Time to Train! [Private]

Saleh was a scholar. An intellectual who knew no bounds of observation and science. Logic was his friend, and planning was his guide. He trained differently than most people, taking a more logistic and written out approach. As opposed to beginning out on the fields, whipping the air around his body, he preferred to start with basic physics and a written plan on how to go about the training, before actually putting his writing into action. Saleh took out his pen and drawing pad and began to sketch, in high physical detail, how his new techniques would come about.

The first one was relatively simple in concept, but difficult to perform. As such, he was prepared to be scrapping a lot of designs. The technique he was trying to master was a more advanced form of the Air Bullet- a cross between the Air Bullet and his Air Punches- creating a more powerful concussive blast from the compressed air. The main thing that separated this new technique from the old ones was its increased range, its power, and its quick release. Saleh figured that simply going through enhanced motions with the air as he did with the punches simply wouldn't cut it. He'd need more power, faster, than he could achieve with the mere circling of air. He'd need to physically compress it, and to do that, the best way to start would be with both hands applying pressure from all possible directions. If that didn't work, Saleh would try to form a ball with one hand and then apply continuous pressure with the other, and hopefully that would work.

The second technique that he would prepare for would involve the use of his sword that he had recently obtained. It was a fine rapier, an guard with near perfect balance between the hilt and blade. Saleh removed it from its scabbard to admire the delicate features and rested it on the desk in front of him. It was light and easy to use, although he didn't have a particular style, he didn't plan on using it for combat- it was against the pacifist nature of the air nomads to do so- however, he planned on using it for finer bending techniques such as the one he was about to plan for. It was a simple technique based on a difficult concept that is only grasped by the most skilled and masters of air bending. Saleh knew he didn't have the ability to use the technique to its fullest, but a minor version would prove useful at the very least. He would be using the blade to not only extend his bending range, but to guide the air to cut in a similar manner over longer distances than a sword could reach. Air didn't have the same potential for Saleh as the blade did for cutting- at least not yet- but that didn't mean that he couldn't make it work. A quick swing with an even faster drawback should be able to do the trick, thought Saleh as he sketched out the pattern on a clean sheet of paper. A very swift motion would be the very thing he needed. It wouldn't just be used for offensive purposes, as a matter of fact, it was intended as a new defense, slicing opposing bending attacks in half, using the air to shift the attack around him as to not get hit. Saleh smiled at the thought- cutting with air AND getting to use his rapier in combat. It couldn't get much better for the young scholar.

The third technique was supposed to be very simple, if only he was an earth bender that mainly used his feet. Air benders tend to use their whole bodies in their bending, so confining his bending to simply his feet AND maintaining balance could prove difficult. He had seen children in the Northern Air Temple on what they called "Air Scooters"- balls of air that could be balanced on and used for vehicular travel. Saleh decided to adopt this concept as his own for the next technique. This new technique would mostly be used for avoiding earth-bound and water-bound traps such as quicksand, "swamping", and whirlpools. He would create air pockets beneath his feet so that he would hover only a couple of inches off the ground. The difficult factor that Saleh had to account for was his ability to maintain balance on the air pockets, so instead of creating static pockets, he figured it might be easier to create balls of air just underneath his feet, serving the same purpose as the pockets, but allowing him to shift his weight in a particular direction to "skate" across the earth as opposed to "high-stepping" every step he took to move. The only way he could do this however, was with practice, though, so he took not further planning on this technique.

