Iroh was definitely surprised that I managed to deal with the Spirit, even though it required me to be inside of it... I also got the distinct impression that he felt sorry not only for the people who had recently died but also for the Spirit I killed.
Could the General of a conquering army, the Crown Prince of the country that started the war against all nations, be a benevolent, peace-loving uncle? Well, his appearance isn't exactly threatening.
I soon realized that I hadn't been mistaken about Iroh's character. It was enough to look at the General's domain, the Fire Nation soldiers' camp, to understand that the commanders were letting discipline slide. I was supposedly in the middle of an active army camp, yet for some reason, it strongly reminded me of a marketplace...
Everything, from the soldiers to the tents, felt sloppy. There was a slight disorder. Non-Bending commoners wandered through the camp. There was such a loud noise that the Earth Kingdom wouldn't need any scouting to learn about our approach. If a soldier committed an action forbidden by regulations, the commanders mostly only favored him with a displeased look. Sometimes not even that. The officers simply preferred to ignore the actions of the common soldiers.
I learned why a little later. Decisions regarding a soldier's punishment had to go through General Iroh, and he would usually just wave it off and tell the officer that the soldier wouldn't do it again. Only sometimes did someone genuinely receive a serious punishment.
General Iroh's army said a lot about the man himself... And what I saw and heard did not please me.
The campaign to capture Ba Sing Se, with such a good-natured General and an army that doesn't know the meaning of the word discipline, is doomed to fail... And failure in war most often means death for the loser.
My not-so-optimistic thoughts were reinforced when I met Lu Ten, General Iroh's son. The General decided to place our depleted group of seven Benders, the survivors of the spirit attack, under his son's direct command. For someone else, this would have been a great honor—to serve under royalty. Min, despite being an experienced soldier, couldn't contain his joy at the honor General Iroh had bestowed upon us. He entrusted us with his own son...
Well, Lu Ten, a guy who looked slightly older than me, didn't appeal to me from the start. He was exactly like his father: too kind, too gentle of a person. To make matters worse, as our squad approached the tent area of his group, he was trying to instill in his men the idea of the uselessness of war.
Traitor. That was the word that immediately came to mind. I wasn't a patriot of the Fire Nation, but I still disliked Lu Ten's actions. If you take on a task, you should execute it well. And Lu Ten, perhaps in the company of his father, was shooting himself in the foot. If he disliked the war so much, he should give speeches about its harm in the Fire Nation capital, not stir up trouble in the ranks of an active army, instilling indecisiveness in soldiers that could cost them their lives.
I knew I was being too biased toward the royal figures... It was just that the first impression they made didn't sit well with me. I gravitate toward strong, willful individuals who set a goal and proudly, resolutely walk to the very end, to their victory.
Nevertheless, I would remain in General Iroh's army. There are many officers here and two entire royal persons. I think I'll be able to see true masters of Firebending in action and, perhaps, even learn something from them.
"Why so gloomy, Long?" Lu Ten asked with a cheerful smile, putting an arm around my shoulders. It was unclear how he knew I was frowning, as my mask was still on my face.
"He's always like that, Prince Lu Ten," Min answered for me. "But deep down, Long is a good fellow."
"Ah, well, okay then," the young man waved his hand and backed away.
"Prince, the helmet should be worn on your head, not under your arm," I pointed out to the royal. He took the criticism quite calmly.
I understand that our group has been relegated to the role of bait, but such audacity on enemy territory still shouldn't be tolerated.
"Oh come on, Long!" Lu Ten waved his hand again, sighing contentedly as he took a deep breath. "It's hot and stuffy in there. Besides, what could possibly happen to me here?"
No sooner had Lu Ten finished speaking than a whistle was heard. In the same instant, I stood in front of the Prince and covered the slits in his helmet with my hands so that arrows couldn't pass through the gaps into his eyes. It was necessary. The archers were accurate and shot quite precisely.
"Thank you, Long..." the Prince's voice sounded lost, and then came the click of the helmet behind me. Soon, the boy managed to compose himself and showed the attacking Earth Kingdom soldiers what they teach at the Fire Lord's palace. He swiftly stepped in front of me, jumped, drove his thrusting leg forward while still in the air, and sent a massive fireball from it that exploded and scattered several archers hiding in the bushes.
"Surrender, Prince Lu Ten!" Earth Kingdom soldiers surrounded our small group of five from all sides.
But they couldn't take any action because they were unexpectedly attacked from behind. The main part of Prince Lu Ten's squad had sprung a trap! The opponents quickly began to drop out of the fight, and all I and the three other guys had to do was protect the Prince from a stray hit. Although, he handled his own defense quite well once he was collected and serious.
An Earth Kingdom swordsman charged toward us in a suicidal attack. I made a wide forward lunge and sent out the most powerful jet of flame I could muster.
