Libertine's Bogan Training

[D.C.]

"The Dark Side is a tool, and much more." Choray explained. "It is your passion, your anger, your pain and your hate. It feeds upon it and the more you give into these emotions, the stronger it grows. The Dark Side empowers the worthy and breaks those unworthy. To some it is a master, to some it is a slave. It can be a beast of burden which you order to perform tasks for you. Which you order to empower you. Or it could be your downfall and it could trap you into a spiral of everlasting darkness.

"The Dark Side," Choray went on, "could drive you insane. It could destroy your mind and finally it can wipe away your identity, leaving only a shell of what you once were. This happens to those who don't feed on it, but let it feed on them.

"It is not only a tool, acolyte. It is a weapon, a gift. Surely you can feel it swirling around you, can't you? Tell me, acolyte, what is that makes you angry? What's the most terrible thing that awakens your deepest hate inside you?"​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

"I have only my memories", Libertine answered shortly. In total agreement of all that his wise Master had enlightened onto his brain's poor vocabulary and young mind in the force, this wicked human had both witnessed some of the darkest malice in the galaxy and added to such despair; though much of his demented memories would never be quite remembered so truthfully.

Libertine widely grinned, awkwardly, for no more than .5 seconds. Endorphins rushing the front of his cranium, he thought of instincts ingrained into natural and pleasuring tendencies. Deeper he introverted, looking down to fix a wrinkle in his suit.

"If I hadn't encountered such an abundance of solitude in my youth, I might not have reached the core of my self enlightenment", he began to ramble if only to delay a truthful statement. Whether he meant it or not, would be fought over by his consciousness possibly for the rest of his life. "It's what I am pleasured by... what I seek in my very being." He looked up. "I hate... what others have ingrained into my biological stem, that I am dependent on their imprinted lessons ..their chromosomes of information." Veering off a straight answer, though still touching something he never speaks of, Libertine referred to all those who raised him or came in contact with him. All the various gangs he belonged to, watched and learned their ways to survive. Some forced him, some just had him watch; all of them lacking in principles of business and life even. He'd witnessed torture, beatings, family murders, and more; all for wealth or power. He preferred the power, not over the galaxy yet a simpler thing. He enjoyed the intimate control over another, so perfect in its natural form.

Libertine's thoughts rambled worse than his sentences, making as much sense as his life did. As he tried to explain it, the masked human was as honest as he could be; when his very subconscious masked truths of its own accord. "I use them", he paused, "yet I hate them."

Libertine was aware of how this all sounded. How it may seem that he was ungrateful for his Master's training to come. He wasn't ungrateful, but rather an imaginary; bitter for lack of creativity and ability, to come up without help all on his own. He would always blame others for what he'd become and for the things he'd done, but it was true. He hated himself.

 

[D.C.]

Choray listened intently and when Libertine finished speaking he did not immediately respond. He sat back on his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes were fixed on the acolyte in front of him and for a moment it might have looked like Choray was offended and would react with anger.

However, he did not.

"I see," he said, "and I understand you."

It was true, Choray did understand this acolyte. What Libertine had said might have sounded ungrateful indeed, but Choray had seen how Libertine had listened and succesfully accomplished the tasks so far. Without complaints or anything. To Choray it didn't seem like Libertine was ungrateful. The Zabrak had come across acolytes who didn't respect him - Choray had punished some of them brutally - but Libertine really seemed like the obedient acolyte he was supposed to be. That was something Choray respected.

"Do you know, and agree, with the Ways of the Bogan? The way we, the Dark Crusaders, think and act. I want you to tell me your opinion, acolyte Libertine and I hope you realize the importance of this conversation."​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

His serious eyes lifted at the last moment, waiting for the Zabrak's reaction.

"I see.. and I understand you."

Libertine folded his hands, clasping his fingers only half-way along the main finger knuckles.

"Do you know, and agree...?" Libertine's head raised, almost nodding. His ears twitched upon hearing the words: 'Dark Crusaders'. Giddy in his fantasized version of the Bogan and its Crusaders. Feeling as if he was being initiated, Libertine intently awaited the end of the question so that he may answer.

