~000~
Chapter Five: Focus
~000~
Iroh rubbed his chin at the poster the city guardsmen showed him. "No, I haven't seen him."
"Well, if you do, please contact the Earth nation authority immediately." the watchmen put the poster of the Blue Spirit away.
Zuko heard his uncle mutter to him as he rummaged about the tea shop's front counter for more tea cups. "I thought you weren't going out at night anymore to wear that costume of yours again."
"I had a job to do." Iroh didn't respond but Zuko kept speaking. "I want to improve my firebending uncle." he muttered again.
"Hmph. I am afraid that I am unable to teach anything to you properly while I am here in the city. We are here to relax, go out on another date with your girlfriend."
Zuko sighed. "I'm sick of that. Going out on dates all the time, helping you make tea all day. It's not what I want to do."
"You are already very experienced in the ways of firebending my nephew," Iroh said. "But if you do indeed wish to master it, you will need to travel quite far to train. Jeong Jeong, an old friend of mine, is considered by many such as myself, to be the greatest firebender alive, even greater than your father."
Zuko's eyes sparked up. "Really?"
Iroh nodded calmly. "You have my blessing."
"Thank you so much uncle!" Zuko hugged Iroh suddenly. Iroh was surprised because his nephew never did this but it was still heartwarming and he embraced him. Zuko pulled away and spoke. "Where would I go?"
"You will need to travel to a colonial settlement named Naipan, far west of here. Travel outside of it and you should find where he resides now in the summer."
Zuko bowed in thanks. "Thank you uncle."
Before he could leave to his apartment to pack his things, Iroh spoke calmly and quietly. "You should perhaps say goodbye to your girlfriend."
Zuko understood and hugged his uncle again by walking back.
"Be safe Zuko," Iroh said to his nephew.
~000~
Jin gasped. "You're leaving the city?"
"I don't know when I'll come back. But-"
"You can't! The city watch doesn't let anyone leave!"
Zuko shook his head. "There's no need to worry about that, I'll be fine-"
"Even if you could, why would you? The city's completely safe!"
Zuko looked at her. "Jin...have you lived here in Ba Sing Se your whole life?"
She nodded.
Zuko breathed in deeply. "Okay." he looked aside to make sure any of Jin's family in her apartment couldn't hear him. "The city isn't safe, it's ruled by a group called the Dai Li." Jin could barely form words in shock as it sounded like madness to her. "I've seen them, I know what they're like. Stay safe, it won't be long before I come back."
"Li I," Jin paused, "Li I'll miss you."
Zuko nodded. "I'll miss you too." Zuko pressed his lips to Jin's forehead and left her apartment.
That night, the Blue Mask stole an ostrich horse and rode northwards with packs of water to survive the desert. For day and night he rode, drinking water and offering some to his steed that accepted.
Its claws patted the sand, and Zuko rode with the setting sun behind him on the horizon of the desert. He road through towns and villages, through river and forest, eating what he could buy with the gold and silver he stole from the smugglers.
He rested, staring into the fire he used to cook some rabbit squirrel and then falling asleep afterward. In the morning he rode off again.
Eventually, he reached the outskirts of a Fire Nation colony that matched his uncle's description. The small thatched huts that lined the river bank matched his description too, and Zuko rode in slowly.
He dismounted his ostrich horse and patted his fist on the door of a house.
"What do you want?" an unfamiliar voice said on the other side of the door.
"Er," Zuko swallowed. "I want to master firebending under your tutelage."
"Go away." the voice said.
"But I-"
"Now."
Zuko sighed. "My uncle suggested I should learn from you. Said he was an old friend."
Jeong Jeong, an aged firebending master, opened the door and looked at Zuko. In a split second, he understood and beckoned Zuko inside. Zuko saw the blue box only he could see floating over Jeong Jeong's head.
[Jeong Jeong - Level 73 Firebender]
"So." Jeong Jeong poured Zuko a cup of tea. "What made you want to master firebending?"
"I couldn't train at all in Ba Sing Se, I needed some fresh air."
