Chapter 22: The Bending Master

For several days, I questioned the local miners and even visited the forge, searching for any answers regarding that strange incident with the lightning. Each time, I described the event with bated breath: how the air crackled with electrical discharges, and tiny bolts of lightning danced between particles, casting glints upon the crystal dust. Unfortunately, no one could tell me a thing. People rarely noticed such occurrences, and they certainly couldn't explain how such a phenomenon arose. To these stoic earthbenders and stubborn crystalbenders, it was useless information. They were far less interested in the things that sandbenders dreamed of.

Yes, sandbenders have their own philosophy and character, rooted in change and adaptation. We aren't as free as airbenders, as we are still grounded like badgermoles, but we are forced to adapt to survive in the environments where we find ourselves. For me, for instance, it was much easier to settle into a cave than for other people; it wasn't just my two years of experience, I was simply used to finding a unique approach to everything. A person with nothing has to scramble to survive, and if they want a decent life, they have to scramble ten times harder! That is why, reading the works of my fellow countryman, I felt right at home.

The scholar studying sandstorms was surely a sandbender himself; the very way he conveyed information spoke of it. Although Afka, to whom I read the book aloud, didn't understand how one could determine such a thing. As for the author, this undisputed genius spent the better part of his life in sandstorms, observing the sand. He had seen lightning appearing as if from nowhere many times; moreover, it occurred below the clouds and only under one condition: the sand had to swirl against itself in an incredibly dense cloud. The gusts of wind in a storm were erratic, moving mindlessly, something I had felt firsthand. If the wind brought enough grains of sand together, forcing them to rub against each other, a powerful static electricity was generated.

It was as if fur were being rubbed together, only here it happened at entirely different speeds and scales. The energy would lash out, illuminating the sandstorms with long streaks of electricity. Well... it wasn't a technique that firebenders could produce directly from their bodies, as they didn't need friction, but I wasn't complaining. It sounded like something capable of empowering simple sand, and I was always happy for that.

However, when I began practicing in my own room, where I conducted all my training, trying to rub particles of sand together, I realized that creating my own version of lightning would be exceedingly difficult. If lightning was needed to attack, immobilize, or perhaps stun a fish, I couldn't do without training the speed of the sand's acceleration. Even a tornado wouldn't help here; the grains needed to be pressed more tightly together, creating a closed sphere the size of a fist in which the entire charge would accumulate; at least, that was the example provided by the author of the book. That meant tens of thousands more hours of practice.

Or, it could all be done more simply. The Kyoshi style. The Earth Avatar was an individual with simply ferocious earthbending power; hence her problem: subtle techniques that didn't involve, say, moving a continent, caused her trouble. Throwing a small pebble or even just controlling a bit of sand was a genuine struggle. For precision and the use of minimal force, she used fans and a specially developed style. I had already planned to study her legacy, but the reason I needed it was ironic: if I could achieve even greater precision and apply small volumes of sand... I would become many times stronger.

I wouldn't need to lift mountains or hurl boulders; I would find power in the little I had. Though, that was all in the future. Returning to the camp, I walked up to the quest board and read everything posted for the week.

"Oh, another quartz deposit was discovered above us," I cracked my knuckles, preparing for the choice of yet another training exercise. Anubis had started providing them as soon as I learned to control quartz, forcing me to apply it skillfully, like the old legends from the books, echoing the techniques of General Cheng and Terracotta, whom I had told the recently departed boy about.

The most famous crystal users completely abandoned earthbending in favor of the sturdier material. The General would literally encase himself in armor, becoming a Crystal Knight capable of crushing any defense with his body. And Lord Terracotta could simultaneously control a vast number of crystals, wielding them like remote-controlled swords.

If Anubis wasn't forcing me to learn how to apply crystals or sand, he was making me suffer in his massive room. I had, so to speak, equipped it for physical exertion. For some reason, that dog wanted me to grow taller.

I wanted to copy and adapt these techniques for myself, to become an "abrasive bender." Nevertheless... Anubis shattered all my expectations. The choice presented was far stranger.

[Choose:]

[1 — Create a New Image (The "Sandbender" persona has become too dangerous; a bounty has been placed on your head. You can nip the problem in the bud by creating the image of a pure and steadfast "Crystal Knight.")]

[2 — Subdue Misfortune (The image you created has been tarnished; you are not recognized as a Sandbender. You have the opportunity to reclaim your glory. You will become much more famous.)]

[3 — Break the Mold (You have learned to choose less honorable paths. History knows many images of terrifying men; you can attempt to fully copy the persona of a historical master. Make people believe you are the resurrected General Cheng or the Monster Terracotta.)]

I blinked in utter confusion. Anubis was being strange today, as if he were asking me to summarize all the time I had spent here, or so I thought until I heard a crack. Directly above my head, the ceiling I was looking at began to slowly fracture, making me squint.

"They're... developing a new mine up there…" The people in the camp where I stood also caught the familiar sound and froze. They raised their heads. Miners, smiths, soldiers, everyone paused, their pupils dilating. We saw the ceiling crumbling.

