, blushing a bit as she waved her hands.  Her worries were justified. 

"Yeah, I was surprised too." Chen patted her. "Now, I'll be heading out. I'll come in the morning." 

"Don't take too long, or I will forget about you." She said. 

He replied. "You may forgive me but you will never forget me." 

-x-X-x- 

Chen lay on the top of a horse-like animal with white fur. Meanwhile, Korra was on her Naga, a polar bear dog. Unalaq had his ride with his son and daughter. Tonraq, Korra's father, came as well. 

The snowflakes danced with the violent wind, hitting their faces. The waterbenders didn't seem to be bothered, unlike Chen, who closed his eyes. He didn't need them to see anyway. 

"So, Mr Chen." Unalaq opened his mouth. "The technique you have used to calm the spirit, it looked like mine, but quite different. Where did you learn it from." 

"I wonder too, where did you learn your technique from," Chen said. 

"Wan Shi Tong's library," Unalaq said.

Tonraq looked at Unalaq suspiciously. 

"Hey, hold on. I thought that library has vanished when Aang went to it?" Korra asked.  

"There is more than one way to enter it," Unalaq said. "You have to prove that you are a friend to the spirits, and they will teach you. If the worlds didn't become distinct, everyone would have a chance to benefit from that knowledge. Now back to my question, Chen. Where did you learn your firebending technique? I haven't read about it anywhere." 

"It's a very long story. Long story short, I met a spirit who taught me how to." Chen said. 

"I wonder what it is?" 

"So do I." 

Korra groaned a bit, and she said. "Will you two stop talking? It's hard to hear anything with all of this wind. We don't want a dark spirit to ambush us now, don't we." 

"Yeah, we don't." Replied Tonraq. 

Chen, who had his electrical sense activated, could sense some odd movement. Although the spirits didn't have heat signs, they had a mass. Chen could tell that some huge body was walking in the snow. 

"You didn't have to jinx it." 

He said, pointing his finger at the top of a snow peak. In a millisecond, a lightning bolt flew out of his hand. 

Since his bending level was high, he could unleash lightning so fast. 

*Boom*

The snow peak exploded. A dark blue spirit with red yellowish eyes jumped out of it. Sparks of lightning danced around it as if they were snakes. The spirit landed, looking angrily at Chen. 

"It's not alone," Unalaq said, extending his hand and looking in a different direction. 

Chen smirked at the dark spirit that appeared. He wasn't excited or anything. that smile was to assure himself, to trick his mind into not fearing the monster that appeared. He wasn't sure of how to deal with this spirit targeting him. But he was sure that it was smaller and weaker than the spirit he had fought. It was only two meters high. 

Jumping off his ride, he stretched his hands to the left and right. Balls of fire started forming and floating around him. Currently, Chen was controlling them with his mind to keep them lit. The fire started glowing up in white. Pointing his hand at the spirit, he invited it to come with his finger. 

The dark spirit, although angry, was smart. Their intelligence could be compared to that of humans — children in the age of puberty. 

It turned into a blur, heading to Chen. Korra tried to bend the water to stop it. But the spirit was too fast for her. 

Chen, on the other hand, could read its movement with his extra sense. 

'Tic, tic, tic. Now!' 

He bent his back backwards. The spirit appeared above him, with its elbow hitting the previous spot of his head. 

instantly, he pointed his hands at it. The light fire orbs turned into spikes that pierced the spirit from different spots. The yang energy spread from the fire. A white glow started surrounding the spirit. Soon, it turned into a glowing blue spirit. It stood up, looking at Chen, and gave a slight bow. It then turned and moved in the north's direction, walking.  

[+30.000 exp]

[+35.000 accumulated experience]

Chen put his hand under his chin. He got a new idea, a devilish one. As it seems, turning the spirits into good ones gained him a good amount of experience. He had another flame which should have the opposite effect of Light Flame. If he turned the spirits into dark ones, before turning them into good ones, he would gain more experience. That way, he won't have to train as he would gain all of the experience he needed. Well, Chen has around 370.000 unused accumulated experience. 

