Chapter 3 - Foresight
The following morning Ryan was awaken to the soft sound of father's voice. The message was the same every morning. "Awaking to triumph in the face of yet another day..." It went on for an hour or so and he could not turn it off. It was part of the implanted media system set up in every home and business, the speakers that were installed in his wall were part of the mandatory exposure to father's message. However the monotony of the message did not affect Ryan at all.
His ride to work was un-eventful. He had passed the same street where the night before he had shot a sense offender. It seemed like a now distant memory in his mind.
However memory was one thing that Prozium could not eliminate. But since there was no emotional attachment to any memory, he was able to methodical assess how he had dealt with the situation. After a playback of his memory, he had decided that he dealt with the situation as best he could have. He still was somewhat curious as to what had caused that kind of emotional response in the female he had executed. The thoughts perplexed him, as he could not fathom that level of emotion. After giving this some thought, he turned up his radio to hear father's voice again. It was one of the more common speeches about Libria's survival and the evil of emotional highs and lows. And of course the usual morning's EC-10 seizures were listed and the news station covered the announcement of a new member of the vice-counsel being voted in. It was the only radio station, all other broadcast bandwidth was static.
After arrival at the Monastery, Ryan began a rigorous weight training work out. He followed that with his usual morning sprint. After he had maximized his heart rate, he made his way to the dojo to meet his Sensei.
Ryan walked into the Dojo and saw his sensei sitting in the center of the room. "Good morning Cleric" The sensei looked as though he was meditating with his back to the entrance of the Dojo
"Good morning Sensei" the cleric responded but questioned how the man knew that it was him as he had barley entered the room when he was addressed
"Come and sit, meditate with me for a moment"
"Sir?"
"Come Cleric, sit and relax your mind and body"
Ryan knelt down parallel to his teacher, crossed his legs and sat on them imitating the same sitting position as the sensei. The old mans eyes were closed and his breathing was a steady pace of perfectly timed inhale and exhale.
"Breath with me Cleric, keep the rhythm of breath tight. When you close your eyes envision the room around you. Know your surroundings without seeing."
The Cleric and sensei spent the next 15 minutes in silent meditation. Suddenly Ryan was struck bluntly with a bow staff to his left shoulder. He grimaced in pain and attempted a late counter move that was un-successful. He saw his attacker dressed in a black martial arts gee. He shot a quick glace at his sensei that was holding a second bow staff with his open palms, still with his eyes closed.
"I have not seen but I heard the blow that struck you cleric. I want you to meet my assistant trainers; these men are the most well trained martial artists in all of Libria. Of course I trained them myself. They will be assisting you with the remainder of your training."
Both men bowed slightly and stood at attention awaiting their sensei's next orders.
"This lesson is all about your perception cleric. You must be able to sense when an attack is going to strike. You must know where the attack is coming from and how you will block or counter the attack. These skills are essential to becoming a first class grammaton cleric."
"But sir, I could not see the..."
Ryan was cut off from finishing his sentence, by a sharp blow to the back of his head. This time we was able to counter the move, but was quickly put in a arm lock by the assistant that had struck him.
"Again Cleric, what do you eyes have to do with anything? You need to sense where your antagonists are, you need to know it with out seeing it. In ancient times, this was a crucial part of learning the martial art known as Ninjitsu. This art focused on stealth and anticipation. Know where your opponent is, and if possible, make sure that they cannot detect you.' Now Cleric, shale we try this again?"
The sensei handed the cleric a black cloth blindfold and asked Ryan to place it over his eyes. For the next six hours, Cleric Ryan was struck from over one hundred different angles, with more then thirty different weapons. His was a swollen mess of bruises and blood. The pain was causing small hallucinations within his mind. He began to see enemies were they were none. All of the attacks came while the cleric was blindfolded without sight. After four hours, Ryan began to feel where the attacks were going to strike, and anticipate his opponent's movement. Toward the last exercise he had felt that he might pass out from the pain coming from his shoulder blades and the pure exhaustion that had begun to set in. However, he was able to endure and complete the days training.
"Very well done Cleric, you are now beginning to learn. It is time for you to retire. You need nourishment. Good night Cleric"
"Good night sensei, can I expect another test tonight?"
