The old man standing before me carefully examined my body.
He studied the crystal rings I’d returned to my fingers.
He wore identical ones himself, made of the same growing quartz I’d come to know.
He assessed my physique, which Anubis had pushed harder than even Shi Wong Mountain, forcing me to eat more and grow faster.
Finally, he examined the gourd I’d automatically created on my back, now filled with abrasive sand.
All of this led him to one conclusion.
“Sandbender!
Look everyone, a Sandbender!” He pointed at me, drawing the workers’ whispers like a madman rather than a King.
Some recognized me.
I’d worked alongside them, hammering metal in the forge to maintain my high standards.
Others had heard of the swift, elusive Sandbender.
It seemed almost everyone had.
I slowly turned my gaze to the fallen piece of quartz, where my reflection stared back.
The spitting image of the rumors, except I wasn’t three meters tall.
Still, the eccentric King didn’t continue his jokes.
“Hehehe, what an unexpected meeting.” From my worn clothes and calloused hands, Bumi quickly deduced what I’d been doing here.
Despite his apparent madness, he laughed sincerely.
“Will you show me the jennamite hall you’ve been excavating?”
He addressed me directly, with an expressive look.
I didn’t know why.
You couldn’t read this man’s eyes.
But it was clearly more than just escorting him.
There were soldiers for that.
They seemed more serious now, clenching their fists because of my gaze.
Still, I caught their whispers.
They couldn’t fathom what such a “cruel” and “insane” warrior was doing in an ordinary mine.
“No problem.” I remained calm.
The ceiling was reinforced.
Another collapse was unlikely.
So I followed the smiling, hunched old man toward the crystal chamber.
Since he’d evaluated me, I did the same.
Through his clothes, I could see steel cables of muscle.
His fingers alone were more built than everyone in the mine combined.
You could also tell a lot about an Earthbender from their gait.
Bumi’s was steady, unhurried.
He kept his feet in contact with the stone for as long as possible.
When we arrived, I looked around the familiar room I’d helped excavate.
It was hard to call it a simple chamber.
More like a prison, or even a torture room.
In the center, a pit was dug with spikes at the bottom.
Fall on one and you could say goodbye to your body.
At the other end, an artificial waterfall fed into water channels designed to wash away debris.
“What’s your name?”
“Dagot.”
“…I’ve heard rumors circulating among the smiths that the Sandbender came down to Factorio.
When I was a kid, I used to sneak into the mine to have fun.” He stopped at the edge of the pit, beginning a strange speech.
“This isn’t fun.” I answered honestly, easily guessing which smiths had spread the rumors about me.
“Isn’t it?
I used to wonder if you could speed up work by causing a collapse.
What if you tried to pull out the entire vein without excavating it?
How much could you dig if you worked twenty-four hours a day?”
He thought…
unconventionally.
I put my hand to my chin and considered how much such training would help.
Probably not much.
The interesting part was his approach to using Earth.
Surely that would train versatility.
“You would make a good sandbender.” I admitted, appreciating his character.
And not just sand.
I could say with certainty that the old man had several chakras open.
How he hadn’t mastered metal was beyond me.
Frowning, meeting Bumi’s gaze, I boldly asked: “Could you teach me some tricks?
At least tell me how to open the second chakra?”
“…Why are you so persistent, mole?” He just raised one eyebrow, nearly popping it out of its socket, and examined me suspiciously.
He’d definitely been a miner before.
“I just wanted to chat with someone who made a name as a Fire Nation killer.”
“Of course, I know you’re not as bloodthirsty as the rumors say.
You destroyed every camp within my lands, but at least you buried the bodies.
No one’s found them yet.
Let me guess, you made a mass grave twenty meters deep?”
“No…”
“Ah, I knew it!
Buried them thirty meters deep so the buzzard-wasps wouldn’t lay eggs in them.” I tensed reflexively at the mention of wasps, making my gaze harder.
Bumi grinned in satisfaction.
“You should learn to control your anger.
Your intent makes my soldiers want to attack.”
He pointed at the men.
When I glanced at them, they tensed even more.
“No, they…”
“They have families.
Think before you do something stupid.” Now I just rolled my eyes.
Bumi was clearly mocking me.
The soldiers puffed and sweated.
The King was giving them a nerve test.
Once Bumi had thoroughly frightened the soldiers with my presence, he dismissed them.
Such a bender clearly didn’t need constant supervision.
We were alone in the hall, inspecting the work.
“I thought you were an old friend.” He told me calmly, with a hint of lost hope.
“I didn’t think anyone could control sand so freely, so I imagined an Air Nomad.
Actually, your movement style is similar to theirs.
You’re trying to mimic them.
Darting through the air, evading projectiles.” It was interesting how long he’d been watching me before stepping in.
“But you’re missing something.”
“You know Air Nomad movements well?” I narrowed my eyes.