Jeong Jeong sipped his tea from his comfort he sat on. "The last I heard you were hunting down the Avatar. Are you perhaps wishing to become stronger to capture him?"
"I wish to become stronger to defeat the Dai Li, who threaten my city."
Jeong Jeong put down his cup. "Your city?"
"As the Blue Mask I feel I have to protect everyone in Ba Sing Se."
"Hm. A worthy virtue is altruism." Jeong Jeong admitted.
Zuko asked something. "I thought the Fire Nation knew this was where you lived."
"Yes. But after a few seasons, I returned, and they never would've known I had returned. We always hide when we hear a patrol boat up the river is coming, or if others are coming, and we remain secretive now." said Jeong Jeong. "So, if you wish to master firebending, I want you to follow my rules. You will follow my training regime, and you will adopt my ideals."
"Of course."
Jeong Jeong stood up holding a re-filled cup of tea and Zuko followed him outside into the spring sun. Jeong Jeong showed Zuko the cup. "Do you see how the heat flows through the cup and is released through steam? Energy flows quite similarly through you." Jeong Jeong looked around the trees and spoke to his new pupil. "Chi flows through pathways from large pools of Chi called Chakras within our body. To become a better firebender, you must be able to control your Chi better."
Zuko kept listening to Jeong Jeong's words. "How is Iroh?"
"He's fine. He opened a tea shop in Ba Sing Se, I helped him run it before I came here to train with you." Zuko motioned to him as Jeong Jeong ordered him to do something. "Start with the basics, let me see what you know."
Zuko obliged and began to bending fire everywhere with strikes, grunting and yelling as he did so. He did a series of punches that sent fireballs everywhere in a [Blaze] attack and soon spun about sending [Flame Gouts] about from his kicks. He kept using the [System]'s boost to his skillset of [Fire Techniques] to make his attacks more impressive, burning [Chi Points] all the while.
Zuko was left panting from the display and he looked to Jeong Jeong. Zuko watched as Jeong Jeong walked calmly to the river and closed his eyes. When he opened them, Jeong Jeong summoned a wall of flames from thin air that rose from the riverbank.
Zuko watched in awe as in a single simple upward movement of his hands, a wall of flames was summoned. Jeong Jeong lowered his hands and the wall of flame fell, and then he walked past a gawking Zuko and showed him a very simple fire technique.
Jeong Jeong used the legendary 'Flaming Fist' strike and his entire arm was lit ablaze as he struck a tree and a gigantic swath of trees including the one he struck burst into ash from the power of the flaming strike. It was if an explosion of energy was released from the one point on the tree he struck, and everything in front of Jeong Jeong had been scorched in a single moment.
The gigantic flame that emerged from the point where Jeong Jeong had struck was vanquished in an instant by how well Jeong Jeong controlled it.
Zuko was jaw dropped over the sheer power Jeong Jeong had while not even breaking a sweat. Jeong Jeong turned to Zuko and spoke. "Your technique is strong for your age. But you lack control over your breath and waste too much energy while bending. You should see more power result from the less Chi you use while bending, and I will give you that control."
Zuko nodded slowly as Jeong Jeong spoke again. "All benders tend to draw Chi from a particular source over others. Your uncle's primary source of energy comes from his stomach, mine comes from my chest muscles. But you seem to draw your energy from the Chi within your head."
"I-Is that bad?"
"Not necessarily. In time, you will come to learn to harness your Chi better, as you have more than most firebenders I know." He knew this after seeing the minutes and minutes of full power flames that Zuko released without ever getting tired. Jeong Jeong started walking past Zuko. "We will begin tomorrow morning at daybreak. There is food in the village if you're hungry."
Zuko saw his new teacher walk inside his hut and assumed that his calm and collected demeanor is what allowed for Jeong Jeong to expect Zuko to independent in providing food for himself. He was beginning to use some of his silver, but he knew he had more than enough money for the time being.
Zuko felt his stomach growl and walked off to buy food from the village.
