This was the absolute last class of the day.
But Kahn was incredibly attentive simply because he found the subject highly interesting.
It was an actual music class.
In Kahn's experienced view, this was all quite novel.
In his previous impressions, any nation currently embroiled in an active war should logically be in a constant state of frantic preparation, and the overall pace of daily life should be tightly strained.
But the mighty Fire Nation, which had unilaterally started and sustained a brutal world war for nearly a full century, completely shattered Kahn's inherent expectations.
What initially t his eyes within the capital city was an undeniable scene of imnse prosperity.
The wide streets were constantly bustling with heavy traffic and countless people coming and going.
It made it incredibly hard to believe that this single nation was currently fighting the entire rest of the world with its own military strength, and had been successfully doing so for almost a hundred years.
Besides the prosperous capital city, there was the prestigious academy he was currently attending.
It was genuinely hard to imagine that this nation, whose clothing, daily habits, language, and even core governntal system heavily resembled ancient tis from his old world, would actually implent a mandatory six-year compulsory education system!
This vast, educated populace was probably one of the main reasons why the Fire Nation could successfully take on the entire world and continuously grow stronger with each successive battle.
Kahn was currently concentrating intensely on his music class.
The music classes here didn't rely teach the students how to sing; they also taught them exactly how to use several basic musical instrunts.
Kahn ultimately chose an instrunt he was genuinely interested in: the flute.
It looked incredibly cool when played properly, and it was small enough to be easily carried anywhere.
He couldn't help but occasionally fantasize about playing a haunting tune right before a major battle, and then effortlessly and casually slaughtering his helpless opponents.
Dong Dong Dong~~~
The deep, resonant academy bell officially signaled the final dismissal for the day.
The students politely bowed and bid farewell to their instructor.
They then happily gathered in groups of twos and threes, walking excitedly out of the classroom, loudly discussing either walking ho together or deciding where they should go to play.
Lately, no one had actively invited Kahn to play with them after class.
It wasn't that he was actively being rejected or maliciously neglected by his peers.
Rather, after this initial period of interaction, they all collectively understood that Kahn was soone with his own highly independent ideas.
He simply wouldn't change his personal plans just because of soone else's casual invitation.
If he truly didn't want to go, any further invitations were completely useless.
If he actually wanted to hang out, he would naturally just tell them.
But ironically, this aloof attitude made him even more highly popular within the academy.
The Fire Nation's core educational philosophy heavily advocated for solemnity, discipline, and emotional restraint.
In the strict teachers' eyes, Kahn's calm behavior was a perfect manifestation of this desired restraint.
And the other children his exact age also thought Kahn was highly impressive because they constantly struggled to resist the overwhelming urge to play.
Kahn wasn't surprised by this at all; being highly playful was simply a normal child's inherent nature.
Even he, when he was occasionally feeling interested, would actively want to play a fun ga of hide-and-seek with them or sothing similar...
Ahem!
However, he had absolutely no such childish plans for today; he was heading straight to the royal library next.
Zuko and Azula couldn't manage to co out and play with him every single day either.
Regardless of Zuko, who always faced all sorts of annoying restrictions, even Azula couldn't successfully sneak out over the wall every day without getting caught.
As for Uncle Iroh, he had indeed taught Kahn Firebending every single day during their initial training period.
But as the actual teaching difficulty slowly increased, even with Kahn's physical cheat, it was entirely impossible to permanently maintain that initial, blistering speed of learning.
His overall learning progress had gradually slowed down to a more realistic pace.
According to Uncle Iroh, truly mastering Firebending inherently required continuous, painstaking refinent.
And for Uncle Iroh, he was secretly quite relieved by this slowdown.
If Kahn could truly maintain that initial, terrifying speed of progress indefinitely, he wouldn't just be a prodigy; he would be an actual monster!
At the very least, the old general didn't have to constantly worry about completely running out of things to teach him now.
In short, during his ti at the academy, and especially most of the ti directly after classes ended, Kahn had entirely free rein over his schedule.
"Hi, Kahn!"
As soon as he stepped out of the heavy classroom door, Kahn heard a perfectly clear, bright voice enthusiastically calling his na.
Turning his head, he confird it was indeed Ty Lee.
Mai quietly stood right beside Ty Lee, simply offering him a silent nod in greeting.
Speaking of which, ever since he had formally t Azula's two little followers, Mai and Ty Lee, he surprisingly found out that they actually attended the exact sa academy as him.
However, upon further reflection, this was perfectly normal.
Because the prestigious academy he currently attended was undoubtedly one of the very best schools in the entire Fire Nation capital.
