章 25: Ch 25 Show of skill
After an awkward and long walk from the dormitory, they arrive at the training court, where a few other Jedi disciples were training the 7 lightsaber forms.
As he entered, Ben swept his gaze over every single one of them, analysing their forms, committing them to memory and running simulations of how to counter or use them for himself. In the end however, he knew that he could power through anything they try with just brute strength.
Walking further into the courtyard, his appearance began garnering attention from the Padawans, Knights and the single Master that was teaching some youngling. The Padawans and some Knights were confused and curious about the mysterious man in dark robes, but the rest saw him and remembered six months ago, and immediately shrunk in fear.
As for the elderly Master in standard brown robes, from a species called the Cosian's, a long-lived reptilian humanoid species who had beaked mouths, four-fingered hands, eyes with lids that blinked upward instead of down, and a long tail that ended in a tuft of hair.
This Jedi Master was actually relieved to see Ben return, as he knew how much the three young Twi'leks adored him and didn't want to see them be disappointed, being one of the few that supported them during their Masters absence.
What had the Cosian continue staring at him however, was admiration. This came from sensing how the Force, both Light and Dark sides, naturally flowed into, around and out of him in harmony.
This wasn't from Ben exerting his influence, but from a natural phenomenon that had appeared after his meditation in the Wellspring of Life. The Force now flowed through him at all times, constantly refining the power of the Light and Dark side within him.
He can always cut the connection to appear invisible to Force users, but the benefits of having his power refined by the universe, well that's just too good to care about weakling noticing his presence from the anomaly he creates. Only the "adept", a term to be used loosely, would notice anything anyways.
Having made his way to an open area, Ben stopped and spun to face the girls with a casual stance, his weapon having flown into his right hand with few noticing. He was no longer concerned with any other matters and was completely prepared to engage in combat, evident by the red beam surrounded by electricity, which sprung out of his black and gold Lightsaber.
The hilt was almost 50cm in length, immediately allowing the surround experienced Jedi conclude that it was a double-bladed Lightsaber.
All those that didn't recognise him were startled by the blood red blade and feared him instinctively due to the connotations it held. None moved to engage him however, as since he ignited the blade, he radiated danger.
Seeing that their Master had ignited his saber and adopted his serious state, they followed suit and grabbed their own Lightsabers, igniting a blade each. However...
"What do you think you're doing, Thalia?" A strict, questioning voice sounded out from behind their Masters helm. He had the tip of his saber pointed towards the red Twi'lek, or more specifically, the blue blade of the lightsaber she held in her right hand.
He wasn't asking why she had another lightsaber, as she'd told him the Jedi provided her one, so that she didn't use her red one around the impressionable Padawans.
His issue lay in the fact she was going to use a weapon she didn't accept as her own to spar him.
Understanding this, Thalia struggled on what to do for a moment. Despite having not accepted the new lightsaber, she had grown used to using the lightsaber after daily use and discarding it didn't feel right to her.
She looked at it for a moment and confidently transferred her Jedi bestowed saber into her left hand. Then with an instinctual pull of the Force, the saber which she built herself and bonded with, flew from it's position on her back into her right hand and excitedly ignited in all it's bright red radiance.
There was a few gasps from the crowd, but they went mostly ignored. The trio had lain low so as to not find trouble with any of the cultist, so it was a bit of a reveal for her to ignite her red blade.
"Good. Now..." Ben said, happy to see that she not only started using her own saber, but is also using the resource she'd been supplied by the Jedi. Still holding his blade steady, he simply told them. "Begin."
On his mark, the three of them shot off in Ben's direction. Forming a three pointed triangle, Vette took the vanguard while flanked on both sides by her sisters.
As the battle began, Ben decided to abuse his heightened mental factors to analyse the girls actions to minute details to make mental notes on their training progress.
Going straight for a disarming blow, Vette swung her golden blade at Ben's right hand, aiming for his lightsabers hilt. Her blade carved an arc through the air, as she swung her single blade diagonally from her top left side to her bottom right.
Seeing the precision of her strike, Ben was happy to see she hadn't waned in her training. 'She has gotten faster.' He thought on the side.
In response, Ben simply shifted his hands position, putting his own blade in the trajectory of her strike and as expected, the two blades collided with his remaining unmoved.
But, Vette had anticipated this knowing her Master has monstrous strength, she also knows that he limits that strength so that they still have the chance to fight. He also wouldn't begin their spars by attacking, but by defending and allowed her blade to bounce back off of his block and with the rebound force, began to spin her lightsaber the opposite way.
