18.The Leaf girl
I haven't been able to tear myself away from seeing my sources for a minute now... The neutral source located in the very center seemed to be a kind of sun, in whose orbit the sources of water and fire are now floating steadily.
After all, the man who said that there is a whole universe inside each of us was right. I don't know exactly how this is the case with ordinary people, but with magicians this saying can be understood literally. As in the water situation, some of the channels in my body have changed their color to red. Yes, now both the source and the channels themselves do not look as impressive as the element of water, but all in good time, the fire will still burn in our hearts.
Turning my attention to a neutral source, I once again began to wonder what secrets it still keeps, and even now it has significant advantages, but I feel that this is not all that it can give me...
Now let's try out what it's like to be a firebender. Getting up from the ground and calming my breathing, I began to gradually drive the energy of fire through my body. Br-r-r, the difference is noticeable! If the energy of water passing through the body calms and gives a kind of peace, then the fiery energy invigorates and seems to say all the time: "Let us out, we want to burn something-burn-burn!"
Because of this, I had to do a breathing exercise again in order to calm the excited body, otherwise even warm air began to flow from the nostrils. It seems that it was mentioned in the series that fire magic must be kept in check, for the most part it is a destructive element that a magician must be able to subdue to his will.
- Okay, okay, calm down, calm down, – let's try again.
Breathing steadily, I began to "guide" the fire energy throughout my body again, this time not letting it take over. So now let's quietly try to release the fire. It seems that energy is being spent, but the fire does not appear... Okay, so I still need to add some qi.
- Fire, - mesmerized by looking at a small ball of fire on my hand, I couldn't get enough of it, because a magician without a fireball can't even be called a magician yet.
Another confirmed theory. If the magicians of water, air and earth already use what surrounds them, be it stones, water or streams of air, then the fire magician must create a passage into the physical world of his magic himself. By adding a little vital energy, a spark occurs, which later, thanks to the energy of fire, inflates this spark into a full-fledged flame.
Judging by the cartoon, it seems that not all firebenders know about this, but, in fact, having smartphones in the twenty-first century, we ourselves did not know how they work inside. So with the conquerors of fire, due to the long fusion with this element, the addition of qi occurs without conscious control.
Well, it's time to continue the hunt for dark spirits. In the remaining ten hours, I need to manage to absorb as many fire spirits as possible, bringing my source to the middle rank. It will be more appropriate, because I will not be able to raise my source of water magic in one sitting, so I should focus on the fiery one.
I think it's worth going along one of the sides of the lava river, with such a heightened background of fire magic, I'll definitely be able to meet fire spirits along the way.
I wonder what is happening with Wong? Maybe I can meet him too. After all, it's been more than five years since we've seen each other, how long has it been…
After a while, I met another group of spirits. This time they turned out to be fire wolves, a whole pack of twelve individuals. The largest of them was at the peak of the middle rank, he was also the leader of the pack.
Having created a whirlwind of water blades around me, which visually looked very similar to the famous kaiten from the world of Naruto, I rushed straight at the wolves. They also noticed me and began to prepare for some kind of reception, judging by the fire energy that was gathering right in front of their mouths. Less than a second later, fireballs flew at me, which, upon contact with the vortex, detonated. And they evaporated my not too large supply of water. Damn, I didn't notice that fact during last fight with the salamanders!
A minute later, my whirlwind of water was halved, but the enemies were already multiplied by zero. The fight turned out to be too intense, but it was not the fight with the spirits itself, but attempts to collect steam, which, with any contact with the spirits, quickly evaporated in the atmosphere. I had to concentrate on the steam with one eye, so that the water would not run out too quickly...
This time I was a little stupid, I should have started dodging their attacks right away, so I would have saved more water, yet I did not meet large sources of water on my way. Hm-m, there seemed to be one small stream, but it was still at the very beginning of the path, near those rocks.
The main thing is to leave some water for the platform that carries me through the air. With ithelp, I will be able to quickly find a water source later. Right now, there are still enough liquid reserves for a couple of battles, but I still think it's necessary to focus on the "one hit– one kill" tactic. This way I minimize the loss of water as much as possible when in contact with the bodies of spirits.
While there is time, I can see what changes have occurred with the source of the fire. When dispelling the enemy spirits, I could clearly feel their energy flowing through my body and into the source. Yes, the fire magic itself has increased significantly in me, of course, not yet an average rank, but already halfway there.
The amount of water I had left was enough for three more groups of new fire spirits. Then I had to look for at least some kind of water source. It was difficult, the background of fire energy was too strong in this area, I had to move several kilometers away from the lava river in order to find the water I needed so much.
Such jumps back and forth continued for another five hours. Sometimes, when the water ran out in the middle of the battle, I resorted to fire magic. But not being able to apply any techniques, I had to improvise during process of battle... and so the idea was born, when kicking or punching, to release flames that would enhance my attacks. Of course, it's not a great reception, but I'm only a fire magician for five hours, I think that this is already a good result. Such blows turned out to be much weaker than my water techniques, but in two or three strokes they eliminated the average spirits.
The average rank in fire magic turned out to be somehow quiet and not very pompous, no, I was very glad to it. But it seems that I took too intense pace, already in the last fifth hour there was no moral strength to continue the fight at the same fast pace... I held on to one thought: "I'll finish it faster, I'll go to rest faster." The joy turned out to be kind of quiet, but looking at the source of fire magic, which is almost as large as a water one, I was overcome with a feeling of complete satisfaction.
