“It was my pleasure,” Aileen said, bringing her own fists together and bowing in return.
The young man then turned and left to join his friends, who were observing from the sidelines. Aileen watched him go, realizing that he wasn’t actually a young man. He looked young, like everyone in the Empire, but a quick check with her implant told her that he was thirty-four years old. Aileen didn’t know her exact age, but she believed that she had passed the seventy-year mark. She shook her head. It had been a long time since she’d been a Ra’a’zani slave on Earth.
Aileen looked around the training room, seeing young trainees practicing forms under the watchful eye of Master Hayashi Hideyoshi. A few adepts were moving around helping the old master with the instructions, adjusting the stances of the students and offering advice. Aileen was there simply to train, as she had finished her learning with the old master years ago. All of Master Hayashi’s classes were open to his former students; they could come and observe, join in, or simply use the facility to train.
She heard a gong, and saw everyone stop what they were doing and move to sit in front of Master Hayashi. Aileen moved to the back and leaned against a wall.
Master Hayashi walked up and down the line of students, looking each in the eye for a moment before moving on to the next. Finally, after a couple of minutes, he finished and moved to the middle of the line.
“This day is marks three months since you came to my class. In that time, all that you have been taught were stances and forms of various martial arts, even though all of you already have martial experience. That has been a test,” he said evenly. Aileen felt a side of her lip twitch upwards. She knew the frustration that these ‘students’ felt at being forced to practice forms that they already knew.
“All of you have combat knowledge. Many of you have been in the Empire’s military, some have studied various martial arts in other Clans, and some have been police officers. And yet all of you chose to come to Warpath. That tells me that you have felt something missing. That you wanted to expand your knowledge. But that is something that you could have done anywhere.” He paused for a moment, looking at the students. “To come to Warpath means that you want something more than that. You want to be leaders, philosophers, warriors. And that is what I am going to help you with. I am not going to teach you how to fight; I am going to teach you when not to. I am not going to teach you how to follow orders; I am going to teach you when to ignore them. I will teach you how to see the far-reaching consequences of your actions, both in a fight and out of it.” His eyes softened for a moment before he continued. “And when I am done, you will be one step closer to becoming true warriors.”
With that, he dismissed them, and then started walking towards Aileen. When he was maybe halfway across the room, one of the students called after him.
“Master? What was the test?” a voice asked.
Master Hayashi turned and showed the student his best confused face. “Why would I know that?” After looking at the students for a beat, he shooed them away with a gesture. Then he turned and made his way to Aileen as the students left.
“Aileen, coming to see an old man before you go?” Master Hayashi said with a childlike grin on his twenty-something-looking face.
“Of course. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to my favorite master,” Aileen responded with a soft smile.
“Thank you for that. But I haven’t been your master for years. You outrank me now, Sentinel,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Perhaps, but we both know that you could be a Sentinel if you wanted to,” Aileen said. Warpath ranks were divided into four ranks: Novice—those who had just joined Warpath; Adept—those who had passed the minimum requirements to stay a part of Warpath; Master—those who had mastered at least one area; and Sentinel—those who had mastered at least four areas and had proven themselves exceptional in all of them. Master Hayashi Hideyoshi was, as his title said, still a Master. But not because he was not capable of being a Sentinel. He was the greatest martial artist in Warpath, probably in the entire Empire, second only to the former Clan Leader Adrian Farkas, now the leader of the Sentinels, who was once his student. But he was the exception; he alone had managed to surpass his master.
Master Hayashi sobered a bit. “I like being a master and I like teaching. Always did, even back on Earth.” Aileen felt herself stiffen at his mention of Earth; it had been a long time since then, but still the memories were always at the back of her mind.
Thankfully, Master Hayashi didn’t notice, so Aileen quickly changed the subject. “What do you think of the new novices?”
“They are good enough, but they are not up the standards that the old generations set. All of them were born in the Empire; they don’t know struggle the way we do. But they are good kids; in a few decades, they might become something.”
Aileen smiled at his choice of words. Calling people that were already past their thirty “kids” might have seemed like an insult, but they were kids to Master Hayashi, who was more than a hundred years older than them.
“If we follow the path that the Emperor and the Clan Leader envisioned, we will need more Sentinels,” Aileen added.
“Hmm… We will, if it works… but we are not the Hand. Their jobs are to keep the peace and justice of the Empire according to its laws and codes. What you will be doing is very different. You will be making decisions based on your own thoughts and whatever information you have available,” Master Hayashi said.
Aileen nodded. Clan Leader Farkas and Emperor Klein had come to an agreement concerning Warpath’s Sentinels long ago. They would act in the similar capacity as the Hand of the Empire, only while the Hand worked inside the Empire’s borders, Sentinels would work outside of it. They would be working both attached to the exploration fleets and on their own in order to seek out other races and make contact. They would evaluate their strengths, find their weaknesses, and inform the Emperor of the manner in which the diplomats should approach them. But not only that, they would provide tactical and strategic counsel to the commanders on the fringes of the Empire’s territory, which had been rapidly expanding over the last fifteen years.
That meant that Sentinels themselves had to possess a wide array of skills, diplomacy included. Aileen glanced at her bare left forearm and the five symbols tattooed there. Five aspects that she was proficient in. They were hand to hand, fleet command, xenology, diplomacy, and computer sciences. That was the way of Warpath; every member had tattoos that signified his progress. Every aspect was represented with a symbol inside of a circle; the color of the circle represented the person’s main focus. Aileen’s were black, meaning her main focus was in the combat arts. Smaller orbs were tattooed close to the circled symbols, and those signified the level of proficiency. Aileen’s hand to hand and fleet command had five and four orbs, respectively. Her xenology also had four, while her diplomacy and computer sciences had three. She was one of the more accomplished Sentinels, standing below only the Clan Leader himself, which was why she had been chosen as the first Sentinel to become the part of the Emperor’s vision.
“I understand,” Aileen said in response to Master Hayashi’s words. He in turn watched her intently, and then, after he didn’t find whatever he was looking for, he spoke.
“So, how are you feeling?” Master Hayashi asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Aileen looked at her hand, clenched her fist, and released it. She turned to Master Hayashi and smiled. “Good. I am still getting used to the additional weight and strength. Still trying to figure out my new limits. And I need to hold back a lot more now,” she answered. “Plus, I feel sore all over,” she added. The aftereffects of the treatment that had upgraded her body were still not completely gone, even with months of rehabilitation.