As she was part way through the spin, a delicate blue finger pushed the ignition for the second blade of her double-bladed lightsaber, while a second finger turned off the original blade, so as not to cut herself. Like this, she alternated her attack and quickly struck the other side of his blade to knock or atleast keep it engaged while her sister went in for an attack.
Observing this display, Ben felt his pride swell. 'She's learned to harness the kinetic energy from her strikes for her follow-up attacks, excellent! She's doing so in her own unique way as well!' Seeing his student creating her own combat style, he had no choice but to be proud.
Thalia had taken the moment to get behind Ben while hiding her presence and jumped at him when Vette moved to engage his lightsaber. Blades held diagonally to her left she swung them toward her Masters back.
'Excellent, she went for a lethal attack and didn't hesitate to use deception. It's good to see that she's hasn't let any of that Jedi hypocrisy into her head.' He noted without showing any sign of knowing she was there.
Although Thalia is exceptionally skilled in stealth, Ben was the one who taught her, it was all too easy to see through her shroud.
So, seeing that she was going for this sneak attack, he used Vette's own tactic against her. Waiting for the moment her saber made contact with his, he used the force of the hit and smoothly let his blade be pushed, simultaneously angling his blade down so as to use Vette's own momentum against her and guiding her blade toward ground.
Allowing the force of her strike to carry him, he spun his body around and intercepted Thalia's two blades. Again, he used his opponents own momentum, as well as that which he'd already gathered and while continuing his spin, he used his lightsaber to carry Thalia and make her pass by smoothly.
'She's far to confident to jump at her opponent from the start...' He thought to himself, deciding he would have to fix that.
Using the opportunity as she passed by, Thalia lashed out with her right leg aiming for his head. At the same time, Vette had recovered from her over extended attack and reversed her position as she began to swing for Ben's right leg.
Lifting his left arm, he used his forearm to block the kick from Thalia and swiftly swung his saber down to obstruct the path of Vette's swing. But as he swung his saber, the third sister appeared on his left side, her body low to the ground as she slashed at Ben's right leg, timing it perfectly with the other two's attacks.
'They have him caught and it only took a few seconds.' This was what everyone watching thought, it was clear that the three girls went all in from the beginning, so it seems almost as if their masked master was in a tough situation. Except for the Jedi Master, who could tell that Ben wasn't being serious in the slightest, just putting in enough effort to be a challenge.
As an observer, he could see there was a myriad of ways to avoid getting hit. He could jump over the blade and kick her away, jump out of range or just use the Force. But, despite what the old master expected, he took the more forceful method and grabbed Thalia's leg instead of blocking it, then slammed her down on top of Maila.
Seeing her sister coming down on top of her, Maila instinctively deactivated her lightsaber to avoid hurting her or herself, while Thalia did the exact same. This was just in time for her red skinned sister to smash into her, resulting in both of them groaning on the ground from the impact.
'Let's see if once is enough.' He wondered as he released Thalia's leg and directed his focus on Vette, who had rolled away for some space and then jumped at him with both blades of her double-bladed lightsaber ignited, unleashing a constant fury of attacks. 'Good, she's distracting me so the other two can get up and look for weak points.' He thought, going with the flow of things and letting them plot.
With their Master's attention focused on Vette, the other two sisters backed away to get their bearings.
"Are you okay, Maila?" Thalia asked her younger sister as she got up, though her eyes were intensely focused on the back of her Master.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me!" Maila answered with a reassuring smile, jumping to her feet while re-engaging her saber, along with Thalia.
They both then watched the confrontation between their eldest sister and Master, looking for a moment to attack. Ben would always leave small openings for them to find and let them attack, but sometimes he did it just to draw them in and at others to challenge them.
Right now, staring at his back, Thalia could feel that he'd turned away from them to draw them in and didn't attack straight away. Trusting her intuition, as they'd been trained to, she quickly formulated a plan and relayed it to Maila through their mental connection.
With a nod from Maila as she wore a serious expression, they both sprung into action and started charging towards their Masters back. Thalia took the lead, with Maila following directly behind her
As for the surrounding audience, they were appalled by the way Ben had used a person to slam another like a club, but the following onslaught from Vette and the skill she showed that by far surpassed her elders, had them both excited and amazed.
Only a few appreciated Ben's impeccable defensive skills, as he made few and small movements that didn't draw much attention, making it seem unimpressive compared to Vette's magnificent display.
When they all saw Thalia and Maila begin their charge, they paid rapt attention for what they would do.