Turning his head, he saw Unalaq neutralising a spirit using his waterbending. He did it with ease. Of course, he would. He's the one who controlled the spirits in the first place. 

After everything was done, Unalaq pointed his hand to the south. 

"We were attacked because we reached our final destination." 

There was a frozen forest, some lights coming from the ice. 

It gave a cold breezing feeling. 

Unalaq put his hands behind his back. "Korra, you are to go from here, alone." 

"No, I'll go with her," Tonraq said. 

Korra frowned at her father. "No, dad. You can't deal with the spirits, and it's my duty." 

"She is right. You will be possessed by the spirits." Unalaq said. "You will be more of a hinder to the Avatar than a help." 

Tonraq turned to his brother and growled. "She is my daughter! I have to protect her." 

"But he is right, dad," Korra replied. 

Chen had a cold expression on his face. Since he planned to wait for Unalaq to kill him in the spirits world, going with Korra would be the best option for now. 

He patted Tonraq on the shoulder. Deciding to pretend to be a good guy, he looked at the big buffed guy. 

"Don't worry about her. I'll protect her." Chen turned to Korra. "I'm going with you." 

Korra, who had been quite harsh with her father, softened her tone. 

"That will be dangerous to you." She said. 

Chen smiled and put his hands in his pockets. 

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself. I'll deal with the spirits." He would also gain a huge amount of experience. "You focus on your task and I got your back." 

"So, it's like the old days." Korra smiled a bit, her cheeks seemed to get hotter. 

"I think he should go," Unalaq said. 

Tonraq turned to Chen. "Can, can you protect her? I mean no offence. You are in no way in Avatar's league. I'm afraid that she would be protecting you." 

"Oh father, you don't know everything." Korra sighed with frustration. "He may not appear like it. But he's the best lightning bender, and possibly firebender you may meet." 

-x-X-x- 

Chen and Korra entered the icy frozen forest, on their feet. 

'Exp… exp…' 

Chen had one idea. He was thinking of how much experience he would gain if he fought the spirits instead of Korra. His lightning bolts were ready to be unleashed at any moment. However, one couldn't underestimate spirits. They were so fast and so strong physically. He had to keep his guard up the whole time. Korra, on the other hand, was looking left and right. 

She turned her head to one tree, covered in ice. She could see her reflection, and she smiled when she looked at Chen's. Chen smiled back when he noticed that. 

"Don't let your guard down, they are coming, from above." 

Pointing his fingers up, he said. 

Above them, the ice that surrounded the forest created a roof. From it, many purple snakes started forming. Their dark colour and their evil eyes indicated their identity as dark spirits. Chen could feel the negative energy coming from them. The snakes like spirits started heading at them.

Korra jumped backwards and punched a few fire streams at them. Chen extended his fingers at them as he crossed his arms, unleashing a lightning net. It caught most of the spirits. But since they were small, the notifications he got didn't satisfy Chen. 

[Defeating a small dark spirit…] 

[+27.000 exp] [+30.000 accumilated experience]

"More of them are coming, let's run," Korra said, turning and running. Using her waterbending, she glided on the ice. 

Covering his feet with fire, Chen ran after her and caught up. 

Behind them, many small spirits appeared. They combined into one large behemoth spirit. When Chen turned his head to them, his heart started beating faster. The sight of the 8 meters long monster made his heart skip a few beats. Fear was a feeling he thought he had used to. But the large dark spirit gave him chills. Pointing his hand at it, Chen released five lightning bolts at it. 

The spirit gilded a few meters back. The lightning hurt it. But it didn't vanquish it. When it stopped gliding, it lifted its head and stared at Chen. The holes caused by lightning started fixing on their own. 

Chen smirked. 

He wasn't smiling cockily. 

