Mind games

The show was at its best, the heat had given way to a cool afternoon, the supporters had not ceased to shout throughout the match, the commentators were full of criticism and praise for the participants. A special mention for Dombi, whose 41% of the team was already in the inner circle. The game ended if the number of players in the inner circle was equal to 15, then the team with the most members among these 15 won. Dombi already had 8 of his teammates there. Depending of the team coach the strongest members of the team could aim to enter the inner ring first or last. Dombi opted for the second option because it gave him more times to show off his skills and send a strong message to all the elders who were in the stadium. Of course he took in to account that Malamu was facilitating the process. In his mind it was probably one of the many machinations of his grandfather the village head.

In the centre of the inner ring was a giant monster called Geto. It had remained very calm until then after his excessive rage at the beginning of the Boma yé, but his aura weighed on the players who felt extra pressure. The presence of this Geto served to simulate the environment of a battlefield or of ultra important missions. The idea came from the current village head to compete with the other villages. This initiative did not please everyone, because the Getos were extremely powerful monsters. Even though this one had been captured during the crisis 32 years ago and remained very weak, its stature of at least 40 meters, its ferocity, everything in it was monstrous. Matsouma had been against the idea and thought that it was better not to play with fire. This stance had been seen by many as a sign that Matsouma was finally going to enter politics, but he disappointed his supporters by preferring to stay away, 'I'm just a businessman' he kept telling the mob that wanted him to have a place in the village policies writing. For the village head, exposing a Geto like this was to boost the villagers confidence and also plan for his re-election.

A shadow was speeding towards an area of the outer ring. Malamu, who had already succeeded in handicapping his rivals and facilitating Dombi's progress, was calm and collected.

Before long, the shadow was approaching his blind spot 25 steps away.

Seen from above Malamu was a black pin which suddenly twisted and turned on itself. The shadow was now 5 steps away from him, a mist that formed on the sides of Malamu's body whipped at the shadow but did not hurt it. Suddenly the shadow tumbled forward with its face to the ground which was intercepted by a fist. Malamu had used the Kaba, transmitting his state [dizzy] that he created by rotating himself and transfered to the shadow by the contact of his mist.

No Mbila had the reach that his mist possessed, generally the mist did not go further than 40 cm from the body, his could go up to 25 m, this information had been kept top secret.

The shadow that covered the body, which had now recovered and was standing upright despite its dizziness, ran down a skin and revealed the face of a girl...

The village chief found it strange that during the match Malamu had subtly, but still, made it easier for his grandson to advance.

I wonder if it was Matsouma who ordered him to do it or Malamu himself who understood that being with me would guarantee his future. Either way it suits me', thought the chief.

Malamu's performance was incredible even if he was more focused on scoring for Dombi's team who already had almost half of his team in the inner ring.

"So you asked your godson to serve my grandson ?" The village chief could not take it anymore, he was obsessed with knowing Matsouma's motives

Matsouma replied with a simple smile that smoked the village chief.

But what is going on? The village chief was thinking.

" How could you say that old man ? This would be unethical, youth should compete with all they got not worrying about pleasing others or measly politic, right ?" Matsouma said

' How the fuck he is calling me old man when he is fucking old too, fuck !!!!' The village head was fuming but maintained a calm appearance.

' Something doesn't add up' the village head continued thinking

' My intuition has enabled me to survive very difficult situations in the past. That same intuition cries out for me to be alert.' The village head was now having a doubtful expression.

He recalled a scene from his past, during the crisis 32 years ago, when the Getos (they were many)had invaded and the villages had united to face the threat together. Only the village of the Mbuji Mayi river, from which Ngobi came, had planted spies in the teams of the Mbilas from the other villages.

The aim of these spies was to take advantage of the chaos in the area to eliminate the strong Mbilas of the other villages that the Getos had weakened. His intuition had allowed the village chief to find the spy in his group, although he had not given the information for fear that no one would believe him.