After resting for an hour, I decided to walk in the other direction in the hope of meeting with the water spirits. I decided not to look for them purposefully, the mood was contemplative, I didn't even want to fight anymore yet. Today I was already fed up with it, so I walked through the rocky terrain, which gradually began to turn into a wooded area.
Suddenly, a little girl jumped out from behind a tree, who was humming some familiar melody... I've definitely heard something similar somewhere before.
– Prue-ryu-ryu, – she continued to walk nonchalantly in my direction until she saw me and stopped.
Wait, what's the melody, why does it look so much like a simple person?! Yes, it is clear that her ears are a little pointed, and her hair color is very rare, I have not yet met such a fiery red shade in the world of Avatar during my lifetime here, not in the series... But even so, I have not yet met such human spirits, although... this is the spirit world, anything can happen here.
While a whole ocean of questions raged in my mind, starting from "Maybe she is really a simple girl?" to "What kind of development does she have to be in order to take this form?!".
- It's you! I remembered you! – a cute girl shouted, and she dressed lreally unique... It looks like leaves, okay, let's have a leaf girl for now. She can talk calmly, which means that she is at least a higher spirit, although it feels like a strange middle rank, but it is still dangerous.
– I remembered, I remembered, I remembered! – the girl was happily jumping around me, even continuing to hum these words. No, I've definitely heard such intonations somewhere before...
Wait! Don't be fooled by her cute appearance, I can't be deceived! Oh, it's not very easy to focus while a fantasy version of either a dryad or a forest elf is looking at you. Oh, the main thing is not to look at her ears!
- I would definitely remember you, girl, maybe you can remind me where you've already met me? – I asked with a smile, watching how funny her ears were moving. I am looking at them, again!
– Hmm, I remember you were different... Then you were a funny ball that I really wanted to play with, – the girl thought, putting her finger to her lips, – but I definitely remember your smell! I even tried to find you when you went to a bad place, – hey, are you a dog spirit or something? How do you identify others by smell? Maybe this is her kind of sensory system, thanks to which she determines energy?
Wait, she's got me off track again. It's a bad place here in the Spirit Realm, where I went with a girl like that, but I only remember that guy who himself didn't seem to understand what he was doing, or is it what I'm thinking...
- A leaf spirit? – I asked doubtfully, but it was enough.
- Leaves? – the girl hung for a moment, banged her fist in her palm, - Yes, I always had leaves, look, - pushing her hair a little to the side, I saw two familiar leaves, only orange in color, matching the rest of the hair.
"After all, you're a leaf spirit, I definitely didn't expect to see you," I thought.
- Well, have you found out now? – she even asked with childish resentment.
– I'm sorry, you've changed a lot during this time, – I replied with a slightly awkward smile.
- Isn't it great?! It's all thanks to a big tree, – said the proud girl, – I even came up with a name for myself, or rather, it was like this, I was sleeping by a tree once, and then bang, and I'm already Driya, - finished... Driya.
- And what exactly did that tree do? - I wouldn't mind some kind of gift either.
- So you're interested too? – I wonder if she was always so chatty, or is this the prerogative of all young higher spirits? I remember Wong was the same.
- I was walking through the forest once, sometimes running away from bad spirits, and sometimes playing with good ones, when I saw a beautiful tree, – she even tried to show the sizes of tree be her hands. – As soon as I sat down at its roots, a voice sounded in my head: "Child, can you take it for safekeeping this thing?" - a real actress, she even parodies the ancient voice. - Of course, I agreed, it was some kind of glowing acorn, probably? – why did it sound like a question, you don't know what it was? – So, just when I wanted to pick it up, the same voice says, "Eat it, please, it will be very safe in your body" – is this normal at all? – The tree asked politely, of course, I complied with his request, – you two are not very normal, are you? – And as soon as I took it into my tummy for storage, I really wanted to sleep. There I immediately fell asleep, - how are you still alive with your actions? – And I already woke up like this that morning, – she finished with an extremely carefree smile.
I didn't even notice how, as she narrated, my hand ended up on my face. The story didn't really explain anything.
I had to ask a lot of clarifying questions in order to restore at least an approximate picture of what happened. Still, it's very interesting what exactly it was...
After a bunch of questions, the following picture formed in my head. The tree spirit was definitely the highest, and already, it seems, very old, such spirits, having lived for millennia, imperceptibly pass away. This one, seeing an almost similar element of spirit at his roots, decided to give him his whole essence, I'm not sure if this is possible, but I don't see another explanation yet... As Driya herself said, she tried to reach him, but the tree, being still alive, seemed somehow empty to her.
He had once been a low spirit himself, so he probably knew how to quickly get rid of another low spirit. It seems that the tree spirit was even too lazy to look for a normal excuse... Another fact I noticed, from a close distance, I clearly felt how there is a certain formation in her energy that constantly gives its energy to the girl herself, that is, the process is still underway and soon not only her consciousness will be like a higher spirit, but also strength.
Listening to what she remembers from her life, I was able to understand that she is an ordinary cultivator of this world. She walked the world alone when normal peaceful spirits live under the protection of other more powerful peaceful ones. She was not too afraid of dangers, she says that she ran away from bad spirits many times. And in the end, her recklessness was rewarded, one might say, she found the future burial of an ancient master who, even before he had time to pass away, found his successor.
She is the one who has just begun to realize herself and take the first steps in learning about the world, I would like to see her in a couple of years, when she realizes what a jerk she was, and what luck was breathing down her neck.