In the bright morning light over Makoko, Akeh and Adunni got ready for the day's training. Adunni looked at Akeh, her expression firm,
"Your stay in this room was just for one night, Akeh."
Akeh wrapped his right hand with a cloth, focused.
"We'll see. If the other students did a bad job cleaning my room, maybe I'll make this my new spot."
"As if," Adunni scoffed.
"This place is only for first-rates. Don't get arrogant just because you got a third-rate soul now."
Akeh shrugged, giving her a sideways look.
"You know what I realized since I got here?"
"What?"
"No matter how good you are at fighting, it doesn't mean much without spirit energy. Even people like you and Lekan could beat me with spirit energy."
Adunni's face tightened.
"I don't like the way you're talking."
He glared at her, unconcerned.
"That's your business." He turned to leave.
"Watch. I'll surpass all of you in the blink of an eye. Keep playing."
As he moved toward the exit, Adunni's voice stopped him.
"Are you acting like this because of your mother?"
Akeh froze, turning back to face her. A moment passed before he asked,
"How did you know?"
Adunni hesitated.
"I saw her… in the infirmary. The nurse said her soul was missing. What really happened?"
Akeh's face was tense, but he replied after a pause,
"That's another story. Forget it."
And with that, he left, leaving Adunni in silence.
Walking to the chief's courtyard, Akeh could feel the stares of the other students, cold and unfriendly. Adunni followed close behind, leaning in to whisper,
"Looks like they're not too happy to see you."
Akeh, looking unfazed,
"That one concern them."
When they reached the crowd, Akeh noticed Timi and a group watching him, glaring. He stood next to Adunni, unbothered.
Then Altine arrived, her eyes calm but focused. She'd just finished helping Segun with his spirit harmony lessons and was here to lead the training.
"Hope you all slept well," she said.
Akeh smiled, knowing Timi and some others had spent all night cleaning his room as punishment. Timi caught his smirk, and one of the nearby students, clearly tired, grumbled,
"What's he smiling about? Does he think it's funny?"
Altine clapped her hands, pulling their attention back.
"The next spirit energy test is right around the corner. You all need to work hard on generating your energy."
Akeh raised his hand, and Altine nodded for him to speak.
"I see everyone here generating spirit energy every day. Is that all we do?"
Altine answered, "That depends on your level of soul mastery, the majority of students here are still trying to progress to the next level, once you do, the training will be different."
Akeh nodded as Altine instructed everyone to meditate and build their spirit energy. Then she walked back to the chief's house.
Adunni was still standing near Akeh. He gave him a look.
"Why're you still here?" Akeh said.
Adunni sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked off.
The students all sat down on the wooden floor, closing their eyes to meditate. Akeh joined them, feeling the spirit energy filling the courtyard. He thought to himself,
"This energy around me… it's not as overwhelming as before. Guess my third-rate soul is helping."
But even with his eyes closed, Akeh could feel it...the silent tension, the resentment. Akeh took a deep breath, clearly unbothered.
To be continued...