章節 63: CH 61: FLASH OF APOTHEOSIS
This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
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CH 61: FLASH OF APOTHEOSIS
'I've been so busy with the Op that I've not had time to enjoy the culture of the city. Since I have time, I should at least find a local restaurant to enjoy some authentic local cuisine.'
He headed into the bedroom to get a change of clothes. Since he didn't plan on 'working' in the day today, he decided to wear native attire. It was one of the only two native attires he took with him to Okinawa.
It was a light blue local Adire fabric fashioned into a simple Yoruba-style Buba and Sokoto.
He looked at himself in the mirror, "It's been a while since I've dressed like a Yoruba tribesman. I wonder how it would look seeing a Yorubaman eating Igbo food." He shook his head. "Well, it shouldn't be too strange with the tribal diversity in Onitsha."
[You realise you're talking to yourself.]
Korede was stunned.
Then he scowled as he retorted, 'And whose fault is it I developed such a habit?'
Aon just chuckled.
'Well then, where should I go? I don't know any local restaurant with authentic local cuisine.'
Korede thought for a while before he recalled a place.
'Or maybe I do know such a restaurant.'
Korede smiled as he picked up the keys to the Chevrolet Spark he got from Special Agent Ndike before leaving the apartment. Since he didn't plan on working, he didn't bring any of his equipment with him. Not even his M9 Beretta. He completely took on the mindset of a tourist going on a culinary tour.
Soon, Korede arrived at the only restaurant he knew well enough. After all, one of his targets liked to eat here at least two days every week without fail.
'I wonder what the Duke would do if he knew I plan on enjoying a meal at his favourite restaurant while he's dealing with all the mess I made for him.' Korede 'said' to Aon.
[He'll probably want to kill you. Well, even without this, he'll already want to kill you with all you've done already.]
Korede smiled as he entered the restaurant.
'Let's see why he likes this restaurant so much.'
The restaurant wasn't a fancy one. It was just a simple local restaurant. At most, it was just a little bigger compared to its counterparts.
Customers walk in and head for the service counter to order their food. There was a menu and price list by the wall to the side of the counter so it was easy to tell what the restaurant was offering.
Korede looked at the menu. He only knew a few things on it. He decided to order something on the fly.
His turn soon came. He said to the serving lady,
"Just give me something good. I'm just here to enjoy the food. I'll pay whatever it costs."
The lady was a little taken aback but still managed to maintain the smile on her face.
Before Korede knew it, she shuttled around different pots before finally placing down a tray of food in front of him.
"Our restaurant specialities. We have a few notable personalities that come to our restaurant just to eat these. Your bill is 1800 naira."
Korede looked at the quantity of food on each of the plates on the tray. He felt the price was a little on the high side for a local restaurant but, since he'd said he would pay, he paid without voicing a complaint.
'If it was when I still had a problem with my food consumption, this wouldn't even fill 10% of my appetite.' Korede thought as he shook his head inwardly.
He thanked the lady before going to find a seat. He chose a seat at the back by the window. Coincidentally, it was the seat closest to the seat reserved for Jonathan Duke. It seems the owner had kept it reserved in case her 'biggest' customer showed up unannounced.
Thinking about this, Korede felt a little bad for the restaurant owner. In a few days at most, this customer of hers won't be able to come to the restaurant anymore.
Then he thought, 'He's just one customer. If the food here is that good, there'll probably be more people flocking in when they find out the leader of the NDz doesn't eat here anymore.'
The restaurant was a little noisy with people sitting together in groups and holding different discussions. Even strangers who shared a table began to chat about a wide range of topics from politics to sports to current affairs in general. Korede even picked up chatter about the gang war.
Even though no attacks have been carried out, the tense atmosphere could be felt by the people.
Though he liked the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant, it was a little too noisy for someone with a better than average hearing like Korede. Even before {Sense Boost}, Korede had better senses than most due to the training regime of Oro Akogun.
Luckily, the ancestral training method also taught a trick that Korede began to find more useful after acquiring {Sense Boost} which further boosted his sense by a small margin even when not active. It was a method to 'Hear but Not Hear'.
The saying 'in one ear and out the other' is an apt description of this method. The method wasn't to stop/disable a sense, rather it was used to stop the brain from processing information from a particular sense consciously.
For people who have mastered this method, noisy places become quiet; pain becomes numbness; strong/terrible/stinking odour becomes odourless; delicious or bad tasting food becomes tasteless. These are just the simpler application of this. More creative uses exist.
Honestly, Korede never thought he would be using the method outside a combat situation.
'It feels ironic that it is when I have enhanced hearing that I seek the peace of quietness.'
[Are you going into poetry or have you grown philosophical now?]
Korede chuckled. 'Of course not. Arts has always been my weakness.'
Welcoming the solitude and peace of his newfound silence, Korede began to enjoy his food.
There were three meals in total. The first was 'Ofe Onagbu Soup' with pounded yam. This is a soup made from bitter leaf.
The second meal was Nkwobi. It is a sauce and cow-leg combo.
The third meal was Abacha which is a simple light African Salad.
Korede was not a stranger to the food like he thought he would be. Though he had never seen any of these meals before, much less eaten them, he at least knew of them.
