NOVEL WEB Song 20: The defender
Everyone looked at Yasini with great expectation. He watched the basin. His eyes sparkled. Akachi possessed the rarest mediumistic profile of the eight. This would either guarantee him a great advantage in battle, or become a major barrier in his future. He shook his head.
"Ah! Go on, tell me what my profile is."
"Your profile is CRPA."
"That's no good, Yasini. Let old Okafor organize the ideas here."
The man picked up a three-dimensional holoprojection terminal and asked the medium to define the psychic profiles one by one. Okafor organized everything into tables. The tables were organized like this:
PROFILE 1 - APRC
Dominant Function
Attraction
Auxiliary Function
Propagation
Tertiary Function
Repulsion
Lower function
Concentration
PROFILE 2 - ACRP
Dominant Function
Attraction
Auxiliary Function
Concentration
Tertiary Function
Repulsion
Lower function
Propagation
PROFILE 3 - RPAC
Dominant Function
Repulsion
Auxiliary Function
Propagation
Tertiary Function
Attraction
Lower function
Concentration
PROFILE 4 - RCAP
Dominant Function
Repulsion
Auxiliary Function
Concentration
Tertiary Function
Attraction
Lower function
Propagation
PROFILE 5 - PACR
Dominant Function
Propagation
Auxiliary Function
Attraction
Tertiary Function
Concentration
Lower function
Repulsion
PROFILE 6 - PRCA
Dominant Function
Propagation
Auxiliary Function
Repulsion
Tertiary Function
Concentration
Lower function
Attraction
PROFILE 7 - CAPR
Dominant Function
Concentration
Auxiliary Function
Attraction
Tertiary Function
Propagation
Lower function
Repulsion
PROFILE 8 - CRPA
Dominant Function
Concentration
Auxiliary Function
Repulsion
Tertiary Function
Propagation
Lower function
Attraction
"That's very ingenious, Yasini. How did you come to that conclusion?"
"I didn't quite understand either, Mr. Okafor."
"Akachi, and the rest of you, look at the basin."
The iron filings had concentrated in the water as a solid sphere.
"It's not hard to spot. Your Axé has concentrated the metal, causing it to be repelled from below. Its internal force has a greater tendency to concentrate and repel external forces. It is excellent for making shields, barriers, deflecting attacks, rebounding and other types of defenses."
"What is your mediumistic profile, Master Yasini?"
"That's something personal. It's not the kind of information you give out to anyone anywhere. An experienced medium can identify it just by observing. It will be a test for you. Discover my mediumistic profile and you'll take a big step forward in your training."
Of course, he's not going to tell you, bro.
What is he hiding from us? Not that he's the most trustworthy person in the world, but what reason does he have to hide something from us? Wait a minute! Fenyang, we're talking directly to each other without opening our mouths or anything.
I know that. Relax, no one can hear us.
When did you find out we could do this?
Our spiritual synchronization has generated a mental link between us. It could be useful in the future. The problem is that Yasini has his mediumistic profile, and we don't have his. If he tries to betray them, he could use that against us.
Yasini declared that there was nothing more to teach that day and said goodbye to everyone. Akachi opened and closed his fists. He no longer felt so weak. Now all he had to do was develop his skills. Everything was a great possibility for him.
⸎
Akachi and Spin Bomb returned home. Fenyang accompanied them. She no longer saw any reason to stay in the illegal cemetery on the hill. Spin Bomb found the idea of a spirit living under the same roof as her a bit strange. Since her metaphysical body wouldn't take up any space, nor would it be another mouth to feed, she shrugged.
The girl asked Akachi to sleep in the living room. The room would serve as storage for the swords. There were a thousand of them. Without any help from her tenant, the scrap collector managed to find some valuable things in the dump. It was enough to make a few bucks. She ordered food via the app.
The curfew was still in place in Chrome Hill. Deliveries were being made by drones, with authorization from the Central Command. People still needed food and medicine, even though war had been declared between the criminal factions. If the traffickers didn't allow these services to work, the population could revolt and even collaborate with the enemy.
After a few minutes, the drone flew in through the window with a long-life package. Spin Bomb picked up the dinner and paid for it using the cryptocurrencies on his cell phone. The drone beeped to confirm payment, and a loudspeaker thanked them for choosing the restaurant and offered a ten percent discount on their next purchase.
"How are you training with Fenyang?"
"He's a great teacher. Gee, I've never eaten that. At least, I don't remember."
"I thought it was strange that he agreed to teach you maculelê. You know, you're going to use this martial art to help drug dealers. Maybe even kill people."
"In the same way that you use swordsmithing to protect your family."
"How do you know that?"
"I connected the dots. There's no reason for you to do this of your own free will. I sense that you've never been comfortable with this arrangement."
Spin Bomb trembled at the base. This was something very intimate. She had been thrown into someone else's story, just as Akachi was now part of her own. A life rescued from the trash had altered her daily life in a way that she could no longer turn back. She even missed the amnesiac boy when he was gone.
She'd worry, wondering if he'd had enough to eat. When he arrived, she would ask if he had been hurt, if he was tired. I felt silly. Then she'd close herself off like a hedgehog, as if seeking protection from that instant friendship. She felt a certain responsibility towards Akachi.
She hadn't felt the urge to connect with anyone for a long time. But Akachi was different. She was like a child learning to take her first steps in that violent world. Dreams no longer sprouted from the dry soil of human relationships. I wondered how many days he would stay there, until fate summoned him to play his part.
"Akachi, you say you're doing this just to recover your memories and return to your father. But what if there's nothing to remember? If all you have is the now, searching for an imaginary past, won't that kind of, uh, break you?"
"It would be sad to have no one to go back to, not even a memory to fill me up. I think I understand the meaning of ancestry more and more every day. It means more than having a descendant, it means being part of something bigger. It's having a family, a connection with more people who strengthen you. I see this when Yasini and Zuber are together. I don't know if I'll get back what I've lost. I just want to try, Spin Bomb."