Avatar - Conquering the Elements-Chapter 115

Yuki. Northern Water Tribe. Chief's Personal Training Hall.

Just recently, a couple of days ago, right before the upcoming Solstice Day, I recalled a long-forgotten waterbending technique. It's related to healing, but on a more spiritual level. I'm talking about the ability to transform energy from negative to positive, and vice versa. Unalaq first demonstrated it when he saved Avatar Korra from a dark spirit.

As far as I remember, you need to surround the spirit with water ribbons, which must then be infused with either positive or negative energy. After scouring the Wan Shi Tong Library from cover to cover, I realized that Unalaq himself, Korra's uncle, was likely the creator of this technique. There wasn't a single mention of anything similar... Plus, Wan Shi Tong's reaction showed he'd never heard of it, but he was very interested in my discovery.

After all, the number of light spirits infected by Vaatu's energy only grows over time. This technique could finally help us even the odds, if only slightly.

The Spirit of Knowledge admitted that the rigid thinking of old people pales in comparison to that of ancient spirits. Some of them simply don't recognize or see the threat looming over the world. I myself noticed that lately, I hadn't seen him in the Library as often. Now it's clear what he's been up to... He's trying to reach out to his colleagues.

In the days left before my transition to the Spirit World, I tried to master the technique so I wouldn't have to figure it out on the spot. Creating water ribbons was easy, but how do you turn them gold? How do you infuse water with positive energy? It can't be something unique if it's a technique that can be taught...

It's a shame I only watched *The Legend of Korra* once, and even then, I often skipped what I thought were boring and predictable moments. Now, of course, I regret it. Maybe somewhere in the show, Unalaq explained the theoretical basis for mastering the technique to his niece...

But if we think logically... Unalaq could both heal spirits and, conversely, transform energy into negative, turning spirits dark again. It seems that applying negative energy transformation to humans could destroy their souls. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, since he never saw it through to the end. But it's unlikely anything good would come of it.

All this suggests that both light and dark coexist within a person. And if we take this idea further, positive energy is our positive emotions—love, trust, gratitude, joy, and so on.

"Attempt number one," I thought, focusing on my loved ones. My body seemed to fill with warmth from the emotions I felt. Then I tried to channel that "warmth" into the water ribbons. It felt like I was on the right track, but something was missing.

Hmm, only waterbenders who specialize in healing could use this technique. And I doubt the word "healing" is in the name by accident. So, life energy must be involved—the same energy healers use in small doses. In the next attempts, I adjusted the optimal dose of life energy until the ribbons began to turn a sunny yellow. Around the twelfth try, progress was made—the first few meters of the ribbons turned gold, but then they stopped.

After stopping the technique, I sat on the icy floor and quickly reviewed my steps in my mind. I must have done something wrong, but what?

"This can't be..." Or can it?

The only inconsistency I noticed was that the ribbons weren't the same width. Plus, my intuition, which had been silent until then, seemed to "pat me on the head" in approval. That's the only way I can interpret my feelings.

"Unalaq must have had help... Someone who understood the essence of different energies..." Maybe Vaatu was whispering in his ear? Unalaq sympathized with the Red Lotus's ideas, which are built on anarchy and chaos. He and the Great Dark Spirit clearly had a lot in common.

After getting the hang of transforming positive energy, I decided to try negative energy.

"Anger and rage should work," I thought, immediately recalling the day Koh the Face Stealer attacked. The water ribbons instantly turned into faintly glowing purple lines.

Out of curiosity, I decided to experiment with the technique—specifically, with emotions. The results were strange. The ribbons absorbed my positive emotions, even when I thought about conquering the world, believing it was for a noble cause that would make everyone better. This means the technique can be easily manipulated; it has no limits. The user themselves defines what they consider good or evil.

*

Spirit World.

Navigating the space between worlds is getting easier and easier. "Latching onto" the faint presence of dark energy, I followed the trail. I needed weak dark spirits, who would become my unwilling test subjects today.

Soon, my body materialized in a dead forest. The trees no longer radiated life, and the darker earth seemed soaked in dark energy. Its concentration was weak, but even so, the area felt unsettling.

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No sooner had I looked around than the first local inhabitant appeared—a green head, either an ogre or a troll, with bulging eyes and vegetation on its face in the form of a mustache and beard. This world will probably never stop surprising me...

"What are you mumbling about?" I tried to listen to his words. His mouth kept spewing gibberish. Bouncing comically, he started moving closer, cursing, or so it seemed. "Alright, let's begin," I thought, but first, I needed to stun him.

Gathering water particles in the air, I materialized a large ice mallet. For the next few seconds, I struck his head with half my physical strength. His head turned out to be tougher than I thought, and he even shot fire from his mouth.

The stunned and battered spirit was finally in the right condition, as evidenced by the drool dripping from his mouth. Now it was time for the technique. Surrounding him with water ribbons, I began infusing them with positive energy.

"Aaaah!" he screamed, making funny faces. Black smoke started rising from his body. But... he wasn't turning light. A minute passed before the process ended, and now he looked at me with a more coherent, though terrified, expression.

"Most likely, Vaatu's energy left him, but by nature, this spirit was already dark," I thought. That's why he seemed more rational. "What if I reverse the technique's polarity?" Purple ribbons charged with my negative emotions seemed to have no effect on him. Logically, I can't make him dark when he already is.

