Preparation

[Bubák]

While Vyrzen's been resting after training his basic abilities, Avreet prepared the dueling room for the upcoming fight. Real combat environment was full of things one could use to their advantage, meaning the Mon Calamari had to order several lowly Acolytes bring a few chairs and tables into the room. After littering the red sand of Korriban over the floor and playing with the room settings, increasing the air humidity, the Sith Crusader felt it was ready. This certainly was not meant to simulate any real combat situation, as Avreet would have chosen the artificial simulation in that case, but to see how Vyrzen performed and easily discover his mistakes. Avreet had yet to test his apprentice to see how he fared in lightsaber combat before letting him join the upcoming Acolyte tournament... He wouldn't want to see his apprentice get steamrolled by some godmoding participant, after all!

Sitting atop of a table in a cross-legged position, something unusual for the Mon Cal, Avreet’s face remained motionless while his beautiful orange eyes glared at the door, expecting the young Zabrak to enter any second. Feeling the Acolyte drew closer, the amphibious Sith stood up and his right hand took one of the curved lightsaber hilts hanging on his belt, firmly grasping the weapon in his moist palm. “Welcome, apprentice.” Not wasting any more time, Avreet waved towards the door control panel with his left hand, closing the door behind young Vyrzen. “Attack me,” ordered the Sith, his left hand slightly touching his heavy cloak to lift it and allow his movements to be less restricted without the cloak getting in his steps. Obviously, the cloak itself would serve some purpose, as many things could be used in combat. Avreet briefly considered the chance of being bested by his young apprentice, but that'd only mark the vast progress of the Acolyte's training and his promotion drawing near.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Vyrzen felt refreshed from his meditation trance, after completing another of his Master's grueling tests. His Master had hinted before excusing him to rest that his next lesson had to deal with lightsaber combat, in preparation for the upcoming tournament. Vyrzen knew that he did not have to win the tournament outright, but have a grand showing that made his Master proud while letting others know that his Master's teachings were worthy of any and all willing to listen to the truth about the Sith. Before leaving his temporary quarters, he double checked that he was ready and found to his satisfaction that he was.

Walking toward the training room he played through his mind everything his Master told him about lightsaber combat. Yes, he had learned Juyo from his Master and in doing so; got a grip on his emotions plus found a way to channel them through the lightsaber form. But there was so much more he needed to learn and understand about dueling; especially against another Sith. By history, the Sith were better swordsmen and duelist than their hated enemies, the Jedi.

Upon reaching the room he could feel the strong, familiar presence of his Master behind the door. Taking nothing to chance, he opened the door using Telekinesis and stepped inside where he saw his Master waiting for him; with one of his hilts in his hand. Vyrzen had just entered the room when the door, caused by his own Master's ability to use the Force, shut behind him. Before Vyrzen could return the greeting, his Master ordered him to attack.

Unclasping his double-bladed saber, he ignited it while he let his eyes scan the area that was filled with litter. Moving into the Juyo form, he felt himself almost become one with both his lightsaber and the lightsaber form. Vyrzen, gripping one of the chairs on the side via the Force, hurled it toward the right side of his Master and launched into a series of attacks. With the chair in mid-flight, Vyrzen struck at his Master's left leg with his right ended blade while keeping the left ended up in preparation for a counter attack.

He knew he was unmatched in terms with lightsaber skill so he treaded carefully; not wishing to fully commit himself into something he could not get out of.

 

[Bubák]

As Avreet saw the Zabrak Acolyte launching himself, his weapon ready to strike, the Mon Cal cooly ignited his own weapon, the crimson blade illuminating the table he stood on and pointing downwards. When the Acolyte landed on the table and swung at his left leg, the chair threatening to hit the Mon Calamari if he dodged the strike by stepping to the right, Avreet did the only thing he could. Slightly moving his wrist up, he raised the blade and allowed Vyrzen's left end of his lightsaber to meet his own before taking a step back and swinging down; Avreet landed on his feet without losing his balance, the chair completely missed him and the table under Vyrzen was cut in half. Obviously, the Acolyte standing on it had to lose balance fairly quickly. To finish the job, Avreet immediately used telekinesis, his left webbed hand rapidly lifting the half of the table in front of it. Vyrzen wouldn't be able to gracefully jump off it, as he'd crumble in a similar fashion as the table.