"Hey, Long!" The Prince decided to catch my attention. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. "You're doing it wrong. It should be like this!"
The Prince repeated my lunge exactly, but his flame was many times hotter and larger.
"Breathe correctly," he said after performing the attack.
I deflected a small boulder, which was also aimed at the Prince who had, for some reason, decided to take off his helmet again even though the fight wasn't over, with my bare fist.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh!" he scratched the back of his head. "I guess I really will have to go back to acting like a tin can so I don't stress you out so much, Long..."
Several groups, including Prince Lu Ten's squad, had been moved ahead of the main army, which, according to General Iroh's plan, was advancing toward the walls of Ba Sing Se via various routes. The goal of the advance squads was to lure out or find Earth Kingdom soldiers who could cause trouble for the main army by waging guerrilla warfare during its march to the Earth Kingdom capital.
This was already the third enemy group we had neutralized. And exactly the fifth time I had prevented Lu Ten from dying or, at the very least, saved him from serious injury.
The day was drawing to a close. The Prince's group had set up camp and was almost ready to turn in for the night. Only hungry stomachs kept the soldiers and the Prince himself awake. But that obstacle would soon be removed.
"Pfft!" Lu Ten spat out his soup in surprise. He was eating with everyone else, as if he weren't a Prince. "Wait, how are you not a noble, Long!?"
"The first time I saw Long, I also thought he was from the aristocracy," said a Firebender who had gone through training with me. I think we even moved into the barracks on the same day.
"No way... I don't believe it..." the Prince drawled.
"Suit yourself," I shrugged and continued to eat.
"It's just that your face looks too noble. Your manners and speech, too, by the way..." Lu Ten dropped into a whisper. "Are you not one of those who ran away from their ancestral home to seek glory on the battlefield? You know, the typical third son or someone like that."
"I am the only child of my mother. A common peasant."
I didn't particularly want to talk to Lu Ten, but he was still a Prince. Although he and Iroh acted quite cordially with common people, and Lu Ten sometimes seemed like a kid who grew up next door, they were still aristocrats. It's best not to anger such people if you want to avoid sudden problems.
"Aha! Now I know what's wrong with your Firebending!" Lu Ten clapped his hands. "You really are breathing incorrectly, even though you try to. No one taught you the proper breathing technique for Firebenders, did they, Long?"
"No, Prince."
"Look, you've saved me... several times this week. I want to repay you. How would you like to become my student for a while? I'm certainly no match for my father," Lu Ten suddenly became shy, "but I'm still a recognized Fire master."
I rose to my feet and bowed to the Prince, showing my respect.
"I would be glad to learn from you, Prince Lu Ten."
It seems the idea of joining the army is finally paying off... Heh-heh-heh!
"Long! I figured out why you're always frowning! Your smile is terrifying!" Lu Ten exclaimed, jumping away from me.
Lu Ten woke me up before the general reveille. We moved slightly away from the camp so as not to disturb the other soldiers.
"The breath becomes the energy in the chest. The energy moves out of the body and becomes fire. These are the fundamentals of Firebending. Thanks to them, you can become an outstanding Bender," the Prince said wisely, pointing a finger to the sky as if parodying someone, and then returned to his usual expression. "Well, that's what my father told me..."
For several days in a row, Lu Ten taught me the fundamentals of Firebending and the correct breathing style that Benders had refined for centuries. He did this not only in the morning but also on the march, allowing other fighters in his squad besides me to listen to his lectures. For this, they were very grateful to him.
One day, one of the Benders finally bothered to ask Lu Ten why they had been taught a different bending technique.
Lu Ten scratched the back of his head sheepishly:
"I apologize, but this style of Firebending takes too much time. It takes several years on average to fully master it. And some people still can't manage it. You were taught a simpler method of Firebending."
To be honest, Lu Ten completely lacked any pedagogical talent. His explanations were very difficult to understand. The Prince suddenly transformed from the life of the party into a somewhat inarticulate person when the conversation turned to teaching. He was embarrassed by this, which made his explanations even worse. But luckily, I had a lot of experience in virtually everything, and somehow I still managed to understand Lu Ten.
As a result, after a week, when releasing a jet of flame, I felt a change within me. My chest felt warm and very pleasant. My lungs felt as if they were being tickled from the inside, however crazy that sounded. The jet of flame was about twice as powerful as it had been before.
Lu Ten clapped his hands happily and began to call himself an outstanding teacher. At the same moment, the enemy nearly impaled him on stone stakes. I had to shove him aside with a kick to the stomach. He couldn't die yet. He hadn't finished teaching me everything.
"Yes! Yes! Long, that's right! You're breathing correctly!" Lu Ten shouted after recovering from my blow. "Remember! What makes a Firebender strong isn't muscle, it's the breath!"
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