Inside a small odditorium style room of the jedi temple, Zell stood in the center on a slightly elevated platform. In front of him a few meters away was a lined up group of five adult individuals who were observing him.
The five figures were jedi masters. Among them Zell recognized two, they were jedi instructors he often learned under during some of his mediation classes.
Zell guessed that the other three figures were likely also jedi instructors, and that they were all here to evaluate him as proctors for the first part of his trials.
That's right, at present Zell was in the process of under going his initiate trials.
About six days after his reunion with Nelko, Zell was informed that he had been deemed ready for his trials, and the chance to become a jedi padawan.
As he stood in place, Zell could feel their focused and inquisitive gazes firmly on him. The shear pressure from this moment was so stifling that most normal initiates Zell's age would be feeling so nervous they'd be hesitant to speak, but Zell thought a bit uncomfortable was perfectly calm.
"Zell Mooncrest, please at this time, recite the jedi code"
"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force."
As he spoke the jedi code, Zell did so both clearly and confidently without an ounce of anxiety. Thanks to his photo graphic memory, recalling a mantra that he had heard and repeated countless times since his infant days was an effortless task.
"Well do initiate Mooncrest. Now please give us your own interpretation of the code...."
Satisfied with Zell's utterance of the code the proctors followed up by asking a few questions, aimed to test Zell's understanding and views on the code. As well as how he interpreted its meaning.
Zell gave his answers, of which mostly aligned with what the current order viewed as acceptable. Though inwardly he did have some more personally aligned comments he'd have liked to voice as his answers, but he knew now was hardly the best time, especially if he wanted to pass his trials.
After five minutes of questions, he received a passing mark from the proctors.
"That is the end of this trial Mooncrest, you will have a one hour intermission before you are contacted and directed to the next. You may go now"
Said the head proctor.
After which a person who appeared to be an assistant proctor approached Zell and handed him a small communication device. The means by which Zell would be contacted for his next trial.
Seeing this as the sign for him to leave, he turned around and exited the room.
******
An hour passed and like he was told, Zell was contacted through the communication device he was given and was instructed to come to the Jedi Temple's training gallery.
Once there Zell would stand face to face with training droid. One that appeared no different from the countless others the jedi order used for lightsaber training and spar exercises.
'huh? will this trial be a simple spar, me against this droid'
He thought, while eyeing the seemly unimpressive droid
Surrounding the two, waiting on the edge of the sparring arena were nearly two dozen jedi knights and masters. People who are likely here to personally evaluate Zell's performance. Similarly to how the five proctors in the first trail did.
Standing between Zell and the droid was a Rodian jedi knight, who from what Zell could tell was serving a sort of overseer or referee role for this.
'I'm guessing all these people are here to observe this part of the trials personally. Makes sense, the first trail does not really tell a knight or master much about their prospective padawans. Other than the fact they have a some what decent memory. During this trial they have an actual chance to see if initiates have any really skill or not'
Little did Zell know, how right he was.
After passing the first part of the initiate trails, initiates must next demonstrate their skills with the blade.
"Mooncrest for your next task you will be dueling this training droid"
The rodian jedi knight said for all to hear.
Eyeing the droid up and down Zell once again saw no noticeable distinctions that made this droid any different from the many others the order used to training. As such, he inwardly questioned why such a generic model was being used for his trial.
Having fought and trained with so many of the usual practices droids the order utilized, he had became quite proficient in crossing blades with them. He became so used to them he needed to face several of them at the same to time, or even use the ones designed to face official padawans, just to get in a good workout.
Zell didn't see how this thing would given he a challenge or help him show case his true skill to the on lookers, but as if responding to his thoughts the knight resumed speaking.
"However be warned initiate, this droid is different from the standard models you may have faced before"
Zell's ears perked up hearing this.
"Though it may seem ordinary, make no mistake this is a specialized model. A combat melee droid that has been augmented to have seven different levels of difficulty.
Using the provided training sabers you will face it starting off on level one, this will have its saber skills slightly below that of a somewhat trained initiate"
Sensing where this was going Zell put his guard up and prepared mentally for the fight to come.
