Episode 2: Forebearer's Staff (2)

Orunmila sat on a cloud far above them, watching the battle closely. He respected his son's wishes and left him to handle it, but he never said he couldn't watch. He trusted his son to handle Akogun, but the fate of their lands required his presence as assurance. Deep down, he was excited to see how far his son had progressed as a Babalawo, a future Orisha Agba and Arch Messenger of the Hand of Olodumare. 

Ifayemi and Akogun were thrown back by their clash but only a few yards. Their bodies had warmed up for battle. The intensity in their eyes mirrored the sharpness of their bodies. They stamped one foot into the ground behind them to generate force to propel themselves toward each other. Akogun swung his fist ferociously, aiming for Ifayemi's chin—a blow powerful enough to decapitate an elephant. Ifayemi ducked under his swinging arm and threw his clenched fists into his ribs. Akogun jolted. His feet were nearly lifted by the force of the body shot. Ifayemi followed his attack swiftly with a blow aimed at Akogun's cheek, but he barely countered by throwing his forehead into his fist. Ifayemi was wide open for a second after his fist was repelled by Akogun's powerful headbutt. Akogun swung his fist into Ifayemi's cheek immediately. The impact knocked Ifayemi, who was dazed, to the ground. He gathered his wits quickly because he knew there was little time to recover in such a fast-paced battle. Akogun jumped into the air and sought to land on Ifayemi's chest with his knee. The force of his attack blew a hole into the marshy floor of the river shore. Ifayemi barely shifted his body out of the way. He put his arm behind Akogun's attacking knee just as it made impact with the floor and wrapped his other arm around his neck to perform a majestic gidigbo move as they fell into the crater Akogun created. Ifayemi threw Akogun's body around his own and slammed his back into the crater, further widening it. Akogun coughed in pain. Mud splashed everywhere. Ifayemi was on top of him but had mud on his face. 

Akogun calculated swiftly and used the situation to his advantage. He drove his elbow into Ifayemi's face just as he wiped the mud off his face. Ifayemi stepped back to compose himself as the blow left him unbalanced. Akogun lifted himself quickly and threw two jabs into Ifayemi's belly before ending the combo with a powerful uppercut that threw Ifayemi out of the crater and deeper into the forest. Ifayemi crashed into a large tree. He coughed out blood. He lay on his side in a bush at the base of the tree. Akogun jumped out of the crater and landed a few feet from Ifayemi. "You asked for this," Akogun said to him. The ifa binary code on his body now had a red glow. His body had reached peak strength. "Indeed, I was foolish to think a few punches would knock your senses back, but this won't end until we go all out, and I see you have made up your mind to do so," Ifayemi responded while slowly getting back on his feet. The grin on Akogun's face was psychotic, but it was merely a mask to hide the pain of tending to his wife's death and clashing fists with his proclaimed brother. 

Ifayemi took a second deep breath, sucking in more air and attaining the second form of his Araifa. Steam gushed out of his body. Akogun laughed out loud. "Bring it on, brother," he said. They dashed at each other at an even higher speed than before, darting around to weigh each other up before attacking simultaneously. Both men landed powerful punches on each other's chins, but none of them budged. A fury of punches followed from both men, sending shockwaves across the forest. Rocks began to crumble, and the earth beneath their feet shook. It was a test of endurance as both men battered each other's upper bodies, but it was a losing game for Ifayemi if it continued. Akogun's body had been wired by his grandfather to grow stronger as he took physical attacks, with the binary codes inscribed on his body. 

Ifayemi knew he couldn't keep up for much longer. He switched to defense and lifted his arms to block Akogun's barrage of punches. He dodged under one of his punches with lightning speed and drove his elbow into his chin from below. He grabbed his protruding arm, seamlessly executing a shoulder throw. Akogun was in pain, but he read the situation perfectly. He grabbed onto Ifayemi's arm as he threw him over his shoulder, performing a counter shoulder throw of his own, which he executed as he spun in the air. The force of the throw took Ifayemi by surprise. His body skidded across the forest floor several times before crashing into the base of a small hill. Blood gushed out through his nose. Akogun bled through his mouth as well. Although his body was fortified, he was fighting an opponent of the highest caliber. 

He couldn't let him catch his breath. Ifayemi got up gingerly, and Akogun was right in front of him before he could blink, clenching his fist, ready to punch his head off. Ifayemi released his breath into the atmosphere. Akogun's eyes widened. He stopped his attack abruptly and drew a sign in the atmosphere as he dashed away from Ifayemi. He knew what that breath release signified. That's why Ifayemi had always had the upper hand in their duels: his ability to use silent incantation, a strength unique only to him and his father. Ase, the inherent power of Ifa, is used through incantation. It activates when the breath of words merges with the atmosphere. However, in a battle between Ifa priests of similar strength, incantations can be countered with incantations as long as the words are heard and understood, to enable one use the right incantation to counter it.