Saleh's fourth and final technique to be planned and trained was a modified version of the typical sweep with air using a Bo staff or a bender's arms. In this case however, Saleh would be using his blade and compressing the attack so that it would deal greater damage in a smaller area. By compressing the air, Saleh believed that it would increase the overall density as it was taking the same mass and placing it into a smaller volume. The technique would be easy to perform, he figured, once he had mastered the Air Blast- the first technique that involves him compressing a ball of air into an explosive force- and the third technique involving him compressing air beneath his feet. Saleh would sketch this technique as well, paying close attention to the speed of the swing he'd need to achieve in order to apply enough force to break a person's ribs (or at the very least knock the wind out of his opponents). After crunching some numbers, it turned out that it would be very difficult to knock the wind out of someone, not because the attack wouldn't be strong enough, but because it would be far TOO powerful to do something so simple. In most cases, the air would break a person's ribs, however, in certain locations such as the upper torso, internal bleeding was also possible. After finishing this sketch, Saleh would head out to the open fields where he would begin to practice the techniques, bringing with him his sword and his drawing pad.

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The Training Grounds

It was 6 pm by the time Saleh arrived at the training grounds located just outside the Southern Air Temple (where his studies are located). The sun was already setting over the Western horizon, and the first stars were making their way into the sky. Saleh knew he had to do this fairly quickly before it got too dark, but couldn't help but embrace the scenery surrounding him- a small pond to his left surrounded by a grove, a great forest to his right that seemed to go on forever, a boulder about 6 feet in height behind him, overlooking the vast fields of luscious green grass, and the sunset that dappled the landscape in a bedazzling array of colors.

Saleh prepared himself for his first technique- the Air Blast. He started with his first method, placing both his hands together and taking a solid stance, aiming towards a tree that he had picked out in the forest. Gathering air in his palms, leaves and loose sediment would leave the ground, the howling wind circling around him and his hair loosely flying despite his headband. The wind would form a condensed sphere in between his two cupped hands, the debris swirling in a circular motion with the current, when Saleh would flick both of his hands out and try to shoot the ball of condensed energy towards the tree that he had picked out, only 10 feet away. It didn't make it. The ball dissipated soon after it had left his hands, leaving Saleh baffled. He expected it to AT LEAST hit the tree, not with much force, but at the very least HIT IT. Saleh went on to method two. Gathering air with his left palm in front of him, he would then place his right hand to the side of the orb, similar to how a south paw would shoot a basketball, using his right hand to compress the air. If I control it with one hand, and compress it with another..... and then follow it up with even more speed and compression by using additional wind as it travels, I should be able to..... Saleh thought, shifting his back foot a bit further back for balance and stability while still keeping his hands outstretched in front of him. Saleh then fired the orb. The speed and power was more than he had anticipated, a loud "BANG!" resonating through the air as it collided with the tree. Splintering could be heard, and soon the mid-sized tree was on the ground. His first technique was a success, and after several repetitions, it could be done within a moment's notice.

The second technique was simple and to the point. Removing his sword from its sheath, Saleh would turn to face the boulder. After placing himself no more than 10 feet from the boulder, Saleh would perform a quick upward swing, taking the air with the blade and creating a slight cutting force. Making sure that the snap of his wrist was quick and concise, the intellectual saw no way for it to fail, and it didn't. The boulder parted in half where it had once stood, the two halves parting and landing at the same time on the ground.

The third technique that Saleh thought would be difficult, proved to be quite easy- even a beginner could probably master the technique. As expected, when Saleh created air pockets, he couldn't maintain balance and had his movement hindered. However, once those pockets were replaced by spheres of air (which Saleh found surprisingly easy to create and control using only his feet), he could move freely, perhaps even faster than he could normally move. Saleh would dash along the edge of the pond before heading to cut across the pond by using the air for support. Needless to say, he succeeded and appeared to "run" on water.

Saleh's fourth and final technique proved to be the easiest of them all. As he had expected, Saleh's training with compression and the use of his rapier from the other techniques made the fourth and final technique rather easy to perform. All he had to do was focus and dashed forward towards the forest and cleanly performed two horizontal slashes (back and forth) and he had caused the outermost rings on the 3 trees to either side to break off, forming strange indentations in the trees. Saleh had completed his training, and headed back towards his study for dinner. It was 7:30 pm.

[1825 // 1800 words- excluding the sub-heading]

Techniques Trained