Regardless of Vyrzen's action to stop himself from falling, Avreet used the extra time to take several long strides back, his lightsaber still pointing at the Acolyte. "Don't blindly attack your opponent, apprentice," Avreet said between strides, "It is probable they are prepared for it. Analyse their surroundings!" Because Vyrzen had a double bladed lightsaber, its hilt very long, the Zabrak'd have to use both hands if he wanted to fight or block. If he wanted to use the Force, he'd have to either hold the hilt in one hand, completely useless, or use the Force while holding the lightsaber, which limited him only to the area in front of his hilt. Avreet, having one lightsaber in his right hand, had no such limitation. His left hand telekinetically grabbed a chair and threw it towards Vyrzen, only to grab it again a second later and start beating the Acolyte with it. The maneuver was meant to make Vyrzen think Avreet had thrown the chair, choosing unsuitable defense against an object thrown at him while in fact Avreet still held it with telekinesis. "Do not defend yourself with the blades of your weapon against this!" advised Avreet, "If you cut it in half, the pieces won't change their trajectory, meaning you will get hit by two objects!"

 

[Negative Blessing]

Vyrzen felt the table underneath him give way as it was cut in half and then felt it tip upward, throwing him off balance. He back-flipped ungracefully to avoid crashing on his back and when he landed, his legs buckled, forcing him to struggle gaining his balance. Vyrzen watched as his Master back away while listening to his words. "I understand Master. Analyze first, then attack," he said bringing his blades up to defend himself if his Master assaulted him.

Vyrzen saw and felt a chair flying toward him and he moved into a defensive position to block it only to see it was caught in the air by his master and was now being hit with the chair since he had moved his body into the chair. Taking his Master's advice, he ducked to his right, the chair missing him this time. "So with any object, it is far better to simply avoid it or use the force to change the trajectory of it. And never use your weapon to cut at it. I understand Master."

 

[Bubák]

“But what to do when your opponent is telekinetically holding an object and attacking you with it?” asked Avreet, not expecting his apprentice to answer as he was busy dodging the chair, “You cannot dodge it forever. Your best bet is to break your opponent’s focus, or better yet, use their focus to your advantage.” The Mon Calamari Sith stopped holding the chair, letting it fall to the floor with a clank. “You should have tried to throw something at me while I concentrated on using telekinesis. Had you grabbed something behind my back and thrown it at me, I wouldn’t have been able to sense it. Not only you would have scored a nice hit, but my focus would be broken as well.” Unfortunately, Vyrzen had not done that, but he should remember the advice for the upcoming Acolyte tournament!

It was time to test the Acolyte’s lightsaber skill a bit. Using the Force to make his movements faster, Avreet jogged towards Vyrzen, his left hand ready to negate any Force attack thrown at him as he closed the distance between the two. For now, he decided to go easy on the Acolyte, using only one of his lightsabers. The tip of his plasma blade pointed at the young Zabrak’s heart as Avreet circled him, about two meters away from his apprentice to stay out of his reach. The Mon Cal’s left foot was placed in front of his right, allowing him to take a quick step and use Makashi’s superior one handed reach to attack the apprentice without exposing his own body to danger of Vyrzen being able to hit him.

Twirling his wrist to the right and to the left, the Mon Cal attempted to make Vyrzen's eyes focus on the moving red blade, slowing his reaction time a bit. Then, with one step of his right leg forward, his right arm shot towards the young Zabrak, the lightsaber aiming to stab Vyrzen to the chest, only to suddenly change the attack direction with a flick of his wrist downwards, now supposed to deliver a light cut travelling from Vyrzen’s stomach to his left knee. Vyrzen, as he stood right now, would not be able to attack the rest of Avreet's body due to his limited reach. An attack on Avreet's right arm would result in the Mon Cal retracting it and taking a quick step back.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Vyrzen nodded at his Master's words. He silently cursed himself for not thinking about breaking his Master's focus. He would need to remember that from now on. Also, he would need to use everything in the area as weapon as well, without exerting to much of his Force energy. Deplete your energy and you are dead. But now was not the time to dwell on what he did not do, it was time to focus on the now and what he can do.

