The walk back to the compound was quite uneventful, sparse rays of sunlight peeked through the leafy rooftop and birds chirped cheerfully within the trees, the forest had settled into an almost peaceful quiet.

Almost. Ato heard the sound of something massive slithering around, he counted himself lucky that it did not see him as a threat.

Though, that would change soon. Very soon.

Ato crawled back into the field and began making his way over to his hut. The young man's mind was awash with schemes and machinations on how to effectively eliminate the camp of forest imps.

The easiest way to do so would probably be with fire, but Ato possessed neither the tools nor the ability to craft a simple fire. He could probably ask Kweku though, he was the one who knew how to ignite a flame with sticks and stones. Yet even if he'd managed to get the flame, another problem arose with the matter of transporting the flame. Ato believed any self-respecting civilisation who had the ability to craft roads probably knew how to detect foreign sources of light in an otherwise dark forest.

So he would have to find a way to make it on the spot. Which wouldn't be a problem if he actually knew how to start a fire on his own.

Urgh! So frustrating!

This was no longer about a simple vendetta, (It still was, actually) it was about the safety of both him and the people in the compound. Ato wasn't one to leave threats unattended, and most certainly wasn't about to pass up on the chance to get his perfect revenge.

In a way, he was kind of like the average Xianxia MC; killing clans for a single offence. Though in this case, he was probably more justified in his genocide.

'Fwoosh!'

The crimson glare of a nearby flame took him out of his mental space, and Ato found himself in a small clearing near the village. There, a masked figure danced wildly, a burning horsetail whip clutched in his hand. The whip sparked and crackled, yet under the intense movements of the person, the flame did not so much as dim.

As the figure continued dancing, the flame began to grow, getting longer and brighter, until it was even larger than the man himself. The originally red flame slowly began to take on an orange hue. The once grass covered ground was now littered with scorch marks as the bare-footed figure continued his esoteric ritual.

Ato watched on, enthralled by the performance. This—this was exactly what he needed.

Ato slowly approached the figure, who seemed to be just about stopping his dance.

As he got closer, the heat from the flame only grew, The fire was already turning blue, and had reduced the surrounding grass to ash. Ato wheezed and coughed, trying his best not to inhale the copious amounts of black smoke. At the centre of it all stood the masked figure, his toned muscles barely visible under the leafy cloak he wore. How the cloak didn't get burnt was itself a mystery to him.

The figure turned to him, the flame quickly dispersing from his whip along with the pitch black smoke, strangely the white horse hairs remained intact.

The momentary pause allowed Ato to view his mask.

It was wooden, as was expected, and oval shaped, resembling a face of sorts. The nose was large and protruding, and its lips were thin and black, there were no eye holes on the mask, so Ato found it unbelievable that the person could see him.

His doubts were disproven however, as the masked figure took a step in his direction, and another, and another, soon the person was simply sprinting towards him.

Ato stretched forth his arms, which still bore the red marks from yesterday's ritual. The wounds had healed surprisingly fast, though Ato very much doubted it was due to his own cultivation.

He felt a wave of Kra move from within him, travelling down towards his palms. Before, Ato only used small bits of Kra to power the spell, especially during battles when he needed a distraction.

But he wasn't in a battle right now, he was here to bargain. So he'd have to use every ounce of power that he had.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[Immobilise]

The figure stopped right in his tracks, and Ato took the time to take the whip right out of his hand.

"Give... It. Back!" Spat the masked figure, in a surprisingly boyish voice..

Interesting... You can still talk under immobilisation?

Ato had never considered the possibility. Then again, every foe he'd faced was not all that interested in speaking to him. Plus, that didn't really matter at the moment, he'd found something qute useful to him.

"I don't think I will..." Spoke Ato, an easy smile on his face. "Though, I might be persuaded if you did something for me."

The figure stared long and hard at him—or at least, he thought he did. Discerning that sensing any form of emotion would be quite the challenge, Ato took the extra step of removing the masked figure's mask, an action which revealed to him the face of a barely fifteen year-old male.

Said male did not look too pleased.

"Let me go right now!" Roared the teenager, straining visibly against the constraints of the spell. Ato could perceive tiny cracks on the film of Kra, which kept growing each second. his time was running out, so he had to make the next few words count.

"I want you to teach me." He stated bluntly. The boy's face went blank for a second.

"Huh?"

"Teach. Me." Articulated the young man, pointing towards the whip. "How you do the thing with the whip."

The fifteen year-old made an array of expressions, none of which were particularly good ones. Yet ato was feeling quite assured of the success of his strategy. Having taken something so seemingly precious from the boy, he was certain he'd do anything to get it back.

The boy's expression changed a few more times, before finally settling on a conflicted look.

"...Fine." He acquiesced.

A large smile blossomed on Ato's face.

"Great!"

He released the spell, watching with slight amusement as the teenager fell to his knees.

Ah, how he loved power.

He threw the mask over, and almost laughed at the confused expression the boy made when he realized that he still didn't have his whip.

"What about my whip?" Asked him, a look of perplexity painting his face.

"Be patient." Cautioned Ato. "I was going to hand it over, but what if you tricked me? That just wouldn't do... No. I think I'd rather keep it."

Fear flooded the boy's mind, and his expression became grave and desperate.

"Please give it back!" he pleaded. "My master will kill me. I can't go back without it!"

Ato feigned a contemplative look, before finally shaking his head in mock regret.

"Nope. I can't do that."

The teenager resumed begging, telling tales of how strict and ruthless his master was and how he'd certainly smack him upside the head should he fail to return the whip.

Ato however, was having none of it. He had something so useful and interesting in his grasp, and he'd stop at nothing to get it. It might not be the easiest option, or the best one, but it sure as hell was the closest.

"I'll tell you what." He began. "Meet me here again this afternoon. I'll give it to you before you teach me."

The boy relapsed into deep thought, before finally agreeing. They were to meet at this exact spot sometime in the afternoon.

***

Akasi was a very strange boy. From the tender age of 11, he had shown great interest in the matters of priesthood, which troubled both his parents to quite a large degree. As such, his father, who was becoming increasingly peeved by his son's obscure obsession, pulled him aside one day to announce something.

"Akasi," he began. Akasi instantly knew it was an important matter, for his father rarely called him by name.

"Yes, Agya." responded Akasi.

The old man stared intently into his eyes, searching—or so Akasi thought—for any signs of fear within the boy's gaze. Akasi's father, the right-hand man of the general himself, was a feared and revered figure among the people of the Sepow province. It was said that he could smell the fear in the eyes of every potential soldier and quell it in just a few days.

And he truly treated his sons like soldiers.

"I am sending you to study under a good friend of mine."

Those were the last words Akasi ever heard from his father before he was whisked away to study under Okomfo Antwi of Bretuo.

He could not exactly say that those days were good, yet Akasi still bore a great amount of respect for his teacher.

Which was why he found it absolutely unacceptable that he had lost his whip to a slave of all people. What would his master think? Akasi had on numerous occasions considered using the many incantations he'd learnt on the slave.

Yet he could not do so, simply because he was undergoing the Feast Of Nothingness, and would not be permitted to use Kra in any capacity. He even had to resort to using material ingredients to perform his daily rituals.

It would all be worth it in the end. He would finally become an officially recognised First level Okomfo.

All he had to do, was teach some guy how to summon fire.

"How stressful..."