32.Bad luck
A small convent located near the northwest coast of the Kingdom of Earth.
- Oh, yes, here, mmm, a little to the left... I've never experienced this before! – I groaned in bliss by the experienced hands of the nun, who was really marvelous at doing back massage. I'm not used to hiding my feelings, so all my comments were voiced out loud, making the other nuns blush and giggle.
- What are you doing here, you bastard? Seducing my girls? – the stern voice of the head abbess of this small monastery sounded.
– I'm just saying well-deserved compliments to your pupil's golden hands, – I said, being in a good mood, – and why did you hide such a treasure? I've been coming to you for perfumes for a year and a half, and only today I was offered a massage, – I continued, offended that I couldn't experience this before, no Thai and Qigong massages are even close.
- This is awarded only to the most deserving customers, be proud of "just a common traveling bender of the earth Roku, – she said sarcastically, especially highlighting the most improbable part, thereby making my ears turn red.
Well, I am not good at giving names! For some months you will not be able to understand how the people of the earth live. Its features and small details that are not discussed in any way, but everyone knows about it. And of course, these very small differences gave me away as a stranger, but the abbess did not elaborate on the topic, she says not violent and solvent – that's good.
I found this place quite by accident, as I explored the vast territories of the Kingdom of Earth. The main source of income for this convent is the sale of perfumes and various ointments, which are in great demand in all the nearby provinces. All the girls and women from my inner circle were captivated by the perfumes produced here, so I have to come back here often for new fragrances.
Provinces are whole states within a state. After all, once upon a time, at the dawn of the formation of a single Kingdom of the Earth, each of the provinces had its own king, who imposed laws and orders favorable to him on its territory. Centuries passed, and instability on the mainland remained at the same level, wars between kings were commonplace. The end of this was put by the beginning of the hegemony of the city of Ba Sing Se, whose rulers gradually and inexorably united all other lands under their control. And Omashu has only slightly more power compared to other territories, where there may still be its own king, but it is also basically controlled by the Ruler Ba Sing Se.
This is the second year I have been flying through the territory of the people of earth, but I have explored only thirty percent of the total area...But it's worth saying that I did it slowly, and in some places I could even stay for more than one week. For a quiet journey, a new personality was created under the name of Roku, who has black hair pulled back in a ponytail and unusually bright purple eyes. The paint turned out to be found without problems, it lasts for a couple of weeks at most, but this is quite enough to visit villages and cities.
Only here I had to get to know the currency of different nations better, the question of money somehow bypassed me all this time. Or maybe I just didn't pay much attention to them. The Northern Water Tribe has its own currency, in the form of blue-colored round coins with the same round hole in the middle. There are different denominations of it, and it is worth adding that since the beginning of the war they are not very popular among the people. At the north Pole, they used to exchange goods for goods, while coins were in use when the port was crowded with merchants from all over the world. Some provinces of the earth still accept our coins, but I think it won't last long either…
In the Kingdom of Earth, coins have a round shape with a square hole in the center, thus resembling the national symbol of the Kingdom. There are no significant differences in shape between gold, silver and copper coins. The only difference is their value. Small gold bars are in use among the well-to-do part of the population. Their currency is very similar to ancient Chinese coins, and their entire architecture and history remind me of China during the warring states. Now it is relatively quiet here, as there is a strong enemy from the outside.
In the colonies of the Fire Nation on the territory of the Earth Kingdom, people accept both earth and fire coins. The money of the fire nation looks like angular metal plates, different in value. Coins vary greatly in shape. They also have different weights and sizes, and all types of coins have an image of the national symbol — the flame.
I don't know for sure if the air nomads had their own coinage, but I heard that they traded with the people of the Kingdom of Earth, while using their own coins.
– Okay, I won't bother you anymore. I just wanted to say thank you, you know what I am talking about, – the abbess said finally, – the bandits have completely lost their way, they are taking the last money from the poor monastery, – she continued to grumble faintly as she left the hall.
I don't think it's worth saying who is so good at taking care of the scoundrels? And how else can I get local money? Naturally, taking them away from various rabble, they will definitely never be useful to them... There are such groups in every province, the governors here are used to protecting only the cities in which they live directly. Just think of one village more, one less, they will soon multiply again. Once a year, of course, a "sweep" is carried out, but usually only the most sluggish and young gangs fall under the sword and magic. Who do not have bought people from the ruler's entourage who will whisper to you about the upcoming raid.
There were often village women in such camps who had a very unenviable fate. Sometimes bandits kidnapped rich merchants or small-town aristocrats, asking for a ransom in the future. With each new rescued, the rumor about me gained momentum: "The Roku – thunderstorm of bandits", this can now be heard in my address.
Such popularity was very, very pleasant at first, but it was followed by another side of fame. People with power started trying to hire me, where by persuasion, where by threats. A strong earth bender is always useful in the household. Some of these people no longer understood what the word "no" meant. There were adequate personalities among them, but most often those who had a longer pedigree and a wider pocket sat at the top, respectively, had a smaller conscience. Such people had to be reminded that a strong, unfriendly bender is a danger to your health, up to a fatal outcome.