He didn't want to show his real emotions. Smiling against the danger would give him a stronger motivation to fight. 

Extending his hand to the right, he said. "Come to me then. I'll chop your head off." 

He wasn't sure if he would defeat such a spirit. 

"Chen, jump back!" Korra urged, her eyes glowing white. Feeling the pressure from her Avatar state, Chen jumped backwards without any hesitation. Korra lifted her hands. The ice on the ground started raising, forming a very thick wall. The spirit dashed and tried to destroy it. But it failed. After hitting the wall a few times, the spirit howled as it couldn't break the ice. 

Korra turned her head, and said, "Let's go. I can feel the energy." She then opened her hands, and the ground cracked. Chen followed the crack, and he found that there was a sphere in front of them. It was made of pure energy. 

At that moment, Chen's heart skipped a beat. 

From every direction, a spirit was coming. 

Around 1000 spirits or more, dark, were coming. 

It seemed that Korra's action was so loud to summon them. 

Against such a number, Korra would have no chance. 

"Quickly, open it!" he yelled. 

Lightning sparks danced around his body, Chen used Lightning Dash skill, and he appeared in front of the closed portal in no time. 

Staring at the spirits that were coming in their direction, he picked up a direction and opened his mouth. 

<<Dragon Breath>> <<Dragon Breath>>

White beams of compressed fire left his mouth. They exploded at the dark spirits, spreading a white glowing fire that annoyed them. It made the spirits back away. Some of them got hit, and Chen could hear the notification telling him that he defeated them by damaging them enough. 

Korra flew toward him, fire under her foot. 

Jumping high, Chen jumped, opened his mouth widely, and breathed fire. It wasn't the explosive one. A sea of white fire left his mouth. He spun in his place, creating a circle around him and Korra. 

The spirits backed away from the fire so that they wouldn't get hit. 

Chen started breathing heavily. He fell down, on his knees. He felt so tired. 

Using the dragon's breaths took a large portion of his energy. It used his energy in an unbalanced way and in a large amount.

Not to mention that the white fire was a yang fire. 

It made his energy imbalanced. 

He needed to release it as fast as possible. 

Luckily, he could control his Chi. And since most of his Chi was Yin now, he could release it in two forms. First, he could use Shadow Flame. Second, he could release the Chi as it was from his hand. 

Chen pointed his hand upward. 

*BOOM* 

Compressed air was released. When it hit the roof, it exploded, creating a large explosion.

"Feels like taking a piss." He muttered, looking around him and Korra. The spirits were taking their caution from the white fire. 

[+60.000 exp] [+60.000 accumilated experience]

Korra looked up. "That explosion. Chen, you can do combustion bending."

"That… I don't know. I'll try to repeat that later." Chen said, extending his hand to the left. "Open this." He touched the portal, which was a sphere. Chen then felt something strange. This portal was just pure Chi energy. 

Could he use Chi Control? He extended his energy out of his hand, fusing it with the portal's energy. He then tried to break the sphere by making his energy spread. 

"Chen, you are opening it!? Hey! I'm the Avatar, right?" Korra said, quite dazed. 

The portal started cracking, and it was threatening to explode. 

Chen knew that he made a mistake and that he would have to face an energy explosion. 

Luckily, Korra was quick to react. She wrapped her arms around his waist, lifted him, and jumped backwards. 

The sphere exploded. A pillar of energy headed the sky, eliminating the clouds and breaking the ice. Chen and Korra flew backwards a few times. As they stopped, Chen moved his eyes down. The portal was opened. 

Deciding to check on Korra, he activated his thermal sense. She was behind him, holding him with his head on her chest. 

Somehow, Chen felt his skin tickling, and some warmth came to his heart. She was hugging him so strongly as if she was afraid to let him away. Her heat signals were redder on her crotch area. 

Chen shook his head, trying to shake the new feeling away.

"I didn't know you can open that." Korra said, "I thought that I need to go to Avatar state first." 

"So did I," Chen replied.