Armad sighed. "Well then, but you still haven't explained why you chose this prison as a training ground."

"You will see soon enough, my lord."

Armad frowned at the tone of ‘my lord’. It was like a djinn addressing its master. But he was still in no position to reject Babara's pledge despite not knowing what it entailed.

The next morning, Armad and Babara went deeper into the snow and headed east. It got so dark he couldn't see what was in front of him.

"How do you think a mere human can fight djinns? The djinns can't be seen or heard unless they reveal themselves to you." Babara asked.

Armad shook his head in thought. He couldn't fight what he couldn't see. It made him feel helpless and reminded him a little of his sister who could fight djinns.

"Well," Babara said. "True Benders don't care about you being invisible. They fight without eyes or ears. And that will be the first thing you learn."

Babara stopped in the middle of the snow and made a summoning gesture. Soon after a creature in an immaculate dress revealed itself to them.

"You will start training with my djinn. His name's Ji-Inara," Babara said.

He? Armad narrowed his eyes at the creature. It looked like a male but not human. It had long white hair and green brows that extended up to one of its horns. Its arms were as short and thin as a newborn baby but its legs were sixty cubits long. It was dressed in a clean white robe that looked too clean for a creature of its reputation.

Ji-inara bowed to Babara. It held a medium-sized hammer in its hands which shared the same color as its brows.

"You'll train this man as you have trained me until he can feel your pol," Babara told the creature. It nodded, giving a cursory look at Armad.

"Anything else, my lord?"

"No," Babara said.

The creature glanced at Armad again before it disappeared.

Babara turned to Armad with a smirk. "Don't worry, it won't kill you."

Armad didn't know whether he should feel relieved about that. He didn't even know if he wanted to be trained by a djinn.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"By the way," Babara said. "What do you feel when you look at your pol?"

"Am I supposed to feel anything?"

"Yes, of course, you're supposed to feel something. Look closer," Babara said matter-of-factly.

Armad wanted to say no - after all, he'd been looking at his pol for years and hadn't felt anything - but he decided to obey the old man. He closed his eyes and looked at his core.

He turned his attention to the pol and try to feel this... thing Babara was talking about. After a long moment of inspection and there was nothing, he sighed in frustration. He wanted to call the old man's attention but then he suddenly felt a hot wind blowing weakly from his pol. He wondered if the wind was there just now because he had never felt it before.

"I... feel a hot air rising."

Babara smiled. "That is your feel. Pol can feel differently but the most common feels are spring, summer, wet, and winter. If the air isn't too hot you have spring, or summer if the air is too hot. I have wet.

"As I go and investigate the evils in the prison and the ways we can escape it, you will try to feel my djinn and defend yourself against it."

Armad nodded with confidence. He would get more powerful if he learned something like that. He could even fight a person or a demon even if his eyes were closed. And nothing would be hidden from him again.

Babara disappeared in the snow, leaving him there with the creature. The djinn laughed wickedly and disappeared. A few seconds later, Armad felt something hard hit him on the head. The force of the blow threw him into the snow and he rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

He held his bleeding head and stood, looking around for his assailant. Another hard object, which he now recognized as the hammer in the djinn's hands, fell on his back and the sound of broken bone rang in the air. Ignoring the pain, Armad drew his sword and slashed in the direction. There was nobody there and he slashed at the other side, and then at his back. It was all in vain, not once did he find the target.

Armad realized what Babara wanted him to learn but it was difficult. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the djinn. He failed, which made him take another direct hit.

The djinn had no mercy to show and would kill him if need be. It was acting on orders and that was how the enslaved creatures were.

Armad focused even harder. On the tenth day, after almost every joint in his body was dislocated at least twice, he felt something like cold air approaching him from the right side. He slashed in the direction and hit metal. The djinn and his hammer appeared. Armad shouted with joy and closed his eyes, looking for it again. But he received another beating instead.

Armad didn't give up. It was a struggle: sometimes he would get it and sometimes he would receive a beating.

It went on for the next three months. From time to time, the djinn would appear and teach him one or two things about pol before it disappeared and continued beating him. Armad soon discovered that the demon had a winter feeling to his pol. And out of every ten attempts, he would get five.

Babara came back after another month. The first thing Armad did was to feel his pol. And he felt wet like he was suddenly soaked in water, or thrown deep into the wet season.

"You have tried," Babara said with a smile. "I've found a way out of the prison but we have to awaken your Bend to even attempt. So the next part of your training is awakening your unique Bend and training your eyes."

Armad nodded. "Yes, sir."