Ini lay down on his bed, reminiscing about the good times he shared with Temi. A bittersweet smile crossed his face as he thought, "Good things really don't last." He stood up, ready to start his day, and headed to the bathroom to bathe and dress up. As he looked through his clothes, he realized they were a bit small, a reminder that they were literally from ten years ago.
Ini decided to go shopping for some new clothes. He walked to a nearby boutique in his neighborhood, using some of the money he had made years ago. After finishing his shopping, he noticed a barber shop across the street. With a wave of his hand, his shopping bags disappeared, and he walked into the barber shop.
Looking into the mirror, Ini decided to get rid of his rough dreads. He sat down, about to ask the barber to cut his usual punk style, but changed his mind. "Loosen my dreads, trim them, and plait box braids," he instructed. As the barber worked on his hair, Ini used his spiritual consciousness to try and locate Temi. He remembered Tosak's teachings: "The mind is like a sea filled with water. See yourself as every molecule, then release that sea with your body as the axis. Anything the sea touches, deals, senses will all be detected by you."
Ini began searching, expanding his spiritual consciousness in increments of 100 meters, 500 meters, one kilometer, and so on. When he reached approximately seven kilometers, he sensed a very familiar energy in a unique skyscraper with a white flame emblem – the White Flame Guild. Ini thought to himself, "Temi is really bad at recruiting; she didn't even tell me the name of the guild." He didn't know that it was because of him that she had come, and she had no experience.
As he sensed Temi's energy, Ini saw her practicing some kind of power with lots of vitality. He guessed that her new awakened power was as a healer. He also sensed two other strong presences in the building – one hot and the other cold. The one with the hot presence was a slightly burly, chocolate-skinned man with a punk hairstyle and a ponytail. He was about six feet three inches tall, and Ini felt that he was somewhat strong.
The one with the cold presence was a lean guy, fit and about five feet nine inches tall, with an all-back hairstyle. The two were dueling, and Ini recognized them as Blaze and Kale. Blaze seemed to notice something and stopped the fight, looking in Ini's direction and smiling. Ini withdrew his consciousness, not because he was caught, but because he had accomplished his goal of locating Temi.
Kale noticed Blaze's anomaly and asked what was wrong. "A strong spiritual consciousness was here – an S-Rank, definitely," Blaze replied. Kale asked if he thought it was the person Temi had invited. Blaze smiled, saying, "We'll know soon enough." Kale asked how strong the person was, and Blaze answered, "Not strong enough." Kale knew that Blaze meant the person was stronger than him, not that the person wasn't strong.
Blaze was known as Blaze because he was the number one fire mage in the world. What Kale and Blaze didn't know was that Ini had only used his spiritual consciousness, not his presence. It was like the ocean's depth – what made the depth of the ocean wasn't the darkness or the distance from the surface, not even the animals, but the pressure, strong enough to crush metal, bone, and everything else.
Ini was pleased with his little mission and looked at his hair, amazed by the barber's skills. The box braids came out clean and amazing, with small rings added to some of the tips, making them glitter. Ini gave the barber double the payment before making his way towards the White Flame Guild.
White flame guild
Ini walked into the White Flame Guild, taking in the sights and sounds of the bustling building. He sensed over a thousand warriors within the building, and his eyes scanned the area, taking note of the various warriors going about their business. He approached the counter, where a neatly dressed lady greeted him. "Welcome to the Flame Guild, how can I be of service?" she asked.
Ini replied, "I want to join your guild." The lady's expression turned apologetic. "I'm sorry, but we aren't currently recruiting any new members." Ini's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked, "Could I speak to Temi?" The woman's eyes widened in shock and irritation, clearly taken aback by Ini's familiarity with the S-Ranker.
,Ini released his spiritual presence, filling the entire building. The warriors trembled, and the lower-ranking ones collapsed. The high-ranking warriors rushed to the first floor, sensing the immense power. Only the three S-Rankers, Temi, Blaze, and Kale, truly understood the magnitude of Ini's presence.
Temi, Aurora, appeared, rushing toward Ini. "Ini, stop!" she exclaimed. Temi approached Ini, asking, "Why didn't you call me?" Ini simply started walking toward her, replying, "I didn't need to." Kale stepped forward, anger in his eyes, but his hands stopped inches away from Ini's body, as if halted by an invisible wall. Ini glanced at Kale, saying, "Next time, you won't have all ten fingers." He continued walking, asking Temi, "You wanted me, and I'm here. What now?"
Blaze intervened, grinning mischievously. "Lets duel!" Ini raised an eyebrow, asking, "Why?" Blaze explained, "I am the guild master of this guild. Even if you're just a freelancer, you have some terms to follow. If you duel with me, you can join us. Besides, with the stunt you pulled, it's only fair I fight for my guild members." Ini agreed, saying, "Okay."
The onlookers began murmuring, commenting on Ini's apparent foolishness for accepting the duel. "The number one mage in Nigeria challenges you to a duel, and you accept? What height of stupidity is that?" They followed Ini and Blaze to the gymnasium, where the duel would take place. Temi watched, regretting telling Blaze about Ini's past relationship with her. She knew Blaze's tendencies to oppress any guy in her life, making them acknowledge his superiority.
As Ini faced Blaze across the fighting ground, he asked, "Any rules?" Blaze smirked, replying, "Don't die." With that, he launched a massive fireball at Ini, engulfing him in flames. The onlookers gasped, realizing Blaze was serious, using one of his signature moves, Destruction Ball. After a minute, the flames died down, revealing Ini standing unharmed in the center.
Ini looked at Blaze, saying, "My turn." Without moving, he unleashed a powerful attack, blasting Blaze into the wall behind him. The onlookers, especially Temi, were shocked, wondering how powerful Ini was to pull off an attack like that without moving.
The onlookers only had one thing in mind, how? How did a new mage just throw the strongest mage in the country into the wall with an invinsible attack without moving? That's absurd.