15 Magic and Qi

This chapter is dedicated to (Gabriel Ross).

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- During our fight, I saw enough good qualities of a future warrior. I will become your master...''

At the master's decisive reply, Azula bowed her head slightly, acknowledging Piandao's skill.

- This is a great honour, I will do my best to ensure that your time is not wasted,'' the girl impersonating Tai Li replied in a respectful voice. The master didn't feel any falseness in her voice, Azula was the best liar. Or maybe she wasn't lying at this moment? No one could know that for sure.

- Good words. From this moment on, your training in the art of wielding cold weapons begins. We'll start right away, but first you need to clean yourself up and-" Piandao glanced at his butler, who had been watching the fight all this time.

- Fat, would you be kind enough to bring my student one of the training blunt swords?" the butler bowed with a nonchalant face and then left to fetch the sword. During the fight, he had grown tired of marvelling at the girl's skill, that she had proven herself better than any other Piandao apprentice candidate he had seen in his life.

"Don't drag this out too long, he's probably testing how sissy you are, getting yourself in perfect shape can be done before bed or in the morning, but not now," came the spirit's voice in the girl's head.

At this time Azula took her ring from the sand that she had previously used to win and did a simple ponytail hairstyle. So that her hair wouldn't obscure her eyes during further training. Looking at her extremely dirty and sand covered clothes, the girl began to shake off the dirt, shaking the sand out of her clothes and hair. Finished with that, she turns back to the master.

- Master, I am ready to study.

Piandayu had been watching her actions with a calm gaze the whole time.

- 'Excellent,' what he saw brought a smile to his face, 'follow me.

They travelled a little further away from the castle, closer to the rock garden, where there was another area where a white lotus was tiled. Standing in the middle of it, the master unsheathed his sword. Holding the scabbard in his left hand and the sword in his right, he spoke.

- First of all, you must remember that the weapon is an extension of you. Think of it as a part of your body, a long and sharp extension of your arm. A swordsman always knows the length of his sword and the distance to his target," Piandao kept on demonstrating smooth sword swings, with sharp lunges and dodges to back up his words with a visual demonstration.

- A sword is a simple weapon, but in the hands of a master, it becomes the most dangerous weapon. Just as your imagination is limitless, so too are the sword's capabilities. In the same way, any weapon can be characterised. During our battle, you may have noticed how I used my weapon somewhat unconventionally. That was a small part of the sword's capabilities that I realised. Terrain plays a big role for combat. Everything around you plays an important role, as does your imagination. Any little thing can be decisive for the outcome of a battle... - the master continued to share his wisdom, while Tai Li listened attentively and memorised both the words of the master and all his movements. Mentally visualising their meaning and application in battle.

Piandao spoke many important things, sharing his wisdom and experience. Even the spirit chose to listen in silence, not inserting caustic comments between the words of the master. After a short speech, during which Fat brought the girl a sword, the practical training began. Tai Li, under the careful guidance of her mentor, began to learn all the techniques of the sword. The greatest swordsman only had to correct and explain how to do it correctly and why. At the same time marvelling at the genius and cleverness of his new student.

Tai Li grasped everything on the fly, absorbing knowledge at a monstrous speed. The girl already had fighting skills with a perfectly developed body. With a strong intellect, learning new things was no problem. All she had to do was learn a meagre set of sword techniques, get them into her reflexes, learn how to use the terrain, and of course, fuse them into her own fighting style. And most importantly, make the sword a part of yourself. In other words get used to it, rely on it, and know what it could do. Of course, she couldn't become a master in a day, but she'd come very far nonetheless.

- Your ability to learn is somewhat frightening. It took you a full day to memorise all the stances and positions. Your strokes are still not perfectly accurate, but with this progress, you'll be perfect in a few days," Piandao admired her at the end of the training, finishing the last sword move and putting the weapon back into its sheath. Tai Li followed suit.

- I have a great teacher. As you said, the sword is a simple weapon, it's the skill of using it that counts," she bowed her head, recognising the greatness and genius of her mentor.

- There is no need to be puffed up, the merits of the student are solely his merits, and his mistakes are the fault of his teacher, - Piandao spoke with a philosophical undertone, looking at the beautiful red sunset.

The man, amazed by her brilliance, was so engrossed in the girl's training that he completely forgot about time. Every mentor and every master would be happy to have such an apprentice. An apprentice that absorbs the material and learns so rapidly that it involuntarily evokes associations with a riot of elements. Tai Li pleasantly surprised the master with her learning ability, he noticed it during the battle, but only after training could clearly see the girl's talents.

- Enough for today, let's go to the castle. Fat will assign you a room and introduce you to the castle," Pandao said and headed towards the door, not showing a hint of fatigue. His newly acquired apprentice showed no less stamina.

- I'd like to send a letter with my hawk.

