Avatar - Conquering the Elements-Chapter 176. Contact

130 years after the genocide of the Air Nomads. Earth Kingdom. Ba Sing Se. National Library.

For an entire day, a crowd had been gathering near one of the continent's largest book repositories. Numerous distinguished scholars, seemingly reverting to their teenage years, engaged in heated debates, gestured animatedly, and displayed lively, eager eyes. Since early morning, a long line had formed, comprising prominent writers, historians, archivists, archaeologists, ethnographers, anthropologists, and others connected to the study of history.

The cause of this commotion was the latest shipment of ancient manuscripts from the Library of Wan Shi Tong. It's embarrassing to admit, but even these educated and well-read individuals had doubted the existence of real spirits until the very end. After all, it's hard to believe in something one has never encountered, especially since interactions with the spiritual world are primarily the domain of practitioners and mages.

Gradually, people began to grasp the reality of the challenges ahead. In a couple of years, they would read Wan Shi Tong's records themselves and then bring the question of interacting with benevolent spirits to the public, aiming to maintain the world's familiar balance. Of course, this would not be possible without the considerable assistance of the four senators.

After a few hours of actively studying the newly arrived materials, another heated debate erupted in one of the National Library's conference halls.

"And you believe in some copies that supposedly survived over many years?! I had a better opinion of you, colleagues!" exclaimed one member of the small group of "non-believers," who neither accepted nor understood how anyone could trust such unverified information.

"It's because of people like you that our predecessors and teachers were barred from the doors of the hidden Library of the Great Wan Shi Tong!" retorted a member of the opposing side. "My highly respected Uncle Zey, once the head of the Anthropology Department at Ba Sing Se University, visited the Library long ago! The knowledge he brought back was initially rejected by our circles too! But as the years passed, his work gained worldwide recognition! Ha, I get it! You're probably from the caste of people who still believe the Earth is flat?" The last remark was clearly sarcastic, as in the distant past, anyone who claimed otherwise was labeled with scientific but highly humiliating nicknames.

"What nonsense! Our planet is a geoid or an ellipsoid of rotation!" he couldn't help but respond to the taunt.

"I understand you perfectly, friends!" continued the nephew of Anthropologist Zey. "We, more than anyone, must verify all information for accuracy, but we shouldn't be too biased—we need to remain open to the world! Let's express our gratitude to Senator Yo, who managed to secure the delivery of these valuable books and open the doors to the secretive Library. Those who don't believe can visit the walls of this grand structure themselves, see the hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts with their own eyes... Maybe you'll even get to speak with the keeper of this repository of knowledge. From what I've heard, he enjoys it when people bring him something new and unexplored."

Of course, the arguments didn't end there—there were still a thousand and one topics that needed to be discussed, debated, and "argued over." In a way, it's fortunate that Wan Shi Tong is currently busy and rarely visits the Library. Otherwise, fools daring to discredit his knowledge would have to be scraped off the walls in heaps. Most likely, there's no better trigger than telling the Spirit of Knowledge that his own knowledge is incorrect or inaccurate...

Overall, the world already knows that benevolent spirits exist—they are relatively peaceful and quirky creatures, often appearing cute. And there are dark spirits—terrifying and malevolent monsters that wouldn't mind snacking on a human. Fewer people understand the hierarchy of spiritual powers, primarily practitioners and mages, whose mandatory curriculum includes a subject called "Spiritology." Over a year, students are drilled with useful knowledge that will help them survive in the future. Lectures detail how to identify a spirit's element by appearance, explain their main weaknesses, and professors generally try to increase the survival rate of humans encountering aggressively inclined inhabitants of the Spirit World.

These preparations aren't made in vain, as governments soon plan to enact a law requiring all mages and practitioners above the intermediate level to undergo a year-long residency in the Spirit World. Society has an excess of individuals wielding considerable power, whether mages or practitioners—they all need an outlet for their energy.

Humanity always needs some kind of enemy, or people will "devour" themselves...

*

Spirit World. First mixed settlement.

Several months ago, the first experimental village emerged, housing a mix of spirits of different elements alongside mages and practitioners. Somehow, humans and spirits needed to begin communicating, so why not simply observe how they behave when living in close proximity?

Initially, the arriving mages and practitioners viewed the spirits with caution. After months spent in this world, they were accustomed to seeing spirits only on the other side of the barricades. The spirits' relatively harmless appearance created a dissonance—it's hard to expect danger from an upright walking leaf or a turtle-shaped rock barely moving. Dark spirits, unlike their benevolent counterparts, favor menacing growths, sharp claws, teeth, and other attributes that scream their allegiance to the dark side.

By the end of the first day, people realized that the spirits were harmless but annoyingly curious. They were interested in everything: from the humans themselves to all their activities. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get angry with them—they had been warned that the surrounding spirits were of medium and lower ranks, mentally resembling human children. There was one higher-ranking spirit among them, but he only intervened in extreme cases, allowing his charges to interact with the other species.

