Avatar: Mage of All Elements

Considering that it was a little after noon and the sun was warming my body, my mood was slowly improving. Soon, the owner of the manor came to see me. He was an older man, with the swagger of an aristocrat, but with a look on his face that said he was tired of it all.

«Young man, won't you introduce yourself?» well, I look a little over twenty and compared to him, I'm still young.

«My name is Yoko. Keep in mind that I don't have a last name», When I saw the raised eyebrow in silent question, I decided to clarify. «I don't tell anyone my last name because I don't want to put my relatives in danger», In fact, it's unlikely that anyone would remember my last name, but the royal surname of the Water Tribe is too rare to be a mere coincidence, so I don't give it. «And you...?»

«Lao Beifong, Lao's father and Poppy's father-in-law.»

«I see», I had my suspicions, so I'm not really surprised. Although I thought she was supposed to marry a brother or a matchmaker from that family, not the heir.

«So what happened? Who attacked you?»

I told him what had happened and our dialog with Dai Li, then added my own thoughts and conclusions. After all, he's been doing this a lot longer than I have, and he might have some useful advice. And when I saw his frowning face, I realized that I had made the right decision to tell everything. Why should I be afraid? I have enough strength to flee the country in case of a full-scale attack.

«They won't back down. They'll lurk and swallow, but they won't back down and they'll plot their revenge. I don't know how long it will take, but it could come from any direction. After all, we're not the richest in the Earth Kingdom, and knowing their finances, anything can happen», he said with a grim expression. Right, because it had started because of Poppy, and his whole family can be under attack.

«Well, just so we don't expect anything bad, I can visit them and either talk to them or cut the top off. That'll calm them down for sure.»

«And you'll be the enemy of the entire Earth Kingdom, since you'll essentially destroy the funding for the army. Oh, and in the end, it'll all fall on our shoulders, and we'll suffer a huge loss as well. So it's not good for anybody. And they know it. And they're well protected.»

«So what do we do then?» I wasn't very happy that my hard work that I had put into my legalization and my good life was going to be fucked up by everybody. It really pissed me off, but as it turned out, looking over my shoulder wasn't the best idea, and I had advised Dai Li on the right thing to do. «And why are you talking to me about this, and where is this openness coming from? I can't believe it's out of the goodness of my heart.»

«Heh-heh, yes, it's all for a reason», he smiled, kindly somehow, and looked at me. «To get a fuller picture, I'll start where it all started, if you don't mind?» I was curious, so I didn't mind. «It all began a few years ago. Out of nowhere, a young man with great potential in earth magic appeared.

You could tell as soon as you entered Omasha. To powerful magicians, people who are not trained in magic are like fireflies in the dark. I mean, if you look closely, you can see them. You were different. You were so powerful that powerful magicians were afraid to come near you.

You were instantly recognized by everyone in Omashu, and a little later by all the noble families. But the Omashu are no fools, and they realized that you could become the subject of a behind-the-scenes struggle between the aristocrats, and a trained mage with such power might not like that, to put it mildly.

What would happen next was anyone's guess. And it was decided to send you to the army and train you.