Chương 9: Maintaining the Balance: Ch. 9
A few days after Korra's eighth birthday, a convoy was arranged to escort her to a secret training facility that had been constructed for her near the Southern Water Tribe's Capital City.
From above, the Southern Water Tribe Compound resembled a sword tip jutting out from the base of a mountain. It was surrounded by walls of ice more than 40m tall, and, while there were several hidden passageways, the only way to enter was through the massive gate located near the 'tip' of the sword-shaped compound.
As it had been designed explicitly for Korra's training, the compound's interior was furnished with a 500m track, a series of obstacle courses, and a large, elevated arena used for sparring. In the event of inclement weather, there was also an indoor gym with weights and stones of various sizes she could use to exercise.
To ensure the comfort of Korra and her mother, the White Lotus had even gone out of their way to prepare a replica of her childhood home near the compound's entrance. The only difference was a small igloo situated near the back, a private room where Korra could stay when she felt the need to get away from others.
The only part of the compound that wasn't intended for Korra's exclusive use was the fortress-like structure near the mountain's base. It served as a temporary Headquarters for the White Lotus and an emergency shelter to protect from winter storms and enemy invasions. Korra could enter it if she wanted to, but she would need someone to escort her.
In a blatant attempt to keep a closer eye on him, Kahn's residence was intended to be near the barracks occupied by the White Lotus Sentries. Instead, he ended up staying with Katara after she argued that it would be good for her to have someone nearby in the event of an emergency. She wasn't exactly getting any younger, so there were times when she could use an extra pair of hands.
Seeing no reason to refuse, Kahn accepted Katara's arrangements since his only other option was to camp outdoors or find someplace to stay in the nearby city. He had no intention of holing himself up with a bunch of soldiers in a place where Korra wasn't allowed to visit freely, so Katara's surprisingly cozy igloo was the best option available to him.
Fortunately, despite her words, Katara was remarkably self-sufficient. The only things Kahn ended up helping her with were a few household chores and the occasional meal prep. Even then, she never outright asked him to help out; Kahn just felt awkward staying there without doing anything...
...
..
.
Though he could have spent his newfound free time working in the Spirit World, Kahn decided to spend his days observing Korra's training.
In the beginning, Korra had told Kahn not to come since she didn't want him seeing her progress and developing measures against her. What she hadn't accounted for was the amount of free time she would have during, or, more accurately, between her lessons. Thus, after suffering through a few days of boredom, she eventually gave in and allowed him to observe from a distance.
Thanks to the type of the Spirit he was fused with, Kahn's sight, sense of smell, and hearing were significantly more attuned than any human's. He could make out the features of a person's face from well over a kilometer away, so Korra insisting he watch from a distance did not affect his ability to ascertain the specifics of her training. If anything, it made things easier for him.
By observing from a distance, Kahn could better grasp the nuances of the techniques Katara was trying to teach. By cross-referencing these details with the information within his mind, he could identify virtually everything being taught. The only time he was even remotely confused by what was going on was when Katara taught one of her self-created techniques or failed to execute a more complex art due to her advanced age.
Based on the other Masters that Kahn had observed, Katara's finesse and control were head and shoulders above the rest. However, despite this, it was difficult for Kahn to view her as a genuine Master.
Because of his immense knowledge, Kahn couldn't help feeling that the bar for mastery had been set remarkably low. Thousands of years of war and several efforts to erase Bending knowledge had drastically reduced the average strength of Benders across the globe. Back during the Era of Wan, the First Avatar, humans could fight against Spirits and Spirit Beasts on equal footing. Now, if even a single Spirit were to be released into the human world, not even a group of Benders would be able to stop it.
The thing that annoyed Kahn the way even the most basic knowledge of Bending's origins had been erased. Groups such as the White Lotus were aware of the existence of Chi, but, more often than not, its secrets were shared via word of mouth and only to other 'Masters'.
Knowledge of Chi had improved with the relatively recent spread of Chi Blocking and Healing, but, even then, very few people understood just how instrumental it was to Bending.
Bending was, at its core, the ability to manipulate Chi beyond the body to exert influence over the environment. In other words, true mastery over the art of Bending could only be ascertained through mastery over one's Chi. It was purely a matter of quantity and control, not any specific way of movement.
In the distant past, even untrained vagrants, people who only had access to Bending thanks to the Lion Turtles, could perform incredible feats from the start. What these early Benders didn't know was that the Lion Turtles had granted them a very tiny fraction of their own Chi.
As the Chi of the Lion Turtles could not be passed down, the descendants of the early Benders, commonly referred to as Pioneers, were significantly weaker than their ancestors. To compensate, they developed Martial Arts and innumerable Styles of Bending. While this wasn't the wrong way to go about things, the mistake of these Pioneers was that they often neglected the spiritual aspect of Bending.
