4 Chapter 2: Growing Up. Part 2.

"So, I wanted to discuss a couple of things today," after a long half hour of dinner, uncle finally decided to get down to business, "firstly, Ji, Daisy, how are your skills in firebending progressing?"

That "zh-zh-zh" was not without reason. Ji is older than me by only one year. And he has been studying bending for definitely a year and a half. An obvious question arises. And why the hell... why am I only being taught to write and read, and I had to literally fight for that opportunity. If I don't have bending in a world of bending, I'll fall into depression and officially admit that this is my hell. Not only does bending automatically elevate the status of its wielder, no matter how you spin it, even if not officially, you're definitely looked upon more favorably. And a lot becomes simply inaccessible to me. I can't even challenge anyone to an Agni Kai. How to defend one's honor in such a case, honestly, I still don't know.

"I've learned a couple of new techniques, the master even praised me," Ji said lazily, shrugging. He couldn't care less and wanted to end this meeting as soon as possible to go have fun with his friends.

"Hmm, and you, Daisy?" uncle shifted his gaze to my brother.

By the way, his name sounds a bit odd to my ear. The letter "z" is actually not "z" but something in between it and "zh", making his name sound like "Deizhi", only softer. Hence my association with Daisy. Somehow, it reminds me of a dog's name, but my brother doesn't seem to complain much. So, I won't either.

"I've mastered three new forms," Daisy reported quickly and clearly.

By the way, what they're doing can hardly be called firebending yet. So far, it's just physical training in a combat style, and they've barely been taught to summon fire. All martial arts of the Fire Nation are, in one way or another, part of Firebending. Such is the tautology.

"Not bad," Ji-senior deigned to give his assessment, "and you, Akimaru, as far as I know, you've been studying writing and reading for quite some time. How are you doing?"

Oh, this is something new. Usually, I'm forgotten exactly when I sit down at the table.

"I can already read and write. Now I'm learning calligraphy and grasping the subtleties of our language," I replied.

Writing, by the way, and calligraphy are different things. The former is just the ability to write, the latter... to write beautifully. At first, I didn't want to engage in this, ultimately, what's the point? But, when documenting something in the local language took me an inordinate amount of time and left too many ink blots from the brush... I realized that I should at least learn to quickly and accurately write the local characters for the sake of preserving my own nerves.

Father, by the way, grimaced at my words, as if he had eaten a lemon. Wonder why? I'm engaging in useful activities... well, it's time to open Pandora's box in my mind and admit that I apparently don't have firebending. And that ritual was exactly about that.

But I still think that everything sucks, and I'm D'Artagnan. In the sense that they overlooked talent in me. After all, what kind of isekai protagonist am I without magic?

The one who will start training from morning till evening and find a long-lost/invented by a smart progressive isekai protagonist/handed down method of being the coolest without "bang-bang," my own voice immediately answered in my head.

Well, I'm not him. As I've said before, I'm even too lazy to exercise. Though on the other hand, a certain rational part of me offers pretty good excuses: without a knowledgeable person to oversee my efforts, nothing good will come of it.

Unless, of course, it turns out that in a past life I was a master of all types of karate and only then could I lay tigers on their backs and dismantle bears with my bare hands. Then maybe I have a chance. But I highly doubt it.

"Hmm, good job," uncle nodded to something of his own thoughts.

Something definitely died in the woods. A biiiig something.

"That's quite an achievement for your age," Ji decided to expand on his thought, apparently seeing something on my face, "usually the books you take from the library can be read by children after at least two years of study in the academy."

Yeah, and also children who don't have past life experience.

"What was the last book you read?" uncle continued to probe for some reason.

"Firebending for Dummies - the first guide," I thought, but said something else out loud.

"The Basics of Breathing for Firebending," I decided to try my luck. Maybe it turns out that I've misunderstood everything and they'll assign me a teacher.