He had nonetheless managed to avoid a trap that had decimated his entire team, it was Gore.

He remembered that they had been given a mission to go to a certain strategic point that didn't require fighting but waiting for an opportunity to make a move.

Mbilas were needed to fight the Getos, while his team was made of elites and could only act at decisive times, the Getos had already made so much damages that the united village needed more fighters on the frontlines.

So the united village command proposed to Elites Teams if some of their members were willing to go directly against the Getos instead of performing decisive attacks. Elites members were by no way fearful they were top notch and knew that the fate of the war rested in their hands that's why their lives were all the more precious because with their skill the united villages had a better chance of tipping the balance against the Getos.

But the choice of the village head at that time was completely counter intuitive but it saved his life.

The order to wait at a strategic place had relieved his team members but he had decided to go to the front when the opportunity had been handed to him.

He had been a village head before the crisis so his geopolitical skills was really great.

And it was only much later after many investigations that he really had the proofs that it had happened , the spies of Mbuji-Mayi had succeeded their coup, the strong mbilas of his village had massively lost their lives whereas Mbuji - Mayi had even reinforced itself by enlisting the deserters of his village and the other village. It was therefore necessary for his village to find an initiative to compete in spite of everything and not to remain in the sidelines. He was aware that if the fog that covered his village had not been there, Mbuji - Mayi would have already conquered the mountain.

After the death of the previous village head during the crisis, he was re-elected with an écrasante majorité in part due to his achievement in the crisis, due to him being a former village head and also due to the fact that Matsouma didn't campaign for the spot.

Somewhere in the outer ring, the girl facing him was a mbila, an elite with 3 konga her name was Abana.

Abana had courted Malamu in the past. Having two Mbilas elites form an alliance by marriage was rare and a strong power move. The families could grasp a lot of power and maybe become the lead heads of the village.

Since she discovered that she had 3 Konga even if her family was originally poor they had been treated with upmost respect and ascended in society. Her father has been having many business opportunities handed to him, her mother was now hanging in very chic places with other wives of powerful and famous people in the village.

Abana more than anybody understood her luck which was possessing 3 Kongas.

Other influential families were also trying to marry her to their sons. Since the news 2 years ago that Malamu only had 1 Konga, she didn't feel that Malamu was someone special, to her his enrollment has an elite was just a matter of who knows who. Her talent was superior to his according to her. And she wanted him to pay for the humiliation of choosing another girl when she practically gave herself to him.

But right now she was bugging, breathing hard and tired, she was looking at Malamu that didn't even break a sweat not even taking account of their battle but in the whole match.

' The perspective of how mist operates is different from one Mbila to another. While some focus on power or killer moves, I build my game around touching and not get touched, I understand your despair Abana, being utterly bullied by someone who only has 1 konga seems unreal but all of you underestimate me. My mist has a higher reach and is much more malleable than yours, when we fight the goal is to break all the 5 maqala shield of the opponent in order to checkmate him, so when someone get touched the protocol is to immediately transfer the [damage] into the maqala shield but some of you due to your powers think that you can put up with certain [damages]. I am slick, every time I hit you I just transfered a state that reduced your thoughts speed and process while making your brain consume a lot of energy' Malamu was analyzing the whole situation.

Somewhere in the stadium vip's stands, a man approached the village head and was whispering something to him. He was an Azimba. This one acted as his security.

" I have to go, enjoy the game " the village head spoke suddenly getting up, he was maintaining his calm.

" Already the match will soon be over, stay with us " Matsuma was smirking at him.

'I fucking hate this prick with that shitty smile, the fuck !' The village head smiled back " I just forgot that I had an appointment with my dentist " 

" Oh !? Is that so, an old man should not miss his medical appointment, you must not wait old man, nobody wants to see your beautiful teeth fall out " Matsouma was now replying with a mocking and astonished tone

The village head gave him a look, then turned his back and when through the splendrous door. He was fuming inside ' Who is the old man, you old tree, the fuck !'