Finding your Feet, and your Form [Kratos]

[Kei Amadis]

Voss Academy - West Wing​

Voss academy's smaller west wing was sleek, clean and well-polished. Walls displaying a variety of silvers and blues, with Jedi symbolism and more importantly the Silver Sanctum's personal touches. The surfaces of the newer academy wing still gleamed since its expansion, decorated by Masters and Students alike, artwork which show each individual’s expression of the force, and within all the nuances woven together made their own unifying design reflecting those training here. Amadis stood awaiting another new pupil, waiting at the top of the stairs and looking out over the class being run.

The stairs themselves were marble, supplied by [member="Taiden Keth"]’s stonemasons, they held a regal quality, while below them the floor descended more into practicality. Zacka the groundkeeper’s tool shed lay at the bottom of the stairs in a hidden door, which moved through the academy in a tunnel for its workers and also doubled as an escape route.

“Greetings, my name is Master Amadis, welcome to the academy.” Downward as they walked, he used the time to get to know the new padawans.

“Tell me about yourself. What do you know of the force, and what are you hoping to learn?” Kei listened to better see what the new arrival knew, and where they would start.

Stubble across his face, below the neck the Epicanthix was dressed in light grey, flexible armor. Kei preferred to work as unhindered as possible, but was trying for the sake and sanity of those he often worked beside, to better protect himself from the greater threats in the galaxy, which he often neglected to acknowledge when serving others was a priority.

A force sensitive Nikto knight named Lysad from the wildcards engineers taught the class below the stairs. The reptilian at odds with his own more fiery nature, calmed by his use of the lightside. A half dozen padawans, Kei’s usual class size, were running through Jedi Philosophy and also the basics of the saber forms. The class was watching a holocron Lysad held, which projected out Kei's Master, Coci's own teachings onto the floor, passing them on to the next generation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5_gEZptmHw​

​

[member="Kratos Bandua"]​

 

[Kratos Bandua]

Kratos had taken his time getting to the West Wing of the academy, being too preoccupied with dealing with culture shock. Having spent almost his whole life on Outer Rim frontier worlds or holed away in a monastery, the rich culture, crowds of people, and towering buildings might as well have been from a different galaxy. The closest structure he'd seen to the academy was the monastery, but his childhood home had been stark and barren, not elaborate and beautiful. He'd taken quite a few stops on his way from one end of the academy to the other in order to appreciate the place. He always thought the B'omarr monks and the Jedi would be almost identical, but apparently he'd been mistaken.

Having asked for directions a few times, Kratos finally found the West Wing, no less magnificent than the rest of the compound. He could see someone waiting by the stairs, presumably the man who would be instructing him. Kratos knew he was several years older than most padawans, albeit with quite a bit more experience than the usual newcomer. Combat experience, at least. He knew he was force sensitive, but that aspect of his life had been tertiary at best at the monastery, and abandoned completely after his departure.

He drew closer to the man, giving him a small head bow of acknowledgement, his features masked behind his helmet. He was wearing his customary purple robes, a light fabric that didn't impede movement yet tough enough to withstand years of wear. He fell into step with the man, his instructor, as they descended a grand, sweeping staircase. He listened with respect to what his instructor was saying, treating his words as if they came from one of the Enlightened monks he grew up with. Master Amadis, he'd called himself, implying that Kratos would do the same.


"The Force? Almost nothing," he began, trying to recall back to the words of the monks who'd taught him. "I've been aware that I'm force sensitive for years, but disregarded it in favor of the B'omarr teachings." The truth was that he'd forgotten about it for the better part of a decade, but that didn't seem like the proper way to start things off.

"My background has allowed me to develop my skills in meditation, contemplation, and finding inner peace, but I've had no experience with the force," he continued. He'd meditated daily since he'd left the monastery, in part shamed by his refusal to complete the Enlightenment process. He had been at the top of an almost insurmountable staircase, and he'd simply sat down at the edge of the last step and quit. He had wanted to pursue a different path.

