Disclaimer: I do not own anything. That means: planets, powers, characters, etc…

Chapter 4: Path to Power

Korvin stayed put as he saw the ship of the man who hired him take off and leave the atmosphere. Immediately thinking of Ryder, he made the ship visible, and Korvin rushed to his ship b-lining it straight to where Ryder was hidden. He entered the cargo hold and lifted the secret panel from its place and peered into the hole.

Suddenly, a fist lunged right at Korvin's face. Having incredible perception, Korvin dodged it easily and grabbed ahold of it. He pulled Ryder from the storage area and embraced him like Alek had done just twenty minutes ago.

Tears rolled down Ryder's face as he softly hit Korvin's side. "Why did you kill him?! You were supposed to be his friend!" Angry, he backed away from Korvin.

Korvin wiped the tears from his face and said, "Because, if I didn't, us both would have died. Your father knew this was going to happen, and he made me swear that I'd be the one to do it. This had been planned for twenty years!"

Ryder punched the metal wall and yelled, "This makes no sense! What the fuck is going on?!" So many emotions ran through Ryder's head. Within the span of a single hour, Ryder had learned that his dad had special power, and supposedly he does too. He realized that evil people in this galaxy knew of him and were out to get him. Also, Ryder couldn't get passed the fact that his dad shot lightning from the palms of his hand!

Korvin walked up to Ryder and wrapped his hand with a medical wrap that he had in his supply belt. "Come over to the table," he said. "I'll answer everything there."

As he finished a small droid with two hind legs with wheels on them and a single front wheel came around the corner. Its panels were red, and the rest of its body was white. "Perfect. R2, go get me a bag of ice," commanded Korvin. The droid beeped then turned around to go to the kitchen.

Korvin guided Ryder to a table surround by two couches and sat him down. The small droid rolled up to the table with a bag of ice clinched in his mechanical hand. It dropped the bag on the table and stood there. "Thanks, R2. Now, get us out of here." The droid left and suddenly the ship shook then levitated.

"Hold on tight," Korvin warned Ryder who was still wiping wet marks off his face.

The ship stabilized and Korvin looked at Ryder. "Go look out the window," he said pointing to a window on the wall. Ryder walked over and peered out into the dark space. It was blacker than he every imagined. The cool thing was that he could see nearby planets fairly well.

"Turn the ship so that the window can see Earth," Korvin yelled up to R2. Very gently, the ship rotated giving Ryder a beautiful look of the planet he was just on. The green land mixed with the deep blue color of the ocean made him remember the beach trip that he and his dad went on.

"I can still smell it, you know," sniffled Ryder. "The smell of the salt water crashing against the shore down on Gulf Shores Beach. That was his favorite place. It's gorgeous," said Ryder. He began to chuckle, "Unless it was Spring Break."

Korvin smiled and patted the cushion of the couch and said, "Come on over. I have a few things that you might want to have." Ryder sulked over and sat next to Korvin who pulled out everything that he took from Alek's body. He placed it on the table and said, "You can take that belt off now too." Ryder unstrapped it and placed it on the table with the other items.

Ryder pointed to the two rings first saying, "These two rings were very important to your dad. I'm sure you're aware that he never took these off. He said that they held great power, but he never told me what the power was. All he said was trust me…" Korvin paused for a second to swallow a lump in his throat. One ring was a simple golden band, and the other was a golden band with a frosty blue, floral design around its outside.

"The belt you were wearing is a supply belt that hides the wearer's power level when the button is pressed. That's why the enemies didn't suspected that you were on this ship." He placed the belt down and grabbed the notebook.

"This was one of your dad journals. He called it, 'Force Applications.' I'll go into detail what the Force is later, but here you go." Ryder took the notebook and placed it next to the two rings.

Next, Korvin showed the black and silver hilt of Alek's weapon to him. "This is your father's weapon of choice. The lightsaber. It goes together with the Force. Legends say that this lightsaber belonged to one of the most powerful lightsaber duelist that had ever lived. However, I'm not going to give this to you until you make your own lightsaber, then prove that you are capable enough to wield two." This time, Korvin placed the lightsaber next to him.

Lastly, Korvin reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace with the wooden pendant that Alek had put on earlier that day. This time, the carvings on the wooden pendant was blue instead of a darker brown like before. "The massive amount of power that your dad built up before his death is contained in this pendant. You can either absorb some of it while wearing it, or unleash it all at once in a very powerful attack. Once you use the all-out attack, the wood erodes within seconds though, so keep that in mind." He handed the necklace to Ryder who stared at it for a few seconds then put it around his neck. He liked the idea of absorbing his dad's powers instead of using it all at once.