'Looks like they're coming back...' Feeling their approach, Ben interrupted Vette's attack by thrusting his blade towards her, making her back away. He then swung around to face them, finding Thalia just a few feet away, so he raised his saber in preparation.
Thalia went in for her attack nonetheless, crossing her sabers in front of her and using the Force to power a jump aiming to go over him. Seeing her attempt another jump, Ben thought to ensure the lesson was learnt this time and immediately took the opportunity to slash at her, but her crossed sabers acted in as her defense and she pushed off of his saber, furthering her goal of passing over him.
When she was directly above him, she slashed her blades down toward Ben's shoulders, but he had raised his own horizontally above his head and blocked her.
However, at that moment Maila appeared with the Force boosting her speed and she overhead slashed at Ben's chest with her lightsaber. This was her part of what Thalia had planned, who initiated the next stage as she passed over and began her descent behind their Master.
Having turned her body to position herself upside down, Thalia stared intensely at the back of her Masters neck and struck swiftly, slashing from both sides with vicious precision in her movements.
Unfortunately, it was the intensity of her stare that told Ben exactly what she was doing. So while the crowd gasped expecting the worst, but Ben simply ducked beneath the two blades, while simultaneously slashing his lightsaber at Maila's and knocking her back, before spin kicking Thalia 'gently' in the face.
Thalia flew through the air from the kick, but she was quick to curl into a ball before hitting the ground and rolled to disperse the force of the impact.
Returning to a relaxed disposition as the other two regrouped with the Thalia, Ben began twisting the hilt of his double-bladed lightsaber, simultaneously posing a question to the red skinned girl. "What is the lesson you have learned?"
Getting to her feet, Thalia used the back of her hand to rub at the part of her face that was kicked. But, with a grin that showcased her sparkling white fangs, she answered. "To not try jumping over a superior opponent, Master!"
"Indeed. Jumping leaves you vulnerable, it's flashy and seems more impressive than it is, which means more effort to pull it off." Ben told them with a strict tone, by which time he had finished separating his lightsabers with a few turns and ignited his second blade. "Now, again!"
The girls had regrouped and readied themselves for the next attack. With his mark, they shot forward, but with Maila at the lead this time.
Seeing this, Ben was sceptical, as out of the three of them, Maila preferred acting as support than the main attacker. 'Well, let's see what you've got planned.' Standing his ground still, Ben was impressed to find himself suddenly surrounded by the three girls as they Force sped to him and began attacking at the same time.
Then, while still using the Force to enhance their physical abilities, they all slashed at his waist at the same time, from slightly different angles.
Predicting the trajectory of their blades, Ben calculated that he could block both Vette's and Maila's blade together, while both of Thalia's blade were coming from the same angle and could also be blocked with one saber.
So, positioning both his blades in the correct places and as expected, the girl's lightsabers clashed with his own. Well, that is except for Maila, who did something he'd never expect from her, she disengaged her blade part way through her slash and bypassed his guard, to then reignite the blade while pointed towards him.
Beneath his mask, Ben's eyes widened in mild surprise, while a grin grew across his face from seeing the sweet and innocent Maila use the "Trakata Technique". 'I never expected Maila to try this kind of trick.' Although Vette had done some similar not long before, she had only done so to protect herself, where as Maila had attacked.
Reacting quickly, he kicked the her lightsaber hilt up while the blade was mid ignition, causing it to just barely miss his head.
He then Spartan kicked her away and began dealing with the other two while she got back to her feet. Like this, What ensued was a spectacle to behold, as Ben continued to block, parry and dodge the three girls attacks, the hiss and humm of plasma clashing against plasma rang through the courtyard. The whole time, not once did he try to attack them with his lightsabers, but rather delivered a well placed kick whenever they left an opening, which served as a lesson for them.
Over time, more had gathered in the training court and joined in watching the fight, unltimately becoming shocked and appalled by the harshness of the stranger. Still, few could truly appreciate Ben's way of fighting and teaching, but those that observed keenly could see that he had barely moved from his initial spot, proving how formidable he actually was.
Among the older spectators, there was quite a few disgruntled comments about Maila's use of Trakata, but a few younger deciples took interest in the unique utilisation of the technique. No matter what anybody says, the usefulness of the technique is undeniable, as it even surprised Ben for a moment.
As the spar went on, the endeavours of the three girls seemed tragically stagnant as they failed to hit their Master, but the attending Jedi Master could see that with every passing moment their synchronization improved and Ben was made to use more movements and more speed.
Once the girls had synchronized their attacks to their maximum ability, they started to use the Force throughout their bodies for physical enhancement and suddenly their figures turned into blurs. Like arrows released from a bow, they pierced through the air, striking towards their Master with ferocity from different directions.