"I came here first and foremost to learn the Jedi's methods of melee combat, but also to develop my force abilities. I've had extensive training with other weapons, such as axes and clubs, but always self taught. I know in order to master the art of fighting I have to train under a master. It's a journey I can't complete on my own," he added, glancing ahead at the training session going on near the bottom of the staircase. He patiently awaited Master Amadis' instruction, keeping his pace exactly in step with the man.

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Blank slate understanding was often easier. “Tell me about the B'omarr and their teachings.” Kei listened with his usual reassuring grin for the new arrivals, the more they gave him to start, the easier training or assisting usually was.

“What happens when you meditate?” Kei asked, moving around the bottom of the stairway and their initial introductions to make room for others to pass back up. At the bottom there were several racks of training weapons of all denominations, you could find almost anything you liked in the weight and size you liked, all set to non lethal settings, stun, sting or blunt along their edge.

He didn't advise or comment on the preferred method chosen by Kratos to learn what being a Jedi was about, that was best left to an individual teacher or student. Truth was, there was as many ways of training someone as there was people, and more views on each than you wanted to know!

Besides he could do melee with a student all day, that was an engaging way to demonstrate anything. Standing on a comfortable floored mat, “pick any weapon you like.” Solid grin forming, he began warming up his neck and shoulders, stretching to make ready, assisted by an easing of the muscles in the force as tension left his body.

“Self taught,” Kei nodded realising where to start, “strike at me as you are.” His own saber formed into a Djem So guard angled back high above his head, two handed ready to drop down, the response was half formed in the stance already, legs slightly bent at the knee, something you could telegraph, but then some fighting styles did not rely on finesse.

They were still being introduced, only it was on a different level now.

[member="Kratos Bandua"]
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[Kratos Bandua]

Master Amadis wanted to know about the B'omarr. Interesting. Kratos was unaccustomed to talking about the order; most didn't bother to question what they didn't understand. Inquisitive thinkers were few and far between outside of the monastery. It had been a long time since Kratos had meet anyone like this man.

"The B'omarr philosophy, at its core, is about removing the distractions of the physical realm to achieve an enlightened way of thinking," he began, trying to remember the words of his former elders. "They--we--attempt to become enlightened through distancing ourselves from pain, sight, hearing, any of the senses. Once we have achieved mastery over our bodies, we undergo a procedure to remove our brains, eliminating all distractions. That is true enlightenment." He spoke slowly and softly, choosing his words carefully. The philosophies of the order had clashed with his rough and physical nature, yet it created a harmonious dichotomy within him. He couldn't be who he was without the philosophy; it was in every bone in his body.

"Our meditation," he continued, "Involves pondering riddles and removing ourselves from the physical realm. We undergo training in trials of pain, logic, knowledge, and so on. We can even communicate telepathically if we so choose, using images instead of words. It's feeling is...indescribable." He couldn't put a name to it, or even communicate it through a metaphor. It was different for everyone; he knew that much. As he talked, they descended to the bottom of the staircase, into some sort of training room. Weapons lined the walls, and it was obvious that he was to be tested. He was used to the monks' tests of spirit, but not a physical test of combat prowess.

He examined the weapons closely, trying to determine which would be closest to his expertise. His three-fingered hands made gripping difficult, and his body was much better tuned for power and precision. He finally chose a heavier lightsaber with a longer hilt, resembling the tree branch with which he'd previously trained. He studied it for a second, turning it on and feeling its weight, grip, and range.

As he readied himself, he studied his master's stance. He was no expert in melee-to-melee combat, but he tried to imagine himself in his master's position. It was hard to do with no experience with the weapon. But he knew where his strengths were, and that was in more of a defensive stance, accompanied by the use of his leverage to deliver strong, powerful strokes. His best plan of attack was..not really an attack. His training with the monks had instilled within him a strong fondness for defensive fighting, being a rock upon which the enemy assaulted like an ocean wave. His enemy would tire, receding like the water, and then he would strike back.