"Mhmm. Indeed I do, and from what I've gathered I am in complete alignment with your goals as a unit..." Libertine scooted out his chair neutrally. He stood up with his hands at his sides, sidestepped the table yet keeping eye contact and head placement focused in Choray's direction, and knelt down before Choray upon one knee. His fingertips clenched the ground, squeezing his biceps into his ribs with straight arms; his masked head lowered below his shoulders, facing his Master. "I pledge this body to the ways of the Bogan. I am forever indebted by the utility of my power... Master."

 

[D.C.]

Choray smiled under his hood and his eyes had an eerie glow. The muscular Zabrak stood up from his seat and reached out his right hand. He placed his hand on Libertine's masked head and said: "Very good, acolyte. I sense a lot of Darkness and Power within you. I trust you are willing to complete a small task for me. Rise, acolyte Libertine."

He removed his hand and walked past Libertine. His mighty lightsaber's hilt reflected some of the faint light cast from the several torches along the walls. Choray stopped in the center of the room and waved with his right hand. Immediately the door slid open and a young male Twi'lek stepped into the room. He wore the traditional Dark Crusader robes and a lightsaber was clipped to his belt. His skin was blue and his eyes were of the same color. This one had not fully embraced the Dark Side yet, but somehow he had made it to the rank of Crusader.

In a clear, young-sounding voice he said: "You summoned me, Master Sefja?"

"Yes. Finally you're here," Choray said to the Twi'lek who apparently had no idea why he was there, "we've been waiting for you."

It was obvious the Twi'lek Crusader didn't like Choray's tone. He suspected something and Choray saw how he shot a quick glance to the exit of the room behind him. If the Twi'lek wanted to escape, he would be disappointed. Choray waved with his right hand again and the door was shut. Locked.

"You have failed our order." Choray went on. "You have disgraced our leader. Instead of killing the Jedi we sent you after, you let her escape with valuable information about our order. I know you are a Crusader for only a few months now and I know a mistake is Human. However," Choray paused there and let this terrible silence strike fear into the Twi'lek's heart. Choray could see he did not feel comfortable at the moment and Choray grinned under his hood. An evil grin. One that mocked the Twi'lek's presence in that room. "We Bogan hate it when such utterly dumb mistakes are made. You have come here and you will not leave. At least, you won't leave this room alive, pathetic failure."

The Twi'lek reached for his lightsaber, but before he could even ignite the weapon Choray had already reached out his right hand and used the Force to telekinetically pull the weapon to his hand. He took a few steps backwards, still facing the Twi'lek who was now terrified, and said: "Libertine, my faithful apprentice, execute him. Tap into your deepest anger and rage and unleash it on this fool with all you've got. Fuel your Force Power with your anger, make the anger alive! I want you to utterly destroy him!"

Choray did not actually 'say' those words, but shouted them with a wicked sense of sadism in his voice. The harsh words echoed from the walls and the Twi'lek walked backwards until his back was against the door. There was no way out, he was trapped in the room and would be destroyed by one of the most promising Acolytes within the order.

This, Choray thought, was delicious. True eye candy.

He clipped the Twi'lek's saber to his own belt and closed his robe, so the two lightsabers (his own and the Twi'lek's) would be hidden and out of the Twi'lek's reach.

"Make him suffer." He finally added with that evil grin of his.​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

"...utterly destroy him!!"

Leaving no space between his Master's words and his obeying reactions, the masked human's hands had already reached the frightened Twilek's face; gripping his face with digging fingertips, Libertine tore the very flesh from that degraded face. With a pull in opposing directions, Libertine's hands ripped out with chunks of flesh in each hand; and as the Twilek reached up to cup his wounded face in horror, Libertine smashed his masked forehead right into the nose before him now crushed and broken.

His actions were so swift through the force, that time had to catch up. Swirling up onto his planted foot, Libertine stood up to face his moving Master after removing his hand from his head. Libertine's interest was peaked right away when Choray had asked for the completion of a small task so early in his training.

