The team traveled toward the frontier regions of Diala land, near the massive irrigation systems that fed the Great Green Wall. This area was a hotbed of Asona construction, turning arid land into productive territory.
They found Nefre Dolo, The Builder (Akin), supervising the construction of a seismic dampening tower. Nefre was a force of nature—tall, muscular, and clad in pragmatic, gear-laden overalls. Her focus was total, her hands tracing complex geometry in the air, issuing precise commands to the massive construction drones guided by Tojo.
As an Akin, Nefre possessed a powerful intellect and an innate mastery over the material world, but she remained unable to interact with Huenergy.
"I don't care about the feelings of the foundation," Nefre was snapping at a nervous Asona apprentice. "I care about the tensile strength! This pillar is failing its compression test by 14 percent—it's structural suicide!"
Bura stepped forward. "Structural suicide is precisely what we are here to discuss, Nefre."
Nefre glanced at the group, her brow furrowed. She quickly recognized Libaax and Kemau, but her gaze lingered on Bura.
"King," she nodded curtly to Libaax cusping her fists, then gestured to the tower. "We have a problem here that defies physics. I've calculated the exact Ase flow necessary for the bonding, but the foundation is rotting from the inside out. It's like the earth itself is being written with a faulty coefficient."
Bura pointed to the base of the tower. There, the perfectly etched Tojo was flaking, and a thin, grayish-black film—a subtle manifestation of Iku—was consuming the mineral structure.
"That faulty coefficient is Iku, Nefre," Bura explained. "The anti-life entropy unleashed by the Dildillaac. The Kifofirists targeted the administrative core (the Council) to create the war mandate, but the Contrivium created by that bad plot is now polluting the material world."
"Narrative rot becoming physical rot," Nefre concluded, her mind instantly grasping the structural implications. "So, you bring the philosopher, the empath, and the judge to the engineer, expecting me to fix your feeling problem with cement?"
"We expect you to fix the structural integrity of the plot," Bura countered. "We are heading to the Osu desert to ally with the Osu Guardians. That region is already unstable and volatile. If the Kifofirists anticipate our alliance, they will launch a massive Iku attack to trigger a geological collapse, destroying the Osu and flooding Diala land with chaos."
Mandla Ada, the Empathic Bridge, spoke softly. "The Dildillaac is trying to turn the earth's Ase into Iku. We need your Akin focus, Nefre. You think in foundations. Your work can stabilize the Makoma (destiny) of the land itself."
Nefre ran a hand along the affected base. She didn't sense the Huenergy (she couldn't), but she felt the tremor of material decay. "My specialty is Geo-Ase Anchoring. I can calculate the necessary counter-frequencies needed to infuse the earth with specific, reinforcing Tojo structures. Think of it as writing a flawless, load-bearing equation into the bedrock that Iku cannot compromise."
Libaax, the King of Beasts, stepped forward, his presence commanding. "I need you to anchor my Empire, Builder. I need a foundation strong enough to withstand a spiritual war."
Nefre looked at the determined Emperor, the philosophical Griot, and the focused Judge. This wasn't a job for the city council; this was a commission for the ages.
"The job is massive," Nefre agreed, pulling up a schematic on a wrist-mounted device. "To counter the Iku in the Osu desert, I need materials that can absorb and neutralize the entropic frequencies. I need Obuasiite—a rare crystal found deep in the old mining shafts—and a massive infusion of Saffirine pigment for the Tojo etching. It's too much for me to gather alone."
"Then we will gather it with you," Bura declared. "We need to weaponize your architectural brilliance."