======= 37 - New Partner ==========
It was difficult to say how fatal a mistake I had made. Whether I made one at all, or whether saving the lives of the fire soldiers could be considered the beginning of a more favourable world, I was unfortunately unable to look so far into the future, but all these failures taught me to make the right decisions. Something told me that this was exactly what I had done today. Those around me quickly came to their senses, surprised to realise that no one had died. Members of my circus wandered among the collapsed tents, trying to find the injured, who had already been gathered in one place right in front of me, bandaged and given the necessary medicine. Realising that I had saved everyone, the circus performers approached me incredulously and told me that my actions had been incredibly brave. Not that I wanted to brag about my achievements, because my mind was preoccupied with other things, but my success could not be hidden, and even the Ringmaster himself approached me on his wobbly, trembling legs and shook my hand in gratitude for saving valuable human resources — although the latter is my own addition. The man was genuinely grateful for the medical assistance he had received. And then they came... soldiers, among whom was the captain of the local military unit.
"So you saved my boys' lives during that bloody chaos? You're a real hero, lad," I said, sitting opposite one of the moaning prisoners and bandaging his burned leg, when I saw a hand extended towards me. The man had a distinctive feature in the form of a missing visor on his helmet, which gave me a full view of his face, dried out from old age, a small beard and a moustache that had been brazenly stolen from some catfish. "These bastards have become completely insolent, thinking that since there are no towers or defence systems around, the colony's defences must be weak. Ha! But the idiots have dug their own graves by falling into a huge hole!
He was extremely amused by the situation that had arisen in the fight, but at the sight of the man lying in front of me, he was overcome with sincere anger. He raised his leg and tried to kick the limb I had just bandaged. The blow, delivered with full force, with a steel-toed boot and a sharp toe, could have been extremely traumatic in itself, not to mention the fact that the captain was aiming precisely at the wound. I saw no other choice but to quickly grab his ankle and squeeze it tightly. Then I looked into the eyes of a man whose emotional state was filled with rage, strength, and a desire to use that strength to subdue a weaker being. And this still amazes me: such an eloquent and easily readable emotional spectrum was new to me, every person seemed like an open book, I could even see the quality of their blocked chakras — compared to me, the Captain's qi flowed like a sluggish snail. Given this speed, it was not difficult to tell whether he would use magic in the next second. Right now, he was preparing to do so: his qi crept towards his head, followed by hot steam coming out of his respiratory tract. He was dissatisfied that his kick had been stopped so rudely.
"Don't waste your anger on defeated prisoners. You have already proven your superiority over them with your victory," my extremely calm tone made the captain lose his composure. When I let go of his leg, he innocently blinked, twitched his nose, and simply walked away. Was I lucky, and he wasn't even offended? Hardly. It was a matter of inner harmony; no anger, gloom, or even a frightening look appeared on my face. I made the man as comfortable as possible, and all this gratitude towards me was simple proof that people would not fear my existence and that I would not cause them to have wrong thoughts out of nowhere. Of course, until I want the opposite effect, and even then, the horror caused by my appearance could certainly be multiplied. How is that possible? Well, the influence of qi in this world is almost limitless; someone could have already done this to other people! So far, I only understood how to work with myself.
To learn how to influence others, I might need Tai Li's help — something told me that the interesting method of qi blocking, which introduced energy with a certain emotional background, could be diversified. Instead of domination, introduce calmness. And not to block the qi point, but to pour it into the general flow. The girl, who at that moment understood more about this than I did, was now walking among people, asking who needed help, and often glancing in my direction. A smile spread across my face when this happened. Could this really be love? Well... it depends how you look at it. At that moment, I felt a complete emotional attachment to all living things, to the world as a whole, and to life itself. What I had been trying to achieve for so long had revealed itself in absolute adoration of my existence. It was just that a certain girl evoked a little more emotion and even more respect.
"Need some help? You've been staring at me," she said, finally coming closer. A broad smile spread across her pretty face; she wanted to help somehow... why did my heart feel so heavy? It was as if I wasn't as sincere with her as I wanted to be, as if right now I didn't want to hide anything from her.
It took a pitiful couple of seconds to understand. Lies. Could withholding information be considered a deliberate lie? Well, it was more a matter of insincerity, and it weighed on the truth chakra that was watching my actions, as if it wasn't her snooping around, but me, asking: how can you be dishonest with someone you respect with all your heart? I don't deny that honesty can hurt, but I respected Tai Lee precisely because of how steadfastly she accepted the truth. That's right. It was time to tell the truth.
