Taming Of Korra CH13

In the bowels of republic city, people were dying. The dregs of society, the non-benders who didn’t start their own business, were loaded up like hogs to the slaughter. Infected equalists stole people from the trucks into the darkness. Screams could be heard across the underground cargo hold as people were treated as food. The infected equalists stood above the common man, perhaps on equal footing with benders or even higher.

Amon, their leader, had the power to force me to power up. And even at my full power, his control over my blood couldn’t be denied. Amon was irresistible and too powerful to fight normally. I couldn’t sense him, but he could take control of the very blood in my veins from nearly 30 meters. Fighting him would be interesting.

Qi swirled around my body in a green cyclone until even Amon’s hold broke away. I moved, and the trucks around me exploded. My hand raised, and call lightning formed, blasting massive purple arcs from my fingertips. The jagged arcs flowed through my will instead of the most conductive object. I directed it in a steady stream, not only pouring mana into it but also qi. Amon waved his hand, and two infected equalists flew into the path of my spell.

Their bodies lit up before I leaped onto the overhead catwalk, where and shock baton-wielding equalist moved in slow motion. It was impressive; at my full power, they should be still as statues, but some of the equalists were able to move at a snail’s pace. My sword flashed, cleaving through their armor and slicing through the vampire sprouts spreading through their bodies. The tier 1 spell fireball appeared in my hand, bathing the room in a soft orange glow before firing it.

I stepped out of the way of the explosion and sudden rise in heat. The brief explosion lit the cargo docks long enough for me to see the infected equalists. I summoned call lightning again and fired one bolt after another, nearly shattering the spells with qi as I blasted the equalists. But, even as I worked to thin their numbers, Amon was getting away. More infected rushed into the cargo docks and the light from my earlier fireball died down.

Amon’s escape root was sealed by a shiny metal door. I knocked on it, and it wasn’t steel but extremely precious material. To my fingers, the metal might as well be mud. Once I got a good grip, I ripped the door off and walked through.

Mutated equalists charged me as I entered. One had multiple roots sticking out of his skull with slitted red eyes on their ends like a giant snail. For crowd control, I moved to a different option. I raised my hand and used the tier 1 spell Telekinetic Push. This one was a little trickier to pull off. It had fewer parts to it than fireball, which made it even more fragile. Even a little too much mana and the spell could shatter, weakening me.

The spell activated, and I felt it slowly drain my mana as I pushed my hand forward. My movement was amplified by the attack and carried out nearly 10 meters or over 30 feet in front of me. I punched forward, and it was like a shotgun went off. The force could be adjusted to widen or shrink the area, and I could even break up the attack. My punch blasted holes through the infected and ripped further through the hideout until the force of my attack finally abated.

I stared down at my fist, then at the ruined hallways filled with body parts in front of me. It was full of mutants one moment, and the next, it was a river of blood. Nevertheless, the spell continued, and I admired it for that reason alone. A continuous spell that allowed me to unleash my strength in telekinetic blows was incredibly useful. That spell would soon become my most used tool.

This vacation couldn’t get better if it tried. Despite the number of deaths he caused, King really did me a favor by putting up all these targets the blast apart. As a result, I had more time with Korra on Air Bender Island. Maybe I should have sent him some wine, something expensive.

Korra was right; I really didn’t care about the people. Even seeing them die didn’t fill me with a sense of loss. I could have tried harder to save them, but I didn’t. Some people would call that evil, but to me, it was normal. If I grieved over everyone attacked by some monster, alien, or science experiment, then I wouldn’t do anything but cry.

More infected leaped from hallways and climbed down from vents like necromorphs but died quickly. Finally, I punched one in the chest, shattering all the bones in its body and injecting it with my own deadly will backed by qi. The plant tried to repair the equalist’s body, but the damage couldn’t be overturned.

I pushed my hand forward and crumpled one against a wall before punching forward. He was crushed instantly into a bloody paste. My blood was starting to pump. Some of the equalists could move relative to my speed. They would have had to eat a lot of their own kind to approach my strength. Not only that, but these guys had an advantage over my qi. I couldn’t even sense them, and if they knew how to use their power, my defenses wouldn’t be very effective. That was something I planned to fix with magic.

Telekinetic Push ate away at my mana reserves as I used it but hadn’t become a problem yet. Having a dragon familiar with perpetually generated and stored mana had its perks. When a massive blast door stood in my way, I couldn’t wait to tear my way through it. Using my power like this and testing the limit of my new spell was something new. I reached out slowly with my hand, almost like a claw spreading the force of my touch. Qi flowed into the spell through its connection to me, and a massive green hand appeared in my qi sense.