Thusly, he swung in a tight, controlled arc straight to his master's right side, shifting his body left in an attempt to protect his flank. He knew his master, with the force, was undoubtedly faster, stronger, and had better endurance. He was outmatched, but he refused to swing wildly like a barbarian.

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

You never stopped learning, not in Kei’s opinion. This padawan was teaching him, and he listened, wholeheartedly. Kei was a practical man, though his duties and time spent teaching, or being a Jedi had expanded that to include philosophy, he wasn’t able to connect as deeply as perhaps Kratos could with the material he talked about, perhaps that was the balance for both and why the force had put them here together today.

In balance he provided opposition, connection and exchange. Kei used offense as a defense, but always with firm control, and steady stance. Weapon falling down toward Kratos’s own in attempt to hammer forward blocking while attacking. Kei used his power, the form of Djem so, to position himself where he wanted to be, attempting to control his opponent by controlling himself, and where he was in relation to him. Moving forward into Kratos, meant Kei attempted to offer him little room to counter, unless he moved, Soresu could answer this with tight circles, or clever movements of the body, but that was a different story!

Djem So often pushed the practitioner, aiming to go through his opponent, always aiming a foot behind with exaggerated momentum. It was the classic Djem So vs Soresu setup almost, only his opponent fought in a foreign form to him, elements were similar.

“You fight already as a Jedi, controlled, hints of Soresu. Jedi seek to do what they must, no more, there must always be respect for life, mercy, and forgiveness in vigilance.” Kei said in equal measure, he was saying these things as a soldier, a guardian, as man who had taken lives, and as someone who wanted to make sure Kratos could ground himself in the physical reality of fighting, as much as the spiritual. Though he could see already some of these qualities just in how the padawan approached him here.

“Your order and the force, similar, only the force is here.” Kei swung at him broadly and strongly, putting his entire body into the move, attempting to give him a firm push back, and halt the swing before it connected. “In the pain,” he moved the weapon as a blur, one that would take the sight of the force to see, “in the senses,” then he nodded to younglings watching from the balcony, grinning happily to them, “and emotions, all of it.”

There was no disconnection, a Jedi needed all these things to be whole, at least Kei taught as much, while others had a hundred different opinions. Here he was attempting to give Kratos an even deeper look at the force, and perhaps relate it to his own teachings to show him the force’s physical or emotional aspects, difficult as that may be to connect to the spiritual. Kei hit challenges like this bluntly, with little finesse, but perhaps that was the right contrast here for Kratos, or perhaps it would spark conflict with differing ideologies.

[member="Kratos Bandua"]​

 

[Kratos Bandua]

As the two fought, Kratos quickly realized just how outmatched he was. He could dispatch of most vibroblade-wielding warriors, but this man was light years ahead of them. Even Kratos' normal defensive style was not enough for the flurry of attacks coming from his opponent. He found himself not even thinking about attacking, only trying to fend off the barrage of lightsaber strikes. Master Amadis hit with power, speed, and precision, the holy trinity of attacking. It was like trying to defend against a Gamorrean with the speed of a Vaapaad, and Kratos wasn't holding up too well.

He found himself slowly being forced back, unwilling to stand too long near the furious arcs of Master Amadis' lightsaber. His own lightsaber moved quickly in small circles, desperately trying to keep up. While he had plenty of power in his own strokes, the grip on the lightsaber was too wide for his hands, causing him to clench his fists and subsequently slowing him down. With a proper weapon...no, still not enough.

He could hear his master speaking while they fought, no hint of strain in his voice. It was probably a walk in the park for him; a warm-up at best. Meanwhile, Kratos was fighting as hard as he could. All of his concentration was on defense, and he knew he was losing ground. Every once in a while a stroke almost got through, nicking his arms, legs, and chest a dozen times. The lightsabers were set to stun, but it was no less of a sign of weakness.

In the middle of his monolog, his master struck the final blow. Kratos, absorbed in the battle in an almost meditative trance, could sense the blow was coming a fraction of a second before his master moved. It made no difference. With a supernatural speed, Master Amadis' lightsaber broke through Kratos defense too fast to see. The hum of the lightsaber abruptly changed pitch as the swing stopped less than a hairbreadth away from his neck, Kratos' lightsaber still halfway into its response.

