Hugh turned out to be a straightforward guy, as long as you didn't dig too deep into his teachings. Maybe that's why Dria doesn't like him—she's not used to someone else doing most of the talking. What interested me more than his words was his energy, which was always in motion. After observing him closely, I understood why—Hugh is, in a way, a weaker version of an Avatar with only one element.
When I asked Banyan about it, he shared the details openly. Over generations of this tribe of benders, Hugh was the first gifted one whose bending even remotely resembled plantbending. So, the spirit decided to experiment, giving Hugh a small part of his chi. It created a connection similar to what Yui and I have: Hugh understands Banyan, and his bending will eventually resemble the spirit's. When his reserves are depleted, he can replenish them through the spirit. Hugh probably won't master true plantbending in his lifetime, but his children will have a better chance, and his grandchildren or great-grandchildren might become full-fledged plantbenders. Over time, the entire Swamp Tribe will command two elements—these are just my guesses, but they're worth considering.
Hugh's philosophy of life began to emerge as his connection with the tree strengthened. Unconsciously, he adopted the spirit's worldview—how the spirit perceives the world. The spirit also benefited: human benders' chi is more dynamic, preventing stagnation in his source. As we know, spirits are pure chi, and stagnation means losing the taste for life, which happens to older spirits over time. That's why there are more dark spirits—they usually die only by violence, constantly fueling their chi by consuming others.
I was intrigued by how the spirit separated a piece of his gift. When Yui was born, I gave her a significant part of my gift, but Banyan only gave a small fragment, gradually nurturing it while maintaining its effectiveness.
*Wan Shi Tong, why aren't you like the other light spirits? Wong, Dria, Banyan—they all help out of kindness, asking nothing in return. The tree spirit taught me his method of separating essence. It's not perfect—he lost much of his strength for a while, though he recovered faster, maybe because he's a higher spirit.*
It's not crucial, but I'll try his method and compare it later. I planned to do this with Shizuka and Suyuki anyway. I don't want to fly into Kyoshi's settlement one day only to find ashes. With two full-fledged benders and one in training, the village's chances of defending itself would skyrocket.
Dria asked me to wait another week for her training to finish. Then she'd go anywhere with me—she said this in a very enticing tone.
"Where did this behavior come from? I don't believe you figured it out yourself," I said bluntly. Dria's too pure for this world; she doesn't know how to deceive or hold back. Better to ask directly while I can.
"From books! Reading those letters was boring, but there were pictures! You love me, right?" she asked suddenly, serious. Does Dria even understand what that word means? Of course, I'm not the one to judge, but I doubt she grasped its full meaning just from reading. She was a low-level spirit not long ago.
"I do," I replied honestly. Love can mean different things. Sure, I want to take her to bed, but would Dria understand the deeper meaning? That's the question.
"Me too!" she said happily. "Why do I want to see you so much? Why do I want to be with you? I've asked myself these questions until I stumbled into a strange building—I think it's called a Library. There, a kind spirit showed me books about relationships. I read everything! To strengthen our love, we need to make love—it's the most reliable way!" In the Spirit World, there's only one Library…
"Was there a big owl there?" I asked.
"You've been there too?! Yes, there was a wise owl and a fox," Dria confirmed, validating my thoughts.
"What exactly did you tell him?" Maybe I'm just paranoid.
"Hmm, I talked about my feelings, said I really wanted to meet Yuki, described what you look like, and that's it," she shrugged, not understanding my concern.
*"Wan Shi Tong! I recognize your tricks! You'll pay for this later!"* I thought. The spirit of knowledge knew exactly who I was but still gave Dria questionable books. I don't believe there weren't normal romance books there.
"Don't tell that spirit anything else, okay? I don't trust him," I said. Does Wan Shi Tong enjoy tormenting me?
"Can you name the books you read?" I asked casually.