Although there were indeed many children from commoner families enrolled, most of them had parents or direct relatives who were high-ranking military officers, or they belonged to wealthy rchant families and the nobility.
His original family background was largely the sa.
At least right before he had tragically beco an orphan, his family was also widely considered a fairly prominent one, and his cheap father had been one of General Iroh's trusted subordinates.
Of course, even though he was currently the absolute only one left alive in his entire family, his status wasn't considered to have completely fallen.
After all, he was now actively mingling directly in the royal circle, which was absolutely the absolute top social tier in the entire world.
Every ti they accidentally t at the academy, the two girls, especially Ty Lee, would enthusiastically greet him or stand together and chat happily for a while.
After a few brief interactions, the three of them beca quite familiar with each other.
Ty Lee and Mai also essentially beca Kahn's best friends at the academy.
Perhaps entirely because Azula wasn't physically present to intimidate them, Ty Lee at school was far more genuinely cheerful and highly enthusiastic than when he had first t her.
She was an incredibly lively and energetic little girl.
Zuko's gloomy little girlfriend, Mai, showed absolutely no difference in behavior from before.
However, the specific gaze she gave him whenever she looked at him felt a bit strange, almost as if she was deeply afraid of him.
It must just be a misconception, right?
Kahn casually walked with the two girls, politely exchanging pleasantries.
He casually asked them a question.
"Are you two heading sowhere fun to play?"
"No, Mai and I are just walking ho together."
"Our hos are really close to each other, right Mai?"
Ty Lee explained animatedly, and then imdiately asked Kahn a question in return.
"Are you heading off to the royal library again today?"
"Mm."
Kahn gave a short nod.
"So cool!"
Ty Lee's bright eyes sparkled with genuine admiration for his dedication.
The three of them chatted easily for a while, and the overall atmosphere was highly harmonious.
However, just as they were finally about to part ways, Kahn suddenly spotted a highly unfriendly scene unfolding nearby.
In a secluded corner right against the high academy wall, two younger girls were aggressively surrounded by three sowhat heavily built older boys.
To be far more precise, one of the girls was bravely confronting the three boys directly.
anwhile, the other girl simply looked at her with great terror and concern, clearly not knowing what to do.
She was silently and desperately scanning her surroundings, anxiously seeking any kind of help.
No matter exactly where you are in the world, when speaking of prestigious schools, many beautiful words are almost always eagerly associated with them.
Words such as youth, innocence, purity, rigorous effort, and deep friendship...
Despite this idealistic view, there are also many ugly words completely unrelated to beauty that exist there.
For perfect example: brutal school bullying.
The ugly scene currently unfolding directly before Kahn's eyes should indeed be classified as classic school bullying.
"Kahn, what exactly is happening over there...?"
Ty Lee looked worriedly at Kahn.
She had obviously also clearly seen what was actively happening over in the secluded corner.
Facing such an ugly situation for the very first ti, Ty Lee was clearly a bit deeply flustered and unsure.
In reality, in such an elite, top-tier academy, blatant school bullying is indeed very rare, even considered highly unusual.
Mai observed the entire situation quietly from the side and quickly noticed so key differences.
"That girl fiercely standing up to them looks entirely unfamiliar."
"She definitely doesn't seem to be from the capital."
"She might have just recently transferred here."
"What is this nonsense, brutal xenophobia in the big city?"
Kahn was certainly not completely unfamiliar with such ugly things.
In his previous life, when he was still actively in school, especially during his turbulent junior high years, the 'Young and Dangerous' gang trend was highly popular.
There had always been so aggressive small-ti hooligans violently acting out in his class.
Ugly bullying happened from ti to ti.
Although he certainly wasn't a perfectly good young man who deeply enjoyed constantly helping others, he could at least safely inform a teacher about it.
Moreover, the two little girls currently being aggressively bullied were actually brief acquaintances of his.
They were his direct classmates.
However, one of the girls, exactly as Mai had astutely judged, had indeed just transferred to the academy.
Although actively ddling in other people's affairs was absolutely not his personal hobby, they were still his direct classmates after all.
Not actively intervening in such a blatant situation would be entirely unmanly.
So Kahn boldly stepped forward and spoke clearly.
"Excuse , is there so specific business you urgently need with my classmates?"
"Hmm?"
The fierce girl actively confronting the three bullies—Kori—looked at him in genuine surprise.
She quickly recognized him as a fellow classmate, but she honestly couldn't rember what his na actually was.
"Kahn!"
The terrified girl standing right next to her imdiately called out Kahn's na in massive relief and surprise.
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