[Avatar] 15 – Making a Deal

[1,936 Words]

[A/N: For the life of me, I could not come up with any good descriptions for the new skills; help would be appreciated.]

The silence that echoed through the chamber was loud. 

"What do you want in exchange for teaching me how to summon and use Sith Lightning?" I asked again, making sure that he heard me clearly while he floated in the air, his posture stiff, his gaze unblinking and burrowing into me.

The silence only grew as Darth Bane seemed to go into deep thought, letting out this piercing hum that echoed around the chamber. I had no idea what was going through the Ancient Sith's mind, nor could I guess what he could want from me, especially when taking into account his current state of affairs, as in he's currently dead, and has been for quite some time.

"Better yourself. Train, grow, and fight until you become a Sith worthy of becoming a Darth," He made his demand known, but I only responded with confusion.

"Is...Is that all?" I asked, baffled by his straightforward demand, a demand that I'd try my best to fulfill regardless of whether he helped me or not.

"No," He hissed, "Grow and become strong. Strong enough to remold my Order into proper Sith. Test your strength against the current Master and Student, and if you find them wanting, eliminate them."

"And if I do kill them? What then?" I asked, primarily to gather more information rather than make any real promise.

"If you, an outsider to my Order, manage to defeat them, then they are not worthy of the title of Sith," He growled, his presence in the Force flaring with his convictions and belief in his Banite Sith Order. 

"So you plan on using me as a whetstone to sharpen them?" I asked, trying to understand what he was really asking from me.

"A whetstone to sharpen and hone their edge, or a hammer to break and shatter. If they fall to a novice like you, then they were not worthy. If you crush them, then a new Master and Student will eventually take their place," He revealed, and knowing how paranoid Sith are and were, I was willing to bet someone like Darth Bane had set up countermeasures to ensure that there would be a Master and Student, even if both were to die before they could continue the cycle.

"How could you possibly trust that I'd fulfill said bargain?" I had to ask, which only made Darth Bane let out an evil chuckle before his presence flooded the room, unlike anything he had done before; his sheer presence in the Force smothered me and physically crushed me to the ground under the weight of his presence.

I groaned as I felt like I was but a bug being squashed beneath a giant boot, and yet Darth Bane's laugh continued to echo around the chamber.

"I have ways to ensure you keep your end of any bargains we make," Darth Bane finally spoke, though I found it hard to hear him as my ears began to bleed and my head began to spin.

Then the pressure abruptly stopped, letting me take in a gasp of air that I didn't know I was desperately needing.

"It would be in your best interest to fulfill your end of the bargain," He threatened, or didn't really, as I knew better than even to try something so stupid as go against a deal with one of the most notorious Sith Lords in History, and one who single-handedly killed countless Sith and Jedi.

"Message heard loud and clear," I groaned out as the telltale 'dings' echoed in my ear.

[Pressure Resistance Obtained!]

[Pressure Resistance: Level 1 --> 9]

Pushing away the two messages for now, I looked up at the always-angry Ghost hovering above me.

"So, do you accept the price, oh Acolyte?" His tone bit at me, as if he was ready to screw me over with the deal without any hesitation, as he believed was his right as the one with all the power in this supposed deal.

"Yeah, we got a deal," I accepted, not even really thinking about it, as I was willing to bet I'd find myself back in the Academy after all of this was over, regardless of what he wanted me to do to two Sith born countless years after I'd naturally die of old age or from some battle.

Though I couldn't see his face beneath his helmet, I got the distinct feeling that Darth Bane smiled.

...

So began even more hellish training disguised as torture. Darth Bane believed that the best way to teach me how to summon Sith Lightning was through exposure—intense and continuous exposure to Sith Lightning for hours.

The sheer amount of control he had over the Lightning meant that no matter how I adjusted to the pain, he always found ways to push my will to the brink of unconsciousness, but only the brink. He always stopped a moment before I'd pass out, and with how I healed, he didn't seem to care if the Lightning would do any permanent damage, not that any injury I've suffered so far had left anything resembling a scar.

This control he had meant that he made it as painful as possible, to the point my muscles seized, my blood boiled, my heart stopped, but he always revived me or waited until I recovered even a bit before doing it all over again. 

This pain, of course, led to significant growth in several of my skills, including the acquisition of two new resistance skills.

[Lesser Force Sensitivity: Level 26 --> 30]

[Danger Sense: Level 7 --> 19]

[Meditation: Level 19 --> 27]

[Pain Tolerance: Level 32 --> Level 53]

[Electrical Resistance: Level 1 --> 8] 

[Thermal Resistance: Level 1 --> 12]

Meditation and Pain Tolerance both reached a stage where I could choose another perk. Still, I haven't had the time nor the will to actually select anything until now due to the pain he inflicted on me every moment I breathed and was conscious over the last who knows how many hours since he started.

