Chapter 42: The Advancement Trial Final Part

(Aden's P.O.V)

My chest inflated with a deep breath, I held it for 30 seconds and then exhaled, staying like that for 30 more seconds. Then I repeated the cycle for 10 minutes, falling into a rhythm that helped calm my nerves for what I was about to do.

I opened my eyes and maximized the text box for the Advancement Trial and…clicked Start. I didn't feel my head hit the pillow. My surroundings had suddenly changed within the blink of an eye. I looked around, trying to get a sense of what was happening. All around me was a grayish mist that obscured the whole area.

"Wwhaat Iss hhaappenning?"
I wondered, frowning at the odd way my voice resonated and echoed all around me. Another text box blinked into being before my eyes.

(You have initiated the start of your advancement trial to Grandmaster level in Air bending. If you're still unsure of your current capabilities to complete this trial, this is your final chance to back out and retake the trial once you feel you're ready. If you still wish to continue, click yes.)

I hesitated. There was nothing cowardly about turning back. To be completely honest, I wasn't a hundred percent confident that I could win this. However, I didn't really have a choice. I had put a lot of expectations on myself. And I'd be damned if I turned back because of the risk. I clicked yes.

Nothing happened except for another text box replacing the one I already had open. There were only two ominous words on the blue text box.

(Good luck)

I sucked in a deep breath.
"Ok let's do thi…"
Instantly, I took a knee, my words getting cut off as I struggled to breath. My body felt so… sluggish and heavy. I looked at the ground and saw it shift into a hard and rocky terrain. The whole gray space instantly changed into a very familiar battlefield. I was standing on a pillar of stone looking out towards the rocky landscape with a river running through it.

My heart grew cold. I swallowed. I'm facing him? I mean it makes sense but him?! Of all people. Why couldn't you give me some nondescript Airbending master like…like Gyatso or even that son of 'his' that became an Air Bender after Korra and Unalaq's battle. Why of all things, would you match me up with "THE" Avatar himself. Why Aang?!
"Fucking hell."

Another Text Box appeared in my vision.

(Your opponent has similarly been restricted to only Air bending.)

That was better. If it was only Air bending then I could win this. Somehow.

I firmed up my will and gathered all the confidence I had. My eyes met his. Aang was in his younger years. The same age he was in canon when he defeated Fire Lord Ozai. I thanked god for that small mercy. Adult Aang would have been impossible to beat. Not only because of how fucking strong he had to be after mastering all the bending styles and refining them but also because of his mature mentality. Young Aang was unsure of himself, carried massive guilt, refused to kill and always doubted his strength. That meant I could use all that to my advantage.

His face was blank with no emotion but I could see a glint of understanding as to what was about to happen. Meaning he had enough cognition to attack, defend, strategize and hopefully listen and process my words when I talked. That would probably come in handy. Aang was a big softie after all.

That plan was shelved for the time being as a last resort. First I wanted to test myself and see if I could win this the right way. The combat trial way. Who knew when I could get another chance like this to go up against a veteran Air Bender. I settled into an stance. The air moved according to my urging, dancing through the open space as I controlled it to surround me. I shifted my leg and spinned, sending an air slash towards Aang.

The Avatar pushed one foot forward and…did nothing as the air slash uselessly made contact with his body and dispelled. What? That brief moment of shock almost cost me. A whitish cone of concentrated wind left Aang's fist and quickly arrived before me. I leaned back and watched as the attack flew over me, my eyes wide.

The…power. The strength of his air attacks felt… indomitable. I rose up and started sending barrages of wind attacks. Air kicks, air canons, cones of win and wind weapon constructs that would wreck the surroundings if it was the real world. But none of them did a thing.

Aang danced out of the way of the attacks, looking completely at ease, evading and blocking. It was clear that he had much more experience. There was… something he possessed that allowed him to trump the quality of my air bending no matter how much power I fed to it.
"Fuck this."
I reached outwards and created tornadoes all around him.

I flew up high and sent the numerous whirlwinds his way. The pillars we had been standing on were promptly destroyed, with the pieces of rock breaking off and joining the windstorm. I grimly looked on down at Aang's position. The Tornados decimated the surroundings, leaving behind a crater but in the middle of those turbulent winds, was a section that remained untouched. Aang calmly stood inside a bubble of wind.

His hand came up with two fingers outstretched that he slowly lowered. Following this action, the cyclones destabilized. Then he waved his right hand in a swaying motion, seamlessly stretched his left leg to the side, pulled his hands to hips and then boom! Threw the palms forward. My eyes were entranced. His movements, his motions, they all flowed so naturally with the air. I finally understood what I was missing.

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Synchronization with the element.

