8 Metalbending and Lavabending and...
It was only yesterday that Kai learned Metalbending. And it was a huge success. He was pretty confident that he would be able to do Metalbending and he was right. He already had his sights set on Lavabending, but that could wait.
Kai woke up at 4 0'clock in the morning like usual and did his morning workouts, and also did a few Earthbending drills. He would then meditate in the mountain, till the sun came out. When he was done meditating, he went back to the training facility and go into his room to freshen up, and get ready for his training.
As he was coming out of the house, Lin already arrived and was waiting for him on the training grounds with three large metal balls behind her. The reason for that was because, today, Lin was going to teach him the art of Metalbending.
Kai excitedly went down the stairs and jumped in front of Lin.
"Alright, Teach. Let's go! I'm ready! I have waited a long time for this, and I am pumped UP!", Kai was jumping up and down and rubbing his hands together.
Lin, with her usual Stoic expression, watched, as her eyes were constantly going up and down, as Kai was jumping in front of her.
"Teach, come on. What are you waiting for?".
"Kid, calm down before I make you run 20 laps 'round the whole mountain!", said Lin, who was getting annoyed by Kai's antics.
"Sorry", apologized Kai, and immediately settled down.
Lin gestured for him to stand in front of the 3 metal balls that were sitting on a pillar. One of them was made out of regular metal, and the other two were made out of something else. The one in front, on the right, was a slightly darker color, while the other one, on the left, was shinier.
Kai could make out what the one on the right was made out of, but the other one was a bit peculiar. Lin stood behind the pillar of the metal balls and began her lesson.
"Did you practice a bit yesterday?", asked Lin.
Kai nodded.
"Good. Now, you'll learn how to remotely bend Metal, then just manipulate it via direct contact".
Lin put her right hand forward to one of the metal balls that was darker, and It was starting to tremble. The ball floated in the air and went to her. She then put both of her hands in front of it and started to move them around. While she was doing that, The metal was starting to change shape.
It first changed to a formless liquid state, and then to something different. First, it was a triangle, then a square, and then shaped into a face. Kai saw how Lin was bending the metal ball into different shapes and sizes and was paying close attention to her every action. But when he saw the last shape she was making, his face completely dropped.
"Uh, Teach, who's that supposed to be?", Kai said, while looking at Lin, who had an amused look on her face.
"You", Lin replied, whilst still having an amused look.
Kai looked at the ridiculous face Lin was making with the dark metal and looked back at her again.
"That looks…nothing like me, Teach", said Kai with a stern look on his face.
"Hehehehehe, It kinda looks like you, Kai!", voiced out Loui, who was sitting there, watching them train.
"Shut up, Loui!", said Kai, who was starting to get irritated.
Lin saw how the two were bickering, and a small smile appeared on her face. How long was it that she felt like this? Too long, she thought. Too long. She then shaped the metal back into a ball and send it to Kai.
Kai reached for it, and the metal ball was floating in his hands. He wanted to shape it like how Lin did, but its appearance was a bit distorted, at first. Kai concentrated more and after a few seconds, he turned the ball into a liquid form. He manipulated the liquid metal like he was a Waterbender. It was circling him, and he then formed it into different shapes and sizes.
Lin saw how Kai was effortlessly bending the metal and she was highly impressed by the amount of talent he possessed. She then manipulated the other metal ball, which was just normal metal, and send it to him. Kai saw the other metal ball floating toward him, and he quickly fused it with the other metal ball he was bending.
Loui was sitting there and watching how Kai was bending the metal. He was thoroughly impressed by the talent of the kid.
'Who knew that this kid had such a gift for Earthbending', He thought.
Kai was already so proficient in Earthbending in just a couple of weeks. And Loui was beginning to imagine what he would be like in just a couple of months. 'He'd be an Earthbending master, thought Loui.
Loui stood up from his chair and walked over to Lin, who was watching Kai bend the metals brilliantly, and spoke, "It looks like you have an Earthbending prodigy on your hands, Lin Beifong".
Lin heard what Loui had said and silently nodded.
"In just a few weeks he already mastered the basics of Earthbending and now…mastering Metalbending seems just around the corner", Lin commented
Lin and Loui, shared their thoughts about Kai, while he was still focused on bending the metal. Lin walked toward Kai and picked up the third shinier metal ball with her hands. Kai noticed Lin coming to him, holding the third metal ball in her hand.
Kai slowed down his movements and he put the metals that he was bending back into their original forms. He looked at the shinier metal ball and asked, "What kind of metal is it?".
"Try to bend it", said Lin, showing him the metal ball.
Kai looked at Lin a bit strangely, and he put his hands forward, and he tried to bend the metal ball, but it wouldn't react. He tried again but to no avail. He looked at the other metal balls and tried to bend them, and they reacted as they should. But why couldn't this one? Kai was a bit confused, and he looked at Lin for answers.
