Thus... what had I ultimately learned? The identity of my teacher — Knight Lorm Decer — slightly older than Yan Dooku, a Zabrak, was an archaeologist, one of the best in the Temple. The choice was clear, if only because he wielded the Force at a sufficient level — above average, for sure. At least, that's my assessment... Naturally, he couldn't compare to the acknowledged Master Yoda, who had even witnessed the time of the Fay Coven. Lorm had studied dozens and hundreds of sites that were the historical heritage of the Galaxy. Places that once belonged to Sith, Jedi, and other Force-using traditions. And he made it clear what the Council wanted from me. They wanted me to focus on the Force.
Indeed, I had mastered swordsmanship in Soresu Form excellently; I was even quietly recognized as the best youngling in this form. Of course, for each form — its own "best." For instance, Soresu — me. Shien, the fifth form — the barbarian Drallig. Ataru was best mastered by a female Zabrak from the Bear Clan, Shilra, I think. Hardly anyone trained in Shii-Cho, and Makashi was best mastered by Marquis Zolir from the Tapani sector. They have their own lightsaber fencing there, by the way. Even non-Gifted fence in that sector, though I've seen their duels... If they wanted to, any youngling of "above average" level could wipe the floor with two or three of their fencers. Simply because of the Force... Although they had masters there too, but such people were always in short supply.
And, of course, how could we do without a Tournament? I usually only watched it out of the corner of my eye, but didn't participate, although they offered, just for fun. But I wanted to participate in the best form I could achieve as a youngling. Constant training, studying Force techniques, fencing, survival. The Tournament would simply show what I had achieved as a fighter. Naturally, the younglings would fight with training sabers. Because in the heat of battle, you could kill your comrade in one-two. And that's no joke: in endless sparring sessions with Drallig, and not just him, there were many cases where I "killed" my partner with a counterattack. Naturally, with a training saber. A live one only under the supervision of Knights.
But at the Tournament, they all sit in the stands and are almost unable to intervene in the duel. Plus, there's an educational element: a blow from a live saber will be stopped, but a training one won't, and the loser can feel for themselves the full murderous power... No, that's not where I was going with that. "The full fallacy of their actions.".. Something like that. Drallig caught me a lot, still, don't consider me perfect. Yes, Soresu, yes, defense... Yes, the Force. But I was missing something. Usually, Drallig caught me on counterattacks. The whole essence of Soresu was in waiting for the right moment, and I hit precisely on timing. But it didn't always work out. Drallig himself couldn't explain it to me, and neither could the others. How did they manage to catch me out? And the theory behind why I was having such failures came to me right before the Tournament. Thanks to Yoda, who gave me the holocron with his knowledge of Ataru and... I figured that since everyone was aggressively pushing it on me, there must be a reason.
"A reason?" asked Layla, when I bothered her with that question. "Why were all the adults so clearly agitating you?"
"Yes, Master. I explained why I needed Soresu and why I wanted to master it and..."
"Enough," Layla interrupted me, rising from her meditation pose and looking at me. The meditation room wasn't huge — about twenty spots, no more. The other Jedi didn't stop their meditation, and I would have called myself an uncivilized barbarian, but when I messaged Layla that I wanted to talk, she called me here herself. "The Jedi strongly recommend it to you for one simple reason, Light. Your body is literally built for it. Haven't you noticed?"
"And what was I supposed to notice?"
"It's simple. You are not the 'Center of the Storm' of Soresu. I agree, you've mastered it excellently, but everything about you is honed for a different style, for Ataru — which you once called too dangerous in my class. Dangerous not for enemies, but for yourself, since it has no defense. Your predisposition manifests in the fact that you occasionally perform the kata of this form during combat. Dodging, stepping aside, landing quick blows during a counterattack — even though Soresu in counterattack is close to Makashi — one precise and strong blow. The Jedi can clearly see your sphere of talents — it's not that hard for the Gifted," Layla smiled. "When I had a student, I also understood perfectly how to develop her to become an excellent Jedi."
"And did she become one?" I asked involuntarily.
"She..." Layla's voice turned cold. "Was a very unstable girl, emotionally. From a skill standpoint, everything was fine, but when she didn't pass the Jedi Trials the first time, she made an attempt to attack the Master of the High Council who was observing the Trial."
"And what happened to her?"
"Now she works in the AgriCorps... She always wanted to be a 'defender of lives in the Galaxy,' but in the end, she became an AgriCorps Jedi, and through her work she saves millions of lives across the Galaxy... I hope you don't think, like most people, that they are all failures?"
