Van. Island of the Sun Warriors.
The heartbeat of the Golden Dragon's life, having reached a certain speed, stopped. For another five minutes, I poured my neutral energy into the egg in a thin stream until it ceased to be absorbed.
The golden hue of the egg seed to beco even more saturated. The sun's rays appeared to eagerly seek the surface of the temporary dwelling of the future Lord of the Heavens.
- "Could you help us a little too?" Shao asked timidly. Finally, I learned their nas: the one with blue scales was Ran, and the one with red scales was Shao.
- "I'll help as much as I can," I replied imdiately. How could I not help when they were willing to assist with training for free and even gave a dragon egg? Even if the egg wouldn't have survived without , it's still the legacy of their race.
- "You can bring it," Shao suddenly said to his mate. Without waiting for further instruction, she took to the skies with powerful wingbeats, heading toward her cave.
In less than a minute, Ran appeared, carefully carrying sothing in her clawed paws. As she flew closer, I saw it was... another egg. Smaller in size and reddish in color, it lacked the majesty of the golden egg.
- "Another egg?" I groaned to myself.
- "This egg is our last hope for continuing our lineage," Ran said, gazing tenderly at her future offspring. Gently placing the egg at my feet, she continued, "I also ask you to infuse so of your energy into our child." She spoke with determination, while Shao seed to have lost his forr confidence.
- "This could end badly," he finally said.
- "I don't want to see lifeless fossils around anymore!" she exclaid with a hint of hysteria, then quickly apologized, "Forgive . It's better to have a small chance of continuation than to wait for an end we both already know..."
Most likely, the scarcity of energy in the world had affected them too, pushing them to take such a risk. Looking at the egg she brought, I rembered the red dragon Druk from the Avatar Korra series, which Zuko rode. I don't recall exactly how he got it, but doesn't this an the egg will successfully hatch?
- "Here I go again, confining myself to canon," I thought, even though I'd told myself not to rely on the animated series' storyline, as many events here were vastly different.
- "Alright, I'll try," I said to the silent dragons, who were eagerly awaiting my response.
- "Slowly and carefully," I muttered to myself as I channeled my energy. The rhythm of this egg's pulses was initially much stronger, but that wasn't a guaranteed sign of hatching.
- "It's ward up," I noted. The egg had indeed grown warr, but no other changes occurred.
- "It worked!" Ran and Shao suddenly roared in unison, their joyful cries startling the Sun Warriors below.
- "Did it? The egg just ward up," I said, not wanting to dampen their happiness but still curious.
- "That's precisely the proof that the dragon will erge," the jubilant red dragon explained.
Well, then, all's well that ends well. After returning the egg, I prepared for the true purpose of my journey here. Once they had "digested" their joy, they assured they were ready to perform the greatest dragon dance.
Soon, I began mimicking the movents of dragons swirling in the air. I thought sothing would happen at this stage... But no. Nothing. The energy simply flowed through the channels more "vigorously." That was sothing I could do on my own.
Refusing to lose hope prematurely, I waited for the dance's finale, when both dragons released their intertwined flas. Standing at the center of the swirling vortex of fire, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the dazzling display of colors produced by the dragons' flas.
- "Is that it?" I wondered, still gazing at the fire around . "Maybe I should get closer?" Only when I moved closer to the wall of flas did I begin to feel sothing...
Closer still. Not enough. Insight struck suddenly when I plunged my hand directly into the fire. My life energy neutralized the consequences, so I decided to enter the fire with my entire body. The pain of lting skin faded to the background. At that mont, my entire being focused on the elent of fire alone.
In my mind, all my training, theories, and battles involving firebending flashed by at high speed.
- "Firebenders use chi, or life energy, as the spark to create fire," my own words surfaced. It seed my subconscious was giving a hint.
- "Spirits originally had only magical energy, while humans possess life energy," another realization ca to .
- "What a slowpoke I've been!" Clarity returned the mont I understood. Spirits lack life energy, so they create flas differently than humans. Their fire could even be called more spiritual. Yes, let's call it that—spiritual fire!
I also recalled how my consciousness had been slightly scratched during battles with fire spirits. Setting aside unnecessary thoughts, I focused on what was more important. Dragon fire is closer to that of spirits, and since I'm literally in it, I should try to master it. Especially since I can feel the "gates" separating from the higher rank trembling.
It all sounded simple enough: just don't use life energy at the beginning...
The dragons' fiery breath was nearing its end, and I still hadn't achieved anything. Strangely, I hadn't even considered that they might release fire more than once or twice; I was too absorbed in the task at hand.
- Aaaah! My furious roar was accompanied by white columns of fla erupting from my mouth and two raised hands. This happened right at the dance's climax.
The more I tried not to use life energy, the more the thought nagged at . My body and mind had subconsciously grown accustod to adding a bit of chi. It turned out all I needed to do was snap, and I'd forget everything, channeling my anger outward.
That's exactly what happened. I just wanted to unleash as much power as possible, to satisfy my destructive desires. So, I released not only ordinary fire but also added blue and green flas. All of this, without a drop of life energy, transford into white spiritual fire. I suppose it can simply be called white fire.
Even now, I can confidently say that in terms of temperature and power, it far surpasses dragon fire, while retaining the properties of green fire.
Another surprise was the manifestation of blue fire. Until that mont, I thought using it required unity with Yo. But it turned out that wasn't necessary. The sources had simply drawn closer to each other and were now gradually moving apart again.
