"Hahaha!"
Somewhere at the flat peak of a small mountain, Jin was laughing as he watched Aang struggle to walk whilst carrying a boulder on his back.
"Speed it up Twinkletoes!"
"You can't run away kid."
Both Genji and Toph looked at Aang with smirks on their faces as they trained Aang and submitted him to Hako's training.
Jin laughed a bit more before standing up and turning around to leave, but just as he took his first step, a hand clasped onto his shoulder, immobilizing him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Genji asked as he gave Jin a smirk.
"To play!"
With great confidence, Jin responded, not fearing anything that Genji nor anyone would tell him to do anything. The reason being that there is NO ONE that could teach him firebending.
Keeping that thought in mind, Jin decided to play until they introduce him to a firebending teacher.
"I think I heard something ridiculous just now," said Genji as he 'cleaned' his ears out with a pinky.
"It's not ridiculous! I'm going to play with Katara!" Jin responded with a wide and childish smile.
"Heh…"
Scoffing, Genji turned to look at Toph, who was also 'looking' at him.
"Go ahead Toph…"
"Right on!"
With a wide and mischievous smile on her face, Toph stomped the floor hard with on foot before punching the ground with the other.
Crrk!
A few pillars of earth that are big enough to be stepped on spirited out from the ground. Long enough to give light injuries should one fall down.
"This is where you'll be training," said Genji as he turned to look at the amazed Jin.
"What? No way!"
Jin exclaimed in disbelief and a smile on his face as he ran to the earth pillars and inspecting them.
"How will these help me train?"
"By training your footwork and balance whilst practicing some moves," said Genji as he pointed to the top of the earth pillars.
Jin looked at the earth pillars in joy but quickly turned sad as he shook his head, "I won't be able to begin training…"
"Why not?"
"Because I have no firebending teacher," Jin replied, a disappointed look on his face.
Genji shook his head with a smile and slapped the back of the kid's head, "Don't worry about that. I know enough about firebending than the next firebending master."
Rubbing the back of his head, Jin looked at Genji's confident expression and decided to believe him this once.
"Now, look at me closely," said Genji as he jumped up to the earth pillars and effortlessly stood on them. "Pay close attention, I will only show this to you this once."
A serious look sprouted on Jin's face after hearing Genji mention that he will only demonstrate the training once. This seriousness was approved by Genji after noticing the concentration in his eyes.
'With this, he will put more effort into remembering everything at a glance and passing close attention to details. The more I do this, the more he will train his mind,' thought Genji as he began to perform the Dragon Dance firebending art.
However, because of his level 40 Martial Arts skill and his engineered level 40 Waterbending skill, Genji gained some inspiration.
He closed his eyes mid-way through his demonstration, Genji suddenly stopped moving.
Genji remained still and quiet as Jin looked at Genji, confused as to why he was standing still.
Noticing what was happening with her seismic sensing ability, Toph walked over to stand next to Jin.
"Don't bother him, he might be feeling inspired right now," mentioned Toph as she crossed her arms across her firm bountiful chest.
Jin turned to look at Toph with a curious look on his face.
"Inspired?"
"It means that he's going to get much more skilled now," explained Toph as she punched her hand's palm with an excited look on her face, wishing to fight Genji.
Even if Toph isn't a battle maniac, she loves improving her skills and becoming stronger. Challenging Genji just might mean that she will be able to use him to train and become stronger herself!
"Wow!"
Jin exclaimed in awe before turning his attention back to Genji who was still in his enlightened state.
It was such a curious thing for Genji as he delve deep into firebending. His mind was calm and it ignored everything on the outside.
No distracting thoughts.
Just him and his three skills, Firebending, Waterbending, and Martial Arts.
He took inspiration from Waterbending and advanced not just his Firebending skill, but also his Martial Arts.
Genji studied, improved, and then tried mixing his Skills.
After what seemed like days to Genji, his eyes snapped open after spending half an hour in his trance.
"Pay attention!"
Without wasting a second, Genji began to move, demonstrating his own variation of firebending.
Fwoo!
His fist shot out in an instant with impressive speed and a powerful strength behind that fist. Not stopping just there, Genji powered on with a strong intensity like fire itself as he shot out once more.
Fwoo!
Jin's eyes were glued on Genji and memorized everything Genji was doing.
Fwoo!
Genji continued to move intensely, like a devastating fire that was burning down a large forest.
His eyes were closed as he immersed himself within his very own firebending style. Effortlessly stepping on each earth pillar despite having his eyes closed, Genji moved through the various earth pillars effortlessly.
With wide open eyes, Jin looked at Genji who looked like he had become a bright blue flame.
Sh…
"Huh? What was that?!"
Jin's eyes widened when he saw a white steamy cloud come out of Genji's hands.
Tss!
A steaming hot vapor cloud came out of Genji's fist before vanishing into the air.
Tss!
Another fist shot out, followed by another burst of steam.
"Is this another form of Waterbending?" Toph asked herself as she heard the sounds created by the vapor Genji was creating.
Tsss…
Slowly coming to a halt, Genji opened his eyes before turning to gaze at Jin.
"Remember the moves and practice them," said Genji, jumping down from the rock pillars. "Recreate it with firebending."
"Y-yes!"
Jin stood up straight and nodded fiercely before jumping up on the rock pillars and doing what Genji was doing.
Glancing at Jin doing a poor imitation of what he just did, Genji turned to look at Toph who was pointing at him.