"Should you defeat it you will then face it again at level two, where its combat prowess will raise significantly. If you emerge victorious again you will then face it at level 3 with another raise in difficulty"
"This process will continue until you either succumb to defeat, choose to surrender willing when you can't fight any more, or manage to defeat it at level 7"
'I see. I suppose this will be a challenge after all'
Recognizing the daunting task in front of himself, Zell steadied himself.
"At level 7 the droids skills will mirror that of an experienced knight. So be prepared"
Finishing his explanation the overseeing knight moved away from the center of the room, clearly the way for Zell and the droid to fight.
"Zell Mooncrest are you ready"
"Yes"
"Then begin!"
After giving the starting signal the knight pressed a button on his wrist gauntlet, and the combat droid immediately turned on and activated its training saber. Zell followed suit, and quickly took the traditional form one stance, ready to take the droid's leading attack head on.
The combat droid made the first move, leaping at Zell with great speed, and the two locked blades. From locking blades Zell could feel that the droid's strength, and at the moment it was slightly weaker that his own. Seeing no reason to hold back he decided to take advantage of this.
Putting strength in has arms he pushed greatly against his opponent, throwing the droid a good three feet back onto its back foot, ending the lock.
Taking this chance Zell went on the offensive, throwing strikes at the droid. It in turn it quickly switched to a defensive stance, moving to block and deflect Zell's blows.
The two of them exchanged another 8 blows before Zell would land a low strike on the droid's left thigh, dropping it to one kneel. As they were using training lightsaber no actual damage was done to the droid's body.
But a bright red mark was present at the spot where it was hit.
This specialized seemed to have been built with many miniature sensors all over its body. When struck by a training saber the sensors on the droids body will then show where its been hit with a red mark. And at the same time the those sensors will cause it to mirror similarly to how a real person would react to the same hit from an actual lightsaber.
Detecting the hit the droid dropped to one knee.
After landing that strike Zell quickly followed up by spinning with the momentum and landed a diagonal slash on the droid's chasse, not giving it time to recover.
Ending the first bout in Zell's victory.
"Not bad, this youngling shows much promise"
"Perhaps. But lets not be too quick to judge"
"Yes this was only the first round, its expected that most initiates are able to pass this level"
"That's right, its from here on out we'll see what's he really capable of"
Various conversations from the older jedi were being held in regard to Zell's performance thus far. A few gave favorable impressions, but most were withholding judgment until after they saw more.
Zell ignored all these, wanting to use the brief intermission he was given before the next round to steady and center himself.
******
"Mooncrest, ready yourself for the next battle"
"Understood"
The intermission over, the overseer callout to Zell, notifying of the next round starting. After hearing Zell's confirmation and seeing him take his stance, the overseer set the droid's difficulty to level 2 using his wrist mounted controller.
"Then, Begin!"
At the signal the droid reactivated and lounged at Zell, clearly faster than it was previously.
After this Zell continued facing off against the combat droid, and just like in the first round, he claimed victory in the following second, third, fourth rounds.
Clearly levels 2, 3 and 4.
Beads of sweat could be seen formed on Zell's brow, due to the back to backs fights that only gave short periods of rest in between. And just like the overseer said, each higher level proved more arduous than the last. This combined with the fact Zell was only given brief periods in between the matches to catch his breath caused his fatigue to quickly build up.
"And...her...here, I thought I had increased my sta...stamina quite a bit. Guess I have grown complacent. Note to self time to intensify my training a little"
He muttered to himself barely out of ear shot of anyone else, lamenting his current physical state. All while taking in quiet deep breaths, trying to replenish the depleted oxygen in his body.
"Zell Mooncrest the next match is about to begin, please take you position and stance"
Breaking Zell from his thoughts the announcement for the next match was given.
'Alright time to switch tactics'
Raising his right hand over his head, blade backed in a one-handed grip, angled forwards with his blade arm held parallel, his other arm held up in a challenge.
Some of the on lookers showed surprised expressions, recognizing what Zell was doing.