- It's a bit drafty, I remarked, looking down. My clothes had quickly burned away upon contact with such high temperatures. Now, I stood completely naked before an entire tribe and two dragons. It seed only three eggs were missing for the full effect...
- So clothes, if possible! I shouted to the Sun Warriors, though... their attire wasn't much different from my own. Oh well, I just need to cover my privates; the rest doesn't matter.
- "Flas unmatched even by the strongest dragons!" Shao praised .
- "You've truly grown stronger," Ran nodded.
The transition to the higher rank had finally occurred! While waiting for my clothes to be brought, I noticed my skin.
- Even softer and more beautiful? I muttered, touching the skin on my arm. This was probably to be expected. The fire had destroyed the skin, but new skin was instantly regenerated thanks to the involvent of life energy. By the way, I now had twenty percent less of it.
- Hmm? It seed I was closer to opening a new chakra. Before my clothes arrived, I needed to check sothing. "Alright, breathe on again," I asked the dragons. "It's fine, you've already seen nothing will happen to ," I added, as even from their unchanged expressions, I could tell what they were thinking.
The fiery stream washed over my body. The heat, turning into intense pain, made clench my teeth. Life energy flowed like a river through my hardened channels, quickly regenerating the damaged areas.
- "A perfect training tool! On par with my early days in the gravity chamber," I thought. Plus, training in the chamber no longer yielded the sa effects. To open a chakra, the body needed a variety of injuries. "Looks like I know what I'll be doing this week."
Almost every minute of that week, I was busy with sothing. For another two days, I took "showers" under the dragons' fire. With each new session, my skin grew tougher, even my internal organs were tempered, bringing closer to the fourth chakra.
The people of the Sun Tribe welcod warmly and hospitably. It seed the Dragons themselves had instructed them to treat like a Dragon. This led to an imdiate reaction from the female population. After all, bearing my child could significantly elevate their status as the mother of a "Dragon's son." Religious fervor conveniently aligned with personal interest, resulting in sothing utterly bizarre...
Fortunately, it was limited to sidelong glances from under their lashes and seemingly accidental displays of various enticing body parts. It was all quite appetizing, but it seed I'd grown accustod to paying attention only to crowned figures or so cult characters from the universe. I admit, I've beco picky—now I only want princesses...
The higher rank granted a noticeable enhancent in all fire-related attributes. Power and fla temperature increased, while energy consumption decreased. My most valuable acquisition, I believe, is the white fire. The mixture of different fires is too devastating, and even I initially struggled to apply complex techniques. The fire isn't yet on par with that of the Vatu fanatics, but it's close!
Another feature of spiritual fire was the discovery that explained why, with the sa energy expenditure, spirit flas are stronger. It turns out they're not as dependent on oxygen. While ordinary human firebenders have external limitations, spiritual fire, with the sa amount of oxygen, can produce much more. I still have much to uncover about this type of fire—it's all ahead.
Later, the dragons' fire began to show a decline in its previous effectiveness, so I risked changing things up.
- This will definitely lead to my grave soday... I muttered before leaping into the boiling crater of an active volcano.
- "What a nice bath!" It felt like even my bones were aching!
But for a triple benefit, I'll stop at nothing! Here, you have the mastery of the fire elent itself, an increase in the quantity and quality of life energy, and an acceleration in chakra opening. Only occasionally did I have to interrupt this activity—after all, I still needed to breathe.
- "With so many active volcanoes, the territory of the Fire Nation will naturally expand," I thought. Even looking at the oldest maps, you can see that many islands appeared not long ago.
Volcanoes in the Fire Nation archipelago are plentiful. There might even be more volcanoes than rivers. For the first ti, I chose the most harmless-looking volcano.
The golden egg wasn't as demanding, only taking a tenth of my reserve by the end of the week before calming down. I was already worried I'd have to carry it everywhere. It was a stroke of luck, as I couldn't afford to interrupt my activities at the Palace. At the sight of this egg, many, if not all, would surely beco curious. Especially seeing that I never parted with it for a second.
Ran and Shao, eager to test their own skills, helped gauge my increased abilities. They hadn't had a serious opponent in a long ti.
The battle took place in the air, so I had to maneuver on two legs, from which flas erupted. This ti, I wasn't just imitating stances from techniques—I genuinely needed them. The white fire demanded constant control from .
- Rrraah! With Shao's mighty roar, a massive wave of fire surged toward .
- "Let's see how this turns out..." I responded to his attack with one of my own. A slightly less voluminous fla burst from my mouth.
- "Good! Very good!" My fire, losing so of its strength, dispersed the dragon's attack while continuing toward its target.
Three more such clashes showed that one dragon was no match for . So, Ran joined the sparring. With two dragons, the situation changed. In the first minutes, I could only defend myself. But right in the midst of battle, my control over the unruly fire grew rapidly, allowing to employ my entire arsenal of moves and techniques.
The fight ended in my decisive victory. Their massive bodies, even at high speeds, made excellent targets. Their inability to manipulate fire with anything other than their mouths severely limited their options.
The week flew by, and my ship arrived.
- I hope you'll visit us sotis! The Chief bid farewell warmly. It was with your arrival that the Dragons blessed us! You are our eternal friend!
How could I leave without healing people, as per tradition? Everything was done discreetly, and the tribe mbers had already invented their own reasons.
Now, I'm boarding the ship, with a woven bag containing the egg slung over my shoulder.
- He arrived in decent clothes but left in rags, I heard whispers behind .
- City folks are all a bit odd, another voice confided.
- "At least it's not hot," I noted to myself.
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