In comparison, my movements were crude, primal and stiff. Undeserving of the Master Title I had access to. It also made a lot of sense, why my flying was so different from Zaheer's. Whatever this thing, Aang and Zaheer and probably every other bender who had to learn without the pre-programmed set of arts and motions the system fed me, I didn't have it. I wasn't as in tune with the air as I should have been.

Which bugged the heck out of me and made me wonder why the system still graded me as a Master. Questions that were cut off by the unimpressive but efficiently deadly air attack that Avatar Aang threw forward. The large cone of air slammed into my air shield, throwing me further up into the air. I tried to wrest control of the air but failed. So I pushed back with my own attack. Putting everything I had behind it.

There was an explosion of wind that pushed everything away, including me. The closest outcrops of rock and earth were detached forcefully, leaving behind dust that obscured the surroundings.

I coughed and waved a hand, sending a burst of elemental power outwards, clearing my immediate vicinity of dust. I frowned as a large shape appeared below me, growing prominent by the second. A huge fucking rock.
"Holy shit. I thought he was restricted to only air bending!"
My hands came up and the fingers danced in the air, in a mimic of a puppeteer.

One of my least used applications of Airbending because of how dangerous it was, activated. Invisible wind constructs of wires shot out in a deadly fashion. Unseen but heard, a whistling sound left behind. The constructs sliced apart the rock into smaller pieces that flew right by me.

Aang suddenly leaped from one of the larger pieces flying away on my left. His leg kicked out and the pieces of rock projectiles were pushed towards me, answering the question of how he'd thrown the huge boulder at me in the first place. He was using air bending. Something that I could also do. I got out of my surprise quickly and a tornado formed around me, pulling the projectiles along it's twisting motion and then releasing it back to the Avatar.

The air bubble surrounding Aang disappeared for a second and with practiced ease, he stepped on the rocks meant to hit him. I felt frustration hit me along with anger. My better judgement won out and I studied him. Looking for an opening while also learning.

Clearly a real Airbender had me trumped in understanding of what air bending was. It wasn't just an art like I'd believed before, it was a lifestyle. A culture steeped in philosophy that these people learnt from childhood. My measly few weeks as an Airbender couldn't compare. What I had was power and ingenuity on my side but the control I had hitherto thought was prodigious…was not even worth mentioning.

I couldn't win this. Not like this. Not now…Here goes the last resort. Forgive me Aang, but I need to throw you off your game. My right hand, which I had kept behind me suddenly stretched out. An air bomb, the same one I had used on Kobra exploded with the force of a real bomb. The shockwaves impacted Aang's shield bubble and threw him downwards. Aang managed to dispel the attack in time before his body could hit the ground. Behind him, the attack continued, sending a large volume of water overflowing towards the banks of the river below us.

The wind reached out gently like a mother holding her baby and carried him down to land on a lone outcrop of stone, the others having been destroyed during our fight. He was just about to jump back at me but I held up a hand. Here goes nothing. An expression of mockery appeared on my face.

"It's funny that out of all the possible Avatars I could face, I got the weakest. The worst. The one who abandoned his duty and left everyone to die. I mean talk about a loser."
The words left a bitter taste in my mouth. This…this was wrong. But it's just a projection hardwired into emulating Aang. Please…please don't let it be the real him.

The air was suddenly supercharged with something. Hurricanes picked up all around us and grew with intensity at every drop of my words.

"I wonder what Gyatso thought and felt when the Firebenders got to him, did he shed tears, seeing the destruction they caused to your home? I wonder if he cursed your name as he died. Wondering why you were ever born as the Avatar."
Aang's body shook as the breeze from before grew in intensity. Forming sharp licks of winds. Breathing became a labour, prompting me to create a bubble around my body. He's angry but I need him broken.
"You abandoned the people who needed you the most. Frankly speaking, the world lost its Avatar way before you ran away from your duty, they lost the Avatar the day Rokku died."

Aang's eyes started to flash white as an animalistic shout of anger exploded out of his mouth. The Avatar state. My mouth dried up as I tightened my fingers. There was only one more sentence left…one more statement and I'd break him. Could I do it?

"Your whole existence is meaningless because at the end of the day, all your struggles, your friends, the love of your life Katara…none of it is real. None of you are real, you're just characters created to entertain people. All that death and suffering was simply for…my viewing pleasure."

The wind died down. The Tornados unravelled and everything went calm. Aang lost the light in his eyes and knelt down. A river of tears fell down his now blank and emotionless face. Despite it being a copy of the real self, what I had done was... repugnant. I flew down gently towards him and flicked a finger. A wire construct slashed out from Aang's right side and came out on the other side visible and colored red.

I then opened my mouth and for added measure, a sonic attack rippled out, breaking his body apart. I never looked away.

Turns out yes, I could do it. I could break someone's Spirit.

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