Ryder felt overwhelmed that there was so much that he didn't know. He felt as if he was just dragged into another reality. He looked at the rings and placed both on his left hand. The plain, golden one went on his ring finger, and he placed the gold and blue ring on his index finger. They fit so well; Ryder felt like it was meant to be. He put the notebook next to him on the couch then put his hand on the table.

"So, what 'power' did my dad have," asked Ryder putting finger quotations around, power.

Korvin smiled and said, "Finally, an exciting question. Your father had the powers of a Jedi. That means that he could wield a lightsaber and the Force."

Still confused, Ryder asked, "What's the Force?"

"Another good question. The Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates, us, and binds the galaxy together. It was the reason why I could lift the floor panel easily." Korvin reached out his hand and closed his eyes. Ryder couldn't believe what he was seeing. The entire table that was in front of them was now up above their heads!

"Ryder, you were born with this power too, and the Force is strong with you. If you choose to follow his path, you will learn much more about it and grow even stronger," explained Korvin. He paused to let Ryder think about the possibility of following in his father's steps.

"However, the Force is like a coin. There are two sides of it," said Korvin.

"What do you mean two sides," asked Ryder.

"So, there is the Dark Side of the Force. A part of the Force that focuses on using emotions like passion to fuel your power in the Force to achieve victory. Its counterpart is the Light Side of the Force. This faction of the Force focuses on peace, knowledge, serenity, and harmony through the Force. However, your father did not choice either of those two sides. He believed in a balance between the two. He let the Force guide every decision he made. He used passion, but was at peace and didn't let it consume him," explained Korvin.

Ryder nodded slowly, still trying to grasp everything Korvin had just said. "So, this is the only power I have," he asked? "What about Connor?"

"So, like I said, you were born Force sensitive. I'm not sure if you have any other powers, but by training you would find that out. However, your brother took after your mom instead of your dad. He inherited chakra control from your mother, and since I know that you're going to ask what chakra is, let me explain it quickly. Chakra is a form of life energy that all individuals produce. When someone manipulates chakra correctly, the user can perform techniques based off the elements of water, fire, wind, lightning, earth, and combinations of all five of those. For instance, someone can create a fireball ten meters in diameter depending on their mastery of that element," Korvin explained.

Ryder fell silent after that explanation. "So, Ryder," said Korvin. "Your dad was my teacher. Do you want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like him?"

Before Ryder could answer, Korvin said, "Before you answer, let me explain both answers to this question. If you say that you do not want to, you will live a normal life on Earth, regardless if the United States still holds power, or if the ISIS Empire takes over where you live. You will work some sort of job, most likely nine to five then come home and sleep, then the same thing the next day."

"If you accept my invitation, then you will learn the ways of the Force, see the planets within this galaxy, learn the powers that go along with the Force and live an adventurous life. The downside to this path is seeing and experiencing death a lot sooner that when you would living a normal life. Like what you just saw, I had to kill my own Master and best friend because he didn't abide to the Light or Dark Side of the Force and made enemies with very powerful people. You will see people that you have gotten to know die right in front of your face, and you won't be able to do anything but mourn them once you finish your fight. That's is and only if you survive. This is the truth about this kind of life. Death surrounds you. There IS passion, yet PEACE. There is SERENITY, yet EMOTION. There is CHAOS, yet ORDER. Under your dad, I learned that a true Jedi must keep balance between the Light and the Dark. That's what I would teach you if you decide to join me." Korvin paused. "If not, then let me know so I can take you back to your home."

Ryder stood up and walked to the window that gave a beautiful view to his own planet. "You know," Ryder began. "I've always loved the stars and space in general. I knew I'd never be able to work at NASA and see space though, and now I have the chance to do that plus meet the rest of my family thanks to the powers my dad passed down to me." Ryder turned to Korvin and said, "Of course I want join you."

Korvin smiled and said, "I had a feeling that you might." Korvin looked down at his watch then told Ryder, "Well, its midnight on Earth, so you should probably get some rest. Feel free to sleep in however long you want to."

"R2! Come show Ryder to his room," Korvin yelled through the ship. A droid came rushing around one of the corners of the ship and stopped in front of the two. "This is R2-S1, he's our mechanic droid and a crew member. You can just call him R2. He's going to take you to your room."

