For the next two days, I was busy searching for new dark water spirits. They were necessary for my attempt to overcome my current rank. After defeating several dozen middle-tier spirits, my development hit a certain boundary that even all the incoming energy from kills couldn't help me cross.
I had a thought to ask Wong to kill a higher dark spirit for me, but first you'd have to find one. Then everything comes down to protecting myself — I'd have to be near him during the kill, which would distract him from battle. And from the baboon spirit's stories, it became clear that higher spirits are real treasure troves of unpleasant surprises. They might even explode at the end if cornered. Most importantly, I didn't want to put the intelligent being who had helped me so much at risk, especially when he asked for nothing in return.
During the battles, I managed to hone my water mastery to a level unattainable by most middle-tier spirits. My favorite trio of techniques showed themselves in all their glory. Now I can create them automatically.
I also decided to expand my arsenal with something new, which led to a technique I called "cutting armor." The essence of this technique lies in creating fast-moving water streams that can both protect and deal damage upon contact with an enemy. At the moment, even for me it's too heavy to execute. To use it, I have to concentrate completely on it alone. But all this is offset by its lethality. In a battle with two fairly strong middle spirits, the cutting armor simply ground them down in just two seconds.
The biggest headache was the gradual and imperceptible changes in my mind. I increasingly began to forcibly suppress various urges to do something stupid and uncharacteristic of me. Plus, thinking sometimes became harder.
Even Wong had already noticed my condition, but he doesn't know how to deal with it. The only thing he advised was to go to the library to see the spirit of knowledge as soon as possible — he rarely doesn't know something, and he helps peaceful spirits without any problems.
Deciding not to play with time anymore, I said goodbye to a slightly sad Wong. After all, it's unclear when we'll be able to see each other again...
After thanking him for everything he'd done for me, I went to fill my vessel with water while Wong began drawing on the ground the approximate places and signs I should pass to reach Wan Shi Tong's library. According to him, the entire journey would take about a week. He also burned with desire to escort me to the place, but peaceful spirits who trusted him depend on his care, and while he's gone, anything could happen.
I assured him that I'd be careful on the way and would avoid fights. The main thing was not to run into strong spirits — with middle and lower ones, I could handle them calmly if needed.
After a firm handshake, I began my journey to the library.
Knowing that this place is so extraordinary and seeing everything with your own eyes are still different things. On my path, I encountered more than a hundred different spirits. After that number, I simply stopped counting them — it felt like there are spirits of absolutely everything.
I had to bypass some places in a wide arc — meeting a dark higher spirit really wasn't worth it for me right now. I had to stay concentrated on my thoughts and actions the entire way, because if I didn't suppress the inappropriate urges of my lower spirit nature, the outcome could be fatal. I was, you could say, born only recently, and I don't really want to die yet.
After about eight days, I finally reached the library. And the view that opened up simply amazed me — I'd like to say that, but alas, the library was in the middle of a desert, with only the top of its tower sticking out. Continuing to walk toward it, I pondered giant owls and their love of burying libraries in sand. [ image ]

Inside, I was greeted by solid rows of books that seemed to stretch upward and disappear somewhere far above. Now that's what you call a spirit of knowledge — he definitely read them all. And if I want to spend time usefully solving my problem, I should go straight to him. I shouldn't forget that time is now working against me. [ image ]

I was about to shout his name when the words got stuck somewhere in what serves as my throat. I have the right. Not even a second passed before Wan Shi Tong himself was standing in front of me. And when a huge owl looks at you, in whose eyes there doesn't seem to be a drop of hostility, but at the same time you feel like you've just been disassembled by a glance, examined, and they want to continue more in-depth research — I couldn't even move until he finished studying me. [ image ]

