Chapter Sixteen

Kale made his way back to his room, but did not make it without being noticed. A group of disciples had seen him leave and they decided to follow him back to his room.

Kale opened up his door, but was caught off guard when his body was propelled through the room by an unseen force crushing in to his back. He hit the wardrobe with a thud, and fell to the floor with blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. He turned around to get a look at his assailants, but strangely there was no one there. He got up and ran to the door, but all he saw were four disciples walking down the hallway, laughing. He didn't see their faces and was unsure if he could even properly defend himself from these four. The attack he had just experienced didn't feel like something from a person, it felt like an air bubble or some sort of force field crushing into his back, propelling him forward. If they were capable of things like that he didn't stand a chance.

With a sigh, Kale closed his door and proceeded to clean himself up before retiring for the night. He had traveled a long way and needed some rest, especially since he would most likely have to endure this sort of treatment for awhile.

"The system needs a change" Kale thought while he was cleaning his face and wiping up the blood.

"These people discriminate against everyone that don't have the same status as they do. As long as this system remains in place, there will never be equality in the galaxy." Kale sighed again, not having an answer to the problem at hand.

"I have to do my best here to get strong. Only then can I make a true difference and help people like the Palentar that are going to save my village." Kale made a note to follow up with Master Wen in two weeks about the mission to the village. He wanted to make sure everyone would be safe or this trip was all for naught.

Kale woke up the next day to a gentle gong sound. He assumed it was the temple's alarm system that served as a gentle reminder of the upcoming breakfast. He threw on his clothes and hurried down to the great hall to take his meal.

Once again, upon entrance, food was piled high on the tables in preparation for the mass gathering of people. Kale did not make the same mistake this tie and sat towards the side, keeping to himself so as not to draw undue attention towards himself.

After eating his fill, he sat there patiently waiting for his job assignment. It wasn't long before an older man with a long white beard and kind eyes found him sitting there.

"Disciple Kale?" asked the man, sitting down next to him.

"Yes Master, that is me" replied Kale, waiting for the man to continue.

"You will be with me for the time being" said the man. "Everyone here has daily tasks, but the priority now is to help you manifest your powers so you can meditate and practice when you're not doing your duties. It's come to our attention that your background is putting you in danger from the influential families. Tell no one of what you are doing during the day while you learn to manifest your abilities. It will be the only thing that gives you a chance to defend yourself when a Master isn't around."

"If you know it's an issue, why do you let it continue?" asked Kale, genuinely curious why the order allows such discrimination in it's ranks.

"We don't have a choice right now unfortunately. I can't say why we do some of the things we do, but we have to operate within the system of the Galactic Federation. Our only option right now is to give you the tools to defend yourself in the case of a future occurrence of said discrimination. Please come with me so we can get started." Replied the man as he got up and walked towards the doors of the great hall.

Kale got up and followed the man through the doors and down a long hall way with multiple doors leading to various rooms. The temple was grand, and the polished stone they walked on gleamed, reflecting the light of the special crystals used to light up various areas of the temple instead of a more conventional light source.

They finally made their way to a room and the man hurriedly ushered him into a room with multiple circles etched into the ground that were used to meditate.

"Pick a circle and get into a position to meditate. I will walk you through the process so you can identify the power within and draw it out to be used. This room serves as an amplifier and would normally be used by disciples once they had been selected for training after exhibiting more than just a compatibility for the gift. Disciples are placed in various dangerous predicaments here and when the masters see potential, they will select the individuals and have them trained to become an official member of the order. It's possible that a disciple could be stuck where they are at for years until they are selected, but it's very rare that we have a candidate that isn't a noble that comes here so you will be the exception to the rule so you are able to properly defend yourself" said the man as he closed the door and waited for Kale to sit down in a circle.

Kale sat down in the closest circle and got into a proper meditation position he had seen in various infomercials about meditation and "becoming one with nature".

"What do I do next?" asked Kale as he sat there waiting for further instructions.

"Close your eyes and look to the center of your being. If you focus, you will be able to "feel" the energy there. Once you can feel it, let me know and we will proceed to the next step" replied the man, taking a seat and observing Kale as he went about his meditation.