Chapter 38

Above the sea, there was a very large yacht moving south. Chen was standing on the edge.

He was training while thinking of what happened, and how he ended up on this boat.

It all started when Korra declared that she would go to some festival. It had indicated that her uncle would be here, and some bad shit would happen — the world may fall into enteral darkness. There was a risk of the apocalypse.

Although Chen was quite lazy and liked the current life he had, he must protect it.

He and Asami had gone to Hiroshi to let Asami make a deal with Varrick. Hiroshi refused at first, saying that the weather is too cold for his daughter and something bad may happen. Asami had yelled that her dad never allowed her to move outside republic city and that he was limiting her freedom. Chen had understood Hiroshi's intent. He was a man who wanted to protect his daughter, who didn't know how scummy the people outside were. Hell, she didn't even know how scummy her father and fiancee were. When Chen said that he would protect Asami, Hiroshi permitted them. After that, Asami walked out of the house, quite angry at her father, who gave her a hard time with her demands for the first time in her life.

As much as Chen enjoyed how cute Asami was when she was angry, he had something more important to do.

Facing the sea, he opened his arms and stretched them to the side.

At his current level of his firebending, he could slightly bend with his mind.

It meant that he didn't need to thrust his arm or kick to send a fire blast.

Although the system gave him knowledge and skill, Chen could always develop his style.

From his hands, a very hot black flame appeared. It floated and split into six parts, forming circles, which stood in front of him.

This was Chen's hottest fire.

As he focused with his mind and his eyelid twitched, the fire stretched and shifted its shape. It turned into spikes that thrust into the air. Although the spikes were small, they were very hot.

'I found an easy way to bend this."

He waved his hand, sending the black flames to the sea. A huge stream of steam rose. It was very thick that no one could see the water boiling.

The people on the yacht — staff and Sato's workers — opened their eyes widely and clapped. They seemed to enjoy the show.

"Chen! Will you just relax?" Asami came and stood up behind him.

"I don't know," Chen replied. "I feel like I can develop more."

"Will you just relax?" She repeated herself and held his shoulder, pressing in a teasing way. "Working too hard will waste energy that you need to use on other things."

The teasing touch moved something within him, and he understood what she meant. Chen smiled.

"Alright, couple of rounds and we would be back here."

His Chi had been consumed anyway. He would train later. Meanwhile, there was no harm in venturing stress. Although it was very good, sex would take energy and make him lazy.

'Luckily, I have Chi Control to make me beast-like.' He thought.

-x-X-x-

Chen and Asami walked out of the room. Asami was closing her pants, and Chen was walking behind her. He was just done washing his head.

"Chen, look." Asami pointed to the sky. "A flying bison."

"Isn't that." Chen stretched his arms up. He activated his thermal vision and electrical sense. "I see, Korra, Tenzin, another woman and three children."

"How can you see that?" Asami turned to him. "Are you okay?" She asked with concern. She placed her hand on his forehead, checking his heat. "You aren't too exhausted, are you?" now it sounded as if she was teasing his stamina.

"Ha Ha." Sarcastically laughing, he said. "So funny."

"Oh come on, don't be lame." She gave his ribs a small elbow. "But seriously, you have gotta tell me how you do that."

"Something about bending," Chen said, although she didn't seem to believe him yet.

Some benders could use their benders to see. She shouldn't be surprised if a firebender could do it.

The flying bison took a turn in the air, landing in front of the yacht. Chen and Asami walked toward the new visitors, and Chen dispelled his thermal vision. It's so annoying to talk with people while seeing parts of them turning red and yellow. It was like getting high without feeling good.

From the back of the flying bison landed a group. expect Korra, they were wearing a united uniform, yellow and red. It belonged to the Air-nomads tribes.

There was Tenzin. Next to him, there was a short middle-aged woman, carrying a babe in her hand. Next to him, there were two girls and one boy, who happened to be the shortest and youngest.

Chen resisted his urge to complain.

Usually, he has nothing against kids.

But Tenzin's kids… especially the boy, Meelo and his sister who doesn't stop talking, were an exception.