*Zip zap do woo whip*

"No, don't do that R2. He's a part of the crew now." Korvin said walking towards Ryder. "Alright, let's get you settled. I think there are a few spare clothes in the closet in there."

R2 led Ryder out of the Main Hold and down a hallway and to his room. Within a few steps, they passed the exit ramp. The hallway curved left and opened up into a room that had that had two beds, a dresser, a chest, a nightstand, and a single closet. The room had a metal gray color with nothing on the wall; it was barren. R2 beeped then backed out of the room.

Ryder checked his closet and saw dark blue pants, gray mesh armor under an identical shirt. Hanging over the rack was a white belt to hold everything together. All of this was drastically different that what he was use to wearing. For instance, Ryder was currently wearing royal blue gym shorts, a white, dri-fit shirt that said, "PUT IN WORK" on the front, and his white, Nike tennis shoes.

Ryder walked over to the dresser and began opening drawers. There were five drawers in total. The top drawer consisted of bandage wraps, medical supplies, socks, and gloves. The next drawer had a large medley of shirts. The drawer after that had pants that matched each shirt. The second to last drawer had underwear and miscellaneous clothes that has emblems on them. The last drawer was full of shoes: boots, sandals (looked like Chaco's without the toe strap: the sandals from Naruto) with build in socks, and tennis shoes.

Ryder took off his clothes all the way down to his boxers and placed the clothes in their appropriate drawer. He walked over to his bed and got under his covers. The bed was oddly comfortable; something Ryder hadn't expected from a bed in a space ship.

Ryder shut his eyes and immediately pictured the death of his father. He felt ashamed that he wasn't able to do anything to help his dad stay alive. An intense wave of sadness mixed with some anger rushed over Ryder. In his head, Ryder knew that he didn't want anyone else he loved to hurt. 'I'm going to get stronger, so that no one else will have to get hurt because of me. I'll carry the weight of that pain so no one else will have to,' thought Ryder.

The next morning, Ryder woke up well rested. He took a deep breath which helped him come to terms with his new reality. Ryder rolled out of bed and walked to his closet. He grabbed the blue pants and gray short-sleeve shirt. Ryder didn't think that he would need the mesh armor.

Ryder pit on the shirt and pants, but saw how the pants stopped at his ankles. They were a lot like his joggers from back home. Ryder made sure to grab the white and clip it around his waist.

He wasn't sure what shoes to wear, so Ryder put on socks and his tennis shoes that he brought from home. Once those were on his feet, Ryder walked out of his room and into the main hold.

Korvin was sitting at the table that he levitated last night. In front of him was a plate of eggs, bacon, and cheese grit. He looked up to see Ryder standing in the doorway.

"Good morning, Ryder!" he said looking excited. "I'm guessing that you're hungry. R2! Bring a plate into the main hold for Ryder," yelled Korvin to his droid.

R2 rolled in with a plate full of the same food Korvin was eating with a glass of milk. Ryder grabbed the plate and cup from the friendly droid and said, "Thanks, R2." R2 whistled as it went back to the kitchen.

Ryder sat down and began digging into his food. He hadn't had bacon in so long; he forgot what it tasted like. "When you get done, meet me in the cargo hold," said Korvin.

Ryder took his time eating the rest of his food, and when he was done, he took it back to the kitchen where R2 was somehow running a dishwasher.

Walking into the cargo hold, Korvin looked up and said to Ryder, "Well, for your first lesson, call me 'Master' for now on. It's traditional for the apprentice to call his teacher their Master."

Ryder nodded.

"Good. From now on, I'm gonna teach you all that I know. Everything good AND bad." Korvin paused for emphasis.

"Follow me, Ryder." Ryder got up and began to walk with his new Master into a different room. "This is a freighter class ship called the Ebon Hawk. It might not look fast, but it can outfly many other ships in the galaxy. This is the training room. You will do the majority of your training here. Force and weapons training that is."

They kept following the walkway and passed through a room that's in the direct back of the ship. "This is the engine room. R2 does a lot of his work here repairing the ships engine, mach-speed engine, and many other parts. This room ahead is the cargo hold. It is a storage and parts room. This is where weapons are modified to optimize our battle skills." They keep walking and exit the storage room.