~000~
The following morning, Jeong Jeong stood outside his hut with Zuko and Jeong Jeong spoke. "Did you ever notice why your firebending might've been stronger during the day?"
Zuko shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Well, each element draws on a particular area of the environment for strength. Waterbenders draw on the moon for strength, Earthbenders draw on the earth, and Airbenders draw on the air. But firebenders such as ourselves draw on the sun." said Jeong Jeong. "Close your eyes. See if you can feel it."
Zuko did so as Jeong Jeong stepped around him explaining. "The sun is the source of all your bending. Without it, there would be no fire for you to create. Envision the sun."
Zuko saw a large ball of flame burning within his mind, increasing the warmth he felt along with rays of the sun on his face.
"Can you see it?"
Zuko nodded.
"Good. Now imagine you're feeling the sun close to you. Warming you, powering you, giving you your strength."
Zuko kept nodding.
"The sun is your closest ally when bending. Draw upon its energy by soaking in sunlight, and you will feel your strength increase tenfold from before." Jeong Jeong said, noting Zuko's somewhat pale skin.
Zuko opened his eyes after this and noticed how Jeong Jeong had much better-tanned skin than he did. While this might've not have been the determining factor in Jeong Jeong's mastery over firebending, it could explain why he was better able to absorb the energy the sun gave him while bending.
Jeong Jeong explained his regimen to Zuko. "Every morning you will get up and run to fetch me some fruit from the village. Your breath must be strong in order to bend properly. Then, we will begin a few hours of meditation and breath focus in the sun to allow your mind Chi to flow smoother. Before night falls, I will work on your strikes with you. We will also train heavily by increasing the strength and vitality of your body."
"Thank you." Zuko bowed.
Jeong Jeong nodded. "Now. Wait here a moment." Jeong Jeong brought out meditation mats from his home and set them on the ground where the sun was. "Your breath will be a crucial part of your training. Focus on your breath while we meditate, and you will feel your control over your Chi improve slowly with practice."
Zuko and Jeong Jeong sat down on mats and meditated together. Zuko felt the sun's rays fall on his face, and the nice feeling it gave him reminded him of snuggling with Jin. Jin, and all the happy thoughts that came with her filled Zuko's mind. He focused on his breath, and he felt himself begin to enter a calmer state as he meditated.
The sun's rays eventually moved as Jeong Jeong and Zuko meditated for hours on their mats. The sun passed overhead, and by midday when the sun shone brightest, a bit of shade cast from a tree branch interrupted Zuko's absorption of the sun's rays.
Jeong Jeong opened his eyes and stood up. "That concludes our meditation for today."
Zuko checked that the system had registered this.
[Congratulations! After hours of meditating, you have improved a |Bending Skill|: Level 1-Level 2 Chi Control]
"Hours?" Zuko looked up to the sun's zenith where it was during midday. "We meditated for hours?"
"That means you are doing it correctly." Jeong Jeong noted. "Come. Let us work on your strikes."
"Are you going to teach me the Flaming Fist?"
Jeong Jeong shook his head. "You are far too inexperienced. You lack sufficient training and discipline. Fire focus attacks require immense levels of control over your Chi that very few men have. If you tried to use one right now, you could very well damage your chi pathways quite seriously, and perhaps permanently."
"But I have the energy for it! You told me I had more Chi than most people!"
Jeong Jeong remained calm at his pupil's raised voice. "The only reason you have such large pools of Chi is due to your bloodline containing the most powerful firebenders in history. If you weren't you would've run out of any useable Chi halfway through your display yesterday."
"S-Sorry master."
"No matter, you simply didn't understand. Let me see the first strike. A fire punch."
Zuko yelled as a burst of flame shot out from his strike. "Yah!"
Jeong Jeong adjusted Zuko's finishing stance. "Hm. The strike itself is adequate, but it lacks structure. Try balancing things on your head as you walk, if you improve your posture and balance, you will find the movement of your attacks more contained."
"More contained?"
Jeong Jeong demonstrated by doing the same body level punch Zuko did but this time he controlled his breath much better and didn't yell at all as Zuko did. The result was a much more powerful and bombastic attack that barely required any Chi at all to be used by him, compared to the moderate amounts Zuko used.