While he and Korra had been practising, these kids occasionally would come with their dad.

The bald boy was Meelo. He was around 5-6 years old. He loved fart jokes and annoying people. Chen had been annoyed by him once. While he was eating a snake between breaks, Meelo came flying by him and farted on his hand.

A fart from an airbender… you could only imagine its power until you feel it.

For three days straight, Chen was in the shower, rubbing his hand.

his stare toward his hand was the same kid Kakashi had after he'd killed his teammate.

Next to Meelo and slightly older was his sister. Ikki, having her hair in pigtails, was around 8 years old.

She was less annoying than her brother. Her only issue was that she talks too much.

One day, Chen and Korra had been training. As they had taken a break, Ikki approached Chen. He hadn't minded her at that time, since she was just a kid — just a kid they say.

She opened her mouth, and Chen replied.

That had been a mistake. Because then, a conversation had been started.

Ikki had talked non-stop.

The speed of her words could be compared to Eminem's when he sang 'Rap God.' Chen had no idea until today what she talked about. But her voice had echoed in his head even when slept.

Next to the brothers was an older girl. She was 11 years old. She was joining her hair into a bun on the top of her head.

Her name was Jinora.

She was, surprisingly, nice.

'Who the fuck did invite them?'

Chen turned to Asami, who only smiled back at him. She shrugged. She knew how much Chen disliked Tenzin's kids.

Despite his feelings, Chen didn't make any expression on his face. He was resisting his urge to sigh. He thought about how to escape from this situation. Maybe pretending to be sick would do the trick.

"Relax, we just crossed ways," Asami said as if understanding what he was thinking. "It would be nice to have someone to chat with."

The kids, Korra, Tenzin and his wife approached.

"Hope you don't mind having us here for a while," Tenzin said with a sigh. He looked to be exhausted. Well, he was a father to four airbenders. "Korra suggested meeting with you."

"Not at all," Asami, the owner of the yacht, waved her hand.

Meanwhile, Chen was staring into Meelo's eyes, who stared back at him with a challenging look.

Chen's current worse enemy walked slowly.

"Chen! We meet again." Meelo said. "I have developed a new airbending technique. It's better than what you teach to the Avatar."

"Meelo, don't be rude." Ikki, next to him, said. "Call him uncle. Hey, Chen." She waved her hand. "It has been a while. How have you been doing? Last time, the time wasn't enough for us to complete our conversation. I thought a lot. How about we catch up."

It took her less than three seconds to say all of that.

Chen's eyelids twitched. 'I have prepared for this day.' His hands slowly reached for his pocket and he opened the inventory of his system.

Meelo furrowed his eyebrows and leaned forward as if he was a runner. He then dashed. Ikki, still talking, ran toward them.

Just as they were a meter away from him, Chen got his hand out of his pocket. He stretched it and opened it. The kids stopped.

In his hands, Chen had a bunch of candies.

He smiled as if he was a loving uncle.

"Here, eat some candies. I have them specifically for you." Chen said.

Asami put her finger on her head and scratched. She gave Chen a questioning stare. But she didn't say anything.

"Yay." Meelo took some, rudely filling both of his hands.

"Thank you, Chen." Ikki took some and ate.

She shut up. Meelo sat down and started eating.

Mission accomplished.

Chen wanted to thrust his fist up in victory.

Geez. Kids. Tenzin's kids made him reconsider the idea of impregnating Asami.

However, a part of the blame could be put on the kids' poor food system. For god sake, they are vegans from birth.

As Chen sighed in relief, he found Jinora next to him, her hands behind her back. Understanding what she want, he put his hand in his pocket and got a few candies for her. He had plenty for situations like this.

"Thank you, uncle Chen." She bowed slightly and joined her family.

"Well, for someone who hates kids, you handle them very well." Asami got closer to his ear and whispered.

Chen nodded.

Korra approached Chen and gave him an elbow. "Don't you have a candy for me too?"

"I have."

"Relax, I'm just joking," Korra said. "Do you carry them around you the whole time?"

Chen shook his head. "Only when I expect kids."

One always needed to prepare for unwelcome guests.

