57 Alone in the Wild

Swish!

The sound of greatsword split the air apart echoed in the now silent forest as all the other animals hide or ran away from the battle scene.

Then a giant python head flew through the air as it was separated from its body. However, the Two-headed Devil Snake was not yet dead.

The sentient beast had snuck up on this human prey but was surprised when his stealth attack failed. However, it had still expected to gobble him up. Now it had had to sacrifice one of its heads to launch a fatal attack as he could not break through the annoying man's guard.

But, miraculously, this easy prey-turned-predator quickly stepped behind a tree blocking the fatal attack, as if he was already expecting it, and on exiting the other side of the giant oak already executed a down slash to decapitate the second head.

The only thing the Two-headed Devil Snake saw as its life fleeted away was the expressionless face of this young man.

***

Hmm, Jide thought as expected.

The deadly Two-headed Devil Snake was not impressive. Everything went as he had seen. Everything was expected.

'So why care about anything'. A new thought entered his head.

An insidious voice in his head was advocating for apathy in a monotone.

But, when Jide released the time element he was channeling, his emotions slowly sipped back in.

"Hah. It happened again."

Jide had noticed during his journey a growing sense of apathy whenever he channeled the time element. He had tried to reduce his dependence on it but he was also not going to risk his life.

"I hope the Mandela clan can help with this... otherwise..." Jide said aloud to himself as he was cleaning the Two-headed Devil Snake's corpse.

He had begun to talk to himself as a way to combat his growing sense of indifference and his loneliness. In addition, he reflected on the visions about his friends as a way to stay connected to his emotions.

"Hafis should have already attacked Musa by now. There were two timelines I saw for that. I hope Turayo was suspect of Hafis when she met him. That is the only way Niyi would survive. If she doesn't then Musa may be heading to attack the old man by now... if he does, then Nnenna's actions are their best chance. Ha keep track of timelines and the different branches is so difficult, especially since I can't place all event in the right timeframe... I have to hurry"

Jide finished with the beast corpse and started heading deeper into the forest after re-orienting his bearing towards the distant mountains.

***

At the border of the Abasi Empire.

The ever expanding empire had started to raise concerns in the surrounding nations citizens but the continuous deaths of the Warriors and Knights in the conquered kingdoms had scared the rulers and commanders into inaction. Naturally, they were some who were part of the resistance openly, some who helped secretly and some who were considering surrendering.

But the regular citizens did not know about this so were left to their anxiety about their future and bewilderment that so many strong nations' armies could not resist. Therefore, there was a lot of tension in the air and the rumour mill was awash with gossip and farfetched stories.

Musa was impatiently waiting with Turayo in one of the second floor rooms of a tavern. The leaders of the resistance had sent scouts and spies into the Abasi Empire and were still waiting on reports on the enemies location and disposition so that they could plan for their attack. However, to Musa, it just seemed like they were finding excuses. Even if they couldn't pinpoint all the commanders in the field as they moved around for safety, they knew the central location of the empire were most of their Warriors would need to be to defend their capital. Moreover, they had Ubong's inside information.

"I wonder what they new intelligence is that caused this impromptu meeting and why I have to be excluded." Turayo complained. "Yes I attacked Ubong but she was part of the enemy so my actions were justified. I should be part of the meeting." She added.

"It is just a waste of time. They are meeting and talking because they are scared to take action." Musa emotionless response sounded from the shadows.

"Yes, take our caution for cowardice, new Abacha clan head. But know that it is actions like these that made sure we did not share the same fate as your illustrious clan." Maduka said with a snicker as he entered the room followed by Folunso and Ikemefuna.

"I don't banter words with cowards but insult my clan again and it will be the last thing you do." Musa said then turning to Folunso, he added, "when do we attack?"

***

"No No No, that is not how you should move. The convenience of your ability has made you weak, Nnenna. You can learn how to use your external mage abilities by experimenting with Kayto on your own time but for the remainder of our training you will only use the space essence to enhance your physical abilities. The first stage of your training will be complete when you can put up a decent fight against Obi. As for the rest of you, you may use the training field but my time with you is over." Ibrahim lectured, but Nnenna and the rest were too sore and exhausted to pay attention, in fact except from Obi, most of them have passed out.

"Hmm..." only noticing that now, Ibrahim stopped his lecture and was about to pour cold water on all of them when a messenger came from the King, summoning Nnenna.