Vyrzen kept his eyes from focusing on his Master's twirling blade. He knew his Master was doing this to distract him for he was not attacking but only twirling. But then he saw the red blade come straight for him when his Master took a step with his right leg. Vyrzen raised his right end blade to make his Master think he was attempting to block the attack but instead quickly kicked his left leg and foot out, attempting to connect his foot into the knee of his Master making him either pull back his attack or have his leg crumple causing him to either fall forward into Vyrzen, who was ready to attack with his left ended blade, or lose his balance from the leg blow and stumble backwards.

With the hopes his Master stumbled backwards, Vyrzen would then attack first with the right ended blade toward his Master's stomach then follow it through with the left ended blade toward his right shoulder if his first attack was parried or blocked. If his Master saber locked the first attack with the right ended blade, Vyrzen would then attempt a full on leg sweep to knock his Master off his feet all together.

However, if his Master fell toward him, causing his Master to be off balance and his blade moving away from, he would attack his Master's head with the left ended blade.

 

[Bubák]

The Mon Calamari, seeing what his apprentice did, stopped his blade in the last possible moment to avoid cutting Vyrzen’s left leg off or at least seriously wounding the Acolyte. He was glad for this duel, as it clearly showed areas of training the two needed to focus on. Retracting his right leg, taking a step back, his lightsaber aiming high at Vyrzen’s chest again, the Mon Calamari visibly frowned and flicked his wrist to meet the approaching right end of Vyrzen’s blade, fending off the attack as the weapons met. Luckily for Avreet, the young Zabrak could attack only one end of his weapon at the same time, meaning the amphibian had time to deflect the next attack. Taking another two quick steps back and avoiding the attack on his legs, footwork being perhaps the most important aspect of Makashi, Avreet broke the saber lock by simply pulling his weapon out of it and immediately rotated his arm and wrist to the right, the crimson blade hitting the teenager’s attack meant for the Mon Cal’s shoulder and changing the direction of the weapon. Avreet’s cybernetically enhanced strength certainly helped him do so.

Before his apprentice could attack him again, the Mon Cal jogged backwards and to the right. “What was that supposed to be, Acolyte?” asked Avreet, “My extended arm holding an ignited lightsaber has much greater reach than your leg. When you attempted to kick me with your left leg, I was just attempting to cut you into the very same leg. Trying to kick me, you extended your leg and offered me to cut it off. If you do it again in this duel, I won’t stop my attack and you’ll have to get used to a cybernetic limb. Never punch or kick your opponent if you’re not blocking their lightsaber!” the Mon Cal hissed, vertically swinging his lightsaber downwards to the right through the empty air in front of himself, the plasma blade now pointing to the floor.

“I have greater reach, Acolyte. That is the beautiful advantage of this form. If you get close enough, past my extended hand with the lightsaber pointing at you, my reach will become a disadvantage. I will be forced to retract my extended arm to be able to defend my body against your attacks. That will most likely force me to hold my lightsaber in both of my hands in order to block your blows. There is a problem with that though, I can always take several steps back to gain additional distance. Your best bet is to get me into a corner.” Avreet offered another advice and allowed his apprentice to attack first. His left eye briefly swiveled back to see if there was enough space behind him. It’d still take several steps to reach the wall.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Vyrzen had allowed his mind to become all jumbled while he tried to attack his Master, unsuccessfully. His Master had spared him a life long permanent limp with a cybernetic leg and he felt shamed for his mistakes. "I have allowed myself to get caught up in the heat of our duel. I planned to use my right leg instead of my left leg. However, my mind over thought what I was doing and in doing so, it was my left leg that reacted to the command. In the future I shall be more alert to my actions. Once this duel is over Master, I wish to learn your form Makashi."

