2 Hell Mode Inherent Force Trial

Orontaro blinked open his eyes from his personal bedroom in his temple. The room was decorated with random cosmetics he bought in the game. They were mostly useless things that he could add to make his personal temple bedroom more unique. He climbed out of his giant-sized bed and picked up an item card off of the top of his dresser. The card was one of the items he had been most excited about crossing with him. It was a dungeon instance card where he could enter into a 'Natural Force Dungeon' one time.

The Force is a mysterious thing in the star wars universe and many mysteries had never been fully explored about it even during the most advanced years. If you are a star wars fan, you might have heard about a trial called 'The Gathering' done by the Jedi temple during the Republic era in the cold world of Illum. See, this is not a naturally occurring cave, but a 'Natural Force Dungeon' which changes depending on who enters and rewards a treasure of the Force, a Kyber Crystal, if the youngling passes it.

The game treated these Natural Force Dungeons as very rare but important occurrences in the world. Perhaps most of the Jedi and Sith Techniques were learned from certain ones or some great Force Treasure caused a dramatic change in a war. Needless to say, these locations were important places where the Force's semi-consciousness was more active and they are always holding something of value to force wielders.

Orontaro didn't think much about it at the time in the game, but this consumable card ended up being very important now that he had come to the real Star Wars universe. As long as it worked the same as in-game, it would teleport him directly into the nearest Natural Force Dungeon, and teleport him back after his completion. In the game, he was limited by the number of released dungeons only on the 3 available player dungeon worlds, Morriban, Tython, and Dathomir.

But now, where are the limits in the real universe? Orontaro could use this and enter into any nearby Natural Force Dungeon, not limited to the usual 3 planets. Sadly, he only had 2 of these item cards left, since they were only sold as a weekly shop item during the recession time with a limit of 5 per player.

He set down the Natural Force Dungeon item card neatly next to the second one on the dresser. Then he picked up another item card that he considered to be important for his next steps and training. Though, he only had one of these cards sadly because they were not very useful. The card he was holding was an [Inherent Force Power Trial] card. It could only be used on a character when they were below level 5 and had not trained in any force powers yet. The character can only take the trial once so it's best not to miss the opportunity.

In the Star Wars universe, some Force abilities cannot be trained. You either have them or you don't. These tend to be very useful abilities like Psychometry, Mechaduru, Force Healing, or Shatterpoint. It's easy enough to say that having any one of these abilities alone, can entirely change the playing field. Thankfully, Orontaro was a whale in the game and bought things he didn't need or couldn't even use because he had a hoarder mentality.

He was planning to use this item card today, right after he wore his [Destiny Amulet] this morning. It was one of his proud Force Treasures that he kept in his main hall. It gave +2 Luck in the game, which was considered very rare since destiny and luck couldn't be raised after a person was born in the Star Wars universe. It could be said to be a rule-breaking item.

Orontaro slid the card into his robe pockets and leisurely walked down the hallway of his time towards the dining hall. He had a brown cotton robe and folded his hands inside each sleeve, just like how a renowned Jedi Master would walk. If someone were to see this scene, maybe they would be unable to stop a laugh, because it appeared that a 3-year-old child was mimicking a grown-up's expression and mannerisms.

The dining hall was empty, but there was a special Kwa Chef droid that he had bought from the cash shop. The droid technology of this era is relatively new, but the Kwa were originally a genius species that built the Infinity Gates. Orontaro didn't waste a single bit of his investment in his temple and bought the best he could.

"Good morning K5-ST, I'll have the usual breakfast set," Orontaro said while nodding to the Chef droid behind the dining hall counter.

It was an all-white droid with a sleek and smooth design, it had dashes of silver lines painted along the edges of normal humanoid bone positions, and the mechanical joints were slightly visible at the edges of the white plating. It had a humanoid-like face with two large antennas going down the top of its head like a mohawk.

"Right away, Temple Master Oronatro," K5-ST beeped and bowed slightly, before turning to start cooking.

