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 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:30 pm
67
He went to sleep when the sun went down, if only because he could practice no longer. His dreams were filled with extravagant shows of power as he unveiled his newfound talent to the world. But when he awoke, he knew that he was not ready for such bold displays yet. He needed more practice.
Sadly, the next day was also spent in his room. The second crew was still there in the furnace room, so Vyrtem had to settle for the sunlight one more time. After a couple more hours, Vyrtem was able to make the paper ball dance around the room, and by the end of the day he was able to levitate two pieces of paper at the same time, using nothing but the power of the sun. He was smiling and laughing all night long, even as he lay down to sleep.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:37 pm
68
Today was the day. he was sure of it. He jumped out of bed and almost forgot to eat before he made his way down to the unbearable heat of the furnace room. He greeted everybody warmly --how else?-- and asked them how their weekend was. They had all had a decent time and enjoyed their days off. Vyrtem talked with them for a bit before he settled into his corner. Oddly enough, he was somewhat getting used to the heat even without using the Force. Spending so much time down here must be affecting him. Good. He welcomed what could only be an advantage. Being able to bear the heat was a useful skill in a lot of situations, and one that he seemed to be acquiring well.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:42 pm
69
He hadn't brought any toys with him this time. He wanted simply to concentrate. To focus on his reason for being here. He thought of his family and allowed that warmth to fill him, and as it did, he allowed the warmth of the furnace to penetrate and seep into his bones. In his mind's eye, his body began to glow and he could feel power building inside him, filling him to the bursting point until his fingers crackled with electricity and his eyes glowed with fir. The power that he felt fed back directly into his heart, as his pride at his accomplishment fed back into the love he felt from his family. The feedback continued to build until Vyrtem couldn't handle it anymore. he had to stop. With no small amount of regret, he severed the connection. He hadn't realized how long he'd been out, but all the guys were getting ready to leave.
"Uh. 'Ey. Sorry, we didn't wanna bother ye, ye looked... Busy."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:54 pm
70
Vyrtem felt positively alive. "No, no, it's fine. I was... Meditating." Vyrtem realized as he stood that something was wrong. he wasn't hot. At all. The air around him was lukewarm at best. Suddenly, as he lost his concentration, the boiling air crashed back around him. He gasped in surprise as his breath caught in his throat. he coughed for a moment as Teich just looked at him.
"Ye're no' really bein' punished by bein' 'ere, are ye?"
Vyrtem didn't feel like he had to lie anymore. "No, not really... To be honest, it's a secret training regimen. I'm sorry I lied to you."
Teich waved his hand dismissively. " 'd ye really challenge an Apprentice like you say ye did?"
Vyrtem chuckled. "Yeah. Yeah, I really did."
Teich nodded. "Then maybe i's bes' ye practice down 'ere, where nob'dy can see ye. Come on. le's ge' outta 'ere."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:07 am
71
It was the next day, and Vyrtem was last in line at the requisition counter. It was here that equipment was checked out on an as-needed basis --usually just for one day of training-- before it was returned. He was here for a piece of equipment that would facilitate the next stage of his training.
As he came up to the front of the line, he was met by the small, fair-skinned girl behind the counter.
She brushed her dark hair back as she looked up to meet his gaze. "Hello. What can I do for you?"
Vyrtem found himself smiling. "Uh... Oh!" he shook his head and looked into her emerald eyes. "I'm looking for a remote droid. For saber training."She nodded, beginning to write on a tablet on her desk. She picked the tablet up and as she looked down to begin typing her rebellious bangs fell to frame her face and Vyrtem smiled again.
"Okay. It looks like we have a few in stock. I'll be right back."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:12 am
72
He watched as she disappeared through a doorway and he waited for her to return. he drummed his fingers on the desk and looked around. He was apparently late for the party. Everyone else had already gone.
She came back out holding a small metal bull cupped in her two hands.
"Alright. One remote droid."
He looked down at the droid as she set it on the counter. "Alright. Where do I sign?" She flipped her tablet around and points
"I need your name here and your signature right down here."
"Okay." He scrawled his name and signed, picking up the droid. "Thank you very much." His eyes ran appraisingly over her face one more time as he turned to leave. He started to walk away.
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:22 am
73
"Vyrtem!"
He paused midstride as his heart paused mid-beat. He turned back to her.
"Don't you need a training saber?"
Oh yeah. He was lying. Duh. he tapped his hand "Oh, yeah. I'm stupid like that sometimes."
She stifled --or rather failed to stifle-- a gigle, covering her mouth.
"What's funny?" He was smiling again.
"Oh. Nothing." She bit her lip, waving her hand dismissively.