"Was that Waterbending?"
Genji smirked, an arrogant look in his eyes, "Yes and no."
"Yes and no?" Toph furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"
"I used Waterbending, but I also used firebending at the same time," Genji explained as he made a little flame with his left hand and condensed a couple droplets of water on his right.
"That's… rather amazing. Combining both elements into one to create a new bending art."
Genji nodded before dissipating the flame and letting the water droplets drop to the floor.
"I still need to refine it a bit," said Genji as he thought about his new style of Firebending, his enlightened martial arts, and even his new bending art. 'To think I was enlightened once more without the enlightenment skill. Just why isn't it gaining any experience?'
Genji glanced at the multiple red screens at the corner of his eyes.
[ERROR!]
[N3w 5k1ll D*sco$ered *&^^#]
[ERROR!]
[Firebending &*@^#]
[ERROR!]
[Martial Arts >?*&@%^$#]
[ERROR!]
'The system is no longer registering anything… Did I break it? How?'
Toph smirked and slapped Genji's back, "You're pretty impressive. I might even ask for some advice."
"Oh really?~"
"Might."
Genji chuckled and shook his head before turning to look at the clumsy Jin up on the rock pillars and Aang who was still struggling to carry the boulder on his back.
Clenching her fists, Toph wondered if she really could do the same as Genji.
Create her own bending art…
It was such an outlandish idea, but yet it made her feel inspired to try harder in her own training.
'I'll surpass you soon Genji…' thought Toph with a cute smirk on her face.
…
Days passed by and little by little, Genji and the rest made their way over to Spring Palms Oasis. They were currently camping next to a stream with Appa Express keeping the wild animals away whilst everyone slept and trained in the morning.
Fwoosh!
A bright flame burst into the air followed by another fire that burned brightly.
"You're doing good, kid. Just relax your arms before flexing them at the last moment for a stronger force," explained Genji as he looked at Jin train and shoot strong bursts of fire.
Jin nodded subtly before doing what Genji told him. It took him a couple of tries, but he eventually got one proper move in.
Practicing a couple more sets, Genji eventually nodded before having Jin stop to rest.
"Good, you can begin meditating now. Recall everything you just did and calm your mind."
Jin sat down on the ground and was just about to begin meditating when he suddenly had a thought.
'Is meditating really that useful?'
"Meditating is useful."
Jumping in fright, Jin looked at Genji, wondering if he could read minds.
"No, I can't read minds. It's just that you are easy to read, kid," said Genji as he looked at Jin with a mocking expression.
"Is it really useful?"
"Meditating helps you keep your calm and makes it easier for the chi in your body to flow much easier. Even a novice like you might have a chance to defeat an expert if he loses his cool."
"Does that mean I can defeat Mistress Toph?!" (A/N: I will use the term mistress for any female master.)
Genji shook his head in disdain and said, "Not in the slightest. You might not even land a hit on her."
Jin frowned and looked at Genji as if he was being lied to and being led around.
"But you said that I will be able to defeat experts."
"I said that you MIGHT have a chance to defeat an expert. Someone like Toph who has incorporated her bending into her everyday life isn't someone who you would hope to defeat in all your life no matter how much you train."
Sighing in defeat, Jin closed his eyes and meditated with a frown on his face, a frown that disappeared after a couple seconds of meditation.
Leaving Jin to meditate, Genji went ahead and joined Toph and Aang who were still training.
Since their first day of training, Aang was beginning to make some progress. He managed to get the hang of Earthbending in the third day, and by now, he finally became a novice.
A rather talented one as well.
Looking at the two training from afar, Genji looked at Aang who was training with a blindfold on.
'Learning Seismic Sense… I already don't need that ability anymore. With spirit sense and even the awakened senses,' thought Genji as he turned his gaze over to Toph who was smiling with a slight curl of the corner of her lips.
"Come on Twinkletoes, you're being tossed around like balls in a sack," said Toph, causing Genji to chuckle and Aang to blush.
"D-don't say inappropriate stuff like that Toph," Aang muttered, embarrassed before being hit by a rock.
"UGH!"
"What do you mean Twinkletoes? I was talking about the round bouncy balls that little kids play with, what could you be thinking about?" teased Toph as she sent another rock attack at Aang and threw him off balance.
"You… I… Ah!"
Aang blushed even more and with a red face, he fell to the ground with a THUD.
"Is that all you have Twinkletoes? I haven't even begun to taunt you yet," said Toph as she crossed her arms together, pushing up her breasts.
"I think I'll rather not do that…"
Shaking her head, Toph turned to look at Genji with a smile and said, "How about you? Are you up for a small match?
I'll make sure to take you down this time!"
'Even if you are not even using your bending abilities and just fighting with your staff, searching for something…'
Toph grit her teeth, infuriated at herself because she couldn't defeat Genji who was only using his staff. With countless fights against Genji, Toph was able to notice that Genji wasn't even taking the fights seriously, it was like he was a moth in the darkness, searching for a light.
'Is he looking for another enlightenment?'
Looking over at Genji who was currently holding his staff whilst keeping his eyes closed, Toph calmed herself and relaxed her mind before putting a serious look on her face.
'I'll make sure to take you down this time!'
Meanwhile, Genji was feeling frustrated for a different reason as he opened one of his eyes and gazed at Toph.
'When will you understand that metal contains earth elements before you begin to create metalbending?
Do I have to slap you silly with my stick a bit more?'