Now it seemed that his turn how come for him to attack. Taking what his master said, he began to formulate his attack in his mind as he began to feign his right ended blade to the right, following that up with a feign to the left with his left ended blade in an attempt to move his Master backwards while staying out of the range of his Master's blade every time it went to meet one of his blades. Finally, he knew what he wanted to do.

Vyrzen lunged with the left ended blade toward his Master's chest and when his Master would move his own blade into a block or parry or lock, Vyrzen quickly would shut down that right end of the blade. With his right hand now free and while holding the hilt with his left, he Force Pushed his Master in an attempt to throw him off balance. If that worked, Vyrzen would ignite his right ended blade and quickly bring the tip down to meet his Master's left knee.

If his Master was able to recover and block, parry or lock the right ended blade, he would quickly power down the left ended blade and with his left hand, holding his hilt with his right hand, strike out with a closed fist in the direction of the Avreet's mouth forcing him to step further back or take the punch. He did this while aware of his Master's reach.

 

[Bubák]

Avreet had a hard time trying not to laugh at his apprentice's explanation. The boy mistook his limbs. He also went to offensive shortly after his explanation, causing Avreet's focus to return. By flicking his wrist from left to right, right to left, always combined with a strong move of his right arm in the direction, Avreet parried Vyrzen's attacks meant to push him closer to the wall. It did work, but also because the Mon Calamari did not try to fight back, letting his apprentice carry out his moves and press his attack. Both of the Sith knew Vyrzen only tried to gain time, thinking of a more powerful and seriously meant offensive maneuver.

Truly, young Vyrzen attempted to cut Avreet's chest with the left end of his lightsaber. Avreet rapidly swung down, turning his wrist and arm to the right so his blade pointed down and effectively blocked Vyrzen's blow, locking the weapons together. If the boy tried to kick him again, Avreet would simply push his lightsaber further down, letting it slide and impale the Zabrak's leg. That did not happen though, Vyrzen turned off one half of his weapon and his right hand was now free. That was understandable, but the young Acolyte must have forgotten Avreet had two weapons. Had he unclipped his second lightsaber and used it to attack Vyrzen's right side, unprotected by lightsaber blade...

When Vyrzen unleashed his Force push, Avreet used Force speed and rotated himself to the right, the Acolyte's Force push completely missing him. The weapons were still locked, but Avreet continued his spin to the right, appearing in Vyrzen's left side, easily pulling his lightsaber out of the saber lock. The Zabrak turned to his left, the right end of his lightsaber turned on again and about to stab Avreet's left knee. Moving the lowered blade to the left, still pointing down, Avreet lightsaber hit Vyrzen's plasma blade, pushing it away from the Mon Cal's knee and holding it there to avoid getting his left leg chopped off.

The left end of Vyrzen's lightsaber shut off, allowing the Zabrak throw a punch at Avreet's mouth with his left hand. Avreet's own left hand flew up to catch Vyrzen's fist before his attack connected. A smirk played on Avreet's face, his apprentice would not be able to safely turn the left end of his weapon without risking cutting his own left arm off. Since Vyrzen's left side was entirely unprotected now, as his saber was still locked with Avreet's at one end and turned off on the other, the Mon Cal kicked out his right leg, trying to hit the Zabrak's left knee while yanking his left arm to the left to completely throw him off balance and possibly make him fall. If his apprentice fell or had to catch the lost balance, the Mon Calamari let go of his left hand and sidestepped to the right, his left hand telekinetically grabbing a chair and tossing it at the Zabrak.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Vyrzen's punch was caught by his Master and was being held there while his Master's blade and his right ended blade were still locked together. From the corner of his eye he caught the sight of his Master's right leg shoot out in an attempt to hit his left knee and felt his left arm pulled at the same time in another attempt to throw him off balance.

Vyrzen took his chances and raised his left leg to avoid the hit to his knee but with his arm yanked, it threw him off balance. He felt his Master let go of his hand and felt a ping in the Force. He felt the chair coming toward him before he saw it. Not having enough time to correct his balance and avoid the chair, he had only one option open to him. He dropped to his knees while igniting the left end of his blade and raised both blades out in front of him to defend himself against an attack from his Master's blade. The chair flew over his head missing him by mere inches but he was on his knees and his Master was upright.