"It's been a long time since you otherworlders appeared in our world," Wan Shi Tong finally said.
"Huh?" When it dawned on me what exactly he'd said, I got seriously scared. But seeing that no actions followed and he still stood calmly waiting for my answer, I could breathe with relief.
"Greetings, Keeper of Knowledge Wan Shi Tong. I came to you asking for help. My friend Wong advised me to visit you," I said in one breath.
"Ah, that insufferable boy Wong," this was said even with some warmth. "Alright, enough formalities. I've already met those like you, and you all have one curse or gift... Depending on how you look at it. Follow me."
I continued following the spirit while Wan Shi Tong began enlightening me about what was happening to me. As it turned out, spirits from other worlds sometimes appear to them, and in his memory I was already the sixth such spirit, but he'd only personally seen three. The other two weren't too peaceful — they began attacking other spirits indiscriminately, so they got themselves killed by someone. He learned this much later from those they ran into.
According to his observations, our gift is absorbing the residual energy that spirits leave behind — we can easily assimilate it without harm to ourselves.
In addition to this, we have huge compatibility with the absorbed element. Of course, you might think of an immediately acquired source, but even with it, mastering and understanding the element goes quite quickly. I couldn't disagree with this — Wong had said that simple spirits take decades to master what I invent and implement.
The spirit of knowledge thinks that in theory, if you don't stop developing, there's a possibility of obtaining an even greater number of elements. He called our incompatibility with the world itself a curse — our origin is to blame here. You can't break through above a lower spirit until you become "native" to the world.
After research, a result was derived showing there's a tiny but real possibility of being accepted. You need to go through your "second birth," and this can only be done by being born in a more material world — on the human plane. While you're in the womb of a mother who is a local human and "native" to the Avatar world, a certain process of binding you to the world's energy will occur, or in other words — this can be called a kind of initialization. He also helped those spirits who came to him, hence so much confirmed information.
"Why do you help them so easily, and don't refuse me either?" I asked puzzledly. "On the contrary, I'm very glad about this. I'm just curious," I quickly added.
"It's very simple," turning to me, he looked at me with his piercing and wise eyes. "Being an ancient spirit, I can see much that's hidden in you. I can even tell you about things unknown to yourself. And if you were a great threat to the world, it would certainly be able to remove you. What do you think — why did those two aggressive otherworlders appear near the dwelling place of a dark higher spirit, forcing him to interrupt his sleep, when before he wouldn't have paid attention to spirits below his rank... Too many coincidences, don't you think?"
"I hope you're clever enough to put these facts together," flapping his wings, he continued walking forward and speaking. "The world doesn't have consciousness in our understanding of the word — it thinks in other categories, but even so... here it is the law. So you can be calm — if it wanted to, you wouldn't be talking to me right now."
"Another world means new knowledge," Wan Shi Tong said with excitement. "For me, you're an investment in the future. I hope that as soon as possible, you'll be able to visit me in the human world with books you've written about your world. It's not difficult, and you'll fulfill my small request, right?" he finished, looking at me with a squint.
I could only nod my head nervously several times.
"Good," he said with satisfaction. "Ask questions if you have any..."
"What happened to those three? Did they succeed?" It's interesting to understand how many chances I have.
First, I should tell you how the process of sending spirits to the material plane works. For this, you need to make some mandatory preparations.
First and foremost, you need to learn to strengthen your source. The next step is sending your consciousness into one of the sources — this stage is the most important, because when entering the human world, your energy will be consumed very quickly. To reduce the decay rate, you need to be able to minimize losses. Then Wan Shi Tong will simply open a passage to another plane and send my body to search for a suitable body.
Here begins the real race with death. To be reborn in the world, there must be a child's embryo that strictly fits your energy signature and isn't yet occupied by another soul.
The world won't allow stealing a body that already has its own soul. And while you're searching, your energy is being spent — that is, when it's completely exhausted, you'll simply dissolve and disappear.
So I'll have to hope for my luck, especially since not many benders are born in the world. For me, this circle narrows even more — my energy signature fits a water bender. The vessel must be a potential master of this element. And as Wan Shi Tong knows, there aren't too many of those now. With the Fire Nation's attack on the Southern Water Tribe, they're only born in the Northern Water Tribe, which still preserved their territories.
Moreover, the children themselves aren't always born healthy — there are many diseases that can simply kill you at birth when your soul is already connected to the body, which would also finish me off completely.
It would be easier if I were a stone or fire spirit — there are most of those in the human world. But I have nothing to complain about. It's still good that the first absorbed wasn't some rare spirit with an element not from the four basic elements... Then I would definitely have to exist as a lower spirit for the rest of my life.
Among humans, people with mixed elements are rarely born — this can even be called an exception. By the standards of old spirits, humans are still children who have only stepped onto the path of mastering bending, so in the future we should expect the appearance of more people with "non-traditional" elements.
What about those three who managed to pass into the human world?
The very first person, being a fire spirit, managed to find himself a body. But his fate wasn't joyful. This was still in the era of humans mastering new land, when they had just stepped onto dangerous and unpredictable earth without the protection of lion-turtles.
Medicine and all culture were only at the very beginning of emergence. There was high mortality from various diseases — children were often born dead. This especially applied to earth, fire, and air benders who didn't have healers among their brothers who could heal with their bending. He also died from disease in the first week after birth.
The second spirit wasn't even given a chance to live a few days and fight for his life. He searched too long for a suitable vessel for birth — some time passed, and he simply "dissolved" in the world, leaving nothing behind.
"The luckiest was the third spirit who was here relatively recently. If you can live in the human world, you'll know him as Chin the Conqueror or Chin the Great. Yes, he accomplished Great Deeds, but I don't advise being like him," Wan Shi Tong said in turn. "In the first time, being young, he already understood that he was the strongest earth bender among his surroundings — being a spirit does give many advantages. But he was too arrogant, too vain. Thinking he was invincible, he abandoned his development... In the end, he ran into a mountain he couldn't overcome." [ image ]