"I'll need to talk to you tonight. I hope you don't mind?
"Of course. You didn't need to ask if I agreed. I always agree," she looked at me strangely, as if the answer was obvious.
Feeling somewhat at ease, I finally turned my attention to the rebel who interested me more than all the others. The same young crystal mage whom Tai Li had searched at my request, completely stripping him of his dangerous jammite. Who would have thought that the only person I managed to team up with in the mines of Omasu would become my enemy? Perhaps the situation would be completely different now, and I would have befriended everyone, but the man lying face down on the ground was the only one who didn't reject me at the time. Turning the boy over and letting him look at me with frightened eyes, I thought for a moment that he would recognise me as...
"P-please, don't kill me! I honestly didn't want to hit the doctor, I-I mean you, the commander forced me to," - yes, I was too different from my past self. Even without taking into account the fact that a lot of time had passed - I had grown, my facial features had undergone some changes, and even the scars were now covered up.
"I won't touch you. And I won't let anyone else touch you either. Most likely, they'll just take you away on an iron ship," I turned to the captain, who was already writing a letter requesting that they send the coveted steel ship for slaves. The guy "hiccupped" with fear and even trembled, but looked at me with some hope. "What's your name?"
"Roach," I had already forgotten. "Please don't hand me over to them. I've heard that people lose all hope there. All desire to live. But I have a family."
"You're asking me after you almost got killed? A jammonite wound can be fatal," his pupils contracted as he realised I was well versed in the subject. But in the end, he was right: considering what had been shown in the canon, people on the ship lost touch with reality...
"Choose:
1 - Salvation (You sincerely value life, and the realisation that someone's will will be extinguished by absolute hopelessness makes you sad. However, fighting the consequences is pointless. Once you've dealt with the floating prison, you'll reveal yourself to the world at the perfect moment, with no need to keep up the charade. You'll save a bunch of prisoners and ruin the plans of the Fire Nation army. You'll become a target of the royal family.
2 - Karma (Crush someone else's will with your pride. By demonstrating that cruelty must be answered with cruelty, you will make people think about their actions. By making Roach repent for his deeds, you will change his worldview. Note: it is impossible to change the views of all prisoners due to a lack of understanding of how to influence human emotions. However, Roach will refuse to use the crystals to kill anyone.
3 - Half measures (A friend is a friend. Let the man escape, even if he doesn't recognise you. You can combine this with the first option, in which case Roach's opinion on killing will not change, but it will become an incentive to develop further. If you don't save the others, Roach will give up on developing magic and start spending time with his family.
4 - Prove it with actions (This option can be combined with the second one. The rebels don't believe that the circus doesn't hurt people. Let them see the show and how it affects people's emotions. You will learn even better ways to influence emotions, and you will make EVERYONE repent for their actions).
But what do I see here, the opportunity to accept two options at once? Previously, this was only possible over a long period of time, when after a month or even a year I was allowed to study something I couldn't touch before. Now the situation was more complex, because choosing one or two options led to different consequences. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I became strong enough thanks to my fourth chakra, which I hadn't tested yet, but I had much more control over the situation. It wasn't a choice, but a natural puzzle!
And in fact... I don't care who repents for what. I didn't promise the Council that I would turn everyone into pacifists. Yes, it would be suitable as revenge, but it sounded extremely petty. I would have cared about that before, but now I had a much broader view of the world. I didn't want to teach anyone through suffering, unless they were my enemy. The time has come to prove myself again.
"I'll let you go," I grabbed the iron chains that bound the mage's legs and forced him to open his eyes. "But first, let me tell you that your actions towards the circus workers are nothing but cowardice. Hitting those who are not ready to commit violence is extremely despicable and unprincipled. You should have gathered your strength first and foremost for defence. Promise me that when you become a commander, you will not do such things to innocent people.
There was a moment of silence. He was extremely surprised by the words, but began to nod. Not entirely sincerely, but if he had lied, he would have had problems himself. I would have provided for them fully. Weakening the chain and reopening his qi points, I let him know that he could leave as soon as the moment arose. I did all this under cover, of course; only one person saw us. Tai Li. She just blinked, but said nothing. However, she had already begun to suspect something.
We spent the rest of the day restoring the circus, repairing torn tents and building a new amphitheatre. We even harnessed the prisoners for this while they waited for their ship. In such a commotion, no one noticed the escape of one magician. Well, when evening came, I still looked into the girls' private tent.
"Hey, who's here! - the acrobats quickly smiled, as if unintentionally beginning to arch their backs into amazing poses and show off their waists.