"No, of course not, Master," I raised my hands in front of me. "I understand the full importance of the AgriCorps. I just... don't see myself there."
"And where do you see yourself?" Layla asked a reasonable question. "You children are always dreaming of great deeds from the very start of your training. Every one of you set goals and achieved them. But there is a global goal that every child sets. It's not something ordinary like: I'll eat this or that chocolate and so on. It's something great. Of course, the dreams of most," she touched her stomach, "are shattered by the surrounding reality. But as long as you are in the Temple — your dreams are still with you."
"I... Well..."
And what should I say to get out of this conversation? Anyway, I already understood that the Will of the Force had done something to my body, and the Jedi now see me as an adept of Ataru, which doesn't match my personality. Better to wait for the right moment than to rush into an attack. So what to answer? That I want to sleep with Twi'leks, like Secura, Togrutas, like Shaak Ti... Well, what about it? They're aliens and I like them. Too bad there are no Asari here, wrong universe. I've come across fanfics, of course, where the heroes couldn't stand aliens, let alone mocked those who ran off to sleep with them... What can I say about those? Impotents.
"I would like to lead our Order to glory."
"Glory?" Leyla raised an eyebrow. "But how? Look for yourself — the Sith are destroyed..."
"Sure, sure..."
"The Republic is experiencing its dawn..."
More like dusk. Corruption, pirates, killers. For now, it's closer to the Outer Rim, but that's only for now. Hego Damask and Sheev Palpatine's plan, hiding in the shadows — to gain power over the Galaxy and destroy the Jedi. And I'll try to prevent that. According to my plan, I first need to become a Knight, then start unraveling the "Sith knot" by leading the Jedi to that pair. And then the Council will calmly send liquidators or show up in full force themselves. And most importantly — to make it at least before the year 40 BBY, which won't happen here. So that when the Sith are discovered, they don't cause a schism across the entire Galaxy by hiding in the chaos.
"I don't know yet," I answered the master evasively. "But I'll find out."
"Be careful, Light. Especially if the Force shows you something. Visions are a very cruel joke, yes, precisely a joke."
Anakin already proved that. The Force... It conditionally strives for balance. But to indulge its desires with so many victims? No, count me out.
"And yes, Light," I stopped at the door. "The tournament starts in three days. Show Knight Lorm everything you've learned."
"I will," I could hardly wait to meet that sentient.
* * *
The three days flew by very quickly. In the two days before the Tournament, Drallig kept shying away, hiding in corners, and practicing combat as best he could. According to Gol, the barbarian had set himself the strategic goal of defeating me at any cost. He even attacked Knight Roan, begging him to train him until he dropped. Roan himself didn't need such happiness, and without thinking twice, he agreed, immediately suppressing Cin's defense and knocking him out. Versaria also reported that he advised Leyla to tie Cin to the bed because he was getting on his nerves. I, on the other hand, was as calm as a boa constrictor, meditating in the Hall of a Thousand Fountains, which I had come to love. Waterfalls, fountains, trees... It was so peaceful.
And then it came — the Tournament. It was just an intermediate stage of the Chunin exams from the Naruto world. That is — the holoprojector displayed the names of the participating younglings in front of everyone, and they walked out onto the arena, a circle thirty meters in diameter, bordered by stone stands. On the stands sat Knights, Masters, and the Council. Some Padawans who were in the Temple also came to watch their younger comrades. About forty younglings participated in total, which meant twenty battles awaited us. We were all given training swords with blades as white as ice. But the duels were only until a winner was determined. Five younglings advanced to the final, and among them, a Royal Battle was held.
But we didn't start with the youngling battles, but with a show — a "Knight battle." Two Knights — Roan and some other Twi'lek with blue skin — put on a show, fighting each other with combat swords. Roan's staff seemed to disappear; instead, everyone only saw flashes of blue. The Twi'lek used Jar'Kai, a regular sword and a shoto... And the fight was "something else." They didn't hold back... That's the level I'm striving for.
So, the youngling fights... They weren't particularly quick. Especially considering that the fifth fight was between two adept of Soresu. Their confrontation lasted a whole five minutes, and for a minute they just stood and watched, waiting for an attack. Then one got fed up and tried to use Shii-Cho, and the other managed, after some time, to catch the first with a counterattack and defeat him... My fight would happen... I glanced at the holoprojector. Against Shilra. Among the younglings, she's the best at Ataru. I walked onto the arena when we were announced. Dressed in classic Jedi clothing in light tones, I stood opposite the smiling Zabrak. She spread her feet shoulder-width apart and took the Ataru stance, the canon of this form, so to speak. What I call "Qui-Gon mod." The girl's lightsaber activated. I took the standard Soresu stance, which I mentally called "I'll poke your eyes out," or "eyepoker." Obi-Wan also used it against Grievous...