Orontaro climbed up onto one of the dining room benches for eating and waited patiently for K5-ST to finish cooking. He let his thoughts drift back to how incredible everything that had happened was. He was actually here! In the place of his greatest dreams, the real Star Wars universe. He was a bit scared that this might have been a dream and that he would wake up from it after he went to sleep last night. But it really seems he wasn't dreaming.

The smell of bacon-like meat wafted throughout the room. A sizzling sound came from the grill that K5-ST was cooking at. Orontaro breathed in the smell deeply while rubbing his hand across the soft bone plating of his other arm. He exhaled and smiled. He loved that smell because the smell of the food reminded him that yes, this was all real. It took only another 5 minutes before the sounds of grilling stopped and K5-ST left the kitchen with a plate of food in hand.

"Here you are, Temple Master, " K5-ST came over and placed the hot meal in front of him. He bowed slightly and wheeled his way back to clean the grill without much more of a pause.

Orontaro looked at the alien-looking food in front of him, but he didn't hesitate. He ate the meat first while making his way around the plate in an organized manner, pleasing to someone with OCD. He finished down the entire plate of food very quickly while having to make a few trips to refill his glass of water. He thought it was one of the most delicious meals he had ever had, leaving himself very relaxed.

He slid off the bench and placed the empty plate on the conveyor heading back into the dishwashing droids in the kitchen. He didn't pay any further attention after that, choosing to make his way to his throne hall, where all his Force Treasures were organized.

"Ah, I'm too excited," Orontaro shook his head while letting a smile climb up the corners of his mouth.

He entered the throne hall and walked to the pedestal holding the [Destiny Amulet], firmly lifting it off of its place. This thing was a very important artifact for him because it could resist most premonitions of him through destiny. Lucky didn't only bring 'luck' in the Star Wars universe, it was also a Destiny inhibitor and it resisted force premonitions/visions of a person to a certain extent.

For example, a person with low luck could directly be seen in force visions and identified by powerful force sensitives, but someone with high luck would be much harder to spot. Anakin had high luck and was thus hard to find the exact location after his birth, the entire Jedi and Sith order searched for him for many years until they found him. Then there were some weird cases, like Han Solo who had high Luck, but a low midi-clorean count so he couldn't be trained as a Jedi. People like him, were perfect smugglers because his Luck blocked nearly all premonitions. Otherwise, how could he do so much damage to the empire? It's because they could never see him coming.

Orontaro slid the necklace over his head and sat on his white marble throne in the center of the room. He took 3 deep breaths to center himself, before pulling out the [Inherent Force Power Trial] item card and using it. It shattered into blue light before the lights shot into his forehead. He felt his sense fade as he started the Trial, deep inside himself.

...

Orontaro awoke in a room filled with purple light refractions. He took a look around and could see that he was in some kind of cave. The only lighting was from the purplish rays of light bouncing between the crystals and some luminescent mushrooms scattered about the area. In the center of the room, there were placed 3 bowls on pedestals. Each pedestal had an inscription written below it that Orontaro could instinctively understand.

'Defeat your heart and offer it.'

'Kill your weakness and remove it.'

'Offer your memories to make room for others.'

Orontaro knew that for this trial, he needed to complete one of the 3 pedestal's tasks. It was also clear that the Force was not just going to give him handouts of powers like the game did. He was especially concerned about the 'Offer your memories' pedestal. He was a transmigrator and how could he give up what he felt gave him the most edge in this world? He eliminated that pedestal in his heart and the pedestal responded, sinking into the ground and disappearing.

'Kill your weakness' sounded interesting. This was definitely a combat-related trial. He wanted to know what the Force thought his weakness was. But he also knew he couldn't choose this one either. When this was a game, he could use AI to assist him in fighting. But now... he was a level 0 child character, and he was supposed to fight something that was his weakness with zero training? No thanks. As he dismissed this option in his heart, the pedestal sunk into the floor of the cave just like the other one.

