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:: AEJI
The day has come, today is going to be my first practice with Master Jiho. I am feeling both excited but also nervous about this. If I should be honest, I haven't met so many earthbenders before and especially not being trained by anyone other than Teacher Haji. Master Jiho is actually the second earthbender I'm meeting after Teacher Haji which definitely shows I haven't interacted with so many earthbenders.
I followed Master Jiho to his own earthbending academy which is placed in the upper ring, only a few blocks away from the arena we went to yesterday. Master Jiho opened the front doors to his academy, revealing a wide and high roofed room filled with different types of practice tools, customized and specialized for the different levels of earthbending.
"Please have a seat" Master Jiho said when we arrived in the middle of the room.
I did as Master Jiho said and sat down on the ground. Master Jiho did the same as me and sat down on the ground but in front of me.
"Welcome to my earthbending academy and you might have guessed and understood, this is going to be where you spend the majority of your time here in Ba Sing Se" Master Jiho said and chuckled in the end.
"I have learned earthbending for the past 30 years and even if I'm supposed to be the one who teaches others, am I receiving as much knowledge as my students. I have learned that the key to being able to improve and learn is communication. In general is communication the key to everything or else we would crash since we don't communicate with each other" He added.
"So before we start our practice, do I want to ask you something. What does your level of earthbending look like in your perspective?" Master Jiho asked.
"To be honest.. It feels like I'm stuck in a loop because I can't find myself improving anymore like I used to. Even if Teacher Haji always tells me how good I am, I just can't see it myself anymore" I answered.
"You're going through a phase many benders are going through once in their lifetime. I once asked Haji how much you have interacted with other earthbenders and the answer I got was you haven't interacted with any other earthbenders besides Haji. And to me, that's a problem" Master Jiho said.
"As I mentioned before is communication the key to everything and in your case, since you haven't interacted with so many earthbenders before does it mean you don't really have something to compare with. That's why it feels like you're stuck in a loop, because you can't see which level you're in since you have nothing to compare with" Master Jiho explained.
What Master Jiho says makes sense. During these years of living I have never met any other earthbender than Teacher Haji until now which has made it difficult for me to know which level I am on. But the exact reason why I have never met any other earthbender until now is unclear.
"I have never thought of that before. It's probably because I'm used to being only me and Teacher Haji so it almost feels like new doors are being opened right now" I replied with a chuckle.
"I'm glad you see it that way, Aeji. I have a couple of plans for your practice and the first one will start very soon" Master Jiho said and looked at me with a smile.
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
Only a second after my question was the front door open again. I looked behind me and saw a couple of teenagers in my age walking inside. Master Jiho stood up and greeted his students, meanwhile I stood up as well, being a bit confused at the current situation.
"Students, I want you to meet Aeji. She is one of my dearest friends student and since Aeji is one of my dereas friends student, do I want a special warm up compared to what we usually do. We're going to our regular one-to-one matches but I want all of you to have a match against Aeji" Master Jiho said.
My eyes immediately widened when I heard what Master Jiho was planning to do. He wants me to battle against all of his students even if he knows the only one I have some sort of battle with before is Teacher Haji?
I am going to look like a fool..
"Kai, you're first up" Master Jiho said.
Kai nodded while I continued to progress the current situation. The rest of the students sat down a few meters beside us along with Master Jiho, meanwhile I was standing in front of Kai, preparing myself for my first battle in my life.
I looked Kai in the eyes, seeing him forming a grin on his face before he started his attack. Kai created a column in front of him and quickly started to shave it off by shooting circle formed pieces of it towards me. I made a shelf to protect myself and then shot one side of it at Kai. Kai sensed it quickly and avoided it but he did not sense the pole that came out from the ground behind him, making Kai fly a little until he landed on the ground again.
The other students looked at me with wide eyes after watching Kai flying in the air for a few seconds. I looked at Master Jiho clueless but all he gave me was a smile and a thumbs up. So I guess I did good..
"Lua, you're up next" Master Jiho suddenly said.
The girl named Lua slowly stood up from her seat and started to walk to her position. Based on Lua's facial expression while walking, she is looking a bit scared.. Is she perhaps scared of battling against me?
Lua stopped walking when she stood in front of me, the same spot as Kai earlier. I waited a few seconds before I started the attack. I shoot a string of earth on the ground towards Lua, making her lose her balance a little bit. Even if her balance was still unstable, Lua created a giant rock and shot it towards me. I jumped high with perfect timing, I broke the rock into smaller pieces by landing on it.
One by one, I started to shoot and kick the smaller pieces of rock towards Lua. All of this happened faster in a blink of an eye which resulted in Lua being pushed against the wall by one of the rocks I shot at her.
I once again looked at the other students and Master Jiho who kept the same facial expression as before. The other students kept looking at me with widened eyes meanwhile Master Jiho smiled.
What on earth is this situation because I have never felt so clueless in my entire life like right now?
