The external threats, added to the country's internal enemies, had taken up a lot of his time. He hadn't seen his family for weeks, and they were constantly demanding visits. That was the least of his worries.

  Yerodin was summoned to the general directorate of the Ilu Nla Intelligence Service. Such summonses were no ordinary meetings. The high command only looked him in the eye when the situation put the nation at risk. The agent arrived in the chilly room and was greeted by a stern, middle-aged medium with a bureaucratic countenance.

  “Yerodin, introducing yourself, sir.”

  “Save the formalities for later, have a seat.”

  Yerodin pulled up a chair, a little disconcerted. He didn't know how to react to men like the Director General of the Intelligence Service. It was like talking to an iceberg.

  The man pulled out a drawer and took out a tablet with holoprojection. He activated the holographic mode and a three-dimensional image of two men appeared floating above the table.

  “Do you know who they are?”

  “Yes, sir. The one on the left is Adisa, son of Azekel, the Sage of Faith. He abandoned mediumship and became a scientist. The one on the right is Ojwang, a mega-businessman in the cyber technology and war industry. He has his own private army and is increasing his influence in the underworld and in the Cabinet of Ministers.”

  “He is committed to becoming the new Minister of Science and Technology. He's signing billion-dollar deals for cyber-military arsenal purchases.”

  Yerodin didn't need to think long to understand the reason for his special call.

  “Do you want me to spy on the relationship between Ojwang and Adisa?”

  “Yes, we've already created a bridge. Adisa is conducting research into zimba-based algorithms. We need to know the war potential of this research. You will come in as an expert consultant on zimba.”

  Yerodin got up from his chair, extended his hand to the agent on the other side of the table and said:

  “Consider it done, sir.”

  “I expect no less from patriotic men like you. You're dismissed.”

  Words of order, a half-smile, a veiled compliment, warm handshakes or pats on the back... the medium felt that the real agents could be less dramatic in their posture.

  He walked down the corridors. He was worried that his consultancy would expose his Ofó. This was an important step towards becoming a Sage of Knowledge. He had good influence in the clan, and had been a pupil of the sage Feruzi, but he didn't want to rely on favors when it came to his choice.

  He felt a pang of pride. But he didn't feel bad about it. On the contrary, he thought it was a reward for his good service. He would be leaving the Intelligence Service and would have the Spiritual Key to Knowledge in his hands. He went to the bathroom. He turned on the tap and washed his face. The mirror was cracked from top to bottom.

  He smoothed the crack with his fingertips. The mirror cracked even more, and the shards fell to the floor. The remaining part reflected only part of Yerodin's face.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Am I getting too close to the sun or is it just me?

  ?

  Yerodin had been working with Adisa for a year. Contrary to what he suspected, the scientist was a man of surgical and refined intelligence, the first to arrive at the lab and the last to leave. As well as research into military engineering, algorithms and new materials, he also invested a lot of time in biomedicine.

  From what the medium had learned so far, Adisa was a widower with a son born with a rare disease. The treatments were expensive and experimental. This forced him to work hard, deliver faster results and even invest his own financial resources in research in partnership with the current Minister of Science and Technology, Ojwang.

  It was the day of the selection test for the Sage of Knowledge. The announcement of Feruzi's resignation had taken him by surprise. The old medium seemed to be in his prime, and had not shown in previous years that he wished to leave his post.

  The hearings were held in the clan's meeting center. The candidates would present themselves individually before three evaluators: the Sage of Knowledge, and two other elders.

  Yerodin entered after being announced by a ceremonial assessor. The young medium felt nervous in front of the evaluators. Feruzi offered a gentle smile from under his turquoise robe.

  “Young Yerodin, you are qualified for the Sage of Knowledge test. You have been made aware of your responsibilities, and sworn by witnesses to your position and to protect the Spiritual Key of Knowledge at the cost of your own life. Kindly show us your skills.”

  The man swallowed his saliva with an uncomfortable 'glup'. Clumsily, he asked a group of ceremonial advisors to bring him a concrete pillar a meter high, thirty centimeters wide and thirty centimeters long.

  He opened an agenda, a half-worn notebook with a red cover. With his PACR Mediumistic Profile, he applied the spread of his energy to the notebook. He showed the notebook to the evaluators. There were many words written on the pages. He stretched out the index and ring fingers of his left hand and touched the word 'Explode'.

  “I haven't given my Ofó a name yet, I'm terrible at these things. With it, I spread my Axé on a surface where there are words with actions previously impregnated with Axé. When I transfer them to the other surface and speak the word, the action contained in it is performed automatically...”

  The young man claimed that the Ofó was being perfected. The smaller the word used in Ofó, the greater its effect on reality, and the faster its execution.

  After explaining, he carried out the procedure. The word 'Explode' was drawn to his fingertips and stuck to him like a sticker surrounded by energy. Then he spread it on the concrete pillar. The word became a thread of energy and seeped into the structure of the pillar.

  “Explode.”

  Yerodin said, calmly. The pillar disintegrated in a rapid implosion. Fragments of concrete flew everywhere, which startled everyone, ceremonial advisors and elderly mediums alike. Only one man smiled at the young man's recklessness.

  “Sorry, I should have calculated the explosion better.”

  “Hahahahaha.”

  One of the elders had a coughing fit because of the dust. The other elder shook his robe to throw the debris away.

  “I can't believe you're laughing at this mess.”

  “We're from the Knowledge Clan, not the Bad Mood Clan.”

  “Fine! You're dismissed. Let's deliberate, the result will be given in thirty minutes. All the candidates will be in this hall.”

  “Yes... I apologize a second time.”

  Yerodin left the clan meeting hall and was trapped in the corridor between anxiety and the other candidates. Thirty minutes passed like an eternity. The candidates' comments made him very nervous. Some complained about the test, others boasted that they had won.

  Yerodin stood firm and isolated himself in a corner. He kept quiet to calm his mind. But after the assessors called the candidates, his anxiety was visible again.

  The men and women entered the hall. They knelt on the floor and greeted the ancestors by resting their foreheads on the floor. They remained on their knees.

  Feruzi would give the result, but not without first praising the potential and abilities of each one.

  “I thank Fanta Obatayie and the Entities who preside over our clan for having so many capable young mediums. Our clan has contributed to Ofó's innovation for centuries, making it an achievement and a learning experience for the whole of Ilu Nla. So I won't say that the choice was easy, but we decided according to the highest degree of merit. The next Sage of Knowledge is Yerodin.”

  The medium took a while to understand. He had to be pinched and pushed up the steps that separated the young from the old. Stunned, Yerodin knelt before Feruzi, but the latter lifted him by the shoulders and knelt in front of his pupil. He slipped his hand inside his tunic and removed the Spiritual Key from a cord around his albino neck.

  “Today, it is we who must pay homage to our new Sage of Knowledge.”

  Feruzi placed the spiritual artifact in Yerodin's hands. The young man, who was unfamiliar with the formalities of these ceremonies, choked on his words, which amused his master. Yerodin looked around, everyone was paying homage to him.

  He grasped the Spiritual Key of Knowledge and felt the full force of ancestry run through his body. All his fears vanished. He was no longer a medium, he was a sage, and that was something that could not be ignored.