[Third POV]
Solon was sitting on the ground thinking about what he just heard from his teacher.
'Pain is inevutable while suffering is optional huh?' he thought and suddenly he got up with conviction in his eyes.
'Then I will train so much that suffering won't even be an option.'
"I decided what I want to do." he said as he looked at Bumi.
"So, what did you decide?" asked Bumi with a smile already knowing what Solon's decicion is.
"I want to continue training, even if it means I have to endure all the pain in the world."
"Good, now do it."
"Do what?"
"Use the power of the earth, use it with the spirit you just showed me."
Solon turned around took a deep breath, thought about his family waiting for him back at the spirit world worrying about him and took a horse stance with his hands at his sides. Suddenly he released his breath took a heavy step forward, creating small cracks at the ground and puched forward with every ounce of strength he could muster.
With his move a colossal amount of earth got ripped out of the ground and flew through the air, crashing into the closest mountain, creating a large hole in the middle of it.
After that Solon's head got filled with information, unknown knowledge that he had no time to process before he slammed on the ground with a groan of pain.
"Haha, I must say that it's the first time I see a spirit use the power of the earth."
After hearing what Bumi said Solon immediately tried to get up and start running away from him aware that he currently stands no chance against the human in fron of him.
"Stay down, you don't have to worry about this, I have known your race for a while."
"How did you find out?"
"The one common thing all humans have shown so far is the ability to instinctively understand how to use the power of the elements, we even made sure to ask the humans from the water settlement to make sure of it. Your inability to use the power as such and the fact that you seem clueless about everything around you show that you have never been in contact with humans before. If you are not human then you must be either an animal or a spirit. I doubt you are an animal, so you you are a spirit."
"So what now? Are you going to kill me to 'steal' my power?"
"What are you talking about, even if I wanted to and could do so I wouldn't do that. That would earn me the ire of most spirits. I must inform you that spirits have become increasingly aggressive right now, so me killing you would lead in an all out war which would be bad for humans."
{Flashback}
"But you said, that I shouldn't go to the material world since humans don't hide themselves on the back of lion-turtles anymore."
"You don't have to worry about that, Vaatu has taken some actions to keep them there."
{Flashback}
"I see." though Solon while cold sweat formed on his head..
"Well now that this matter has beed dealt with let's continue with your training. First of it has been proven the the human way of using the power of the elements won't work with you since every time you use it you exhaust yourself. Now tell me have you noticed something weird about yourself everytime you activate the power." asks Bumi as he thinks about everything that has taken place after he started training Solon.
"Now that you mention it, every time I use this power a large amount of information is thrown into my mind. I am unable to control that information so I get easily tired." comments Solon after thinking for a bit.
"I see, try to remember what that information was about. If you remember, then tell me, maybe we will figure out everything."
"Ok..." said Solon as he tried to remember everything that came to his mind after he use the power of the earth.
"I think I remember, it had to do with the action itself, even little piece of information about the rock I threw came into my mind."
"I see, that is indeed interesting. What kind of information?"
"The size of the rock, the time it took to reach the mountain, what got destroyed as a result of the rock being thrown and other information like that."
"Hmm."
Suddenly Bumi's face changed as if he understood the essence of the world itself.
"How about this, try to think of that information before using the energy to activate the power of the earth. Instead of just throwing rocks, try to understand everything you want it to do."
"Ok, I will try."
Immediately, Solon got up took a deep breath, thinking about every detail he could about the goal he wanted to achieve with the power. He slammed his foot down and a huge rock was thrown towards the same mountain as before, while his mind once again got filled with a large amount of information.
"Did you notice any difference from before?" asked Bumi while he supported Solon's body as he stumbled.
"You are right, it took less energy than before and there are way less information stuffed in my head." comments Solon after taking some breaths to calm himself.
"Hmm... I think I know what is going on. Instead of using the power of the earth you have been using your own power all this time." Bumi said.
"But I got this power from the lion-turtle just like you." asks Solon
"WRONG! You didn't get any power from the lion-turtle, it is impossible for spirits to obtain power that way after all. What you have been doing is copying the way humans use the elements through your own power."
"What kind of effects does that have on me?" asked Solon.
"Well, first of all spirits are being of energy, which means you don't have the limits humans have so you could theoretically control all 4 elements or even use power outside those elements, like plants. There is also the fact that you have no limit to the power you can obtain, the only thing limiting you is the amount of energy you have and your imagination. However it also means that you need to spend way more time to master the use of an element."
"Is there a way to learn faster? I need to increase my power quickly after all."
"Well, from what I have seen so far, your power depends on the amount of knowledge you possess, so you need to visit Wan Shi Tong's library."
"Who is Wan Shi Tong?"
"He is one of the oldest spirits you can find in the material world. He resides in the middle of the desert inside his library. It is said that is holds every piece of knowledge you can think of. It's too soon to think about visiting the library right now. For now we will train your body every day, everything else you can find out when you visit the library. Now go to sleep it's late." said Bumi.
Solon looked at the sky and saw that the sun had already set behind the mountains on the horizon.
~~~~~~~~{chapter end}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~