"Here on the left is where my room is. Do not go in there unless it is an absolute emergency, or if I tell you to." Korvin's room was on the opposite side of Ryder's. The hallway was identical, so Ryder assumed that the rooms were the same too. They walked to the center of the ship where a table and couches were.

"This is the main hold or the lounge area if that's what you want to call it. And down the hall right before the engine room is the turret access and medical bay. Follow me over here." Ryder had never seen anything like this ship. He knew that the government was making larger cruiser ships, but nothing like this. They walked towards the front of the ship where R2 already was.

"On the right is communications room. It's exactly what it sounds like," explained Korvin. "Up here is the cockpit. You'll need to start learning quickly because you're the new copilot. Any questions?" Ryder had no idea what to ask at this point. All he knew was that he wanted this adventure to start.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"First, we need to get away from Earth. It's too dangerous there." Korvin sat down in the pilot's chair and patted the co-pilot's chair indicating to Ryder to sit there. "Ok, strap in and get ready to learn how to fly this bad boy," said Korvin.

Ryder buckled up and began to take in everything Korvin began to do. He began to memorize the order in which Korvin flipped the switches to turn on the thrusters. He felt the ship begin to move as his Master started to pull and twist the steering handle, and the Ghost was off zooming throughout the darkness of space. Master Korvin reached out and flipped a big green switch and then stood up.

"Follow me. It's time to start your training." They start walking towards the training room, and Ryder grabbed a water bottle on the way.

They reached the room and Korvin said, "Ok, we are going to start your Force training today. Now sit down and close your eyes. Clear your conscience of everything. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together. Now reach out with your mind. Feel the edges of the ship. Hear the gears and machines clank as they perform their work. Feel the experience that this ship has been through. Concentrate." Ryder kept his eyes shut and kept concentrating. Nothing happened.

Korvin made Ryder do this exercise whenever he wasn't learning something else like mechanics, piloting, strategy, math, science, alchemy, history, artifact history, or even acrobatics. Five days passed by. Then twenty days passed. Finally, on the twenty-fourth day of meditating in the Force, Ryder felt a rush of calmness wash over himself. He felt as if he was floating above a near motionless ocean.

Master Korvin started to speak saying, "Good, now keeping your concentration, open your eyes." Ryder opened his eyes trying to keep his concentration. He looked up to find that his water bottle was open, and the water inside of it was floating, constantly changing shapes. "This is the Force Ryder. Now try and make the water take the shape of a pyramid." Ryder kept his concentration and began to think hard about the water changing its form into the image of the Great Pyramids of Giza in his head. The water started to shake violently as one of Ryder's eyebrows twitched. The water exploded and went everywhere.

"Damnit," Ryder said frustrated with himself due to his determination to succeed in this task that seemed easy.

"Don't worry, you've done well. I've seen other Jedi take far longer to even take a cap off a water bottle, and you did it within a month. Now remember that feeling and keep working on it. Now, keep working on this, and bring me the water pyramid when you're done."

Master Korvin walked off into his room leaving Ryder to continue his training. 'So, this is what Jedi training is like,' thought Ryder. He was enjoying learning about this new power he had and all the other powers.

Six hour later, Master Korvin walked in. He stopped in the doorway in awe of what he was seeing. Ryder was still sitting in Indian style and had his palm open, moving his fingers like he was twirling a small ball. Three small, pyramid prisms were rotating in a circle above his hand. Incredible thought Korvin, and all within a day too.

"Impressive work Ryder. You have effectively learned Force levitation and shape manipulation fairly quickly."

Ryder opened his eyes and put the water back into his bottle. "Thank you Master. It got easier and easier. I think this necklace is finally kicking in." Ryder pulled out his father's old necklace then put it back under his shirt. "I'm ready for my next exercise." Ryder rose to his feet ready waiting for new orders.

"Okay, now you will learn Force push and pull. First, Force push is the ability to shoot a blast of Force from your hand that will send your target backwards. Use the Force to push your target backwards. And once you do that, use the Force to pull an object to yourself. Clear your mind and search for the object and bring it to yourself. Once you've completed this come and get me." Master Korvin walked off towards the main hold.

*Zipwoop duwop*

Ryder looked down at a screen that translated R2's beeps and whistles to him. "You're just mad that you can't beat me anymore, R2," Ryder said laughing under his breath as he stood up. He did as his Master told him and began practicing the push. This technique was more difficult than his last task. He knew that this would take him much longer to achieve, but he was determined to do it.