"'The Path to a Man's Heart—A Woman's Irresistibility,' 'A Clever Tongue—A Woman's Greatest Weapon,' 'How to Use Your Body Skillfully.' There were others, but these were the most useful!" she declared, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. Clearly, they left a strong impression…
I've read those books too. They're not bad, but they were written by a former elite courtesan. Auntie Lan needed money, but her beauty had faded, so she took up writing to give advice to those wanting to win over men—advice fitting her past profession. Sometimes, I was embarrassed reading them—that's how professional she was. Now it's clear why Dria acts this way…
Fortunately, she trusted me. I explained what love truly is. Yes, great intimacy is important for a healthy relationship, but in my opinion, the deeper connection of souls matters more—respect, support, accepting your partner as they are. You can't explain it all in words. True love comes with time; at first, it's just well-disguised infatuation. I'll admit, I haven't reached that point myself in my past life, but I hope to in this one!
It's probably just excuses, but in my mind, she's still a little girl who has yet to learn about the world. There's no need to rush—that's what I tried to convey, and it seems I succeeded somewhat. She didn't stop trying to seduce me, but she admitted she just likes showing me affection that way.
My time in the Misty Swamp was marked by constant hunger and the search for better food. The locals eat swamp fish and insects—all of it looked inedible. Thankfully, my vast life energy and Dria's bending saved me. With her bending, Dria could grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables in minutes, though some were initially poisonous but beautiful! Opening my second chakra wasn't for nothing!
Living near such a powerful chi generator, most of the tribe are benders, but even Dria can't handle all the dangers here. That's why their population never exceeds a certain number. I've never seen such diversity in my healing practice. Almost every resident was far from healthy, and the worst part is that bending suppresses these illnesses, only revealing them in full force near old age when chi can no longer cope. Few live past fifty.
Healing them now, I can't guarantee their survival. In these conditions, no one should have survived. Banyan must understand this; his help is clearly involved. This led me to think about creating special antibodies that activate when the body is threatened. I'm no expert—more like none at all—but for someone who manipulates life energy, expertise isn't necessary.
At first, progress was slow. A tribe member would come, I'd examine them, find harmful organisms, study them, try to understand them, and then create a countermeasure using life energy. Finally, I'd take a blood sample to have a template for similar cases. The first patients had a range of unknown pathologies, each needing to be recorded. Only after treating half the tribe did identical cases start appearing. It was an interesting experience, requiring precise work.
I won't visit here often, so I decided to exchange knowledge: I'd teach Hugh healing bending, and he'd teach me plant control. He was the only one in the tribe who quickly mastered healing techniques. Water control in plants is as "useful" as sandbending—both are only viable in specific conditions. The main benefit of learning both is improving control over primary elements.
After mastering sand in the Spirit World, my earthbending skill increased significantly. Creating lava became less dependent on firebending and more on earth chi. I want to refine it into pure earthbending someday. Not only that, after interacting with such small particles, I'm on the verge of sensing earth in metals—a first step toward mastering such useful bending.
I'm not sure what plant control bending will give me, but I'm confident it will have advantages. I hope for something substantial; the northern tribe's masters are too accustomed to my techniques. I could use something more serious, but those techniques are lethal—not ideal. I find it hard to restrain myself from using my other elements; sometimes, I just want to unleash a stream of flames.
Bloodbending has proven itself beyond praise, but every ability has weaknesses. At my level, I can control an entire decent-sized village of ordinary people or fifty weak benders. For medium-strength benders, it's even fewer—ten, with a minuscule chance of breaking my control. It's not even one percent, but the possibility exists. It all depends on the chi saturation of their blood; the stronger the bender, the harder they are to control.
In sparring with masters, the most I can do is control a limb for a second—say, deflecting an arm so their attack misses. It's something, but I don't want to use it often—it's too noticeable. I don't want to share such techniques, not because I'm stingy, but because I think about the world. If I give it to trusted masters now, someone will teach it to a relative despite the ban, or write it down, and it'll fall into the wrong hands. I remember the problems the bloodbender caused in *The Legend of Korra*. Better to keep this bending to myself—and Hama. She's old, keeps to herself, and lives on an island with Fire Nation people. No waterbending students will appear; hopefully, there won't be another Katara…
"Bye everyone, see you later!" Dria waved to the people seeing us off.
Banyan and the Swamp Water Tribe remain behind as Dria and I continue our journey.