The End Of The War

Chapter 2

There was a massive crack that looked like a canyon which lay in front of him. The distance to the other side was easily over 100 meters. The crack itself lay between two walls with no easy way around said crack. On the other side of it, in a noise that sounded like singing and shining with a brilliant light, was the prize of the quest for him: his kyber crystal. The hallway this crack was on that held his kyber crystal was a dead end, so he couldn't go around any of the walls. He tried to look down to see how far down it was. It was far enough that he couldn't see the bottom. He kicked a small rock down and didn't hear it clatter against the bottom for a solid three seconds.

Okay, so going down and up isn't an option, Izuku thought, Master Yagi could probably do it. And he could jump across just as easily. But... if I try either of those, I'll die! How can I do this?! What about...

He looked at the ledges of the canyon close to the walls. They looked like they might be just wide enough for him to shuffle along the walls to the other side. He put his right foot on the right ledge. It wasn't giving. He smiled. He slowly shuffled his way onto it, keeping his back on the wall. It took him almost two minutes, but he made it to the other side. He walked over to the stalagmite that held his kyber crystal and plucked it out. He held it between his finger and thumb with happiness and a smile on his face. He looked back at the canyon and saw that, somehow, the ledges were just wider. He walked out of the hallway on the opposite side he entered it.

I did something that Toshinori wouldn't have, Izuku thought back at the present, and I got my crystal because of it. If I want to stay his apprentice, he wants me to be me. So stop it, Izuku. Stop trying to be him.

He acted on instinct, blocking three separate strikes from Toshinori. Their blades locked on the third strike. Toshinori smiled and relaxed, standing straight.

"And that is your first lesson," Toshinori said, "there's a difference between wanting to be like me and trying to be me. You don't have to copy what I do to be like me. Simply follow my example."

"Yes, master," Izuku said.

"Now, back to training mode."

They proceeded to go through forms and duel. Just before Toshinori would call their first training session, he decided to have Izuku go against training remotes. He started with one, having Izuku watch the remote and block when it fired. Thanks to his extensive time around the training remotes, he was able to block the fire. Toshinori could tell he wasn't fully relying on the Force. He was relying equally on his sight and hearing.

"Let's stop for a second," Toshinori said, taking out a specialized helmet with a blast shield from a closet space.

"Without sight?" Izuku asked, putting the helmet on.

"And hearing. I want you to rely solely on the Force."

As soon as the helmet was completely on, Izuku could only sense where the remote was. He kept his saber pointed at it as it swished and zipped around. It shot him after it quickly zipped to his left. He recoiled at the shot and quickly straightened back up. He blocked several more shots and got hit by several. He then sensed something coming from behind and moved to block. He blocked a shot by another remote. He could sense that both remotes were going to fire around a second apart. The first would be in front of him and the second behind. He blocked them both and sensed a third remote was coming toward him. All three were just zipping around, not going to fire, just trying to test him. He took in a deep breath and let it out. He fully embraced his connection to the Force, blocking out all other forms of distraction. He began blocking all fire that came his way.