25 Harassment

Meanwhile, at the Abacha clan throne room, Jide stared at the Head of the Clan, not surprised at the warm reception he was getting. It was not that he had seen this play out in a vision, it was because he could see Musa and Niyi standing together in the open and suspected that at least the people in this room knew the truth of Musa's abilities.

"Thank you for having me here, Clan Head. I know the Abacha clan is usually not open to outsiders so I appreciate and will remember the courtesy." Jide responded.

"And what can one internal mage hope to offer..." Hafis started in on Jide but was again interrupted by elder Ladidi.

"Again, you speak out of turn Hafis. Despite what you may think, you are not yet and at the rate you're going not likely to be the next leader of our clan. Report to my dojo tomorrow, I seemed to have been to soft in teaching you discipline."

The was an awkward silence at Hafis scolding as even though only elder and the clan head were supposed to talk during the meetings, Hafis had been getting some leeway during Musa's absence.

Elder Usman, ignored the interruptions, and looking at Jide, he said to him, "You seem like a young Knight but I can see that you carry yourself with something more...would you mind telling us your story as my student here has been very reluctant to disclose more information about you."

This comment showed both elder Usman's objectivity and caution. However, he was also hoping that the insight he saw in Jide was real and could lend support towards Musa's position.

"There is really nothing more to add besides what Musa has told you. I grew up in a small town named Mushin and had no real knowledge of the world of magic besides books until a little over two years ago. Thankfully Musa was there in my town and his actions not only saves me but made me into the internal mage I am today..."

Jide gave a brief recap of the events leading up to Musa becoming an external mage and on seeing that they would not be able to glean anything new, the meeting was dismissed.

As Jide and Musa were leaving the throne hall, Hafis intentionally bumped into Jide and said directly to him, "We have no place for weak, useless, trash and if you learnt from Musa that is all you will be. Musa's only advantage is that he became an external mage. If it was me...anyway I will never let a coward like Musa led the clan and you are not welcome here so leave before I make you."

"Is that a threat?" Jide responded loud enough for Musa to hear as well. At this Musa turned round and was about to confront Hafis when Jide stopped him.

"Ha ha ha. Kid it's a promise." on saying this, Hafis pushed through both of them and left.

...

Nnenna looked at the city they were approaching and was astonished.

She had thought the border city was imposing but this city, called Umahia, was more like a fortress.

It was towards the northeast of the border city, which was a mountainous area, and the city had been built using the surrounding mountains as its walls.

"How are we going to lose the tail in a city like this? They would probably be coordinating with the guards as soon as we enter." Amaka complained to Nnenna with her worry clearly in her voice. Obi finally showed some reaction as he adjusted his tower shield which was on his back to be more accessible. Obi had yet to reveal what element he was aligned towards but judging by his weapons and armour he was the sturdy defence type.

"Don't worry I have a secret which I will reveal to you guys. It will help up get passed all observers." Nnenna responded with confidence.

The group joined the queue to enter the mountain fortress of Umahia and took in the sights and sounds. The city was set in one of the valleys of the mountainous region and the entrance facing the border city required one to descend down a rather steep slope.

As Nnenna and her group had cleared the gates and were proceeding down the slope, one of the merchants horses that was struggling up the slope, was spooked by Kayto and jerked to the side fiercely. This caused the carriage to lose it balance and tip over towards Nnenna and her group.

Nnenna knew it would be a bad idea to use her space ability in the open like this but she was not about to let Amaka be squashed by a cart. However, Obi acted first removing his tower shield and charging at the overturning cart.

To the utter surprise of everyone present, this 20 something looking year old was able to support the falling cart, and all its cargo, with only his tower shield. As more and more people recovered from their shock, some of them choose to assist Obi while others moved farther away to avoid any potential harm.

Soon the cart was righted and Obi returned to the group, however, Nnenna was aware that one of their pursuers was a lot closer than before and had probably seen Obi's superhuman feat.

"Quickly, let's get a room. We need to come clean with each other if we are going to survive all the potential forces and dangers on this journey...and it's not fair to Amaka." Nnenna said. At this, Obi and Amaka shared a glance before staring at Nnenna. But without saying a word they followed Nnenna as she made enquires about an affordable inn close to the centre of the city and they all set off together for the inn, called the Workman's Rest.