After the Masters of Suspicion broke with the Circle of Sages, three spiritual keys were left without a bearer. The unprecedented event caused a minor internal crisis in the clans. The clans looked for different ways to solve the problem. The situation was most serious in the Evolution Clan.

The ex-sage Mashal was considered the most skillful of the clan, and the only one capable of curbing their conflicts. Within this extended family, there were several factions fighting not only for the leadership of the clan or the spiritual key, they were plotting against the state.

The monarchists, who had been taken in by the royal family, wanted to strengthen the king in exchange for favors in the future. They disliked both the other clans and the growing influence of Minister Ojwang in the government.

The traditionalists, on the other hand, sought to reaffirm the power of the mediums, and were reformists, no less exalted in their political positions.

The legalists sought a moderate position, did not want the implosion of a civil war, and sought to maintain the integrity of the government. They did not ignore the pressures of the mediums, Ojwang's political movements or the fragility of the Clan of Evolution at that time.

Whoever had possession of the Spiritual Key of Evolution would determine the future of the clan. Young Nkechi knew this, and although she wanted clan unity, she was considered too weak as a medium, and too legalistic even among the legalists. Despite her pleas to become the next Sage of Evolution, she was denied. At a meeting between the suitors, the elders denied her the post.

“For what reason?”

The elders looked at each other, thinking the question was some kind of joke. The other suitors in the clan laughed.

“What are you laughing at, you idiots?”

One of those present, with the look of a snake, licked his tongue and retorted:

“If a medium like you became our leader, we'd be an embarrassment to the other clans, and our position would be weakened.”

Nkechi stood up, there were about two hundred people in the meeting hall. She raised her finger and turned three hundred and sixty degrees around. The suitors began to get restless. The girl put her hand on her waist and shouted in a boastful manner:

“I challenge you for possession of the Key of Evolution. Whoever wants it, just come for my hand.”

The leaders were stunned by her petulance. It was like signing a death warrant. Nkechi was known as the ugly duckling of mediumship. She was incapable of performing Ofó, the technique of changing nature, reality and being by channeling Axé through words. Her presence was tolerated, but never respected.

She was like a reminder of what disability could do to a medium. Even if she modeled Axé perfectly and used the basic properties, the old mediums considered her a waste.

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One of the elders called for order in the room and said, scratching his beard:

“Sit down, you insolent girl! We're not the Force Clan to act like savages. There will be no duels for possession of the Spiritual Key of Evolution.”

An old woman who was part of the trio of leaders lined her robe and said with irony in her voice:

“There won't be a dispute over the spiritual key. That's the foolishness of a reckless young woman. Even if you were up against those two hundred elite mediums, how would you beat them, my foolish child?”

Nkechi doubled his bet. He tapped the sole of his foot firmly on the ground and took up a fighting stance in a defiant tone.

“Two hundred elite mediums against a medium who doesn't know how to use a single Ofó… I think you have the upper hand.”

After this provocation, the order of the room was broken. Furious at this intrusion into the future of the clan, all the mediums got up from their seats. They summoned all their Axé. It wouldn't be a duel, it would be a massacre. The fury contained by formalities erupted into hatred and prejudice.

There would be no more respect for tradition, it would just be a battle royal, a relentless knockout until only one was left standing.

Nkechi spread his Axé, and did as he had done without his training. He modeled an intense plasma mist. Within it, the medium could create any shape, a theater of illusions that fooled her opponents' senses. She had been underestimated by the clan, segregated within her own family, and now she would pay the price.

The clan leaders were oblivious to what was going on in the dense fog. They heard screams, the clang of sharp weapons and bodies crashing into each other. One of the elders got up from his seat and tried to see what was going on in the plasma mist. The purplish color and its electric glow obscured his vision.

“But… what's going on? Nkechi, stop!”

She ignored him. She wasn't going to end it until the last medium had fallen at her feet. When the mist dissolved, she was on her feet, without a scratch. All her opponents lay unconscious on the floor. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her index finger and declared in an imperative tone:

“Give me the Spiritual Key of Evolution now, or you will meet the same fate as them!”

The elders stood admiring Nkechi, a medium of whom they were unaware of any potential. In a single strange movement, she had defeated an entire caste of experienced warriors.

⸎

Nkechi got up from the steps. He wiped a stubborn trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He had watered enough to clear his eyeballs for good. In front of her was Spin Bomb, with an unfriendly face, but alert enough not to be taken by surprise.

There was a certain smugness in her gaze. The wise woman knew that feeling. Taking that feeling away from her opponent would be too cruel. The medium pulled herself together and gave her opponent an order:

“Go away, girl! Help Akachi.”

“Huh! You want me to leave?”

“Yes, I've been defeated by a terrorist. That's enough!”

“I'm not a terrorist! What kind of trap is this?”

“I won't attack you from behind, it's not my style. You neutralized me before I launched my plasma mist. There's no point in continuing this fight. I underestimated you and paid the price. One day I was underestimated too, I should have learned something that day, but I was too proud for that.”

“Me, huh! What a crazy woman, bye!”

“Why, you…”

Spin Bomb ignored her completely and left her enemy behind. But before she could get out of sight, she turned to Nkechi and said:

“Thanks, I guess.”

The Sage of Evolution made no reply. She let Spin Bomb run away, summoned the rest of her Axé and snarled between her teeth:

“I hate prying! Who are you?”

The curtain of purplish ionized gas rose into the air. The plasma mist projected the silhouette of a cyborg figure. The invader revealed her identity.

“I was waiting for one of you to die, but it seems you noticed me first.”

“You people from Ilu Nla's Cyber Troop should stop meddling in mediums' affairs.”

“Unfortunately for you, I'm not from the Cyber Troop. I'm Nebula No. 2 of the Ghost Troop in the service of General Luena.”

Nkechi replied with a contemptuous smile. The two set off against each other. The medium generated a dozen copies of her opponent. The military officer was unresponsive, unaware of her opponent's abilities. Her detection system was down. There would be no reinforcements. She would have to rely exclusively on strategy.