Chapter 23: The World’s Strongest Earthbender

The old man standing opposite me was scrutinizing my body with clinical precision. He examined the crystal rings I had slid back onto my fingers; he wore identical ones himself, set with the same creeping quartz I had come to recognize. He took in my physical build, the result of Anubis pushing me harder than my training at Si Wong Rock, forcing me to eat voraciously to fuel my growth. Finally, his eyes settled on the gourd I had instinctively manifested behind my back, packed tight with abrasive sand. All of this led him to a single conclusion.

“A sandbender! Look, everyone, a sandbender!” he cried, pointing a finger at me. He wasn't addressing me with the authority of a King, but rather like a village eccentric, inciting the laborers to whisper among themselves. Some recognized me. I had pushed myself to the limit on the job many times; with some, I had even hammered metal in the forge to maintain our high standards. Most people here had heard of the swift and elusive sandbender, even if they hadn't seen him.

I slowly shifted my gaze toward a fallen shard of quartz, catching my reflection. I looked exactly like the man from the rumors, minus the supposed ten-foot stature. Nevertheless, the eccentric King decided to drop the act.

“Heh-heh-heh... an unexpected encounter...” Bumi glanced at my clothes and my calloused hands, quickly deducing what I’d been doing here. Despite his apparent madness, he let out a sincere laugh. “Will you show me the jennomite hall you’ve been excavating?”

He addressed me directly with an expressive, penetrating look. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, as it’s impossible to read this man’s eyes, but he clearly didn't want a mere escort; he had soldiers for that. The guards looked far more serious, their fists clenching as they met my gaze. I caught their hushed whispers; they couldn't fathom what such a “cruel” and “insane” warrior was doing working in an ordinary mine.

“No problem,” I replied, remaining calm. The ceiling was reinforced, so there was no reason to worry about another collapse. I followed the grinning, hunched old man toward the crystal chamber. Just as he had assessed me, I did the same to him. Even through his robes, I could see muscles like steel cables; his fingers alone were more conditioned than anyone else's in the mine. You can tell a lot about an earthbender by their gait, and Bumi’s was firm and deliberate – he maintained contact between his soles and the stone for as long as possible.

When we arrived, I looked around the familiar space I had helped shape. It was hard to call it a simple room; it was more like a prison or a torture chamber. A pit had been dug in the center, filled with spikes; one wrong step meant a lethal impalement. On the other side of the room was an artificial waterfall, fed by numerous channels to wash away debris and silt.

“What is your name?”

“Dagoth.”

“...Rumors reached me from the blacksmiths that a sandbender had descended into the Factorio. When I was a boy, I used to sneak into the mines to have fun, too,” he said, stopping at the edge of the abyss to begin his strange speech.

“It isn’t fun here,” I answered honestly, easily guessing which blacksmiths had been spreading stories about me.

“Is that so? And here I was wondering, could the work be finished faster if one triggered a controlled cave-in? Or what if one tried to pull the entire vein out of the earth without digging around it? Imagine how much could be excavated if one worked twenty-four hours a day!”

His thinking was... unconventional. I rubbed my chin, wondering how much strength such training would provide. Probably not much in terms of raw power, but the creative approach to earthbending was intriguing. It would certainly train one's versatility.

“You would make a good sandbender,” I admitted, noting his temperament. Not just sand, either. I could tell the old man had opened several chakras. How he hadn't mastered metal yet, I didn't know. Frowning, I met Bumi’s eyes and spoke with blunt boldness: “Perhaps you could teach me a few tricks? At the very least, could you tell me how to open the second chakra?”

“...Why are you pestering me, little mole?” He arched one eyebrow so far it nearly left its orbit, inspecting me suspiciously. He had definitely spent time as a miner before. “I’m simply interested in talking to a man famous for being a ‘Firebender Slayer.’”

“Mmm...” I turned away, uninterested.

“Of course, I know you aren’t as bloodthirsty as the rumors suggest. You destroyed every camp within my borders, but you at least buried the bodies, which is why no one has found them yet. Let me guess, you made a mass grave twenty meters deep?!”

“No...”

“Ah, I knew it! You buried them thirty meters down so the wasp-worms wouldn't lay eggs in them,” Bumi grinned. I tensed instinctively at the mention of the wasps, my gaze hardening. “You should learn to restrain your fury. My soldiers are almost ready to attack based on your intent alone.”

He pointed to the men. As I glanced at them, they grew even more rigid.

“That’s not it...”

“They have children, families. Think before you do something foolish,” Bumi mocked. I rolled my eyes; he was clearly gloating. The soldiers were huffing and sweating; the King was using me to test their nerves.

Once Bumi had finished intimidating his men with my presence, he quickly dismissed them. An earthbender of his caliber clearly didn't need a constant guard. The two of us were left alone to inspect the progress in the hall.

“I thought you were my old friend,” he stated calmly. His voice was quiet, stripped of the hope it had held earlier. “I didn't think anyone could manipulate sand so freely, so I imagined an Air Nomad. By the way, your style of movement is quite similar to theirs. You try to parody them, soaring through the air, elusive to projectiles,” he noted. I wondered how long he had been watching me before deciding to intervene. “But you’re missing something.”