"You summoned me Master Sefja?" Libertine's face curled into a lowering smile. His stance widening slowly, he knew where this was going. He could read it all on the Twilek's disturbed sleeve wearing emotions. And it was confirmed when the door shut to lock.

A familiar instance, this reminded him of other similar victims of his wrath; Libertine was itching to attack, while the Twilek's focus was still on the Zabrak Master. "You have failed the Order..."

As time caught up in the echo's of his Master's voice, Libertine breathed in with a tensing of his fists that squeezed out the bloody packets of meat between his fingers. "Libertine, my faithful apprentice, execute him. Tap into your deepest anger and rage and unleash it on this fool with all you've got. Fuel your Force Power with your anger, make the anger alive! I want you to utterly destroy him!" With those words Libertine shot up with the crossing double clawing of his hands, seemingly from out of nowhere in terms of the Twilek's perspective; and all echos of time were merged.​

The Twilek slid along the wall he had backed into, staggering in shock. Quickly he realized that he'd have to fight for his life, and the seriousness of the situation fell over his bloodied face. He reached up with an over the shoulder fist that would punch through the air, as Libertine dropped down to one knee with a fist's stab of a punch to his kidney. Nearly toppling the Twilek with that one precise hit, Libertine shot up with a sharp elbow that clearly sounded the crack of a shattering jaw bone roaring wildly as he did so. Rising up from the swooping elbow and fluidly raging on, Libertine came down with another elbow from the other direction onto the already damaged bridge of the nose. Pounding down strike after strike, Libertine laughed as he kept the raining strikes pouring down. Soon the Twilek was devoid of movement, sliding right; as Libertine clasped the lifting arm before him under his armpit and over extended the limb with a snap. The Twilek wasn't out yet, as he screamed with a waking pain. Letting his victim drop to the floor as he spun around for more, Libertine looked down at the pleading Twilek. "Make him suffer!" He heard his Master say, and with a fiery teethed grin he dropped to his knees at the Twilek's feet. He grabbed a hold of a single foot and wrenched it with one twist that separated bones at the ankle.

Libertine reveled in the screams, rolling his head around in the bathing sounds of horror. He crawled up, closer to the crying Twilek mumbling pleas of mercy. With a momentary step onto his right foot, Libertine lifted into a dropping pound into the same broken side of the Twilek's jaw; shattering pieces of bone into his bloodied mouth. That'd shut him up... Coughing now, the Twilek spat out pieces of his jaw bone with his wobbly mouth. Whimpering, the Twilek dropped his head to the ground; and Libertine pulled himself out of the frenzy enough to look back at his Master for the word. He would look to hear the final word that would call for the end of this pathetic Twilek...

 

[D.C.]

Choray had been watching all this time with that sly smirk on his devilish face. The floor was already covered in blood and on the wall were a few blood splatters here and there. He figured he'd have to call in a few Slaves of the Bogan to clean this mess up, once Libertine had finished this task.

When the Twi'lek was on the floor, now nothing more than a pathetic broken mirror of his former self, Choray saw Libertine looking up as if he was waiting for the final order. That was good, that meant obedience. Libertine was obedient. Choray slowly walked over to his apprentice and placed his right hand on Libertine's shoulder, like a proud father would place his hand on his son when his son had done something good.

"We shall take advantage of this moment to teach you a secret of the Dark Side, my apprentice," He said with a dark voice. "Focus on that dark energy within you, that anger. Call upon the warmth of the void and add your anger to it. Reach out in the Force and remember the world you saw, the world you created inside the void. The mountaintop you stood on, the lakes, deserts, plains and forests surrounding you. Hear, a storm's coming. Thunder and lightning cracks in the sky and now grasp that lightning and unleash it upon this pathetic worm of a Twi'lek! Unleash the power we call Force Lightning and keep going until he's nothing more but a smoking, dead body. A burnt corpse! Burn him!"

Choray began to shout.

