Chapter 23: Side Quest 3
[DING!
You have gained the Title: "Ama-Ji-Agha" (The One Who Holds War)
+2 Strength
+1% Respect from all warrior-class villagers
New Trait Unlocked: "Battle Composure" – Slight resistance to panic and mental strain during fights.]
The world didn't feel the same anymore.
I could feel it in my arms, my muscles became slightly denser and heavier with power.
Not bulky, but refined and I felt more grounded. My breathing had steadied.
There was something new inside me. Definitely not chakra…I wish it were. Not adrenaline. But something else.
A sharpened edge that hadn't been there before.
I rolled my shoulders slowly, and the tension that usually built after such exertion was absent. My heart didn't race. My mind wasn't clouded. Instead, I felt... balanced.
Then came the voices.
"Obinna!"
Nnamdi was the first to reach me, almost tripping over a loose plank as he rushed through the dispersing crowd.
"Obinna!" Nnamdi's voice cracked with excitement. "You mad man! You actually did it!"
I gave him a tired smile. "I told you I would."
"Eh! You told me," he said, stepping back. "But I didn't believe you. I thought maybe you'd last a while. Maybe you'd land a few hits. But that—" He gestured wildly toward the center of the arena. "You destroyed him."
I didn't answer. He wasn't wrong. I had gone through the battle hundreds of time inside my head that it felt like I was merely playing out a scene from the future.
The truth was, even I hadn't expected myself to be that calm in the moment..that collected.
My body had moved with precision I hadn't known I was capable of. The movements hadn't just been instinct. They'd been... deliberate.
"I didn't destroy him," I said. "I just... didn't stop."
From the corner of my eye, I caught Ikenna swaggering toward us, a huge grin plastered on his face.
"My own brother," he said, arms spread wide. "Ama-Ji-Agha himself! You better not forget the little people when you become an Eze."
"Oh, now you believe in me?" I asked.
Ikenna raised an eyebrow. "Obinna, I believed in you since the first time you spouted those nonse- I mean things about leverage and mass distribution.'"
"That was a real theory," I muttered, clearly picking up on him calling science nonsense.
He stopped in front of me, shaking his head. "You've changed, Obinna. That wasn't the same boy who used to sit with me arguing over whether the old well was deeper than the stream."
"You moved like someone who's seen the end of the fight before it began… Like you weren't just Obinna anymore."
He wasn't joking, but he wasn't mocking either. There was admiration there—respect. And a hint of something else.
Amazement.
And like practiced… "The spirits were with me." I said with a casual smile.
Ekene joined quietly, stepping into the group just as the crowd began to thin.
His eyes were scanning me the way a smithy inspects cooled steel.
"You weren't the same in there," he said. "Not just stronger. Different. You didn't fight like someone desperate. You fought like someone who'd already mapped out the outcome."
I turned fully to face him. Of all of them, I respected Ekene's words the most. He didn't praise easily, and when he observed something, it meant he'd been paying attention.
"You saw that?" I asked.
"I saw everything," he said. "Your footwork, your control, the way you anticipated Amaechi's swing before he even committed to it... You were studying him in real-time. Adjusting. Calculating. I don't know how you did it, but you fought like a tactician—not a brawler."
I exhaled. "It wasn't just training."
"Of course, it wasn't," Ekene replied. "Training alone doesn't explain this. The spiris really are with you."
"So you haven't believed yet."
"Not fully, but now…"
He wasn't wrong. The system's rewards—titles, traits, stats—weren't just theoretical.
They bled into my body, into my instincts, and rearranged something fundamental. I didn't fully understand it yet, but I knew I had crossed a threshold.
Then came the silence.
I felt it before I saw him—Onwudiwe.
He approached quietly, no announcement, no expression. Just the usual steady pace, hands tucked behind his back, robes brushing against the dirt.
He stopped in front of me, eyes locked on mine.
"I only came to see you win," he said flatly.
My eyes narrowed. "That's all?"
He tilted his head slightly. "The spirits don't lie."
He held my gaze for another second, then nodded once and turned to leave without another word.
I watched his back as he disappeared through the crowd.
That was his way of showing belief.
No applause. No smile. Just acknowledgment.
Ekene let out a low whistle. "He doesn't say much, but when he does, it counts."
Nnamdi clapped me on the back. "Forget Onwudiwe—you said you would win, and you did. Just like that."
