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Angstrom awoke from his sleep at dawn, as per usual. Nothing had happened overnight, save for a light rain that caused a few puddles in the pocks of the earth. Angstrom stood up and checked his bandages.
Another day, another excercise. He thought to himself.
He walked over to where the earthen dummy still stood. It had shrunk slightly from the rain, so he molded it back up with some fresh rock. Now, the training began again.
He took his familiar blocking stance, one foot in front of the other, and arms in the fighting stance. His right arem flew out, pointer and middle fingers extended in a jabbing motion to the dummy's would-be sternum.
Once!
Twice!
Thrice!
He struck the sternum and the area around, forming a small triangle of tiny dots.
Perfect.
On a human, that would block the arms and possibly the head.
He inspected his work carefully. he noticed that one dot, the one located on the breast of the sternum, was off slightly. Angstrom frowned. It was better than yesterday, but still sloppy. That would've caused a slight shock, but nothing more.
He remembered what his master had told him on what to do...
'Pay attention, boy! This may be useful to you soon enough. Your work is sloppy. Have you paid attention to nothing I have told you?' The old woman sneered and jabbed his chest with her walking stick.
'The secret to chi blocking is to use your own chi. You must use your instincts and knowledge, and let yourself guide you. Do not make the holes with your fingers... make them with your own chi needles, to cut off and cauterize the chi veins of your attacker... at least, for a while.' The old woman grinned toothlessly.
'Chi veins heal, even when the body cannot. The only way to stop them is to cause a permanent wound that bleeds forever, and by then you're dead. That causes leakage, so that your ever-flowing chi is being released into the air. Other than that, chi veins will heal faster than the body- it will only take one day, maximum, for chi veins to restore themselves to their original state. It follows the same principle as "Fighting fire with fire". Its fighting chi with chi. And the best thing, it even works for non-benders! Chi is used to assist musclulatory movement as well. Stopping that will induce numbness through the nerves and cause muscles to relax entirely until the chi is restored.' His old, wizened mentor cackled maniacally. 'Remember that, boy, and you may yet learn something.'
Angstrom smiled his small smile, and tried again. This time, he targeted the left shoulder. Once, at the shoulder joint. Once, and the part where muscle would connect to the clavicle. Once at where the tendon would connect to the chest. And finally, once to the back shoulderblade. There were no marks on the dummy. Angstrom looked at it quizzically, and then carefully bent the rock away. As soon as he removed the arm, a large pile of dust and sand spilled out, choking the air with dry dirt.
Perfect.

*Training 2/10*

Angstrom looked to the sky as clouds began to gather. Thunder was rumbling, and the air was tingling with the feeling of lightning. Angstrom grinned like a boy. Now, it was time for a small test.
Summoning three earthen dummies and molding them as before, he formed a slight triangle around himself with the molded earth as before. He was concentrating his chi into his fingers when the rain began. Angstrom laughed happily.
He loved the rain.
He shut his eyes, and exluded all else but the sound of the rain hitting the earth, and the earth itself. He breathed in.
He lashed out his fingers into two of the dummies. No holes. He withdrew.
He breathed out.
He concentrated carefully, bringing back his chi.
He breathed in.
Again, lashing out in a scythelike path, 'disabling' almost twelve would-be chi points.
he breathed out, and halted, head spinning. he was breathing heavily, but his blows had compromised the structural integrity of the rock. he heard loud cracks, and then the dummies crumbles. Angstrom picked one of the remaining rocks.
"Not bad. maybe now I should work on my bending."

*Training 3/10*

Haru'd been in Omashu for a few days, gathering supplies and whatnot for his trip to his next destination. The weather was hot, and the air was a little bit dusty. But, other than that, the conditions were fair. Most of the provisions Haru'd need were neatly stashed away in his traveling pack, so he thought he'd spend the rest of his time in the city training. It was a good use of his spare time, after all.