“...You know the movements of the Air Nomads that well?” I narrowed my eyes. I didn't want to make wild claims, but Bumi was likely the only living bender who had been close friends with an Air Nomad – Avatar Aang. This was a rare chance to touch their culture secondhand.

“Of course! You’re missing a bit of playfulness. You’re far too stiff, like a typical earthbender.” And then, he simply... jumped forward, straight onto the jennomite spikes, where a single scratch could be fatal. But he landed perfectly on the tips, somehow protecting his heels, and looked up at me.

“...The books say nothing about ‘playful’ airbenders.”

“Yes. That’s why I don't read books; they aren't about the real world.” He made me squint again. Those were the exact words I had said to the Owl, and now they had come back to me. Life is a strange thing. Despite the fact that Bumi’s words likely angered Afka, who was hiding nearby, I nodded. I leapt after the King, crushing the crystal upon contact to create a platform just large enough to stand on with one foot.

Airbenders had invented many ways to have fun in the canon. If I thought about it... Bumi was literally hinting at how to open the second chakra, the one governed by pleasure.

“Shall we play?” he asked, arching an eyebrow and grinning wide.

“...Forgive me. If this isn't important, I’d like to leave the mine as quickly as possible. Before anything else goes wrong.”

“Ooh... you speak as if you believe you’re to blame for what happened today.” I couldn't answer; I just looked away. “My, what a dull person to play with. And here I thought...”

“Don’t goad me. There are objective reasons; I’m simply not in the mood.” Once I deciphered Bumi’s intent, the spark for training vanished. But looking at his pouting face, I felt like a machine that lived only to work... I truly didn't spend enough time on joy.

I wasn't entirely surprised when a sharp crystal nearly slammed into me. Due to my unstable footing, I almost fell. Bumi stood there with a bright smile, making it perfectly clear that he didn't give a damn about my guilt. Or my shame. And frankly, he wouldn't have mourned me if he’d killed me; he must have at least four chakras open.

“Let me show you how Air Nomads have fun!” He shattered his rings, coating his hands in jennomite armor just as I had, and began hurlng sharp blades at me. This actually did resemble an Air Nomad training method. Books described them using pillars to try and knock each other down. Bumi was recreating that training, but mixing in the harsh conditions of earthbending. And calling it a game.

Clang!

“You’re stronger than me. Stop,” I growled, creating a crystal sword to parry the attack. He ignored the request, launching a volley of crystals while cackling loudly. Evading became difficult as creeping crystals snared my leg; I had to deflect the incoming shards before breaking the shackles. Out of necessity, I shrouded myself in a high-speed sand-whirl and began leaping between the crystals.

“I won't stop until I win!” His methods bordered on genuine insanity. Realizing the only way to end this was to win, I swirled clouds of abrasive sand and sent high-velocity particles screaming across the arena. If Bumi hadn't encased himself in crystal armor at the last second, he would have been shredded. Instead, he charged at me like a tank, completely ignoring the bed of spikes below.

“The Crystal Knight Cheng technique! I can't break that armor with my current output.” I leaped high into the air, focusing entirely on how to defeat such an unexpected opponent.

Whether it was sandstorms, my blades, or rocks torn from the ceiling, he ignored it all, charging relentlessly.

“How can he have ‘fun’ while executing a legendary move with such perfection? The old man is crazy, he’s inviting me... to hit him with everything I’ve got.” My pupils constricted. I had to forget about safety protocols.

Pinning myself to the ceiling, I slammed my palms into the stone. As Bumi leaped toward me, I tore out a massive section of the ceiling and swung it with all my might at the laughing King. It was foolish to hope the trick would work; he simply caught the edge, but at that exact moment, I channeled qi into my legs and kicked the boulder down onto the spikes. A cave-in began; the ceiling crumbled, burying the jennomite until every spike was pulverized. There was nowhere left to jump.

As for the King, he calmly climbed out of the rubble. He looked around, realizing the game board was gone.

“Hya-ha-ha-ha-ha!” he laughed, a rasping, old man’s cackle. “So that’s how you decided to win. No board, no way to win or play.”

“You said it yourself, goals are reached faster if you cause a cave-in.”

He laughed even louder, shedding the impressive armor. With a simple pass of his hands, he commanded the jennomite to grow calmly upward again. I froze. No direct contact with the crystals, no visible effort, yet the arena was restored. For a second, I thought he wanted to continue until he killed me, but... he simply stepped back onto solid ground.

“That was fun. How about you?”

“...Perhaps partially.” I couldn't hold back a smile. It became more interesting to fight when you allowed yourself to do more. But it didn't open the chakra. Bumi clasped his hands behind his back, looking like a man who had done all he could.

“You have potential. You’ll be able to have fun like a normal person sooner or later, but I suggest you ask the waterbenders about that. While it might seem like the Nomads know more, the Water Tribes specialize in your particular problem.”

“Thank you for the advice,” I said, my seriousness making him twitch an eyebrow.

“Ah, yes. Since you say you want to leave, I suggest you stop by somewhere and have a little fun first.”