Chapter 08

Chapter 08

The Escape

The night was still young and the breeze was still strong.

Adams only remembers what he had eaten that evening – beans with gari and some fried plantain- and wondered if that was going to be his last meal.

His thoughts going way back to the promise he somehow made to his father on his dying bed that fateful evening.

“Papa, I will grow up, become strong, and take care of the house. I will even do that thing that we talked about. It won’t be easy because you won’t be here with us. But I …….”

Then he snapped out of it, realizing his calculation to dodge Obrenus’s first strike had somehow been misread.

How was he able to dodge that? He thought to himself.

Then he fell into another flashback.

This time he was at his matriculation at the University of Ghana, and the smiles of pride on his mom’s and little sister’s faces were just too calming.

With one look into the sky, he could almost see an image of Papa smiling through the pure white clouds.

SNAP, SNAP

 – He dodged another two punches.

“Hey boy, are you dreaming or something?”

Obrenu remarked after sensing the kid was not fully present in the fight.

Dr. Bannerman’s voice crackled through the earpiece.

“Adams, you’re still in this fight.

I don’t know why, but your vitals are more stable now.

And there’s this new green aura building up in the blue one.

I don’t know how you’re doing this, but keep at it.”

Obrenu sighed with disgust and indignation.

“You mock me by sleeping whilst you fight me?

Ahh!. Young man, who do you think you are?.

What do you take me for?

A joker?

That you sleep while Obrenu almighty finds it worthy to fight you?”

Obrenu pointed at him.

“Then I’ll end this quickly with my new signature strike.

Osoro somu!..”

With the swift movement of his hands, the wind tore through the market like daggers cutting every piece of material close to its force into shreds.

Adams blocked it by generating a counter force – like a shield with his fist – by moving just two steps forward as quickly as possible.

“Not so fast, boy.

There’s more coming.”

Obrenus’ strikes were so potent that Adams could only block them without having any opportunity to counter the attacks. He as slowly wearing down with cuts to his wrist and a sharp cut to his face. But he couldn’t let his guard down yet.

Then he heard Doc. through the earpiece.

“Adams! Adams!.

It’s time.

You’ve absorbed enough energy.

Now you can release it.”

“Just like what we practiced. Don’t go overboard or you’ll risk destroying the market square.”

Adams mastered courage and formed a new stance as though he was in a dogjo about to spar with an opponent whose skill he fully understood.

The sweat on his forehead became like steam escaping from his body.

He had developed a new aura.

As if he now knew exactly how to beat Obrenu.

ENTER SAGE MODE.

He had meditated so much during the fast paced period of blocking most of Obrenus strikes that he had fallen asleep into a new form.

The legendary sage mode is unleashed when a worthy wilder attains heightened levels of calm in the face of a deadly opponent. Others may call it a “state of enlightenment”.

“Adams! Watch out!”

Doc. Called out an alert.

Obrenu was right behind Adams about to strike a dagger into his heart.

Then came a glitch.

Sage mode Replacement aura.

After the glitch, something unusual had taken place.

The Blink had switched places with Obrenu.

It happened so fast Obrenu felt his life flash before him.

With a cold shiver along his spine.

Before he could turn his neck to catch a glimpse of Adams standing closely behind him, came a reverse kinetic push, throwing him against the thick walls of the Cedi House miles away from Adams.

Before he could recover from the strike, Adams sprinted towards him, slamming him again into the ground with a force similar to that of a magnitude 3.5 earthquake.

Obrenu instantly fell unconscious from that strike, and the fight was over.

But before Blink could lay another hand on him, something from behind swoops Obrenu from his grasp, escaping from the scene.

This time, Adams had not only survived the attack, but the young hero had actually won.