Golden eyes squint, looking at the distant ocean. Calmness, the sound of the ship's engine is heard. A moment, maximum focus! The internal Qi energy is separated in the stomach into positive and negative. A moment, the abdominal muscles contract painfully. Energies of different polarities rush up the body. I lean forward. Two intertwining beams, instantaneously erupting from the center of the forehead, overcome hundreds and hundreds of meters, flying into the distance until they make contact with the water. Everything happened in a matter of seconds.
A flash of bright light was accompanied by a deafening roar. A moment later, the wind of the blast wave blew across my face. Waves appeared in the calm current of the ocean, which began to gently rock the ship. Fish stunned by the explosion began to float to the surface in places. This was exactly explosion bending. A colossal destructive power that would crush any defense of this era.
— Hrr…—an astonished gasp from Berkroot was heard nearby, and soon I heard his rare voice. — Bad. Again.
"Not bad for the first time, but he knows best. Keeping all my limbs is already good; I can continue," I mentally disagreed with the mercenary, while simultaneously calming the worried Azula.
The girl whose body I was currently controlling felt a strong wave of anxiety from my first training sessions. Despite her desire to possess greater power, she perfectly understood all the risks. Unlike healing, an error in this training could cost dearly. The one-armed and one-legged mercenary perfectly demonstrated the danger of this bending.
Well, never mind the risks of becoming disabled; I must continue to train.
— Hu-uh…—exhaling the accumulated tension, I returned to repeating the bending that was new to me.
Concentrating once more, I repeated the explosion bending, with effort, but still succeeded. And then again and again, until I understood its workings in every detail. It took more than two dozen repetitions, with several breaks for rest, which I spent thinking and discussing some questions with the not-so-satisfied mentor.
As I thought, mastering this bending was both easy and difficult. The essence is exactly the same as with lightning generation, but at the same time, the requirements for control and concentration are orders of magnitude greater. And, as practice has shown, it is not necessary to open the chakras for this bending; even closed ones work quite well. The most difficult part was to create an explosion at any point along the path of the Qi rays, and not just at the moment when the rays crash into a material object.
Soon, thanks to my monstrous energy control, I succeeded in this as well. The main secret was to control the beams and force them to crash into each other, which caused a powerful release of all the energy at one point in the form of an explosion. By the way, using the bending in any way other than through the forehead chakras was fraught with an explosion of the limbs. Personally verified by Berkroot, specifically his limbs. The chakra channels in all other parts of the body were too thin. The mercenary came to these conclusions, paying for it with an arm and a leg.
I think it will not be a problem for Azula to learn this bending, especially with my help. Earning an approving silence from Berkroot, I rested, having mastered explosion bending quite quickly. The mercenary was probably well-informed about Azula's genius. Or he just had such a character; it was quite difficult to surprise him. Learning a very complex and dangerous form of bending on the thirtieth attempt did not affect the facial expression of the formidable man at all. Unlike the other crew members, who, while doing their job, involuntarily witnessed this miracle. The ordinary soldiers were simply shocked, not even by my progress, but by the fact that a sub-form of fire bending—explosion bending—existed.
— Hmm…—the silent mercenary looked at the approaching acrobat with a formidable gaze. Not that he was angry, it was just that any action seemed formidable with his appearance and size.
— Good morning, genius Princess Azula—the acrobat jokingly fell to her knees as a greeting.
At that moment, I felt the princess's desire to regain her body. I had no reason to stay in it, so...
— Ty Lee, how do you like my ship?—Azula herself replied, while my consciousness receded to the secondary plane.
— It's quite nice here—the acrobat got up, twisting herself in her usual way to demonstrate her amazing flexibility. — My cabin is so spacious, and your maids are so polite. I talked to them a little before coming out on deck. The noise woke me up; was that firebending training?
— Yes, Berkroot is helping me with that—Zula agreed, glancing towards the man. There was no point in denying the obvious in front of her optimistic friend.
— Well…—the circus performer looked at the huge man, — he looks very imposing.
— Hmm…—a quiet sound escaped from the big man, reminding us of the necessary training. I had spent too much time creating the technique, but now only practice was needed.
— I'm busy right now, but if you have nothing to do, you can stay and watch—the princess offered her friend, returning to her previous spot to resume training, but now with my minimal assistance.
— Okay, then I'll sit aside and won't bother you—Ty Lee replied, already standing on her hands. Finding a comfortable spot, she changed her stance to her elbows, and then put her legs on the deck in front of her, still balancing on her elbows. Lee was in her own style, trying to develop her flexibility and acrobatics at every convenient or inconvenient opportunity.
Meanwhile, Azula concentrated on her training. I tried not to help her much, only covering her in case of an accident, but fortunately, the girl didn't need much help. Being inside her body, she had observed all my actions during the training, and now she could repeat the explosion bending without much trouble. Not perfectly, but she could repeat it. I only helped with small tips and my understanding of the energy and the essence of the technique, which I quickly managed to grasp thanks to being a spirit. Berkroot was so laconic that instead of explaining things verbally, he wrote all the nuances of the technique on paper, and only then verbalized whether I was doing it right or not.