Actually, I read this book two weeks ago, but I wouldn't tell them that I've been mastering the local exact sciences. They might think something's off. Better to know how to count to ten, claim you can only count to three, and show you can count to two. A thought from a local book. I'm not sure about the exact quote, but that's the gist.

At my words, the older generation at the table slightly cast down their eyes. Apparently, emotionally, not all is lost if they're embarrassed to disappoint a child.

"Akimaru..." my father began, briefly exchanging looks with my brother and even made an effort to soften his tone, "I'm afraid you don't have firebending. We conducted the ritual, although it's a last resort. Usually, bending manifests one way or another, and I'm afraid you don't have the capability to become a bender."

Judging by the wary faces of my family around, they were expecting either an aggressive tantrum or a tearful one from me. In general, a violent reaction. Apparently, that's why uncle tried to sugarcoat the pill beforehand. Ha, they think their opinion means something to me.

Yes, sometimes I think and behave like a teenager. Only unlike them, I'm fully aware of what my thoughts entail.

"I... expected this," I shrugged, staring grimly at the food. Still, it's not entirely neutral to accept this news, they might think something else, "my brothers started practicing at my age, and I still - haven't. So, the conclusion was obvious."

Is that okay? Hope I didn't sound too mature in summarizing.

"Good," nodded uncle, "I think you guess that next year you'll go to the academy? And considering what you already know, you can directly join the second year. But then, you need to brush up on philosophy a bit. The rest, I believe, you'll catch on to along the way."

"I know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide," I immediately responded. Why? I really don't want to sit and relearn this. Maybe they'll put me in a higher class, at least it'll be somewhat interesting.

"Where from?" uncle raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." I was slightly taken aback, "books. We have many philosophical books in our library."

"Count how many of us are at the table and tell me how many... let's say swords can we hold?" Ji asked.

Is he, like, trying to test me? Sounds absurd. Well, whatever, Agni with him, let him do what he wants, it's no trouble for me. While both brothers were a bit puzzled, turning their heads and apparently trying to solve this task, I, without much thought, answered. After all, the number of people here doesn't change. Static, so to speak: Me, two brothers, Father with uncle, and their wives.

"There are seven of us, and swords... well, if each of us holds one in hand, then fourteen," of course, one could also hold a sword in their teeth and another with a foot, but let's not go overboard.

"Hm," was all uncle said, with something fleeting in his gaze. Something incomprehensible. Even father had a flicker of something.

I'm starting to dislike this.

"Then there should be no problem," uncle concluded, not expanding this dialogue further.

Well, fine. The quieter you go, the further you'll get. Good that they mentioned the bending. Though I'm still convinced they messed up somewhere, it can't be that I don't have bending.

The conversation then flowed into a more multipolar format. Not interrogations, but rather discussions of various news. The latest news is the siege of Ba Sing Se, led by Prince Iroh. At the mention of this name, memories of a funny, chubby old man who loves tea immediately surfaced. That's something to remember. It won't be superfluous.

Surprisingly, my mother joined in, expressing doubt that we could take the massive walls of the city, considering that if we slightly lessen the pressure, they are immediately repaired by earthbenders.

Father tried to scold her, purely out of principle, but unexpectedly, uncle supported her, saying that indeed, the venture was dubious, not to mention the amount of money being poured into this siege. Despite all its industrialization and wealth, the Fire Nation could hardly sustain it for more than two years. Essentially, after a year, they'd likely give the signal to call it off if there were no concrete advancements. No one wants to risk everything when this is far from the last bastion of earthbending. This operation is probably only carried out due to Iroh's insistence. Because either we're missing something, or this operation sounds impractical even on paper.

If it were the last city, as in the case with the Water Tribe, then no, resistance is active across the continent. Though reclaiming territories seems almost impossible for them, they manage to hold their defense quite successfully.