"Alright, you can go, but next time we meet..." I didn't finish, pinning him with my energy, which was more effective than words. The medium spirit's head nodded quickly, and he began to scurry away. I've never truly hated dark spirits, except for Vaatu and Koh. They're part of the same "ecosystem." We don't get mad at wolves for hunting herbivores, right? It seems like a fitting analogy. And most importantly, I'd gain almost nothing from a single medium spirit—too small a catch for me.

If I remember correctly, could Unalaq turn any dark spirit into a light one, or could he only "lighten" those who were originally light? It's worth trying.

There are several criteria to determine if a spirit was once light. First and most important: even when turned dark, they still look... well, harmless. They gain some attributes like horns, sharp teeth, or glowing red eyes—basically, the classic set of creatures on the bad side. Second, Vaatu's energy amplifies their already negative traits. For example, bloodthirst becomes absolute, so they attack anything that moves, and if it doesn't move, they move it and attack. Those who've recently "gone dark" still try to fight the imposed feelings.

My sensitivity allowed me to quickly find new spirits that should fit the criteria.

"Cute creatures..." I muttered, looking at red-eyed rabbits with horns on their heads. Their twitchy movements spoke volumes about their recent transformation into darkness.

Following the same procedure, I waited for results. About halfway through, the rabbits' horns disappeared. Before they fully regained their senses, I switched the energy to negative. The reaction was immediate—they began returning to their dark state. Probably because Vaatu's energy hadn't fully dissipated, and my negative emotions accelerated its spread...

I hope they won't mind if I conduct one more experiment...

The rabbits, or rather, the low-level snow spirits, turned out to be too impressionable. Grateful for their rescue, they were ready to follow my every word, well, as much as their limited understanding allowed... Let's not forget they're still at the bottom of the hierarchy, with minds comparable to a very smart dog.

I didn't want to put these spirits in danger, so I was ready to stop the technique at any moment. This time, the negative energy didn't pull them to the other side; it only caused pain. Maybe if I continued, I could forcibly change their nature, but why would I want that? I'm not looking to add new foot soldiers to the army of darkness. The data I've gathered is enough.

Thanking the spirits, I led them to the nearest settlement of other light spirits. I don't want my efforts to be in vain. At least this way, they'll have a chance to survive or outlast Vaatu's influence on the world.

My mood wasn't up for hunting, so I decided to spend the day freeing spirits from both sides. I'd make an exception and not kill the dark spirits who fled after the technique ended. Soon, I noticed that with each passing hour, maintaining the technique became harder, and the process took longer.

Both my mental and emotional exhaustion were taking a toll. It's hard to sustain the right range of emotions, relying on the same memories that trigger them. There were still a couple of hours until sunset, but I felt somewhat drained. Still, I helped about three hundred and fifty spirits regain clarity.

Besides, according to Wan, a surprise awaits me on the other side. Though it's hard to call it a surprise when his/my thoughts are an open book to me. While I was in the Spirit World, Wan heard familiar howls from his estate... Not far from his home, in the sea, swam Spark, a now much larger sea dragon who had found one of my bodies. I knew he'd choose the archipelago—you can't fight nature.

He was smart enough not to show himself openly. Maybe he'd already encountered Fire Nation ships, which clearly weren't happy to see a huge, unfamiliar sea creature.

"Yuki, some giant snakes swam to the main port!" my sister sensed my return and immediately shared the latest news, which had the entire capital in an uproar.

Using the canal water, I quickly moved through the city. Soon, I saw the long bodies of the dragons, who were curiously observing the gathered crowd. People pointed at them, threw fish, and one even started offering his services as an artist, already painting a man against the backdrop of the massive creatures...

"I'm glad to see you too!" I replied, understanding the general meaning of the sounds Droplet and Icicle made.

"Yuki! You know them, right?" Katara asked with shining eyes. I didn't expect such a reaction; she wasn't the only one excited. The elders were already ready to take on the task of feeding the dragons, just to keep them at the pole. They'd already seen how they conquered the water, which quickly made people fond of them. It was like seeing a fellow countryman in a foreign land.

"Yes, I know them well," I had to answer louder, as it wasn't just Katara asking. My father, who was there, was already whispering with other important people, apparently thinking of ways to win over the guests.

"Yes, yes, you have beautiful scales!" I assured the dragons who swam up to me. How could I call them animals after this? At the first opportunity, they acted like ordinary women, fussing over their appearances... "No, I'm fine without scales... Yours aren't needed either; I'm not cold..." They still feel sorry for me, huh?

"They won't swim away. They said they'll stay here for a long time," I assured the people, hoping to ease the tension, though I doubted it would work.

The girls enjoyed the attention. They felt the awe and admiration from the people, so they didn't even think about diving underwater, instead striking poses...

Honestly, I thought transitioning to higher spirits would allow them to change their forms, but it seems they'll stay like Ran and Shao, forever in these bodies. At least it's good they're starting to speak better. Probably in a couple more years, they'll chatter just like the eternally talkative Wong.

I spent the rest of the day chatting with the dragons and my tribesmen, completely exhausted. Without any transition, I immediately fell into dreams.