It had been a week since he won the wager against Ozai, and since then, he'd been keeping himself busy. Really busy. Nathan had to, at this point. After his first night of sleeping, his body only needed thirty minutes of sleep to feel rejuvenated and good to go. That meant he had far more free time on his hands.
Nathan didn't know if the reduced time he needed to sleep was because of the serum, his Perpetuance perk, or both.
Though it was probably both.
It took him two days to realise that needing only less than an hour of sleep was both amazing and not so amazing. It was amazing because he didn't need to spend six hours just laying on the bed and regaining his energy. However, the downside was that he didn't know what to spend his time on aside from training, gathering info, or teaching Azula and Zuko.
For the first day after the wager, he kept testing the limits of his new body and tried whatever he thought of in the sanctity of his room. Calisthenics exercises he could have never done or could barely do before, such as the "90-degree push-up", "Manna" and "Nakayama Planche" were now effortless. Balancing on just one finger in each hand while doing a handstand? It took some practice, but he soon mastered it after a few attempts. He would've liked doing more exercises that he wanted to try, but he lacked the necessary equipment.
On the second day, he asked Ursa for any way he could practice his literacy, and she, completely unprompted, had a servant buy him two dozen books of varying types. He tried saying he'd pay for it, but she just waved it away with a smile. At least, with her help, his knowledge and understanding of the written language got perfected quickly, and he finished all the books on the same day he got them. He hadn't told Ursa yet, and he doubted she would believe him, anyway. No normal guy would just finish reading two dozen different books in less than a day.
However, with all that done, he pretty much had nothing else to do. Before all this… multiverse stuff, he had a strict training/sparring/meal schedule, a dad that yelled at him to get up every early morning, and video games, YouTube, or… porn. Now, he had none of those. And it completely baffled him how having too much free time somehow felt even worse than having almost none.
After aimlessly skulking around the garden for an hour—to the confusion of the servants and Ursa's family—he eventually decided to help around the house more. Nathan joined the servants in cleaning every dirty surface, got chummy with the cooks and learned from them, and he even learned how to style hair from the family hairstylist.
He was slowly making connections and gaining new skills. The cleaning servants knew other servants from the royal palace and would sometimes include him in gossip, telling him what happened at another nobleman's house or other such news. The cooks knew what food each person in the family liked, and Nathan made sure to learn how to make each one, just in case.
Suffice to say, Nathan had shortly become the busiest person in the house and was even known among the neighbouring manors' servants for his hard work—to the point that Ursa sat him down and had a talk with him in his room after only the first week.
-=-
"Nathan, I've noticed that you've been… incredibly helpful lately," she said.
He shrugged. "I mean, aside from being Zuko's and Azula's martial arts teacher, I've really got nothing else to do. I could do some hardcore training all day, just like before. But I think I've done enough training for the past six years of my life, so I've toned it down."
"And I'm incredibly glad that you've chosen to do that."
"I'm sensing a 'but' here…"
"But you've been doing too much lately. I'm happy that you like assisting the servants with their work, and they're thankful for it, as I'm sure you already know," she said with a raised eyebrow.
The way the female servants have been batting their eyelashes at him recently was a bit of an indication. Nathan noticed it immediately, but he hadn't figured why they were doing it until he told Ursa. And when she told him the reason, he got a pretty big confidence boost. Quite a lot of the older servants were even joining in.
'Can I call myself a chick magnet now?'
"I can see that look on your face, young man. Don't let it get to your head," Ursa said with narrowed eyes.
Nathan coughed into his hand with a hint of a smile on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"As I was saying, we pay the servants for their services, as stated in their contract with the family. There will be issues if you keep taking their work from them."
"Okay, okay… I'll try to do it less," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just that… I don't know what else to do in my free time. Even after I train for an hour or two and read some books, I'm still left with at least twelve more hours to do things."
"I see…" She looked down in thought. "Did you not think to consult with me about this?"
"I did. Of course, I did," he sighed. "But I don't want to keep depending on your help, Ursa. I already feel indebted to you for the books and all the other times you've helped me. Right now… I think I just feel a bit lost."
Ursa looked at him with sympathy. "I understand. However, I think there might be someone who can help guide you."
He turned to her, confused. "Who?"