Though his Master had the advantage, Vyrzen would not allow that to stand. He twirled his blade in a sweeping motion negating any chance for a saber lock in an attempt to sever his Master at the waist while keeping his blades close to block or parry an attack from his Master. If his Master blocked the attack or parried it, Vyrzen would then whip his lower body around using his right leg to try and sweep his Master off his feet. If his Master avoided the sweeping blades, he would have to move back giving Vyrzen time to stand up. If his Master avoided the leg sweep, that would give them some distance between them allowing Vyrzen to leap to his feet.

Once again Vyrzen pressed the attack. Using the Force, after powering down his right end blade, he opened the door behind him in one quick motion and while his Master's eyes looked to the door briefly, Vyrzen ripped his Master's other lightsaber from his waist and let it fly out the door, the door shutting quickly. If his Master tried to catch his lightsaber from flying away or shutting the door, it would leave him open to an attack. Vyrzen would use Force Run and drive his right shoulder into his Master's stomach in an attempt to knock him down or the wind from him. While he charged his Master he kept his left end blade up to guard against an attack from his Master's blade.

With his left ended blade raised up and he was charging, he used the Force yet again and he now called a chair of his own. If his Master was to avoid the rush, he would have to step to his right where the chair would be there waiting for him to respond to it.

 

[Bubák]

Quickly jogging back, Avreet avoided Vyrzen's sweeping strike aimed to cut him in half, raising his arms to avoid getting them cut off. The young Zabrak had managed to gain himself enough time to jump back on his feet. That was a good move, Avreet had to admit it served its purpose. Once out of reach of the Acolyte's weapon, the Mon Calamari lowered his hands again, the lightsaber pointing at the Zabrak while his other hand was ready to use the Force.

The Acolyte also prepared himself to use the Force, though not in the way Avreet expected. His Force push was ready to negate Vyrzen's Force push or to throw away any object tossed at him, yet the young Zabrak opened the door leading out. That was entirely unexpected, making Avreet's right eye swivel in that direction, the left eye still focused on his apprentice. Suddenly, his other lightsaber separated from his belt and flew towards the open door. Avreet could not allow himself get disarmed like this, so he telekinetically closed the door, using his left hand to do so, and also telekinetically grabbing his flying lightsaber before it hit the closed door.

His apprentice must have known Avreet was going to do this, as he immediately charged while the Mon Cal was distracted. The Crusader could not focus all that well on defending himself and getting the lightsaber, so there was no avoiding the boy's attack. Still focused on getting his lightsaber back, the only thing the Crusader managed to do was to hit the ignited end of Vyrzen's double bladed lightsaber and lock the weapons together. In fact, Avreet allowed Vyrzen to hit him with his right shoulder into stomach. It did hurt and threatened to knock the Mon Cal off balance, but all those years of training made Avreet's body physically fit and muscular, which in combination with the cybernetics made the Mon Calamari very though.

By taking Avreet's second lightsaber, Vyrzen had decided to bring the weapon to the duel. Until now, Avreet did his best not to hurt his apprentice, thus remaining largely on defensive. Not anymore. The flying lightsaber ignited itself in the air and flew at Vyrzen's back, pointed to impale the Zabrak. The boy's right hand wouldn't be able to telekinatically counter it, as it focused on the chair, not to mention it was also very close to Avreet since Vyrzen's right shoulder hit him. His left arm held his lightsaber, which was locked with Avreet's blade. This made Vyrzen pretty immobile, not really allowing him to dodge to either side. Naturally, the blade was long enough to impale them both, so before it hit, Avreet jogged backwards again, pulling his blade out of the saberlock.