"My entire body focuses on the single area of my attack." Jeong Jeong rubbed his fingers along his knuckles to show Zuko. "By focusing on that one point, you are able to channel more energy into the strike itself while consuming less, and thus, your bending is made stronger."
"How do I do that?" wondered Zuko.
"Pretend that you're not sending flames to an opponent far away. Pretend you're striking him with your fist. And then you will feel your attack grow stronger."
Zuko tried that a few times and nodded, feeling what Jeong Jeong said prove true. He knew the [System] was registering his improvement and perhaps accelerating it, and Zuko began to train to become the firebender he was always meant to be.
~000~
Jeong Jeong sipped tea as he rose up and down in the space outside his home, standing on Zuko's back as he did push ups in the forest by Jeong Jeong's riverhideout, his |STR| and especially his |STA| which determined for less Chi consumption being raised with his training.
They always began physical exercise after the hours of constant meditation to smooth the flow of Zuko's Chi pool within his mind.
Zuko grunted and kept going, sweating harder and harder under the sun that powered him and sweat weakness out of him. Yelling, Zuko pushed his physical limits which translated directly to his physical abilities while bending.
In another exercise, Zuko carried stones on his back up a hillside as Jeong Jeong stood at the top waiting for him. He kept sweating and grunting, using all of his strength to carry it up the hill. As he approached the top, he slipped and the stone rolled down the hill. Jeong Jeong nodded as he Zuko felt determined to get the stone again and try harder to get it back up the hill.
Zuko released fire punches as he ran up and down the river every morning delivering food for Jeong Jeong, carrying crates of fruit on his back and sweating as he bent.
Practicing their bending forms side by side on a tiny mountaintop overlooking the Fire Nation colony, Jeong Jeong and Zuko practiced on improving Zuko's strikes as Jeong Jeong had told him to. Waving their hands and feet about in crisp strikes that shook the air with fire. Zuko and Jeong Jeong did two quick fire punches and jumped into the air in a fiery spin in sync, landing and releasing fire in all directions when the landed upon the ground in a fire press.
Zuko started yelling less and breathing quietly more when he bent fire into the stones on that mountain top. Jeong Jeong nodded with just the tiniest hint of a small huff of air out of his nose as he left scorch marks on rocks.
The stones being carried up the hills kept falling, Zuko collapsed doing pushups with Jeong Jeong standing on his back, he slipped during intense moments of physical training again and again. But Jeong Jeong always saw Zuko get right back up and try again.
No matter how hard he fell, he got back up harder.
After a week or so, improvement began to show. Zuko started becoming more efficient in his strikes, bending hotter and larger flames with less Chi, his [Skill Level] in all his techniques rising along with his better fire attacks.
One night, Jeong Jeong even showed Zuko the proper way to release lightning, which allowed blue bolts to light up the night's sky. Zuko failed miserably as he could barely redirect it in the first place, but Jeong Jeong had to admit it did at least improve Zuko's control over his body.
The month went on, and Zuko grunted louder than he ever had when carrying the largest rock up the hill to Jeong Jeong.
He was on the verge of collapsing of exhaustion in all of his training. The running in the morning, the sun bathing, the pushups, the non stop fire bending on rocks. The strain it put on his muscles would be too much for anyone. It all sucked up Zuko's will and energy, and pushed him far beyond his limit from weeks of training.
Jeong Jeong watched as Zuko nearly broke under the weight of the rock, kneeling on the ground and...yelling as loud as he could as the rock flew upward from halfway up the hill in a release of pure fire energy channeled directly from his chi. Jeong Jeong nodded to Zuko approvingly and this inspired Zuko to work harder on his training.
Zuko's |STR| and |STA| increased even more as he ran past villagers on his usual morning run to fetch fruit for Jeong Jeong. He actually smiled, feeling the rays act kindly as his skin had grown much stronger due to the constant sunlight.
