Chapter 122: Lessons From Uncle Iroh part 3

 

(General P.O.V)

They came about through an explosion of light and color. A myriad different shades of the latter filling up the space and leaving behind…life and existence. Life that was formed between the segment of reality, thought, unreality and logic. A section separating the possible from the impossible. Unexplainable meaning. Concrete yet entrenched in mystery. A mystery that science could not solve…at least not alone. Yet life found it's way.

Following them were others of similar design to their forms yet… lacking. The core spark that made them special. Their being was backed and interwoven by concepts which allowed this whole space to exist. Two concepts that powered and de-powered one another, forming a balance that went on to form the bigger picture, The cycle, the life, The Fire. The concepts were destruction and rebirth. One hiding in the shadow of the other.

It was time the master knew of them. It was time he understood.

(Aden's P.O.V)

Slash!!

A whistling sound cut through space as I swung the Katana, putting enough strength to my forearms through the exertion of my back muscles and the relaxation of my shoulders. The action was swift as I passed through Iroh. Too fast for him to react. Too fast for him to see. The world felt like it had slowed down for me. I Breathed out, steam escaping my mouth as I wound backwards, my left leg braking my body, upturning soil that floated away in slow mo, almost motionless in the air. I used the right leg to turn back. The toes dug into the ground for traction and I heaved, reverse gripping Equity.

Another delayed whistling sound cut through the air but the slash had already connected and carved a trail on his back. Equity disappeared back into my hammer space as I spun using the added motion from the two attacks. My eyes grew hard. The inner fire within me gathered in my hands and I rounded up on Iroh. His eyes were now just widening when the ball of condensed flames landed on his chest. The explosion of force and fire threw me away. I flipped while on the air before landing on the ground with enough force to crack it.

Before me, was a burning pit where Iroh's body had been. Firebending prodigy or not, my speed had turned out to be the determining factor. I walked over before suddenly stopping in place. The fire was acting strange, gathering in place, in the shape of a person instead of burning as it should have been. I felt a stir through my energy sense, thoughts cut short when a presence made itself known above me.

My arms came up by instinct and I felt a foot smash into me, aimed for the top of my head. I widened my eyes when the strength became too much to bear and I fell onto one knee. Instantly, my body rolled away and the foot continued on to stomp on the ground. How was he so strong?! There wasn't a time for questions however and to save my life, I channeled a huge amount of fire through my forearms and slammed it down to the ground, successfully parting the fan of red hot flames that was about to drown me out.

I was being attacked on two fronts! Iroh was infront of me, about to engage me in a close quarters fight yet that flame had appeared from way back in the fire pit, where his body had landed.

"Keep your full attention on the opponent!"

He shouted as a shin landed onto my forearms, the calf pushed forward by a jet of flames and orange coating that registered to me as spiritual energy. My feet skidded back. Again why and how is he strong? No benders should be this physically powerful...right there I discovered my mistake...I was still assuming.

I leaned back, avoiding a cone of fire that singed my eyebrows. My hands extended and I flipped, a wheel of flame shooting out of my feet, that Iroh leaned to the side, almost lazily, to avoid. I was upside down when I saw his leg sweep out in a arc of fire, aimed to split me horizontally in half. Fire exploded through my palms, regardless of of the heat to push me to the sky. The arc flew harmlessly below me...but then I understood the difference between Mako and Iroh.

Iroh let out a grunt, steadying his arms to the side and then he started fucking bending. Not Firebending...no he was using different bending forms to send, whips of flame, arcs, balls, cones, fans and beams to attack my defenseless body. How the fuck did that even make sense? Lightning streaks formed around my body as I skated in the air, pulling away from the general direction of his attacks. I brought my fingers to my chest, concentrating before sending a bolt of lightning to him. Iroh saw the attack from a mile away and fell into the basic lightning redirection stance. He channeled it through himself and sent it back even stronger. I formed a mesh of electric energy around my body with only a slight wince when the attack landed.

Getting sick of being confined to the sky, I changed Equity into Gut's sword, Dragon Slayer, A huge chunk of metal that made what I sought to do much easier. I spun my body and channelled as much flames as I could through the sword and then I released it. An arc of hot energy shot out of the sword, blanketing the surrounding 300 meters. A large cloud of red hot fire billowing out to decimate everything. The sound of the impact was deafening

The rocks melted, the mountain plateau nearest there battlefield was remade into a hill as most of it's structure was destroyed and below me...was a crater full of burning rocks, red hot pools of lava, surrounded by blackened soil. I looked at Equity in a new light before dismissing it.

I controlled my body and landed near the edge of the crater, which was burning. That had hopefully dealt with Iroh. No one could survive that, point blank. Of course being the idiot I was, I forgot to account for the bullshit mysterious spirit powers he had access to. The fire burning at the edge of the crater unnaturally grew in volume.

Iroh suddenly appeared out of the fire with a hand cocked back in a fist. I leaned into his personal space, pulling to a close proximity so that he would extend his reach and then I could take him out. His hand passed over my shoulder, failing to hit me but giving me an opening. A blast of lightning escaped my fingers to his chest. Upon making contact, his body burst into flames and I felt something sweep me off my feet. Then a blow landed on my back hard.