"Come in, would you like something to eat?" I was surrounded by other circus performers. They were strong and flexible, beautiful and extremely skilled.
Some of them clearly wanted to feel love, others were just flirting, but what united them all was that there was something special about the way they pursued me. It was as if they wanted to thank the hero, and maybe get something else in return. However, even though I would have liked to feel the love of so many women, none of them evoked a strong response in me. There was no deep respect for me as a person.
"Sorry, ladies, I'd just like to take Tai Lee back," I said, scratching the back of my head innocently, and heard a wave of disappointment. Some clicked their tongues, others simply walked away and began to lament how lucky their "funny little fool" was. It was surprising how quickly their attitude towards me changed... I wouldn't say I was against it, but I only gave my full attention to one person. Soon she appeared, dressed in a fairly simple evening outfit. No circus red, just a white top and an even more exposed waist.
"There's a river nearby, want to go there?" she asked abruptly, causing her friends to let out a natural cry. They began to play with their eyebrows and giggle merrily. Still, accepting the invitation, we silently walked side by side and left the circus grounds. The village was already near the river, so we followed the current to get further away. But this "strangeness" in Tai Li's emotional spectrum somehow made me nervous. "You know, you're brave. And I'm not talking about how you saved everyone from that rockfall.
"...
"Helping a single prisoner escape, a very dangerous one at that... you could have been declared an enemy right there and then. By the way, even high-ranking people can be punished for that.
"Why didn't you tell the captain? - Not a single muscle on my extremely relaxed face twitched.
"Because you helped me give up the idea of helping them... before, I might have considered it in some extreme case, but not now.
We stopped at a safe distance from the village and looked at the river. The girl thought about her words for a while: we had already betrayed Zhao and together killed a couple of dozen soldiers, siding with the people of the land — she considered herself a traitor, and because of that, she felt a little strange. To dispel her melancholy, I took her by the hand and led her into the water. It was quite cold, so she began to jump up and down, looking at me with embarrassment.
"You know, I'm not just a monk.
It was difficult to say how much my confession would repel her, but I could clearly see that she had a reason to leave the circus. Of course, she wouldn't do it without a reason, but if I asked her, promising some fun at the same time...
"Yes, you said your name was Dagoth," she smiled and pretended to be silly.
"But you didn't say you were a sand mage," and at that moment, a multitude of grains of sand rose from the beach around us and began to swirl in a beautiful dance. I felt a weight lift from my heart. Tai Lee opened her eyes and froze in place. Only her head darted from side to side, watching the beautifully swaying sand. "I am, how should I put it, an enemy of all the fire people, and if I ever show my face to any of them again, I will become a target of the royal family itself.
"Ah..." She opened her mouth in an extremely amusing way, staring into my eyes while the sand show continued in the background. "I'll understand if you refuse, but tell me, do you want to dismantle the prison where the prisoners will soon be taken? Just to ruin the army's plans.
I also understood that this proposal was risky, first and foremost for Tai Li. After all, she had an influential family and a bunch of sisters who could be pressured if they found out about her involvement with me. There was no doubt that they could even be killed. It would not have been surprising if she had refused just because of that, but I could promise to provide sufficient cover.
"So that's your real mystery," I said, but she just smiled smugly. "Heh heh, now you've lost your mysterious image, you're completely transparent. I thought you wanted to seem different from the others by raising your opinion of yourself through secrets," I opened my eyes slightly at how right she was, "But the truth is much more fun than secrets.
In a single moment, she made me both tense and smile. Tai Li was truly delighted, because she had been thinking about many possibilities for what was hidden behind the few mysterious images I had continued to maintain. The fact that I had become understandable gave her a huge rush of endorphins, but the main thing was something else. After the revelation, she thought for a couple of seconds and agreed to leave the circus. On her own, sincerely. Why?
"I heard that you help people and kill everyone in an extremely cruel manner. But I realised that the latter is a complete lie. You don't kill anyone... You are the most interesting person I have ever met.
From the bottom of my heart, soul to soul.
========== 38 - Admiral ==========
Tai Li beamed with joy at the thought that she could do something good by destroying the ship carrying the captured earth mages, and even the news of my plans did not shock her. It was surprising how such a seemingly kind girl could do such crazy things in the canon, truly bringing genocide and the destruction of other nations closer. Such was the effect of extreme fear, although she probably didn't understand the full scope of Ozaim's plans. Now she had simply blocked that possibility for herself and sincerely began to want to help — as I had thought, there weren't many things keeping her in the circus, and if she had the choice to help more people, she would boldly abandon her belongings and go with those who were more important to her. It was nice to know that I was the most important person in her life. On the other hand, I had to be very careful to cover my tracks so that Tai Li's family wouldn't be killed or used as leverage against me, which is why, a few hours before the squad set off for the sea with the prisoners to meet the ship, I sat the girl down on a comfortable stool in front of me, picked up the ink I used to cover my scars, and began applying makeup with my fingers.