He laughed, watching her features scrunch up. "No, come on. What is it?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:32 am
74
She bit her lip again and tried to stop laughing. "Well, it's just- it's not every day you hear a Sith call themselves stupid."
He had to laugh, too. "Disproportionate to the frequency we would like to hear them say it, right?"
They shared a conspiratorial laugh before she disappeared back through the doorway to grab a training saber. They weren't issued to Initiates because they were non-violent weapons. They allowed unrestrained force, true, but a Sith needed a real, deadly weapon, so they issued blunted vibroblades instead. For training with a real saber, though, the training saber was unmatched. A real blade had neither the balance nor the weight of a true lightsaber, so it was useless for blaster bolt training and the like.
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:39 am
75
As she held the hilt out to Vyrtem, he reached out and took it, overly conscious of the brief moment of contact that their fingers shared. He grinned. He said "thank you" and signed the tablet again. "So... I'll have these back tomorrow, then?"
She nodded, brushing her bangs back again with a single delicate finger. "Yeah. Sounds like a deal."
He picked up the droid. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Oh. Actually, I'm off tomorrow."
"Oh. Well, then, I'll see you around then...?"
"Um. Valya." She shook her head, her hair bobbing slightly.
"Okay. I'll see you around, then, Valya."
She smiled, pressing her lips together slightly. "You too, Vyrtem."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:47 am
76
He was smiling the whole way back to his dorm. When he got there, he set the saber down. He didn't need it for this.
Vyrtem turned the little droid on and began attempting to program it. "Okay. How does this... Ow!" He jerked his hand back as the droid zapped him. "Okay... Well, we know you work at least." he fiddled with the controls a little bit longer. "There." He stood back and admired his handiwork. "That... Ought to do it." He stood back "Okay. Shoot. Ow! Alright. Well, that works, too."
Vyrtem took a breath. "Let's get down to business, then. Shoot." Right in the chest. Sithspit that hurt. He might have it turned up a little high, but electronics weren't really his 'thing' and so he decided to grin and bear it. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Shoot."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:50 am
77
It was the end of his first hour, and he'd had to remove his shirt because a hole was being burned into it. Now he had a growing red circle in the center of his chest. He was, to put it mildly, not doing well.
Vyrtem sighed, sitting down on his bed and running his hands through his hair. He'd had this down in the furnace room. He just needed to change his method of attack.
He tried imagining the bolt striking him and soaking into his skin for a couple of hours, and it wasn't working. He got frustrated and decided to take a break.
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:19 am
78
Vyrtem put his fingers to his temples. Why wasn't this working? He needed to think very carefully about the problem and figure out a feasible way to solve it. He thought back over everything he knew about Tutaminis and how it worked. He had a pretty comfortable grasp on dealing with something like atmospheric heat, but a small, focused point of...
surface area
Oh poodoo. He'd forgotten the most important lesson about Tutaminis; it required contact, and a small area just didn't help that. He thought about how to solve that problem now. He had a lot of thinking left to do, it seemed.
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:24 am
79
A blaster bolt was definitely a small, focused point of energy. Smaller than a lightsaber. He pondered the method that might actually help him grasp this. He needed a way to make a blaster bolt larger. He'd managed to focus the heat into his skin. But this wasn't as easy as that. It was deceptively difficult, and it had been harder than it had seemed at face value.
deceptive...
Well there's a thought... Could he use deception to conquer this beast? He obviously couldn't trick the blaster bolt into being bigger, but maybe he could trick himself into thinking it was larger than it really was...
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:28 am
80
Vyrtem immediately began coming up with a plan. But he didn't rush it. He needed some time to prepare for the images that might help him. He decided that he'd go eat supper and then come back and meditate on what he'd figured out. He needed processing time to gather his thoughts. Tricking one's own mind was not the simplest of tasks. It would take some work to do with any measure of success.
He ate a comfortable dinner and then returned to the library to study the book a little more before they closed the doors. He was greeted by the old man.
"Well hello there, young man. How did your training go? Did you make any 'head'way?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 11:33 am
81
Vyrtem chuckled. "Yeah. I guess my head turned out to be harder than the wall. Thank you for your help, sir. It made a huge difference. I was finally able to master the first step of Darth Trax' training. I can absorb the heat in the furnace room and I can even use sunlight if I have enough time to meditate on it.
The old man's eyebrows raised. "Sunlight? What a novel idea.. However did you manage that? That's quite a leap from the sweltering heat of the furnace."
"I don't know.. I just thought I'd try it, and I finally managed to get a handle on it. It was an incredible feeling, I can tell you that."
The librarian nodded. "I'm quite sure that it was. I've never heard of anyone using sunlight as an energy source for Tutaminis. I wonder if even Darth Trax himself could have managed that."
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