The fight... The gong sounded, and the girl jumped at me, performing a "hawk-bat throw." This Ataru attack is also a classic; you don't need to look far for an example — Yoda used it at the start of his battle with Dooku... Alright, time to stop remembering analogies and focus on the fight. The girl delivered a classic overhead strike... The Force filled my body, so I was now physically stronger and more resilient. Catching the blow on my blade, I quickly extended my left hand forward and pushed Shilra with the Force. She slid across the arena floor but quickly stabilized herself with a backflip. Again? This time she attacked, striking at my side. I began to retreat backward. Blocked the blow from right to left, then she repeated the same strike from the other side, and I blocked it again. A strike from bottom to top? My body acted on its own; I jumped back, performing a backflip. But she wasn't going to let me go and rushed at me.
I tried to attack her with a simple swing when she came within striking distance, but she jumped over me. I spun around sharply and tried to catch her at the landing moment, but she ducked, letting my blade pass over her head, and delivered a rather unpleasant Shiak. I didn't have time to raise my sword, so... I acted even too fast. A sideways roll to the left to dodge the Shiak, a thrusting strike. So, she reacted and attacked me, quickly, but. I used an Ataru sequence that started the training in Yoda's holocron. Three Su-ma movements revealing the essence of Ataru. A roll — en-su-ma, from Shilra's attack after the roll I dodged with a backflip — ton-su-ma, and a wide strike to the back, where I ended up, along with a spin — jung-su-ma. But even here, she reacted...
"Whoa," Shilra said, blocking the lightsaber at the last moment. "That's pure Ataru. A bit late for you to switch styles, Light."
"It's never... too late to learn," I kicked her in the stomach, though she had already started jumping back from my attack, and my blow didn't hit her.
Shilra began using a combination of fast strikes again; I dodged... and blocked, and then I felt her slowing down. In the end — her potential in the Force is many times weaker than mine, and she can't sustain Ataru's high pace for long, which I took advantage of. During her next strike, I simply turned off my sword, shifting slightly to the side. Shilra didn't have time to react when I hit her in the face with the steel hilt, definitely breaking her nose, and then I delivered a Shiak straight to her chest.
"OW!" the girl grabbed her chest. "That hurts, damn it!"
"The winner — Light Flyingstar," the judge announced.
In real life, a whole Jedi Master died from a similar combination — a hilt strike followed by a Shiak. I'll have to fight Maul's holographic projection later, although will Maul exist in this time? And who's next? The next participants were Cin and Gol... Oh, that was something — the battle of two Djem So adepts, the fencing part of the fifth form, was much more spectacular than mine and Shilra's. Each of them tried to push through the other's defense; however, Gol was doing better, but Cin didn't give up, deciding towards the end of the fight to use a different tactic — not brute force, but a counterattack game, which helped him. A caught-off-guard Gol sadly held his right hand, which had taken the blow, while Cin returned to the waiting room with joy and pride. The remaining battles weren't particularly interesting to me. I just watched them...
"So!" the Jedi host announced. "We've completed the first stage. Twenty participants remain. The next fights will start right now."
And I was paired with a boy who used Makashi. I dealt with him relatively quickly, if only because only the best can adequately oppose me. Of course, he's in some percentage of the top younglings, otherwise what is he doing at the Tournament, which this year worked on the principle of "forty best younglings." They should have selected sixty-four younglings; then the final round would have been adequate, not a Royal Battle. But compared to, say, Shilra, my new opponent didn't rank at all. So I simply and unpretentiously knocked the Togruta's sword out of his hand with the Force during the fight... My third fight, when there were ten of us left, and it was another round meant to halve the number of participants, brought me an unpleasant surprise again. I mean — I ran into Drallig. Oh, how happy he was. Joy, anticipation, excitement. Everyone remembers perfectly that Cin and I are rivals, practically from the moment we were accepted into the clan... Cin was infuriated that, by his account, I succeeded in "everything.".. Actually, I never understood why it infuriated him so much, because I achieved everything through hard training, exhausting myself, sometimes staying conscious only thanks to the Force. But it still infuriated Cin, even though he also put in the effort at training, but unlike me, he didn't waste his time trying to be a universalist; the thought of being a generalist was repugnant to him, unlike me, so he concentrated on his desire to become the best fencer. Which is what he was trying to achieve.
Cin, before the signal that started the match, seemed to be writhing from constant enuresis. He wanted to start so badly.