"Ticklish," she said, sticking out her tongue as my hands gently stroked her cheek, covering her healthy, delicate skin with a thin layer of plaster. Just kidding. Kyoshi usually used ordinary powder for makeup, which was extremely common throughout the territory, but the red lines were drawn with rouge, which was less common, so I made it myself from fish oil and red ochre. Given my already considerable experience in applying makeup to scars, Kioshi's makeup turned out to be very realistic and high quality, as if it had been applied by Suyuki herself. The final touch was red lipstick, which I applied in a thick layer, looking at the girl's pouting lips, which curved into an extremely funny smile. When everything was ready, she looked in the mirror in surprise and didn't recognise herself. "Wow, how beautiful and well hidden! It's true, though, you'll have to practise so that we don't waste a couple of hours every time we have to perform.
"Ahem, I hope you'll remember how to apply it yourself. And you'll find some clothes somewhere too.
She smiled, but quickly asked what the notorious Kioshi warriors were supposed to wear, in the style of which she had been made up. After that, she quietly disappeared into our circus warehouse, where there was usually a LOT of clothing for various circus acts, and reappeared before me in a green outfit fit for a queen. People who didn't know any better wouldn't even notice the difference. In any case, Tai Li was extremely favourable towards all my plans, for which I couldn't thank her enough. We spent the rest of the time together until the prisoners were finally taken away on carts.
We moved under cover, quietly leaving the village and the circus. We would never return to the latter — Tai Li did not say goodbye to anyone and did not even look back at the familiar tents from which music and the smell of popcorn emanated, as if, after all that had happened, nothing was holding her back. The reason for this was that no one knew her true identity. It didn't take long to reach the shore, as the soldiers were riding bareback, so Tai Li and I sat on sand scooters: the girl instantly got used to the transport, which made me jealous - I didn't have such dexterity. But despite all this, I sincerely enjoyed this unique way of travelling. When we reached the sandy shore, we saw a standard ferry that transported prisoners straight to the prison. Yes, the ship itself was not a prison; the prison was located approximately...
"Listen, I have to admit, I know almost nothing about the floating prison where the earth mages work.
"That's not surprising," she shrugged as she watched the prisoners being led onto the bridge. "A prison facility is a very isolated place. Essentially, it's a shipyard where ships are repaired, refuelled and even built. And there's no access to land... but don't worry, it should be nearby.
She seemed to be concerned about only one thing: how I was going to use magic on an iron ship! She suggested filling my bag with stones, stuffing my pockets with sand, or finding some other way to weigh myself down.
"Hmm," but looking at the sea, which seemed like a bottomless abyss, I didn't say anything about it. Getting on the ferry was also no problem. I formed a whip out of sand and, taking my partner by the waist, pulled her up to the deck, where we hid unnoticed. "Wait a second, I have to do something."
Passing through the inner corridors, avoiding people thanks to my senses, I stopped at the boiler room, frowned, and went inside.
"Do you want to hide here?
"No, I just need to do something to prevent the ship from exploding," I said. Drawing on my experience, I scanned the ship for dangers and immediately noticed pipes that were about to explode. Oh yes, experience told me that one would be followed by thousands more, so I gently fixed everything, ensuring the complete safety of the crew, and left, remaining a hero that no one would ever know about.
Tai Li was even surprised by my coolness. Although for me it was already basic knowledge that was not worth paying attention to. The rest was a matter of time. The ship set sail, and I felt a slight sadness. It was unpleasant to realise that I was leaving without Afka. After all, she was still running to the library, and I had no idea when she would return. So I had to finish everything quickly and get a couple of books for her as a gift.
But as Tai Li had said, that very prison was very close by. Only a few hours had passed since we set sail when we heard an extremely loud steam whistle that was not coming from our ship. Looking out the porthole of the storage room where we were holed up, we saw an enormous platform standing on powerful reinforced concrete structures, which raised it dozens of metres above the water level. In the centre was an enormous tower with numerous balconies and windows protruding from the façade, through which we could see crowds of people, not only soldiers but also slaves. Giant pipes protruded from the roof of this structure, and steam was being released under high pressure, making that very sound. The ferry stopped at the platform, where there were already about three ships: two frigates and one battleship.
