“Oh, so you had your awakening yesterday?” His uncle, Jua Wapili, asked.

“Yes Second Father, hehee. I’m a full-fledged bloodline warrior now. A true man as you say.”

Mwana couldn’t help but reply with a smug look creeping on his face. He knew that undergoing awakening was a form of initiation and his strength would only skyrocket further from today onwards. However, his uncle’s next words burst his happy bubble.

“No wonder!” Wapili exclaimed, “Weren’t you squealing like a pig being slaughtered last night? Hahaha.”

Mwana’s face immediately changed, “Old man, I better not hear you ruining my reputation when you are out drunk with your buddies! And you Pendo.”

“What did I do,” Pendo said in a low voice while maintaining a pout. She only felt like she was getting caught in the crossfire.

“You talk a lot.”

“Better remember, roaring heroically. Got it?”

“Got it.” Seeing Mwana staring at her, she could only reply affirmatively. It seemed like this was a sore spot for her older brother. Though she was young and almost got tricked last night, after a while she had understood that her brother was just spouting nonsense. He had been as scared as ever.

Mwana still didn’t seem satisfied and added an ‘I am watching you’ hand sign for good measure. He knew how easily rumors flew off Pendo’s mouth when she was with her peers.

“Look how quick I went from Second Father to Old man! I’m I just a random old man now. Kid you really have a nasty attitude.” Wapili said with an exasperated tone as if he wasn’t the one who started it.

“Don’t play the victim now, that’s a bad habit of yours.” Vua Moyo added while giving Wapili the side-eye. The latter could only halfheartedly apologize to his sister in-law as if she’s the one he had wronged, not Mwana.

Mwana was still giving his uncle an intense side glare when he heard his mother’s voice, “Go and wash up, get ready for school. Remember to put on the clothes I set for you for the ceremony later.”

Mwana quickly finished up his breakfast and left the table running to the house he, his mother and sister lived in. It was only after he left that his uncle let out a sigh of relief. In fact, even as Mwana left, Wapili was still sure he was giving him an intense glare. ‘What a scary kid.’

After Mwana took a bath and prepared himself, he looked at the clothes his mother laid out for him, ‘Looks like today I’ll be the best dressed in school.’

He was sure of that as most of the kids, whether girls or boys, just went about shirtless with animal skins or long cloth skirts. Some would just put on simple loin cloths and were ready for the day. It was only during the cold season that you would see the children wearing full robes from the neck down. Even among the adults in the village, it was not rare to see people in loin cloths as this was a blacksmith village. The hard smithing work really drove humans to put on as little as possible otherwise their clothes would be more drenched than river soil.

As Mwana walked out looking dressed to kill in his new outfit, he heard a swooshing sound from outside the homestead fast approaching. ‘Oh no!’

A fast projectile that appeared only as a blur flew in from outside their homestead. It was extremely fast and carried a great wind with it. Mwana’s third aunt, Jumatatu had just left the main house and was out behind her hut emptying the cooking pots and pans at the trash pit when the projectile nearly hit her. It only missed her by an inch before striking the wall behind her so hard that cracks appeared.