Everything, of course, will change when the Avatar arrives. Even without knowledge from a past life, this is obvious. The Fire Nation will immediately be deemed guilty, and with such a monster, who can be easily manipulated due to his age, taking back cities and even winning doesn't sound like such a wild fantasy.

On this note, the respected adults ended the topic. What followed was something less comprehensible, discussions of different plans for elevating the family... At this moment, it means being close to Azulon's throne. In essence, I understand them, reading books that Sozin and Azulon started the industrialization and massive improvement in the quality of life. And in many aspects, it was incredibly rapid. Hence such atavisms like aristocracy or apprenticeship haven't faded away yet. They simply didn't have time to disappear. Progress was simply massive: reforms that cause cold sweat on the back from thinking about how difficult it was were packed into a single decade. Universal education, military duty, factory constructions, and so on.

And all this under the almost direct governance of the Fire Lords. I'm not a political analyst expert, but even through books, one can see the iron hand of the ruler, which my meager experience in filtering propaganda from true seeds in a past life allows. Though, of course, this could all be tales, but let's not multiply entities beyond necessity.

Now we'll see who becomes the next leader of the country. So far, Iroh is the uncontested candidate. Even if he botches his operation, everyone will be for him, as he has hundreds of successful missions behind him. The people paint a very heroic image of him. But in the end, it will be Ozai. I remembered that. Maybe it's a pity? Though we'll see how it goes. Brave warriors rarely were good rulers, so maybe it won't be as bad as in the canon.

We'll live and see. For now, dinner is over, and it's time to go to my room. The fascinating world of literature awaits me.

***

What can I say? After a year, I finally figured out this steampunk system built into my house. And I understood that my plans and dreams of modernization were utterly dashed. Intelligent people designed it, clearly, and given that they ignored efficiency, it provided a multitude of opportunities in branches that, in my previous world, might have been considered but not seriously. The world went in a different direction, and steam technology was gradually left behind.

But not here. And in the end, all I can do with my crazy hands is break everything, and that's in the best-case scenario, while in the worst-case, I might end up without these hands at all. No, if I were a mechanical engineer, I would definitely make something happen here. Even now, it seems I have some scheming ideas. But everything fades against the lack of a theoretical foundation. And it's not a memory problem. Just, let's say, I know that if you replace this part with nickel, for example, it might work better. But, damn it, where to get that nickel? What even is that? It's like this with everything. Surface-level knowledge exists, but if you're given the green light, like, go ahead and do it, you immediately find yourself in a puddle.

So, I gave up on it safely. If it works, don't touch it, and I won't. The efficiency satisfies everyone, the functionality as well, since, in fact, nobody really needs anything more. Maybe technology could advance, but there seems to be no progress in that direction here. They don't even have cannon artillery, relying on catapults instead. The mistake, even to me, is clear - everything relies on the belief that firebending is power. And they categorically do not want to deviate from this thesis.

And I myself don't know if it's worth introducing gunpowder to this world. For now, I lean towards no. Because then anything could happen. It's better for this world to remain a fantasy with a touch of steampunk, rather than everyone starting to invent bigger guns. At most, they might come up with some sort of steam-powered wonder weapon, and let them. One firebender will be more effective than a dozen of those shooters. But if you give those same shooters even World War II-era rifles...

Right, World War II, I should jot that down. Maybe something else will come up later.

Then the firebenders are screwed. And so is everyone else. I highly doubt that an earth wall can be formed faster than a bullet flies. Maybe an arrow can be deflected, but definitely not a bullet.

So, let's do without chaos in this world. If I am indeed a bender.

And if not, it's not my fault, I need to level the playing field. I'll somehow mix up some gunpowder and start making guns, it's their own fault. Then we'll see who's who.

Alright, these are purely philosophical questions, and it's about time I went to school. As uncle promised, I went straight into the second year. The kids there are older, and moreover, I'll be studying with my cousin, and honestly, that promises to be a problem.