"BURN HIM ALIVE!"​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

Swelling from within, as Choray spoke to him with a hand upon his shoulder, Libertine felt the trance of the immense feeling upon that mountaintop. The storm welled inside of him, his stained fingers twitched as he raised the capable hands before his eyes. His breath was controlled, but heavy; his nostrils flared, and the sounds of the thundering storm raged from within. He looked down to his clutching hands. A power that he'd never experienced, though feeling so familiar, grew from the pulsating signals moving along his nervous system. He breathed out of his mouth with a "Haaaahhh..." as an unexpected snap of small lightning jolted from his right thumb up onto the wall. Realizing the wave of clouds that were growing over him, he slowly stood. Libertine twisted his wavering hands down before him, stretching out to the gurgling Twi'lek. Libertine's outward breaths became louder and heavier, "Haaahh huhaaa huuhhhaaahhh..." Static began to collect in the air between his hands.

A warmth of the void surged from his palms, as a most powerful blast of blue lightning exploded from his virgin hands. Weakening most immediately, the lighting almost vanished as the orgasmic feeling gave to a realization of a needed concentration. A tear formed at the corners of his eyes, as he realized what he had accomplished seeing the surge jolt through the Twi'lek. Bringing in a jolting of his hands, Libertine shook out the next blast of lightning. "HAAAAA!!!" He yelled as the force manifested exactly as he would have pictured all that anger within him. Libertine's hate and anger seethed from his near drooling mouth, as he loosed the jagged edges of sparking lightning from his fingertips. He never could have imagined such a feeling. Torturing the Twi'lek, Libertine laughed and screamed all in one; taking in the smoldering vapors that released from the burning flesh below him. The Twi'lek twisted and spasmed, as his body was jolted into the wall and bounced around uncontrollably. His mouth wide open with a joyous hate, Libertine would follow the deceased Twi'lek with an overkill of lightning as long as he could sustain it.

 

[D.C.]

During Libertine's Force Lightning, Choray kept his hand on the apprentice's shoulder. It was as if the lightning absorbed the faint torchlight of the training room and as if the lightning was the only thing that provided light inside the room. When the lightning was gone, the training room turned back into that same, quiet training room it has always been. The Twi'lek was now nothing more than a smoking pulp. If a third man would walk into the room right now, he wouldn't even be able to tell what species the victim had been.

"I'm proud of you, my great apprentice. I'm very proud of you." He removed his hand from Libertine's shoulder and then took a step backwards.

"Therefore I present to you this gift," he said as he removed the Twi'lek's lightsaber from his belt and handed it out to Libertine. "It might not be a saber you have constructed yourself, but you have more than earned this little trophy. You can use it to practice your skills and when I deem you ready, it will be replaced by a saber you have constructed yourself. But for now, this weapon is yours."

Once Libertine would have accepted the weapon, Choray closed his eyes and reached out in the Force. He sensed the storm outside had stopped and opened his eyes again. "Let us go outside once again. There I will teach you many useful powers and a few other secrets. But before we go I want to know if you have questions. If so, now is the time to ask."​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

Taken by the moment, Libertine's chest lifted and deflated largely in margin. He recalled the strong touch upon his shoulder during the entire excited and energized act.

Bending down with both bent elbows held tightly to his sides, his upward open hands would formally accept the lightsaber. Most proud and filled with fulfillment, Libertine clenched tight his lower lip as he raised back up to a stand; looking to the hilt as to work out how it would clip to his belt. His Master was proud, and he had taken yet another step towards his goals of clarity in chaos. A bit jittery, Libertine wouldn't let his physical overtake his mental; he held a still body against the happily overwhelmed mind. As he mellowed, it was clear his Master was about to move on; closing his eyes to something.

"Let us go outside..." Libertine's head lifted with a slower breath, nodding in a agreement. "Master", he shook his head no, "thank you."

 

[D.C.]

"You deserve it, acolyte Libertine," Choray said to his apprentice. Then he faced the door and it once again slid open, but this time a slave entered into the room. A slave of the Bogan.

"You summoned me, master?" The slave asked as he knelt on the floor. He was Human and his long hair hang before his face as he was looking at the floor. To Libertine it might have seemed strange that his master could have summoned a slave without making a single sound. It was Force Telepathy which Choray used.

