Progress

Jaiden zipped around the target. In each hand he held Chakram, allowing him to move fluidly in and around the defense of the sparring partner. The style allowed for Jaiden's more instinctive grasp of the force to guide him without him completely sacrificing his learned skill. It wouldn't work against the majority of Jedi or Sith, sadly, as it required the user to get very close to their target to inflict damage. Chakram, aside from being largely throwing weapons, were primarily used to trap and deflect blades, so the aggressive style relied a good deal on Jaiden jabbing the blades towards his enemies. If a combatant used two blades, it became exponentially more difficult to compete, thus his actual saber would be tucked in the Chakram, with the blades of the Chakram able to fold in to make a knucklebow when not in use.

His current partner, an acolyte named Kaylen, used a single blade. Jaiden effortlessly danced around the older man, letting the force flow through him to strengthen his hits and hone his instincts. Though his fellow acolyte was no slouch, he moved in a constantly changing pattern to avoid a combat rhythm and keep Jaiden on his toes. In the end, Kaylen's defense was in vain, as Jaiden jabbed his blade in an unnatural arc towards Kaylen's temple.

Kas'im had walked Jaiden through every component of his movement system. He found that he liked learning from the saber instructor, much more than he enjoyed Qordis' 'lessons'. His practical application of the force was prodigal, unheard of, but he didn't need hatred to access it, and Jaiden believed that fact bothered Qordis. Jaiden was far too close to a Jedi in style, primarily calming his mind and batting away emotion, for any observant Sith to be comfortable.

Because of his unique way of accessing the force, Jaiden struggled heavily to use alignment-specific abilities as of now. Lighting did not come to him at all, it was unnatural for him to warp the energy in such a chaotic fashion. He could lift thousands of pounds with telekinesis but heavily struggled to gather the force to create a gale.

Qordis, not so affectionately, referred to Jaiden as 'Hammer'. It made Jaiden quickly realize that his only advantage in the force was access, he would learn just as slow as everyone else when it came to finesse.

When he wasn't getting his ass handed to him in new and inventive ways, he was in the archive. He had read most of the collection the archives currently held and had personally undergone the process of typing up some older tomes, having only one copy was a failure that the Sith would pay for. The archives were not particularly large, disappointingly, so the task would likely be done within a year.

He'd found some incredibly interesting works, despite the lacking number, including a tome focusing on creating a mental pyramid. Through the force, you could turn your mind into something resembling a Holocron, the only issue being the high likelihood of you killing yourself in the creation process. At first this had turned Jaiden away, as it likely did many others, but then he confirmed his worst fear.

During a challenge, his partner had hit hard and tore open a small hash across Jaiden's shoulder. When Jaiden had left to tend to the wound, he watched as the gash stitched itself together before his eyes. To make sure he wasn't insane, he had used a sterilized needle to make a light incision on his palm; it healed instantly. Going a step further, and deciding he was insane, he cut off the tip of his finger. It took him nearly an hour to build up the courage to complete the task, and he bit through a pillow into his tongue in response to the pain, but it healed in seconds.

This discovery had made him feel empty. His potential immortality was a cruel reality that would mean horrible things for his life in this universe. Immortality sounds glorious, in concept, until the implications are thought of. He was not a Sith, not truly. He wanted loved ones, he wanted children, yet he would live long past their natural lifespans. What would he do after the first 100 million years? What about after the second 100 million years?

At first he tried to ignore the potential, banish it from his thoughts. He kept up his ignorant act for a week before realizing that his immortality made far too much sense to be denied. This universe was attached to his mind, it's existence maintained by his presence, he could not die.

Now he sat in his room, thinking about it.

The revelation had let him do something he hadn't been able to for the entire 6 months he'd been at the academy, he touched the dark side. His rage at the futility of his future fed the dark side and he was nearly consumed by the raw power of it. It terrified him then, now he was curious.

Jaiden let his rage come out, stoked it with all his petty insecurities and flaws, letting his rage at the world and himself brew in his mind. The dark force responded, feeding into him. His eyes went yellow, though he couldn't know that, and the air became volatile around him.

He let the finality of his newfound knowledge sink in, his regret that he would watch this universe die, the dark side roared.

He didn't stop it, he let the power consume him, and he exploded with power. A whirling storm circled through his room, an all consuming maelstrom of energy.

He let himself be consumed by the dark side, a mistake he would never make again.