"Finally! I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. I've beaten you, you've beaten me, but we've never fought in front of such an audience! I will defeat you in front of everyone, and then they'll take me as a Padawan much sooner than you!"
"Ummm," I drawled. "Haven't you heard? The whole clan already knows."
"Knows what?" asked Drallig.
"I've already been taken as a Padawan, before you. I'm participating because I'm interested, and until they assign me the status..."
The signal to start sounded, and Cin immediately attacked. His attacks were a bit different from Shilra's. The very pattern of the fight was different. No, the attacks of a Djem So adept are fast, I won't argue; it's just the logic and philosophy that are different. Shilra delivered a quick strike and, if it was blocked, immediately changed the position and angle of the next one, making it faster — that was the essence of Ataru. Cin, on the other hand, struck with power; his blows were strong. While Shilra tried to dodge attacks and if she blocked, it wasn't often, Cin, on the contrary, blocked, just like a Soresu adept. Precisely, effectively, but not ideally. As a Soresu adept, I can do better, which I demonstrated. Calm down... The Force flows through me. Cin increased the pace, but I stood and caught each of his blows, occasionally dodging. The hilt with the activated blade fluttered, demonstrating miracles. What were they? Blocks for counterattacks. As is customary in some games. According to the philosophy of Soresu, I took the blows, tilting my blade, forcing Cin to submit to inertia. He suffered a lot from this in the past.
But generally — if Ataru is a complete reworking of Soresu into something new, then Shien/Djem So is precisely Soresu, with an altered philosophy. Instead of defense, offense, physical strength, and counterattacks based on brute force. And if Soresu and Ataru are a confrontation between attack and defense, then Ataru and Shien are a confrontation between physical strength and agility. And I'm for agility. They weren't lying; Ataru is still close to me, if only because I consider dodging and getting around an opponent the right thing to do. Even being a Soresu adept — I consciously and unconsciously wove elements of Ataru into it... Exactly, I could create my own style, purely for me. Ataru and Soresu — powerful attack and perfect defense. But how to combine them? Because one style implies constant movement, and the other only defense. But if I manage to create my own style, based on these two — Mace Windu... Forget Windu... Even Exar Kun or Tulak Hord would be no match for me.
The blades clashed, showering sparks, creating characteristic sounds. There it was... Another Shiak from me, everything was perfect, but Cin managed to dodge to the side and immediately attacked me in the flank. Turning slightly, I managed to put my sword in the path of his attack. Changing position, I ended up where Cin had stood, and he ended up where I had stood. But we didn't stand long; he attacked again, pressing in, using Force amplification and Djem So, forcing me to retreat. My counterattacks became rarer, and Cin's pace faster. This couldn't go on for long, and I simply used the Force. He dodged the push, jumping to the side, while I rushed to attack. He delivered a horizontal slash, but I didn't even try to block it, dropping to my knees and sliding under the blade... He reacted! He reacted to my subsequent attack to his back, and even delivered such a blow that I barely managed to block it myself... Damn it! Deflecting one of the blows to the side, I aimed my left hand with the gauntlet at his leg.
"What?" Cin was surprised and was about to attack, but I activated the mechanism on the gauntlet, hooked his leg, and sharply pulled him towards me.
Cin fell flat on his back.
"Ugh! Hutt!" he exclaimed. I walked up to him, holding my sword to his throat.
"Light wins!" the judge proclaimed.
"But Knight!" Cin stood up abruptly. "That's not fair! How did you count him the victory, he..."
"This is a YOUNGLING tournament!" the man shook his head. "Not a pure fencing tournament. You use the Force, don't you?"
"You don't understand, it's different!" Cin continued to protest. "I..."
"Calm down," the Knight cut him off. "Out there, in the Big World, they use anything to survive. Or do you think the sword is the only weapon of a Jedi? Learn to think!"
"You're gonna get it from me yet, Light!" Drallig growled as he left.
* * *
The Royal Battle fight was quite strange. It started with two younglings clearly intent on having a duel. Two guys, according to rumors, were rivals just like Cin and me. Although no, according to the girls, they were both fighting for the attention of one girl in their clan. Growing up, hormones, physical activity, and as one corpse said: "To hell with the code." Try explaining to a physically healthy teenager that the call of the flesh is evil. It's impossible; he'll twirl his finger at his temple. In short — a picture-perfect scene — they met and an epic brawl began. Two girls calmly and slowly approached me. One of them, Fela, clearly used Makashi, and the second, Hukera, used Soresu. First, I need to get rid of the second one. Soresu is the path of counterattacks; if I give her time, she'll find a hole in my defense — I know about such things myself and am working on eliminating them — if she hasn't already. And she'll defeat me quickly... Looks like they conspired.