The master paused, looking at the girl. Then he turns his gaze to the bird that had been watching first their duel and then their training. All this time, from the moment they stepped outside, the animal was on top of one of the castle walls. Tai Li raised her hand, the bird immediately noticed her mistress's command. A couple of seconds later, the dragon hawk successfully flew into the girl's hand, showing excellent training and obedience.

- I'll give you a parchment with a brush.....

They travelled to the castle. There Azula impersonating Tai Li sent a letter with orders to her ship via dragonhawk. Following that, Fat showed the castle and all its rooms with facilities to the new apprentice master. The castle had a huge number of rooms present, only a smaller portion of it was occupied by other servants and maintenance staff.

Night was approaching.

The apprentice had a modest dinner, and went to wash herself before going to bed in the bathroom. Surprisingly, the spirit was silent for a very long time, clearly plotting something. However, the princess herself had a lot to think about. It had been a long time since she had received such a blow to her ego. Azula thought that with her current skills she was a very strong mage, stronger than most other conquerors. Second only to her father, the strongest fire mage and possibly his older brother. Piandao had clearly shown the girl that this was far from the case. But she did not feel humiliated, even though she had lost and had been thrown to the sand more than once in very dirty and humiliating ways... It was all instructive and practical. The girl recognised it, as did the skill of her new mentor.

"How are you?" - the spirit suddenly inquired as she lounged in the horribly tiny bathtub.

- 'Starting to miss the palace with servants and hot springs,' the castle had very few servants, so she risked answering the spirit in a quiet voice as she continued to wash off the sand and mud.

"How gentle we are," the spirit replied with a chuckle, but his words did not hurt the girl in the slightest.

- There are a great number of children of admirals, generals and other descendants of ministers that live without facing difficulties. I understand the need for them, even though I miss the luxury of the palace. The way to the top will always be harder than the fall from it.

"And that commands at least my respect. You know, someone's in a good mood. The princess has condescended to clarify," the spirit continued in a friendly manner.

- 'I was thinking I was beginning to miss your voice, but you spoke... can you be quiet a little longer? - The princess answered him with a barb, relaxing in the bathtub and covering her eyes.

'We talk to each other like this, as if we were friends

- Yes..." an eerie smile appears involuntarily on Azula's face, "friends.

"I want to talk to you before I go to bed about something important. For now, just answer me, how do you like Master Piandao? Impressive, isn't he?"

- I have to admit, he's far better than any mentor I've ever studied under. And the rumours of his strength and genius have diminished rather than exaggerated his achievements. If ordinary soldiers had such skills, the Fire Nation would probably have won the war long ago. I must admit, spirit, travelling to this master was the right decision. Though at first I doubted your judgement," the girl replies easily, not lying at all. Azula was greatly impressed by Piandao's skills, and wouldn't refuse soldiers that possessed at least a quarter of his abilities.

"I'm glad you appreciated my idea. Our future adventures will surprise you many times over, but don't doubt it. With me, you will become the strongest fire mage in the history of your people," the spirit finishes in an intriguing voice, teasing the girl's curiosity.

- Surely you won't tell me your plans or your goals until I come up with a verse worthy of you? Should I try to come up with one right now? - Azula replied in an indifferent voice, knowing full well that the spirit wouldn't tell anything so easily.

"No. Focus on learning, I wanted to talk about something else right now."

- And what was that?

"Have you noticed the difference between you and him?"

- What do you mean?

"Your Qi circulation system isn't as perfect as Piandao's."

- Qi Circulation System? What is that? I've never heard of it.

"Wash up, then we'll talk in your assigned room afterwards. This isn't a conversation for a few minutes," the spirit finishes, intriguing the girl but never satisfying her curiosity.

Washing and cleaning herself of the grime and sand, Azula dresses in the servants' clothes, her own having been sent to the wash, and leaves one of the bathrooms. Walking through the corridors of the castle, and meeting no one along the way, she makes it safely to her assigned chambers. The night starry sky was already visible in the windows. The beautiful sight remained ignored by the princess. Instead of gazing at the sky in the window, she climbed onto the bed, switching off the lamps.

- What was it you wanted to talk about? - Azula begins with mild interest, settling herself more comfortably on the bed. The sleeping space was far from the usual ideal, so the princess had to endure some discomfort.

"Firstly, tell me everything you know about your inner Qi energy and how it relates to magic?" - The spirit quickly responded. In his voice, Azula could sense some notes of thoughtfulness and slight excitement.

- Why are you so interested in this?

"Piandao made me think about a lot of things, unlike you, I've seen his Qi and how it works. It's an order of magnitude better and of higher quality than what you do. I'm interested in discussing a few of my hunches with you. So, will you tell me?" - The excitement in the spirit's voice became a little easier to spot.

The girl understood it in her own way. Perhaps the spirit just wanted to discuss a topic of interest to him with someone. Or maybe there was another intent here. Perhaps the spirit had learnt something really important during the meeting with Piandao.