For the second time I dug a groove through the ground. This time however, I jumped back into the fray. Using my energy sense and telepathy to read my surroundings. Then I understood how he was doing what he was doing. The first few strikes I had landed had unfortunately been on a fire construct in the shape of Iroh. The only thing I did not know was how he had escaped my huge area of effect attack. Equity came out to defend me by way of offence as a tidal wave of flame beared down at me like an angry god. Sparks ran down the blade and I slashed out.

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Bright as fuck streaks of lightning escaped the blade, parting the wall of flames and causing them to separate into two sections. The view revealed to me was of 3 Iroh's with perfect synchronized moved who jumped forward, wound their hands back and released a huge but fast moving ball of fire. Then that ball of fire bloomed like an orange flower and I found myself boxed in from 9 different directions with no way to move. Not that I was going to.

I channeled as much flame as I could and created an orange tornado around me. Iroh's attack smashed into my own but I held on with a grunt…up until his flame coalesced into 3 creatures, a giant Serpent easily over 20 feet long, a tall lizard creature, known in canon as an Eel Hound, and lastly a fucking eastern dragon, flying above me. The Serpent wound it's body around my tornado and hissed, squeezing the whole whirlwind. I ducked when my energy sense felt a whip like flame slice through my fire. The tail of the Eel Hound.

Ok, that's how you wanna play it? I pulled the fire close to me, shaping it into a ball and further compressing it before releasing it. The explosion was immediate. The serpent and Eel Hound were drowned out and destroyed but the flame was halted before it could reach Iroh. The dragon from above dived down…and sucked it all up. The torrential fire Element…was turned into a snack before the huge animal construct. The level of bullshit happening today…

"You seem to understand the concepts of fire as an instrument to precipitate destruction and rebirth, hence your flame is hot without changing colors into a different variation. I even commend you on knowing how to bend Lightning." Iroh 's voice rang out through the battlefield. "But what you're missing is the practical aspect. There is a difference between knowing the rules of a game and being in it, playing. The true measure of a bender is not on how much power they can channel to fight but on how much skill they have when using that power. In that aspect…you are crude. Unrefined. Impatient."
He concluded, completely revealing himself. Well three of himself really but…it was clear the rest were fire constructs.

Still… something was amiss. I levelled Equity at him while thinking of an effective strategy to fight him.
"I know enough about you to know that you were not this powerful during your mortal life, Iroh. So who are you…really?"
The fire clones and the flame construct above our heads lost form and disappeared in a sudden rippling of angry flames, leaving the two of us standing inside the Fire Plane.

"I have not once lied about my identity. I am Iroh, a long time ago, the first born son of Fire Lord Azulon, uncle to Fire Lord Zuko, a member of the white lotus and...the father to Lu Ten. But I am not human. It has been 200 years since I lost my mortality." He said with a look on his face I couldn't decipher. He closed his eyes for a brief period before opening them to reveal, orange orbs of light. "Now, I am a knowledge seeker. Dedicated to the path of wisdom, intuition and attunement to the world. The deal still stands but I wish to add another stipulation. If you do defeat me…I shall give you access to the library of Wan Shi Tong." I sucked in a deep breath. "One of the ways to increase you spirituality is through consuming knowledge. However, if I win…I want to explore your world, learn the different culture, the people…the spirits."

I blinked and thought it over. The Library of Wan Shi Tong... contained practically everything on anything. If I could get inside...my bending comprehension would likely triple. Not to mention, I did not see anything wrong with letting Iroh see the DC world. It would shock him immensely of course. The prospect of grown women and men running around dressed in tight costumes playing cops would be something I wanted to see Iroh's reaction to. Plus...I wanted him to stay a little while longer. Within a few hours, he'd helped me to evolve my spirit and I could feel my Firebending increase from a brief talk with him. So whether I lost or won...I wasn't losing out.

I looked into his eyes.

"I accept."

He nodded, stating,

"Good. I should mention...this time I will not take it easy on you."

I twirled Equity in my hands and sent it to my hammerspace. He said nothing at my action but I could see a glint in his eyes. He saw through my intention clearly. I felt like laughing but instead settled for a smirk. The blade appeared in my hands again.

"You were planning on using the blade in unexpected timings to strike, given that you can teleport it to your hand in an instant, that is an effective strategy."

He commented as I circled him.

"Yeah it was...but you saw through it immediately. I guess a direct clash will have better chances now. Plus... beating you in a straight fight will feel a whole lot better."

I smiled, making him grunt.

"Careful, do not let your overconfidence blind you. Or else you might find yourself in a...sticky situation."

This time I was ready. A wall of fire appeared behind me to block the hundreds of weapon constructs Iroh had remotely controlled to attack me from the back. The flame was the residue left from the animal constructs he had used before. Knowing my back was well protected through energy sense, I jumped back into the fight but this time...it wasn't just about testing myself anymore. I had to get access to that Library!

 

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