"Yes," Choray said. "While my apprentice and I head out for more training, you are going to clean up the mess inside this room. When I get back I want you to be ready, so start working!" The slave immediately bowed again and went to work. Then Choray left the room, assuming Libertine would follow, and he led the young acolyte outside. All the way back to the cliff where they had practiced Tapas.

It had stopped snowing and everything seemed quiet now. It was nighttime and there was a cloudless starlit sky, and those who were unable to use Tapas would freeze to death. Choray would wait until his apprentice would approach him and then he would say: "The Force can enhance your body. It can make you faster, can let you jump higher and it can even form a shield around your body that holds off Force- or physical attacks.

"Recall the warmth of the void, which you should be so familiar with by now, and just like tapas, let it surround you. However, instead of keeping out the cold you must create a similar barrier that will absorb other's Force attacks, such as Force Pull. We will practice this in the following way: I will continue to fire blasts of Force Energy at you and you will keep trying to form that shield and absorb the attacks. I will start off with weak blows, but the more we progress the heavier the blows will become. If you fail, you will fall down the cliff and die. If you succeed, I will be ever so proud of you and you will have proven you are ready for the next lesson. Are you ready?"​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

Libertine was most focused on the manner in which this human slave utterly obeyed his Master's every wish. Such control over another was what made this apprentice tick. There was a lot to clean. Libertine had truly enjoyed the smell of the aftermath, melting flesh on its own as it sat separated from the body. Some smears bubbled still. His only regret was how quickly the Twi'lek pretender died. Yet an overwhelming fascination dominated his mind. Libertine knew, at this moment, he'd one day enslave many before his devious might.

It was odd. Libertine admired the cold calm directness of his Master. There was a power, a power Libertine desired.

And so, the masked human followed Master Sefja out to the cliff a second time; hesitating only to see how fast the slave jumped to complete his task. It was a different feeling, such a drastic change in the appeal of their standing along the cliff; though Libertine wouldn't have much felt the sting of an axe through his thigh, as the cold chill struck a focus in his backbone. Libertine thought to engage Tapas, as he almost assumed it was going to be necessary in this next step of learning. Yet Choray had something else in mind. And with the dark Master's words of warmth, Libertine had already begun to expel the chill from his very nerves. Only, with the specifications of his Master's walk-through, Libertine began harnessing a different effect from the same place in the void. Instead, he stretched out to form a barrier outside of his physical body.

"Are you ready?"

With that, Libertine stepped over into position; only, in order to ensure his Master's trust of success and impression, Libertine stepped close to the edge leaving little room for error. Maybe one foot away from the edge, Libertine purposefully shot a look to his Master with opening arms. He had easily dispelled the cold, but his Master's attacks... those may come as more of a challenge. Nevertheless, Libertine welcomed it. If he didn't deserve such power, then he'd revel in his painful death.

"Master..", he said with composure in an assuring readiness as he shook his head once down with an exact confidence. His mind was clear, and it was time to succeed or fail. There was nothing else for Libertine..

 

[D.C.]

Choray approved of Libertine's courage, the acolyte had potential to become a true Dark Jedi. As the young man took position in front of the edge, the Zabrak already began to gather Force Energy. Once he knew Libertine was ready, he fired off a blast. It was not a strong blast, rather weak even. Choray had said he would start off with weaker blows and they would get stronger as they would progress. If Libertine would survive through each stage of this exercise, Choray would know his acolyte had learned how to form a Force shield and with this knowledge they could move on to the next objective. If Libertine failed and died, the training would obviously be over and Choray would simply return to his quarters to see if the mess was already cleaned. Then he would meditate.​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

It was a strange feeling, one that Libertine enjoyed. As the first blast of this challenge had been sent off, the masked human felt the opposite of that he had anticipated.

The blast of waving force both pushed against Libertine's hands and passed through his body. His core felt a gathering of strength with an inhail of surprise, and his arms felt ghostly like slicing through a waterfall. It was nearly indescribable and enlightening. The empowering effect of what more was out there for him to feel and learn gave his ego a tickle.

Libertine hacked a single laugh as he visibly distinguished a layer of air that morphed spherically before his face. The rippling evidence was there. He'd done it... at the beginning level.