Zuko carried rock after rock up the hill using his increased power much to Jeong Jeong's approval. He did pushups with Jeong Jeong on his back faster and faster. He ran up and down the river to improve his Chi control even faster.
Zuko began to run past [Notifications] telling him of his improvement as he progressed on his quest to master firebending. All of his attacks were getting much sharper, and he was using far less Chi than he was before he started training with Jeong Jeong.
The two of them returned to the small mountain top and Jeong Jeong and Zuko spun around with flaming kicks before channeling their fire in a giant blaze that made a gigantic fire above the mountaintop, being visible from the village below.
Zuko practiced his bending again on the rocks Jeong Jeong used for him to scorch and his flames grew so hot and potent that one particularly well-done attack had blazed right through part of the rock and left a burning black husk where it sheered through.
Zuko stared at his fist, not believing the training Jeong Jeong put him through to be this effective.
Near the very end of the month of Zuko's first month of training, Zuko carried the largest rock he could find up the hill and laid it before Jeong Jeong. He nodded approvingly again, this time with a smile.
The world seemed to spin around them as Zuko improved his Chi channeling even more by meditating hours and hours, improving his training as a whole much more.
Doing basics by the river banks in the afternoon, Zuko's fire attacks grew so bright that parts of the forest began to become lighten up by it.
When night fell, Jeong Jeong looked from his hut to see Zuko practicing by the river bank as he had the whole month, the giant flames he produced from his fists and feet lighting up almost the entire riverbank.
One night a few of the locals from the Fire nation colony had seen Zuko's intense physical training the past month set out to scrap with him.
"So you think you're tough out here all on your own huh?" a few of the confident young men chuckled and punched their own palms, flames emanating.
Zuko accepted by getting into his stance and allowing them all to attack. They all bent at his face and Zuko avoided the flames by doing a spin kick over the ground in a leg sweep, striking all the young men's legs in a perfectly executed spinning attack.
Two fell over with burnt shins, but the other two kept fighting. They rolled aside to avoid a [Blaze Punch] from Zuko and struck him back. Zuko spun his hands around at the same time as he practiced with Jeong Jeong in their forms and the flames dissipated. Zuko launched into the air with a fire press he learned from the forms and when he landed on the ground he used the new fire technique he learned from Jeong Jeong [Fire Quake].
Flames burst out and the two young men bent through it with their blocks and pressed on.
One of them nearly got Zuko's face burnt again but he blocked it and turned to [Scorch Kick] the other firebender behind him. The strike got the man right in the midsection, being a controlled attack that was effective enough to put him out for the fight but not kill him.
The last remaining boy near Zuko's age from the colony who wanted to test his luck proved to indeed be the strongest of his group. Zuko and him traded flames for minutes on end, the two eventually summoning a large amount of Chi and sending a giant blast of fire at each other.
Two large flames met, lighting up the riverbank, pushing against each other. Zuko not only had more Chi but also had better control, and it wasn't before long before his fire won out over his opponents and the boy stumbled back while dissipating what pierced through.
Not wasting a second as he saw an opening by dashing up to him, Zuko applied all of Jeong Jeong's training in a completely focused body punch in the center of the Fire colony boys chest, nearly shattering his sternum in the process and sending him flying backward across the riverbank.
Zuko turned to Jeong Jeong who he knew was watching who smiled and nodded his head in a tiny bow. Zuko, ever respectful of his teacher, bowed back.
The following day, Zuko and Jeong Jeong sat face to face on their meditation mats and bowed to each other, their noses quite close to the ground to indicate Zuko had successfully improved as well as Jeong Jeong had wanted him to. Jeong Jeong stood up with his pupil and spoke to him. "You have done quite well Zuko but you still have much to learn. I am proud of the work you have done so far on the goals I have set for you."
"Thank you master Jeong Jeong." Zuko bowed and Jeong Jeong bowed back.
Jeong Jeong walked along the river bank with Zuko as they spoke. "Your uncle would be very impressed with your improvement as well. Perhaps you should return to Ba Sing Se before the end of summer."
"I'll have to think about it." responded Zuko.