Looking his master in the eyes, ignoring the humming blade at his neck, Kratos gave a bow to the victor, acknowledging his superiority. No hint of anger or bitterness crossed his mind. Instead, he was happy. If he could beat the man, there was no point in training with him.

"Well fought, master," he said, switching off his lightsaber. "Whether I fight like a Jedi or not, it is clear I still have much to learn from you," he continued. Even if he'd been able to use a familiar weapon, there was no chance he would have emerged victorious. His years of training couldn't even keep him close to the Jedi. Of course, that's why he was there.

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Pulling up and holding, Kei grinned and nodded firmly, disengaging his beam, continuing to relax himself with his constant steady breathing, although there was power in each swing there was also peace. A wish to teach and help. “Have a lot of natural qualities Kratos.”

“Can show you how to neutralise me.” His grin widened encouraging the padawan, the offer was there if Kratos wanted to continue, Kei had shown him what he was up against but not yet how to take what Kratos already knew, what Kei could see was perhaps a natural form, “Soresu.”

“Every style has a counter.” Kei took Coci’s trainng holocron the padawans had been using previously and set it for a display of Soresu projected ahead of them from his own Master. The Epicanthix remained silent while the hologram demonstrated. When you have no space, Soresu made it, distance comes from rotation of the beam, small orbits around the body or in the grip, and body. The hips moving the course of the beam to flow against a powerful strike, to deflect rather than block, while the power exerted of Djem So was met with steady, rolling hits or deflections intended to conserve energy and cover the body.

He left the holocron on and if Kratos wished it, would show him exactly what to do, to absorb Djem So, even as a padawan and beginner, he might still protect himself if he faced it again, because it was already in his fighting style and mindset to do so, he just needed to practice the technique. Then he could adapt and use it in his own form, or use this one.

It was also Kratos choice if he took the mat, to grow from the lesson further. Either way Kei would stay with him and walk him back happily up the steps, or assist each swing and rotation on the mat, adjusting the footing, the arm, grip and the wrist to better mimic what the holocron projected in from of him. Until he himself was swinging into Kratos once more with heavy downward strikes or strong powerful sideways hits, in a mock spar, giving him chance to learn exactly what he needed to do.

[member="Kratos Bandua"]​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoMGgtLibDs​

 

[Kratos Bandua]

Soresu? Interesting. Kratos had assumed that his style of fighting wouldn't even come close to any sort of predetermined form. It had just felt right. Master Amadis pulled out a strange object Kratos had never seen before, a sort of weird cube. Much to his surprise, it projected some sort of odd image of a woman he'd never seen before. He was too composed to jump back, but he was shocked nonetheless. Sometimes he forgot just how little he knew about the galaxy. Most technology was foreign to him, and this was no exception.

Kratos listened to the woman speak, putting into words things he already knew but couldn't describe. He thought carefully about the form she spoke of, analyzing it and trying to match it up against his own style. While it certainly seemed to be like the defensive style he favored, it didn't have the same power involved that he used. It seemed to be more focused on deflecting and rolling, rather than blocking and counterattacking. It would lessen the physical advantages he had, but for now it seemed like something he could start with.

His master offered him a choice: more practice or more study. Kratos certainly could have benefited from some time to rest, but he felt it would be necessary to practice under less ideal conditions in order to better prepare himself for real combat. Having a better-fitting lightsaber would be preferred; the one he'd used in the spar had been difficult to grasp with his three-fingered hands. He glanced at what appeared to be a practice mat. It was relatively small, but it looked like it could contain most types of sparring. If he properly used the form, not giving ground in the face of an onslaught, it would definitely be enough.

"Trial by fire has always been my preferred option," he said, nodding towards the mat. "This 'Soresu' seems like it could be a good fit. Of course, it would probably be best to start with the small, basic stuff. As the B'omarr say: 'Dust amassed will make a mountain."