From external appendage, into his core, and swirling around to rush his head, Libertine flexed with concentration for the next blast. Though the first hadn't moved him an inch, he expected his Master to be thorough in absolute confirmation of his assimilation of force shielding.

 

[D.C.]

Choray was not really surprised Libertine had been able to stop the blast. It was a weak blast and besides, Libertine was a promising student indeed, Choray thought this young man would make it through this test. But still, seeing is believing and Libertine still had to prove himself.

He gathered some more Force Energy for a stronger blast. One that would be slightly harder to stop, but still relatively easy. He brought his hands together at his right side and then threw both his hands forwards, unleashing the second blast without warning.​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

'SCHHHHRRT'

The scraping sound of his feet came as a surprise to Libertine. He hadn't allowed the blast to obstruct his stance, yet his entire frozen still body was forced back to the edge of the cliff. While he himself remained untouched, he hadn't accounted for the connection between his encompassed frame and the ground itself.

And while his hands did shutter lightly, he still had adequately absorbed this blast of the Force. Libertine's eyes looked around, but before any further thinking would be allowed, he knew that the next blast would not only be much more devastating with a density beyond his readiness but also that it would come quickly without hesitation. He feared the worst.

With that, Libertine tightly swirled his arms once with a honing of imagery. As his tightened body condensed, he reached into his mind for that place in the void. Further and further, he drifted; recalling the anger and hatred originating from his past. He pictured it, as he used all the feelings and emotions of those he had deprived of them; their desires and hopeful wishes, his own yearnings even.

As he looked in at the pieces of himself he hated, he felt an encircling of torture: that imposing malevolence. Physically, his shoulder blades jutted from beneath his clothes, and his wrenched neck pulsated the flow of blood up through his temples thickly. The human's arms were pulled up before him, clenching at the air for answers. His skin felt as though millions of pins were slowly penetrating into the vitals of every organ and tendon in his body, forever gravitating into a mass he'd never felt before.

 

[D.C.]

Choray could feel the power of his acolyte. He could feel it! That was good, very good! He reached out both hands immediately after unleashing the blast and prepared for the most difficult blast. The Force began to swirl around him and he pulled the air towards him, forming it to an invisible ball which he held in both his hands. He threw his hands forwards, unleashing the blast that would surely knock a young, weak acolyte off the rock. But Libertine was no weak acolyte. Libertine was strong and it seemed like he didn't even realize half how strong he was.

Choray's eyes were lit by white Force Energy and even a few lone trees on the other side of the cliff were being blasted away, its trunks cracking and its branches breaking.

"ABSORB IT!" Choray cried. He didn't want to lose his apprentice. He hoped this one would be able to shield himself from this killer blow so he could continue the training. So he could become what he was destined to be: a Dark Jedi of the Bogan. A powerful one.​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

As the force ripped the very trees from their stations all around Libertine, he twisted into it to press his right hand out; his fingers flexing along the spherical atmosphere that surrounded him. The ground cracked, splitting out around him; loosing its upper layers to the sheer power of the force blast.

Libertine could envision all the weight upon his concentrating mind, of all that mocked his dependence. With a series of reaches that grabbed and clutched at the air before him, his torso twisted back and forth with each slow stretching out of his alternating arms. With a great precision, Libertine roped in the immense blast with focusing anger that fueled loudly into his screaming subconscious; drawing in fists that coiled into his hips, pulling in the blast through a pin hole of raging control. His jaw ripped away at the limiting tendons in his tensed neck, teeth gritting harshly from underneath his mask. His custom clothes rippled upwards unnaturally. He would not loose to this test.

Squeezing his thighs in to a parallel footed shoulder length stand, the force of the blast seemed only to get stronger towards its end; as he lowered his hands, palms up, over his hips. Libertine's head lifted against the pulling magnetism of his lowering hands, with a victorious heir. Finishing the absorption, the empowered human stepped forward; now all had calmed. His relaxing fingers settled a dropping breeze, as if to let go of the surrounding current. And as his first step lead into the next away from cliff's edge, the ground upon which his heels pressed collapsed down to crumbling bits of cascading rock along the steep slopes.