Upon till now he had stuck with using form one, the first form that all younglings are taught. This form while not suited for one on one fights, like the one Zell found himself in at the moment, it had served him well enough for the first four matches, since it was the form he was most experienced with.
However with his stamina greatly depleted, and knowing his opponent will only become more formidable, Zell saw he couldn't maintain his current gameplan if he want to keep winning.
So he chose to make a gamble.
He chose to switch from form one to form three, Soresu, the defensive form.
As an initiate the only officially form taught to Zell was form one. The others are normally only taught to an initiate after they pass their trails and become a padawan. Where under the tutelage of a knight or master they be instructed in one or two lightsaber forms that fit their strengths and style. With the rare case of where someone is talented enough to learn all seven.
But Zell made an effort to sometimes watch the free to view dueling matches and sparring sessions of padawans, knights, and masters. By watching them Zell tried to gain at least a rudimentary understanding of the other forms, memorizing their stances, positioning, and techniques. And when training alone he would try to imitate them.
Of course since he did not have a proper teacher to guide him in the movements, he only managed to recreate slightly more crude, incomplete versions of the forms. But he still saw no harm in getting an early start on them.
"Begin!"
Just like the previous matches after hearing the starting signal the droid immediately charged.
Staying focused Zell took the incoming attack and deflected it downward to the ground. Then he swiftly moved to the droid's side, in hopes of landing a slash to its abdominal side.
But before Zell could strike the droid recovered, and it moved to deliver an upward slash at Zell's torso. Seeing the incoming attack that he determined was faster than his own, and would hit first, Zell stopped his strike and instead moved to intercepted the incoming blow.
However at the last second, just before the two blades connected, the droid's saber stopped on its path. The droid then ducked down, and the pummel of its saber's hilt found its self imbedded deep in Zell's solar plexus.
Completely surprised by the sudden duck, Zell was caught off guard, leaving him no time to dodge or defend. This resulted in him being sent back a good five feet, landing on his back.
Zell gasped for air desperately trying to refill his lungs, as that blow to his plexus had effectively pushed all the oxygen out of his lungs. But unfortunately, not allowing him the chance to even do that, the combat droid pressed its assault.
Throwing a slash at Zell while his was still on the ground.
In a panic Zell rolled away from the slash at the last moment, barely avoiding it. Zell continued his rolling as the droid kept sending follow up attacks, never given him an opportunity to get back on his feet.
But at some point he was able to build up enough momentum that he managed to push himself off the ground, launching into the air and landing on his feet.
'Dammit! that hurt! I suppose this thing is mixing in faints now, huh. I need to be more careful, the match almost ended right there. Maybe I should go on the offensive after all, and try and break its rhythm'
As his mind raced Zell rubbed his solar plexus, which was radiating pain, as he considered ditching his defense based strategy.
'No, no, calm down Zell, that things attack patterns have changed, trying to force my way through will mostly do me more harm than good. Plus my muscles are to weak from fatigue to launch any meaningful attacks at that thing, and I bet its defenses have improved to. Stick to the plan, stay on defense and wait for a opening'
A lengthy engagement of a good nine minutes ensued after that, with both sided receiving and dealing shallow wounds to each other. Though most of the received hits were on Zell's end.
Nearing the end everyone watching could tell that Zell was being pushed back, even now when he was mainly focusing on defense.
Many thinking that this was most likely it. That he was about to loss.
But in response to a thrusting strike the droid throw as a finishing blow to an exhausted Zell. He managed to just barely dodge it at the last moment, the droid's training saber sliding past his torso a mere centimeter away. Zell imminently catch the thrust aimed at his chest, under one of his arm pits, locking the droid's overextended arm in place.
Moving swiftly, before the combat droid could attempt to free itself from his hold, Zell performed an upward reverse grip slash from below, slashing it crossed its chest using his saber held in his free hand.
Having been delt a critical hit the droid collapsed to the floor, deactivating.
Seeing that it was over Zell's muscles relaxed, buckling under his own weight. He dropped his saber and was kneeling on one leg, on the floor, clear exhaustion oozing from every pour.
Heavy sweat drenching his training tunic.
Though the match was a nail bitter, Zell was able to claim victory for the fifth round.