To my eyes, all I saw was a mass of green light. My telekinetic hand dug into the metal of the blast door and dug through it. Metal bent, popped and flowed down the sides of the blast door like silver tears. Once my hand was good and through the blast door, I lowered my hand, slowly cutting deep rivulets through the metal.

I raised my hand and blasted out with call lightning at an airplane before it could take off. One of the wings broke off the plane, and it crashed. The door to the airplane was kicked open, and Amon walked out.

“You didn’t think I would let you leave, did you?”

“It seems we weren’t the only ones that the merchant sold to.”

“You’re a pawn in a game you know nothing about. I’m not here because you’re my enemy; I’m here because, in your ignorance, you endangered what is mine. Dogs that tear up their master’s possessions should be disciplined.”

“Spoken like a true elitist, you are worse than any bender I’ve ever met. Prepare to be equalized.”

My glasses measured his PL to be around 850. Getting to the top untrained qi hierarchy wasn’t too difficult. Items and supplements were enough to do that. The initiates of a legitimate sect surpassed a 1000PL in a week. King and I had the power but not the techniques to bring our qi to the next level. Amon and his ilk were a way to find a way over the limit. I used magic.

Lightning raced out from my fingertips as Amon moved my hand just enough to throw off my aim. “How many of your followers have you eaten to gain this power level?” I asked as I leaped out of the way of a wall of bloody ice spikes from the equalists I crushed. More equalists swarmed into the room only to be used as a shield to my shotgun blast to telekinesis. The blows carried through only for a shroud of blood to protect Amon.

Amon PL860

I clapped my hands. Amon was really up to the hype. Two humanoids made of blood and roots rose from the quickly growing pool of blood around us and lurched after me. Call lightning shot through them, but the blood around them helped the bodies reform. They were almost like puppets, and Amon didn’t move a muscle to use them. I was impressed.

Amon was getting me curious, could he reach 1000 if I pushed him. That sounded like something fun to do. I shot across the room, cleaved through his leg, and tossed a fireball behind my back. An explosion lit up the room as two equalists froze as their blood was ripped away from them. It quickly flowed under Amon’s mask.

“You can’t beat me as long as I have those who believe in the cause,” Amon said.

I laughed, and it was terrible. I didn’t practice it at all, and it sounded completely evil. “Killing you isn’t the point. You don’t get it; this is fun to me. I’m having more fun fighting you than I’ve had in a while. So, struggle some more, and let me see if you can get to my level.” I said.

Roots and blood rose from the pool around him and formed a scythe with a curved handle. He shot forward at incredible speeds. Amon’s speeds were practically preternatural. He looked like he was almost walking if only he didn’t take forever to swing his weapon. Unfortunately, he had to measure out his swinging range far too much.

Then he raised his hand at me while I cycled my qi. This time his hold on my blood failed completely. So instead, he charged and swung with his weapon. I cut through his scythe, and it shattered into bloody flailing roots before I took off his left arm.

My next blow shattered his mask, and I felt the man’s skull fracture. Blood from the floor lurched up his legs, and roots shot out of his stump to form a wooden arm.

“My ware is against the Avatar, not you. So why are you standing in the way of equality?” Amon asked.

“Equality under the law is fine. But nature doesn’t care about equality of equal outcomes. This city is about as fair as one can get, but you guys aren’t satisfied with that. As for the Avatar, she’s my woman, so you can’t have her.”

“I would only take away her bending; I didn’t want to kill her. Benders need to know fear and that their gifts can be easily taken away. It’s the only way to stop them from abusing them.” Amon said.

“Power will always be abused; it is corruptive by design. Few men can resist its allure, and those who do never gain it in the first place. That’s the paradox those who seek it aren’t the ones you want to have it, but those who deserve it never seek it. I’m sure no one wanted a guy like me to have power.”

“So, you are a part of the problem.”

“Wielding power is the best feeling. Nothing compares to using your strength to its fullest against an opponent that can harm you. Normally, I try to hold back my power and even do a little good on the side. But, before coming here, I used my power responsibly as a sheriff’s deputy. I used my incredible power to find missing people, defeat dangerous monsters, and hunt down the occasional outlaw. Rarely did I get to cut loose and fight like this.”

“I see, so you are just like fire lord Ozai.” The blood around me exploded into ice spears, and I leaped up. The equalists’ bodies erupted with icy blood spikes turning into sea-urchin-like forms before Amon launched them like boulders.