It was because of the latter that my eyes suddenly shot up to the sky.
"A battleship? Don't admirals sail on those? That thing can carry more than a thousand soldiers," the girl looked at me nervously, and we hurried to get out through the porthole, hiding unnoticed between the boxes lined up straight on the pier.
"Very pleased to meet you, Captain Usain. New cargo?" Several people greeted the ship's captain as he came out onto the bridge.
"That's right, they attacked a newly founded colony. They'll line them up in front of you, warden," we watched the situation closely, listening as the mages, already dressed in brown robes, filed out of the ship and stood in front of the administrator of the place. The situation seemed to be as expected: the prisoners were being intimidated and their morale was being deliberately destroyed. Any disobedience or even a cough was punished with a flash of fire, and you'd be lucky if it didn't hit you in the face. Tai Li watched with a grim expression, shaking her head repeatedly, becoming more and more convinced that she didn't like this.
However, if everything had been as expected and I had always been lucky, life would have been boring, right? Well, not really, but the situation turned out to be even worse — as soon as the administrator finished talking to the hostages, promising them a "sweet" life at the shipyard, and prepared to dismiss everyone, like...
"Halt," another man stepped onto the bridge. He was extremely conceited, dressed in a much more refined manner than the other soldiers. He was dressed mainly in black with small splashes of red. He wore no helmet, only a ponytail. He was followed by a squad of literally twenty soldiers, who were watching everyone around them closely. But the most interesting thing was something else: he was the owner of three open chakras, and I could feel it very clearly. He was the second enemy after the explosion mage who had managed to overcome some pretty tough barriers, and he was really strong. If he had opened another one, I think he could have tried to challenge real dragons. What kind of person could possess such power? Could it be the owner of the Lincor?
"Admiral Liang? Any problems?
"Problems, warden, you bet. I've noticed something... or rather, someone," the man frowned deeply, and the soldiers standing behind him created an even more oppressive atmosphere. If I attack now, we can kiss the prisoners goodbye, they'll all be killed," "That's the man! Look at his scars."
At that moment, he grabbed one of the prisoners by the collar. It was the same rebel captain who had ordered Roach to throw crystals at me.
"Tall, strong, and scarred by war. You're not a sand mage, are you?
"And if he is? - he raised his eyebrow haughtily, making the admiral smile. He leaned close to his ear and whispered in a sweet voice:
"Then you're the tenth. But since we don't care whether you're telling the truth or not, you'll be executed tomorrow at dawn. And all the prisoners will watch this spectacle, wondering if the one who stirred up trouble among our ranks was really executed.
"Huh?" The man's pupils dilated sharply. "Wait. I'm not a sand mage. I'm just the leader of the rebels. I have nothing to do with this missing man."
"Silence! - A blow to the chest from the administrator knocked the captain back about two metres, burning his uniform and causing him to scream and kick in place," - There are always idiots who try to imitate subhumans like this sand mage. Throw this half-wit into ice water so he understands that pretending to be a sand mage means declaring war on our entire nation. Am I right, Admiral Liang?
"Stop sucking up to me and get to work. I need to repair the ship by next week so we can set sail on our next voyage," Liang reached his ship, and the gangway was immediately lowered. There, on board, he could glimpse a couple of hundred soldiers. In reality, it was packed to the brim with over a thousand people...
At that moment, the prisoners were forced to take a box, among which we were hiding, and then directed along a yellow line. So that no one would spot us, we hid even deeper, and then focused on each other.
"We ended up in prison with the Admiral, and you don't even have enough stones with you. I could probably defeat him quickly, but he has an entire army with him. I don't even know how to describe this level of bad luck," Tai Li blinked, her face taking on an extremely pensive expression. "I think my cover will only raise more questions here. It's best to wash it off. And you'll have to cover your scars again... if they find out who you are, they'll execute you.
"What are you talking about? However, my smile said something completely different." "The fact that the Admiral is here is a real stroke of luck. What an uproar there will be if he suddenly loses to a sand mage? I think this place will be ours by tomorrow.
Tai Li stared at me suspiciously, but she really wanted to know how we were going to pull off something so big. It's true that we only differ by one chakra, but I only opened mine recently. And our combat experience hasn't gone anywhere, so it's extremely risky to think that everything will be easy. However, we were on a steel platform. There was nothing around us but extremely durable material, and they were working on ships, which meant there must be blueprints or methods for working with metal. I don't know about the others, but I found this news very inspiring.