The little brother asks the boy if he’s really going out. He says he must. The little brother says it’ll be a hard test with great risks. The boy says it’s his moment to strike and that he will succeed. They hug, and he leaves for Aboache, a trial for fifteen-year-old boys to become men in the kingdom of Ode, where he will be tasked with hunting a beast. He won’t be hunting any beast, however. He has his sights on the impundulu.

Half a day later, the boy is out of town with the others. Together, he and his friend intend to brave three battles. By sunset, they join the group, where a chorus of singing is happening, marking the beginning of the trial. They then walk for hours, and the boy thinks about the impundulu. His legs are tired, but he keeps on moving forward. They briefly snack, after which the boy sees a horn in the bush: an abada. They let it go. The boy recalls how a group of boys once killed an impundulu, but its dead corpse vanished after they came back, which caused everyone to call them liars, and therefore their trial did not succeed. The boy thinks about how he must kill three impundulu.

Suddenly, the two boys see a girl. The boy tosses a rock by her to see if she’s real. The girl says she’s dying and asks if they can play a game with her. They sit down an agree. Together, they play a game in which stones are placed in rocks: a game of oware. The girl beats them four times, and they refuse to play a fifth. She thanks them, saying it will help her in her afterlife. The boys resume the trail, snacking more.

Eventually, the two boys stumble upon a boy from the kingdom of Iyode, who asks for their help. The boy thinks about how their kingdoms have been feuding for generations due to a war started by two brothers seeking the same throne. Since wars of past, the two kingdoms have steered clear of each other. The boy asks the Iyode boy what he wants, and he says he needs an abada. The boy hesitantly ponders his request and agrees to help, putting his tribalism aside. He gives him water and points him toward the abada they saw earlier. The boys continue on, not wanting to doubt their decision. They keep snacking.

While talking, the two boys stumble upon an old man. The boy figures out that he’s blind. The old man mentions his home. The friend asks where his house is. The old man points. Together, they go, with the old man on the boy’s back. When they let him off at his house, the boy asks the old man to let them go, as he knows he’s an aigamuxa, a beast which eats humans but can be escaped by wit. Pleased, the old man vows to not kill them. As a gift, the old man gives them an arrow head which can kill anything, even an impundulu, if they dip their blood in it. He says one can be found a thousand steps from here.

After a thousand steps, the two boys strategize on how to fight the impundulu. The friend’s confidence wavers. The boy wants to give up too, but a voice inside him tells him to forge on. Before they can reconsider, they find it. Lightning flashes, and the friend is already wounded as it flies in the sky. Quickly, the boy tells the friend to serve as bait, giving him two spears and telling him when to throw them. The boy hides behind a tree and, after the right timing, fires an arrow which strikes the impundulu’s claw. Quickly, the impundulu attacks the boy, but the friend impales it with his second spear just in time. Together, they journey back. The friend passes out from losing blood. The boy watches, as he returns, everyone waiting for them.

The town celebrates the successful hunt. Everyone dances and wears regalia. Since the boy’s village had the most initiates, they host the parade. However, the boy and the friend are the only ones not being celebrated, as they hadn’t killed three impundulu. They promise, however, to do it next year.

The boy, now a man, tells the boys around him and his campfire about the hunt, right before they’re due to head off on theirs. He tells them that the lesson he learned, from his three encounters, is that the heart matters just as much as strength.