In any case, after less than a hundred attempts, I was finally convinced of Zula's ability to repeat the mercenary's bending without injuring herself. On the one hand, this was monstrously fast, but on the other hand, the experience of lightning generation greatly contributed to achieving such a result. During this whole training session, Ty Lee really behaved quietly, which was unusual for her character. The girl was also, so to speak, training her flexibility, meditating in extremely interesting poses. I never thought the human body could be so flexible. I involuntarily imagined how such flexibility could be used in another activity...
Ahem. Better not to think about such things; the thoughts only tempt me more.
During the break between repeating the technique, the circus performer asked questions about this bending with curiosity. The girl had never heard of explosion bending before, so her curiosity was not surprising.
After a while, the acrobat left the princess, asking about me before she went. Azula told her to wait in her cabin, and Lee headed further into the ship. The girl did not want to say that I was in her body, for reasons unknown to me.
Soon after, I also left her, leaving Zula alone with the mercenary, so to speak, to practice the new bending with someone who could back her up if necessary. The girl wanted to learn to control the explosion at any moment along the path of the Qi rays as quickly as possible; for this, she only needed experience, as this was the most difficult moment of explosion bending. Before leaving, I encouraged the training princess, saying that I believed in her success. It was a small thing, but everyone appreciated it.
Leaving her alone, I headed to Ty Lee; the girl had long wanted to talk to me, and now was the time. Flying through the deck, I headed to the required cabin, but before passing through the wall, I decided to observe at least some rules of decorum and enter through the door. Thanks to this decision, I was able to hear part of the girls' conversation.
— …has changed! She used to be so reserved, tense, like a steel statue, and now… now she's different—I heard Ty Lee's emotional voice.
— You'd know best—Mai's phlegmatic voice replied to her.
— Come on, we both know her from childhood. And you brought up the topic yourself—Lee answered confidently.
— Yes. I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one who thought so. Congratulations. You figured me out.
— It's true, I think it has something to do with Yoaru!
— I think so too.
— Do you think it's for the better or not?—the gymnast's voice radiated thoughtfulness and reflection.
— Only time will tell.
— I think it's for the better. Azula's aura has become brighter; bright spots have begun to appear in it. Like rare stars in the night sky! It's so beautiful—Ty Lee said dreamily, probably recalling the scene she had described.
— Lee, I don't see auras, just like the vast majority of people in the world.
The girls' conversation was informative, and while Ty Lee's voice felt an emotional uplift, Mai, as usual, spoke in a phlegmatic, calm tone. But I had no desire to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Understanding the essence of their discussion, I prepared to join them as if nothing had happened.
— Knock-knock—having knocked, I passed through the metal door with pompous grandeur, immediately gaining the attention of both beauties.
— Hello, Ty Lee, Mai—I greeted the girls, confidently walking into the cabin and looking around.
In general, the room was tidy, only the bed was slightly wrinkled; the girls were sitting right on it. Well, sitting is one way to put it; Ty Lee had twisted herself into a pose unfamiliar to me and was sitting on her hands, training her flexibility. I think it was precisely because of such training that the bed looked so wrinkled.
— Yoaru? Good morning. You appeared quite… unexpectedly—Ty Lee said in surprise, stumbling slightly, either from our quick meeting or from the manner of my appearance.
— He's here again? What a nuisance—Mai's cold tone was filled with some disappointment, or did I imagine it?
— You repeatedly mentioned wanting to talk, so here I am. To talk. Azula will be training until the end of the day; we have plenty of time for any purpose and no one will bother us—I said to the girl, approaching the bed.
— Oh, yes, right, I wanted to ask so much—she replied with a little awkwardness.
— Brr. That's a sudden chill. Did he just sit down next to me?—Mai, next to whom I had settled, involuntarily touching the girl, interrupted her friend's speech.
— Oh, yes, right, I always forget that you can't see or hear him. Yes, he's here. He came to talk to us—the acrobat kindly and with a smile explained to her friend.
— With you. I'm not going to participate in this. If you need me, I'll be in my cabin, throwing knives at the wall—getting up from the bed, Mai calmly headed to the exit of the cabin.
— Huh? Okay—was all the surprised Ty Lee managed to say to the back of the departing girl.
— You probably offended her greatly—the acrobat added when we were left alone.
— Possibly, or perhaps she just didn't want to feel left out during our conversation?
— Left out?
— I am invisible to her gaze, and my words do not reach her ears. I think she would be uncomfortable, to say the least, during our conversation. Or maybe you're right, and she was offended more than I imagine. Is the fact that I saw her naked really so awful? I would offer to wash away this shame with my blood in a sacred duel, but I have no blood, or the rest of a body—I said to the girl with feigned sorrow, ending with a peculiar joke. Successfully.
— Well, no. I don't think that's necessary. It's certainly unpleasant, but not that much, especially considering your nature as a spirit. You are not to blame for anything, except perhaps just a little—Lee, a kind soul, tried to comfort me, for this she even stopped training her flexibility and assumed a normal sitting position.