"Sorry for that." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

Tenzin and his wife, Pema, came.

"You could handle my kids very well." The monk said, sighing in relief.

"That should be bad for them," Pema said. "Their teeth would harm."

"Oh don't worry. They will grow them again. They are still young." Tenzin replied.

"Alright. You guys chat. I have some training to do." Chen turned and was about to leave. However, he remembered something, and he turned to Tenzin. He pointed his head in the other direction, inviting the monk for a private talk.

Tenzin shrugged and walked along with Chen.

When they were alone, Chen opened his mouth.

"So, Tenzin, you know a lot about spirits." That's how he was portrayed in the series. Although he was a failure in spirituality, he knew a lot.

"Yes. As the son of Aang and the one who has the responsibility to resort to the airbenders culture, I do." He said. "Airbenders are very spiritual."

"I see, I see." Chen nodded. "I have a few questions, and I hope you answer me."

Although Tenzin was a total fraud and a failure as a spiritual leader, he was very knowledgeable.

"What's the best way to fight against spirits."

"Why would you ask such a thing?" replied Tenzin with a question. Chen didn't mind it.

"I have been curious," Chen said. "I dreamt that I fought a dark spirit, and I couldn't help but feel worried."

Since he couldn't tell his intent directly, he decided to lie a bit. The monk wasn't able to see through his lies. Only that cougar could — he wondered how she was doing, it had been a long time.

"It's just a bad dream." Assured Tenzin. He almost chuckled.

"Yep. I know. But I can't help but think of what to do." Chen said. "Sometimes, I feel that dreams have spiritual signs."

"True, they can be dreams or signs. Spirits are very tricky to fight. Some of them are very powerful, and some are weak. However, fighting them is very tricky. Spirits are dark when they are angry. It's best not to fight them at all. Try to negotiate with them. Find why they are angry, and solve it."

Tenzin said, seeming to recall something.

Chen knew that the monk had never encountered a spirit in his whole life. But that didn't change the fact that he knew so much.

At any rate, Chen was about to fight Korra's uncle. He'd to prepare himself. That man is so spiritual that he could control spirits and tame them.

"But what if that doesn't work," Chen asked, staring dead serious into the monk's eyes. Tenzin almost flinched when Chen gave him that look. Chen didn't mean to act without manners. But the intensity of the near apocalypse made him show his real face. It was the face he showed before killing the whole Agni Kai gang. A killer's face wasn't something easy to handle.

Tenzin took a deep breath. He thought for a moment, and he said. "It's best to fight them. However, casual bending won't do them much harm. I've read that some Chi manipulation would do it.

"An ancient monk said this. 'Light the candle to vanquish the darkness, and create a shadow to block the light'"

'Light the candle to vanquish the dark, and create a shadow to block the light.'

Somehow, it made sense and it didn't.

Light and dark seemed to be the concept. They could be called Yang and Yin. Dark spirits are dark, and positive spirits have light.

'I see. It's possible to manipulate the Chi before burning it.' Chen thought for a bit.

According to this logic, lightningbending should do the trick against dark spirits.

But how about the casual bending?

Chen opened his hand. He circled his Chi as he generated fire. Instead of making it pure, he created a bit of imbalance. He added more Yang energy to the fire.

Tenzin stared at Chen's hand, eyes wide open.

Sparks of lightning danced around the fire. It became brighter, and its colour changed to glowing white.

He opened his other hand, and he focused more of his Yin energy on it.

The fire was dark. It wasn't like his black fire at all.

It didn't have heat at all. Instead, it was absorbing heat from the surrounding.

[Flame Generation + 5000 exp]

[Flame Generation up level 16]

[+ Light Flame]

[+ Shadow Flame]

So the cold fire was called Shadow Flame, and the glowing white is light fire. Each one could be used to fight a different type of spirit.

One is cold, and one is hot, hotter than a regular one.

"You. You understood the chant." Tenzin said, seeming jealous and astonished at the same time. He extended his hand to the dark fire.

In instant, Tenzin took his hand back and winced. "It's so cold."

"I know," Chen replied and shook his hand, turning off the fire.

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