Jeong Jeong admitted something. "I never would've guessed that you would've been one of my first true students."
"Well why?"
"You are Ozai's son after all. I wanted to leave the Fire Nation behind to get away from the Royal Family, not train part of it." Zuko looked down and Jeong Jeong sighed. "I understand that the situation with your family is, difficult. But if you set proper goals for where you want to go in life then maybe you could be more focused."
Zuko looked across the river bank and thought about this for a moment. Seeing his reflection along with his teachers, Zuko balled his fists as he touched his burn on his eye. "I know what I want to do. I want to become strong enough to defeat my father in an Agni Kai, and win our fight from when he burned me."
"Your father wouldn't be so merciful if he knew you would be coming to avenge his banishment of you."
Zuko shook his head. "It wouldn't be for that. For everyone he's wronged."
Jeong Jeong stroked his beard. "I fear that this may come from a place of hatred. Which may upset your Chi-"
"Forget my Chi for once!" Zuko snapped and turned to his teacher. "He's conquered the whole world! The entire world hates firebenders because of his cruelty! And now, everywhere I go I have to suffer for his mistakes, hiding who I really am. From the people I love! Aren't you angry that you have to live in hiding because you were too kind to be his soldier? At all?"
Jeong Jeong looked at his pupil calmly. "I see you might've directed your desire to find the avatar to defeating your father out of anger. But I feel shame in having failed to give you a proper source of emotion to base your bending off of. Would you like me to tell you the truth about those who choose mind chi as their primary source?"
Zuko nodded as he cooled off slowly.
"They value your emotions over all else, as you do. Your self-image becomes the very foundation for your bending, every bit of training you do is to improve that image. Out of emotion and desire you drive to bend, instead of reason or tranquility."
"Wouldn't using more mind chi mean I'm more logical?"
Jeong Jeong shook his head and pointed to the center of Zuko's chest. "That is not your emotional center." Jeong Jeong tapped Zuko's temple. "That is. Having mind chi be your primary pathway offers you the strongest and largest source of energy for bending, but not the most stable. Mind types such as yourself often hurt themselves more than they do others, and in are at the highest risk for rupturing their own chi paths."
"How can that happen?" asked Zuko.
"Due to having more chi than you can control, your firebending is much stronger than your body would be able to procure normally, and so you were made physically strong to reconcile this. Your family is much more composed and decisive about their emotions, and thus they are able to control their chi much better. If you were to use fire focus techniques like the Flaming Fist, the sheer amount of chi flowing from your mind to your fist would do more than damage your body. It could permanently damage chi vessels, and you may never be able to bend again. More importantly, it may even kill you if the rupture is too great."
Zuko looked down at his feet. "I understand. I will try to be more controlled in my emotions moving forward."
"You have learned well from your uncle." said Jeong Jeong after this. "Fire focus techniques can only be used by masters such as your uncle or father. Otherwise, you may very well hurt yourself while trying. They are the most powerful firebending techniques in the known world, but also the most dangerous for the user. You have mastered the basics of firebending I believe."
Zuko looked at Jeong Jeong surprisedly.
"For your age and skill level, I believe."
Zuko shrugged and nodded a little.
"Rest well tonight, we begin training again tomorrow. Last month we worked on chi channeling and physical strength. This month we will focus on combat and strikes."
Zuko bowed and walked back to the hut he used to sleep in while training with Jeong Jeong, just across the dirt path from Jeong Jeong's hut. Before he slept in his cot, Zuko checked his stats and improvement using the [Interface].