- Why not, in case you share something interesting, or even useful...''

After saying that, Azula explained to the spirit in great detail the essence of fire magic and the interaction of Qi with fire magic. The girl also shared her meagre knowledge of other conquerors and their magics. Paying much attention to the comparison and peculiarities of fire magic. The main difference between fire mages and any other was that they created their own element on their own, rather than manipulating an existing one. However, there was nothing stopping a fire conqueror from manipulating someone else's fire, be it even the natural fire of a forest fire.

"Mm-hmm. That's meagre. I thought you knew a lot more about your magic."

- What? I was taught by the best masters, I doubt anyone can know much more than me about fire magic," the princess disagreed with the spirit's words. But he didn't care at all, he wasn't satisfied with Azula's answer.

"Your knowledge is meagre, there's a lot you don't know, and you've only described Qi superficially, not to mention the pools of Qi, which you haven't mentioned once. Perhaps you should talk about Qi with Master tomorrow," the spirit pondered in a somewhat disappointed voice.

- 'Perhaps you could talk about magic and Qi then? If you know as much as you want to show? - Azula replied with irritation, hurt by the spirit's words.

"Of course, I didn't just start this conversation for no reason, listen and memorise, when I'm done you can ask me anything you don't understand," and the spirit began to tell her his view on Qi, magic and mages.

Qi, or metaphysical energy, is what every human, animal or insect has. All humans have seven pools between which this energy flows. They are located in the same places in all people, two on the head, the rest are scattered around the torso: the top of the head, the centre of the forehead, the throat, the heart, the stomach, the sacrum and the base of the spine.

These seven pools form a whole system of interactions with each other. This system can be perfected through outside influences. Training, rituals, or anything else. The same fire lotus ritual worked exactly as a purifier of this system, that it cleaned out all the dirt, improving the quality of the Qi flowing in the body, improving also the body and everything else. Having a perfect system, with plenty and good quality Qi, a person becomes stronger, faster, more agile, stronger and most likely healthier and longer-lived. The latter fact is evidenced by many masters of magic that they have experienced a hundred years.

Each person has his own special Qi, as special and individual as every person in the world. It is noteworthy that the Qi of a fire mage can be easily distinguished from the Qi of an ordinary person. The internal energies of mages of different elements are also different.

Of course, this energy is related to magic. Fire mages can use it to create and control fire, lightning, heat or heat. The magician's body is tensed, and then the technique is carried out accompanied by the release of Qi, the output is fire magic. By increasing the control of his Qi, increases the strength and accuracy of magic, as well as its speed. With good control, sub-specialities of fire magic, lightning magic, and heat magic can be unlocked. Since Qi is indivisibly linked to the body of the magician, a strong body is very favourable to the power of magic. There cannot be one without the other. Because when creating strong magic, the body tenses up, so does the internal energy.

Mages of other elements do not release their Qi, but rather resonate with a particular element in proximity, causing them to be able to control it. It wouldn't hurt to talk to mages of other elements for clarity. Alas, this is not expected to happen anytime soon.

Qi is also influenced from the outside. Emotions, proximity of the sun, Sozin's comet, for fire mages it is especially important to breathe correctly... External factors can both strengthen and weaken any magic. But let's return to the system of Qi. The ideal system of Qi speaks about the ideal body, which safely affects the soul, mind and everything else that is connected with the body.

- The lecture was informative, but why did you bring it up? - Azula asks with interest, silently listening to the spirit's opinion.

"It's simple, I can try to improve your Qi system by influencing the pools of energy. Try to make it just like Piandao's, clean them out of everything unnecessary and make them perfect,'' the spirit enthusiastically suggested.

- ''What will happen to me if you can successfully do that?

"You'll probably reach the peak of your abilities, your control, firepower, and other little things will increase, you'll live longer, and so on. It will happen just like the ritual with the flowers, only the effect will be stronger, I think," the spirit replies kindly.

Azula thought for a moment. Looking up at the dark ceiling of her room, she weighed all the risks and positives. After thinking over the offer and the situation, the girl spoke:

- Interesting offer, but I can't agree to such risks and uncertainties, at the moment. You mentioned that Piandao achieved everything by training. I think it's better to get more information now before taking such an action with significant consequences. You've never done this before, right? The chances of doing something wrong are very high," Azula calmly refused, hiding the real reason for her refusal by her uncertainty about the success of the venture. But the spirit quickly realised this.

"I realise you don't trust me that much, that's okay, I'm not upset. Just talk about Qi and its pools with Piandao tomorrow. That's all I ask. You can relax and rest, I'll find something to do, unless you have other questions of course," the body mate replied understandingly, figuring out the true reasons for the refusal.

- 'No. Good night, spirit.

"Good night, Azula."

Soon the two consciousnesses switched places. Azula fell asleep, giving way to her companion, who had her own plans for the night...