Orontaro sized up the final pedestal and took a deep breath to stabilize himself. 'Defeat your heart' sounded like a spiritual trial and although spiritual trials were incredibly risky because they could cause a collapse in your personality, they were also a great equalizer in terms of who could pass them. No amount of training can prepare you for a spiritual trial, even if he was still his max level 'Red Sith' it would still be the same 50/50 chance of passing. Orontaro confirmed the decision in his heart and the room changed. The refractions of light off of the crystals in the cave centered on the bowl on the pedestal like a magnifying glass shrinking the focus brightly at the center. The brightness overwhelmed his eyes and he squinted as the entire room changed.

In front of him was himself. Well, it was an image that looked exactly like him, except he looked very solemn.

"You pass the trial if you make a promise." the reflection of him spoke.

"What promise?" Orontaro asked.

"Promise to never follow your dreams, never explore your curiosity, never to leave in search of the unknowns of the universe, and to never explore the mysteries of the force." the reflection replied.

Orontaro was silent. He was really stumped, he knew that the difference between the game and reality was going to be big, but this trial from the 'real' Force was very perfect in its assessment. The Force could sense that this was his deepest desire, his reason for living, and his heart. When he first arrived here... no even before he arrived, when he played Star Wars Genesis he was beyond dedicated to the world of Star Wars. He lived in it and adored its completeness. He read the deep lore written in the comics and knew about many hidden areas of the universe others might not know. He spent his life savings on a stupid VRMMORPG game, just to continue being a part of this world. How could he give that up?

"Ah, that..." Orontaro spoke with hesitation.

He knew he would have to answer with the resolve to really carry out that promise to leave here. His mind started racing, trying to find any loophole or way that he could get around the reflection's words. Perhaps this was just a test and if he fully resolved himself to that promise the Force would still allow him to keep his dreams afterward. But even if that was the case, in order to pass the trial now, he had to fully believe that he would give it up. As in, he would change now and become an ordinary person.

'What would I even do if I couldn't chase my dreams? What would the point of being transferred here even mean if I just lived like any ordinary guy? Would I have a reason to live?' Orontaro thought.

Very slowly, as these questions started to be really thought out in his mind and a dark and depressing feeling filled his chest. He really started to consider that he might have to give up on his dreams and just go back to work in accounting. Imagining himself working in accounting in Star Wars made him feel like he wanted to die. He was an accountant in his previous world... why would he go back to that here? It's not fair.

As he thought about these things deeper, he didn't realize he was getting lost in his thoughts. He was placed inside an illusion and he felt that he had truly given his promise to the reflection. The reflection took away his connection to the force and he lived another life in that illusion, a life of incredible boredom. He watched wars come and go, but he could not join the excitement. He saw powerful Sith Lords rise and fall, but he was only an ordinary person now. Perhaps only the long lifespan of his species is what made him anything interesting during this life.

As the time dragged on, he felt a suffocating depression inside him that made him want to end it all. He dragged himself to work every day for no purpose. He went home alone, woke up alone, and worked alone. He was not allowed to promote at the companies he worked for, start a family, or have anything he dreamed of. He could only continue on without hope of fulfilling his dreams.

Any normal person would have already given up at this point and this trial only tested a person as if they lived 'another life'. The problem was that Orontaro's lifespan was abnormal and this trial was not made for such a long time spent in hopelessness. But Orontaro continued on, he didn't even know why he kept going forward. Maybe he wanted to see the characters that made up his childhood. He just wanted to watch the characters he knew from the sidelines. Orontaro integrated and exceeded the background character traits of 'strong will' during this time.

Eventually, he saw all the characters he wanted to see: Anakin, Luke, Kylo, Obiwan, Yoda, and many others. He wasn't important enough to interact with them, but he saw them from afar. He had the biggest smile on his face during those moments. It was as if the pain was a little more bearable. He treasured those memories.