However, silent incantation could not be countered as the words were chanted in the mind of the user and only activated by the release of their breath into the atmosphere. It was a powerful ability that Akogun never had the answer to. With Ifayemi's intelligence and wisdom of application, it was an invisible strength. Although the effect was not as powerful as using actual incantation, it was powerful enough in the arsenal of one of the greatest babalawos of his generation.  

Ifayemi, on the other hand, couldn't understand Akogun's hand gesture the moment he stepped back. He looked like he inscribed something into the atmosphere, which left him puzzled. Ifayemi jolted his body and took a firm stand. Akogun looked wary. It was a serious battle from there on. He couldn't tell what Ifayemi had invoked, so he was cautious. Ifayemi capitalized and charged at him full throttle. "Come on!" Akogun yelled. He threw his fist at the onrushing Ifayemi, who evaded it with a neat side step and swung his fist into Akogun's jaw. The attack infuriated him, but it didn't have as much effect as Ifayemi thought it would. Something was off, Ifayemi thought. Akogun followed with a rapid fury of punches. Ifayemi dodged them all with neat side steps, backward and sideways leans, while keeping himself at arm's length from Akogun. Every time he dodged, he countered with stinging body shots and headshots, but they had no effect on Akogun. He threw a punch at the center of Akogun's face, and suddenly it worked. The force of the punch pushed him a few yards away and into the ground, creating a small crater. Akogun had a cut on his nose. He panted heavily as he supported his body with both hands as he lay on the ground. 

Both men processed the events that had just occurred. Akogun realized that Ifayemi had used his silent incantation to activate his sixth sense. An ability that allowed him to use the atmosphere around his body as an extension of his nerves, which made him sense his enemy's movements and attacks faster. He could not hit him. 

Ifayemi was bewildered that Akogun took his attacks with little or no damage at first. The last attack had the expected effect, but it didn't solve his puzzle. Could it be the strange gesture he made with his finger? He asked himself. He cleared his thoughts. He had the upper hand at that moment. He needed to end the battle quickly and return the staff. Ifayemi dashed forward to deliver the finishing blow. He released his breath into the atmosphere, and the air around his fist ignited. Condensed air pressure formed around his fist with a yellow glow. One hit to put him out of his misery. Akogun rested his body weight on one knee and inscribed something into the atmosphere again. This time, Ifayemi could tell what he was doing but couldn't believe that he was capable of such a feat. He drove his fist toward his face. The impact dispersed a shockwave that pushed Ifayemi back. He managed to remain on his feet. Akogun laughed with his bleeding face. Ifayemi's punch did not hit him. It felt like there was a strong, invisible wall in front of his face that blocked his punch, as if the air formed a barrier to protect him. "It can't be," Ifayemi said. 

Akogun raised his palm, and the branches of the trees surrounding them elongated with sharp edges and shot towards Ifayemi to confirm his suspicions. They came at him fast from all angles. His sixth sense was still active, so he felt them. He bent to evade one and did a side flip while crouching to evade another. He was so rapid that normal eyes couldn't keep up with his movements. He leaned, leapt, rolled, back flipped, and forward flipped as the branches kept shooting at him. The forest floor around him was burrowed with holes. Akogun increased the intensity of the attack, and they all came at him simultaneously from all angles. He had nowhere to dodge to. He released his breath into the atmosphere, and all the branches shattered like glass before they could touch him. 

Both men panted heavily. No doubt, Akogun was using one of the powers of Odu Ifa Merin-din-logun  (the sixteen principles of Ifa), Okanran Meji. It gave him the ability to manipulate anything the atmosphere touched, even air. Ifayemi saw him inscribe its binary code into the atmosphere, which meant one thing: he was using binary binding to manifest the powers of Odu Ifa Merin-din-logun. An ancient technique used by ancient Ifa priests who fought alongside Oduduwa during the dark age. 

The veins on Orunmila's face were strained by the events he was witnessing from above. He wondered how Akogun could attain such a feat. Even he could not, given that he was merely a reincarnation of his former self that existed during the time of Oduduwa. His old self could do that and more, but it was a technique that could only be used in one's original form. He refrained from teaching the current crop of Ifa priests because he feared some of them would be power-drunk or use it against the will of Olodumare, and it was happening now before him. His eyes widened, and the strength of the atmospheric energy that oozed from him dispersed the clouds in the sky, except for the one he sat on. He was ready to end Akogun's life in the blink of an eye if he had to. He had doubts as to whether his son could come out victorious in the battle, but he was anxious to see how Ifayemi would handle the situation. 

Akogun smiled. "You are a tough man to beat," he said to Ifayemi. All those times he dodged the branches, he recited his incantation silently in case he needed to shatter them. His focus and calculations in battle were second to none. To be continued...