Path of Transcendence 1: Ultimatum of the Nameless God by Brian McGoldrick Page A
Book: Path of Transcendence 1: Ultimatum of the Nameless God by Brian McGoldrick
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Authors: Brian McGoldrick
Tags: Fantasy
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jailed or executed because of the Urehara Style martial arts. The world today is not the same as the one I grew up in. I have nothing to tie me to it anymore.”
Death during childbirth is extremely uncommon in America or any other first world nation, but it still happens. Even with the level of modern medical technology, women will still sometimes die from the strain of giving birth or damage that cannot be treated, until the child is actually born.
I bow to Urehara-sensei. “I agree. Thank you, Sensei.”
Urehara-sensei's face turns grim, and he bows to me. “Please forgive me. You lost your family because of my pride and my bother's incompetence. The day of the accident, your father ended your family's vacation early, because of my demands that he correct problems caused by my brother's incompetent handling of labor negotiations. Your parents' deaths and your scars are because I refused to wait for your father's vacation to be over, before having him deal with the situation.”
I sit stunned for a few minutes, as memories of the the past flood my mind: the truck sliding down the mountain road; our car swerving to avoid it and crashing through the guardrail; the pain of being trapped in the wreck, while the flames slowly roasted the left side of my body; waking up in the hospital with scars and being told that there is nothing that can be done about them; the barely concealed disgust on my aunts face, every time she looked at me; being laughed at and reviled for my appearance; hurting the ones that mocked me in places where the social cameras could not monitor us; hating myself; hating the world; training with Urehara-sensei; being talked to and treated like a human being by Urehara-sensei, when no one else would.
I never blamed Urehara-sensei for the accident, but I had never known that he had anything do with our leaving the ski resort early. I am not sure what to think, but I do not want my relationship with Urehara-sensei to change.
“Urehara-sensei, please don't prostrate yourself to me. I never blamed you. The past is what it is, and if you feel that you are to blame, you have more than made amends with how you have treated me over the years.”
Urehara-sensei sits up again. “It needed to be said. For my own peace of mind, I had to tell you the truth.
“The past is the past. Now is what matters.”
Urehara-sensei nods, but there is still a shadow of loss and maybe shame on his face. “While we prepare to enter Taereun, you can stay at the main house or one of the guest houses, whichever you prefer. It will be easier to train and safer, if we both remain on the estate as much as possible. If anyone becomes aware of what we are doing, this could become very ugly, before we make our escape. The Japanese and American governments, any government and most corporations, would commit any crime necessary to obtain control of a technology that would allow them to travel directly to other worlds. We must be exceedingly careful.”
“Thank you, Sensei. I would prefer one of the guest houses.”
Urehara-sensei stands. “I will have Tanaka make the arrangements.”
*** Central California - Earth ***
October 28, 2077
Nine hundred ninety-eight.
Nine hundred ninety-nine.
One thousand.
I finish my last sit-up and relax my abdominal muscles, as I lay back on the ground. Rapidly straightening my arms, I hurl the rock that weighs more than I do into the air. The thump and vibrations of its impact behind my head are transmitted to my body, through the ground. Compared with the past, my rate of improvement is greatly accelerated. After pushing myself to the point of collapse, I can recover with a single night's rest.
In only a month and a half, I have progressed from performing my exercises with difficulty to performing them while carrying weights greater than my own body weight. The circulation of ki through my body has allowed me to develop stronger muscles than I had been able to in the past, even if
Death during childbirth is extremely uncommon in America or any other first world nation, but it still happens. Even with the level of modern medical technology, women will still sometimes die from the strain of giving birth or damage that cannot be treated, until the child is actually born.
I bow to Urehara-sensei. “I agree. Thank you, Sensei.”
Urehara-sensei's face turns grim, and he bows to me. “Please forgive me. You lost your family because of my pride and my bother's incompetence. The day of the accident, your father ended your family's vacation early, because of my demands that he correct problems caused by my brother's incompetent handling of labor negotiations. Your parents' deaths and your scars are because I refused to wait for your father's vacation to be over, before having him deal with the situation.”
I sit stunned for a few minutes, as memories of the the past flood my mind: the truck sliding down the mountain road; our car swerving to avoid it and crashing through the guardrail; the pain of being trapped in the wreck, while the flames slowly roasted the left side of my body; waking up in the hospital with scars and being told that there is nothing that can be done about them; the barely concealed disgust on my aunts face, every time she looked at me; being laughed at and reviled for my appearance; hurting the ones that mocked me in places where the social cameras could not monitor us; hating myself; hating the world; training with Urehara-sensei; being talked to and treated like a human being by Urehara-sensei, when no one else would.
I never blamed Urehara-sensei for the accident, but I had never known that he had anything do with our leaving the ski resort early. I am not sure what to think, but I do not want my relationship with Urehara-sensei to change.
“Urehara-sensei, please don't prostrate yourself to me. I never blamed you. The past is what it is, and if you feel that you are to blame, you have more than made amends with how you have treated me over the years.”
Urehara-sensei sits up again. “It needed to be said. For my own peace of mind, I had to tell you the truth.
“The past is the past. Now is what matters.”
Urehara-sensei nods, but there is still a shadow of loss and maybe shame on his face. “While we prepare to enter Taereun, you can stay at the main house or one of the guest houses, whichever you prefer. It will be easier to train and safer, if we both remain on the estate as much as possible. If anyone becomes aware of what we are doing, this could become very ugly, before we make our escape. The Japanese and American governments, any government and most corporations, would commit any crime necessary to obtain control of a technology that would allow them to travel directly to other worlds. We must be exceedingly careful.”
“Thank you, Sensei. I would prefer one of the guest houses.”
Urehara-sensei stands. “I will have Tanaka make the arrangements.”
*** Central California - Earth ***
October 28, 2077
Nine hundred ninety-eight.
Nine hundred ninety-nine.
One thousand.
I finish my last sit-up and relax my abdominal muscles, as I lay back on the ground. Rapidly straightening my arms, I hurl the rock that weighs more than I do into the air. The thump and vibrations of its impact behind my head are transmitted to my body, through the ground. Compared with the past, my rate of improvement is greatly accelerated. After pushing myself to the point of collapse, I can recover with a single night's rest.
In only a month and a half, I have progressed from performing my exercises with difficulty to performing them while carrying weights greater than my own body weight. The circulation of ki through my body has allowed me to develop stronger muscles than I had been able to in the past, even if
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