Finally, he reached the end of his life, alone. He had nobody to care for him, but he didn't mind it much since he was more of an ascetic. But if he could, he wished he could have been able to dream and never made that promise to his reflection all those years ago. He closed his eyes for the last time under the cold moon of Endor.

The illusion started to fade back to the purple-lighted cave again and Orontaro blinked his eyes open. His eyes looked much deeper than before, but as his vision cleared there was a spark in them that rekindled something he had long forgotten. Hope. Hope for his dreams. He felt his childlike innocence returning full fold and those long memories of another life were pushed to the back of his mind. If the reflection asked him to give up his dreams now, he would never do it! He would rather die than live a life like that. HE WANTED TO LIVE.

"You have passed this trial." the reflection spoke to him again.

Orontaro was stunned and expected the reflection to ask him if he wanted to give up his dreams again, but not this. But he didn't have much time to process what happened, the reflection began to fade into bright light. The pedestal with the engraving of 'Defeat your heart' became visible again. A white light began to pour out of Orontaro's head, it was the memories of that hopeless life. It poured and filled up the bowl completely. I filled it up so much that it overflowed and yet it continued to pour in. The overflow of liquid memories filled the area behind the pedestal. It continued until finally the flow of memories ended and there was a small lake of pure white memories behind the bowl.

Orontaro knew instinctively what the filling of this bowl meant. This was the offering of his everything, the value of sacrificing his dreams. He didn't know when, but he felt tears begin to drip down his face. He collapsed to the ground on his knees and started to cry, but it was a joyful cry. This had become the fuel to achieve his dreams. That life he suffered. That other life had meaning and he did it do it for nothing.

The pedestal gleamed with purple light, and the lake of memories also shone. They evaporated into a mist, condensing into a bright golden star. It shone brightly above the bowl and pedestal, before shooting directly into Orontaro's heart. Orontaro knew what inherent force ability he had gotten by passing this horrible trial.

His body began to fade from the crystal cave and return back to the material world.

...

Orontaro opened his eyes from a deep meditation. A single tear fell down his right cheek, but he quickly wiped it with his sleeve.

"I am never doing that again." Orontaro shook his head, but it still couldn't hide his joy.

He completed something that might have forever changed him as a person, just from this one trial. Thankfully, he didn't remember much from the illusion since it was taken from him as a tribute to gain the Inherent Force Power, but he still recalled the darkest moments of that life. The Inherent Force Power he gained was not something ever mentioned in star wars cannon. It was called [Goal Tracing]. It was a powerful technique on par with [Shatterpoint] and a step above [Prophecy] and [Precognition].

As long as he willed it, he could focus the force to condense a goal line. An invisible thread that would lead him to what he desired, even if he didn't know what it was. Though that was only if it existed. It couldn't lead him to say, an inventor who would create a powerful invention if what he desired was that invention. He would need to wait until that inventor created his invention to condense a goal line. But you could say that nothing in this galaxy could be hidden from Orontaro as long as he willed it.

"I need a nap," Orontaro staggered as he got up from his meditation position. Even though it was only mid-day now, this trial was a bit too much for his spirit and he need to rest again.

He walked back to his bedroom and collapsed on it, falling asleep again within a few minutes. There was a slight smile on his face, happy to be alive.

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AN:

Hello everyone,

I am happy that everyone is interested in this story after only publishing 1 chapter. To be honest, I was surprised there was so much interest in it. It is the most interest I gained this early without getting on the front page with 15k words.

Normally, I measure interest by views per collection ratio and this novel has already been rated really highly with the 'good interest measurement' I go by. I consider a novel to have developed interest if it stays at a pace of every 100 views a person adds it to their collection. But for this one, it has been twice that rate, it's quite amazing.

That's all and make sure to give ideas in the comments for story development. There is a big blank space of time that is not mentioned in the wikis from 25,000 BBY and 8000 BBY. I haven't decided if it I should focus on that missing history or jump to the 'Sith Empire War' in 8000 BBY etc.

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