The old saying had been a key part of his self-training in the previous years, focusing on the basics and applying it to higher and higher levels. He thought he'd been good at the time, but his instructor had shown him otherwise. He would need plenty of training and thousands of hours in practice, but he had faced this sort of thing before. His mental training with the monks had been as rigorous if not more, forcing him to stretch his mind to its full capacity. He expected this would be no different, albeit taking place in the physical realm.
[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

|

Projected forth came a Technical Diagram designed to Confuse you. Then Help.​

“Alright. Try this.” Kei picked out another saber, a better shaped hilt for his padawan, not perfect but it should assist the lesser number of fingers he had, in time he could make his own design. He was proud of him wanting to take this full circle, to better himself. Any other form he would have given Kratos a breather, but the point was in this form he wouldn’t need it.

Kratos might be a technical fighter, to cover that possibility, “all starts with Shi-Cho, forming the foundation, you have that base,” and Kei was more practical than theory anyway. “Now we maximize your cover,” at the minimal energy or exertion possible, or that was the idea.

Probably basic to Kratos, but the grounding of how to teach any Jedi, who wanted to be a technical fighter was to highlight the six combat zones on the body, head, left upper, right upper, left lower, right lower and back. Kei explained them one by one with the holoprojection, this may seem yawningly simple, until you actually executed the moves. Soresu’s sweeps, rotations, orbits and positioning of the body intended to maximize the saber’s cover in Soresu and in many styles it went on further to minimize exposure as well from each zone.

Facing Kratos straight on, Kei executed a very simple rotation around in his wrist, the upper fingers tight but not hammered, allowing leverage on the weapon. “You try.”

Soresu you often kept a forward body, allowing the saber to often be the twists you'd usually have to perform. “Allow the saber to be your arms, your sides.” Kei coached, showing steady half steps and a flexible front knee. In doing so he was realising his own trainings in Soresu were beginning to pay off. Demonstrating a back and forth with Kratos, allowing him to do the same, to move and rotate the beam between them, first in his grip, then slowly around his body.

“How does Soresu answer this?” Kei moved his saber very slowly horizontally, as if going to mock strike Kratos’s right side, but stopped it a few inches away from the padawan's waist. Did not matter at all if he got it wrong, getting it wrong was just one more way of learning.

[member="Kratos Bandua"]

​

 

[Kratos Bandua]

The diagram that showed on the projector confused Kratos. While he had dealt with the symbolic, mystic messages of the B'omarr order, they had never attempted to apply them to combat. The circle and the square didn't make sense to him; then again he hadn't ever tried to apply a form to fighting before. He assumed his master would help to explain it in one way or another, not wanting to leave his student staring endlessly at a projector. Maybe if he had time to meditate on it, he could understand it better.

But there was no time for that. Master Amadis had already retrieved another lightsaber for him. This one was definitely a much better fit. The hilt was shorter and thinner, allowing his three fingers to comfortably grasp it while maintaining good balance. It wasn't perfect, but it was a vast improvement over his previous weapon.

He listened to his master explain a different form: Shii-cho. This one appeared to be more basic, more rudimentary. More akin to what he had taught himself. As Master Amadis explained the combat zones, Kratos listened with keen interest, choosing to sit in a cross-legged position to make himself comfortable. He had never thought of the body as being divided into zones before, only as a whole piece. He had aimed his attacks where he pleased, not with any methodology behind them.

Of course, the second he had sat down, his master already had him on his feet again, putting into motion what he had heard in words. As his tutor instructed him, Kratos started to familiarize himself with the basic rotations of the form. Less body movement and more saber movement, yet still driven by the motion of the torso. He slowly accelerated the motion of the saber, trying to envision the circles of defense the projector had talked about. The weapon and form were alien to him, unlike anything he'd attempted before, yet it seemed natural in its own right.

