Chapter 33

Hello reader, I would like to apologize to you for not posting chapters for a long time (2 days have passed), but I was working on Patreon and spending time with my girlfriend (she thinks that I work a lot) enjoy reading

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"You must not allow any emotions to surface! You need to have an absolutely cold mind! Only in this case will you be able to direct the lightning you create!" Azula, sitting in a wheelchair held by one of the soldiers, told me.

We were currently on a ship heading to the Fire Nation capital, directly to Azula's father. And it was at this moment that Azula decided to start teaching me about lightning.

After listening to Azula, I focused and first, through controlling my body, suppressed most of the hormones in me. After all, I am a teenager with plenty of them in my blood, especially at the thought that I could finally start getting what I wanted, which considerably increased their amount. However, suppressing them was not difficult. After that, it was no trouble at all to concentrate and partially enter meditation, completely cutting off such a multifaceted irritant as emotions from my mind.

When I opened my eyes again, I was fully focused on the princess sitting in front of me and watching me. My mind was clear of any emotions. Completely. It was a strange sensation, but I felt no discomfort from it.

"Did it really work?" Azula looked at me incredulously and propped herself up in the chair with her hands.

"I have good control over myself and often meditate, so taking control of my emotions and simply detaching from them was not difficult for me," I answered her question.

"Hm, I see. It took me three months of training to be able to detach from emotions and feelings for the first time. I'm a bit envious," Azula said, examining me. "Well, since you've managed it, let's move on to the next stage. Now you need to take control of your chi, the energy flowing within you, and separate it into positive and negative sides. When you can do that, it will be enough to simply release them, and at the moment of their convergence, lightning will be born. You cannot hold and control it - it will kill you. So you should release it immediately, as quickly as possible. The longer you hold it, the more the lightning charge accumulates, making it stronger, but also increasing the risk of your own death from the charge. So if you can create lightning, release it right away, do not delay a moment! Later, you will understand how to properly accumulate the power of lightning and then you will be able to accumulate a charge." Azula meticulously described everything she felt when creating lightning and shared all she knew about how to create it, adding her own comments to this knowledge.

Fifteen minutes into the lecture, as I continued to stand indifferently on the ship's deck with a stony face, Azula finished and told me to proceed while she moved further away to the side. Mastering lightning is dangerous, primarily for the learner, but also for those around.

I recalled everything Azula had said and analyzed her words, translating them into my own terminology and concepts.

So, lightning is the product of an explosive reaction of mana, or, as Azula puts it, Chi (Interestingly, this is the first time I've encountered bending referred to as a separate energy rather than some element!), which is saturated: one part with negative emotions, the other with positive emotions. The explosive reaction occurs due to the collision of mana, which is colored by opposite emotions. Perhaps that's why an emotionless state is necessary, to not disrupt the balance or add some emotion to the lightning that could harm.

After the explosive reaction of mana, a large amount of energy is released, manifesting as electrical energy. Holding it, the mana reaction continues for some unknown reason, accumulating energy. However, if control is not maintained, the energy disperses through the body and, upon reaching vital organs, especially the heart, kills the bender. Personally, I think hitting the brain would be just as deadly. Hence, the lightning must be released immediately, as in most cases benders lack control over the energy. Over time, control is acquired, allowing for a larger lightning charge to be accumulated, making the attack more destructive.

I seem to understand this part. Now the questions at hand. How to saturate mana, or part of the mana, with negative and positive emotions? How to separate the energy into negative and positive sides? How to divide them into Yin and Yang?

"I thank you for your explanations, Princess Azula, they were very helpful to me and gave me food for thought. However, I realized that I probably won't be able to do this any time soon. I cannot imagine how to divide Chi into Yin and Yang. However, I will try and hope to master the creation of lightning. I hope you're not offended that I took your time."

"No, not at all, I didn't mind spending it on you... and I should be thanking you, so don't worry about anything. As for the lightning - I didn't manage everything at once either. You managed to get through the first stage almost immediately, so I think the second stage won't be an obstacle for you."

Bowing to the princess, I went to my cabin, pondering Azula's changed behavior. And she really had changed. Or rather, she had been supplemented, as she communicated and related to everyone else almost exactly the same, a little better towards her friends, Ty Lee and Mai, but most of all, her supplemented or partial change was noticeable towards me. She started treating me... better!

Much better! I would even say that she began to respect me! She tries to fulfill my requests as quickly as possible and at the first opportunity, and she listens to my words more than to anyone else's. And I have already managed to verify that this is indeed the case!

I suspect that my help to her is to blame for this. The help I provided when she was weak. Yes, her firebending remained with her, but now I could defeat her without much effort. The only trump card she had left was lightning, nothing more. And, it seems, what I did, how I helped, the legend I invented... practically, perhaps even entirely, everything I did, in the end, when she saw the beginning of the result, something changed in her psyche... or supplemented it. I'm not an expert and can't say exactly. But the fact remains - I managed to attach Azula to myself! I don't know how reliably and strongly, but I did! And I need to think about the opportunities this opens up for me. If the attachment is strong and high-quality, then eventually, sooner or later, she will come to power in the Fire Nation, as her elder brother is exiled, her uncle is in the same place as her elder brother, leaving her the only heir to the throne, and her mother has long disappeared, with no new wife for Ozai in sight. And, coming to power, if she remains attached to me, she will give me immense opportunities!

Perhaps it's worth considering developing her attachment to me into a stronger one, like a romantic relationship? Not anytime soon, of course, as she is recovering and will need about two and a half weeks for full recovery. Her process is much slower because, unlike me, she cannot control her body as deeply and assimilate food nearly 100%. Therefore, she needs to eat much more, and the process is much slower. I fully restored my hand in two weeks; for her, by my estimates, it will take about five and a half weeks.

Entering my cabin, I sat on the bed and began to meditate. Now my goal is not the usual training, but learning to divide mana into negative and positive sides. Maybe I simply haven't noticed something in my mana? Maybe it doesn't need to be saturated?

However, thoughts kept intruding about how many opportunities in bending study I could gain if I got much closer to Azula. And besides... when was the last time I was with a girl? I remember it was back when I was leading a criminal organization known as the Elusive Joe. Then there were girls who admired me, and they often ended up in my bed. Although I was much younger, I was very well-developed physically, and the girls were not much older than me, sometimes even the same age.

But these thoughts were pushed out of my mind for the time being, and I focused on my energy. I need to understand what I currently do not...

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