He had heard about Abacha and Nkwobi before. It is said that if you had been to Anambra state and you hadn't tried the authentic Nkwobi there, you can't say you've been to the state. As for the Ofe Onagbu soup with pounded yam, the Yorubas also have a similar food made from bitter leaf and pounded yam is a swallow food widely eaten all over the country so this was not strange to Korede.
Soon, he was done eating.
'That was good.' He evaluated. 'I can see why the Duke comes here every week.'
Korede sat back and looked around. Although his brain wasn't processing the auditory impulses and so he couldn't understand what was being said around him, just watching the people talk, laugh, annoy, be annoyed or show various other emotions gave Korede a feeling of peace.
Unknowingly, he fell into a trance-like state as he watched.
His view moved out the window. He saw a group of children playing around. The oldest looked around twelve while the youngest looked around the age of his nephew, Dare, who was eight. He smiled as he watched the children play around without a care in the world.
Not too far away, he could see two women who occasionally look towards the children. He could see a resemblance between the two women and some of the children. So, he figured they were the children's mothers. Since it was a weekend and the children didn't go to school, the traders must have brought their children along to their shops.
Though Korede had just been sitting doing nothing but smile, for twenty minutes, as he looked around, the people in the restaurant didn't seem to notice, much less approach him. It was like he and his table were not in the same realm of existence.
[Apotheosis of Mortality! This kid is something. It's not been long since he awakened his Will, yet he is already experiencing a flash of Apotheosis. I wonder what triggered it.] Aon muttered as it fell into thought.
Not too long later, something happened that affected the youth in his trance state.
Two men, clearly thugs, approached the parking lot. Immediately they appeared, even without approaching them, the children stopped whatever they were doing and ran to their mothers. As the thugs entered the restaurant, the lively atmosphere quieted down. The men looked around but didn't seem to find whatever or whoever they were looking for. So, they left.
It took a while after they left for the tense atmosphere they caused to recover back to the boisterous atmosphere present before they arrived. However, Korede still in his trance noticed that the atmosphere wasn't as boisterous as before because the people were still a little tense.
Anger, or perhaps it should be called rage, welled up in him from an unknown source. Noticing the children not return to their play as their mothers were too worried to let them go made Korede's situation worse as the rage increased exponentially.
[So that's what fuelled his Apotheosis. Then that means his source of strength is …] Aon seemed to have realised something new about its host.
The anger, rage or wrath in him was driving him into madness. It wanted Korede to take action against the thugs that dared to ruin the beautiful atmosphere here. Try as he might, Korede could not push down this intense emotion even after numerous attempts. Aon saw the struggle in its host but could do nothing.
[As positive for growth in strength as it is to experience Apotheosis this early, it also means the test would be even more difficult. It breeds an intense hatred or rage towards whatever is against the individual's source of Apotheosis. Only by regaining control through all that can one gain better rewards and be qualified to experience a better and more rewarding Apotheosis in the future. So, Korede, I hope you can resist the intense emotions you feel right now. Your future probably demands it.] Aon said, not sure if its host heard it.
Unfortunately, Korede's struggles were far too severe that he had not heard what Aon said. He just intuitively knew he had to fight whatever he was feeling.
Outwardly, Korede looked like someone just sitting there, looking out the window but inwardly, a great catastrophe was sweeping through his mindspace.
A searing raging flame was burning everything in its path as rage tried to overtake Korede's rationality. It took every ounce of Korede's Will strength to hold on but even that was being 'burnt'.
At this point, Korede was barely holding on thanks to something even Aon found inconceivable.
Korede was holding on due to his pride and arrogance.
Both wouldn't allow him to be controlled by anything but himself.
Though he didn't show it too often, he had a lot of pride. Pride in who he was, his heritage, what he had achieved. Among the seven deadly sins, he freely admitted that his greatest sin would be Pride. From that pride came a feeling of arrogance.
His pride was so strong that he believed he could achieve anything he set his mind to even if others had failed at it.
Yes, a lot of people feel the same way but that was just hope they gave to themselves to keep them going. Korede on the other hand believed it to be true in every sense of the word.
When belief and confidence reached a certain point, it becomes arrogance.
It was this arrogance born from pride that continued to fuel his resistance.
'Who amongst the Baloguns have been able to complete the Oro-Akogun since the end of the era of the Clan? Only I.
From the Clan era till now, who has been able to complete the Ancestral training with the least amount of medicinal assistance? It is I.
Who was the best amongst his peers at the training camp even without trying? It was I.
Who carries the Mark of Time at the weakest stage of Mortality? It is I!
Who, in his Mortal coil, has the recognition of Time? It is I!
Who is the Childe of Time? It is I!!
Who has the right to dictate to me? It is I!! Only I!!!'
Every question was asked and answered with every fibre of his being. In this trance state he was in, every thought he had were his most innermost truths. His innermost beliefs. Such was his pride. Such was his arrogance.
With every question answered, a power well up inside him. A power that caused a ripple in his mindspace with every answer. The moment the last question was answered, a powerful pulse rippled strongly through his mindspace. A force so strong that when Aon identified, he couldn't believe it.
[Will Manifestation...]
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
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