— In any case, you can discuss it with her later; right now, I would like to talk specifically with you—I said to the girl a little more seriously, simultaneously getting a little closer to her.
— Me? Why me specifically? What's so special about me?—my interlocutor was slightly embarrassed. — Oh, forgive me, that was probably a very stupid question. The others can't see you.
— That's partly true, but even if all people could see me, I would still want to get to know such a charming girl as you. You are beautiful, sweet, and, most importantly, very smart. In other words, you are the most beautiful girl I have seen in all my existence—I declared to her, looking directly into her eyes.
But my gaze, against my will, constantly wandered over the young girl's body. Although, come to think of it, she is fourteen years old according to the local calendar, and more than sixteen according to the one I was used to. Look at the chest she's developed. Not childish at all.
The thing was that the planet was different, the number of days in a year was different, and accordingly, there was one extra month and a slightly different understanding of age and coming of age. In general, according to all the laws of this world, fourteen (sixteen by the standards of my past world) is the age of majority. Children are considered full-fledged adults after surviving so many years. And this was most pronounced in Ty Lee. A girl who could already… ahem, I haven't had a woman in too long. Yes, it's all because of that.
— Really?—the acrobat was embarrassed. I, recalling the local laws and the time difference, smiled even wider, embarrassing my interlocutor more and more.
— Just between us, I want to tell you that, in my opinion, you are much more beautiful than Azula—leaning closer, I shared a secret with her in a whisper. The girl blushed even harder, turning away her embarrassed gaze.
— Oh, you're flattering me. Azula is much better than me in everything. I can't even compete with her, let alone stand next to her—despite these words, she definitely liked my compliments and attention. I wonder where this insecurity came from?
In any case, I liked her genuine embarrassment. Such emotions were impossible to get from Zula, or rather they were possible, but they were completely different, and the princess was used to being reserved. While Ty Lee simply lived by her emotions.
This is not the first time I've noticed such a reaction; has she really been given so few compliments? I don't believe it; she is too beautiful, and what expressive eyes she has… not to mention her other assets. Although I remembered that she was the seventh daughter, was the lack of attention in childhood to blame for everything? This could explain a lot.
— There is still a lot of time; you can ask anything you want, and I will try to satisfy your curiosity…—I stated with a smile, settling more comfortably on the bed.
Soon the girl's curiosity took over, and there was no trace of shyness left. At least, not until I started showering her with compliments again, which the girl had a great weakness for. In general, the girl behaved quite playfully, flirted, joked, and clearly enjoyed my company. Her sense of humor was excellent, and the number of anecdotes and funny stories was colossal; she didn't travel with the circus for a couple of years for nothing.
I myself got great pleasure from the conversation; who knew that I would miss simple, completely ordinary communication with another person so much. I myself didn't know about such a need for society; I thought I was above it. Of course, before, I only had Azula, but… she is not the best and certainly not the most pleasant interlocutor; I always had to be careful with her. With Ty Lee, everything was different.
Finding pleasant interlocutors in each other, we talked on completely different topics.
The girl was mainly interested in everything related to the spirit world, me, and my existence. I, in turn, told what I knew, or what I guessed. Still, I am a very young spirit and might not know much, which I told her, but this did not diminish the girl's enthusiasm at all. All sorts of questions rained down on me, some of which were quite embarrassing.
— No, Lee, spirits don't need to go to the toilet, and they don't reproduce in the way you are used to understanding—I answered the embarrassed girl's question.
— Then how do new spirits appear?—the acrobat continued to speak, with crimson cheeks.
— I don't know, I am too young for that; someone significantly older and more experienced than me is needed here.
— Then, tell me more about the spirit world!
I couldn't tell much about it, but what I knew, I told the girl openly. The Spirit World is difficult to describe in words and terms known to me. It is a changeable, incomprehensible, and quite creepy place. I had no desire to return there. The Spirit World is full of the unknown, strange, incomprehensible, anomalous, and illogical, with constant changes and horror. But at the same time, it also contains pleasant islands with small and cute nature spirits.
Ty Lee knew how to win people over; I didn't even notice how I started to trust her more and more. However, I not only answered questions but also actively inquired about the girl, her past, family, reasons for her actions, and even life in the circus. She talked about the latter much more eagerly, almost as much as about her six younger sisters. At the same time, I did not forget to laugh with her, offer support, and show understanding.
In a word, we were getting closer, telling each other about ourselves, lightly flirting and teasing. The girl's behavior turned out to be very infectious, and I started to like Ty Lee more and more.
Time flew by quite quickly. I caught myself thinking that I wanted much more from my interlocutor, but proposing something intimate so bluntly was too much even for me. I wasn't sure she would agree. And then, old information about a certain box that I had specially hidden from Azula surfaced in my mind. A plan instantly arose in my mind, and I decided to bring up a slightly different topic.
— Tell me, Lee, you're an adult now, but have you ever drunk sake—a drink exclusively for adults?