I looked down at my hands. "Yeah," I muttered. "Just like that."
…
Evening soon fell over the village with the slow grace of a hunter returning home. The five of us sat together near the western edge of the village square.
Ekene had fetched roasted plantain. Nnamdi was nursing a calabash of palm wine. Ikenna leaned back on his elbows, his shirt draped over one shoulder. Onwudiwe sat a little apart but within earshot, eyes on the setting sun.
For a while, no one spoke. Then Nnamdi cleared his throat. "So... what next?"
I didn't answer immediately. I took a breath and looked around at them—my brothers in all but blood.
Then I looked to Nnamdi. "The Ejuona clans."
He blinked, then sat up straighter. "You want to approach them?"
"They're next."
His tone shifted, picking up a hint of caution. "Obinna, the Ejuona are... different. They don't care about honor or legacy like the Akutara do. They care about profit. Gold, livestock, trade routes. That's what they bleed for."
I listened.
"You'll need to appeal to their self-interest. Promise trade monopolies, maybe offer a share in any future taxes or spoils. They'll want guarantees. Negotiation with them is like playing Okwe, one wrong move—"
"There won't be any negotiation," I interrupted.
He froze.
I leaned forward slightly, my voice calm.
"They'll either decide to join now or be left behind when I start uniting the other villages and settlements. I don't need to win their hearts. Just their understanding."
Nnamdi stared at me, wide-eyed.
"You'd risk alienating them?"
"No," I said. "I'm giving them a choice. But I won't bend the mission to make them comfortable. This path isn't about pleasing everyone—it's about building something stronger than what we've all inherited."
Ekene looked up from his food. "That's a dangerous way to do things."
"So is war."
Onwudiwe's voice came from the shadows. "But war brings clarity."
We all turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't elaborate.
I shrugged. "I'll speak to the elders of Ejuona myself. I'll give them the vision. What they do with it is up to them."
No one argued.
I hope they understand—this wasn't just about battles. It was about momentum. And I didn't plan to stop. Not until I can bring this entire region up to the level to withstand whatever the Europeans have in store.
…
[The Merchant's Gamble] → Convince Ejuona that unity brings more profit than division.
Requirement: Secure an economic deal benefiting all clans.
Reward: Knowledge on Economics, +2 Charisma.]
Looking at the last side quest on the system interface, I understood what I needed to do. The Quest said Convince, not negotiate.
With the quest name being Path to Eze(Kingship), it is obvious that I shouldn't be negotiating. A kind doesn't negotiate with his subject, instead, he gives them a reason to follow him.
And that's exactly what I'll be doing. But first…
I turned to Ekene. "What do you think about Nsibidi?"
"Huh?" He looked perplexed for a moment and I didn't blame him. This was an abrupt change of topic after all. "What about it?"
I didn't answer right away. Instead, I turned to my system interface and mentally went to the mission section.
[HIDDEN QUEST – "The First Glyphs of Knowledge"]
OBJECTIVE: Develop a Nsibidi-based system to express mathematical, physical, and chemical principles in a way that can be easily taught and passed down.
REQUIREMENTS:
Create Nsibidi adaptations for fundamental mathematical operations (+, -, ×, ÷) and algebraic expressions.
Develop symbols to represent key physical concepts (motion, force, energy, heat).
Establish a method to notate chemical reactions using Nsibidi.
Successfully teach at least one person a concept using the new system.
REWARD:
Skill: Nsibidi Scholar (Beginner) – Increases comprehension and ability to modify Nsibidi for complex ideas.
Knowledge Fragment: Principles of Engineering – Grants insight into structural mechanics and materials.
+5 Intelligence
FAILURE PENALTY:
Loss of potential system integration.
Decreased reputation among elders for proposing an impractical idea.
…
Ekene was the most intelligent of our group…me not included. In the past, perhaps, but now? Well, it's still up for debate.
I haven't learnt all there is to learn on Nsibidi from Onwudiwe, but with my intelligence and wisdom stats haven improved recently, I intend on tackling this mission.
And Ekene would need to join us so he can brush on his understanding on the subject since he'll be my first student when I finally develop the Nsibidi based system of expression.
"I have a very important task for you." I said with a wide smile that probably doesn't look like a smile to the group. "How would you like to be a pioneer of something interesting that'll be talked about for generations to come?"