The sound barrier exploded with the force of their throw. I stepped around them, enjoying the Push back. When the equalists’ bodies hit the wall behind me, they looked like hunks of meat. The force of the throw had deformed them, leaving only the icy hard spikes and muscle. To me, this was a game against a young adult. Amon wasn’t fully developed and was just learning about his powers.

Once again, he grasped my blood, and my normal cycle didn’t break his control. The equalist leader threw me back against the spikes as I fought for control. A split second before I impacted, my will shattered the control over my blood, and I used telekinetic Push to stop the throw.

Amon was getting better at controlling blood and could bypass my defenses enough to take control of me for a short time. He was getting better at it, and I didn’t like the look of the blood swirling up towards him. The bastard could absorb power with the best of them.

Call lightning blasted from my fingertips as I fumbled for a corpse bomb with my fist. Necrotic energy, while considered evil, wasn’t aligned with blood qi. The two energies were diametrically opposed to one another. Blood qi was a vicious fight for life, while necrotic qi or negative energy was antilife. While the two energies got along in vampires, Amon wasn’t a vampire and the vampire tree couldn’t balance those powers despite its name. My corpse bomb spell formed, and some of the bodies in the pool of blood exploded with negative energy. Amon dropped his absorption, used the blood as a shield against my lightning, and spun the blood around him, turning it into a wall of ice spears.

Amon PL 860

I had gotten too focused on the fight and failed to let my opponent power up. That was a stupid mistake to make on my part. I wasn’t used to letting my enemies get any advantages. Amon was stuck now at 860, and he would have to slowly climb to get to the 900s. Getting up to the 800s was easy with the injection, but the soft cap hit around 810. After that, the hard cap hit around 900. Amon needed decades to master his power and let it work through his body. He could naturally develop to the 1000s, but only time could help him after hitting 900.

While 900 to my 1000 sounded close, it really wasn’t. Even just learning tier 1 magic was enough to put my power on another level. I punched forward, and the right side of Amon’s body exploded. Roots shot out of him to feed on the blood shielding the equalist leader.

Amon PL 830

The second the negative energy entered the roots, Amon’s power dropped. Amon turned to run, and I pressed a finger forward. His left leg exploded. More infected equalists poured in and dove after the blood on the floor. Amon took the chance to raise his hand and ripped the blood out of them. It was like what King would do to the infected eventually.

Pureblood qi entered Amon’s body and his body rapidly healed. I watched this unfold while standing atop a lake of blood. The green qi flowing from my feet was enough to keep me out of the mess. I shook my head at my opponent. This was supposed to be a fun battle, but he couldn’t even cross the soft cap. It wasn’t like I was playing hardball either. I only took an arm at first.

I lifted my hand, and a massive green palm appeared over the still feeding equalists. My palm fell, and the equalists were squished into paste.

Amon PL 840

For a moment, I thought about letting Amon live. He could become a strong opponent, maybe even a rival, with enough time and training. His blood control abilities made him as dangerous as King in some respects. But if I wanted a spar, I would go to King. Why would I want to fight a lesser version of King?

No, there was no reason to risk Amon surviving. I raised my hand and dropped my palm on him. Blood surged up around Amon to stop my palm. Once again, I was impressed; he slowed my advance down for a heartbeat. Then my palm fell.

His mask splintered apart before his body exploded. Thanks to this battle, I found a spell that complimented my abilities well. With some more training, I could extend the reach of my strength even further. This was all with tier 1 magic; with tier 2, I would be even stronger. Not to mention all the fun with sex spells I could have with Korra.

I lifted my palm to see a tiny crimson vampire tree seed. That was all that remained of Amon, and with time it could even reincarnate his power in a new form. I took a card out of my inventory and captured the seed. Seed of revolution appeared as the card’s name. I placed the card with my Katara and watched them fuse. I could unleash a new version of Katara by using these cards together. That was something to think about. I pulled the cards back apart and returned them to my deck. It wasn’t every day I added to my deck, and I even gained a potential fusion from it.

At the hanger's edge, I saw the ocean and plenty of rocks on the bottom. A United Forces ship patrolled the sea, but it was nothing too serious. Mako was trying to make a play on my girl, and I needed to get Korra some flowers and then tell her the good news. Knowing Korra, I would probably show up to her breaking the idiot’s legs.

Tarrlok and his little scheme to become dictator of the world needed to be stopped. I also needed to take Korra out on another date and maybe take Asami along. Korra seemed to like the girl, which meant that I liked her too. Maybe not enough to offer her immortality yet, but close.