During Chin's time, the Earth Kingdom was heavily fragmented — constantly warring regions and a weak king who couldn't ensure peace for his people.
Then Chin took power into his own hands and began a victorious march across the entire kingdom, uniting it and turning it into a strong state. The last stronghold of resistance was a small peninsula where Avatar Kyoshi lived at that time.
Being confident in his strength, he didn't heed the words of the then-Avatar, for which he paid with his life. But he left behind many innovations and a strong foundation for the state that, to this day, while not completely united, resists the Fire Nation.
Coming to a room that had only a few scrolls on the table, the spirit stopped.
"Here are recorded the knowledge about how to strengthen and send your mind into the source. As soon as you can perform them, call me. For now, other matters await me," the spirit of knowledge said, pointing with his wing at the scrolls.
"May I ask for other knowledge that interests me?" I asked quickly while he hadn't left yet. "Of course, with your permission!"
"My library contains all knowledge that has ever existed in both kingdoms!" he said confidently. "Feel free to say what interests you."
"Then I'd like knowledge about chakras and methods of opening them," I said with excitement. Even when watching the animated series, when the Guru Pathik taught the Avatar, I thought that the series didn't strongly reveal the abilities granted by opening chakras. And the Guru himself definitely didn't have all the knowledge that the spirit of knowledge possessed. I hope I'll find something useful for myself in them.
"Good choice," Wan Shi Tong said with a note of approval. "I'll send my assistant with the needed books. Alas, you shouldn't linger here longer. Better finish reading and practicing quickly — and we'll proceed with your departure."
As soon as he left, I immediately began reading the scrolls. Everything was described in great detail. For strengthening, you should drive energy inside the body along the described and drawn directions, and at first glance, everything doesn't look too difficult.
Sending consciousness into the source had more complications since I have two sources. They should first be brought as close to each other as possible. Then you should try to send your consciousness into one of them while not losing control over the other. If you lose the thread of control over the other while searching for a body, there's danger of losing it when entering the vessel.
Practicing these skills dragged on for a long time. I only came to my senses when I felt several weak pushes. Looking down, I saw a small fox holding several books in her teeth. [ image ]

After thanking the Keeper of Knowledge's assistant, the fox spirit, for the brought books, I decided to glance through them. There turned out to be too much useful information in them, but I should try to simply memorize all the material now and start analyzing it when I become human. Right now, being a spirit, I can't even test this knowledge.
After several hours, I finished only the first book about chakras — two more remained, but the effectiveness of my actions began to drop. After all, eight days without sleep and constant tension began to make it clear that I should rest.
Today I managed to understand how to properly strengthen sources, which is already good. In two days, I think I'll manage to memorize the chakra books and complete the practice of sending consciousness into the source at a good level. But now it's better to go rest.
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