In response to their use of the Force, Ben increased the speed of his swings to block all their attacks. At the same time, he chose to start attacking with his lightsabers and each strike had the intention to cut, because if they can defend themselves from him... No one will beat them! This was the expectation in his heart and a reality he could already foresee.
Of course, with the synchronization they had, protecting themselves wasn't alway necessary, as they knew they would protect one another. Whenever it seemed as though Ben would land a hit on one of the girls, one of the other two would intercepted it.
Once one of Ben's sabers was locked with one of theirs, the second would be swift to follow as it blocks an attack from the opposite direction. Then, the remaining sister was free to go in for her attack.
However, despite the odds, and the expectation of the observers, Ben wasn't hit even once. Over and over again, he was caught in seemingly inescapable situations, but... He powered through each one like an unstoppable beast, moving and contorting his body in an inhuman manner to avoid being cut.
Back and forth, the girls continuously tried to land a blow to their Master, while he avoided and blocked their efforts, remaining untouched from the beginning to the end, leaving an indelible mark on the mind of all those who witnessed his skill.
The magnificent display of swordsmanship continued for a few minutes, making it all the clearer how outmatched the three apprentices were. And seeing that they still hadn't achieved a successful attack, Thalia, feeling frustrated by their lack of progress, channelled her frustration into the Force and during her next attack, intentionally locked both her blades with Ben's and extended the fingers of her right hand while still holding her lightsaber, unleashed a storm of Force lightning directly into Ben body.
Due to the close proximity, Ben wasn't able to dodge the sudden discharge of lightning, even though he knew she was charging her attack. The blinding light produced left the observers thinking this was the end, but when their eyes adjusted, instead of what everyone besides the three girls expected, Ben didn't seem perturbed by the extreme pain that accompanies having thousands of volts coursing through his body.
As for Ben, he barely felt tickled by the lightning thank to both his high stats and immense power with the Force. Nothing short of a series of exploding stars or the pressure of multiple black holes could kill him, at least in this universe.
Without warning, a repelling force erupted from his body and forced the three girls back, putting them on guard. Having inflicted 'damage' on their Master, they knew what was to come.
"That was very well done Thalia, a normal person would have been seriously hurt or dead. Very well done!" He said with a low tone, lightning still arcing off of his figure, to get rid of which he pointed a finger at the ground nearby and directed the lightning out of his body through his finger.
Hearing his praise, Thalia was overjoyed from his praise, her Lekku lightly twitching even as she tried to control her emotions as much as she could, but not losing her focus.
Exclamations of surprise erupted from crowd upon seeing his dispersal of the lightning, but Ben paid them no attention and spoke again. "As a reward, I'll show you a new technique... Be careful not to be hit." Once the words left his mouth, the atmosphere of the entire courtyard became tense as the feeling of danger and death flooded the area.
While a cold sweat formed of everyone under the feeling and some even had thoughts of running as far away as possible, but failed to move even an inch under the oppression Ben exuded. And it only became worse when they saw him take a step forward.
Ben began to walk forward with precise steps that made no noise, but as he did, he released his grip on his lightsabers, which floated into the air under his control. Freeing his hands, Ben hunched over slightly and a sudden series of pops and crack could be heard from his body, his arms, from the shoulders down to his fingers, each of the joints were forced out of place.
Everyone, including his three apprentices, were shocked by the sickening display, watching with dilated pupils as he pushed his own body through such an experience.
Dislocating all the joints of his arms, they were left hanging limply, but Ben hadn't made a sound. Instead, he lifted his head slowly and his blades were summoned back to his hands, which had begun swaying side to side. He then took three more steps, when a gust of wind swept by and his figure suddenly faded away, disappearing like dust blown by the wind.
There was a heavy tension in the air, everyone was shocked and confused by what had happened right in front of their eyes. Vette, Thalia and Maila however, were quick to put their backs to each other and warily watched their surrounding.
Although they're not sure what Ben did, they could come to the logical conclusion that he was very much still present. The low hum of his lightsabers cutting through the air, the oppression he projects and the glimpses of death they feel as slash marks appear on the ground, it made it clear that this is a feat of speed. But knowing that didn't necessarily help them.
As for Ben, while running around the girls, his dislocated arms swayed madly and left mark after mark on the area surrounding the girls. Despite being dislocated however, Ben was still in control of his arms, ensuring he wouldn't actually hurt someone.