"Everything is a test Cleric, remember that"
The following morning Ryan was awaken to the soft sound of father's voice. The message was the same every morning. "Awaking to triumph in the face of yet another day..." It went on for an hour or so and he could not turn it off. It was part of the implanted media system set up in every home and business, the speakers that were installed in his wall were part of the mandatory exposure to father's message. However the monotony of the message did not affect Ryan at all.
His ride to work was un-eventful. He had passed the same street where the night before he had shot a sense offender. It seemed like a now distant memory in his mind.
However memory was one thing that Prozium could not eliminate. But since there was no emotional attachment to any memory, he was able to methodical assess how he had dealt with the situation. After a playback of his memory, he had decided that he dealt with the situation as best he could have. He still was somewhat curious as to what had caused that kind of emotional response in the female he had executed. The thoughts perplexed him, as he could not fathom that level of emotion. After giving this some thought, he turned up his radio to hear father's voice again. It was one of the more common speeches about Libria's survival and the evil of emotional highs and lows. And of course the usual morning's EC-10 seizures were listed and the news station covered the announcement of a new member of the vice-counsel being voted in. It was the only radio station, all other broadcast bandwidth was static.
After arrival at the Monastery, Ryan began a rigorous weight training work out. He followed that with his usual morning sprint. After he had maximized his heart rate, he made his way to the dojo to meet his Sensei.
Ryan walked into the Dojo and saw his sensei sitting in the center of the room. "Good morning Cleric" The sensei looked as though he was meditating with his back to the entrance of the Dojo
"Good morning Sensei" the cleric responded but questioned how the man knew that it was him as he had barley entered the room when he was addressed
"Come and sit, meditate with me for a moment"
"Sir?"
"Come Cleric, sit and relax your mind and body"
Ryan knelt down parallel to his teacher, crossed his legs and sat on them imitating the same sitting position as the sensei. The old mans eyes were closed and his breathing was a steady pace of perfectly timed inhale and exhale.
"Breath with me Cleric, keep the rhythm of breath tight. When you close your eyes envision the room around you. Know your surroundings without seeing."
The Cleric and sensei spent the next 15 minutes in silent meditation. Suddenly Ryan was struck bluntly with a bow staff to his left shoulder. He grimaced in pain and attempted a late counter move that was un-successful. He saw his attacker dressed in a black martial arts gee. He shot a quick glace at his sensei that was holding a second bow staff with his open palms, still with his eyes closed.
"I have not seen but I heard the blow that struck you cleric. I want you to meet my assistant trainers; these men are the most well trained martial artists in all of Libria. Of course I trained them myself. They will be assisting you with the remainder of your training."
Both men bowed slightly and stood at attention awaiting their sensei's next orders.
"This lesson is all about your perception cleric. You must be able to sense when an attack is going to strike. You must know where the attack is coming from and how you will block or counter the attack. These skills are essential to becoming a first class grammaton cleric."
"But sir, I could not see the..."
Ryan was cut off from finishing his sentence, by a sharp blow to the back of his head. This time we was able to counter the move, but was quickly put in a arm lock by the assistant that had struck him.
"Again Cleric, what do you eyes have to do with anything? You need to sense where your antagonists are, you need to know it with out seeing it. In ancient times, this was a crucial part of learning the martial art known as Ninjitsu. This art focused on stealth and anticipation. Know where your opponent is, and if possible, make sure that they cannot detect you.' Now Cleric, shale we try this again?"
The sensei handed the cleric a black cloth blindfold and asked Ryan to place it over his eyes. For the next six hours, Cleric Ryan was struck from over one hundred different angles, with more then thirty different weapons. His was a swollen mess of bruises and blood. The pain was causing small hallucinations within his mind. He began to see enemies were they were none. All of the attacks came while the cleric was blindfolded without sight. After four hours, Ryan began to feel where the attacks were going to strike, and anticipate his opponent's movement. Toward the last exercise he had felt that he might pass out from the pain coming from his shoulder blades and the pure exhaustion that had begun to set in. However, he was able to endure and complete the days training.
"Very well done Cleric, you are now beginning to learn. It is time for you to retire. You need nourishment. Good night Cleric"
"Good night sensei, can I expect another test tonight?"
"Everything is a test Cleric, remember that"
