Chereads / Bilaka / Chapter 4 - A little rival

Chapter 4 - A little rival

A beautiful sun was slowly falling asleep through the softest of lights while a cool wind caressed the horizon which was drowning in a faint darkness. The din of the crowded streets was replaced by a quietness found in rural areas. At that very moment a few voices could be heard clearly carried by the echo of the emptying streets as if the world had rushed toward it's break after a long and hardworking day.

"A Mbila manipulates the mist in combat, a Nganga manipulates the mist strictly in order to modify the structure of the maqala to make weapons, for example, or any other bunch of objects. A mbila is like a magician and a Nganga is like an alchemist and a blacksmith." Malamu was outlining the theory behind the mist users.

"And where does the difference come from?" asked malamu's buddy.

"The real difference between a Nganga and a Mbila is in their Konga. If you remember our lessons at the academy. 
The konga is a mystical circular space located within the body of the mist user, usually around the stomach area. It is made of mist and because of its astral nature, it does not occupy physical space as an internal organ would. Inside it are stored the states that the user of mist has captured thanks to the kamata. " Malamu kept outlining.

Then

"Hit me" said Malamu.

"What..." his buddy demurred.

"Don't be a sissy." Malamu was smiling.

His buddy stretched, got into position and gave him a blow that shattered his nose, the scene was immoderate and exemplified the contrast between malamu's serenity and his now deformed nose. Blood was gushing out of his nostrils. Malamu reached for the bag his buddy had brought him, which contained the equipment specially made for him. He withdrew an object as large as an infant's clenched fist. The most disconcerting thing was that a few seconds later the maqala object he had taken cracked and crumbled in his hand. After this, his deformed nose was like new again.

"You forgot something" exclaimed his buddy

"What now?"

"The objects created from maqala are different from each other. This one is called the maqala shield. It is used to take damage from the wearer. " said Malamu's buddy.

Generally in a fight between mist users the blow is made with the intention to kill. So the maqala shield crumbles or bursts like a baudruch balloon after receiving the damage intended to kill its wearer.

The blow to a mist user carries a state which is [damage]. Where does this state go when it affects a mist user? Remember, with the lizard, Malamu didn't let the state [dizzy] he had captured with (kamata) in the void, he had to transfer it to his Konga. Now his Konga would've been shattered if it stored a huge state [damage] that's why he had to transfer it the maqala shield.

Each mist user has a circle/konga. This one is in charge of storing the states captured by the mist user. But some users have more than one circle/konga.

"The Mbila and Nganga are distinguished by the fact that the Nganga have only one circle/Konga whereas the Mbila have two. The Mbila elites have up to three circles/kongas. The first Konga can contain two states within it, the second can contain four and the third can contain eight. This is a huge difference."

Imagine the possibilities of a mist user who has three Konga.

This is why Nganga were only craftsmen, blacksmiths who carved maqala to make objects of all kinds and for various uses, they only had one Konga. Whereas the Mbila were the hero and the main characters of the village.

One day later. A young girl sat on a bench waiting at the edge of an alley. She was swinging her feet when every now and then a little bird would land on her palm to peck at the beige seeds. She responded to the little birds with a smile that radiated caring. Behind her a hand came to close her eyes...

"Malamu!?" She was surprised.

"You always find" replied malamu.

"You're always doing that, it's not so hard to guess that it's you." said the girl.

" Are these flowers for me ? " Malamu asked.

"Yes, it's from fololo" replied the girl.

Fololo was the girl's little sister, the poor little girl had a crush on malamu and suspected that there was something fishy going on between him and her big sister. Her big sister had told her that he was just a friend which managed to calm down the jealousy crisis that a little girl like her could show to her big sister. Fololo wanted to give the flower directly to Malamu, his elder sister had convinced her that she would do it for her as Malamu was busy with the ceremony but as she was also a mbila although not as high up as him she could manage to pass the flower on to him. Finally it was not without suspicion that Fololo gave the flower to his elder sister.

"She wanted to give it to you in person, I assure you that your wife did not hesitate much to give it to me " the girl joked sarcastically.

Note: When she said wife she was talking about her little sister (Fololo) as a joke.

She was black with beautiful features and had hair locks. They kept talking about everything and anything when a beep came from the girl's badge. It was a call asking her to carry out a mission. As a Mbila, she worked in the village as a fireman, policeman or even a soldier if the case was serious. Unlike Malamu, who was higher up in ranking than her, she wore a uniform that was in the norm for people in her category.

Malamu was now crouching before her.

"I'll carry you, I have a badge that gives me a large access, we'll be faster on the roofs."

She had a cute little girlish laugh. He was going to carry her on his back.

"So what's the mission?"

"There's a granny who's jammed her hip, I've got to get her to hospital"

So they set off for the granny's place, running over the walls and roofs, piggy backing her.