Chapter 128. Guru Pathik
Yo, still with Aang. The Wan Shi Tong Library.
"Avatar, you've finally shown up... That simplifies things a lot," the spirit of knowledge greeted us in his sanctuary, his usual stoic expression tinged with impatience. Having known him for quite a while, I easily noticed his restlessness. After all, too much depends on this kid—or rather, the spirit within him. As far as I know, Wan Shi Tong himself tried to find the Avatar, but something kept getting in his way. Maybe Raava sensed a fragment of Vaatu on the human plane, which is why she completely shut down.
"There are so many books here!" Aang murmured in awe, turning his head around.
But his wonder was short-lived. The spirit of knowledge began leading Aang through various rooms where different kinds of research were conducted. From the results, it became clear that Raava possessed only about twenty percent of her true power. Wan Shi Tong had preserved approximate data on both Great Spirits when they were at their peak.
Essentially, each new Avatar reincarnation took a tiny fraction of the light spirit's strength. But when you consider the hundreds of Avatar statues, the amount of energy spent becomes significant. Plus, the Avatar State itself consumes Raava's energy. Based on this information, Raava should actually be much weaker than she is now. This, in turn, tells us there's some factor we've overlooked...
"I think I know what will help her regain her strength," the spirit of knowledge said. Well, I guess I'm the one who missed something...
Over the next few days, Aang and I put Wan Shi Tong's theory to the test. We sought out conflicts or problems people were facing.
After all, if Vaatu draws power from dark, negative emotions, chaos, and destruction, then Raava should grow stronger through positive emotions and harmony. So, Aang needed to help resolve some dispute or problem. Or, well, somehow facilitate conflict resolution.
In the end, Aang helped a lost fire ferret cub find its family. He also resolved a minor conflict between two neighboring villages. Every year, they fought over a shared pasture, and this time, things ended much better. We handled about a dozen such small situations.
"As I thought, the level of light energy has risen. The percentage is tiny, but there's progress," Wan Shi Tong said after a series of scans that left Aang and me baffled.
All this time, Aang followed our instructions without fail. Maybe at first, he didn't fully grasp the threat posed by the Great Spirit of Darkness, but once the spirit of knowledge showed him the worst possible future in an illusion, he heeded our warnings.