Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

(Side note: In typical weather, the amount of water in the air is about 8 milliliters per cubic meter. In a four-bedroom home, there's roughly 1/3 of a liter. For a different unit of measure, it's about a cup of water. A typical water barrel holds 100 to 200 liters.)

"So, the idea is simple," I said. "You need to feel the weight of the earth you're bending, then bend the smallest amount you can while focusing on sensing it. Gradually, decrease the amount. The most important thing is to do it consciously."

It was a good idea to teach him how to feel the particles of earth.

But it wouldn't let him learn how to "see" through bending like Toph in a short time.

It would, however, lay a solid foundation for him.

And it would teach him what mattered most: sensing the earth particles, which would be the key to metalbending.

That would give us an advantage against the Fire Nation's machinery in the coming battles.

They have tanks? We have metalbenders.

They have a fleet of ships? We still have metalbenders.

They have armor? Guess what—we may not have John Cena, but they won't see the metalbenders coming.

On the other hand, I decided to focus on my own training.

I needed to learn how to sense better through water and, perhaps, use humidity.

Did you know that a liter of water, when vaporized, can occupy a huge volume in the air?

Just vaporize a cup of water and watch how your house fills with steam.

That's why using humidity to gather water isn't a great idea.

But on the other hand, learning how to use the water in the air to sense surroundings is a good idea, since a small amount of water can occupy a large volume.

"I get your idea," Haru said, stomping on the ground. A rock flew up from the ground.

He extended his hands, and the rock floated between them.

"But do you think metalbending is possible?" he asked.

"Anything that has earth in it can be bent by an earthbender," I replied confidently. "You get metal from earth. Of course, it has earth in it. Even if it's very pure, it still has earth particles in it. And as long as we keep this method a secret, no one will think of purifying the metal to the highest degree."

"Man, if that logic works, then since we eat food made from earth, we have earth in us. Shouldn't we be able to bend people? But no one has done something like that before," he said.

"Just play along with me," I replied. "In the worst case, you'll unlock dustbending."

I paused for a moment, realizing that this conversation was quite thought-provoking.

By learning dustbending, one could potentially bend explosive dust. I knew how to make explosive dust from my time in college. If that could be bent and spread in the air… well, you know what I'm talking about—total genocide.

'Let's refrain from that idea for now,' I thought to myself.

"Yeah, and kill my enemies by making them cough… That's not a bad idea, though," he said, splitting the earth in his hand into smaller parts. He held three small rocks and played with them in his hand.

"There's definitely some weight to them. But if it's smaller than this, I won't feel a thing," he remarked.

I chuckled and teased, "That's what she said."

Seeming to get what I was hinting at, Haru sent a few rocks my way. But I easily dodged them while still laughing.

"That's not funny, you dirty-minded bison," he sighed, frustrated. His insult only made it funnier.

"It's not like I made you say the words," I shrugged. "Anyway, forget about me. Keep doing that until you can feel the dust."

"Whatever," he said, turning back to continue his training.

On the other hand, I walked to a more secluded area where Lucy, the tiger, was sleeping. Next to her was a water barrel.

I extended my hand forward. The water flowed out of the barrel and moved toward the nearest object.

With my eyes closed, I tried to feel the water as it hit a nearby rock. I bent it around the rock, trying to sense its shape through waterbending.

The system didn't ring with experience gain notifications, as I had deactivated them. This training required focus, and it was the first step for me to develop an additional sense. I had this sense in the past, but it was the first time I was taking it seriously.

Soon, I began to get a sense of the water's shape, though no mental images formed yet. Still, it was progress. I tried to spread the water thinner, letting it flow over the grass and surrounding area.

It was still hard to feel the shape of everything, but there was progress.

After about half an hour, I felt a brain fog setting in and stopped, opening my eyes wide.

I found Lucy standing in front of me, as if wondering what I was doing.

"You hungry?" I asked.

She shook her head.

Since the system had created a mental connection between me and my pet, I could understand what she wanted.

"Let's play with the ice, then," I said. I bent the water back into the barrel, leaving enough to form an ice ball.

I took a bending stance and made the ice ball float. The tiger cub tried to grab it with her claws but failed as I shifted its position. Her eyelids narrowed, and she started jumping after it.

It was quite fun to take a break like this. It helped clear the brain fog I'd been feeling.

After a few hours, I felt groggy and sleepy.

Lucy also got tired and started wandering around.

I checked the system to see if my relationship with my new pet had improved, and it had.

[Lucy: +3 favoritism. (No longer fears you as much but is still cautious around you.)]

It was now at 28 points.

I sighed.

Gaining the trust of a feral cat was a long process, but a rewarding one.

Anyway, I thought about continuing my training, but there was that mental resistance.

I remembered something.

Brain fog is often caused by the accumulation of toxins in the brain during waking hours. When we sleep, our brain cells shrink, allowing these toxins to be cleared.

Since I'm a waterbender and can heal, not to mention that my waterbending is at a decent level, why not try to clear the mental burden with waterbending?

I went to the barrel, placed my hand in the water, and let a small amount circle in my palm. I placed it on my head and moved it around.

After some time, I felt more awake, less sleepy, and could think more clearly.

I grabbed the water and smelled it.

Yes, the scent had changed to something unpleasant.

If I fed this to someone, they'd feel groggy and experience brain fog.

I shook my hand and threw the dirty water away.

'This cheat technique could allow me to train for longer. But to adapt faster, one still needs to sleep,' I thought to myself before standing up and continuing. 'If I master self-healing through blood, I might never get tired again or even need to sleep. I might not even age.'

Little did I know that I was right. Later that night, I couldn't sleep for more than two hours but still felt incredibly refreshed. If I removed the toxins from my entire body, I might need less than an hour of sleep. It made me realize that I could speed up the training of metalbenders by healing their brains.

Anyway, I continued my training, and my extra sense improved. I could thin the water and better sense the shapes around me. I could even roughly tell the texture of objects.

To take my training a step further, I went to the sea and swam while trying to sense shapes more accurately.

The plan was simple:

Feel the shapes and learn to "see" through water.

Thin the water as much as possible and try to sense through it.

Use the water in the atmosphere to sense my surroundings.

Most importantely, this method was giving me a lot of experience points for my level 11 waterbending.

-x-X-x-

Three days later, I checked on Haru, who could now bend dust particles easily. He was holding a metal coin with his eyes closed. As he moved his fingers, the coin floated and twisted into a new shape.

"I've done it!" he roared. "I'm the first metalbender ever. And the first dustbender!"

'Who knows? Toph is likely 16 or 17 years old now,' I thought. 'Who knows what she's already bent? Also, there's a whole desert full of sandbenders. So, I don't think you're the first in anything. But I won't ruin your moment.'

"Okay, you're familiar with the process now," I said, smirking. I was proud to see him finish his training so quickly. He wasn't as skilled as Toph, who could see through vibrations in the ground, but he had reached a level where he could sense the earth particles in metal and bend it. Dustbending was an extra skill that could be useful in the future if the Fire Nation wanted to play with explosions.

"It's all thanks to the head-healing water method," he said, nodding.

I nodded. That healing water method after training was basically hacking the brain's learning process. But if there was a real hacker here, it was me. Just by leveling up, I gained instant mastery over that level.

"Yeah. All that's left now is to teach the remaining earthbenders. I'll leave that job to you, Haru," I said.

"Haru! Ryuk! Get over here!" Tyro's voice called out. He was Haru's father.

We turned our heads in the direction of the voice.

"Dad? What's going on?" Haru asked.

"An envoy from the Fire Nation has arrived," he panted. "He says he wants to meet the leader."

All eyes turned to me.