During the Ear of Wan, humanity was constantly at war with itself and the Spirits. A few of the more prominent tribes around that time even turned on the very Lion Turtles that had granted their ancestors power in the first place. These tribes had convinced themselves that consuming the flesh of a Lion Turtle, one of the beings that had selflessly protected humanity for generations, would increase their power and bestow them with the gift of immortality.
While consuming the flesh of a Lion Turtle did increase the power of one's Bending, it also cursed both them and their entire family line. The moment they died, Dark Spirits would be drawn to the scent of the Lion Turtle that had attached itself to them in the form of a grudge. After that, their Spirits would suffer hundreds, if not thousands of years, being digested until not even a trace of them remained.
Though Kahn's Creator had taken steps to remedy that particular aspect of the Actualized World of the Avatar, there were still a number of deeply rooted issues that needed to be resolved. The crux of the matter was that Kahn didn't care. Unless Korra approached him and asked for his help, he had very little interest in fixing the world abroad. He may be an Avatar, but he was not THE Avatar.
The only reason Kahn was even considering lending a hand was that it was almost painful to see Korra being led astray despite Katara's good intentions.
Kahn knew that Korra was determined to defeat him. Hardly a day went by when she didn't actively remind him of that same goal. The problem was, no matter how much Korra trained with Katara, she would never get any closer to defeating him. Katara was exceptionally skilled compared to the vast majority of Waterbenders, but she was nowhere near the level of what Kahn considered to be a Master.
Though Kahn rarely trained his body outside of his playtime with Korra, his power had increased exponentially since his 'arrival' in the Actualized World. He never missed a day of Chi training, and, thanks to his ten-hour meditation sessions, his control had improved considerably since the time he nearly fried his insides using the Lightning Infusion Technique.
While he would be no match for a fully actualized Avatar, primarily due to the fact Raava provided her host with infinite Chi, Kahn was confident he could best several self-proclaimed Masters without breaking a sweat. If he didn't play fair and fight them head-on, they might not even know how they died...
With such thoughts plaguing his mind, Kahn appeared to be staring off into space from the perspective of others. It wasn't until Korra looked over and started waving at him that he came back to his senses.
"Hmmm? Is she already finished...?"
Extending his hands, thick bands of electricity emerged from Kahn's palms, his hair becoming noticeably more rigid as he levitated himself from the ground. Then, in a stunning display of speed, he appeared next to Korra and Katara before dissipating the lightning and asking, "What's up?"
Though she had been smiling previously, Korra clicked her tongue when Kahn rushed over, muttering, "Show off..." before immediately losing her desire to demonstrate the new techniques she had learned.
Blinking in confusion, Kahn looked between Korra and Katara only to find the elderly Waterbender staring back at him with an exasperated smile on her face.
Piecing things together relatively quickly, Kahn returned his gaze to Korra, retorting, "I just spent the past three hours watching you show off. Don't I get a chance...?"
Cocking her head to the side, Korra responded with a confused, "Huh...?" before quickly asking, "How was I showing off...?"
Without missing a beat, Kahn adopted a faint smile as she said, "You pick up new techniques remarkably fast. Even your predecessor, Avatar Aang, struggled to master the elements until well after the Hundred-Years War. You're only eight years old, and you're already mastering the self-created techniques of one of the greatest Wanderbending Masters in the world. If that's not showing off, I don't know what is..."
Not expecting such a detailed response, Korra suddenly became bashful as she placed her hands into her pockets and averted her face and eyes to the side. It was pretty rare to hear Kahn compliment someone, so she didn't know how to react to receiving such high praise.
"My, my...you truly are an intelligent one, aren't you, Kahn? If Aang had been half as smooth as you, I might have become a criminal..."
Taken aback by Katara's words, Kahn was about to say something when Korra beat him to the punch, shouting, "Gran gran! What are you saying!?" while grabbing the tufts of hair dangling from the sides of her head.
Amused by Korra's reaction, Katara issued a light chuckle before sending a wink towards Kahn's and saying, "These bones of mine are beginning to ache. I think I'll head home to get an early start on dinner. Why don't you take Korra somewhere to play? Just make sure to have her home before it gets dark."
"..."
Unable to respond to Katara's teasing, Kahn just stared blankly as the old woman scurried off with the sound of her laughter lingering in the breeze. An indescribably awkward silence descended upon the platform where he and Korra were standing. Fortunately, depending on how you viewed the situation, Korra was never the type to allow such silences to linger. After a minute or two had passed, she mustered up the courage to tug on Kahn's sleeve and ask, "Where do you want to go...?"
Coming to his senses in response to Korra's words, Kahn found himself suppressing a sigh as he closed his eyes and answered, "Wherever you want to go..."
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