Tales of A Swordsman (Chapter 1: Project Luxor- Part 1)

Japan, present day. A nation full of contasting culture. One of the leaders in the field of research and technology. Influence of the West is evident everywhere, yet their own long standing traditions and cultures are still upheld with highest regards. High rise buildings with state of the art technology fills the streets of every city, then again, there are still castles, temples and shrines, built centuries ago, that withstood the test of times.



My name is Rey Jonn Lauron. Born and grew in the Philippines, I came two Japan almost two years ago to work as part of a development team in Hineji Systems International. A company that develops and deploys security and automated building management systems in major companies all over. Recently our company was contracted by another company from Egypt install our state-of-the-art security system in the- still under construction- New Luxor-Ancient History Museum. The project, we call Project Luxor includes installation of our security system in the Valley of the Kings itself.

Currently I'm supervising the installation of the systems console remotely. Coordinating the work with my counterpart in Egypt, Shane Founder.





"It's ok, Shane, you're two days ahead of schedule. Your team has done a great job. Take your time. Run all diagnostic routines and send me the results as soon as you got them."

"How's it doing, Rey?" - Nikano Yoshiro, my department supervisor. Since I arrived here in Japan, he and his wife have been very kind to me. They treated me as a family. Even though he is my superior he and his wife easily became my best of friends here.

"There's a minor glitch with the VS-2. However, Phase two is almost complete, Sir. I guess you'll be flying to Egypt within two weeks for the final phase of this project!"

"I know you want to join me there in this project, you got this fascination with Egypt."

"Yeah, you know I do, but the 3rd Phase requires you to stay there for at least 6 months for run time debugging, and I am due for my leave on May for my fiancé's birthday and preparation for our wedding after my contract here expires next December."

" Besides, you're the best person that can handle things there. And ..."
I paused and Looked around the office and whispered "... The boss surely won't approve the extra expenses if I go with you. Hehe"

Yoshiro jokingly slapped the back of my shoulder and smiled..
"Yes, you're right. hehehe. See you at the dojo tonight."

"Hai! See you there!"

I went back to my work after Yoshiro left. I run the diagnostic routine on my end. With the size and complication of the system we installed in Egypt, it would take about 5 hours to complete and I'll be off in 20 minutes. I guess I'll just have to get the report from my flat later.

6 PM. I grabbed my gear from flat and walked my way to the Iaido dojo.

Not only Youshiro is my superior a good friend and officemate, he is also my Sempai, my mentor in iaido, a style of Kenjutsu- the Japanese sword fighting style. With his guidance and tutelage, I was able to obtain the Shodan - (first degree black belt), with in a year of practice.

I have been attracted this Japanese Art when in the midst of my study of Aikido. I realized, though different in form yet similar in principle and teachings. Both focuses on defense. Though most martial arts also claims to be a self-defense art, one common principle that Aikido and Iaido sets them apart is - not to defeat the enemy but to control one's self. In Aikido- also dubbed as a gentleman's martial art- one teacher once said, "How can one defeat his enemy if he does not know himself?". And in Iaido, a practitioner is taught to use a sword not to control their opponent, but to control themselves.

When I arrived at the dojo, Yoshiro and his wife Ayame, also a third degree black belt in Iaido, was already there . I greeted them and proceeded to change into my training Gi.





(To be continued ...)