Time disappeared as Orex fell deeper into Nihilus' influence. His inner conflicts and anger were gone. His core replaced by the purest definition of nothing. But like a Black Hole that nothing was a Singularity. One of Power, pure Power. The longer he knelt before the Mask, the greater he felt it grow. It was overwhelming him to the point that after almost two hours of meditation, his mind itself began to fall away into nothing.
Orex wrenched himself from the Mask upon the pedestal.
His eyes slowly opened. The deep pits of black replaced by the piercing grey he normally portrayed as Nihilus left his body. As slowly as he had opened his eyes, he stood to his feet. A brief exhale and he turned to return to the ground. He had felt Demitry arrive and was aware of his movements. Once he had come close enough to the Facility, Orex interrupted the meditation to attend to his new student. He quickly descended the turbolift and walked the twenty minute journey to where he felt Demitry was closest.
Along the way he lost himself to his thoughts. Rocks crumbled underfoot as he began to contemplate himself. Frustration was at the forefront. There was a certain point in his Meditation of Nihilus when he would become overwhelmed. Nihilus' power was simply too much as it would begin to infect his mind and drain his ability to function. Why was this? Because he was not strong enough to resist all of his draining influence. Orex was on autopilot at this point. Walking vaguely towards where he assumed Demitry was, but not thinking about it at all. Why was he not powerful enough? Knowledge screamed its name in response. Orex grasped this response and thought further. Had he simply not gathered what he needed to know? Of course not. That is the wonder of Science, one can never know it all. But the Force was different to Science. The Force was a Being that could be studied to completion. He needed more. He needed answers to questions that angered him.
The sound of the Speeder was lost to him, only when it tore up the rocks infront of his feet was he aware. Orex snapped out of his thoughts and glared at Demitry. His student had almost hit him while he contemplated. Reflex anger soon subsided as Orex neutralised his thoughts. It was of course partly his fault. One should always be aware, and never lost in petty thought.
"Let us get started then."
A perpetually eager boy to which Orex took a moment to respond.
"Mm, yes."
Orex didn't look at Demitry, rather he surveyed their surroundings. They were amidst the rubble of a ruined mountain. No doubt a result of the Yuuzhan-Vong. A brief thought of a training ground or academy flashed in Orex's mind. A better use of all this Rubble he thought. Orex closed his eyes and spread his fingers slightly. For a good five minutes he stood, occasionally frowning until finally his hand jerked skywards and, moments later, a sizeable bird flew throat-first into his grip. The animal struggled in his hand, to which Orex countered by holding it out at arm's length.
"Now then. Let us look at an ability I call my own. One that comes in handy in a variety of situations. What we commonly see among the religious rabble of the Jedi and Sith are brute, blatant actions with no Intricacy. A force-push for example. Useful, yes, but what else have you got to offer that doesn't include throwing seven men through a window? What I specialise in, is the precise anatomy of all living things. Something you experienced with that gash on your face and the wrist I trust I hadn't damaged too much."
Orex picked up a dead stick with his free hand and left it to float above his palm. A few moments of concentration and soon he dropped it into his fingers and snapped it. Dropping one half and showing the other to Demitry. What his student saw was the interior of the stick. But every single individual fiber had been dislocated and wound into a precise spiral, without ever disturbing the exterior.
"Now think what you could do with a much more complex organism"
Orex dropped the stick and brought the frenzied bird between them.
"This bird has a complex anatomy. As such, users of the Force would think only to manipulate the most crucial part. If this bird held a lightsaber in that wing, they would use the force to hold the wing. But what about the fingers holding the lightsaber? What about the bones within those Fingers? Why not grab hold of the tendons that pull those bones, and reverse them. Thus not only disarming your opponent, but completely ruining their hand permanently. Thankfully, this Bird does not wield a lightsaber. So, play with it. Concentrate on the Force and move it towards whatever part of the bird you wish, and then go deeper. Go as deep as you possibly can, feel the fundamental parts of the limb you wish to manipulate. If you make a mistake, do not worry. Birds are not extinct and I'm sure this one can endure a botched dislocation."
He held the bird out to Demitry and awaited his Student's efforts.
"If you go beyond the bird and I find myself with a triple-broken finger, that gash will be like a thorn in the intestines of a severed man."
[member="Demitry Draskovits"]