My brothers suddenly didn't like that I started getting attention. Uncle and father began to almost casually probe my knowledge level at almost every family gathering, and praise became common. All would be well if, according to their plans, I amounted to something. To my somewhat chilling horror, I've already heard discussions of my betrothal. The older ones will choose for themselves, but the youngest will marry someone who brings more influence. Why? Smart, but without bending.

That's when I realized things were starting to smell like kerosene. Of course, I don't believe it'll be like in those evil books where they say, "and they'll marry me off to an old hag," but I'm not intending to marry! Maybe for a very great love, and even then, we'll see.

Though, these are more philosophical disputes over a cup of something hot, and it's definitely not tea. But again, I have thoughts on this matter, and somehow I don't see them introducing me to a beautiful, shy girl they want to set me up with sooner. That's the only scenario I wouldn't oppose. Otherwise, forget it.

In any case, I've taken note of this, I still have time - betrothals are traditionally done at fourteen. I'm six. So, I'll think of something.

Father took me to school. It was strange - honestly, it was just a hundred meters from the house, and I thought they'd just point me in the right direction. But no, they took me, thankfully not by the hand, and led me outside.

My goodness, this is the first time I'm stepping outside the house!

Hmm, for some reason, my gaze automatically rose to the sky. It's not any different, but the air seemed to smell of freedom. Hard to describe: a step beyond the property and the wind seemed cheerful, approving; if my father weren't nearby, I'd probably have forgotten myself and followed this enticing feeling and run straight into the wind, like a sailboat...

Shaking my head to dispel the momentary enchantment, I began to observe my surroundings.

What can I say, quite charming.

The style is almost like home - the dawn of steampunk mixed with the fading of Asian traditions. Various houses, no less than ours in some way or another, simply teemed with different pipes, like freshly dug up pieces of land.

That sounded rather grandiose. But what can you do? The environment is indeed impressive.

Here and there, on the paved road, soldiers in uniform or simple merchants drove by.

But there were few people. After all, this is the most elite sector, located right on the street leading to the Fire Lord's Palace gates. So, no spontaneous markets or random passersby.

So, everything here was accordingly polished. Every tile, every little fence, was just pristine.

The thing that irritates me the most is the color red. The roof tiles are burgundy, walls are most often made of brick with its characteristic color, and the clothing of the people around... well, red in various shades. Of course, how else?

With such an abundance of red, I'll probably go crazy sooner or later.

We walked to the school at a normal pace, and honestly, it was somewhat embarrassing. For some reason, I thought aristocrats should be as flamboyant as possible, even for these hundred meters, traveling in some sort of limousine equivalents.

But no. Everyone walks calmly on foot.

The school was... a regular three-story building, of course, with the Fire Nation's banners. If there's anything, these symbols are just everywhere here.

Even mentioning it feels silly.

"Oh, this is the bathroom, it has three banners. And this is the toilet, only two here. This is my room, four."

And so on. So, just understand that there are a lot of them.

Well, my father led me straight to my class. Everything looked pretty civilized: a teacher resembling "Professor McGonagall," children sitting quietly and straight at individual desks, dressed absolutely identically, just like me, and a chalkboard.

Neat, minimalist, and without frills. Clearly: a school for firebenders, known for their hot-headedness. Whew. Ha.

But what else to expect from children with real weapons in their hands and surrounded by shades of red? And add that they're the elite. If the teachers manage to keep them in check, then here's who should receive the "teacher of the year" award. And also an early retirement with a "hazard pay" bonus.

No, seriously, in my opinion, anything is easier... really, anything, Lord. At least, it seems, most parents understand what their offspring are like and what it takes to hammer even a bit of information into their heads.

I sat down under the very interesting gazes of all my classmates.

Oh, did I forget to mention? It's a boys' school. I stood out by going straight to the second grade. And I don't have bending, nor was I trained in any martial arts.

What the hell could possibly go wrong?

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