Suddenly, his master swung his own saber slowly towards Kratos' waist, testing to see if he had picked up some of the basics. Resisting his previous training and muscle memory, a more direct counter, Kratos instead attempted the motion described in the lesson, rotating the blade in a circular motion and subtly moving his hips to instead deflect the attack. The motion was clunky and a little unnatural, going against his usual patterns, but he managed to meet his master's blade at the edge of one of the circles of defense, shunting the blade's path out and behind him.

Not knowing if he had done it correctly, he titled his mask up towards his master, awaiting either approval, reprimand, or more coaching. He wasn't quite sure of his teaching style yet, but Master Amadis seemed to be a practical and simplistic man, much like Kratos. Despite his pause, Kratos kept his body in a combat stance, waiting in case his master attacked again. After all, there was only one real way to learn, and that was through experience.

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Different Soresu teachers summed up the rings and their applications differently, Kei went with the basics, and he taught as they went. “Inner, Middle and Outer. Three defenses.” When Kratos circled the beam to impact the slow horizontal slash, it deflected along the course set by the padawan, not Kei directly, rolling down Kratos’s weapon from its momentum, all too often to a predictable next angle of attack.

“Middle sphere. Shi-Cho teaches to hit on pre-determined angles,” even people never having seen a Jedi academy often did a sideways swing, or an overhead chop. “Forms start this way, knowing that, and their zones of attack, Soresu matches the circle and moves alongside them, not in direct opposition, in deflection of momentum.” Jedi becoming the water, not the wall, it bred a peaceful state of mind that had been so long absent from Kei in his youth, but more and more here he found that peace as he deepened his connection to this place.

The circle applied to stance and position, the outer ring, but basics first. Honestly Kei had never had a student even attempt this, it was a rare thing to get someone who could visualize theory, technique as well as practical application. The Epicathix nodded impressed, perhaps if he were another Jedi, he could speak on the most internal circle, the spirit, the force within, and perhaps Kratos would understand better than most, even Master it, but Kei was not the man to initiate that discussion.

The crystal within Kei's own chest might have spurred new understanding, or just teaching this way, who could say.

“Picture the outer ring, keep your body central, how does it turn in Soresu?” Kei stepped forward but he didn’t swing, he just moved his feet and body forward, as if he would be making a downward swing on the diagram, the red line meeting Kratos’s hopefully circular movement. This was advanced in understanding, could he apply the knowledge of the diagram to how he moved? The tricky part was keeping central to his opponent, just how did the body move as a circle?

[member="Kratos Bandua"]​

 

[Kratos Bandua]

Spheres, not circles. Three dimensions, not two. It was clearer to Kratos now. The concept being displayed in the third dimension was infinitely more practical than in two. A drawing could only approximate a three-dimensional object. Still, the spheres of Soresu were muddy at best to him. He could understand the idea in concept, but not in practice. One advantage to self training was that he understood everything he taught himself. Of course, the obvious downside was that he couldn't advance very far in combat, having reached the limit of his instinctual knowledge. Perhaps meditation could help with the problem; he'd always used it to decipher the cryptic riddles of the B'omarr.

But he could tell his teacher was a man of action and few words, more direct than Kratos. If anything, he mused, Master Amadis was more like the straightforward chops and slashes of Shii-cho, and he, Kratos, was more like the spherical Soresu. A sphere had no beginning and no end, no sides, nothing straightforward. The B'omarr teachings had pondered much over the concept of circles and spheres while he was there, but he had ignored most of it. How he wished he had paid attention! He had never imagined something so complex and ethereal as meditation could be so practical and physical. Yet, the more he thought about circles and spheres, the more he understood.

He had toned out his master for a little bit, lost in thought. Spheres and circles, circles and spheres. He only paid attention again when his master stepped forward as if to swing downward. Thinking carefully about the motions of Soresu, Kratos envisioned the sphere around him, the circle of protection as a barrier to the potential strike. He paid special attention to not breaking the circle, allowing himself to move his whole body within its boundaries but never leave it. His arm movement followed the circle as well, utilizing the motion to let Master Amadis' theoretical strike be redirected away from the confines of the circle.

