The Dark Academy on Korriban

It was a day of the week, so Jo'ren Rath was out in the training yards practicing with his double-bladed lightsaber. There was a large open space around him, as of no other aspirants, and certainly none of the trainees, were willing to get anywhere near to that weapon.

Perhaps Jaina would take an interest today. Mostly she just left him to it. His core skills were developing well, but he still had a long way to go before he advanced to another rank of Shii-Cho.

Slyvain came to the training grounds as well that morning. He had dedicated himself to his training with greater intensity after felling the Jedi. He wanted to prove to himself that it wasn't luck that had helped him win the day.

Seeing the Sith training with the double-bladed lightsaber nearby, Sylvain took a short break from his reps to watch the unique style.

For a big man, and Jo'ren was bigger than most, he was remarkably agile. The way that he twisted and spun the blades was impressive and it was clear he would be a rather fierce opponent in battle.

After a few more drills and forms he paused in his training and turned to face the newcomer. Red-gold eyes flicked up and down over the human, pausing on the lightsaber.

"I've seen you once or twice but I don't know you." They had yet to cross paths. "Who are you?"

Sylvain nodded his head, "Name is Sylvain Torsin."

"It's nice to meet you. Are you the sith of the Rath line? I've heard of you."

Jo'ren nodded.

"Torsin huh? Right, your name has come up once or twice. Yeah, I'm Jo'ren Rath." The lightsaber moved to his left hand and he moved closer, offering a very large red hand to Sylvain.

"You're a friend of Shaisha, right?"

"I am." He replied with a smile. "She was raised in my house. You've met her?"

"Yes, a few times now." He looked the kid up and down again. "So you're the Minister of War's son? That's quite the background. Family must be proud to have a Sith-in-training in the house."

He gestured to the training saber that Sylvain was carrying. "How's your training coming on? Are you a warrior like me, or does the force take you down a different path?"

"It's going well enough. Killed my first Jedi a couple of weeks ago." He said with a smile. "I'm not a duelist per se, but it helps to obtain any form of power one can." He looked at the bigger Sith, "You look perfectly suited for hand to hand combat."

"Raths are warriors born." He grinned at the smaller man. "You killed a Jedi huh? Nice work for a not-duelist. How'd you do it?"

"Came across one out in the Deep Wastes with my friend Kristal Serasai. Kristal and I fought the woman, Kris nearly went down, but I finished the bitch in time." He said.

The big guy nodded at that explanation. Having also met a Jedi in the Deep Wastes it seemed like the thing to do. "Oh yes, I've met Kristal too. She's impressive. Good there were two of you. A Jedi against a Sith-in-training would be a hard one to walk away from. With two of you the odds still weren't good. Congratulations."

He pointed to the training saber. "So how are your skills coming along now? You planning to fight any more Jedi any time soon?"

"If one put themselves in front of me like last time, I assume I'd have no choice." He smiled.

"I've put some time into it recently because it is not what I would call my best strength."

Jo'ren grinned at him. "Then what would you say is your best strength, Aspirant Torsin, son of the Minister of War?"

The big red sith seemed almost jovial. It was a stark contrast to many of the true sith around here, although Sylvain's exposure to Shaisha probably gave him a different view of the sith than most.

"You're doing the right thing by the way. Get out here every day, train hard, you'll improve. Doesn't always feel like it, but you will."

"Thank you. I have become stronger and know I will continue to become so as I push myself." He smiled.

"As for my skills, I am more centered on using my abilities to influence the minds and hearts of individuals. I seek to dominate the inner-self as opposed to the outer manifestations of the self."

"Yep, keep pushing. Only way to become more than what you are."

Having little expertise in that area he just nodded. "Hearts and minds huh? You planning to be a politician then? Not my area, but I can see the use of it. My fellow sith Khalim has a similar skill set."

Of course Khalim was also good with the 'saber.

"I met him yesterday. Did you know him before coming to Korriban?" He asked.

"No, we met on the voyage to Korriban. He has the bearing of a Sith already." Jo'ren moved from foot to foot. "Okay, I don't want to warm down completely. Let's talk and train, or train, or spar, or something."

He settled into a stance and began a form that looked like it probably ended with someone being sliced apart by focused light.

"Alright." Sylvain said and readied himself.

Jo'ren finished his form, deactivated his lightsaber and collected a training saber.

"Alright, let's see what you've got. Bit of light sparring and then some drills?"

The bigger man threw him a few attacks that were easily blocked if Syl knew what he was doing. Given how big he was, the sith moved quickly and was surefooted.

And for the basics Sly was no slouch. He lacked size and advanced techniques, but was competent enough to not look foolish.

"Good, now give me everything you've got."

Jo'ren held the blade in a Shii-Cho grip and waited for Sylvain's attacks. It was a good opportunity to work on his parrying technique.

Sylvain unleashed his emotions as he desperately attacked the larger man.

While improving, it was apparent he was not in the Sith's level.

Parrying the attacks was effortless for the big warrior, but he did his best to give Sylvain a proper workout that lasted much longer than a real fight would. That was rather the point though, to train endurance. "Good, use your rage, it'll help, but I'd advise against taking on any more Jedi until you've trained for longer."

He grinned. "Or else ask someone like me for help."

Breathing somewhat heavily he asked, "Got any experience?"

"Well that's an interesting question." He gave Torsin a strange look. "Yes and no. The Force showed me a Jedi fighting two Sith. First she killed the apprentice, then she killed the Master; but she didn't kill me."

He rubbed his cheek spikes. "I'm not exactly sure what that means. Anyway, I haven't killed one yet, but the harder I train the easier it'll get. Raths have been killing Jedi since they were called Je'daii."