"The man I'm talking about is Piandao. He's the greatest swordsman and bladesmith in the Fire Nation and is just as skilled as an artist. Since last year, he comes to our house every few months and stays for a while to teach Zuko swordsmanship. Perhaps he'll be able to give you guidance, as he does with his students. But he's a bit of an… eccentric man. He may not agree to teach you if he does not see it to be worth his time."
"When is he coming?" he asked.
"In three weeks."
"Three weeks?" He sighed. "Alright. I can wait for three weeks."
After Ursa left, Nathan remained in his room and played around with some small firebending and airbending. When he got bored with that, he just meditated until the middle of the night, preparing for the moment he had been waiting for.
'Time to see Roku.'
Nathan opened his eyes to the same sight as before. Roku stood in front of him with a welcoming smile.
"You've returned," he said.
"It's good to be back. I've been really wanting to continue my bending training. All I did in the physical world was some image training and some control practice. I also fought some Imperial Firebenders a while back and practiced their forms without the bending."
"Image training? So you picture yourself practicing your bending?" Roku held his chin. "Let's see how well it worked for you."
Nathan dodged a sudden fireball from Roku and backed away.
"Hey! What the hell was that, Roku?"
Roku entered his fighting stance as he narrowed his eyes. "Show me what you're capable of with your image training."
Wondering what went into Roku's head all of a sudden, Nathan began fighting him seriously. Remembering his fight with the Imperial Firebenders, he copied their moves and modified them to his needs.
With only his index and middle finger protruding from his hand, Nathan charged the energy inside him before sending a compressed torrent of flame in an upward slash.
Roku watched the compressed fire shoot towards him, momentarily impressed, and neutralised it. "That was a decent fire blade," he conceded, "but remember, firebending is about more than just mimicking others' techniques." He launched a series of quick, precise fire jabs, forcing Nathan on the defensive. "It's about understanding the flow, your breath, the way the flames dance."
Nathan deflected each jab, frustration building within him. He knew Roku was right, but his image training was just that—image training. It wasn't real practice. And he sure as hell wasn't fighting a fully realised Avatar before.
Realising that using just firebending wouldn't be optimal, he took a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of the air around him and the way it interacted with the fire Roku unleashed. He started to find openings, anticipating Roku's movements and using his airbending to subtly disrupt the flow of his fire. A gentle breeze nudged a fireball off course, another extinguished a flicker before it could become a full-fledged attack.
Roku, sensing the shift in the fight, raised an eyebrow. "You're starting to understand," he said, his voice no longer as harsh. "Remember, fire and air are not inherently enemies. They can complement each other."
Emboldened by Roku's words, Nathan took the offensive. He launched a series of coordinated attacks, using air currents to guide his firebending in unpredictable ways. A swirling vortex of flame danced around Roku, momentarily trapping him off guard.
Roku, though surprised, smiled. "Excellent work, Nathan. You've made significant progress." He dispersed the flames with a wave of his hand, the fight ending in a stalemate. "But remember, there's always more to learn."
Setting his hands to his sides, Nathan sat down in relief. He knew Roku was holding back. A lot. Just like how he held back with his punches on the Imperial Firebenders.
"You gotta warn me next time. That first attack of yours almost lit my hair on fire."
"Do you think your foes will be kind enough to give you a warning? Any future enemies of yours won't grant you such mercy. It would be better for you to learn that now than to suffer for it in the future."
"…You're right. Sorry," Nathan said, frowning at his own naivety. Since he was going to be fighting dangerous people in the future, he'll need to start adopting a more cautious and combat-ready mindset. That included preparing himself to… kill people… should he find it necessary. "I'll take your lesson to heart, Roku."
Roku nodded. "As you should. Have you meditated as I've told you to?"
"I have. Usually for five to eight hours each day. I try to spread them into two or three-hour sessions."
"Good. I've noticed an improvement in your control and efficiency of chi due to it, so continue making it a habit. Now, what would you like to do? More firebending training? Or would you like to start learning the other two elements?"
"Let's do some firebending training first. There's a higher chance of me using it in the physical world, especially because of where I am at the moment," he said as he stood. "We can start earthbending next."
"Follow me."
-=-
Author's Note: RIP Akira Toriyama.