"I'd surrender if I were you," Fela told me. "After all, there are two of us and one of you, Light. No matter how good a master of Soresu you are, you can't defend yourself against two at once."
"Soresu?" I asked. "Speaking of which, the Sith have been destroyed for almost a millennium. And you're using such a worthless style as Makashi? Any mercenary would be happy to send you to the afterlife."
"Your Dun Moch is pretty weak," said Hukera, the girl toyed with her sword.
"Try, try, not a death," I abruptly dashed towards Hukera. I lack basic knowledge of Ataru, so I could move at most according to the style's fencing canons, and I attacked using Shii-Cho from behind. They really had conspired.
I spun like a top, parrying the thrusts and attacks of the girls, which were getting faster. Parried one blow, turned, parried the second girl's attack, dodged the first girl's. I had to use Ataru more often, or rather, its characteristic jumps, with Force amplification and... They couldn't defeat me. If I had fought purely Soresu, I would already be losing, but by applying elements of Ataru from time to time, I literally avoided defeat, slipping out from under an attack at the last moment. Jumping over the blades when the girls tried to attack me in sync, I struck Hukera in the face mid-flight; she jumped back, clicking her tongue angrily. Fela tried to attack me, but I blocked her two blows and disarmed her with a counterattack.
"AY!" the girl grabbed her hand, and I turned to my "style colleague."
"Now you," activating Fela's now-unneeded sword, I attacked Hukera. And she failed quickly, apparently not yet skilled enough in the style to oppose adepts of Jar'Kai, even though I wasn't one.
The guys were still fighting while Fela held her hand from the blow that had landed there. But now I saw that one of them was starting to falter, which I took advantage of by attacking the one who was pressing him from behind. I felt no moral qualms; this was a Royal Battle, the last one standing wins. The second one's eyes widened in surprise when his opponent dropped his sword, and I took advantage again, hitting him with a Force Push — defeating my last opponent...
* * *
"That was impressive," a voice came as I left the Tournament arena after receiving all the honors. "For a miserable Jedi larva, which is what you are."
I turned towards the voice. In front of me stood a tall, well-built Zabrak, dressed in white Jedi robes. Over them, he wore a brown cloak.
"Master," I began.
"Correct," he nodded. "I see you've gathered information, so you're not hopeless. I'll see what you grow into, Jedi Larva. My name is Lorm Decer, Jedi Archaeologist. Get ready; in two days we leave the Temple and head to your homeland — Tustra."
"There?" I asked. "But why?"
"My ship finally fell apart," Lorm hissed, stepping closer. "That bantha poodoo from the hangar swore by the Force itself that the ship would withstand the flights... He also makes me out to be the guilty one, saying I shouldn't have flown to that planet with 'permanent storms' I'm never letting him at the controls again." He sighed heavily and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Anyway. My creed is — if I take something on, I do it perfectly. Yoda thinks I can be a great teacher for you. And he also thinks you might be able to teach me something yourself. So, I'm interested in teaching you; let's see what comes of it. Any questions?"
"Master," I called to him. "Will I need equipment..."
"Of course, you will!" he exclaimed, even too abruptly. "I thought you were a fool, but you have potential," the second time I heard the same thing from him. "We need to stop by a certain planet. I'll use it as a teaching aid, an introduction to archaeology. The equipment is in the warehouse; I've already taken care of it, just go pick it up. And by the way," he nodded at my left hand. "Interesting idea. On the way, we'll start delving deeper into the Force, what Yoda wants. As for fencing — Yoda warned that he has a solution. Plus, I can do a lot myself; I use Niman, but I have the basics of all styles. I won't talk about Ataru; if you want to remain my Padawan, you'll have to study it."
"I have no objection; I just wanted to learn Soresu before going out..."
"Into the big world, where every bum sleeping in his own excrement has a blaster?" my teacher asked me, nodding at passing Knights.
"Not everyone..."
"What do you mean? So you study bums sleeping in their own feces and can confirm they don't have blasters?" asked Lorm. "Although the fact that you figured out Soresu is commendable. My generation was entirely either Makashi or Shien users. And those who mastered Makashi are already dead, except for one Count who constantly goes on about his origins, the damned snob," wait a minute, is that Dooku by any chance? "Anyway, in two days. We'll fly a regular flight; no one in the Temple can fly to Tustra, and taking fighters or another ship just to leave them there... Hell no."