If Vyrzen dodged it or avoided it, he had to break his focus on the chair. Avreet called the secong lightsaber into his left hand, then cut the chair in half with his right lightsaber and grabbed both pieces through telekinesis before tossing them on his apprentice, not waiting for anything and immediately charging towards him. His lightsabers were crossed like scissors, aimed to cut off Vyrzen's head, and most importantly, make him raise his lightsaber. When in reach, Avreet suddenly ducked and stabbed his right lightsaber towards Vyrzen's abdomen, while his left hand made a slashing motion towards the Acolyte's legs right under his knees. If the attack with his right arm got blocked, Avreet loosened his grip on the hilt and released a weak version of Force push at the teenager's torso.

 

[Negative Blessing]

Vyrzen felt the ping in the Force and knew that danger was behind him and realized that his Master's other blade was aiming for him. He cursed to himself and broke the hold on the chair, letting it go where its momentum took it. Vyrzen took a quick glance and knew he could not doge to his left or right and leaping up over his Master would result in all manners of problems for himself. So he did the only thing he could do. He crouched down, doing the splits.

He saw the lightsaber fly over his head and as his Master caught it, he watched as the chair was split in two and the pieces thrown at him. Vyrzen, still in the splits position found himself vulnerable but not defeated. Standing up he took the brunt of the two chairs, causing him to stagger backwards and catching a glimpse of his Master coming toward him. Seeing his Master's weapon crossed together and aiming for his head. Vyrzen raised his blade to protect his head when he saw his Master duck and use his right blade to hit his stomach region while the left blade was aimed for his knees and lower legs.

Calling the Force to himself and seeing that his Master was fully committed to the attack, he Force Jumped up and over his Master missing the blades by inches. When he landed on his feet, he was close to the chair pieces. First with his right leg, he kicked on piece at his Master following it up with the other piece with his left leg.

If Master Zatarus attempted to duck or dodge the chairs, Vyrzen would use the Force and pull his Master's legs to throw him off balance in hopes to cause his Master to fall to the ground. If his Master did fall, Vyrzen, filling himself up again with the Force to enhance his speed, would attack with his double-bladed weapons in an attempt to impale his Master to the floor.

 

[Bubák]

His right eye watched his apprentice fly over him, too high to have him in reach of his lightsabers. The Mon Calamari quickly rose from his crouched position and turned around to face the Zabrak, just in time to see him kicking half of a chair at him. The Sith Crusader did not move to dodge it; he started moving right towards the flying pieces of chair and Vyrzen. Hitting it with his left fist to toss it away, the Mon Calamari stopped moving and waited for the second half to come flying at him, his cybernetic eye and the Force guiding his next move as he prepared himself, ready to counter Vyrzen’s Force push or pull if it came.

The Mon Cal’s right leg kicked out, colliding with the second half of a chair and sending it back at Vyrzen along with a Force push coming from his left hand. Immediately after that, the amphibian started advancing towards his apprentice again, throwing yet another Force push at him to stop the young Zabrak from going into the offensive or telekinetically grabbing an object. Once close enough to his apprentice, Avreet bended the light and sounds around himself, quickly disappearing right in front of Vyrzen’s eyes. The invisible combatant also hid his presence in the Force before silently jumping on one of the tables in the room. His large amber eyes studied his apprentice’s reaction so Avreet could correct his apprentice’s mistake if the young Zabrak chose to react in a particular way.

Whatever the result, the Mon Calamari turned off his the weapon in his left hand and placed it on his belt, no longer having to bend light and sound around the weapon, which saved him some energy. Naturally, Force cloak and Force stealth drained his energy very quickly when combined, so he had to act fast. Taking off his heavy cloak, the Mon Calamari prepared himself and tossed the black cape at Vyrzen, along with Force push as he became visible again. The cloak should catch the young apprentice’s attention first, his sight obscured by it for a while as well as possibly making the Zabrak entangle into the cloth, slightly restricting his movements if it landed correctly.

Avreet immediately followed, his lightsaber burying into the cloak as he stabbed his plasma blade through it and continued to cut as gravity pulled him down, making a vertical slash with great reach. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he flicked his wrist from left to right and back, attempting to deliver a horizontal slash while his left hand, free of any weapons, tried to telekinetically hurl the Zabrak into the incoming attack.