As night fell, Angstrom halted his day's work and went over to his fire pit. He calmly started a fire and began boiling a pot of water for stew. In the meantime, he opened his bandages and placed warm water and a leafy salve over his open sores and cuts, and reopened scabs. As he unwrapped the bandages of both of his hands, he saw his scars and remembered his vendetta, and the oath of vengeance he took that day. Incomparable rage filled his being, the rage at being incompetent enough to be able to do nothing while all his life's work and all of his treasures burned away before him. He stood and lifted his head to the gloomy sky, crying aloud his pain, suffering, and rage for all to hear.

His dreams were haunted by fire that night.

As he was jogging along, Haru noticed the sun trailing down in the summer sky. It was mesmerizing; the way the yellows blended with the reds to create shades of pink and orange. It was almost like an Aurora. Within noticing the sun's descent, Haru decided to pick up the pace and complete his training by nightfall. When he'd reached the place he'd started, Haru panted heavily, and was sweating. He decided to purchase a small pouch of water to remedy his discomfort.

'Onto the next task.' Haru thought. Weight training would be a necessity to become stronger. However, Haru possessed no weights. Instead, he thought push-ups and curl-ups would suffice. So, he did fifty of each, counting each as he was brought up and down by his own muscles. Whilst doing this, time seemed to slow down ever so slightly. He clenched his teeth upon the last rep of each, saying the number: 'Fifty.' He'd finished exercising his abdominal and bicep muscles. But, when he finished, lactic acid's effects set in, causing it to be painful to get up. He'd definitely be in pain tomorrow. But, a strict training regime was supposed to make him strong much faster.

Training: 2/5

"Ouch...." Haru said, apparently to no one. He was nursing the bruise he'd gotten moments before, on the back of his thigh from when he fell. Despite the pain, he ignored it within five minutes, and got to planning his second to last task. The next exercise he planned was simple enough, jumping from roof to roof to increase his agility. Haru picked out a small building, and walked over to it. He thought for a few seconds. 'How'm I going to get up there? Damn, I should've thought of that before creating the exercise...' Haru felt simultaneously stupid and shameful, an accomplishment that he hadn't been able to do since he was a child.

But, being the clever idiot he was, Haru figured he could jump, grip the edge of the roof, and hoist himself up. It'd be difficult; his muscles were already in pain. Haru bent down, tensing his hamstrings, ready to jump. He released the tension, jumping into the air. As soon as he reached the height he needed, which was just below the edge of the roof, Haru grabbed the roof's edge, hoisting himself up. When he reached the roof's top, he sat and panted for a few seconds. At least the most work was over.

When Haru'd regained his strenght (to a degree), he took a running start, from the roof's edge. When he leaped, Haru pulled one knee back, pushing off his right foot. He landed on his left foot, leaning forward to ensure that he wouldn't fall off backwards. 'Yes!' He thought, patting himself on the back. He only had to do this twenty more times.

When he'd gotten to the second to last building, Haru's jump was a little faltered. In fact, it was so faltered that it caused Haru to slip on the last tile and almost fall backwards off the roof. Luckily, he caught the roof of the building behind with his hand, and swung back and forth like a pendulum, hanging from the roof's edge again. He decided to let himself down. Nineteen would have to do.

Training: 4/5

Angstrom woke up sleep-deprived and sore from the constant practices. He yawned and cracked his knuckles, rubbing the back of his neck with a cut up hand. "Well," he said drearily. "Time to start today's practice."
Angstrom decided to start working once more on bending, as yesterday's practice was a stroke of luck.
As he sat on the ground in strict meditation, thoughts flowing to and fro, he began his control excercises. With a distinct rythm, he pounded the ground, sending rocks into the air, until they numbered ten. It will be a strain, He thought. But Im confident I can handle it. lifting the rocks into the air, he made them circle his head. Slowly, at first, but gathering speed as time passed.He tried to keep his mind focused on the rocks and his eyes shut... until one of the rocks nicked his nose and made his eyes snap open in alarm. he saw the whirring, flying stones and began to lose control, stones spinning off akwardly and losing their flight path. two connected full-force at his skull, and another cracked his elbow. Angstrom gruted in pain as he finally lost his concentration and the rocks were flung off into the morning haze. He rubbed a small cut above his temple gingerly, and inspected his cracked elbow. he sighed with displeasure.
No more practice today.

*Training 5/10*