The only reason he stopped was that, in my rage and suffering, I somehow managed to use something resembling Sith Lightning. However, instead of the expected effect, the Lightning took on a reddish hue like his, while mine remained white. Which, according to Darth Bane, resembled something closer to the Electric Judgement and normal Sith Lightning other Force Users wielded, which explained nothing of why his were red in hue.

I was just glad the torture was over, and with it, he finally asked me about the Soul I...cleansed and attached to my own. He didn't say much about my...actions, but I could sense the sheer disapproval and disgust in his gaze.

Since then, it's been relatively tame, and I finally took some time to sleep, which, as it turned out, I only needed exactly eight hours of sleep, from which I seemed to wake up fully healed and restored. Mana Exhaustion was gone, and what damage occurred to my soul was fixed as well.

At the moment, Darth Bane has left me alone to meditate while he contemplated his next 'assignment' for me, so, with the time to spare, I addressed my new skills and perk choices, starting with explaining my newest skills and their descriptions.

[Pressure Resistance - Level 9 | Resistance | - Description: Your body has been placed under tremendous pressure. With time and experience, your body adapts to handle and tolerate these increased pressures, allowing for the movement or survival in harsh environments with High Gravity, Atmospheric Pressure, or Radiation Pressure.]

[Electrical Resistance - Level 8 | Resistance | - Description: Your body has been afflicted with tremendous amounts of energy and radiation. With time and experience, your body adapts to handle and tolerate this emitted and harmful radiation and energy, hardening your flesh, blood, and cells against this harmful radiation and energy.]

[Thermal Resistance - Level 12 | Resistance | - Description: Your body has been afflicted with tremendous thermal energy and radiation. With time and experience, your body adapts to handle and tolerate this emitted thermal radiation and energy, hardening your flesh, blood, and cells against harmful thermal radiation.] 

[Force: Lightning - Level 1 | Active/Technique | - Description: Lightning, one of the most common and developed Force Techniques, has been utilized by practitioners of the Force since time primordial. Yours is underdeveloped and lacks any actual power, but with time, experience, and honing, the Force Lightning you utilize could surpass all others. Costs: 1-100 Mana Per Second]

Outside of what I expected from the first three resistances, the last one intrigued me the most, primarily because of the cost per second I incurred while using it. Sure, pushing only a single point of Mana into the force lightning would likely be no better than a spark or a slight shock. Still, the sheer versatility of power I could put into the lightning meant that whoever I used it against would be in for one hell of a surprise if a small stream of lightning suddenly turned into a lightning bolt.

I then looked at the options of Perks for Meditation and Pain Tolerance. Starting with Meditation, I had three options. Intense, Vitality, and Focused.

Intensity increased the MP regeneration by a factor of two. Vitality gave me enhanced HP Regen while meditating, and Focused seemed, by its description, to make it easier to meditate while allowing for it to be 'deeper,' which didn't explain much.

Choosing Intensity would up my MP regen from 27% to 54% while Vitality would give me a flat 10% HP regen per hour I meditated. Each had its own perks, but the first two options didn't look as good as Focused, mainly because of how the Perk was described. If I could delve deeper into my meditation, would that increase the speed at which my Force Sensitivity skill grows? Make it easier to sense or dive into the Force?

I didn't exactly need the increased HP Regen, especially seeing as it required me to be meditating in the first place. My MP pool was small enough that the regen I currently gained would be sufficient, especially as it increased in level, so my only real option, mainly for curiosity's sake, I chose 'Focused.'

As for Pain Tolerance, one of the three options was the same, that being the 'Adaptable' perk. The two new perk options were 'Indirect' and 'Pain Threshold.' Of which Threshold interested me far more than the other option.

Indirect sounded next to useless, as it would allow me to direct whatever pain I am feeling to somewhere else on my body, which sounded pretty redundant. What was I going to do if I was stabbed? Move that pain to my foot? It certainly wouldn't stop me from bleeding out or stop the pain at all.

Pain Threshold, on the other hand, raised the bar in terms of how much pain I'd have to feel for it actually to register in my brain. If it were not severe enough or painful enough, I wouldn't even feel the pain, and while that could be a serious issue for someone from my past life, for me? It was perfect, seeing as I had a constant awareness of my health due to my status. The choice was obvious; I chose Pain Threshold.

Now, since I have some time, why don't I try out and put these new perks to the test?