Name: Zuko (Alias: Li)
Class: The Gamer/Firebender
Level: 30 (1079/15000 EXP)
Title: Banished Prince
Age: 16
Health Points: 700/700
Chi Points: 700/700
STR: 26 (+5)
STA: 27 (+10)
DEX: 15
INT: 18
AGI: 24 (+10)
LUK: 7
Earth Kingdom Copper Pieces: 27, Earth Kingdom Silver Pieces: 29, Earth Kingdom Gold Pieces: 27
Special Status: None
Perks: -Adept Firebender (-20% Chi Point consumption when bending fire)
-Focused (-15% Chi Point consumption when using all |Fire Techniques|)
-Easy on the Eyes (+20% speed Progression in female 'routes')
-Tenacious (+2 to all [Statistics] in combat)
-Vital (+10 to |DMG| ability and -5% to Chi Point consumption when bending fire)
Flaws:
-Apathetic (-10% speed progression to all 'routes')
-Hotheaded (-5% speed progression to all romantic 'routes')
Known fire techniques:
-Flame Gout (Level 16, 004/130)
-Blaze (Level 11, 007/110)
-Fire Punch (Level 36, 019/150)
-Lightning Bending (Level 3, 002/220)
-Fire Press (Level 5, 032/190)
[Press here to expand this list]
Zuko noticed how the [System] told him that he had become much stronger as he had better stats, which reflected his actual physical improvement as well. His fire techniques were much higher level, which made sense to him as he'd improved with their application since training with Jeong Jeong. The flames he created when using these techniques had grown much hotter and larger, in combination with the smaller amount of chi he used when bending.
Zuko fell asleep soon after, having come to terms with having the [Gamer] ability and now making sense of it as a way of measuring his progress as a firebender.
"Rawr," purred Ty Lee as she saw Zuko's bare upper body lying on his bed through his open front door to his hut. She then closed it, and ran silently over to Jeong Jeong's hut and tiptoed to his bed as he slept. She made a creaking sound against the floorboard as Jeong Jeong snored, before he stopped and woke up.
A swish of flames flew out from Jeong Jeong's fist as he bent outward to burn Ty Lee's ankles. She gasped and jumped to avoid this before landing back on the ground and jabbing Jeong Jeong's shoulder blade with a knife hand and another quick strike.
Jeong Jeong yelled in pain before he temporarily lost the ability to bend with his right arm, Ty Lee then knocking the old man out with her heel. As she dragged an unconscious Jeong Jeong out of his hut over her shoulders, Zuko had heard his teacher yell and had run out of his hut. "Master!?"
Ty Lee fled carrying Jeong Jeong with her and Zuko grunted. He flew towards her with a boost from the [Blaze] he created behind him and he chased her in the forest.
"Let go of him!" roared Zuko as he kept running through the forest after her.
Despite his intense physical training for the past month, Ty Lee was able to fly about from tree branches carrying Jeong Jeong with her. Zuko saw he was on the verge of letting his master get captured and so he did something drastic. He flew into the air with a burst from his [Blaze], setting off from the ground like an arrow and soaring at attack range to Ty Lee.
He aimed a perfectly timed [Blaze Punch] that caught Ty Lee at her shoulder. The acrobat shrieked and instantly dropped Jeong Jeong from being two meters or so in the air.
Zuko cushioned his fall with a [Fire Press] that sent flames spilling everywhere when he landed back again on the forest floor. Ty Lee landed hard on the ground and got knocked out in the process and so did an unconscious Jeong Jeong.
Zuko used his improved high |STR| stat to carry both of them to the Jeong Jeong's camp where his tribe could heal both of them, running as fast as he could to get them the help they needed as soon as possible.
~000~
~000~
~000~
And so, Zuko's OPness won't be too soon, but he is coming along as a really strong firebender, and will only get more powerful from here on out. With Jeong Jeong and Iroh as his teachers, having a ton of chi, and having a bloodline of the strongest firebenders ever, Zuko has more than enough potential to stand toe to toe with Ozai after training hard enough. Ty Lee's route will be unlocked by Zuko next chapter and Zuko will continue his training with Jeong Jeong.
I always wanted to see more interaction between Jeong Jeong and Zuko, it seems they'd become great friends because they're both deserters of the Fire Nation and have a long history with it.
Thank you all for reading, reviewing, and supporting! It means a great deal! If any of you are interested check out my RWBY story 'Arc of Legend.' Again, thank you all for supporting this story and have a good day!
Also, thanks for letting this story pass 300 follows, means a lot guys I really appreciate it.