Hours flew by, and Ryder looked at his watch. It was 1:32 a.m.! Ryder stood up and began walking to his room. Over his shoulder he hears a voice call out and say, "Be sure to be ready for training at six o'clock in the morning."

Ryder did not have a say in this, so he replied, "Yes, Master."

Ryder began to take off his robes and left nothing but the pants on. Even though it was one in the morning, Ryder was not tired. If anything, he wanted to learn more, so he sat on the ground and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind again, calmly concentrating on his surroundings.

Five hours passed by, but it seemed like mere minutes. It was now five-thirty in the morning. Time to get ready, he thought to himself. He started to dress and afterwards walked into the main hold to eat breakfast. On the table sat a plate with eggs and sausage on it that R2 proudly made without help. He sat down and started to eat the food. Master Korvin walked out into the main hold except he is no longer wearing his normal black robes that had built into them and there was not a mask on his face. Instead, his Master had on gray robes with brown boots.

"Make sure you eat everything. I had R2 put special vitamins in your food to increase stamina and strength," explained Korvin.

"Yes, Master," Ryder responded.

"Also, I felt you meditating all night. I'm proud that you did that without me telling you to. If you continue that, you will notice that your connection with the Force will grow dramatically. However, your physical body still needs its rest, so make sure you still sleep some. Once you finish, I want to see your progress in Force Pull." Master Korvin walked away into the training room. Ryder began to eat faster and scarfed down a glass of milk with it.

Six months passed, and Ryder grew much stronger in the Force. He learned how to use Force grip (push, pull, and levitate), a charged push, mind trick, and repulse.

Special sessions where Master Korvin taught Ryder many abnormal Force abilities were held. Master Korvin taught him Force Armor, which heightened the user's reaction time. Force Barrier which helped deflect blaster fire along with hiding his force presence. Force Enlightenment that heightened all his force powers. Heal, stun droid, battle meditation, Force Shadow, scream, and precognition. Battle meditation increased a Jedi's skills in battle and instill a little fear in their opponent. Force Shadow creates a long shadow, dependent on the user's bond, that allows the user to hear and see whatever is inside of the shadow. Along with these Force techniques, Ryder had become proficient with a weapon. He had been training with his Master in forms five, three, and two.

A large, stone castle stood on top of a cliff that overlooked a dark blue ocean. At the bottom of the cliff, waves crashed on the spiky rocks washing up onto the shore towards a pitch-dark cave. A dim light shone from deep inside the cave.

Inside, a golden figure at least fifty feet tall with at least one hundred arms stood in front of a white man with long black hair. He would dodge a few of the arms then get hit by the next sending him back into the stone walls of the cave. He struggled to get up after each hit, but never-the-less, he stood once again. This time, his eyes were different. They burnt with a deep red which seemed to personify his passion.

The golden, Buddha-like figure attacked again by throwing its palms towards the black-haired man. This time, he was dodging the attacks more fluidly. He planted his hands on one arm then propelled himself over the next incoming arm doing this continuously until he got hit with a blind-side attack. This fight lasted until he was too tired to dodge the attacks. At that point, the golden Buddha shrunk down into a human with gold hair in a digital camouflage, military uniform.

"That's enough for now," said the military man walking towards the black-haired individual.

He was sluggish to getting to his feet. Being hit by the massive force behind the attacks from the Buddha took an obvious toll on his body. "I have to… keep going," he said pausing for air between the words. His red eyes would have pierced into any normal person's soul, but the gold-haired man wasn't fazed by them.

"No, that's an order. To get stronger, the body needs rest too. We can continue tomorrow," he said.

His eyes went back to their original blue color that looked just like the ocean outside. "Only cause you're the boss, General," he said.

The two of them began walking back outside of the cave and towards the crashing waves. Once at the entrance, the student stood at the shore, closed his eyes and breathed in the refreshing air of the sea. "What are you thinking right now," asked the military man.

"Somewhere out there, there is someone who is training just as hard, if not harder, than me, and when the time comes, I must defeat him," he said. His eyes were open, and he sounded more determined than ever.

"What are going to do if it's him?" asked the General.

His eyes turned red again. He could feel the rage and passion coursing throughout his entire body. He clenched his fists and replied saying, "I'll make him watch hopelessly as I slaughter his friends. Then, I'll end his life in the slowest, most painful way possible."

While the young student had a stern and serious facial expression, the General behind him was smiling from ear to ear.