The results of this symbiosis bore fruit within the first week. Various questions began to form in the small, still-empty minds of the spirits. Questions, in turn, indicated some form of cognitive activity. Ultimately, the spirits started mimicking human actions more frequently. Earthbending mages, following their learned methods, had built sturdy one-story houses on the first day—the spirits attempted to imitate them. The first few dozen houses were disastrous, honestly too pitiful to look at without sympathy. Later, they were often seen sitting together, exchanging ideas about constructing dwellings, according to the equally astonished higher spirit. Yes, it was all like kindergarten, as they often didn't understand what they wanted to achieve, but progress was visible, and that was what mattered. It's worth noting that spirits of this level rarely even consider creation—for a comfortable life, they simply lie on the ground.

After a couple of days, the settlement resembled a surreal painting, a mix of well-maintained houses and... shacks. There's no other way to describe their attempts at homes, but it was clear they were trying. Improvements were made every day.

After a month of observation, it could be confidently stated: if a group of humans enters the spirits' orderly lives, the latter become much more active, and their cognitive abilities grow daily. One moment perfectly illustrated this.

"How... correctly... make... roof?" an earth spirit suddenly asked a mage.

"He spoke?" the human muttered uncertainly, glancing at his equally bewildered friends. Only after the spirit asked again, correctly declining the word "roof," did they manage to react. For an entire month, this particular spirit had been following them around, getting on their nerves. Who would have thought that all this time, he had been trying to learn to speak!

In the end, they helped him build a sturdy house, which delighted the spirit immensely.

But the proximity wasn't beneficial only to the spirits. The mages also learned a great deal, as spirits manipulate elements far more naturally than humans. Practitioners, however, remained largely unnoticed, as spirits were wary of individuals from whose bodies life energy periodically emanated. Fortunately, their psychology was equally adaptable—they grew accustomed to being near practitioners.

After a month and a half of "adjustment," they began sending them to eliminate small groups of opponents. Oh, that's when the higher command freaked out, some even vocally. The spirits had never heard of formations or ranks. They simply charged at the enemy, indistinguishable from dark spirits. During the first clash, the friendly spirits' chaotic movements caused more harm than good. Mages couldn't properly deploy their techniques without hitting their allies, and practitioners also struggled—they had to rescue spirit kamikazes from dark spirit attacks while avoiding friendly fire themselves.

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"What did I do to deserve this punishment?" the commander responsible for merging spirits and humans asked himself. "I spent five whole years training recruits to work effectively in mixed groups of mages and practitioners. And this is their gratitude?! Sending me to the Spirit World to train more screw-ups? 'We value your pedagogical talents, so only you can develop effective templates for spirit-human interaction,'" he concluded, clearly mocking someone.

"Who else but us, boss," his assistant replied weakly. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to such speeches, knowing his superior would still do his job thoroughly and professionally.

After three months of joint training and countless frayed nerves from the commander-trainer, they seemed to have made some progress. On a small plain opposite them gathered a relatively small horde of spirits.

"Act according to our teachings, and you'll be able to turn these creatures back into energy without any losses!" the commander gave his final encouragement, satisfied with the orderly rows of humans and spirits. "Forward!" he bellowed, leading the charge.

They moved in a triangular formation, with practitioners at the attack's tip. In the battle's first seconds, the green swords in their hands claimed the lives of a couple dozen spirits. Those who survived were finished off by the spirits. Mages, in turn, bombarded the enemy's rear ranks, weakening the path for the practitioners. Acting as a single organism, they mowed down the dark spirits like a lawnmower through grass.

"They're ready to meet higher spirits," the commander thought to himself, managing to assess his students' actions while actively participating in the battle.

*

Settlement of cat-like spirits.

"Good news! Mr. Kuro's family has a new addition!" This delightful news quickly spread through the settlement, prompting all spirits to hurry over with congratulations and, of course, to see the little one—the spirit child? In general, they wanted to see...

The female cat spirits who came to Kuro's house examined Chitara's partner with calculating gleams in their eyes. What else could they do? Barely any time had passed, and they already had an offspring! This strange being must possess some ability to create life.

"She takes after me entirely!" Kuro proclaimed proudly, gazing at the little girl, who currently resembled an ordinary human child. Though, with her purple hair, dark skin, and golden eyes, she reminded someone of... "Yorichi, show grandpa what you can do," Kuro said, his voice taking on a pleading tone. Yo couldn't resist throwing a mocking glance at his father-in-law, as if saying, "Even you have a weakness!"

The little girl loved being the center of attention, so the next second, a small black-furred kitten appeared beside her.

"Just like me in my youth!" Kuro laughed, shrinking to a smaller size. There was indeed a resemblance between them.

As a result, Kuro was ready to carry Yo around just to enjoy more of these surprises. It also turned out that cat spirits make "lethal" drinks from some local spiritual mint. No one would wish to wake up the next morning surrounded by cats, with a mouth that felt like... cats had urinated in it. Some doubts creep in, you know.