Avatar: Mage of All Elements

Omashu or Ba-Sing-Se? The capital or the former capital? Hama had told me a bit of history, so I knew the basic details. The first capital of the empire was located on the site of Ba-Sing-Se.

One hundred and fifty years ago, it was moved to a more favorable location, both in terms of defense and the convenient location of trade routes. Since there are masters of magic in both places, I'm wondering where I should go.

Omashu is closer, but it'll probably be expensive to train there. Ba Sing Se is about four times longer, but there's a better chance of getting a decent education. If I go to Omashu first and then Ba Sing Se, it's a long detour. That's the dilemma. But since Omashu is closer, I'll go there.

***

From where I was, it's almost 2,000 kilometers to Omashu. That's a hell of a long way, considering that only caravans travel by land and ships by sea. There's also something like riding ostriches, but that's considered a gimmick. I had the map, so I checked it and headed for Omashu. Since I left in the morning, I finally made it to the river in the evening.

At that point, the only way I could travel fast and far was by water. So, after sleeping for a few hours and waiting for a lightless night, I went upstream. In the darkness of the water, I navigated by the blood of the fish and the light of the moon.

I usually managed to cover about two hundred kilometers in one night. But I could not be lucky all the time and after a week I came to a small lake. From there I had to walk because there were no large bodies of water on the map.

The sun was at its zenith and I had no desire to enter the dense forest. And I gave in to a fleeting impulse and lay down near the water, under a tree. I made a fire, caught some fish and roasted them. It's beautiful.

Eh. And then there's the forest. I can walk on land as well as water, hmm, let's call it water steps. Well, I can walk on land with water steps, but there are some disadvantages. Without constant access to water, the water from the steps will evaporate, causing your speed to gradually decrease.

Theoretically, it is possible to take more water, but in practice, I still do not have very good control, from which the loss will be greater. Yes, gradually the amount of water will reach the previous level and everything should be fine, but again, the more water I hold, the harder it will be for me, and more energy will be spent, and if I cannot use water steps normally, I will be almost exhausted and will not be able to protect myself from the usual wild animals. From all this, the conclusion is that I should do the same as before. Or do it, but when I am safe.

But this method won't last long. I've got five hundred kilometers to go, and with water footsteps on the ground, I'll cover a hundred and fifty kilometers at most. How can I walk another three and a half hundred kilometers quickly? Of course, you can wrap yourself in water and use magic to speed up your movement by a factor of three.

But it's very exhausting, and doing it just because I don't want to walk slowly through the forest sounds more delusional than plausible. Though, if you draw moisture from the environment, you'll have enough for two hours of uninterrupted movement.

That's said and done. The result was a circle thirty meters in diameter, dead earth, but in return I came out of the forest in a week and a half. And I came to a village. I'm lucky to have them. And this one was worse than the first. I didn't care about their names, and they weren't on the map. But this village was special because there was a road.

Since it was the middle of the day, all the villagers were either at home or in the fields. Mostly, though, they were in the fields. It was early summer. They live here according to the principle that one day of spring feeds a year. Or something like that, I didn't get into it. But the essence is the same.

There's hardly anyone in the village now. And that's an opportunity for me. So I looked around, sneaked into the village and stole a shirt and a pair of pants. I didn't do it for nothing. I just didn't have the right style of clothes, and all I had were Fire Nation clothes, which are not very conducive to conspiracy.