There were also real psychos who had really abnormal addictions. They didn't live long... Killing with blood magic didn't leave a single trace. The elimination of such personalities evoked an almost physical sense of justice, it seemed as if I had made the world much cleaner and brighter. There is no right or wrong here, the world is a place for real people, not creatures who only pretend to be them.
Such events began to make me a little more callous, but in essence, it only brought me closer to the mentality of the inhabitants of this world.
***
Every solstice, I left the human world to go hunting in the Spirit Realm. I was not always lucky to get to the useful places, sometimes I returned with nothing at all.
The desert is a dangerous place in which it will be almost impossible for an unprepared person to survive. In the spirit world, all this becomes even more dangerous, even for a strong magician of the three elements. Constant thirst for water, the absence of its sources at all, a hot day and a cold night. It is worth adding here the constant attacks of various spirits, for whom the desert sands are their home. It was difficult... The water reserves were spent only for drinking. The fire did not cause much damage to the local spirits, even simple stones were few, I fought with them as best I could, hoping for an early end to this natural zone. As luck would have it, among the enemies there were only sand spirits, scorpions, lizards and various species of arachnids. Spider-Man's friends liked me a lot, they came to visit me every three hours.
I didn't want to go back into the human world, and not because I had problems with my head, but because I found a good reason to stay. By the way, for some reason it is impossible to go out and re-enter the spirit world, so I blew one of the visits, trying in this way, it will appear in another place on the spirit plane.
Everything in the desert was saturated with the energy of sand, so it was necessary to make the most of it. Mastering at least the initial manipulation was a priority, because the sooner it works, the sooner I'll get out of there. It was difficult to figure out how to do it myself, but thanks to the spirits of this element, who were not lazy to attack me, the case was argued. They were the ones who, without knowing it, showed me how to do it right. I managed to finish two hours before the end of the solstice.
The time I left the spirit plan ahead of time was the second mistake in a year, because of which I did not receive a single promotion. Luck turned my back on me for the third time. Well, depending on how to look at this situation, of course, but I didn't get anything of value. Then I found myself in a painting by Salvador Dali, at least the phantasmagoria was on the same level. Incomprehensible fragments of some things, the area, as if glued together. Trees that grew and died in seconds. The mind tried to figure out what was going on, but each time it just crashed.
I didn't want to leave without anything, so I started looking for the source of these "disturbances". Having tried all sorts of detection methods, I have not achieved anything... And only when I stopped straining, I could say, "saw the light." The more I tried to find them, the more the overall picture eluded me, only when I calmed down did I feel small spherical spirits flying, floating and teleporting everywhere around me. Some of them seemed to bend space itself, while others, being close to an object, acting on it, rewound time for this object, or, conversely, returned novelty.
Spirits of time and space! And all the higher ones! My first thought was to get out of here as soon as possible. But having suppressed such an impulse and stopped panicking, I thought that none of them were touching me. And even passing through me, they don't have any effect on me. There must be a reason, I don't really believe in my immunity, there's definitely something else here…
I tried to take a closer look at them, but as soon as I focused my attention on them, they abruptly disappear from all my senses. Because I was focusing too much on the spirits, I almost missed the end of the solstice, but I still managed to figure out what was going on there in general. Half of the perfume was in all sorts of dark shades, while the other half was pure white. Each white spirit had its own pair of black spirits. It was they who created the whole surreal picture, through their incessant confrontation. Some want to return the flow of time and space to their places, to the natural course of events. Others want to plunge everything into chaos. They simply didn't care about me. But now I know for sure that such spirits exist, it's worth putting it in memory.
My fourth visit in these two years was also so-so, there were no dangers, but there was no growth. At that time, apparently, for the sake of variety, I was thrown to the light spirits. There were really countless for the next few thousand kilometers. Seriously, it felt like all the peaceful spirits were gathered there. Such a huge number of them was due to the aura of two ancient spirits who lived in the very center, on a mountain, the peak of which, going into the sky, hides among the clouds.
After talking with curious spirits, I learned that a couple of phoenixes have been living on the mountain for thousands of years. One of which commands fire, the other is subject to ice. Pairs of ancient spirits! Their energy so permeated thousands of kilometers around that even the lonely ancient dark spirits were afraid to pass too close, let alone the higher and middle ones. Now it became clear why I felt naked when I got here, I was just "scanned", considered peaceful and released.
The place was fantastic! Different areas could show you all the beauty of the globe, whether it be tropical forests, mesmerizing glaciers or transparent and clean reservoirs. Elements of the same type gathered in flocks, and choosing for themselves some part of the territory, made it more comfortable, transforming it into something suitable for them in the elements. The thinking of spirits and people is too different, it was just convenient for the average and lower spirits to be here, but for me, like all people, it would be too boring here. That's why there weren't many higher ones here, because when you get to this level, you realize a lot and no longer want to just go with the flow. This place is like the initial village in the game, where there are no dangers waiting for you, become stronger and boldly go out to look for adventures!