"You can't bend it, can you?".
Kai shook his head and waited for an answer.
"Because it's platinum", Lin answered.
When Kai heard her say it, he finally understood why he couldn't bend it. He knew why Metalbenders couldn't bend platinum, but he still asked to confirm.
"Why can't I bend it?".
"Because platinum is a highly purified metal. And because Metalbending relies on bending the earth within the metal; highly purified metals, like platinum, have no or not enough traces of earth in them. Rendering these types of metals impervious to Metalbending", Lin explained.
"I see. So, highly purified metals are off limits, huh?", Kai muttered.
Kai looked at the platinum ball in front of him and was slightly disappointed. Being able to bend platinum would've given Kai a great advantage. Plus, it was a rare metal, and it could also maintain its shape at high temperatures, which would also allow him to protect against Firebenders.
'*Sigh*, it's a shame though', Thought Kai.
Lin put aside the platinum ball, and they resumed their Metalbending training. She also taught him more advanced Earthbending techniques the entire day. When the day ended, and Lin went back to Republic City, Kai was outside the training grounds and continued his training till the sun came out.
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(Two months later)
There hadn't been a lot that happened in that time. Kai was just training his Metalbending and his Earthbending nonstop. He was so determined to master both of them that he trained day and night. The only thing in his mind was literally: eat, sleep, master earth and metal, repeat. He was already at the master level, where he could even do remote Earthbending.
Kai didn't just train his bending, but also trained his body too. He had looked vastly different than he was two months ago. He was a lot more muscular, agile, stronger, and also grew a bit taller too. Lin proposed a spar to see his progress, and Kai happily accepted. They didn't do their sparing on the training grounds, but somewhere a bit more open.
The spar or actually the fight was fierce. Kai and Lin were going head-to-head and neither of them backed down. After a few hours, the fight ended in a draw and Lin was more than satisfied. She said that Kai had to prepare himself for another spar with her in three months' time, and this time she would increase the difficulty. Kai was excited to hear that. He hadn't been in an actual fight in a long time since he came here, so having to fight Lin Beifong herself was fantastic. He couldn't ask for a better opponent than her.
After the spar, Kai went back to his training.
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(Kai POV)
(One month later)
Three months passed by in a flash. After the spar/fight, I had with Teach a month ago, I couldn't sit still. She said in three months' time, we would have another spar, but this time it would be like a final test, of some sort. I was getting more pumped up thinking about it. A month already had passed, and I was training every single day.
Lin had it very busy back in Republic City, so she didn't show up a lot. But that was alright. I could still train myself even in her absence. I was somewhere quiet where I was practicing a specialized sub-skill of Earthbending.
It was already noon, and I was at the spot where I usually meditate. I was on an earth platform, that I created, sitting in a lotus position. My breathing was steady, and I listened to everything in my surrounding.
"Let's see how far I've come", I muttered
Still keeping my eyes closed, I stretched out my arms and pointed my hands to the ground. Nothing happened at first, but after a few seconds, the earth was starting to crack all around me. A slight rumble came from under me, and the ground was starting to heat up, as steam was starting to rise.
The cracks in the ground were now starting to fill with a red-orange substance. I was still on my earth platform, sitting in a lotus position, when the ground was suddenly starting to overflow with hot, boiling Lava. I pushed my hands down and the surrounding ground was starting to sink, while I was rising up.
The Lava was filling up the sunken ground around me, but I controlled it so that it wouldn't overflow. I opened my eyes, and I saw a large moat of Lava surrounding me. I could feel the heat coming from the Lava, but it didn't bother me. I created shuriken-like projectiles out of Lava and moved them around. I stood up and turned the surrounding Lava back into solid earth.
"*Sigh*, after a month of hard work, I'm finally able to Lavabend. Better keep this to myself for now, when I'm able to get better at it".
I left the spot and went down the mountain and took out a piece of the dark metal, which was actually meteorite metal, and began to practice while I was heading back. I began to think about what was next on my list to bend.
" I basically already mastered Earthbending, and Metalbending was just around the corner, and now after a month, I am finally a Lavabender".
"What's next?"
I was beginning to think about what more I could explore about Earthbending. There was Sandbending, another subtype of earthbending. Glassbending, but in order to to be able to bend glass, I had to first learn Sandbending. But to be honest, they weren't actually useful to me yet, so I put them in the back of my mind. I would want to learn them, though, but not yet.
"There has to be something else. But what could it--"
Then it suddenly hit me. I already arrived at the training facility, but then I abruptly stopped in front of the gates. Then I said softly, "Why haven't thought about this before".
Indeed, why haven't I thought about this before? The one forbidden sub-bending skill of Earthbending. A skill, so rare that only two Earthbenders were able to achieve it. A very fierce and deadly skill that can only be possessed by an earthbender that is even more in sync with the earth than Toph Beifong herself.
"Bonebending".