I didn’t want to make assumptions, but Bumi was probably the only living Earthbender who’d interacted closely with an Air Nomad.
Avatar Aang.
I could access their culture through a second-hand source!
“Of course!
You’re missing a bit of playfulness.
You’re too restrained, like an Earthbender.” Then he just…
jumped.
Onto the jennamite spikes.
One wound could be fatal.
But he simply balanced on the points, somehow protecting his heels, and looked up at me.
“…The books don’t mention ‘playful’ airbenders.”
“Exactly.
That’s why I don’t read books.
They’re not about the real world.” He made me narrow my eyes again.
I’d said those same words to the owl.
Now they were coming back to me.
Life was strange like that.
Even though Bumi’s words probably annoyed Afka, who was hiding nearby, I nodded.
I jumped after the King, crushing the crystal on impact.
I made a platform to stand on with one foot.
Air Nomads had invented many ways to have fun, if I remembered the cartoon correctly.
If I thought about it, Bumi was practically telling me how to open the second chakra.
The one responsible for joy.
“Want to play?” He raised an eyebrow, grinning widely.
“…Sorry.
Unless it’s important, I want to leave the mine as soon as possible.
Before something else goes wrong.”
“Oh, you talk as if you think you’re responsible for what happened today.” I couldn’t answer.
I just looked away.
“Hmm, I can’t play with someone so boring.
I was hoping…”
“You don’t have to provoke me.
There are objective reasons.
I’m not in the mood.” As soon as I understood Bumi’s thoughts, my training enthusiasm faded.
But looking at his pouting face, I felt like a machine.
I really did lack time for fun.
Maybe that’s why I wasn’t surprised when a sharp crystal almost hit me.
From my unstable position on one foot, I almost fell.
Bumi stood with a bright smile, clearly showing me he didn’t care about guilt or shame.
And honestly, he probably wouldn’t mourn me if he killed me.
He must have at least four chakras open!
“Let me show you how Airbenders have fun!” He broke his own rings, covering his arms in jennamite just like I did, and started throwing sharp blades at me.
This could actually be called one of the Airbenders’ training methods.
Their scrolls described poles where they tried to knock each other off.
Bumi seemed to be repeating that exercise, mixing in harsh Earthbender conditions.
And calling it a game.
Clang.
“You’re stronger than me.
Stop.” I created a crystal sword and managed to cut through the attack, frowning.
He didn’t listen.
He launched more crystals, laughing hysterically.
Dodging was harder.
The growing candy wrapped around my leg.
I had to defend first, then break the shackles.
Out of necessity, I covered myself in a sandstorm and started jumping between crystals.
“I won’t stop until I win!” His methods bordered on genuine insanity.
But realizing I could only end this by winning, I spun clouds of abrasive sand and sent fast particles across the arena.
If Bumi hadn’t covered himself in crystal armor at the last second, he’d have been seriously hurt.
Now he could charge at me, completely ignoring the sharp spikes on the floor.
“General Cheng’s Crystal Knight technique.
I can’t break through armor like that with my abilities.” I leaped high, focusing entirely on how to defeat such an unexpected opponent.
Sandstorms, blades, stones torn from the ceiling nothing mattered to him.
He charged like a tank.
“How can you have fun when you see a legendary technique performed perfectly?
The old man is insane.
He’s basically telling me to bring down everything on him.”My pupils contracted.
I had to forget all safety protocols.
I pinned myself to the ceiling, pressing my palms into the stone.
Just as Bumi leaped toward me, I tore off a massive chunk and slammed it into the laughing bender.
I didn’t expect it to work.
He just held on.
But at that moment, I channeled chi into my legs and pushed the boulder onto the spikes.
Then the ceiling collapsed, burying the jennamite.
All the spikes were destroyed.
There was nowhere left to jump.
The King calmly climbed out of the rubble.
He looked around and realized the playground was gone.
“Hya-ha-ha-ha!” He laughed in his old-man way.
“So that’s how you decided to win.
No arena, no winning or playing.”
“You said you could reach your goal faster by causing a collapse.”
He laughed even harder.
With a simple gesture, he made the jennamite grow back.
I froze.
No direct contact with the crystals.
No effort.
And the arena was restored.
I thought he might want to continue until he killed me, but he calmly stepped back to solid ground.
“That was fun.
Was it fun for you?”
“…Maybe a little.” I couldn’t help but smile.
Fighting was more interesting when you allowed yourself more.
But it still didn’t open the chakra.
Bumi clasped his hands behind his back, looking as if he’d done all he could.
“You have potential.
You’ll be able to have fun like a normal person eventually.
But I suggest learning about that from Waterbenders.
Even if Air Nomads seem to understand it better, the Water Tribes specialize in your particular problem.”
“Thank you for the advice.” He raised an eyebrow at how seriously I took it.
“Ah, speaking of wanting to leave, I suggest you visit a few places and have some fun.”