"Why... we took every precaution to prevent a collapse."

"I reinforced the supports and inspected the floor myself."

"It’s impossible."

Goosebumps broke out over the rugged men who so rarely saw the light of day.

Was this what Anubis was hinting at? Stones began to rain down; with a loud crack, a boulder ten meters wide tore loose and began plummeting directly toward our camp. The problem was that the majority of the boulder was made of crystal. Simply pushing it away with collective effort, or even breaking it into pieces, wouldn't work.

For some reason, at that moment, I forgot about the choice Anubis had offered. I simply acted on instinct, as I would in any other situation: breaking my rings and allowing the jennomite to grow along my arms, I used part of the material to create an abrasive. Abruptly lashing upward with long sand whips, seeing a flash of lightning flicker in the sand for a second, I pulled myself up.

Thud!

I slammed my foot onto the massive stone, instantly releasing as much chi as I could. My increased physical strength allowed me to put far more power into the strike. Rapidly accelerating sand particles appeared in my hands. I delivered a magical impulse and surrounded the stone with a sandstorm, blowing the boulder off course. It crashed outside the camp, causing a violent tremor that accelerated the ceiling's collapse.

Fresh jennomite, the growth of which I could accelerate, was once again turned into sand. A rising pillar of a whirlwind knocked away sharp crystals capable of causing great damage to buildings and equipment. My whips quickly latched onto the walls, maneuvering freely between the giant stones. I had no doubt the collapse happened over my head precisely because of me.

"Right at the moment I returned to camp. This damn curse causes problems for more than just me," I gritted my teeth, realizing this wasn't the first time.

Staring into the cracks at the collapse site, I clearly understood that such a thing couldn't happen in a single day; the locals weren't fools enough to allow such a critical cave-in. Not wanting this to bring harm to anyone else, I plunged long tentacles into the stones and began to spin like a tornado myself. The long whips sharpened and formed incredible blades capable of bending at any angle.

The settling dust began to swirl rapidly due to my bending tricks; I was personally becoming the cause of that same beautiful, electrical effect.

"No..." Pinning myself to a wall, I realized that so many large stones had fallen that I would likely be unable to stop it. No amount of sand would help here.

"Quite a serious business," at that very moment, a voice rang out from the lift near which I was hanging. Feeling that staying in the lift shaft wasn't safe, I turned quickly toward the arriving people, but froze... Gasp!

I saw an old man who looked as though he were covered in mold, with one eye seemingly bruised. The hair on his partially bald head stuck out in every possible direction. A look that was, in some sense, mad swept over me before concentrating on the stones. Then... with a few minimal hand gestures, he threw all the stones aside one by one.

Immediately after, simply raising his hands to the ceiling, he clenched his fists. The cracks instantly healed; the stone became so dense that it changed color. Leaving the lift, he walked into our camp as if nothing had happened.

"I’ve come to see the Jennomite Room you made for me," he replied quite casually to the sea of silent stares. The monster had settled the problem without even straining himself; it wasn't hard to recognize him, even though I had never seen this master in my life. King Bumi, ruler of all Omashu. A most brilliant earthbender. "Oh, that’s bad."

At that moment, his "unhinged" gaze focused on several people. It was as if he had the eyes of an eagle; he noticed wounds, or rather, pieces of growing crystal in various parts of their bodies. All his attention slowly concentrated on them. We all saw the crystal beginning to fuse with their flesh.

"A... a-a-ah!" They began to panic instantly. Jennomite in an open wound... it wouldn't be a problem if it could be removed immediately, but the wounded themselves didn't even realize how they had received those few scratches, and now they were beginning to crystallize. The men collapsed to their feet, beginning to writhe in a seizure; the King stood his ground. Obviously, no one could do anything.

Whoosh!

But I immediately launched myself from the wall and landed near the men. Several razor-sharp tentacles surrounded my body, and in a second, I sliced the clothing off the men. I had learned to cut with such precision on beetles so as not to damage anything unnecessary, and with these new blades, I saw no problem at all. Maintaining my composure, I glanced at Bumi and the people around him.

"Alcohol."

My grains of sand performed the work themselves. They slowly broke down the quartz and pulled the particles out. The most important thing was to prevent the crystal from growing into the veins; in the caves, men worked with their fists, sometimes injuring their hands, but that wasn't as big a problem as wounds in the neck or spine. Managing to get rid of the crystals with a few precise incisions, I exhaled. In the end, no one died from my Misfortune. The medics who arrived shortly after were amazed by the work performed and took the boys to their ward. As soon as I stood up, I realized that all eyes were concentrated on me alone.

"..."

That's right... Anubis had offered me a choice. And I hadn't even stopped to think. The people watching me could only see a tall, muscular man, scars were present as well, they hadn't disappeared after the beetle caves, it was just that before, they had been covered by clothes. Now, I was wearing far less. I completely resembled that false image of a Sandbender that ordinary people had built in their heads. Well, perhaps not so false after all.

"...I think I know you," King Bumi began.