What do they want to hear?

"Master Yasini helped me discover my mediumistic profile. I'm a CRPA. He explained how I could use the electromagnetic properties of Axé. Thanks to him, I understood what the Spiritual Key of Faith was and how it could help me. I thank him very much."

Nyatui scratched his chin with his hooked fingertips. However, his gaze emitted a subtle reproach.

"That's it?"

"Uoh! Don't talk like that, I've only had a month's training. After that, so much happened that I couldn't advance in my training, Mr. Nyatui."

"So that fool didn't teach you anything about Axé modeling?"

Feruzi stirred the embers with a stick. That conversation had piqued his interest.

"Yasini must not have taught you anything about Magic of Scratched Point either."

Mashal crossed his arms and shook his head in the negative.

"You mustn't even have mentioned changing the state of matter by means of Axé."

Akachi put both hands on his forehead, started kicking the air and shouted:

"I didn't have time to learn any of that stuff!"

The trio of former sages laughed at the boy's ignorance on the subject of mediumship. The heir to the Spiritual Key of Faith didn't know the extent of his powers or that of the mystical artifact. He had the power of a sage, but at that level, he would be easy prey for Ilu Nla's armed forces. Feruzi looked at him and said:

"Son, in your situation, you would be easily captured by any member of the Phalanx. If you don't strengthen yourself, they'll take your key. Stay here and train with us. When you're ready, you can resume your journey."

"I thank you, sir, but I can't. I have little time. We need to go underground to Ilu Nla. An illegal fighting tournament takes place every quarter. I have less than a month to get there. We need to get the organizers interested and enter the city."

Nyatui spat sideways. He was irritated by the young medium's plan.

"You're pretty dumb to be Azekel's grandson. All the Phalanx wants most is to arrest you and extract your Spiritual Key. And what do you intend to do? Hand it over to our enemies. Like father, like son."

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Akachi held his knees tightly. His Axé began to spread throughout the place. The atmosphere around him became heavy, with an electric aura surrounding him.

Spin Bomb shielded himself with his arms. Fadala's eyes widened as he saw a great force coming from the boy. Feruzi and his companions noticed something more than that uncontainable force.

"You don't control your Axé vibration, do you?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It wasn't an irony, kid, I'm being literal!"

"Leave him alone, Nyatui. You're too rude to deal with younger people."

Feruzi walked over to Akachi. He held out his palm, pale as cotton. A small, weak light was emitted. He focused the light on Akachi's metallic exoskeleton. Several symbols began to appear, as if they were seals.

"That's Adisa's work, that zimba looks awful"

"Zimba?"

"It's the signature of the Scratched Point. Yours was done improperly, hastily as if scratched by an amateur. Tell me, young man, what happens when you're in danger?"

"Oh, I can't say. Well, I feel as if an electric current runs through my whole body."

"Um... You see. The Spiritual Key of Faith has been connected to you via this supporting exoskeleton. Thanks to it, you can move. If it's removed, your body will automatically atrophy... sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to warn you about your situation."

Damn! Without this thing I'll just be a cripple.

The boy felt a shiver run down his spine. He hugged his abdomen in defense. He bit his lower lip, which kept trembling. He swallowed down the urge to cry. She didn't quite understand what she was feeling. Her hands fingered her thighs rapidly, it was as if she was losing control of her limbs.

Feruzi put his hands on her shoulders. He looked gently into her eyes. Calmly, he continued:

"Relax, I know what you're thinking. It's not easy to get the Spiritual Key out of there. You can only do it with a Settlement. It's resonating with your spirit, there's a great compatibility between the vibration of your inner portal and the key."

He removed his hands from the boy's shoulders and returned to his seat. He lit a pipe, swallowed the smoke and blew gray wisps into the air.

"However, it seems to me that the seal on the exoskeleton needs to be reinforced, Akachi. The key is constantly emitting too much Divine Power to you. Your body hasn't strengthened enough to receive this charge."

He pointed his pipe in the direction of Adisa's son, took another puff and declared:

"Every time you feel threatened, the key deposits high amounts of Axé in your body. This happens on an instinctive level. That's why I asked you what happens in moments of danger."

"I don't know what I should do..."

"We need to discharge your energies to stabilize the resonance between you and the Spiritual Key. I'll make a set of Scratched Points on top of the first seal."

The former sage explained that Akachi should abstain from food and physical activity for twenty-four hours. He would receive passes from Feruzi and the other two mediums to cancel out his unstable vibrations. After that, the old man would scratch the points on his body with pemba, an oval white chalk.

Lying face down on the ground, under a sequence of points scratched into the ground, Akachi would be enveloped in a bubble of spiritual discharge. In this state of deep trance, other mediums would be vulnerable. They would have to wear a patuá, an amulet to shock back any quizila, negative vibrations or spiritual forces harmful to the medium.

It was not uncommon for disincarnate spirits to seek to possess mediums in this condition. However, the Spirit Key would serve as a powerful shield. Even so, the boy would be vulnerable to physical attacks if the discharge barrier fell. He would have to be protected and prevented from waking up before the discharge session was over.

If he was woken up too soon, he would suffer some kind of sequelae. He could even die. Feruzi finished smoking his pipe. He looked at Akachi and asked:

"I can't give you a one hundred percent guarantee that it will work. It's up to you. If it works, you'll become a sage indeed. What do you say, young man?"