He stood still again, having only stepped forward a single pace. Some may become more proud in learning such techniques, yet this one saw it differently. Libertine felt even more a yearning and respect for his thirst for knowledge and to his Master. His head lowered fully, chin to chest.

Libertine was in fact one to normally use his words overbearingly and abundantly. However, to those who's knowledge and understanding reached higher than he could see, Libertine withheld any opportunity that may cause him to regret falsified intelligence. Though he was talented in identifying the distance between his power and those further along, he had become a bit hazy on the end result he intended to reach. Now he had seen a hunger inside of him, a hunger that may have no end.

 

[D.C.]

For moments Choray just looked to Libertine in silence. The young man was still standing, and the Zabrak's heart was beating in his chest. So, this one had succeeded. One of the few to succeed. Choray brought his hands together and began clapping.

"That is how it's done," he said. "Many have fallen down and I've lost so many acolytes at this point. But here you stand. You just proved to me that you're stronger than most acolytes. I bet you can even fly, if only for a short distance."

He came to stand beside Libertine and he would put one hand on Libertine's shoulder and with the other he would point to the other side of the cliff.

"There you must go. You must leap over this gap and beyond it lies a secret. I shall accompany you to a point, but I will explain that when we get to it. First things first, you must leap over the gap. Gather the power of the Force and send it all down to your legs. Command it to propel you to the other side. Remember the mountaintop you created inside the void and feel the wind that's blowing. Ride this wind, let it take you to the other side. If you fail, you shall fall to your death. If you succeed, you are worthy of continuing the training. See you on the other side."

A moment later Choray had already jumped. The Force aided him and he crossed the gap in a second. He easily landed on both feet on the other side and he turned around so he could look at Libertine. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and he would wait until Libertine would have crossed the gap with Force Jump.​

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

As the Zabrak Master pointed across the way Libertine hesitated a look, keeping his gaze upon the Master. Finally sweeping a calculating note of the distance, Libertine smiled at the challenge and lowered his head. Confrontation he was used to, it was right in front of him and would not wait for the decision to engage. This had more of a chance to get in his head and cause doubt.

Loosing himself in his Master's reinforcing words like a melody, that which resembled a chant in summoning the dark powers; Libertine's collar swooshed with the speed of Choray's take-off. And like that, he was gone; and so to did Libertine jet into a dash of his own. He wouldn't allow for indecision, and so he pushed himself to keep up with the Zabrak. Though Choray had already landed effortlessly, Libertine ran and leaped through the force.

The last push off curled his toes, bending his right leg underneath him as his entire body stretched out to an arched and open lift with his abdomen leading the way. His legs felt a swollen throb of energy upon the jump, that now he felt light as the clothes around him. His open jacket flailed like two pointed tails behind him, rippling in the wind. The well pressed cuffs around his wrists flapped back along the top flank of his flexed hand, with his arms above his head. The air current tucked under his pits as if to keep him there, but not for long.

As the intense and rushing feeling of the jump ended, he neared the opposing side; upon which his Master stood with folded arms, seeming to expect the utmost performance. The jump he handled like an advanced user. The landing could have been better.

Libertine's feet stretched out, but for the unfocused look to his Master's face. Libertine, however, was one for quick recuperation. With a hard smack of his flat feet, Libertine had no choice in twisting into a roll of a recovery. Blissfully executed, Libertine popped back up onto his feet with a bounce that he later rolled his eyes at. Such immature acts were beneath him and it pained him to correct such a boisterous jiggle of limbs. With a slow sliding of his edged dress boots, now soiled without any worries from Libertine, he folded his hands behind his lower back and etched out a wide straight legged stance. Nearly straightened, he had learned from his past never to fully lock any joint due to the opening weakness for any to take advantage of.

He didn't mind getting dirty when the gains to such acts were so clear and beneficial, as his past would explain, but it always caught his attention to see dirtied clothes on him. Libertine's head would scan over the surface of his robed suit in response to the roll on the ground, then up to face his Master.