Chapter 3

Outside Omashu, behind the mountains.

Grumble.

The ground began to shake as I raised my hand. A giant rock, the size of a house, floated in mid-air in front of me.

I clenched my hand, compressing the giant rock into a smaller one. It became a small ball of rock with smoke rising into the sky.

With a slight push of my hand, the small ball of rock traveled like a bullet towards the giant mountain in front of me.

Boom!

Tremble.

A giant explosion accompanied by an earthquake occurred. Birds starts spreading in all direction.

"This isn't enough."

My talent for Earth Bending could be considered one of a kind. I achieved this level of control over the earth in only two weeks of learning it. However, this isn't enough.

I need a level of control where I could make hundreds—no, thousands—of those compressed rocks float in midair with slight effort. I also need to learn and master the sub-elements of the earth, starting with metal.

"Ah, finally found you."

I looked to my side to see Bumi eating an apple while walking towards me.

"Did you cause that loud explosion just now?" he asked, throwing an apple toward me.

I caught it swiftly. "Did you find it?"

"Keke, what a serious brother. But yes, I found something that matches your description: an underground fight gambling ring." He spoke while grinning and showing off some copper coins. "I even won once!"

"Lead me there."

"What happened here--"

As we were about to leave, I heard a voice behind us. It was the patrolling guards outside the city.

With a swift wave of my hand, dust exploded towards the city guards.

"What--"

*******

Underground arena. It was a small arena, but big enough to accommodate hundreds of people. There was a massive circle in the center, which served as the fighting spot.

-----Hello and welcome to Umashu Arena! I am your host, Li Ming!

Cheers resounded throughout the arena.

-----Now, as always, we only have one rule to win: throw your opponent out of the arena!

-----We will now start the first round! Tough Guy versus Rock Killer! Who do you think will win?

"WooooHoooo!" Bumi loudly shouted. "Beat him up, Tough Guy! I've placed money on you!"

"Hey, Kizer. You should've bet on this guy too. I've seen him fight, and he's good!"

"I'm not here for that."

"Kekeke, alright, alright. But are you going to recruit all the winners here or only the ones you think are good?"

"We'll see."

In the circle, Tough Guy stomped on the ground, causing a rock to suspend mid-air. He then pushed it towards his opponent. Rock Killer evaded the flying rock by propelling himself with another rock from the side.

He stomp lightly on the ground, and spikes of rock formed and flew towards Tough Guy.

Tough Guy proceeded to create a rock shield in front to block the incoming attack. After that, he kicked it forward towards Rock Killer.

Rock Killer summoned a massive spike in front of him, which cleaved the boulder into two. However, another rock hit Rock Killer from the side, throwing him out of the arena.

-----And Tough Guy wins!

Another round of loud cheers resounded throughout the arena.

"WooooHoooo! Way to go, Tough Guy!"

Bumi then looked at Kizer.

"What do you think about those two?"

"The loser had more use than the winner."

"Why?"

"The loser could've won, but something was holding him back."

-----Next round is Stone Titan vs EarthBreaker!

-----And EarthBreaker wins!

-----Round three is Earth Fury versus Earth Crusher!

-----And Earth Fury wins!

-----

---

-

-----Now we've come to the final round.

Silence filled the entire arena.

-----All the winners will now face off against the number one fighter and current champion.

-----Swift Devil!

Loud cheers resounded, even louder than before.

Dust suddenly filled the arena. As it slowly settled, a figure became more visible.

Kizer watched with his usual cold expression, though he was slightly interested.

When the dust finally cleared, it revealed a teenager much older and taller than Bumi and Kizer. He stood there confidently, with a fierce expression.

Earth Fury pointed his fist towards Swift Devil. "We meet again. This time, I will be the champion."

"You've said that three times now. Words mean nothing without strength to back them up." Swift Devil replied then looked at the host with cold expression.

The host smirked and glanced around.

-----And now, the final round begins!

The arena fell silent once more. All the challengers in the circle immediately began attacking Swift Devil.

But none of them could land a hit. Swift Devil used his Earth Bending to swiftly move around the circle, boosting and propelling himself with earth. Occasionally, he threw small rocks towards his opponents, knocking two of them out.

"Four left."

Earth Fury grew even more enraged as he saw that Swift Devil wasn't taking him seriously.

"Let's see if you can handle this!"

Thud!

He stomped on the ground and propelled himself to the front. A wide boulder, half the length of the circle, stood up and moved towards Swift Devil like a truck.

Swift Devil remained unfazed. He stomped on the ground, conjuring a large spike that split the wide boulder in half. Swiftly running along the spikes, he hurled small rocks at his opponents, catching them off guard.

"No-"

"Two left."

Tough Guy and Earth Fury.

Tough Guy grabbed a boulder from the ground and throws it at Swift Devil.

"Not enough."

Swift Devil stepped aside as the massive boulder sailed past.

"I'll end this now."

He stomped on the ground, causing many small rocks to float mid-air.

"Oh no." Tough Guy started running to the side to evade the rain of rocks, but he was unfortunately hit by one and thrown off the stage.

"One left."

Earth Fury prepared to attack again, but suddenly the entire arena began to shake. A massive rock formed from the ground and started moving toward Earth Fury at lightning speed.

Earth Fury knows that if he got hit, it would mean certain death. But unfortunately he didn't have time to evade and was almost hit by it.

A wide and massive rock bridge formed from the circle towards the audience seats.

All the spectators watched as two kids calmly walked across the bridge.

*******

I walked onto the bridge I had created and stopped, raising my hand slowly. Rocks began to form around the circle, blocking the view of the audience.

Moving forward again towards the lone figure in the circle, I noticed his surprise but readiness.

Good. He would be crucial for my plans.

"Come, I will fight you."

Swift Devil responded immediately by hurling many small rocks at me.

The rocks never reached me; they veered away when they approached a certain distance.

Allowing one rock to come close, I grabbed it with one hand and compressed it to the size of a bullet.

"You'll be useful to me, but this mere strength is not enough."

Flicking the small rock towards him, it grazed his cheek, cutting it effortlessly.

He froze, dumbfounded, as if facing death itself. His cheeks were bleeding, but he didn't even know it.

Expressionless, I walked slowly towards him.

Upon reaching him, I struck the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious.

"Bumi, let's go."

"You were really cool back there, Brother!" Bumi exclaimed as he picked up Swift Devil.