This was only because of practice however; practice of a special footwork technique he developed from visiting various worlds with harsh conditions and unique creatures. Many days of adapting his body to dislocations and learning to use his arms in such a state. And his physical stats which saw more effect when used in his own unique way, while a lack of strength can be supplemented with the Force.
Though, truthfully it was inspired by a few existing techniques, using the Marines six styles Soru and Captain Kuro's Pussyfoot technique from One Piece for his footwork, along with Kami-E and the Zoldyck's masochistic endurance training in order to achieve a similar effect to Killua's Snake Awakens for attacking. It's still a work in progress, but is more than effective enough.
As a result, as he continues to run around the girls, even with the aid of of the Force to boost their perception, all they could see was the occasional blur of black and red.
Feeling satisfied with his demonstration, Ben stopped playing around and within an instant, struck at each of their lightsabers and knocked them flying from their hands. Before they could even comprehend what had happened, his figure abruptly appeared before Thalia with his blades crossed before her neck and a loud snap as his arms went back into place.
Silence pervaded the courtyard as he stood with his blades close to her throat, but rather than fear, Thalia's eyes shined with awe and desire. "Will you teach me that!?" She asked with childish excitement that made Ben smile underneath his mask.
He nodded lightly to her question and retracted his saber blades, and with a casual flick of his wrist returned the thrown sabers back to the girls. The reason he showed her this technique knowing she would desire to learn it, but it came with a warning. "I will teach you, of course. But, it will be painful."
But, even after hearing this, the young girl gave a happy cheer and jumped to hug her Master. The Master in turn caught his dear apprentice and reciprocated her hug, not revealing the turmoil that suddenly awaken in him. 'Thalia isn't becoming a masochist... Is she?'
While he internally began to panic about one of his apprentices future, his other two had turned around with cute pouts and similarly dived on to him.
"No fair, Thalia! We're not supposed to hug Master when Master wears his mask, otherwise people won't take him seriously!" She stated seriously with her head turned towards her red skinned sister, all the while she rubbed her head into his chest affectionately.
With an indignant scoff, Thalia rebuked. "Don't tell me that when you're hugging Master too!"
While those two bickered, Maila giggled gleefully and stared up at Ben with a mischievous, but happy smile.
As for the man in question, he sighed seeing his apprentices once again bring his fearsome reputation toppling down like a house of card. If the bizarre and bewildered expressions of the onlookers or the content, smiling old lizard were anything to go by.
"Cough! Well, I've gauged your current abilities and you've all improved nicely even in my absence, so I'll be teaching you all something new." He told them and they released him while smiling innocently. "But, it's been few months since we've been together, so we can relax for a few days first. How about I cook for us-"
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
As he was speaking, the tapping of of hurried footsteps caught his attention in the surrounding silence and when he looked up, he saw some random Jedi Padawan in his late teens approaching with a nervous sweat.
After getting near enough, the Padawan stopped and nervously announced. "L-Lord Tennyson, the Jedi council requests your presence... P-please..." The Padawans body was shaking like a leaf and he seemed ready to piss himself.
While wondering why they sent a pants pissing Padawan to call him, Ben rolled his eyes and sighed as he called out. "Miss Secura, I believe it best you accompany me in this ones steady." Without another word, he walked past and began heading for the council tool.
'I'm going to have to give them a talking too if this isn't an appropriate use of my time.' He thought tiredly, wanting to just relax and spend sometime with the girls. '*Sigh* This better be good.'
So, with his apprentices and Aayla on his tail, they yet again made his way through the tedious hallways of the Jedi temple.
_______________________
[Status
Name - Ben
Lv - 69 (123,060/245,000)
Title - Wielder of the Omnitrix, Anti-Hero, Idol Slayer
State - Healthy MP - 428,000
STR - 3633
END - 3734
AGI - 3633
CHA - 3635
INT - 308
LUK - 777
AP - 0 SP - 1,715,200
Primary Skills: CQC Lv-5, Marksmanship Lv-5, Intimidation Lv-5, Danger Sense Lv-4, Sneak Lv-4, Mana Manipulation Lv-3
Secondary Skills: Drawing Lv-3, Math Lv-4, Science Lv-4, Writing/Literacy Lv-4, Maneuvering Lv-5, Driving Lv-4, Engineering Lv-5, Cooking Lv-4, Pain Tolerance Lv-9, Bioengineering Lv-5, Programming Lv-5, Torture Lv-5, Acting Lv-4, Enchanting Lv-3
Unique Skill: Wrath, Love and Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Complete Language Comprehension, Eidetic Memory, Analyse, Night Vision, The Force]
(0 Recoveries Stored)
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