"This circle" he wondered as he followed through the motion, "I can understand chops and slashes, but how would it answer a lunging strike? Would you still follow the same motion, but with a smaller circle?" It seemed like an obvious hole in the defense with the larger, sweeping circle he was being taught now, but if the entire form was based off of circles, did that mean that the circles' size could change?

[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

"That is down to you," and where Kratos would take the fundamentals into his own form. Kei's throat was dry, much to explain, too much talking! Noticing his apprentice’s eyes glaze over he had felt the same. Taking a swig of water happily, and offering his student the same from a passing droid, the Jedi Master took a moment. Loosened up his neck and shoulders before waving Kratos back to the mat. He began showing silently by example. Kei walked so he was a half step away from Kratos as if to demonstrate the point and tried to lunge, there was little room to move, possible but very awkward given Soresu’s ideally close distance. Then he demonstrated the Soresu spins, and orbits, how they needed so little distance to execute compared to a regular form, or a lunge, maintaining close distance was often a huge advantage for a Soresu user.

Though you didn’t always have control over distance, or sometimes faced someone who knew how to create it.

“3D and Not.” Kei took the holocron and placed it above them, fixing the device on the stairs. The diagram showed the same circle mapped out only now on the floor. Kei stepped back then lunged very slowly as if moving along the central line. Same principal, “deflect me. There is no weight in beam Kratos,” even if he faced weight in a sword, it was rare to meet anything heavier than a rapier or katana size in combat by a force user.

Sabers were relatively light to block, it was the hardest thing a student often found to get used to, the lack of any weight anywhere but the hilt, often causing overswings. Sure someone could put strength behind it, if someone got their weight physically behind the hilt to push, but still even the heaviest sword meeting a solid surface moved, sword or saber fighters didn't need as much strength as you think. “Rare to see a practitioner lunge with their full weight.” If they put all themselves into the blow, it was often over reaching, too much and committed them too far. A constant Djem So hazard for certain that would by its nature expose them to Soresu's disabling strikes.

“Lunge at me.” Kei gave him a full step's worth of room.

[member="Kratos Bandua"]​

 

[Kratos Bandua]

As his master demonstrated the effects of Soresu for him, Kratos paid close attention, his eyes tracking every muscle movement. He guessed from what Master Amadis implied that he was not a master of Soresu, but still very proficient. He tried to commit to memory every rotation of the blade, every shift in footwork, and the overall presence of Master Amadis as he ran through some demonstrations. His studies in meditation allowed him to maintain an intense focus, his eyes locked on his master at all times. Kratos had only caught a glimpse of Soresu during the last few minutes, his understanding placing him only a few steps into an infinite ocean. He knew it would be years before he could master the form, but the prospect failed to daunt him. Master Amadis seemed like an excellent teacher, one that he could learn vast amounts from.

After his master mentioned it, Kratos noticed for the first time how light the lightsaber really was. All the weight in the hilt, and it could cut through most materials like butter. An odd, but powerful, combination. He let his focus drift from his master for the first time, noticing that the two were being watched by some of the children. In some ways, Kratos felt ashamed, knowing that some of these young children could potentially best him in a lightsaber duel. It dawned on him just how much he had yet to learn. It was one thing to be outclassed by a master, but to be beaten by a child would be the epitome of shame.

He regained his focus, drawing his attention away from the group of children and back to his master. He wanted Kratos to demonstrate a lunge, most likely to show him how Soresu answered it. Kratos knew first-hand the danger of a committed lunge. The entirety of his weight would be forward, and he'd disabled many opponents by simply sidestepping and transferring their momentum past him. It was risky, but if the strike hit it rarely left the target alive.

He could feel the eyes of the children on the back of his head as he readied himself, switching on the lightsaber. He knew that his master had already set it to a non-injuring setting, so he wasn't worried if his master somehow missed the deflection. Taking a breath, he stepped forward, putting all of his energy in a forward thrust towards his master's midsection. He didn't hold back, knowing that hesitation would only harm the simulation. The blue blade struck out at lightning speed, a flash of light aimed straight for Master Amadis' gut.


[member="Kei Amadis"]